The Academy of Oscars is no longer a controversy. Between accusations of cheating around the nomination of actress Andrea Diesborough and simply curious decisions, the nominations for the 95th ceremony are once again causing a lot of ink to flow.
It is the great absentee from this edition who preferred to nominate “Top Gun: Maverick” or “Avatar: La Voie de L’Eau” in the category of best film instead of the last film of Jordan Peele. For its visuals, its scenario and the ingenuity of its technique, “Nope” however had airs of great favorite. An absence that is all the more regrettable as the rest of this category clearly shows that there was room for genre cinema, of course, but for the general public and demanding.
What is it about? Jordan Peele tells us the story of a brother and a sister (Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya), trainers of horses for the film industry. Owners of an isolated ranch, they soon witness a strange entity appearing in the sky.
Read the review of “Nope”
During its presentation at the Zurich festival last September, the film by Gina Prince Bythewood had been tipped for the major categories of the Oscars 2023. For its costumes, its make-up, its photography and the sparkling performances of its cast, starting with the incredible Viola Davisthere was the stuff of a great triumph, and a nomination in the category of best actress.
What is it about? The filmmaker Gina Prince Bythewood plunges us into 1823 when the kingdom of Dahomey is on the verge of war against the Oyo empire which attacks the villages and resells the prisoners as slaves to the colonists. And to defend them, you will have to rely on the Agojie, a female warrior force.
Read the review of “The Woman King”
Danielle Deadwyler and Jalyn Hall
© Universal Pictures International Switzerland GmbH
The filmmaker’s film Chinonye Chukwu gets caught up in the controversy over the actress’ nomination Andrea Diesborough for the movie “To Leslie”. Indeed, the African-American actress Danielle Deadwyler was alongside Viola Davis, one of the favorites in the Best Actress category. Moreover, many newspapers and critics deplore the lightning campaign carried out to convince the members of the Academy of the appointment ofAndrea Diesboroughto the detriment of more obvious benefits.
What is it about? Biography on the life of Mamie Till-Mobley, the filmmaker Chinonye Chukwu tells the story of this mother’s struggle after the lynching of her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, in the Mississippi Delta. The murder of Emmett Till was one of the defining events of the American civil rights movement.
Korean entry to Oscars 2023 under the direction of the filmmaker Park Chan-wook, “Decision To Leave” had the stature to win an official selection in the best international film category. An incomprehensible absence for many, as this erotico-Hitchcockian thriller has never ceased to surprise since its presentation at Cannes in 2022 where the filmmaker also won the prize for best director. Later, the film also won 2 nominations at the 2023 BAFTA Film Awards.
What is it about? The body of a man is found at the foot of a mountain. And soon the investigator (Park Hae-il) in charge of the investigation compromises his work, while he feels a particular attraction for the wife of the deceased (Tang Wei).
Read the review of “Decision To Leave”
Few films have been as acclaimed as the director’s feature debut Alice Diop. Fascinating legal drama for which the filmmaker takes advantage of her excellence in documentary, “Saint Omer” was the French entry for the Oscars in the best international film category. For its rhythm, for its script, there would be a lot to say, but the Academy has decided otherwise.
What is it about? “Saint Omer” is inspired by the case of Fabienne Kabou, a mother accused of infanticide in 2016. Alice Diop tells this film from the point of view of a novelist who attends the trial and whose life is strangely intertwined with the story of the one everyone accuses.
Read the review of “Saint-Omer”
Adaptation of the famous novel by Don DeLillo through Noah Baumbach, we found the film splendid, but “White Noise” was not unanimously accepted everywhere. And yet, for its adapted screenplay, for its visuals, and perhaps also because it is carried by the Gerwig-Baumbach duo – and the couple’s six collective Oscar nominations – it is quite surprising that the film leaves without the lower appointment.
What is it about? Adam Driver plays a university professor whose family is in the throes of many upheavals when a toxic cloud appears over the city.
Read the review of “White Noise”
Released at the end of January in French-speaking Switzerland, the Franco-Cambodian director Davy Chou stunned with the inventiveness of its screenplay and its dialogues. Cambodian entry to the 2023 Oscars, the film has been a hit since its presentation at Cannes and TIFF. A remarkable film, carried by an incredible Park Ji-mingreat revelation of “Return to Seoul”.
What is it about? The filmmaker tells an existential fable through Freddie, 25, who returns to South Korea for the first time since she was adopted, in the hope of finding her biological parents.
Read the review of “Return to Seoul”
Like “Pearl”, whose interpretation of mia goth would have deserved the attention of the Academy, horror films rarely have the favor of the jury. Thus, “The Menu” also slips through the cracks of the Oscars. And yet, this darkly humorous gastronomic parody had a lot to offer, both in its visual approach and through the costumes of the famous Amy Westcot. A film on the verge of experimentation that has not escaped the very demanding Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor Joy and Nicholas Hoult.
What is it about? Filmmaker Mark Mylod unveils a parody of haute cuisine as prestigious personalities are invited by a renowned chef. But the chef has concocted a very surprising menu, exclusive and deadly.
Read the review of “The Menu”
Director of the highly acclaimed “Call me By Your Name” in 2017, Luca Guadagnino unveiled at the Venice Film Festival in 2022 a superb cannibalistic romance. Anteroom to the Oscars, the film also won the prize for best direction. But nothing will help, nor the presence of Timothée Chalametnor that of the excellent Taylor Russell, nor the visual effects, nor the make-up. “Bones and All” is among the big underdogs of the 2023 Oscars.
What is it about? Two vagabonds in love feast on those they meet on the way. An original incipit through which Luca Guadagnino writes an astonishing fable about America and the overconsumption of the 80s.
Read the review of “Bones and All”
© Anthony Hopkins and Banks Repeta
Nominated for the Palme d’Or at the last Cannes Film Festival, perhaps there was no room for two great autobiographical works at the Oscars, Steven Spielberg and his “The Fabelmans” having already been there. Although the genre is always a bit tricky, its approach is original when James Gray parallels his own existence with the changes inherent in America before the presidency of Ronald Reagan. And deliveringAnthony Hopkins in the role of the grandfather will probably also have escaped the Academy.
What is it about? Filmmaker James Gray revisits his own childhood in 1980s New York, with Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway in the role of his parents.
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