The Alternative 2023 Oscar Nominations

Another year, another Oscars season where we have to correct all of the nominations because we just know so much better. No, actually, this year is pretty damn good, as far as the actual Oscars go – The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once for all the wins, thanks – but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to share our alternative picks and best of the rest for Oscar glory this year. Below, we’ve covered the categories we feel most qualified to comment on, and bolded entries are our winners. To the article!

Best Picture

Parallel Mothers

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

See How They Run

Nope

Men

Look, most of our favourite movies actually got nominated for Oscars this year, which makes a nice change. But, of those snubbed for the biggest awards of the night, Parallel Mothers is at the top of our list – Pedro Almodovar’s witty, operatic, and profoundly moving take on generational trauma and also baby-swapping was always going to win out, though Jordan Peele’s imposing sci-fi-horror Nope comes pretty close, too.

Best Director

Jane Schoenbrun – We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

Jordan Peele – Nope

Pedro Almodovar – Parallel Mothers

Matt Reeves – The Batman

Alex Garland – Men

The Daniels got a deserved directing nomination for Everything Everywhere All at Once so this category is to give a shout out to the genre cinema that the academy wouldn’t touch with a fifty foot clown pole. Matt Reeves rescued Batman, Jordan Peele continued his brilliant hit rate, and Jane Schoenbrun took us all to the World’s Fair, but Alex Garland made Men, the most disturbing and engaging film he could make while making his audience squirm.

Best Actress

Saoirse Ronan – See How They Run

Keke Palmer – Nope

Amber Midthunder – Prey

Sosie Bacon – Smile

Jessie Buckley – Men

If it’s a year on this planet, then Saoirse Ronan should be getting a nomination for whatever she does. I want it to happen so consistently people to get bored of it, Meryl Streep-style. Apart from that, we’re celebrating the genre that, in the past few years, has had the best roles for women: horror. Amber Midthunder beat a Predator, Keke Palmer stole Nope, Sosie Bacon anchored Smile through its sillier parts with a raw performance, but the winner is Jessie Buckley for her performance in Men. Buckley is one of those exciting actors that seems to get the weird roles and smashes them every time, and I can’t wait to see her in Women Talking in 2023.

Best Actor

Sam Rockwell – See How They Run

Nicholas Cage – The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Daniel Kaluuya – Nope

Harry Melling – The Pale Blue Eye

Rory Kinnear – Men

I know we literally just talked about The Pale Blue Eye, but hear us out: Harry Melling is so, so, so good, we just couldn’t resist bringing him up again. Daniel Kaluuya’s restrained turn in Nope is outstanding, and Rory Kinnear’s multi-role turn in Men is unforgettably strange, but Melling’s career-making performance deserves all the love in the world.

Best Supporting Actress

Milena Smit – Parallel Mothers

Jamie Clayton – Hellraiser

Kristen Stewart – Crimes of the Future

As awesome as Jamie Clayton was as Pinhead (it’s not easy to redefine an iconic horror character in a film that struggles to keep up with her quality), and as refreshingly goofy as Kristen Stewart is in Crimes of the Future, Milena Smit needs more attention for her brilliant turn in Parallel Mothers. Not only does her character continually propel the film forward, she is also given the unenviable task of shining next to one of the greatest director/actor combos in cinema history, Penelope Cruz and Pedro Almodovar, and pulls it off.

Best Supporting Actor

Steven Yeun – Nope

Pedro Pascal – The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Michael Rogers – We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

I love everyone in this category so much – Michael Rogers curious, unique turn in World’s Fair was one of the standout performances of last year, and Pedro Pascal is just impossibly watchable opposite Nicholas Cage in Massive Talent. But I have known, in my heart, that Steven Yeun will win this category unto perpetuity for Nope. I’ve written about how much I adore his fascinating short story of a character in Jordan Peele’s latest, and his performance as Ricky is one of the most interesting thing to come out of horror movies in the last five years.

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By Kevin Boyle and Lou MacGregor

(header image via New York Times)