Atomic Tragedy, American Horrors, and Candy-Colored Existentialism: Here Are Your 2024 Best Picture Nominees (And Where to Stream Them)

With the 2024 Academy Award nominations comes another stacked list of movies to play catch up with and there were quite a lot of surprises this year. "Godzilla: Minus One" secured the King of the Monsters with his first Oscar nomination (Best Visual Effects), Sandra Hüller is featured in two Best Picture nominees ("Anatomy of a Fall" and "The Zone of Interest") and Lily Gladstone made history as the first nominated Native American actress ("Killers of the Flower Moon"). In order to be ready for the ceremony, let's catch you up to speed with the 9 films vying for the top prize. Anatomy of a Fall - In "Anatomy of a Fall," the life of Sandra is thrown into chaos when her husband, Samuel, is found dead outside of her secluded home in the French Alps due to a mysterious fall. Justine Triet's taut courtroom drama is less concerned about whether Sandra pushed him and more about the humiliating horrors of the judicial process interrogating every private section of your life. It's a great character study that turns these characters' lives inside out for the world to see, with a brilliant turn from Sandra Hüller. (Available for Rental/Purchase) Barbie - In the event you somehow missed last year's explosion of pink, "Barbie" was the lively piece of bubblegum pop that took the world by storm, and rightfully so. Greta Gerwig's glossy pink haven is not only a hilarious and existential introspection of the doll's legacy, but a life-affirming journey of her femininity. It's impossible to not be mesmerized by the level of dedication on everyone's part to be this in on the joke. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were practically born to play the flesh and blood incarnations of these characters. (Streaming on Max) The Holdovers - The latest from director Alexander Payne is the kind of film that has all the makings of a holiday classic. Paul, a cranky teacher at a Massachusetts prep school, is tasked with watching over a group of children over the winter break and forms a melancholic kinship with one of his students. It comforts you like a warm blanket in the complicated feelings of the season. Most films would kill to have a triple threat like Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph and newcomer Dominic Sessa. (Streaming on Peacock) Killers of the Flower Moon - It's truly an honor to live in an era where a master of cinema like Martin Scorsese is not only making new art, but the kind that echoes throughout generations. "Killers of the Flower Moon" is a distressing titan of an American epic that gets to the silent rot beneath this country's unchecked greed that led to the countless shocking murders of the Osage nation, once considered some of the richest people in the country. Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro are impeccable as these silent monsters, but it's the transcendent Lily Gladstone who provides the kindness, disgust and silent rage that makes this harrowing true story worth telling. (Streaming on AppleTV+) Maestro - Nearly every Oscars season has that one film that sticks out like a sore thumb and unfortunately this year's candidate is "Maestro." Bradley Cooper follows up his directorial debut ("A Star is Born") with a forgettable biopic on the legendary composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein, where he also plays the titular music maker. It's a beautifully shot, if not emotionally inert portrait of Bernstein's marriage, music and closeted bisexuality that only offers surface level observations. Cooper is plenty boisterous, but it feels like he's performing for himself, rather than to serve the film at hand. (Streaming on Netflix) Oppenheimer - Who would have thought that last year's greatest success story would be a 3-hour biopic on the father of the atomic bomb? Bolstered by a cast of thousands, Nolan's latest is a riveting experience about watching the horrors of history slowly eating away at those who caused it, and the violent reverberations that will ripple for eternity in their name. If you've got Oscar ballots going, count on this as your next Best Picture. (Streaming on Peacock) Past Lives - Having not seen each other since they were children in South Korea, "Past Lives" sees Nora and Hae Sung reuniting for a few days in New York City, both of whom have become different people since they've been apart. I wasn't totally enamored with Celine Song's debut but there's something special written in the performances of Greta Lee and Teo Yoo as two friends who find themselves in an uncomfortable, but common predicament of having to let go to move on. (Streaming on Paramount+/Showtime) Poor Things - I'm very happy to now know the answer to the question, "What would it look like if Yorgos Lanthimos made a steampunk sex comedy out of the DNA of "Frankenstein"?" Emma Stone works her magic as the free-spirited Bella Baxter, a scientific creation brought to life with the brain of a child. Amid her accelerated development, Bella sets out on an adventure to discover the world she's been shielded from by way of many sexual escapades. (Available for Rental/Purchase) The Zone of Interest - Jonathan Glazer's "The Zone of Interest" is one of the year's best films, a bleak portrait of silent inhumanity that towers over every scene. It's unlike any Holocaust drama to come before it, as the film follows Rudolf Höss, the leader of Auschwitz, and his family living a life of paradise outside the camp. The mundanity of it all makes for a uniquely sickening audiovisual experience. (Available for Rental/Purchase) The 2024 Academy Awards is set to air on March 10th at 7pm (ABC). Are there any streaming projects that you would like to see me cover? Shoot me an email at moviemoxie1@gmail.com and be sure to let me know! Be kind. Stay safe.