Another Oscars ceremony has come and gone along with the usual drama and shenanigans that tend to pop up every year. Out of the films recognized, nominated or even awarded, there were some great choices as well as some truly appalling feature films. If you missed out on this year’s nominations for Best Picture, here is a quick guide for everything you should catch up on and what you should avoid at all costs.

“Belfast”

Available to rent on Prime Video and Apple TV+.

Verdict: Skip It

“Belfast” is a film memoir by Kenneth Branagh. It recounts a moment from his youth in Belfast, Ireland where his hometown was in turmoil against religious ideologies. Anything that could be remotely interesting about this conflict is avoided as Branagh tries his best to keep this film away from any meaning or depth.

The whole film is presented in black and white, which comes off as a half-hearted attempt to make it seem smarter or more artistic than it actually is. In reality, the film is just a collection of uninteresting moments from a young child who doesn’t understand what is going on. To top it off, the whole film is ridden with unnecessary songs that try their hardest to invoke emotion where the film cannot.

“CODA”

Available for streaming on Apple TV+.

Verdict: Stream It

“CODA” (an acronym for Child of Deaf Adults) is a wholesome and small-scale slice of life picture. It’s centered around Ruby Rossi (Emilia Jones), a teenager who is struggling to find her identity while dealing with the responsibility of helping her family and their business.

The film is full of familiar elements from countless dramas and coming-of-age films, and it doesn’t try to blow our minds with anything new or groundbreaking. It’s here to give us a quaint, enjoyable experience, and I can’t help but commend it for its simplicity. Sometimes it’s okay to not be original, especially when the filmmaking here is effective and thoroughly enjoyable. If you want a film that will tug at your heartstrings in the best way possible, please check this one out. 

“Don’t Look Up”

Available for streaming on Netflix.

Verdict: Skip It

“Don’t Look Up” has some good things going for it. It has a stacked cast from some of the biggest names in Hollywood and political commentary coming from a place of frustration and necessity for change. The base idea of two astronomers finding out a meteor will destroy the earth in 6 months is a compelling pitch that could have been something interesting.

However, this film falls flat much more than it succeeds. It spends too much time focusing on dreadful characters and unfunny situations. The film has some of the worst editing I’ve seen in production this big. There are hints of a great film throughout its runtime, but it gets muddled with terrible filmmaking choices and badly written characters. Just watch a clip compilation of every scene with Timothée Chalamet and you’ll see the only good parts, trust me.

“Drive My Car”

Available for streaming on HBO Max.

Verdict: Stream It

“Drive My Car” might be the least exciting and the slowest burn of a narrative from this entire list, but it excels in its intimacy. The film is centered around an acting teacher as he tries to avoid dealing with his emotions towards his relationship with his wife. The dialogue communicates a wide array of complex human connections that never feels cliché or easy.

For a staggering three-hour runtime, “Drive My Car” is expertly paced. Every scene ends at the right time, and there is never a wasted moment. Every quiet moment builds onto one another as these characters become more rounded and understandable. This is a film where fiction seems so close to reality in the way these characters react and talk to one another.  It’s a beautiful film with a lot of heart that does not shy away from the emptiness we can feel through grief and regret. It also has one of the best movie cars of all time, and every time it was on screen, I wished I had a vehicle just like it.

“Dune”

Available for streaming on HBO Max.

Verdict: Stream It

From acclaimed science fiction director and visionary, Denis Villeneuve, comes one of the most impressive adaptations of all time. The story of “Dune” is infamous for being difficult to adapt into film, and after many failed attempts and box office bombs, we finally have a film worthy of the source material.

This otherworldly tale feels grounded and tactile, even with all of its science fiction elements. The scope of the narrative is tremendously large, but Villeneuve handles it with ease while carefully planting every single detail necessary for this space epic. “Dune” handles a lot of weird concepts and hard to understand information. What is most compelling about this story is how it handles the main character, Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet).  He follows the “chosen one” stereotype we have seen so many times, but “Dune” suggests this fate is a curse for Paul that will control his actions for the rest of his life. It might not be the standard science fiction film that we usually get, but “Dune” is a fantastic piece of filmmaking that is quite a miracle for even accomplishing something of this scale.

