The 2022 Oscar Best Picture Nominees (Part 2: Oscar-Bait)
So last time, we took a look at the Best Picture nominees we considered to be the Fan-Favorites heading in to next week’s Academy Awards ceremony. For this post we’ve decided to take a 180 and take a look at the two films that we consider to be the most Oscar Bait-y of the bunch.
If you are unfamiliar with the term Oscar Bait, these are films that are best described as “made by Oscar voters for Oscar voters”. They’re typically slower-paced, character dramas and tend to miss the mark when it comes to mass appeal. That being said, these are by no means bad movies. As having seen them both, I do think they each stand on their own two feet as great films, but I don’t think I would recommend them to anybody other than the bulkiest of movie-buffs or the “Do You Like Apples” boys.
So let’s get into it, these are the two films that we categorize as the Oscar-Bait-Oscar-Nominees.
Drive My Car
Oh man, this one was rough. I had high-hopes for another foreign-language film being in the running this year after Parasite in 2020 and Roma in 2019. Watching the movie, I understood why it was nominated, but it is one hell of a slow-burn. A THREE HOUR slow-burn. I had to watch it in three increments…fell asleep each time.
This probably won’t be a popular opinion amongst our colleagues in entertainment media, but it just felt like drama for the sake of drama. Not a lot of substance. Means a lot coming from us, the podcast that begged Colin Hanks to vote on which of his dad’s film characters would win in a fight.
They should give Oscars out for “Best Picture to Nap To”. Maybe I’m off-base, and again–I did fall asleep 3 times.
The Power of the Dog
So again, another slow burn of a film, but much more palatable as a movie in my opinion. Didn’t have to break this one up into installments which is a big deal for me these days. Another plus, from a visual standpoint, this movie is absolutely stunning.
Jane Campion’s western (although not a western if you ask Sam Elliot) is an olden-time look into toxic masculinity and sexual identity. It also spends a lot of time talking about a character who you dont even see in the movie, Bronco Henry, leaving the interne to speculate just who this mysterious chap is:
Regardless, I would not be surprised at all if Power of the Dog takes home the Oscar for Best Picture. It is a quintessential Oscar-bait movie and can be summed up as Brokeback Mountain but at the right time.
So what do you think? Are you triggered? Do you think another nominee fits into this category? Be sure to holler at us on Twitter (@korkedbats; @thecineboiz) and Instagram (@korkedbats2; @thecineboiz) and let us know how you feel.
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