Mycreativeramblings’ Alternate Academy Awards 2023

The line up for best actor at this years Academy Awards was strong, if not wholly surprising. Elvis star Austin Butler was a front runner with his over-the-top yet brilliant portrayal of the king, although Brendan Fraser ended up taking the prize with his long awaited comeback in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. Although honestly, from the Academy’s nominations, I felt Paul Mescal deserved to win for his note-perfect performance in Aftersun. But in the year of 2022, there was one performance that stood out to me above all else; Nicolas Cage’s celebratory and wonderfully self-referential performance as himself in Tom Gormican’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Non-Cage aficionados may not appreciate the importance of this but for the rest of us, Cage in TUWOMT was the cherry on the top of a delightfully varied career.

Gormican’s direction is sadly slightly formulaic but it carries the film through different Cage set pieces. Whether he’s arguing with his younger self (based on his 1990 Wogan appearance) or performing outstanding slap stick comedy, the film is a showcase of the man’s considerable talents. His budding romance with superfan Javi (an always amazing Pedro Pascal, embodying all of us Cage fans) is another highlight, one with genuine warmth and heart. Cage proves he is still one of the most versatile and surprising actors working today. His performance is a celebration of the cult followings actors like Cage inspire. And it all serves to remind audiences that true, genuine actors-as-artists, still exist.

The best actress line up at this years Oscars featured some of the greatest performance of the year (and a couple of weird inclusions). The legendary Michelle Yeoh took home the prize for her phenomenal performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once, beating frontrunner Cate Blanchett, who was nominated for Tár. But some of the other choices are peculiar. Ana de Armas’ nom for Andrew Dominik’s weird, woman-hating Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde didn’t feel earned and Andrea Riseborough’s dodgy nomination for To Leslie nearly overshadowed the whole category – partly because only about three people saw the film. One breakout star who sadly wasn’t nominated – and I think due to the perceptions of the film’s genre – was Amber Midthunder in the surprisingly great Predator reboot, Prey

In a year where Everything Everywhere All At Once won all the big awards of the night, it’s a shame the Academy still seems to have a bias against genre films. Horror in particular. often seems to miss out. But Dan Trachtenberg’s Prey should definitely not be overlooked. It’s a wonderfully fun and grisly reboot of the Predator franchise and the best in the series since John McTiernan’s 1987 original – perhaps even surpassing that. Mindthunder is key to all of this, with her assured and confident portrayal of Naru, a young Comanche warrior. She nails the character beats as easily as the action ones too, delivering a beautiful and measured performance, often acting against nothing but Naru’s canine companion. The Academy may not have taken notice but Mindthunder easily gains a place amongst greatest horror movie heroes. And I can’t wait to see what she does next.

This is a pretty big award, one of the biggest of the whole night. And to the Academy’s credit, they have a decent line up (although I feel, of the films also nominated for best picture, Baz Luhrmann probably deserved a nod for Elvis). Everything Everywhere All at Once‘s director duo, The Daniels, took home the award on the night and few people would argue with this result. However, the nominations had the glaring omission of any female directors. This is especially egregious this year saw the feature film debut of Scottish writer director, Charlotte Wells, with the poignant and beautiful Aftersun. Wells’ debut is as confident and assured as any of the directing veterans nominated by the Academy. She uses the language of film in a fresh way, delivering a devastating portrayal of mental health, parenthood, and childhood memories.

Aftersun is a film that might, on first glance, seem slight. But it soon reveals itself to be a film about so many different things. It’s a devastating portrayal of a man with suicidal ideation and also a nostalgic look at British holidaying abroad. It’s a film about a young girls first foray into adulthood and an existential rumination on the loss of a parent. It’s also a credit to Wells as writer and director that Aftersun features two of the most affecting performances of 2022, from Paul Mescal and newcomer Frankie Corio. Both give beautiful and heartbreaking performances which is in no small part to Wells’ writing and direction. Wells’ newcomer status may have held her back from being nominated this year but she will undoubtedly be gracing the Oscars stage in the future.