Why should “A Complete Unknown,” the biopic about rock icon Bob Dylan, win the Oscar for Best Picture? Because before my father dragged me to the cineplex to see the flick, I didn’t know a single thing about Bob Dylan except the various graffities I had seen all over St. Pete. You know: ‘Blob Dylan’ displayed in colorful ink across the back of a McDonalds.

 But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

On Sunday, March 2nd, some of the most critically acclaimed actors and actresses will come together to celebrate each other’s successes in the world of film. The Oscars are a uniting moment for all of America; families come together with an array of sweet and savory treats with hopes of seeing their favorite movie star win an award. 

Many would argue that the most important nomination is Best Picture, declaring the best movie released in the year prior to the ceremony. The titles up for this award are many, including Wicked, The Substance, A Complete Unknown, Anora, and Nickel Boys. While many have their fingers crossed, I’m personally holding space for A Complete Unknown to take this win…. Timothee Chalamet and Monica Barbaro’s performances were entrancing– I haven’t stopped listening to Joan Baez since I saw the masterpiece. It seems that biopics fall flat on occasion, being the victim of bad advertising or a poor retelling of an admired artist’s life story, but the movie by James Mangold really struck me. I must have some sort of strange addiction to obsessing over artists after seeing their biopic (insert photo of me decked out in Freddie Mercury merch the day after seeing Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018).  

 I loved “A Complete Unknown”: the music, the brilliant set designs circa the ‘60s, and especially the acting done by current stars that are getting kids like me interested in a topic we have no right getting interested in. Dylan is played by Timothee Chalamet, who is weird, quirky and brilliant as Dylan, a Minnesota kid who reinvents himself in NYC into a folksinger (until, at the movie’s firestorm finale, reinventing himself yet again as a let’s-go-electric rock star). Monica Barbaro is equally brilliant, mimicking the elegant vibrato of Joan Baez’s voice to a T.

Naturally, I should acknowledge the world-renowned film Wicked– I just can’t say I was the biggest fan. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are some of the most talented women I’ve seen, but by the end of the film I was squirming in my seat asking when it was going to be over. Now don’t get me wrong, it was great; the singing, the dancing, Jonathan Bailey’s beautiful face– It just didn’t knock my socks off. Hats off to you if this healed something deep within you, or brought about feelings you didn’t know you had! Wicked has so many aspects to enjoy that it’s hard to not like it, and I urge you to see it if you haven’t (just be prepared to stay seated for a whopping two hours and forty minutes).

While I have no credibility when talking about movies… (I think that Pitch Perfect is a cinematic masterpiece), it’s important to address what the Oscars stand for. It is to appreciate and acknowledge the talent that makes up the film industry. The directors, composers, actors and actresses that produce the content that keeps us on our toes– and give us the entertainment that makes life a little less unbearable sometimes.

Oh, and make sure to follow me on letterboxd! @mayainrepose