{"id":44361,"date":"2024-01-23T17:23:04","date_gmt":"2024-01-23T16:23:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1965970"},"modified":"2024-01-23T20:25:13","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T19:25:13","slug":"the-oscars-best-picture-line-up-is-the-strongest-its-been-for-years","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/the-oscars-best-picture-line-up-is-the-strongest-its-been-for-years\/","title":{"rendered":"The Oscars Best Picture line-up is the strongest it\u2019s been for years"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Academy Award nominations were announced earlier today (Tuesday 23rd January). <\/p>

By Patrick Cremona\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 23 January 2024 at 16:22 PM<\/p>

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It wouldn\u2019t be awards season without a few disappointments: deserving films inexplicably missing out on nominations and brilliant performances being snubbed<\/a> against all the odds.<\/p>\n

And while that is the case once again with this year\u2019s Oscar nominations \u2013 May December and All Of Us Strangers are just two examples of terrific 2023 releases that hardly got a look-in \u2013 I, nonetheless, think that the recently announced Best Picture line-up is significant cause for celebration.<\/p>\n

Not only is the overall quality of a consistently high standard not seen in the category for many years, but the sheer diversity of films on offer in terms of both style and subject matter is extremely encouraging.<\/p>\n

The line-up includes everything from epic crime sagas by master directors (Killers of the Flower Moon<\/a>) to understated romantic dramas from first-time filmmakers (Past Lives) with madcap comic fantasies (Poor Things<\/a>), cerebral foreign-language court dramas (Anatomy of a Fall) and tender Christmas movies (The Holdovers<\/a>) in between. And that\u2019s without even mentioning Barbenheimer \u2013 two films that caused a genuine cultural phenomenon and have rightly both been richly rewarded.<\/p>

Whatever way you look at it, it further underlines the fact that the types of film that might reasonably expect to compete for elusive golden statuettes has changed markedly for the better in the last few years. Largely gone are the days of what has often been referred to as \u2018Oscar bait\u2019: safe, uninspiring films that pick up honour after honour only to be remembered more for being the answer to a trivia question than for any real artistic merit or value.<\/p>\n

Instead, more daring films from more interesting filmmakers are being recognised where, previously, they might not have had a hope. And while big names such as Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan are hardly strangers to these award ceremonies, isn\u2019t it great that their most recent masterpieces are joined in the line-up by such a varied collection of films?<\/p>\n

\"Emma\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Emma Stone as Bella Baxter in Poor Things<\/span><\/figcaption> Searchlight<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

It\u2019s difficult to imagine, for example, a film from someone like Jonathan Glazer having made it into the Best Picture category even just a few years ago, while the fact that as many as three of the Best Picture contenders are entirely or partly in a language other than English (The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall<\/a> and Past Lives) also speaks to the Academy\u2019s welcome \u2013 and overdue \u2013 embrace of international films, sparked by the monumental success of Parasite four years ago.<\/p>\n

The Academy is, of course, far from infallible. For example, while there have been clear improvements when it comes to the number of films directed by women making it into the Best Picture category, there are still steps to be taken before we can speak of genuine gender parity (seven films in the ten-strong line-up were helmed by men). And, of course, while this year\u2019s list is undoubtedly exciting, it\u2019s entirely possible we might yet see a return to a more drab line-up in the future (Moonlight\u2019s well-deserved victory in 2017 being followed by a win for Green Book springs to mind).<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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