Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director (Todd Field), Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing
Cate Blanchett has done it again. Written and directed by Todd Field, Tár is a psychological drama about Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) the first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Before you bother looking her up, no she’s not a real person. Although after watching Blanchett’s performance, anyone mistaking this for a biopic would be forgiven. Tár is a conductor at the top of her game, trolls through every aspect of her life like a force of nature. But as stress mounts from her ever-present drive for perfection, Tár’s armor begins to crack— allowing Blanchett room to shine. Taking what could have been a merely good film and spinning it to gold through Tár’s subtle deterioration, Blanchett proves yet again why she is one of this generation’s finest actors. Exposing her character’s flaws, fears, strengths, and eventual self-destruction with complete abandon, Cate Blanchett has got to be the favorite to win Best Actress.
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount)
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Original Song
Top-to-bottom, the most entertaining, crowd-pleasing, capital-b Blockbuster film out of this year’s nominees, Top Gun: Maverick sees Tom Cruise reprising his seminal role as Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) after more than a thirty-year absence. Accompanied by a new group of characters, played by a stacked cast comprised of Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, and Jennifer Connelly (plus a cameo from Val Kilmer as Ice Man), the sequel manages to merge 80s bravado and nostalgia with a fresh sense of depth, maturity and self-awareness. And yes, there are aerial dog fights and stunts made especially breathtaking by that perfectionist Tom Cruise touch. Remakes and revisits—especially those decades overdue—are hardly ever worthwhile, let alone Oscar-worthy. Maverick is the exception.
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
Nathaniel Houston
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