Best Picture Ballot

[Sabin]

Sonic Youth wrote
What a bill of goods! It's "Three Billboards" all over again. When I saw the trailer for 3B, I thought "This movie is gonna fuckin' POP!" Well, it didn't pop - the good stuff was all used up in the trailer - and neither does Fiction.

This is why you have to post more.

[Okri]

Ruffalo's character may be repulsive, but his acting, despite being over-the-top, is a pleasure to watch.

Not for me. Christopher Abbott's character was also repulsive and his was a much better performance. His appearance towards the end were some of the best scenes in the film. Ruffalo was just unwatchable.

Well, now that's something worth debating! I hope you do get a chance to expand your thoughts in the thread

7. American Fiction
What a bill of goods! It's "Three Billboards" all over again. When I saw the trailer for 3B, I thought "This movie is gonna fuckin' POP!" Well, it didn't pop - the good stuff was all used up in the trailer - and neither does Fiction. There's a potentially fascinating detour the film could've taken between Monk and Sintara - why does this author denounce the condescending nature of Monk's pseudonymous book without acknowledging the similarities of her own work? This is left unexplored, and frustratingly so. Anyway, the movie feels like it's at least 10 years out of date. That Monk in 2023 acts surprised at the state of publishing, white readership, academia and woke sensitivities reveals him to be quite out of touch.

And now I don't need to expand my thoughts, because this neatly summarizes a great deal of my frustration with the film.

[Sonic Youth]

Ruffalo's character may be repulsive, but his acting, despite being over-the-top, is a pleasure to watch.

Not for me. Christopher Abbott's character was also repulsive and his was a much better performance. His appearance towards the end were some of the best scenes in the film. Ruffalo was just unwatchable.

Added American Fiction to my list, fwiw.

[Big Magilla]

Poor Things
This could be a metaphor for AI, so precise is Stone's gradual cognitive development. The film feels like an AI creation as well. Seriously, from the Masters Thesis cribbing screenplay to the artificiality of... well, everything visual, I don't think any human hands were involved in the creation of this production. It's a fascinatingly icy experience - the b&w scenes look like a mash-up of The Elephant Man and Eraserhead. But I can't imagine anything is enhanced by repeat viewings. And Mark Ruffalo's nomination is pretty repulsive.

Good observations overall, but this I don't agree with. I've seen Poor Things three times, more times so far than any other 2023 movie. The first time, I hated it. The second time, I thought okay, I can see why some people like it, but the third time, I actually liked it.

I think in fifty years or so, it will be the best remembered film of the year. If the world is still here, and people still watch old movies, it will be paired with The Bride of Frankenstein in repertoire cinema in whatever form that may take by then. A.I. yes, not in the sense that you're describing, but in the tradition of the arc of the Spielberg film which bends reality but with enough humanity to make it believable within its own context.

Ruffalo's character may be repulsive, but his acting, despite being over-the-top, is a pleasure to watch.

[Sonic Youth]

Managed to catch Poor Things. I haven't written many reviews so here's a few summary comments for each movie.

ETA: Added American Fiction.

1. Anatomy of a Fall
"A 'Law and Order' episode stretched out to movie length," some have griped. Well, find me the L&O episode with a character study as deep, brutal and insightful as this and I'll gladly watch.

2. Past Lives
This is NOT a love story. Inasmuch as it is a love story, it's supplementary to the grander themes: the passage of time, what constitutes a happy life, the fixation of unfulfilled/unanswered 'what ifs', etc. And a good thing it went in that direction, because if that longing was acted upon it would have been ruinous. This may be the first movie where by the final scene I was inwardly begging the protagonists NOT to kiss.

3. Barbie
This may be the best Barbie movie that could've been made. And that's more impressive than it may sound, because this could've been a career ender of Ishtar proportions. It flirts with sensory overload at times, and the humor operates at the level of an SNL sketch. But just as SNL can still hit their targets once in a while, so did this movie with a surprising success rate. But.... it's still a Barbie movie. It's still a summer movie. The limits of its accomplishments are unavoidable. And however engaging Robbie was, Barbie's a slightly boring character. Unfair as it may feel, the snubs were no disgrace. And I'm still bitter Kate McKinnon got no attention.

4. Poor Things
This could be a metaphor for AI, so precise is Stone's gradual cognitive development. The film feels like an AI creation as well. Seriously, from the Masters Thesis cribbing screenplay to the artificiality of... well, everything visual, I don't think any human hands were involved in the creation of this production. It's a fascinatingly icy experience - the b&w scenes look like a mash-up of The Elephant Man and Eraserhead. But I can't imagine anything is enhanced by repeat viewings. And Mark Ruffalo's nomination is pretty repulsive.

5. The Holdovers
The answer to the question "Is this a 50s film or a 70s film?" is: it's a late 80s/early 90s film. It's never quite gets mawkish like, for example, Scent of a Woman, but no matter how hard Payne tries, the truth is when you traverse this territory the formula's eventually gonna catch up with you. I love Paul Giamatti, but if you watch the first 10 minutes of his performance, you've seen pretty much all you're going to see.

6. The Oppenheimer Symphony in 97 movements. Look, I'm probably going to rant about it on Monday so why don't I say some good things instead? Out of the 3 hours, at least 15 minutes of the film were excellent. It remains a compelling story regardless of the narrative and stylistic devices Nolan imposes upon it. And Cillian Murphy was magnificent, and absolutely deserves an Oscar for his performance. The makeup effects are impressive too, but no amount of makeup is going to age those youthful voices.

