The Oscars are, at this point, relatively old news. The most sought after award at the Oscars, Best Picture, caused a bit of controversy after pulling a Steve Harvey and announcing La La Land as the winner when, in reality, Moonlight was the winner. After that moment, my friends and I embarked on a quest to see all nine films nominated for the award and decide for ourselves what should've won Best Picture. I've now watched all nine of the movies, so here is the list of who I thought was most and least deserving of winning Best Picture.

9. Hell or High Water

By no means is Hell or High Water a bad movie. It's humorous, entertaining, and has some genuinely intriguing and shocking moments. The characters are pretty dynamic and, contrary to other movies on this list, it has a clearly defined conflict with clear goals. It takes place all over Texas and manages to make the wide, empty spaces look somewhat beautiful too, which says something about the filming and editing. All that being said, this movie just doesn't feel like the other movies. It's a fine movie, but I don't see the merit of it being considered for Best Picture. While the movie is fine on everything, there are no moments in the movie where I'm blown away or touched or otherwise moved. I feel like this movie doesn't have a lot to say about anything, which is fine, but in a Best Picture nomination, I'm looking for films to dig a little deeper. Hell or High Water doesn't hit that mark for me.

My rating: 7/10

8. Moonlight

Arguably the most controversial position on this list, I'm putting the actual Best Picture winner at second from the bottom. Just like with Hell or High Water, I do actually like this movie, I just don't see how it's better than all the others. Let's start with the strengths of the film though. First of all, the formatting of splitting it into three parts, each with a different name. No other movies I've seen organize their film quite like this and doing so creates a certain emotional impact as you see Chiron change from segment to segment identifying with a different name. There's also strong "blue" imagery that I started to pick up on, but I would be interested to watch the movie again and pick out all the moments it comes out. The nerve of this film is also commendable. The main character is black, poor, gay, and has a drug addict mother. All of these combined makes this movie emotionally charged at all times, regardless of what's happening in the film. Subplots in this movie are also very strong and what I like most about the movie. The story of his relationship with his mother is my favorite part of the movie. But despite all this, I still don't consider it worthy of Best Picture. I feel this movie is very lacking in certain arenas, such as storytelling, themes, and cohesion. Throughout the movie, I was looking for tangible conflict and it was not (consistently) there. The structure of a movie is supposed to introduce a conflict and then resolve it at the end of the movie, but I don't see a central conflict being introduced and/or resolved. If the primary conflict in this movie is being gay, then too much of the story happens off-screen and it's way too internalized. The ending of the movie is beautiful, no doubts about it, but I don't see it as an adequate resolution, like it's incomplete. If I were asked what Moonlight is about, I can only say it's about a gay, black man and his struggle to find who he is, and it's not certain if he found who he is (especially since he has three different names and therefore identities). Also, I would look for a movie like this to make some kind of statement, similar to Hidden Figures. There is so much room for the movie to say something, and I don't feel it does. In discussions with my friends, one of them says the film doesn't need to say anything because the mere existence of it is a statement. That's fine, which might make it culturally impactful, but I don't see that as meaning it's a good movie and worthy of Best Picture. If race and gay rights weren't so controversial right now, I don't think this movie would've won. Sorry, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

My rating: 7.4/10

7. Fences

This was the last movie I watched and I have very mixed feelings about it. To start on a good note, I just have to give a nod to the phenomenal acting all around, especially Viola Davis. She actually won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and I can see why in this movie. She was incredible, and Denzel Washington was really good too. Acting aside, this movie had really intriguing character work and thematic statements. It takes place (mostly) within a single house in I think Philadelphia in the year 1956-ish. Denzel's character, Troy, has a lot to say about a lot of stuff, including race and sex. The themes at play and the dynamics between the characters carry the movie as there really isn't a central plot to the movie. It says a lot about gender roles and what makes you a man, it addresses race relations, intergenerational relations, money, mental illness, family, and so on. There are so many good quotes to pull from this movie. What I didn't like can be summed up in two words: "plot" and "Troy." Like Moonlight, this movie doesn't really have a conflict, or driving force behind it. The characters don't really have goals, they simply exist and live from day to day, which is somewhat poetic and probably intentional, but I feel like plot is something pretty important to stories. Fences definitely pulls off the lack of plot better than Moonlight because the individual relationships between characters kind of intertwine and combine into a plot, but I would've enjoyed a more central plot. Also, the main character is, while thoroughly developed and intriguing and dynamic, rather insufferable. This probably stems from my being a young adult in 2017 judging a character in his 50s in the 1950s, but I didn't find the main character altogether likable. As the movie goes on, he shows himself to be stubborn, fairly narrow-minded, insensitive, unapologetic, bitter, and at some points just mean. Granted, I think he's a very realistic character and he's wonderfully written, but I just don't like him very much, which is fairly unavoidable. The supporting characters are wonderful though, particularly Viola Davis' Rose. Seriously, what a performance.

