As of now, you have less than two months till the Academy Awards event on March 12.
That’s totally OK.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has recognized a wide range of movies this year, from critical darlings to commercial successes, and ten of these films will fight for the best picture Oscar.
Most of the award-worthy content, including outstanding acting and technological accomplishments, is now available on streaming and on-demand services.
Can’t seem to get started on your assignments? Okay, family, don’t worry. These 15 Oscar contenders are available today on Netflix or Amazon Prime.
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1. Everything Everywhere All at Once
Just go with the crazy flow of this action-packed, genre-hopping extravaganza that received a record-breaking eleven nominations (including best picture, original screenplay, directing (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert), actress (Michelle Yeoh), supporting actor (Ke Huy Quan), and supporting actress (Julianne Moore) (Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu).
Yeoh shines in the lead role of a laundromat owner whose tax problems take a back seat to a nihilistic villain and a crash lesson in various universes (including one in which she has hot dog fingers!).
Where to watch: Showtime, Apple TV
2. ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’
An experience as stressful and upsetting as being “ghosted” by a friend or loved one is one that many people can relate to. Put two of the best performers of their time in a best picture nomination set in the 1920s on a remote Irish island, and you have a film with a point.
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson shine as former best friends trapped in a sudden, flaming conflict in Martin McDonagh’s marvelously dark examination of isolation, desperation, and mortality, with strong turns from Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan as characters caught up in their not-so-civil war. Are actors up for Academy Awards? The luck of the Irish is with them.
Where to watch: HBO Max
3. ‘Elvis’
It may not have reached everyone, but Elvis Presley was a huge deal. Nominated for best picture, Baz Luhrmann’s elegant musical drama celebrates Elvis Presley’s career from the early 1950s through his final years as a Las Vegas headliner.
Young girls (and older ones) scream and swoon in supernatural joy when a young Elvis (top-notch leading man Austin Butler, who garnered his first best actor nod) lays into the rockabilly classic “Baby Let’s Play House” and wiggles his hips.
Where to watch: HBO Max
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4. ‘All Quiet on The Western Front
The latest film adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque novel, portrayed from the German point of view, is as distressing as its predecessor from 1930 (which won an Oscar for best picture) and just as powerful in conveying its anti-war message.
And voters at the Academy thought so too, as the film was nominated for nine awards. While an officer (Daniel Brühl) feverishly negotiates for an armistice, a 17-year-old (Felix Kammerer) lies about his age to proudly travel to the front lines of World War I, where he observes carnage and gets desensitized to the brutality.
Where to watch: Netflix
5. ‘The Fabelmans’
Award-winning director Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story, which also starred Michelle Williams and Judd Hirsch, is set in the 1950s and ’60s and depicts the famed filmmaker’s boyhood as a member of a Jewish household.
Gabriel LaBelle, a relative newcomer to the acting scene, is brilliant in the role of adolescent Spielberg, here named Sammy Fabelman, a youngster whose creative world erupts when he has a camera in his hands, despite having to deal with parental conflict and anti-Semitic bullying.
Where to watch: Apple TV
6. ‘Top Gun: Maverick’
Tom Cruise may be famous for his daring plane jumps in “Mission: Impossible” movies, but let’s be real: he’s far more at home piloting a fighter jet.
Cruise plays the returning flyboy from the 1986 original training a fresh crop of teenage pilots in an endlessly amusing, nostalgic sequel that earned best picture, screenplay, and original song nominations and made a great cinematic star out of Glen Powell.
Where to watch: Paramount+
7. ‘Tár’
Cate Blanchett shines in this classical music drama directed by Todd Field and up for best film, best director, and best original screenplay.
The film, propelled by Blanchett’s masterful baton twirling, is a contemporary tale about a cultural icon who uses her authority in questionable ways, making it relevant to the #MeToo movement. However, “Tár” has a more enduring quality, with its plot unfolding like a Greek tragedy and focusing on the tragic end of a woman’s terrible behavior.
