Westerly Sun Column | Check Out Oscar Nominees at the Library

It’s that time of year again, when the list of Oscar nominees is released and I feel terribly out of touch because I haven’t actually heard of (let alone seen) 98% of the films. I know I’m not alone, though; if you google “Oscar Nominees”, as I obviously did, it will likely suggest a related search of “Where to stream Oscar Nominees”. Silly Google, don’t you know I work in a library? Plenty of the top nominees are available through our consortium, so you and I can all catch up before we forget to watch the awards show on March 12th.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”, a strange and genre-bending film about a laundromat owner’s adventures in the multiverse, received the most nominations this year. It is followed closely by “The Banshees of Inisherin”, a beautiful (but also strange) tragicomedy set in Ireland at the end of the Irish Civil War. Both are currently available on DVD. Another frontrunner is the German anti-war film “All Quiet on the Western Front”, which was nominated in 9 categories. This one is currently only available on Netflix, but you can check out original 1930 version (which, coincidentally, won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director), or the book by Erich Maria Remarque that started it all.

I was excited to see “Top Gun: Maverick” nominated for Best Picture, both due to nostalgia for the original film, and because I’ve actually heard of this one. Other films contending for the prize are James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water”, the psychological drama “Tár” starring the great Cate Blanchett, Baz Luhrmann’s biographical drama “Elvis”, and Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical coming-of-age film “The Fabelmans”. Honestly, they all sound fantastic…and they’re all also available at the library!

A number of nominees are making history this year. Angela Bassett was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, making her the first woman and first person of color to be nominated for a superhero role. Michelle Yeoh is also breaking down barriers as the first Asian woman in Oscar history to be nominated for Best Actress (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”). Still, many are disappointed that Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler did not make the cut for “Best Actress” nominations, despite being early favorites, for their roles in “Woman King” and “Till”.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that a few film nominees this year were based on fantastic books. Bill Nighy was nominated for his role in “Living”, which was based on a book by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro. The quirky “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” has his own picture book entitled “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: Things About Me”! Finally, “Women Talking” was based on the novel of the same name by Mariam Toews, and “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” was inspired by the ever-so-slightly different “Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris” by Paul Gallico. Check them all out at the library, and vote on your own favorites!

By Cassie Skobrak, Adult Services Librarian