A Look at Academy Award Nominations That Make Me Happy

Scene from Little Women (2019)

With the recent announcement of The Academy Award nominations, many have already taken to the internet to give criticism for what they have done wrong. Oh, Jennifer Lopez didn't get a nomination for Hustlers, or Greta Gerwig missed Best Director for Little Women. They're all fair criticisms that help prove why the Oscars have remained such an important part of film discourse. However, there is something else to highlight from these crop of nominees: the positive. Yes, for as much as they "got wrong," The Academy got a lot right and introduced a variety of things to be excited about. The following is a quick rundown of nominees that personally make me happy, or come as a pleasant surprise. While there's more that I liked, these are the pleasant surprises that make the season all the more worth supporting year after year.

Review: "The Lighthouse" is a Discomforting Hallucination of Pure Joy

Scene from The Lighthouse (2019)

In the world of Robert Eggers, the idea of isolation is a horrifying reality. His debut The Witch followed a family outcasted to the edge of town, forced to deal helplessly with the demons that lay in the forest. It was a horrifying film, exploring the struggles of faith as personal demons ate every character whole. The same can be said for The Lighthouse, with two men watching a lighthouse and doing everything to stay sane on an abandoned island. Unlike The Witch, The Lighthouse falls more into the realm of a dark comedy, becoming more disturbing in its humor as each bottle of liquor goes down, eventually splashing over their chins as they dance recklessly. They can't escape the island until the storm passes, but how long will that be? A day, a week, a month? It's a tale of survival that finds Eggers once again diving into the muck of humanity to find something equally repulsive and amazing. With a career-best performance by Robert Pattinson, the film is a haunted sea shanty that will drive everyone nuts - and that's only half of the fun.