With a little under a month to go before the 2023 Academy Awards are presented, there’s already talk over which of the 2022 assortment of films will take away the industry’s most prestigious award.
And in fairness, 2022 was a knockout year for film — especially after what were a tumultuous two years thanks to the coronavirus. That said, it seems not even a global pandemic could have stymied the creativity produced by the industry’s best…
Leading up to #TheOscars, ICON has curated a list of five of the best-nominated films that you can actually watch now ahead of Hollywood’s night of nights.
Aftersun
While this might be a small-budget Indie flick, Aftersun is receiving stellar reviews across the board with a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film stars Hollywood hunk Paul Mescal, who is nominated for an Oscar for the Best Actor. category – a significant achievement for the small-scale film at hand.
The film is set at a fading vacation resort in Turkey where a girl spends a summer vacation with her young father for the first time in twenty years. The father (Mescal) is battling the crippling effects of mental health and what it means to be a good father.
Aftersun is out in select cinemas now, but can also be watched on certain streaming platforms, like Amazon Prime Video.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Based on the literary masterpiece by Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front tells the gripping story of a young German soldier, Paul, who is stationed on the Western Front during World War I. Paul and his comrades experience firsthand not only how frightening and un-glorious war is, but the fear and desperation they face as they fight to survive in the trenches.
The gripping German film is available to stream on Netflix and has been nominated in five of the ten Oscar shortlists – more than any other film.
Avatar: The Way of Water
James Cameron’s epic masterpiece, Avatar returns after a 13-year wait, with many pundits expecting the highly-anticipated sequel to take home an Oscar.
The sequel returns to the beautiful world of Pandora, where Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) must flee their home to protect their family when an old threat returns. A cinematic masterpiece in the making, we suspect.
With four shortlist slots, we’re sure Avatar: The Way of Water will take home at least one Oscar this year. You can see Avatar in cinemas now.
Babylon
Brad Pitt. Margot Robbie. The golden age of Hollywood… this has ‘Oscar award-winning film’ written all over it. The films centre around a collection of film-related professionals who find themselves struggling to transition from the success of their silent film era careers to that of talkies. Accompanied by extravagant parties, underground wrestling rings, elephants, and everything that comes with such novelties, the film is a three-hour wild ride through Hollywood’s most renowned era.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
We love the success that Everything Everywhere All at Once has received to date, and the success that its leading cast members are being recognised for — including Jamie Lee Curtis, nominated for her first ever Oscar in the Best Supporting Role category, Michelle Yeoh for Best Actress and Ke Huy Quan for Best Supporting Actor (a fairytale story in itself… google it).
The Sci-Fi film centres around a Chinese American immigrant woman (Yeoh) who is facing the perils of life: a struggling laundromat, family issues, a failing marriage and a sick parent. Now, she must fight through multiple dimensions to save the world (while still working her miserable job at the IRS).
Everything Everywhere All at Once is available to stream now on Binge and is a must-watch for all cinephiles; we can’t see how this film doesn’t take home at least one Oscar.