7. American Fiction
What a bill of goods! It's "Three Billboards" all over again. When I saw the trailer for 3B, I thought "This movie is gonna fuckin' POP!" Well, it didn't pop - the good stuff was all used up in the trailer - and neither does Fiction. There's a potentially fascinating detour the film could've taken between Monk and Sintara - why does this author denounce the condescending nature of Monk's pseudonymous book without acknowledging the similarities of her own work? This is left unexplored, and frustratingly so. Anyway, the movie feels like it's at least 10 years out of date. That Monk in 2023 acts surprised at the state of publishing, white readership, academia and woke sensitivities reveals him to be quite out of touch.

[Sabin]

I think I've said this before that this year's crop of Best Picture nominees feels more exciting than any year since 2019 and yet I'm having a harder time than usual ranking the rest of them. Or if not ranking them, knowing how to compare certain qualities. I'm feeling challenged knowing how to weigh the tidiness of The Holdovers and Past Lives against something like Anatomy of a Fall Killers of the Flower Moon which each have a crucial dimension missing (what is it saying?) or muddied (DiCaprio's character arc). Trickiest is Barbie which on a second viewing is clearly a major feat of dressing up the fact that it's not about anything at its core. Seriously, it's a great time, but I don't buy anything it's selling about the importance of Barbie for a moment. I don't think it does either (so cue the Billie Eilish song!) I could go on. And yet as I write this out, I don't feel like I'm writing about flaws (well, maybe one or two). These are films to be wrestled with and I've enjoyed wrestling with them all Oscar season. I'll say that I have a handful of issues with Poor Things but it's the only film that gave me everything that I wanted. A second viewing of Oppenheimer came close. I don't think Nolan lands that third act (Murphy helps immeasurably) but I won't object to it winning Best Picture. I will object to a film about nuclear annihilation cruising through awards season with nothing to say about war, peace, and nuclear annihilation, but rather on Oppenhomie vibes, as if the storytellers forgot that the only reason Oppenheimer was chosen (tricked? both?) into running the experiment was that his lefty/Jewish credentials would draw in/dupe scientists into creating a doomsday weapon. Oppenheimer is a film about how the beauty of collaboration is to be viewed with skepticism. Two viewings in, I'm still skeptical of Oppenheimer but still moved by it and (like all these films) grateful for the wrestle.


1. Poor Things
2. Oppenheimer
3. Killers of the Flower Moon
4. Past Lives
5. Barbie
6. Anatomy of a Fall
7. The Holdovers
8. The Zone of Interest
9. American Fiction
10. Maestro

[Sonic Youth]

This is as far as I could get. I doubt I'll be able to see anything else before Sunday evening.

1. Anatomy of a Fall
2. Past Lives
3. Barbie
4. The Holdovers
5. Oppenheimer

[Big Magilla]

1. Past Lives
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. Oppenheimer
4. The Holdovers
5. Poor Things
6. Killers of the Flower Moon
7. American Fiction
8. The Zone of Interest
9. Barbie
10. Maestro

[gunnar]

I finally watched Poor Things and can finish off my ballot. Here's my personal preference:

1. Oppenheimer
2. Anatomy of a Fall
3. American Fiction
4. Killers of the Flower Moon
5. The Holdovers
6. Barbie
7. Poor Things
8. Past Lives
9. The Zone of Interest
10. Maestro

The only one that I disliked was Maestro.

[dws1982]

1. Oppenheimer
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
3. Anatomy of a Fall
4. Past Lives
5. Barbie
6. The Zone of Interest
7. The Holdovers
8. Maestro
9. American Fiction
10. Poor Things

[anonymous1980]

I can now finally share my Best Picture ballot. Strong year. Numbers 1-6 are in my Top 10.

1. Past Lives
2. Killers of the Flower Moon
3. Oppenheimer
4. Anatomy of a Fall
5. The Holdovers
6. Poor Things
7. Barbie
8. The Zone of Interest
9. American Fiction
10. Maestro

[danfrank]

1. Past Lives
2. The Zone of Interest
3. Anatomy of a Fall
4. Oppenheimer
5. Poor Things
6. American Fiction
7. Killers of the Flower moon
8. The Holdovers
9. Barbie
10. Maestro

[Mateo]

My rankings for the year, inspired by Nick Davis' system from Nick's Flick Picks:

For the Ages (An all-timer; destined for the list of greats)

01. Oppenheimer
02. The Zone of Interest

Fantastic (exceptional; truly special)

03. Past Lives
04. Barbie

Fetching (Good, very good)

05. The Holdovers
06. Anatomy of a Fall
07. Killers of the Flower Moon

Fair (Fine; nothing special)

08. Poor Things
09. Maestro

Flotsam (Actively bad; major disappointment)

10. American Fiction

[Sabin]

I'm holding off on presenting my rankings but at this point I think Poor Things is the average favorite film of the nominees of the board despite being nobody's favorite. Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, and Past Lives split both top of the middle of the rank.

[mlrg]

1. Oppenheimer
2. Poor Things
3. American Fiction
4. Killers of the Flower Moon
5. Past Lives
6. The Zone of Interest
7. The Holdovers
8. Maestro
9. Anatomy of a Fall
10. Barbie