When it comes to the Oscars, people tend to focus on the major nominees and the major categories. We all know aboutAnora,The Brutalist,Emilia Pérez,Conclave, and the other films nominated for Best Picture and leading the nominations. But the fact of the matter is, there are twenty-three categories at the Academy Awards, which means there are a ton of nominees that most people haven’t seen or heard of. Yet, these smaller categories containsome of the best films that will receive an Oscar nomination, as, for example, a film in the documentary short category might actually be better than most of the Best Picture nominees. It’s also where we can find some of the brightest and most interesting visionaries in the film industry before they make it to the big leagues.
With that in mind, we’ve decided not to just rank all the films in a particular category but instead rankallthe nominees ineverycategory against themselves, from shorts to epics and everything in between. Before the 97th Academy Awards,let’s rank all 50 Oscar nominees at this year’s awards. So grab some snacks and find a comfortable chair because this one’s going to be a long one.
50’The Six Triple Eight'
1 nomination - Music (Original Song)
Like clockwork since 2017, every year’s Oscars include one movie that’s only nominated becauseDiane Warrenwrote a bland song that somehow earned a nomination. That film just happens to be one of the worst films nominated each year, and for this year’s Oscars, that honor goes toThe Six Triple Eight. Now, this is a remarkable story about the US Army’s only all-female, all-Black battalion during World War II, who were tasked with the absurd task of delivering 17 million pieces of mail, and it’s a story that absolutely deserves to be told.
Unfortunately,The Six Triple Eightis written, directed, and co-produced byTyler Perry, a filmmaker who doesn’t really know much about nuance.Every character here is cranked up to 11(for example,Dean Norris' General Halt sounds more like Foghorn Leghorn than a real person), and it can’t help but feel like a made-for-TV movie about this incredible true story. At the very least, we’ve gotthe always-solidKerry Washingtonleading the charge, but you’ll leaveThe Six Triple Eightwondering how much better this film would be from a more subtle filmmaker.
The Six Triple Eight
49’Emilia Pérez'
13 nominations - Best Picture, Actress in a Leading Role (Karla Sofía Gascón), Actress in a Supporting Role (Zoe Saldaña), Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song) x 2, Sound, and Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Things have understandably not been easy forEmilia Pérezthis Oscar season, and after receiving thirteen nominations—more than any other film this year—it feels like people are finally coming to their senses when it comes toJacques Audiard’s latest. There are some positives toEmilia Pérez:Zoe Saldaña is really giving her all, and after the career she’s had so far, she deserves her likely win in the Best Supporting Actress category, even if it’s for this film. And hey, some of the musical numbers at least look good.
Overall,Emilia Pérezis an ambitious mess, a strange combination of musicals, gangster films, telenovelas, a transgender coming-out story, and much more,none of which comes together to make this film work. Audiard has made some fantastic films over the years, likeA ProphetandRust and Bone; it’s just a shame thatthisis the film that’s finally giving him tons of attention.
Emilia Perez
48’The Last Ranger'
1 nomination - Live Action Short Film
The Last Rangerabsolutely falls into the category of short about something important that the rest of the world needs to know about. Here, it’s poachers, specifically those who attack rhinos, take their horns and leave them for dead. It’s a rough topic that leaves thousands of people and rhinos dead, andThe Last Ringerdoesn’t attempt to hide the gruesome nature of this crime. But directorCindyLeeis trying to build this story to a twist that viewers can clearly see coming from the opening scenes.
The Last Rangeris almost asking us to see this story from two different perspectives, both from the poachers and those opposing them, and since it doesn’t handle this story that way,it doesn’t have nearly the impact that it should. At the end ofThe Last Ranger, we learn that this is based on a true story, and some of the footage used in the film is actual imagery of rhino violence. But if the most impactful scene in your film is using real-life footage, why not just make this a documentary about this incident? It’s easy to admire the focus on this difficult subject matter, butit might not have been the most compelling approach.
On one hand, 95% ofAnujais a strong story about two sisters attempting to survive on the streets of Delhi and the immense struggle it is to get out of this situation. The bond between these two sisters is lovely, and the way this is shot byAdam J. Gravesboth highlights the difficulty of this life and the beauty of the sibling’s power when they work together. But that final 5% is what trips the film up.
46’Memoir of a Snail'
1 nomination - Animated Feature Film
It is absolutely fantastic that more adult-oriented stories likeAdam Elliot’sMemoir of a Snailare making it into the Animated Feature Film category at the Oscars, and of course, the animation here is undeniably impressive. But Elliot’s latest film isa barrage of unrelenting bleakness, as we see the story of Grace (Sarah Snook), a snail-loving orphan who is trying to reunite with his brother when literally everything bad that can happen to her does happen.
Grace’s story is truly exhausting at times, and that’s sort of the point, as the overall lesson seems to be that our lives are a beautiful thing to comprehend; it can just be hard to see that at the beginning as opposed to the end.Memoir of a Snailhandles this dark story the same way, and while the ending is impactful, you have to trudge through a lot of darkness to get to the light. If you want to watch an adorable blob of clay suffer for 90 minutes,Memoir of a Snailis a perfect film for you.
