Which movies have led to the biggest best picture race in years?

“Do not look up”

The academy has donated Adam McKay’s last two comedies, “The Big Short” and “Vice,” and his new satire, “Do not look up“(Expected later this month), has higher stakes and even more star power. Oscar Streep favorites Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Mark Rylans and Jonah Hill star in this comedy set about a comet threatening the end of the world – a fairly obscure metaphor for the climate crisis, with even greater realism world during the global pandemic – and in the midst of a sea of ​​candidates for the track of the time, “Don’t Look Up” and its fatalism with the screwed future are felt even more at the moment.

These are six sure things. What other films are left to claim the last four places?

As I said earlier, it helps to have a strong candidate for the best actor to star in your film. Expect a big boost, then, for the musical “Cyrano” with an ever better Peter Dinklage, by Lin-Manuel Miranda “Tick, Tick… ​​Boom!” with Andrew Garfield as composer Jonathan Larson and Joel Coen’s “The tragedy of Macbeth», with a galvanized Denzel Washington in the lead role. And since then “Come come “ is the first film starring Joaquin Phoenix since “The Joker”, not to be overlooked, although I suspect this tender little upbringing drama by director Mike Mills could follow Mills’s latest masterpiece, “20th Century Women” and fly over the heads of the academies.

Hopefully when voters point out their choices for Best Actress, they will realize that some of the most wonderful films of the year are vying in this category and also deserve a place for Best Picture. This group includes Paul Thomas Anderson “Pizza with licorice», which includes the film debut of musician Alana Haim and Pedro Almodóvar “Parallel Mothers», who won Penélope Cruz star the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. In Cannes, Renate Reinsve won first prize for Best Actress and her romantic drama “The worst man in the world” deserves much more attention at the awards, while at the recent Gotham Awards, Maggie Gyllenhaal directed “The lost daughter” won several major trophies, including one for Olivia Colman’s top performance. Many experts believe that Kristen Stewart could win the Oscar for her role as Princess Diana in Pablo Lauren’s film. “Spencer,” Although we will see if the film itself can manage something that could not achieve Larraín’s most generally recognized “Jackie” and we will have the best film.

The academy has welcomed a large number of international members to its recent push to diversify its voting base, which could be good news for Asghar Farhadi: The Iranian director’s films have twice won what is now known as the International Feature Oscar , but his new moral Drama “A hero” can go one step further and win a nomination for best photography. Oscar-winning Italian writer Paolo Sorrentino will make the same leap into adulthood “The hand of God», which could also land him in the race for best director.

I’m curious about “CODA,” the drama about the listening daughter of a deaf family. It started in 2021 with a huge discount at Sundance before landing on Apple TV + in the summer with much less attention. The film is a conventional crowd that just hasn’t found the crowd, although two recent Gotham Awards victories may finally put some air on its sails. And then there is the science fiction epic “Dune,” which will be a major player in all technology categories. The reception on “West Side Story” can relieve the pressure to give “Dune” a nod with the best picture just to have something It’s a blockbuster in the final 10, but I still think the film’s a big hit on the list: It’s beautifully made and voters respect director Denis Villeneuve for fighting a corporate mandate that shuffled his film on HBO Max without warning. (And let’s face it – this year’s montage with the best photos will look much cooler if it has giant sandwiches.)