The 96th Academy Awards will be presented Sunday night. And, as usual, I will have not seen most of the films up for awards.
I am a big fan of one of the best picture nominees this year — “Barbie” — which also earned nominations for best supporting actor and actress, a pair of nominations for original songs and nods for costume design, production design and adapted screenplay. I even saw this one in a theater.
I appreciated the performances of Annette Bening (best actress nominee) and Jodie Foster (best supporting actress nominee) in “Nyad.” And I’ve watched two other nominated films, if you go down to the less exiting categories of original score, sound and visual effects.
I really enjoy movies, so I’m not really sure why I’ve seen only 10 of the 79 movies nominated for best picture since 2015 — even though I’ve had almost a decade to watch some of them.
Since I can’t really opine on most of this year’s nominees, I’ve decided to create my own list of award-winning films, nominated and selected by yours truly, with no sorting or tabulating of votes by PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants required.
• Best film recommended by my in-laws goes to “Shakespeare in Love” (1998)
My late in-laws always had great recommendations for my husband and me, from staying at a castle in Durnstein on our first trip together to Europe to watching “Downton Abbey.” This winner of best picture (along with six other Oscars) was one of their best suggestions.
• Best film starring Colin Firth not as a romantic lead goes to “The King’s Speech” (2010)
I am a fan of many Colin Firth films — even “What a Girl Wants” with a rotten tomatoes score of 36 percent — and was blown away by this film, which won four Academy Awards, including best actor for Firth and best picture.
• Best film starring Colin Firth as a romantic lead goes to “Pride and Prejudice” (1995)
While technically a BBC television series, I was not about to leave this five hour and 27-minute masterpiece off my list. I’ve watched this incredible adaption of Jane Austen’s most well-known novel countless times, laughing and crying even though I know the story by heart. (Kudos to Greta Gerwig for her nod to it in “Barbie”!)
• Best film seen on school field trip goes to “Gandhi” (1982)
My two-year History and Thought of Western Man class exposed me to literature, music and films I never would have found on my own as a high school sophomore and junior. I wasn’t alone in loving this film, which took home eight Oscars, including best picture.
• Best film to prompt nightmares goes to “Wizard of Oz” (1939)
Even though my mom pointed out Margaret Hamilton in Maxwell House coffee commercials multiple times during the year, every time I watched Dorothy travel to the Land of Oz I had recurring nightmares of the Wicked Witch of the West chasing me around haystacks. I was banned from watching the movie for several years as a result.
• Best film to while away the hours while waiting to give birth goes to “Hook” (1991)
This wonderfully silly, funny, nostalgic film has long been a favorite of mine and my husband, so it was a natural choice for viewing while waiting for my daughter to be born in January 2009.
• Best final line of a movie goes to “Ironman” (2008)
Armed with a stack of notecards outlining his alibi to present at a press conference, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark goes off script with three simple words that create a frenzy. “I am Ironman.”
— Pamela Lannom is editor of The Hinsdalean. Readers can email her at [email protected].
