Oscars Pregame Warmup: Watch Deadline’s Reviews Of All Eight Best Picture Nominees

Over the past year, beginning in February with Black Panther and ending in December with Vice, I did video reviews of all of what eventually became the eight nominees for Best Picture at the 91st annual Academy Awards.

Check them all out and see which one you think will take the Oscars’ big prize Sunday night.

Black Panther

Disney/A Marvel Studios Production
Kevin Feige, Producer

Release Date: February 16, 2018

Hammond’s Takeaway: A dazzling film that not only thrills at every turn but has real social value and importance. (Full review here.)

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BlacKkKlansman

Focus Features/A QC Entertainment/Blumhouse Productions/Monkeypaw Productions/40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks Production

Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, Producers

Release Date: August 10, 2018

Hammond’s Takeaway: Spike Lee is back with his most urgent, entertaining and pertinent film since Inside Man hit theaters a dozen years ago. (Full review here.)

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Bohemian Rhapsody

20th Century Fox/A 20th Century Fox and Regency Enterprises Production

Graham King, Producer

Release Date: November 2, 2018

Hammond’s Takeaway: Gripe all you want about what isn’t in the film, it definitely succeeds on its own terms and … at its center is a stunning turn by Rami Malek. (Full review here.)

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The Favourite

Fox Searchlight/A Film4/Waypoint Entertainment/Element Pictures/Scarlet Films Production

Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos, Producers

Release Date: November 23, 2018

Hammond’s Takeaway: The movie The Favourite resembles the most is really the back-biting Broadway dramedy All About Eve. (Full review here.)

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Green Book

Universal/A Charles B. Wessler/Innisfree Pictures/Participant Media/DreamWorks Pictures Production

Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, Producers

Release Date: November 16, 2018

Hammond’s Takeaway: The fact that it is all true makes us believe again in the magic and power of movies, and gives us hope for the world we live in today. (Full review here.)

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Roma

Netflix/A Netflix/Participant Media/Esperanto-Filmoj Production

Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón, Producers

Release Date: November 21, 2018

Hammond’s Takeaway: Alfonso Cuarón’s most personal film has been widely, and justly, acclaimed, not only for its content but also for breakthrough cinematic techniques. (Full review here.)

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A Star Is Born

Warner Bros/A Warner Bros Pictures Production

Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers

Release Date: October 5, 2018

Hammond’s Takeaway: In a word, it’s sensational. And at its heart it has all the earmarks of the previous films, but still is able to march to its own drummer. (Full review here.)

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Vice

Annapurna Pictures/An Annapurna Pictures/Gary Sanchez Productions/Plan B Entertainment Production

Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers

Release Date: December 25, 2018

Hammond’s Takeaway: This kind of smart, sharp, relevant, funny, and urgent filmmaking is increasingly rare these days. (Full review here.)