“King Richard”

Available for streaming on HBO Max.

Verdict: Skip It

“King Richard” is a pleasant biopic centered on the father of Venus and Serena Williams. Will Smith plays Richard Williams and does a decent job in the role. Smith is the perfect fit for a role like this because he is committed to his family and their success as well as his own. However, this film seems like it is centered around the wrong character. Richard is a prominent and important person for the two Williams sisters, but this should have been their story and not his. 

Other than being watchable and easy to sit through, “King Richard” has a difficult time leaving the audience with anything to think about afterward. It’s a film that struggles to find a purpose or a reason to exist besides being a film for Will Smith to star in. It is a fine film, but there is nothing here that is noteworthy. If you are wanting to catch up on some of the better films from last year, you would be better off skipping this one.

“Licorice Pizza”

Available to rent on Prime Video and Apple TV+.

Verdict: Stream It

“Licorice Pizza” is a worthwhile experience, even if I had a few problems with it. I thought the narrative was way too disconnected, which made it seem like it all amounted to nothing. I don’t think the film knew the point it was trying to make if there was a point at all. The main throughline in the narrative was the awkward relationship between the two leads, and this also felt unfocused and unsure of its message.

Why do I still think you should watch “Licorice Pizza?” Simply put, it is an incredibly well-crafted film that we hardly see in this day and age. All of the performances are outstanding. Each segment works on its own as a little short film, and most of them are really funny.  There is one 20 minute section of the film that is taken over by Bradley Cooper’s amazing performance as Jon Peters that feels like an entire movie on its own. The cinematography, production design and overall quality put into this film are spectacular. It just saddens me that all of this effort went into a project that comes across as confused about its own purpose.

“Nightmare Alley”

Available for streaming on HBO Max and Hulu.

Verdict: Stream It

“Nightmare Alley” is a gorgeous homage to noir and pulp cinema from the 1940s when this story was first adapted into a feature film. With a huge cast of names, like Bradley Cooper, Cate  Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Willem Dafoe and Toni Collette, the film succeeds in giving us a rich and compelling narrative that is fun to see unfold. This film is structured into two parts that would work much better with an intermission in between. As a result, the flow of this feels slow, and it ends up seeming much longer than the already lengthy runtime.

Despite some pacing issues and a struggle to keep the plot concise, “Nightmare Alley” is still a great experience. From the gorgeous sets to the spectacular costuming, the production design is expertly crafted. It has the power to embody the more classical period of cinema while using newer filming techniques to give us an entertaining ride, even if it is a bit on the slow side.

“The Power of the Dog”

Available for streaming on Netflix.

Verdict: Stream It

Westerns are not my favorite genre of film, but Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” is such a captivating work of art that I couldn’t help but become invested almost immediately. Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst capture an authentic fragility and pain in their characters that might go unnoticed in the first viewing, but it’s always there just below the surface.

The film never tells the audience what is happening or what the characters are thinking. It trusts the viewer to put the puzzle pieces together as they are presented. The full story comes together during the final moments, not as a bombastic twist, but as a recontextualization that makes us look back at the fine details of everything that came before.

“West Side Story”

Available for streaming on Disney+ and HBO Max.

Verdict: Stream It

Steven Spielberg is back with his first-ever musical, and it is far from a disappointment. The recreation of one of the most iconic musicals is beautifully crafted. It even improves on aspects that were lacking in the previous adaptation. With a better representative cast for the Puerto Rican characters and a bigger emphasis on the real conflict behind this meaningless feud, Spielberg’s interpretation justifies its own experience.

The cast is such a delight to see on screen with their mesmerizing dances, incredible vocal performances and line readings that still pack a punch in this timeless tale. Mike Faist in particular steals the show as he portrays Riff, the leader of the Jets. Spielberg flexes his director title by making the entire two and a half hour runtime an absolute feast for the eyes. The cinematography and choreography of each number is the true star of this picture and will be on the audiences’ minds for years to come.