Memoir of a Snail
45’The Only Girl in the Orchestra'
1 nomination - Documentary Short Film
The Only Girl in the Orchestrafalls into the doc short category of “Cool Person I’m Glad I Got to Know About, but Wish There Was More to This.“Orin O’Brienis a fascinating figure, the first female musician in the New York Philharmonic and the child of actorsGeorge O’BrienandMarguerite Churchill. Unlike her parents, who struggled to find fame in their older years, O’Brien likes being a supporting character in the larger story of the orchestra, and she is an incredible person that I’m glad gets the spotlight for once with this film. But once you get the details of her younger life out of the way and how her childhood influenced who she is today,The Only Girl in the Orchestradoesn’t know where else to take this story.
It’s great to spend time with Orin O’Brien and get to know who she is, but once we get that out of the way, there’s not much more to explore.
Director and O’Brien’s niece,Molly O’Brien, tries to interject herself into the story at times, as she explains how Orin’s life influenced her, and it always feels so unnecessary and too forced. Meanwhile, we see the influence that Orin has on her young students, and through them, we see how Orin’s influence will live on for decades to come despite her wanting to be away from the limelight. As with many of these doc shorts that spotlight specific, landmark people, it’s great to spend time with Orin O’Brien and get to know who she is, but once we get that out of the way, there’s not much more for Molly O’Brien to explore here.
44’The Apprentice'
2 nominations - Actor in a Leading Role (Sebastian Stan) and Actor in a Supporting Role (Jeremy Strong)
The Apprenticeis basically a biopic centered around two solid performances but with a smugness that directorAli Abbasiknows where this whole story is going to end up, smirking at the audience with every heavy-handed reference to the monster we know Trump will one day become.Every little piece of knowledge you know about Trump gets winked at—especially once the ’80s get going—and at its worst, it feels like anSNLcommercial for a Trump biopic that surely no one would ever make.JeremyStrongis quite good here as Roy Cohn, who we see as a monster, then slowly starts to sympathize with. The counter to that is an equally strongSebastianStanas Donald Trump, who we watch become a monster before our very eyes.
As Cohn gets weaker, it’s as if Trump sucks the life out of him, becoming stronger to the point that he’s almost unstoppable. And thankfully, Stan isn’t going for a straight Trump impression. Certainly, there are bits and pieces here that work, as in one dark, heartbreaking moment when Cohn andMaria Bakalova’s Ivana Trump realize they’ve both been disposed of by Trump in his quest to become a “winner.” For those who are anti-Trump,The Apprenticewill be preaching to the choir.
The Apprentice
43’Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'
1 nomination - Visual Effects
Wes Ball’s firstfilm in thePlanet of the Apesfranchiseisn’t bad by any stretch, in fact, it’s more entertaining and narratively interesting than most blockbusters. However,Kingdom of the Planet of the Apescomes after the strongest stretch of the entire series with 2011’sRise of the Planet of the Apes, 2014’sDawn of the Planet ofthe Apes, and 2017’s trilogy concluder,War for the Planet of the Apes. Indeed, the shadow of Caesar looms over this entire story—intentionally and unintentionally.
We’ve already seen the quality and moral dilemmas inherent in this world, andKingdom of the Planet of the Apesfeels like a step back from the complexities of the last trilogy.Kingdomfeels like a film preparing for the future of this series, a lot of set up for what could be something potentially intriguing. But at this point, this new beginning doesn’t have the power of the franchise’s recent past.
42’The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent'
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silentis a tense, unnerving short that feels unfortunately familiar, given our current political climate.The Man Who Could Not Remain Silenttakes us to a train that has been stopped, where armed guards are searching for Muslim passengers.
DirectorNebojša Slijepčevićimmediately sets the tone and makes us feel the pressure of this situation, and with people constantly being told to leave the train, we have a sense of confusion and unease that never relents.The Man Who Could Not Remain Silentmight be better with a bit of historical context for the uninitiated, but Slijepčević’s film is still a haunting short that builds in tension over its sparse 14 minutes.
41’Death by Numbers'
In recent years, there have been a lot of films in the shorts categories that discuss school shootings, butDeath by Numbersis a rare short first that gets into both who the survivors and the shooter are.Death by Numbersis most effective in the courtroom, as we hear the students and teacher give their account of the horrifying day, and we hear the monstrous preparations made by this shooter.We see the true evil that led to this shooting, and it’s heartbreaking to watch this conflict unfold in these scenes.
While it’s great thatDeath by Numbersfocuses on the survivors,Kim A. Snyder’s short almost makes one wish this expanded to include more than just one survivor.Death by Numbersis certainly moving at times, and it’s important to hear from these survivors, it’s just a bit disappointing we don’t hear from more of them.
