The 2022 Oscar Best Picture Nominees (Part 3: Who Invited These Guys?)

So, here we are. Part 3 of our 4-part Oscar Blog. So far we’ve talked about the Fan-Favorite and the Oscar-Bait Best Picture Nominees. This time, we’re gonna take a look at the reaaaaaal head-scratchers of this year’s crop of films. Now we do apologize if you really liked either or both of these films (I actually loved one of them myself) but if we’re being honest, they probably shouldn’t be here.

This isn’t an uncommon occurrence, there tends to be at least one of this films that shows up every year. The unfortunate part is that we could probably name a few films that also deserved to be here if these two films are. So without further a-do, here are the two Best Picture Nominees which fall under the category “Who Invited These Guys?”

Don’t Look Up

Certainly not the worst movie ever made, but quite possible the worst in this year’s group of Best Picture nominees. It’s also one of my favorite director’s (Adam McKay) weakest films–and I’m including his earlier works such as Anchorman & Step Brothers as well. We definitely don’t want to say that he squandered such a terrific cast and interesting story, but it definitely didn’t live up to many people’s (including our) expectations.

Now this isn’t to say that this movie doesn’t have it’s moments. The dynamic of the Meryl Streep/Jonah Hill as Mother-President/Son-Chief-of-Staff is quite fun to watch. I personally love the concept of a military general charging un-witting scientists for free White House office snacks and it bugging Jennifer Lawrence’s character for the entirety of the movie. In the end though, a handful of laugh-out-loud moments and intriguing story just doesn’t keep this movie from feeling kind-of flat.

The good news, if you’re trying to watch all of the Best-Picture nominees before next Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, you can pop this one on Netflix while you’re cleaning or doing laundry.

Nightmare Alley

Alright, I’m gonna go ahead and expose myself here. I really enjoyed this movie. I didn’t expect to after the bad taste that SHAPE OF WATER left in my mouth, but Guillermo Del Toro’s follow-up was such a pleasant surprise in my opinion. So you may be asking, “Yo Kenny, why do you have it in this category if you like it so much…nerd?” My answer would start with “That last part was unnecessary and hurtful.” and then I would explain my reasoning to you–which is as follows:

Other than a few technical ones, Nightmare Alley hardly has any other nominations. It’s only other nominations are for cinematography (which SLAPS) and Costume Design (which makes sense). None of the actors were nominated and Guillermo Del Toro was not nominated for Best Director. Nightmare Alley feels like it somehow snuck in to this spot.

I think an argument could be made for SPENCER or THE LOST DAUGHTER taking this 10th and final spot over NIGHTMARE ALLEY.

So what do you think? Do you think these movies deserve to be Best Picture nominees? 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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