By Ben Miller
It's that time of year again! Every year since 2017 (minus 2020, when they didn't show clips), this is the piece I most look forward to writing. The Oscars always throw a few curveballs with their clip choices. They certainly made some choices this year. Let's rank the clips 20 to 1.
I'm gonna not be selfish. I'm gonna be your mom.
What Are We Doing?
20. Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans
19. Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once
18. Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All At Once
For all three of these performers, their roles had big showy moments that were tailor-made for Oscar clips. Instead, they went with odd choices...
Quan and Hsu had some perfect clip opportunities, but they went with an odd one-off exposition scene with Quan, and a emotional moment for Hsu. Strange choices.
Oscar Baity
You listen to me. He doesn't need saving.
17. Ana de Armas, Blonde
16. Brendan Fraser, The Whale
15. Hong Chau, The Whale
I have a long-standing belief that whomever chooses the clips has personal opinions on the nominated performances. With de Armas, they went with a montage of clips where she is going as big as possible. Same thing with Fraser and Chau. For the performers from The Whale, there were some smaller moments they could have gone with, but they chose the obvious bigger and baitier choices
Missed Opportunties
I wanna be a good momma again.
14. Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
13. Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie
12. Austin Butler, Elvis
11. Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
All four of these performances had ample clip material to work with, but they zigged when they should have zagged. They went with an out-of-nowhere choice for Butler when they could have chosen literally any other clip. Condon is the most disappointing. "You're all feckin' boring!" was right there!
Quiet/Tough to Clip
You can be whoever you want to be. You have time.
10. Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway
9. Paul Mescal, Aftersun
8. Bill Nighy, Living
Before the Oscars kicked off, I knew these three would have clip issues. All three are quietly devastating, but it's not something that can be encapsulated in a 10-second clip. Henry and Mescal had some better options, but they are still solid. Nighy's clip is more of synopisis of the film than it is a showcase for him.
Big, But Correct
Have I not given everything?
7. Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All At Once
6. Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans
5. Cate Blanchett, TAR
4. Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
On the flipside of the quiet performances, big and broad works perfectly in clip form. Curtis and Blanchett's clips are nice summaries of their characters, which is what the clip is supposed to do. We all knew what Hirsch and Bassett's clips were months ago, but doing the obvious doesn't mean it's wrong.
Nailed It
I will always want to be here with you.
3. Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All At Once
2. Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
I was fully prepared to hate whatever clip came from Yeoh, but I was shocked they chose correctly. It's a tough performance to narrow down to a single moment, but that's as good as a clip as could be expected. Meanwhile, Farrell's sweet vulnerability is exquisitely personified in his clip which puts his brilliance on full display.
Perfection
There goes that dream
1. Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
We all knew it was coming. The most memed and posted clip from any performance this year was this for a reason. It's heartbreakingly perfect in every way. Congrats to Keoghan, who joins Lesley Manville, the ladies from The Favourite, Florence Pugh, and Aunjanue Ellis as the Oscar clip champions!