So the 95th Academy Awards are quickly approaching, a time when we all wait for Oscar Claus to come down our chimneys and grant us our myriad of movie wishes. We all pray Oscar Claus will give us that pony or that laptop or, I don’t know, a nomination for any woman director, but it’s safer to just expect a pile of plain, predictable, and very white men’s socks.

But who cares, right? That’s the question we ask ourselves each year. The celebrities wearing their shiny gems and gowns will again trade some more shiny things amongst themselves, and we will watch while eating our Hot Cheetos in one hand and Googling in the other where to stream My Year of Dicks. Who cares, indeed?

Okay well, this is embarrassing, but I do care. Part of me still believes in Oscar Claus and knows that, if you wait long enough and you’ve been really good, you might just get a Best Picture win for Parasite. Mostly, I just fricking love the movies. I love watching them, celebrating them, analyzing them, and having healthy debates about them far, far away from the Twitter mosh pit. I’m the guy that says you really should watch The Revenant, and, yes, you’re supposed to feel like a pulverized lemon by the end. I’m the guy that recites Nicole Kidman’s AMC monologue at parties. Yep… that’s me. Sorry about that.

Like I said, I love movies. I don’t love movie politics. I don’t care whether or not a movie won at SAG or BAFTA or ESPN and what that statistically says about its chances this coming Sunday. I just care about good movies being watched by more people. So, I’m not going to list my Oscars predictions for each category at stake, as many journalists might. I’m instead going to highlight the 2022 movies I watched and suggest the ones you should watch. Continue reading “Ranking Movies Between Laundry and Taxes #001: A 95th Oscar Primer” →