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The 94th Academy Awards, airing on Sunday, March 27, will be the first normal, full capacity awards show since 2019. Does anybody remember anything that happened in last year鈥檚 Oscars? What even was 鈥淣omadland?鈥� The last and only thing I remember is Timoth猫e Chalamet walking the red carpet in a bomber jacket two years ago and the internet absolutely eating it up.

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for artistic and technical merit. The Awards are split into a variety of categories. Notable ones include Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Animated Feature Film and Best Costume Design, just to name a few. Iconic films such as 鈥淐hicago,鈥� 鈥淧arasite,鈥� 鈥淟ord of the Rings鈥� and 鈥淪lumdog Millionaire鈥� have won multiple awards each and are still remembered as some of the best films of all time. The question is: can we say the same about this year鈥檚 nominees?

Spoiler alert: I can鈥檛.

There are 10 nominations for Best Picture this year, including 鈥淒on鈥檛 Look Up鈥� (Adam McKay), 鈥淒une鈥� (Denis Villaneuve) and 鈥淲est Side Story鈥� (Steven Spielberg).

I judge movies based on how much I personally enjoyed them: did I want to slam my laptop shut at any point during the film and just take a nap? Or, did I livetweet threads upon threads of barely coherent analysis to my 20 Twitter followers? Based on this criteria, 鈥淒on鈥檛 Look Up,鈥� 鈥淒une鈥� and 鈥淟icorice Pizza鈥� are out of the running. My issue with 鈥淒on鈥檛 Look Up鈥� is that, frankly, it鈥檚 annoying and pretentious. I don鈥檛 care that it is commentary on systemic inaction towards climate change; the whole thing was high-fructose, hyperglycemic levels of corny.

鈥淒une 鈥� is out because I thought it was boring, and I was disappointed at how little screentime Zendaya got. 鈥淟icorice Pizza鈥� is out because the premise is ridiculously uncomfortable. A 10-year age-gap? I thought we learned our lesson from 鈥淐all Me by Your Name.鈥�

All this is to say, my pick for Best Picture is 鈥淒rive My Car鈥� (Ryusuke Hamaguchi), a film based on Haruki Murakami鈥檚 short story of the same name. A New York Times article comments, 鈥淚n this quiet masterpiece, Hamaguchi considers grief, love, work and the soul-sustaining, life-shaping power of art.鈥� It鈥檚, for lack of a better word, sweet. There were no relationships with suspiciously large age gaps and no pretentious messages. It was a simple story about heartfelt friendship and camaraderie.

Nominated for Best Leading Actor are Andrew Garfield for 鈥渢ick, tick…BOOM!,鈥� Will Smith for 鈥淜ing Richard,鈥� Benedict Cumberbatch for 鈥淧ower of the Dog,鈥� Javier Bardem for 鈥淏eing the Ricardos鈥� and Denzel Washington for 鈥淭he Tragedy of Macbeth.鈥� I鈥檓 rooting for Garfield. During the 2017 Oscars, while everyone was freaking out about the 鈥淟a La Land鈥�/鈥淢oonlight鈥� Best Picture mixup, I was more disappointed that Garfield didn鈥檛 win Best Actor for his role in 鈥淗acksaw Ridge.鈥� Let鈥檚 also keep in mind that Garfield had to learn to sing for 鈥渢ick, tick…BOOM!鈥� Do I think this movie utilized the very depths of his acting capabilities? No. I just love that man and think he deserves an Oscar.

For Best Leading Actress, the nominees are Jessica Chastain for 鈥淭he Eyes of Tammy Faye,鈥� Olivia Colman for 鈥淭he Lost Daughter,鈥� Kristen Stewart for 鈥淪pencer,鈥� Nicole Kidman for 鈥淏eing the Ricardos鈥� and Pen茅lope Cruz for 鈥淧arallel Mothers.鈥� First of all, Kidman has an Oscar already, and in my opinion, the movie had better be soul-shatteringly good if she were to win another one. The same goes for Olivia Colman and Pen茅lope Cruz. That said, Chastain delivers an iconic performance; As Rolling Stone comments, 鈥淪he鈥檚 the only reason to see this biopic of the disgraced televangelist and LGBTQ icon鈥攂ut it鈥檚 a blessed enough reason to see it.鈥� She鈥檚 also been passed up for multiple Academy Awards over the years, and it鈥檚 about time she receives one. As for Kristen Stewart? I鈥檓 sorry, but I can鈥檛 get over 鈥淭wilight.鈥�

Nominated for Best Costume Design are 鈥淐ruella,鈥� 鈥淐yrano,鈥� 鈥淒une,鈥� 鈥淣ightmare Alley鈥� and 鈥淲est Side Story.鈥� I hate this roster with a burning passion. I was hoping to see costumes reminiscent of Alexander McQueen or Vivienne Westwood鈥檚 1993 Fall/Winter runway collection to fit Cruella鈥檚 extravagant, edgy personality. Instead, we got outfits from Jacquemus鈥� 2018 fabric scraps bin. I鈥檓 also sick of period pieces winning Oscars, and I hate that 鈥淒une鈥� brought the subversive basics trend out of the abyss it belongs in. None of these deserve Oscars, but 鈥淐yrano鈥� is the best of the bunch in my eyes.

The filmmaking industry has definitely taken a hit since the pandemic began鈥擨 would love to see a list of Oscars nominees similar to that of 2017, where you didn鈥檛 care who won because you knew they were all good. While that may not be the case this year, some of the nominees are definitely more deserving than others. Let鈥檚 just hope the Academy feels the same.