For me, it has been a year of folding inward and away from general awareness of the world at large. I have been keeping calm and sane dwelling on my interiority and reading dozens and dozens of cozy mysteries that take place in seaside bookshops and whatnot. Knowing this, perhaps my surprise that Oscar season was upon us can be forgiven. Not only had I not been aware that the big day was imminent until like, the day before the Oscars aired, I had no idea who and what the nominees were. Once I allowed myself the chance to emerge from the dank hole I live in, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and breadth of the nominees.
Below, I listed all ten Best Picture nominees, along with films similar in tone to enjoy while waiting for Oscar 2024 holds to arrive. All listed films are available in the Monarch catalog in DVD and/or BluRay format, and often Academy Award winners in their own right. Blurbs sourced from IMDB.
Anora (Neon) starring Mikey Madison and Directed by Sean Baker
What to watch while you wait: Humanist explorations of people living on the fringe. Lucky for us, this is Baker’s bread and butter.
Tangerine (2015) starring Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor; this film is notable for being the first feature-length film shot entirely on iPhones.
A hooker tears through Tinseltown on Christmas Eve searching for the pimp who broke her heart.
The Florida Project (2017) starring Brooklyn Prince, Bria Vinaite, and Willem Dafoe
A single mother and the manager of a roadside motel do their utmost to maintain the innocence of a six-year-old girl’s life.
The Brutalist (A24) starring Adrian Brody and directed by Brady Corbet
What to watch while you wait: Cinematic with a capital “C” period pieces.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) starring Noemie Merlant and Adele Haenel
On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) starring Robert De Niro and directed by Sergio Leone
A former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster returns to the Lower East Side of Manhattan 35 years later, where he must once again confront the ghosts and regrets of his old life.
A Complete Unknown (Searchlight) starring Timothee Chalamet and Elle Fanning
What to watch while you wait: Musician biopics, but maybe the musician is a big jerk.
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) starring Oscar Isaac and directed by the Coen Brothers
A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
Crazy Heart (2009) starring Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal
A faded country musician is forced to reassess his dysfunctional life during a doomed romance that also inspires him.
Conclave (Focus) starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci
What to watch while you wait: Catholic church-adjacent thrillers and controversies.
The Name of the Rose (1986) starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater
An intellectually nonconformist friar investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey.
Doubt (2008) starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams
A Catholic school principal questions a priest’s ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.
Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.)
What to watch while you wait: epic, sprawling, and ambitious crowd-pleasers
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) starring Peter O’Toole and Alec Guinness
The Story of TE Lawrence, the English officer who successfully united the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during WWI in order to fight the Turks.
Stargate (1994) starring Kurt Russell and James Spader
An interstellar teleportation device, found in Egypt, leads to a planet with humans resembling ancient Egyptians who worship the god Ra.
Emilia Pérez (Netflix) starring Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofia Gascon
What to watch while you wait: stories that center on living an authentic life.
I Saw the TV Glow (2024) starring Justice Smith and Jack Haven
A teenager just trying to make it through life in the suburbs is introduced by a classmate to a mysterious late-night TV show.
Joyland (2022) starring Ali Junejo and Rasti Farooq
The youngest son in a traditional Pakistani family takes a job as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque and quickly becomes infatuated with the strong-willed trans woman who runs the show.
I’m Still Here (Sony Classics) starring Fernanda Torres and directed by Walter Salles
What to watch while you wait: family dramas in times of war or conflict.
Roma (2018) starring Yalitza Cuaron and directed by Alfonso Cuaron
A year in the life of a middle-class family’s maid in Mexico City in the early 1970s.
Empire of the Sun (1987) starring Christian Bale and directed by Steven Spielberg
A young English Boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during WWII.
Nickel Boys (Amazon/MGM) starring Ethan Herisse and directed by RaMell Ross
What to watch while you wait: reform school buddy films and coming-of-age pictures.
The 400 Blows (1959) starring Jean-Pierre Leaud and directed by Francios Truffaut
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Crooklyn (1994) starring Alfre Woodard and directed by Spike Lee
Semi-autobiographical portrait of a school teacher, her stubborn jazz musician husband, and their five kids living in Brooklyn in 1973.
The Substance (Mubi) starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley
What to watch while you wait: mind-bending horror-adjacent and stylish thrillers. A smidge of body horror.
Mandy (2018) starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Panos Cosmatos
The enchanted lives of a couple in a secluded forest are brutally shattered by a nightmarish hippie cult and their demon-biker henchmen, propelling a man into a spiraling, surreal rampage of vengeance.
The Fly (1986) starring Jeff Goldblum and directed by David Cronenberg
A brilliant but eccentric scientist begins to transform into a giant man/fly hybrid after one of his experiments goes horribly wrong.
Wicked (Universal) starring Cynthia Eriv and Ariana Grande
What to watch while you wait: eye-popping, crowd-pleasing musicals.
In the Heights (2021) starring Anthony Ramos and Corey Hawkins
In Washington Heights, a sympathetic New York bodega owner saves every penny every day as he imagines and sings about a better life.
Into the Woods (2015) starring Anna Kendrick and directed by Rob Marshall.
A witch tasks a childless baker and his wife with procuring magical items from classic fairy tales to reverse the curse put on their family tree.
Did you notice how I did not include which film was nominated for which award or who won what? There are five million articles out there to this effect. Like the article HERE for instance, if one desired this information.
Not a big prestige/award season movie lover? Don’t worry, Mead owns copies of the highest art and lowest trash fit for the silver screen. Consider using our Your Next Five Movies tool, and be watching the movie of your dreams in no time.
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