Golden Globe winner Ricky Gervais… you either love him or loath him, there’s no middle ground. Although I used to cringe when watching The Office, one just couldn’t look away. I love his irreverent humour, that always upsets someone. Here, he tackles life, death and the state of the world in a brutally honest special that spares no topic, even his own mortality. If you are easily offended, then err on the side of caution and give this one a wide berth.

Nominated for three Oscars in 2022, Maggie Gyllenhaal writes and directs the brilliant Olivia Colman in her debut feature. The story meanders along, and it does get confusing as to what it all means at times, but it is well worth viewing. Leda is a middle-aged divorcee devoted to her work as an English teacher and to her two children. When her daughters leave home to be with their father in Canada, Leda anticipates a period of loneliness and longing. She decides to take a holiday by the sea, in a small coastal town in Greece. Leda encounters a family whose brash presence proves unsettling, at times even threatening. The seemingly serene tale of a woman’s pleasant rediscovery of herself soon becomes the story of a ferocious confrontation with an unsettled past.

Wes Anderson’s 2024 Oscar winner adapted from a Roald Dahl collection written at various times during his life, seemed to be aimed at an older audience. Henry Sugar, an independently wealthy man who enjoys gambling, finds, and reads a doctor’s report on a strange patient the doctor met while stationed at a hospital in India. This patient, who called himself “The Man Who Sees Without Using His Eyes”, had the ability to see even after the doctors had medically sealed the man’s eyes shut and bandaged his head. Sugar decides to master this art and use it to his advantage. The cast in all four films is somewhat minimalistic. Winner of the 2024 Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film.

Nominated for a number of Oscar and Golden Globe Awards, one should be familiar with the plot. The best-known version of this classic starred Boris Karloff in 1931, although there was also a 1910 rendition. I believe there have been eight attempts over a number of years. Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro adapts Mary Shelley’s tale of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant but egotistical scientist who brings a creature to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation. However, Del Toro strays away from Mary’s work, which hasn’t gone well with viewers. There’s a top-class ensemble cast, it visually stunning with an excellent soundtrack. But, did we really need another one? My favourites of them all would have to be Young Frankenstein and Rocky Horror, which is also loosely based on Mary’s story.

Nominated for three Oscars, this remarkable film has wonderful performances from both Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins, who could both be excellent choices for a new Pope. It does go into some detail of the process for choosing a new head of the Catholic Church, which is somewhat complicated and political. This is the intimate story of one of the most dramatic transitions of power in the last 2,000 years. Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.

One doesn’t see many Westerns these days, but if you’re going to watch one it may as well be from those extremely talented Coen boys, who garnered three Oscar nominations in 2019 for this gem. Ethan and Joel never disappoint. You can always depend on them for something completely different, and this one is no exception. Six tales of life and violence in the Old West, following a singing gunslinger, a bank robber, a travelling impresario, an elderly prospector, a wagon train, and a perverse pair of bounty hunters. You’ll love this one if you love the Coen brothers. Personal favourite – Tom Waits in the All Gold Canyon segment.

Nominated for a 2024 Oscar for Original Song, Jon Batiste is an artist I was not overly familiar with until I watched this excellent documentary. In 2022, musician Batiste finds himself the most celebrated artist of the year with 11 Grammy nominations including Album of the Year. In the midst of that triumph Jon embarks on his most ambitious challenge to date, composing an original symphony. This trajectory was upended when Batiste’s life partner best-selling author Suleika Jaouad learns that her long-dormant cancer has returned. This is a poignant look at life and love and overcoming the hurdles thrown up when you least expect them. A beautiful story.

Receiving seven 2024 Oscar nominations and four from the Golden Globes, Bradley Cooper co-writes, directs and stars in this biopic of composer Leonard Bernstein. I was in high school when our music teacher exposed the class to Rhapsody in Blue. Although a Beatles and Stones fan, I was blow away by the intensity of this mix of jazz and classical styles. This is an exploration of the complex love story of Leonard and actress Felicia Montealegre, a story that spans over 30 years-from the time they met in 1946 at a party and continuing through two engagements, a 25-year marriage, and three children. To say Bernstein was a complicated man is an understatement. I wouldn’t have put up with him for 25 years! Bradley is excellent as Bernstein.

This is quite a remarkable documentary; hence it’s 2021 Oscar and Bafta awards for Best Documentary. After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust, and they develop a unique bond between human and wild animal. Well worth watching this one.

Nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar, this is a gripping, but unsettling exploration of the differences that can occur between neighbours, whether they are justified or not, and of how situations can deteriorate very quickly. Situations that can affect the lives of all individuals involved.