The Golden Globes have come and gone and, with less than a month to go until the Oscars, there’s a lot of speculation about who and what will be taking home a gold statue this year.

There will also be no host, which means no repeat of Ricky Gervais’ performance.

I’m not really a fan of awards shows. If I wanted to watch people I don’t care about walk on a red carpet in fancy outfits, I’d stake out a matric dance.

That said, the one thing that awards shows are great for is helping one to put together a list of films and series to watch, without the hassle of watching the first 10 minutes of something to figure out whether it’s any good.

Even better is when The Washington Post does the work of compiling a list for you.

Keeping up with all of the films in contention for awards is nearly a full-time job — and for those of us who happen to have that job, it can still be a lot to juggle.

…To help you out, we’ve come up with a guide to this award season’s buzziest films, determined by their performances thus far and categorised by viewing urgency. Happy watching!

The Oscars take place on Sunday, February 9 over in Los Angeles, although that’s early on the morning of February 10 for us.

We took those categories and broke them down even further into groups of three. Let’s get to it.

Must See

Joker

Obviously, if you haven’t seen this yet, you have to see it.

Read the SPL!NG review here.

The Irishman

Come for the weird CGI, stay for the excellent story.

Read the SPL!NG review here.

Marriage Story

This was a surprisingly accurate depiction of what divorce is like.

Maybe See 

Judy

I love Judy Garland, so I’m a bit biased here. She’s your original ‘best Judy’ and apparently Renée Zellweger does a really good job of portraying her.

Read the SPL!NG review here. 

Bombshell

It has Charlize in it, so it’s your patriotic duty to watch it. The story is also intriguing in the age of #MeToo.

Uncut Gems

Adam Sandler as you’ve never seen him before. The Guardian gave this film five stars.

Save For Later

Les Misérables

There will be no close-up shots of Anne Hathaway in this one. It’s a French film based on violent Parisian riots in 2005.

Honeyland

This film cleaned up at Sundance. I’d venture as far as to say, add it to the ‘must-watch’ list.

For Sama

An intimate and epic journey into the female experience of war.

Add those to your evening viewing schedule and you’ll be ready, opinions fully loaded, for when the Oscars roll around.

If the Oscars aren’t your thing, at least you will have taken in some fine cinema.

[source:washingtonpost]