There are plenty of reputable award shows, but any filmmaker has their eyes on the big prize: The Oscars. Win at this ceremony and your legacy as a valuable contributor to the world of cinema is all but assured. And when it comes to prizes, there’s none bigger than ‘Best Picture.’ West Side Story, Ben Hur, The Godfather Part II, Forrest Gump, Gladiator, and other all-out classics have won this much-coveted prize. Win it, and you’re among royalty. It’s another fierce competition for the prize this year, so who will come out on top? Everything Everywhere All At Once, and All Quiet On The Western Front, are firm favorites, but there’ll be more than a few people using a betting offer to back outsiders Tar and The Fabelmans to win.
In this post, we’ll run through all the nominations and assess their chances of walking away with the statue.
All Quiet On The Western Front
It’s hard to make a well-received adaptation of a much-loved book, but All Quiet on the Western Front certainly lived up to the pressure. While far from the perfect movie, the intense insight into the brutality of the war and the sensitive handling of the soldier’s experience makes it a potential Oscar winner, especially since the academy has been increasingly awarding the top gong to international movies recently. Still, perhaps this could be the year when the academy brings the award back to home soil by giving it to a domestic production.
Elvis
Elvis has a lot going for it. For one thing, it managed to appeal to both younger and older audiences. Second, it’s a movie biopic, which have historically done well at the Oscars. What’s more it’s about Elvis, a popular culture icon who will have a lot of fans from within the voting block. On the slightly more pessimistic side, it is true that some reviewers were hardly in love with this movie, so any victory would be reliant on ‘the feel good nod to nostalgia’ factor, and no one’s sure how much appetite there is for that.
Tar
Tar is somewhere near the bottom of the list of presumed favorites to win the prize, but if there’s going to be a surprise winner, then you’d have to back it. For starters, it’s a phenomenal, ambitious movie, and one that speaks to many issues that would likely appeal to Oscar voters. Plus, it’s won other awards recently, which always bodes well for a strong Oscars performance. However, as with Elvis, it would be wrong to say that it was a runaway success — some people loved the movie, while an almost equal number thought it was overrated.
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Everything Everywhere All At Once is the runaway favorite for the Best Picture prize and you can see why — it’s a technically proficient, unique movie with great acting. If it did win, there would be no one arguing with the decision. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that favorites don’t always win the top prize — if anything, it can hurt their chances. Plus, the outright oddness of this movie means that it might be slightly too leftfield for the academy, which prefers conventional films.
The Banshees of Inisherin
Don’t be surprised if The Banshees of Inisherin wins Best Picture. It’s not flash on any level (there’s no CGI anywhere), but that’ll work in its favor. It’s driven by a brilliant plot, script, and fantastic acting, and in the movie world, that counts for a lot. It might, however, be too lowkey to win such a big prize.
The Fabelmans
It feels like The Fabelmans really could give Steven Spielberg another Oscar. After all, it’s essentially a love letter to Hollywood, and if the Oscars wanted to reclaim some of its magic, then this would be a good place to start. The argument against this movie is that it might be too traditional to win the top prize. It’s a fantastic, highly loveable movie, but it’s not exactly groundbreaking. Still, you have to imagine that Spielberg will win best director.