Where to watch: Apple TV, Peacock (starting Friday)
8. ‘Triangle of Sadness’
Best film nominee and gloriously nasty class satire from Ruben stlund takes up everyone from egotistical models to Russian oligarchs to genteel English arms makers. Beautiful Harris Dickinson and the late Charlbi Dean are among the super-rich invited on a yacht piloted by a gonzo, Marxist-loving American.
Charlbi Dean plays the role of the lead female character (Woody Harrelson). The ship encounters a wild storm, which results in the most horrible, vomit-soaked supper imaginable, and then collapses in a comical manner, demonstrating the wealthy who is truly in charge.
Where to watch: Apple TV
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9. ‘Glass Onion: A Knives out Mystery’
A computer mogul (Edward Norton) hosts a murder mystery weekend for his closest friends (Janelle Monáe, Dave Bautista, Leslie Odom Jr., Kathryn Hahn, and Kate Hudson) on his extravagant Greek island.
After the mysterious appearance of Southern investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a murder is found and the plot thickens in director Rian Johnson’s entertaining and intriguing sequel, “Knives Out,” for which Johnson was nominated for an Academy Award for his script.
Where to watch: Netflix
10. ‘Turning Red’
The family-friendly comedy is a strong contender for best-animated feature, and like the finest Pixar films, it tackles a universal facet of human experience (in this case, female puberty) in a warm and relatable way.
A Toronto teen (voiced by Rosalie Chiang) discovers that she can transform into a gigantic red panda when she gets aroused in this hilarious and affirming homage to monster movies, boy bands of the 2000s, Asian culture, and coming of age from director Domee Shi.
Where to watch: Disney+
11. ‘Causeway’
In this profound drama, Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry (who was nominated for an Oscar for the first time) give outstanding performances. After suffering a brain injury in Afghanistan, Lynsey (Lawrence) returns to New Orleans, where she must address numerous aspects of her physical and emotional well-being.
A friendly mechanic named James (Henry) becomes Lynsey’s friend despite his own personal demons. The chemistry between Lawrence and Henry is fantastic in this heartwarming movie.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
12. ‘Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio’
This delightful stop-motion animated spin on the traditional fairy tale set in 1930s Italy is the work of Guillermo del Toro, a modern maestro of the macabre.
You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Pinocchio mocking Mussolini, and the film’s whimsical plot takes on war and fascism, among other dark and pretty mature issues, with refreshing vigour. The film stars a star-studded voice cast (including Ewan McGregor and Cate Blanchett).
Where to watch: Netflix
13. ‘To Leslie’
A social media campaign spearheaded by A-listers like Kate Winslet and Jane Fonda resulted in Andrea Riseborough’s best actress nomination being the biggest surprise on the Oscars announcement morning.
Riseborough plays a single mother in West Texas who wins the lottery, blows the money, and then gets a second opportunity many years later to make things right for her kid.
Where to watch: Apple TV
14. ‘RRR’
The Indian blockbuster features N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan as robust heroes who battle against British colonialists in the 1920s. The film is a must-see, the best of last year, thanks to its love tales and over-the-top spirit.
Unfortunately, it was not nominated for an Academy Award for best film, but the original song “Naatu Naatu,” which plays as our two characters engage in a dance-off with a smarmy British guy, won a Golden Globe and will go up against Lady Gaga and Rihanna at the upcoming ceremony.
Where to watch: Netflix
15. ‘Navalny’
Nominated for best documentary, Daniel Roher’s film is an engrossing and motivating stranger-than-fiction deep dive into the life and near death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The film follows the investigation into the poisoning of the charismatic dissident (and President Vladimir Putin’s chief political rival) in 2020, but it also manages to hit on an emotional level thanks to interviews with the subject’s children and Navalny himself, a man willing to go to any lengths to better his country.
Where to watch: HBO Max