My rating: 7.9/10

6. Lion

For me, this is where the movies started to become truly excellent. For starters, this movie has a cohesive and extremely compelling plot, made more real by the fact it's a true story. For that alone, I have to commend it. Other parts I really liked about the movie are its authenticity and themes. For starters, the entire first half of the film is spoken in Hindi (and a couple sentences of Bengali), which is really nice to see. This movie stays true to characters and reality; they speak the languages they're supposed to and it depicts the different countries the way they are in reality. I tried to fact check the movie with my Pakistani friend, like the homeless children being routinely abducted, and he said it's pretty faithful to real life, which is very appreciated. There's a really strong element of family by choice vs. family by blood in this movie. Because Saroo was separated from his family and later adopted by an Australian family, he has two families and feels like he'll betray one family by looking for the other. His adoptive mother also, at one point, says something along the lines of choosing to forego having her own children because it doesn't feel right to her having children when there are other children out there suffering who need her more. Things like that made this movie highly emotional and deep, but it wasn't a flawless movie. While not necessarily a flaw, the ending was predictable. Not much more to say about that, but it was just easy to see coming. Once the main character is grown, I also found him a bit frustrating. Understandable maybe, but he was rather self-absorbed. He cut everyone out of his life so he could find his original family, including his girlfriend, adoptive brother, and parents. There was a good portion of the movie where I was kind of hoping he wouldn't find his family so he might give up and realize what he has is really good. Overall, this movie was really thoughtful and touching.

My rating: 8.2/10

5. Manchester by the Sea

I want to start by saying I thought this would be the most boring movie ever made, solely judging from the title. Manchester by the Sea makes me think of some stuffy British soap opera that is extremely elitist, but this wasn't the case. Casey Affleck won the Oscar for Best Actor, and I can believe it. While not as impressive as Viola Davis, for me, he did a really good job. What I liked about this movie was its willingness to be sad while throwing in glimmers of hope and humor. This movie does have a central plot (the death of the brother/father) and the characters are really well conceived. I think Casey Affleck's character is a little like Troy from Fences, but I understand him more because he's more sympathetic and tragic. I myself love tragic stories so while others might find this movie depressing or boring, I found it poetic and nuanced. The performances of grief and dealing with tragedy as a roller coaster was really powerful. Sometimes these characters got along fine and loved each other, other times they were at each other's throats, which is fair. The son/nephew in particular was my favorite part because even though he lost his dad and allowed himself to feel it at times, he was still a teenager. He still wanted to have sex with his girlfriend and was hung up on details like his dad being put in a freezer. His motives were believable and very "teen-like," but without the additional condescension that typically acquires commentary of teen behavior. They allowed his emotions to be raw and powerful, even if they were a little shallow. The characters were also really developed in tragic, and even though the excitement in this movie is fairly minimal, I couldn't take my eyes away. Some weaknesses in this movie are its melodrama and lack of excitement. While I eat it up, I can see how some people might become insanely bored and tired of watching the same depression kicking in over and over. It was only about 2 hours long, but even I thought it went on for a long time. I was also a little frustrated by the ending because I was hoping the main character would've shown more development, but his stubbornness wins out and he doesn't do what I wanted. That's fine, but it does suggest he didn't change that much, which takes away a little from his otherwise rich character.

My rating: 8.5/10

4. Hidden Figures

A movie simultaneously about women's rights and black rights, I think this movie handles race issues way better than Moonlight. This movie is empowering in every sense of the word and it also has a central plot. Not only that, but each of the main women gets her own story as part of the larger one. The acting was really good in this movie, but not stupendous. I only remember one scene where I was like, "Wow. That was impressive." But the real strength of this movie lies in its story. It's just overall a positive movie! The characters all overcome their struggles and it leads to dramatic change, which is maybe a bit unrealistic in light of the actual civil rights movements, but still, it's a feel-good movie. I can't really think of significant pros or cons to this movie, which might be somewhat telling that it's a fairly average movie, but I enjoyed it. I think it's an important movie to have because it shines light on the abilities of women, black people, and black women, but it also doesn't really add any new insight to me. At it's core, it's about civil rights, which has been done a lot so it's not the most original, but it's not meant to be. It's a biographical movie meant to empower, and it did that, so I'm pleased.

