Love it or hate it, there's a certain honor that comes with being nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. In any given year, only a fraction of the hundreds of films released over the course of 52 weeks makes it to the big night. While most years have produced very interesting results, this year has been defined by divisive picks that range from hit-and-miss (BlacKkKlansman) to downright frustrating (Bohemian Rhapsody). Of the many films released in 2018, these are the eight that have been deemed worthy of continuing for the award. The following is my ranking of these films as well as how I feel about their place in the rankings. This isn't a prediction so much of what will win, but maybe what would've won had I decided. Join in and feel free to leave your own rankings in the comments.
It seems like a myth now, but there was a time where Bradley Cooper's directorial debut looked like it would sweep awards season. With several snubs now accounted for, it's become disappointed to see one of the few films of 2018 that appealed to every possible quadrant of Oscar voters miss out. With a career defining performance by Lady Gaga and a soundtrack that is geared to get stuck in your head, the film has all of the power of a crowd pleaser and the artistry that reminds us why we go to the movies. It may be the third remake of Hollywood's favorite franchise, but it's one of the few that has used the text to explore something relevant to modern audiences, proving that the themes never change, only the names and faces with egos big enough to try and update it. While there's better aesthetic and technical films out there, none of them can compare to the sheer blast of zeitgeist-defining brilliance that this film has (okay, maybe Black Panther). It'll break your heart and tap your foot. What more could you want from a film?
2. Roma
Director Alfonso Cuaron's latest has gotten some messy press for Netflix's continuing (and frustrating) theatrical release schedule. It's a shame because this is a film that warrants the big screen experience in order to fully appreciate its cinematography and sound design. While Yalitza Aparicio gives one of the year's best performances, this is another example of Cuaron's ability to tell intimate stories with a grandiose scale and make it matter. Not a whole lot happens between the beginning and end of the film, and yet it feels like the audience has been on a journey through the life of someone called to be a hero in the face of thanklessness. It's a powerful film that also ranks among the director's best work. Few films could make such simple scenes feel like something greater thanks to a wandering camera that never lets up its curiosity.
Of every film released in 2018, few seemed as destined to be here as this one (especially in the wake of the Best Popular Film fiasco). Not only is it groundbreaking as the first superhero film to make Best Picture, but it's also one that sets the bar high for the genre with its mix of Afro-Futurism and high-wired action that spins around global economics debates. This is one of the few blockbuster films like it was going for something greater than spectacle and, in the process, gave us one of the best stories of the year. This film is hopefully a breaking point on many fronts, allowing superhero films to be taken more seriously and black voices to helm films of this magnitude. It's more impressive if you consider how few films of the genre feel this lived in, and how few are likely to be so intricately woven. Even if the film doesn't win Best Picture, it's already won plenty for superhero cinema on many, many fronts.
It has been nine years since director Yorgos Lanthimos' Dogtooth got an Oscar nomination and started the career of a revered filmmaker. After a patchy filmography, it seems like he's finally graduated from esoteric auteur to fully embraced genius with a period piece that pits two women against each other to win the approval of Queen Anne. It's an incredible film thanks to its set design and costumes, as well as three stellar performances that find acerbic wit hidden in between the sneakiest fight scenes of the year. Rachel Weisz has a power over the screen that makes her worthy of the Oscar, managing to be an antagonist that is equally lovable as she is despised. This feels like a turning point for the director and will possibly lead to his rise as one of the modern greats. Beyond that, the performances are some of the year's best in one of the most inspired period pieces in quite some time.
5. BlacKkKlansman
For more than 35 years, director Spike Lee has been creating some of the most confrontational American cinema with biting commentary on race that cuts through sentimentality. In his latest film, he takes on a real life event where a black police officer takes on the KKK and produces a film that is hilarious, haunting, and says so much about how racism goes beyond words. It's about actions, no matter how simple, that hurt people different from yourself. Lee's aggression has rarely been this centered and poignant and it's great that The Academy has finally recognized him with major Oscar nominations. It's his best in several years and also one of the films you'll love or hate, depending on how well you can put up with its approach to its themes. Even then, you can't deny that Lee's anger is captured perfectly in a way that will scar your memory for days after seeing it.
Of every Oscar-nominated film on this list, director Peter Farrelly's period piece about two people going on a road trip seems to be the most antiquated for something that's garnered controversy. Sure, it's a safe approach to racism in the modern discussion, but it's a far more interesting character study than it gets credit for. Over the course of two hours, Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali give two of the most charming performances of the year. It's an updated version of the odd couple with two men who are just trying to get through the trip without tearing each other's head off. A lot is learned on the way and it's plenty funny as well. While it may be the most conventional film on the list, there's nothing wrong with what it's doing or trying to say. It's fine, and sometimes that's enough.
After coming out swinging like a ton of bricks with The Big Short, director Adam McKay has returned with another politically charged satire that breaks from the tradition of cinema. By shifting style to tell the story of Dick Cheney's illustrious career of destroying America, he has found a new way to bring history to life. With a great performance by Christian Bale, the film is admirable in intent but messy in execution. As a portrait of a man, it leaves a lot to be desired and maybe loses something in the style. It's also a bit tedious and obnoxious when applying the layers that made The Big Short work so effectively, suggesting that this technique isn't the future of cinema that McKay thinks it is. The message it presents is important and he still has a way of presenting dense information in exciting ways, but the film's too much of a mess to be the follow-up masterpiece it wants to be.
This film is either a sign of The Academy's descent into madness, or the outlier by which future generations will mock us. While Queen is one of the defining bands of the 1970's and 80's, this haphazard biopic of singer Freddie Mercury has the opposite effect (and at the hands of the surviving members as producers, no less) and makes you wonder why they ever mattered. The editing is laughable, Rami Malek's performance suspect, and its LGBT politics maybe would've flown in the mid-90's in a time where mustache-twirling gay villains were more acceptable. In an age where the movie biopics are doing interesting things, Bohemian Rhapsody is a step backwards that glosses over conflict too much to ever create three dimensional characters and in some ways hates Mercury in the process. More than anything, this is just a bad example of a Best Picture nominee (possibly ever). It doesn't embody the best of anything. If anything, it's most likely the holdover from the Best Popular Film category that gives us a look at what could've been. The films (not named Black Panther and A Star is Born, anyways) maybe wouldn't have been very good, but their box office would've gotten it a nomination. If Bohemian Rhapsody is what that category would've looked like, then please just burn it to a crisp now.
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