This blog started as my movie marathon — watching a movie a day for a whole year — and has continued as a place for me to write reviews about movies, TV, and various other items.
This is still a work in progress as I migrate from my old platform at Tumblr. For now, you can still access the whole backlog of posts there at http://reelmatt.tumblr.com
The last couple of years has seen me get progressively worse at keeping up-to-date with film and tracking what I’ve seen. My Letterboxd diary is mostly up-to-date, and I try to review films when I can, but it’s a far cry from my previous output. And through all the craziness of the past several years, I didn’t even have a prediction post up for the 93rd Oscars.
For this year, I have a lot of N/A entries for my “Most Deserving” pick, because I didn’t see a lot of the Best Pictures. I saw some, including venturing out to see Dune on the big screen, but I only nabbed five out of ten Best Picture nominees, and many of the Acting and other down-ballot categories I only saw two or less, so decided I couldn’t really pick having not seen all that was on-offer.
| Film |
|---|
| Belfast |
| CODA |
| Don’t Look Up |
| Drive My Car |
| Dune |
| King Richard |
| Licorice Pizza |
| Nightmare Alley |
| The Power of the Dog |
| West Side Story |
Most Deserving: CODA
Most Likely: CODA
| Director | Film |
|---|---|
| Kenneth Branagh | Belfast |
| Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Drive My Car |
| Paul Thomas Anderson | Licorice Pizza |
| Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog |
| Steven Spielberg | West Side Story |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: Jane Campion
| Actor | Film |
|---|---|
| Javier Bardem | Being the Ricardos |
| Benedict Cumberbatch | The Power of the Dog |
| Andrew Garfield | Tick, Tick… Boom! |
| Will Smith | King Richard |
| Denzel Washington | The Tragedy of Macbeth |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: Will Smith
| Actress | Film |
|---|---|
| Jessica Chastain | The Eyes of Tammy Faye |
| Olivia Colman | The Lost Daughter |
| Penélope Cruz | Parallel Mothers |
| Nicole Kidman | Being the Ricardos |
| Kristen Stewart | Spencer |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: Penélope Cruz
| Actor | Film |
|---|---|
| Ciarán Hinds | Belfast |
| Troy Kotsur | CODA |
| Jesse Plemons | The Power of the Dog |
| J.K. Simmons | Being the Ricardos |
| Kodi Smit-McPhee | The Power of the Dog |
Most Deserving: Troy Kotsur
Most Likely: Troy Kotsur
| Actress | Movie |
|---|---|
| Jessie Buckley | The Lost Daughter |
| Ariana DeBose | West Side Story |
| Judi Dench | Belfast |
| Kirsten Dunst | The Power of the Dog |
| Aunjanue Ellise | King Richard |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: Ariana DeBose
| Film | Writer(s) |
|---|---|
| Belfast | Kenneth Branagh |
| Don’t Look Up | Adam McKay |
| King Richard | Zach Baylin |
| Licorice Pizza | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| The Worst Person in the World | Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: Belfast
| Film | Writer(s) |
|---|---|
| CODA | Sian Hede |
| Drive My Car | Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Takamasa Oe |
| Dune | Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth |
| The Lost Daughter | Maggie Gyllenhaal |
| The Power of the Dog | Jane Campion |
Most Deserving: The Power of the Dog
Most Likely: CODA
| Film |
|---|
| Encanto |
| Flee |
| Luca |
| The Mitchells vs. the Machines |
| Raya and the Last Dragon |
Most Deserving: Encanto
Most Likely: Encanto
| Film | Country |
|---|---|
| Drive My Car | Japan |
| Flee | Denmark |
| The Hand of God | Italy |
| Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom | Bhutan |
| The Worst Person in the World | Norway |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: Drive My Car
| Film |
|---|
| Ascension |
| Attica |
| Flee |
| Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) |
| Writing with Fire |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: Summer of Soul
| Film |
|---|
| “Audible” |
| “Lead Me Home” |
| “The Queen of Basketball” |
| “Three Songs for Benazir” |
| “When We Were Bullies” |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: “Audible”
| Film |
|---|
| “Ala Kachuu – Take and Run” |
| “The Dress” |
| “The Long Goodbye” |
| “On My Mind” |
| “Writing with Fire” |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: “The Long Goodbye”
| Film |
|---|
| “Affairs of the Art” |
| “Bestia |
| “Boxballet” |
| “Robin Robin” |
| “The Windshield Wiper” |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: “Robin Robin”
| Film | Composer |
|---|---|
| Don’t Look Up | Nicholas Britell |
| Dune | Hans Zimmer |
| Encanto | Germaine Franco |
| Parallel Mothers | Alberto Iglesias |
| The Power of the Dog | Jonny Greenwood |
Most Deserving: Dune
Most Likely: Dune
| Song | Film | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| “Be Alive” | King Richard | Music and lyrics by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter |
| “Dos Oruguitas” | Encanto | Music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda |
| “Down to Joy” | Belfast | Music and lyrics by Van Morrison |
| “No Time to Die” | No Time to Die | Music and lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell |
| “Somehow You Do” | Four Good Days | Music and lyrics by Diane Warren |
Most Deserving: “No Time to Die”
Most Likely: “Dos Oruguitas”
| Film |
|---|
| Belfast |
| Dune |
| No Time to Die |
| The Power of the Dog |
| West Side Story |
Most Deserving: Dune
Most Likely: Dune
| Film |
|---|
| Dune |
| Nightmare Alley |
| The Power of the Dog |
| The Tragedy of Macbeth |
| West Side Story |
Most Deserving: Dune
Most Likely: Dune
| Film |
|---|
| Dune |
| Nightmare Alley |
| The Power of the Dog |
| The Tragedy of Macbeth |
| West Side Story |
Most Deserving: The Tragedy of Macbeth
Most Likely: The Power of the Dog
| Film |
|---|
| Coming 2 America |
| Cruella |
| Dune |
| The Eyes of Tammy Faye |
| House of Gucci |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: The Eyes of Tammy Faye
| Film |
|---|
| Cruella |
| Cyrano |
| Dune |
| Nightmare Alley |
| West Side Story |
Most Deserving: N/A
Most Likely: Cruella
| Film |
|---|
| Don’t Look Up |
| Dune |
| King Richard |
| The Power of the Dog |
| Tick, Tick… Boom! |
Most Deserving: The Power of the Dog
Most Likely: King Richard
| Film |
|---|
| Dune |
| Free Guy |
| No Time to Die |
| Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings |
| Spider-Man: No Way Home |
Most Deserving: Dune
Most Likely: Dune