Which Oscar-Nominated Movie Should You Watch Next?
Find yourself asking, “Which Oscar-nominated movie should you watch next?” If you’re like me, when I feel the urge to sit down with a good movie, I don’t want to waste half the time trying to decide what to watch. Thankfully, this time of the year (awards season) has the ripest crop of new and great movies out in the world, with lots of talks out there as to which you should watch first.
ExpressVPN has made that decision easy and stress-free, thanks to their simple flowchart that helps you find the best Oscar-worthy movie for your specific tastes. This past weekend, I plugged into the flowchart before popping the popcorn – here’s how accurate the flowchart got to what I was looking for.
Which Oscar-Nominated Movie Should You Watch Next? – Start With What You Want To Feel
TikTok has killed my attention span. Seriously – I’m having a hard time watching a thirty-second YouTube video these days, let alone a full-length movie. If you’re thinking about diving into this flowchart yourself, I’d make a strong point to come into it with at least a glimmer of an idea of what you’re looking for.
In this specific use case, I knew I was in the mood for something reputable and worth talking about at work the following week, but without the heaviness that sometimes comes along with an art-forward acclaimed film. I like to watch a movie I don’t feel ashamed for not “getting,” you know? In short, I was looking for an engaging but fun film that friends might have something to say about. What are my options?
Finding a Flow
Time to go for it. In working through the flowchart, I tried to keep it light – opting to stay away from “tear-jerkers” and take a hard left away from “an ensemble of crazy rich people.” ExpressVPN did a great job making the questions more personal than data-driven, prompting me to think about my mood, tastes, deep fears, and personality quirks over themes or types of movies. The hard part? I’m a “read the last page of the book first” kind of guy. I have a hard time not starting at the end, seeing my final options, and crafting my answers from there. That’s not fair, though – there are a handful of movies on this year’s Best Picture list that I’ve watched with friends or family that wouldn’t have been my first choice if I were watching alone – with that in tow, keep your mind open and take each question as it comes.
Now It’s Time for the Feature Presentation
After a handful of answers, I landed on Avatar 2: The Way of Water. Having seen the first Avatar years ago (probably in high school, if not before), this was one Oscar nominee from this year that I had already had on my radar and was just waiting for the right time to watch. I enjoyed the movie, even if, timing-wise, it was a little more of a commitment than I was looking for.
If you’re looking for a movie review, you’re not gonna get it. I’m not here to spoil your choose-your-own-adventure! I will tell you this: after reviewing the other options that I could have landed on, this felt like the best match for sure. (Aside from Top Gun: Maverick, which was the first movie I went to see in theaters after a long, long time).
Truthfully, the biggest win with the Oscar movie flowchart was in completely bypassing the headache of choosing (and often, agreeing on) the evening’s flick. I would love to see more tools out there for streaming platforms in general – while algorithms get you so far, this was a nice reprieve from seeing the same handfuls of movies across Hulu, Netflix, and Prime and an opportunity to consider something a little out of the box. More like this, please!
Notes for Next Time
I was definitely looking for a current Oscar nominee, but I loved having the option of turning back the clock and looking at winners and nominees from years past. Gladiator, anyone? I’ll definitely be revisiting on future Sunday afternoons to help get a jump start on my movie choice.
What are you waiting for? Dive into the flow chart and get your snacks ready. It’s movie night.
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