Ultimate 6er | The 96th Academy Awards
2023 has one of the best rosters of Best Picture nominees in recent memory. From festival favorites to big blockbusters; I’ve been seeing nearly every film in this category appear in every critic’s Top 10. Even after the Academy Awards ceremony, I’m hoping that people remember how these films defined last year through their top tier artisanship.
Similar to craft beer, I know many people who think Oscar films are too inaccessible or are not to be trusted because they have support from hardcore fans. However, you’ll see from this list that these movies and beers will surely satisfy the fussiest fan.
Oppenheimer / Maestro
Ten Seconds to Helles | Bombs Away Beer Co.
Oppenheimer is the big favorite to sweep the Oscars this year. Christopher Nolan may have crafted his greatest film yet, using his technical eye for detail and frequent collaborator Cillian Murphy to make an unparalleled, complicated biography. On the other hand you have Bradley Cooper’s Maestro, where he once again takes the lead in a musical themed movie as famed composer Leonard Bernstein and his rocky marriage. Two lagers than life biopics require stable, dependable beer that you could crush through their lengthy running times.
The name was too good to pass up for Oppenheimer, but time plays a major part in Maestro as the intensity Bernstein shows when conducting Mass shows his dedication to precision and artistry. All three of those elements are needed to make fantastic lagers. Bombs Away Beer Company has made an approachable Helles that’s subtle in flavor and mildly bitter. Don’t tamper with a winning formula!
Killers of the Flower Moon
Wooden Nickel VIII | Broke Brewing Co.
Martin Scorsese’s long awaited and hopefully-not-last picture is a true western crime epic on every single level. His gripping exploration of the systematic destruction of the Osage nation is heavy as it is formidable. The seedy, conniving exploits by Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Bill King Hail (Robert de Niro) unravels from the persistence of Lily Gladstone’s Mollie as she’s weighed down by illness and trauma. Killers of the Flower Moon is a rich tapestry that not just interrogates the complicity of greed but also the media’s role in broadcasting it.
Broke Brewing Company invokes that period with a smooth amber ale aged on toasted American white oak. What comes off as a simple beer reveals as complex depth of flavor, fitting for this three hour opus. This is one time where you should take a wooden nickel!
Barbie / Poor Things
Trois Filles Tripel | Ladyface Brewery
If you’re wondering why we didn’t go for the obvious Barbenheimer choice, it’s because Yorgos Lanthimos came along to tell another side-splitting comedy about self-actualizing and gender roles. Poor Things is visually stunning, bizarre globetrotting adventure that plays like Barbie for a fledging artsy crowd with a once-in-a-lifetime performance by Emma Stone. Not that it takes anything away from Barbie, which stands as a triumph on every level from the playful pink sets, to Margot Robbie’s comedic sensibilities and Greta Gerwig’s ability to tie a corporate brand into a subversive delight.
Ladyface Brewery has crafted a beer that is somehow soft and fruity, but also spicy and phenolic that could pair with any meal. Just like these two movies, Trois Filles is multi-faceted in delivering a Belgian beer that is definitive of the style, but inspiring in execution with layers upon layers of intrigue. This beer will help you understand that you are worthy of love and totally Kenough.
The Holdovers / American Fiction
PM Dawn | Trillium Brewing Co.
These nominations are two of the more low-key, comedic charmers of the year driven by pitch perfect lead performances. The Holdovers is a throwback to 1970s cinema to every iota, featuring an antisocial professor (Paul Giamatti) who gains his own sense of empathy after spending weeks with the abandoned misfits of his boarding school. American Fiction is a satirical, but ultimately grounded family drama featuring the overly-intelligent, cynical author (Jeffery Wright) who writes a novel to unexpected success much to his chagrin.
What brings these movies together is their attachment to Boston, from The Holdovers exploring the city’s windy winters to American Fiction’s time drifting in sandy beaches. Trillium Brewing Company has always been one of those breweries that defines Boston, encompassing the best parts of classic and modern craft beer. Like a good book, PM Dawn will transplant you to a different world. The roasty, coffee-forward flavor will give you a good buzz and a warm feeling in your stomach.
Past Lives
Driftwood Ale | Montauk Brewing Co.
Past Lives is the choice I’m most thrilled about as my favorite movie from 2023. A beautifully tender, gentle film about Nora (Greta Lee) meeting back up with her childhood sweetheart (Teo Yoo) after twenty-four years, reflecting on the loss and changes in their personal lives that lead up this fateful moment. Celine Song blew it out of the water tying together themes of longing and romance; using a deft hand with a dreamy score and intimate cinematography. All with her first film!
Montauk is name-dropped in the film, where Nora goes to a writer’s retreat where she meets her future husband Arthur (John Magaro) and thankfully Montauk Brewing Company has a beer that fits the film’s subtle, bittersweet nature. Driftwood Ale matches the blend of international enjoyment as an English Pale Ale; starting as an easy sipper that quietly takes your breath away with its biscuity malts and noble hops.
Zone of Interest / Anatomy of a Fall
Blonde Sur Chasselas Bariquée | La Brasserie du Mont Salève
John Glazer’s Zone of Interest and Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall couldn’t be a more perfect pair from the Best Picture nominees who’ve overcome the borders of Best International Feature Film. These are complex, heavy films that will take you to the extremes of tension and melancholy, sharing the incredible actress Sandra Hüller doing tremendously different characters in both. Easily the most difficult watches you’ll have preparing for the Oscar ceremony, but some of the most engaging storytelling all year.
In an isolated corner of the countryside lies La Brasserie du Mont Salève whom wish to cover so many European styles to its dedicated audience. Their Belgian Blonde is aged in wine barrels, using grapes that come from the snowy parts of France. It’s a weighty beer with a sour tinge and unique tartness that manages to be quite quaffable. Something to refresh the soul after entrenching in ponderous media.
Who will win? Who will lose? Will the show go down in history or infamy? No matter what happens, I’m hoping that the show and this list inspire you to try new things!
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