Joey Magidson
As I continue my coverage of the 97th Academy Awards, as well as prepare to kick off my rankings of the Top 25 winners of each Oscar category (probably next month), I thought I would put recent history up for debate once again. Namely, last year’s Academy Award winners against this year’s. Hell, we can include a few prior years too, if you’d like. So, this week’s Awards Radar Community Question (potentially one of a few this week) shapes up like so: how do the newest crop of Oscar winners compare to prior ones?
For comparison’s sake, I’ll list the winners in each of the eight above the line categories now for the five most recent ceremonies, including this year’s, with an asterisk* denoting my personal preference. Here you go:
Best Picture: Anora*, Oppenheimer, Everything Everywhere All At Once, CODA, Nomadland
Best Director: Sean Baker*, Christopher Nolan, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Jane Campion, Chloé Zhao
Best Actor: Adrien Brody, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Fraser*, Will Smith, Anthony Hopkins
Best Actress: Mikey Madison, Emma Stone*, Michelle Yeoh, Jessica Chastain, Frances McDormand
Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, Robert Downey Jr., Ke Huy Quan, Troy Kotsur*, Daniel Kaluuya
Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldaña, Da’Vine Joy Randolph*, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ariana DeBose, Youn Yuh-jung
Best Adapted Screenplay: Conclave*, American Fiction, Women Talking, CODA, The Father
Best Original Screenplay: Anora, Anatomy of a Fall, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Belfast, Promising Young Woman*
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As you can see above, I once again seem to be partial to this year, buoyed by Anora, with the exception of the occasions when CODA, Poor Things, and Promising Young Woman took home the gold. However, that’s just me. The choice is now yours. Does Anora help fuel this year’s lineup for you? Was it another one, instead? Either way, we’re keen to find out!
How do you think the newest Oscar winners compare to last year’s, as well as the year before’s? Let us know!
I would say that…
Anora ranks in the middle range of recent Best Picture nominees. I don’t hold it in nearly the same regard as I do Oppenheimer and Everything Everywhere All at Once, but it’s about on par with Nomadland and a hell of a lot better than CODA.
Sean Baker is a decent Best Director winner in the grand scheme of things, but I don’t think his direction of Anora was one of its most notable strengths, unlike what Christopher Nolan, Daniels, Jane Campion, or Chloé Zhao brought to their movies.
Adrien Brody is a spot-on Best Lead Actor winner. I’m amazed at how the Academy is suddenly speaking my language when it comes to this category. Cillian Murphy and Anthony Hopkins also rank among The Greats, and not just among the last five years. Will Smith isn’t a bad winner either. Really, the only underwhelming winner of the last five years in my eyes is Brendan Fraser.
I’d place Mikey Madison in the upper tier of recent Best Lead Actress nominees. The only lady who I think delivered a more accomplished performance among her peers was Michelle Yeoh.
Kieran Culkin shouldn’t be regarded as a Supporting Actor at all. I will die on this hill. It’s not even a debatable borderline situation like Ke Huy Quan can claim; he’s just a straight up, unambiguous leading role. He’s not miscast like Daniel Kaluuya was in Judas and the Black Messiah but to compare him to actual supporting roles that Robert Downey, Jr. and Troy Kotsur portrayed is insulting to them.
Ditto Zoe Saldaña, who somehow was considered a “supporting” role despite being in more of her movie than anyone else in it. But unlike Culkin, I can’t even shrug a “well, at least the performance is great…” caveat. She doesn’t salvage the problematic undertones of her part the way Da’Vine Joy Randolph did and can’t even touch Ariana DeBose‘s singing and dancing abilities. As far as I’m concerned, Youn Yuh-jung still reigns supreme among recent Best Supporting Actress winners.
I wasn’t even that wild about Conclave, but I would, without hesitation, declare it superior to all but The Father among recent Best Adapted Screenplay awardees.
Anatomy of a Fall, in my eyes, towers over every other Original Screenplay winner from the last five years, but I would say Anora is a respectable… second-or-third place, give or take my mood towards some of the draggier parts of Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Interesting takes as always!