My rating: 8.6/10

3. Arrival

I will attribute about 50% of this rating to my personal bias. I love language. I love fathoming how languages work and how they're created and what they can do, so this movie was perfect for me. I love the originality of this movie in a couple ways. Almost every other movie with alien invaders turns into a war movie, and Arrival very nearly turned into that, but it didn't. Peaceful aliens rarely happen, and peaceful aliens that don't speak English happens even less. To me, this movie adds an element of realism to some problems we'd have if aliens ever invaded Earth. How would we communicate with them? Anyway, I love the questions this movie raises as well. It's so hard to comprehend time as anything but linear, but Arrival introduces the idea of non-linear timelines. Maybe not introduces it, but exposes it more. I also think it's really interesting that perception of time can be directly attributed to the learning of language. I don't know how scientifically accurate that is/can be, but it's certainly fun to theorize about. One thing that is both a pro and con for me is the ambiguity of whether Louise had the ability to change her future or not. We learn that the scenes with her daughter aren't memories, but visions of the future, which means she now knows she'll have a daughter who will die and a husband who will leave her. But whether by choice or by forfeit, she accepts that destiny. I want to know whether knowing the future gives her the power to change the future, and if it does, how does the language "choose" which possible future series of events Louise sees? I don't have the answers, but I love that the question was begged. The acting was fine, but nothing extraordinary, so most of the strength of this movie, for me, comes from its story and the new ideas it raises.

My rating: 8.8/10

2. Hacksaw Ridge

War movies are extremely hard for me to watch because they weigh on my heart and mind more than anything else. I came so close to crying in this movie because I can't look at this movie and say it isn't real. All this senseless and horrific violence actually happened, and that just breaks my heart. This movie is so emotional and powerful to me I almost put it at number one, which you know by now. But this movie is just SO GOOD. It's interesting to me how many biographical movies were represented at the Oscars this year (Moonlight, Lion, Hidden Figures, Hacksaw Ridge), but this one felt truly new to me. A soldier going to war without ever carrying a gun is impressive and unheard of, but it happened and he was a hero. The main character, Dawson, had a remarkable spirit about him, and it is plainly evident for anyone he came in contact with and anyone who watches the movie. Andrew Garfield was fantastic in this movie, which surprised me since the only movies I've seen him in until this point were the Amazing Spider-man movies. The action sequences were shot beautifully and the effects were really stellar too. I have a hard time identifying why this movie is so good because I just watch it and I'm in awe of it all. The sentiment, the horror, the inspiration, all of it. My only drawback is not attributable to the movie, but the genre. Like I said, war movies are hard to watch. The gore in this movie is substantial and realistic and it's very heavy, but aside from that I can't complain. It's a phenomenal film.

My rating: 9.3/10

1. La La Land

Quick tip, don't look at the site where I found this image, you might be scarred. Anyway, there should be no surprise here that I have this as my number one. I would suggest you go read my prior post about this movie, but I'll talk about it some here too. I LOVE this movie. It's just everything I could really want out of a movie like this. Musicals are great, and I love the music in this movie. Every song is powerful in a different way to me, but none more so than Emma Stone's "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)." Not only is the song beautiful, it captures the point of the movie so beautifully. Art is important! Those who dare to dream should be encouraged rather than told it'll never happen. At it's heart, this movie is about chasing dreams and the price we pay to achieve them. For the characters, they give up (true) love to get where they want and it's at one time beautiful and tragic. The acting is commendable, just ask Emma Stone's Oscar. The camera work is really nice, especially during the song "Someone in the Crowd." Like I said, the music is phenomenal. I also love how this movie makes me feel every emotion under the sun. I feel in love, I feel heartbroken, I feel joy, I feel worry, I feel surreal, I laugh, etc. I really have no complaint about the entire movie until the ending, but that's only because I wanted them to end up together. Artistically, it's beautiful, but my personal bias makes me slightly hate it. Aside from that, I have absolutely nothing but praise for this (near) impeccable film. In my opinion, this movie should've won the Oscar for Best Picture, hands down.

My rating: 9.5/10

So there you have it! My list of which movies should've won Best Picture. Am I entirely backwards? Do you agree with me? What was your favorite movie of the nominees and why? Let me know!