Matt BirchlerRolling into the Oscar’s seeing 7/10 Best Pictute nominees. Pretty good for me!
My pick is either Sinners or One Battle After Another, both astounding achievements this year. I do personally slightly prefer Sinners, but they’re both brilliant.
Josh Biggs@matt_birchler here are my picks. I forgot to select costume design - will go with Hamnet in that one too. http://fxrant.blogspot.com/2025/02/oscar-pool-ballot-97th-academy-awards.html
Steven Op de beeck@matt_birchler my feeling during Sinners the whole time was “What the hell am I watching”, was that part of the appeal?
The Sleight Doctor 🃏🍉@stevenodb @matt_birchler Nope. Coogler used the horror genre to explore cultural trauma and social issues relating to racial identity. It's metaphorical storytelling, kinda like how Romero's Dawn of the Dead wasn't really about zombies, but consumerism.
The film is also steeped in the blues mythology of the era and African spiritual practices. If you were expecting a straightforward, jump-scare action horror and aren't familiar with these complex themes, it may have seemed a jumbled mess. 🤷🏻♂️
@ApostateEnglishman @matt_birchler thanks for the context.
@stevenodb @matt_birchler No worries. To put it another way, it's not your fault! A lot of viewers - and a few critics - felt the same as you.
You've had a normal experience of a weird but wonderful movie. 👊🏼
@ApostateEnglishman @stevenodb Yeah for me, it was a brilliant film from the jump, and digging into the deeper aspects and watching it a second time was transcendent for me.
Also, not for nothing, but it was far and away the most successful film of all the nominees by US box office. I love it when a bona fide front runner is also an actually popular movie that non-film buffs enjoyed as well.
Deborah Rose ❌👑@matt_birchler @ApostateEnglishman @stevenodb Sinners is definitely a film you have to watch a few times. So good.
@DebErupts @matt_birchler @stevenodb Yeah, an amazing and unique piece of filmmaking. I'd say directors such as Coogler and Villeneuve have shown there's still public appetite for films that take risks and have artistic merit. Cinemagoers are growing bored of endless CGI-heavy reboots, sequels and spin-offs - there's renewed appetite out there for originality and depth!
@matt_birchler I loved Frankenstein. I thought it was visually stunning.