Time for Oscars to Put on a Show in the Face of COVID, Ukraine and Controversy

thewrap.com:

the riskiest Oscars ever. Can we talk about a different side of the event? Can we acknowledge the sheer variety of the films that are competing for Best Picture?

There’s “Belfast,” a gentle memory piece from Kenneth Branagh that moved me more than anything else I saw in 2021. “CODA,” in which what could be a predictable feel-good story gains resonance in the way it places a deaf family at the center of the story. “Don’t Look Up,” a freewheeling satire from Adam McKay that in its best moments manages to be very funny and very serious at the same time. “Drive My Car,” a slow-burn three-hour Japanese drama that dominated major critics’ awards and could never have been nominated until recently. “Dune,” a monumental sci-fi epic made from a book that was supposed to have been unfilmable. “King Richard,” an exemplary piece of mainstream filmmaking about the improbable rise of tennis icons Venus and Serena Williams. “Licorice Pizza,” in which Paul Thomas Anderson turns a meandering story into a languid delight. “Nightmare Alley,” a richly disquieting slice of film noir from the great Guillermo del Toro. “The Power of the Dog,” a quiet but provocative Western from the essential director Jane Campion. “West Side Story,” Steven Spielberg’s respectful but smartly reimagined version of the 1958 Broadway musical that is as virtuoso a piece of filmmaking craft as anything released last year.I loved several of them and liked most of them, and together they mock the idea that the Academy’s 9,000-plus voters only go for one kind of film.

Sure, I wanted to see “C’mon C’mon,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “Cyrano” on that list, and I’d throw in the documentary “The Velvet Underground” and the Spanish drama “Parallel Mothers” and a few.