Oscar candidates and other top films of the past year

Critics have completely jumped for joy at Spielberg’s new musical film. This is a timeless tale of Romeo and Juliet, but adding gang street culture, a raw look at culture, real life and love in its purest form. TIME magazine said, "No one should be asking why Spielberg wanted to make a musical. The question is, why did he wait so long?" The film has been nominated for seven Oscars, among others in the category 'Best Picture.'

Every year a western makes it to the top list, but now, 'The Power of the Dog' is competing to be the best overall movie of the past year. The film by Jane Campion presents a different take on the classic western. It could sweep the Oscars with no less than twelve nominations.

'Annette' is definitely a special film to have come out of 2021 - it is different, majestic and dreamlike. In this film, you find a tale from another era wrapped in the medium of an elegant musical. Marion Cotillard and Adam Driver shine and make each other shine. So much so that anyone who doesn't know them would think they've been a couple all their lives: their chemistry is overwhelming.

This story, directed by Sian Heder, can be confusing because of its apparent simplicity and closeness. But look deeper and you will find 'CODA' is well rounded and narrated. The story revolves around Ruby, a 17-year-old girl, who is the only one in her family who isn't deaf. Her present and her future are knocking at the door and she will have to choose what to do with her life. 'CODA' has several Oscar nominations, including 'Best Picture.'

A biopic of Serena and Venus Williams, two of the greatest tennis players of all time, seems like a logical choice. But 'King Richard' decided to pay tribute to the man who guided these two sporting legends. An intelligent film that leaves a good overall impression, a quality that has been well received by other films at the Oscars in recent years. Not surprisingly, therefore, 'King Richard' has six Oscar nominations in the pocket.

Read more about the Williams sisters and 'King Richard'

It's rare to talk about Macbeth in Hollywood without Kenneth Brannagh popping up somewhere. Instead, it's Joel Coen who combines theatre and film with a result that can be described as nothing less than a masterpiece. Of course, with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand by his side, everything is made easier. Washington got an Oscar nomination for his performance.

Lin Manuel-Miranda's play is an absolute marvel. This musical - homage to Jonathan Larson - looks Broadway square in the face and, in fact, brings many of its great legends to the big screen. On the other hand, 'tick, tick.... Boom!' confirms Andrew Garfield as one of the great actors of his generation. The former Spiderman's Oscar nomination is therefore no surprise.

For the record, the starring quartet of Meryl Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence and Jonah Hill have a combined total of 34 Oscar nominations and five statuettes. Add to this McKay's mastery behind the camera, and you have an all-too-realistic satire of a society that is too busy navel-gazing to look at the meteor that's about to blow up the planet. In 2022, the film was nominated for 'Best Picture.'

Denis Villeneuve had a lot to lose with this update of the 80s' classic. Not only is it a cult film, but its delay, due to the pandemic, was raising the hype to levels that are almost unheard of. When the film was finally released, audiences and critics surrendered to the Canadian. Many believe he made a blockbuster that surpassed the original. 'Dune' got a great number of Oscar nominations - ten - but strangely, Villeneuve himself was not among them.

Delightful, sweet, sensitive and a hypnotic view of family love. It all begins with the death of Nelly's 8-year-old grandmother, who goes to the woods while her parents remove the belongings from the mothers childhood home. There, Nelly meets a girl her own age and they spark an instant connection. Obviously, there is something more. And that is what makes 'Petite Maman' a must-see: there is always something more and definitely something wrong.

Ridley Scott has a great story here: bathed in blood, tension and a permanently suffocating atmosphere. To all the good decisions previously made, he adds the best one of all: giving Jodie Comer the weight of the film. The actress's consolidation as a Hollywood A-Lister could have come hand in hand with her first Oscar nomination, but it was not meant to be. The movie was surprisingly snubbed by the Academy.

A nominee for no less than seven Oscars, including 'Best Picture,' this film travels to 1960s Belfast to show the reality of Northern Ireland through the innocent eyes of a child. Its candid vision leads to a comic romanticisation of working-class struggle, radical change and everyday violence. Please, we need more films with both Jamie Dornan and Caitriona Balfe - the latter among the Oscar-nominated for this film.

One that won't leave you indifferent, a film that you'll be thinking about for days. One of the best and most surprising of the year, dark, disturbing and twisted. K. Austin Collins, critic at The Rolling Stone wrote: 'It's slickly entertaining for straightforward reasons: the pile-up of mysteries that some of us simply can't not see through to the end.'

Nobody tells stories like Almodóvar and nobody plays Almodóvar's stories like Penélope Cruz. The actress is reaching a highpoint in her carrier and is nominated for 'Best Actress' at the 2022 Oscars.  The director masterfully combines comedy with contemporary drama, portraying the fear of having a child without a partner, an unwanted pregnancy or a pregnancy at an advanced age.

A woman from Scotland, while traveling in Colombia, begins to notice strange sounds. Soon she realises she is the only one who can hear them. Tilda Swinton is magnificent as always in this slow but absorbing film.

The second western to make it into the best of the year, this time with the quality and freedom of independent cinema. As funny as it is tough, it tells the story of the unexpected friendship of two men who meet by chance and spark an immediate connection. Everything, absolutely everything in this story, makes sense. Unfortunately, it missed out on a nomination for Best Screenplay at the Oscars.

The film features a large ensemble cast, and follows three different storylines - all the while the French foreign bureau of 'Liberty', the fictional Kansas Evening Sun newspaper creates its final issue.

Poker, military, revenge and Oscar Isaac. A cocktail that Paul Schrader has managed to shake up wonderfully with a film that, without a frenetic pace, always takes the viewer's breath away. The constant tension is conveyed with astonishing naturalness. Casting Oscar Isaac in a film is always going to put the film in good stead before anyone has even seen it.

The radical and transgressive Verhoeven pulls out all the stops with a film that takes place in a convent in Tuscany. A convent where relationships are normal, but with the Verhoeven touch they go a step beyond the depraved and sacrilegious. A French-language film but worth the effort of the subtitles.

Halfway between children's tale and medieval legend, this epic story takes Dev Patel into uncharted territory where he performs beautifully, but far from legendary. Still, his fight against the giant that plagues Camelot is an unexpected and revealing hero's journey for him and for the audience.

Chloé Zhao achieves the impossible, making a Marvel film more recognisable as a Chloé Zhao film. And she does it without losing the essence of MCU. A pompous, pharaonic and bombastic film where the action is slow but constant and where each character is able to shine, which is surprising for a blockbuster cast of this size.

In May 2022, Clint Eastwood will be 92 years old. At his age, he not only directed 'Cry Macho', he stars in it. The film is a kind of commemoration for the filmmaker, showing the general public that he is finally at peace with himself and that, when he is gone, there will be others like Rafa (his partner in crime) to take over from him.