The Oscars, a film awards show that distributes namesake trophies with naked but penis-less men on them, is fast approaching. The nominees are being nominated, the stage is ready to be staged, and even the host is preparing their hosting. But most importantly the American public is waiting for small, metal naked men to be distributed to their favorite motion pictures; it is important to note that movies can be referred to as motion pictures due to the mobile nature of many thousands of picture frames that create this video-like entity that we call a movie.
As a precursor to this awards ceremony that so graciously hands out awards – to those most deserving, of course – let’s take the time, as the American public, to remember the cinematic glories of this year.
I would like to begin with the many types of films themselves. There were many varieties of film this year, more than the average year, in fact. Some included many different people, others included animals, and still others included some other creatures that have yet to exist on this planet. These various films were excitingly filmed in many different locations around the world, including New Zealand, Los Angeles and other California locations, Berlin, Australia, and the film studio itself.
But the common thread between all the nominated films – from Top Gun: Maverick to Elvis – was their existence. Naturally, all of the nominated movies were superb at existing. Although some were better at existing than others. For example, Avatar 2: The Way of Water existed for far longer than the other nominees. Regardless, the watchability of all the films proved very watchable, which is an important characteristic of a future award-winning film.
Let’s not forget about the unforgettable acting we witnessed on the big screen. This year, actors acted at incredible rates and were spectacular in reading the lines off the script they were given (which were sometimes in English and sometimes in other languages) with, and I say this with great delight, the voice and mannerisms that fitted their movie character. These talented actors even put on costumes designed by the costume designer to top their character off and make the movie more believable. Some films required a lot of costuming while others like Blonde didn’t require quite as much.
Truly, these actors transformed themselves in ways many critics and audience members did not think was possible. We watched as Sam Worthington transforms himself into a tall, sexy blue man in Avatar 2, as Brad Pitt transforms into a film star in Babylon, and unbelievably, as Tom Cruise transforms into himself in Top Gun: Maverick.
Of course, all the ingenious actors were accompanied by an effective script with lines (short and long) to help the story come to life. Lines included such phrases as “Art will give you crowns in heaven and laurels on earth” in The Fabelmans and “It is raining so much” in Babylon. There were also movie-relevant sounds consisting of many notes on many different instruments, most of them being very challenging.
To accompany the sights and sounds of the film, there were deeper, and often very touching themes associated with each film. From Top Gun: Maverick, audiences learned that planes are cool – unless they explode. From Elvis, audiences learned that if you want a music career, then you should talk in a deeper voice. From Everything Everywhere All at Once, we learned that the IRS is out to get us.
The most important trait of all these movies, however, was not their actors, scripts, or even costumes, but rather their effect on the audience. More than any other year, this year’s audiences were comprised of people ready to watch a movie. Of course, some audience members liked the movie and others didn’t, but what they had in common was their position of being in the audience, a key component to being in the audience.
These spectators truly felt as a result of seeing the nominated movies. They felt love, anger, fear, grief, doubt, desperation, boredom, a couch, a chair, a blanket, a stuffed animal, a popcorn bowl, and even the remote, but not all at once, of course. These movies challenged minds, visually dazzled, and inspired the spectators… although I don’t have a specific example, but there is sure to be some proof of this.
Tune in this March 2023 to the Oscars to see which award-nominated movies win the awards and which leave empty-handed because five people can’t share the same award; that would just be ridiculous.