Understanding what the word “best” means to the Oscars requires going back to the beginning.
After a series of scandals in the 1920s, Hollywood was desperate to ward off looming government regulation and censorship. They created the Academy to promote the legitimacy of the film industry, and the Oscars eventually became their most effective marketing tool. The awards celebrated the best parts of the industry and recognized people whom filmmakers wanted to be synonymous with filmmaking.
This is still the case 96 years later, and it is why you should expect to hear the name “Oppenheimer” over and over again on Sunday night.
“Oppenheimer” is a movie Hollywood is eager to celebrate. It is an R-rated, adult-oriented biopic that managed to gross close to a billion dollars at the box office. It features career-best performances from veteran performers like Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., who are both likely to win. And it is an opportunity for the Academy to finally recognize director Christopher Nolan and his collaborators, who have been making critically acclaimed blockbusters for almost 20 years.
Outside of team “Oppenheimer,” look for the Academy to shine a light on Lily Gladstone from “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Da’Vine Joy Randolph from “The Holdovers” for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. “American Fiction” and “Anatomy of a Fall” will be recognized in the screenplay categories. “Barbie” and “Poor Things” will win the technical categories that “Oppenheimer” doesn’t.
But what makes the Oscars more enjoyable than a contest like our current presidential primaries is that there is room for surprise. Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, or Ryan Gosling could all pull off upsets for their broader, more comedic work. The support of the international voting bloc could provide unexpected wins for “Anatomy of a Fall” or “The Zone of Interest.”
Whatever happens on Sunday, I hope you will join us at the Triplex to watch it with your fellow movie lovers. We recommend you come early to enjoy pizza from Roberto’s and take your photo with an actual Oscar on loan from our friends at Scout House. We will also be handing out prizes for Oscar trivia, the best costume inspired by one of this year’s nominees, and to whomever picks the most winners on their Oscar ballot.
Please believe me when I say we are going to have the best time.
Now Playing
“Kung Fu Panda 4”
Po is back with a new adventure.
The latest installment in the beloved DreamWorks Animation series comes to the Triplex this week. Po returns to team up with a new set of allies to take on the mysterious Chameleon in Mike Mitchell’s “Kung Fu Panda 4.” Bring the kids (or the young at heart) for this energetic, animated adventure.
“Perfect Days”
An emotional stunner from Wim Wenders.
The latest from legendary director Wim Wenders (“Paris, Texas”), “Perfect Days” explores the shadows that lurk on the edges of the simplest of stories. Depicting a few weeks in the life of Hirayama (Koji Yakusho), a Tokyo toilet cleaner, as his carefully constructed life is challenged by the arrival and departure of friends and family, this Academy Award nominee for Best International Feature is a small movie with a big emotional impact.
“Dune: Part Two”
The spice must flow.
Director Denis Villeneuve continues his epic saga of House Atreides and the Fremen in “Dune: Part Two.” Boasting an all-star cast featuring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Florence Pugh, Austin Butler, and many more, “Dune: Part Two” is already the biggest movie of 2024 and needs to be seen on the big screen.
Coming Soon
“The Teachers’ Lounge”
A thrilling, intimate depiction of how even the best of intentions can divide a community, “The Teachers’ Lounge” tells the story of Carla (Leonie Benesch), a public school teacher who tries to prove a student innocent of a crime and ends up in the middle of a controversy herself. Nominated for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards.
Special Event: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” with Philip Gefter
Join us on March 16 for a screening of Mike Nichols’ 1966 classic starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, followed immediately by a conversation with Philip Gefter, author of the new book “Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” and film critic Lisa Schwarzbaum.
Free Family Series: “Chicken Run”
Our free Saturday morning family series returns on March 16 with Aardman Animation’s claymation classic “Chicken Run.” This series is sponsored in part by the Alford, Egremont, Sheffield, and Stockbridge Cultural Councils, local agencies that are supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
