OSCARS on demand
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’
Don’t worry about having your brain broken and just go with the wild flow of this action-packed, multiverse-hopping genre mashup that scored a leading 11 nominations, including best picture, original screenplay, directing (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), actress (Michelle Yeoh), supporting actor (Ke Huy Quan) and supporting actress (Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu). Yeoh dazzles as a laundromat owner whose tax issues get shoved aside when she gets a crash course in alternate realities and has to learn from the lives of her other selves to stop a nihilistic villain. Tvwhere to watch:
Showtime, Apple
‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
Getting ghosted by a friend or a loved one is a relatable bit of stress and heartbreak. Add a 1920s remote Irish island setting, toss in two of the greatest actors of their generations, and you’ve got a best picture nominee with something to say. Martin Mcdonagh’s wonderfully bleak exploration of isolation, desperation and mortality lets Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson loose as ex-best pals in a sudden fiery feud, with nice supporting turns from Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan as characters caught up in their not-socivil war.
Where to watch: HBO Max
‘Elvis’
Not sure if everyone’s heard, but Elvis Presley was a big deal. And Baz Luhrmann’s stylish musical drama – nominated for best picture – pays tribute to the King of Rock ’n’ Roll from his early 1950s gigs to his later days as a Vegas headliner. When a burgeoning Elvis (top-notch leading man Austin Butler, who earned his first best actor nod) lays into the rockabilly tune “Baby Let’s Play House” and wiggles his hips, young women (and older ones too) scream and swoon in preternatural delight, possessed by the power of a fledgling rock god.
Where to watch: HBO Max
The Academy Awards nominations are out and you’ve officially got less than two months to catch up before the March 12 Oscars ceremony. ● No sweat. ● From box-office blockbusters to filmfestival favorites, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded kudos to a bunch of different movies this year, and 10 new films will compete to win best picture. Now’s the time to catch most of the awards fare, with boffo acting performances and technical achievements aplenty, on streaming services and on-demand platforms. ● Don’t know where to start with your homework? We got you. Here are some movies in the running for Oscars that you can watch at home right now.
‘All Quiet on the Western Front’
Like its 1930 counterpart (which won a best picture Oscar), the latest adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque novel – told from a German point of view – is harrowing and deeply effective with its anti-war message. And the Academy voters loved it, giving it nine nominations including best picture and international film. A 17year-old (Felix Kammerer) lies about his age to proudly go to the front lines of World War I, witnesses carnage and becomes numb to the brutality while an officer (Daniel Brühl) desperately negotiates for an armistice.
Where to watch: Netflix
‘The Fabelmans’
Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age tale – which snagged nods for best picture, directing, actress (Michelle Williams) and supporting actor (Judd Hirsch) flashes back to the 1950s and ’60s and the legendary filmmaker’s childhood growing up in a Jewish family. Newcomer Gabriel Labelle amazes as teenage Spielberg, here named Sammy Fabelman, a kid whose creative world just explodes when he gets a camera in his hands while also navigating parental drama and antisemitic bullying.
Where to watch: Apple TV
‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Tom Cruise is known for jumping off planes in crazy “Mission: Impossible” stunts but come on, he’s much better in the cockpit of a fighter jet. Even though he didn’t snag a best actor nomination, Cruise still oozes A-list cool as the returning flyboy from the 1986 original training a new crop of young pilots in an endlessly entertaining, nostalgic sequel that scored best picture, screenplay and original song nods.
Where to watch: Paramount+
‘Tár’
Best actress nominee Cate Blanchett soars in Todd Field’s classical music drama, which also scored nods for best picture, directing and original screenplay. Powered by Blanchett’s baton-wielding tour de force, the film is a modern tale about a cultural giant who uses her power in not-so-great fashion, so there are #Metoo factors at play. However, “Tár” has more of a timeless quality, playing out in the style of a Greek tragedy.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Peacock (starting Friday)
‘Triangle of Sadness’
Self-obsessed models, Russian oligarchs, polite English arms manufacturers – everybody’s sent up in Ruben Östlund’s deliciously grotesque class satire nominated for best picture. Harris Dickinson and the late Charlbi Dean play a beautiful couple who are invited on a trip for the super-rich aboard a
yacht captained by a gonzo, Marxistloving American (Woody Harrelson). The ship hits an unruly storm – leading to the most heinous, vomit-drenched dinner you could ever imagine – and then sinks in a ridiculous fashion, turning the tables on the wealthy and showing who really rules.
Where to watch: Apple TV
‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery’
A tech billionaire (Edward Norton) invites his longtime crew (including Janelle Monáe, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn and Kate Hudson) for a murder mystery getaway on his posh private Greek island. Daniel Craig’s Southern sleuth Benoit Blanc inexplicably shows up, a body hits the floor and the game is afoot for director Rian Johnson’s fun and twisty sequel, which like the first “Knives Out” earned Johnson a screenplay Oscar nomination.
Where to watch: Netflix
‘Turning Red’
Like the best Pixar originals, the family-friendly comedy – a contender for best animated feature – takes on a universal aspect of people’s lives in a heartwarming fashion – in this case, female puberty. A Toronto teen (voiced by Rosalie Chiang) wakes up to discover that, when overly excited, she turns into an 8-foot-tall giant red panda in director Domee Shi’s funny and empowering tribute to monster movies, 2000s-era boy bands, Asian culture and growing up.
Where to watch: Disney+
‘Causeway’
Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry – who nabbed his first Oscar nomination – turn in top-notch performances in this meaningful drama. Lynsey (Lawrence) is a soldier who returns home to New Orleans after sustaining a brain injury serving in Afghanistan, but she needs to improve her physical and mental health on multiple levels. Lynsey finds a friend in James (Henry), an amiable mechanic struggling with his
own past.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio’
Guillermo del Toro, a modern master of the macabre, gives the classic fairy tale a twisted bliss with this enjoyable stop-motion animated take set in 1930s Italy. With a precocious, troublemaking wooden puppet desperate to be a real boy and a star-studded voice cast (from Ewan Mcgregor to Cate Blanchett), the whimsical narrative takes on war and fascism – you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Pinocchio mocking Mussolini – plus tackles dark and fairly mature matters with life-affirming zeal.
Where to watch: Netflix
‘To Leslie’
Andrea Riseborough’s best actress nomination was the biggest surprise on Oscars announcement morning, thanks to a social media campaign led by A-listers including Kate Winslet and Jane Fonda. In the drama, Riseborough plays a West Texas single mother struggling to provide for her son who wins the lottery, squanders the money, but gets a second chance to make things right years later.
Where to watch: Apple TV
‘RRR’
An action epic that manages to be
more glorious and bromantic than a “Top Gun” movie, the Indian blockbuster stars N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan as buff heroes who take on 1920s British colonialists in a must-see movie with love stories and spirit. It didn’t get a best picture Oscar nomination but its nominated original song “Naatu Naatu” – which accompanies our two protagonists in a dance battle with a smarmy British guy – won a Golden Globe and will compete against the likes of Lady Gaga and Rihanna.
Where to watch: Netflix
‘Navalny’
Daniel Roher’s film, nominated for best documentary, is a riveting and inspiring stranger-than-fiction deep-dive into the life and almost death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The movie chronicles the investigation into the 2020 poisoning of the charismatic dissident (and President Vladimir Putin’s chief political rival), but it also hits on an emotional level.
Where to watch: HBO Max