Past Lives – The Underdog Oscar-Nominated Film You Should Watch Now

It's Oscars time! Every year at this time I check to see if I've seen any of the nominees. Pre-pandemic, I would have seen at least half of the Best Picture nominees, but this year, I've only seen one. And honestly, I have no regrets. The one movie I did see that got nominated was Past Lives. It's up for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. It was the only movie I went to see in theaters, and the one movie I thought about long after the credits rolled. Here's why you need to run, not walk, to see this movie.

Past Lives is about Nora (Greta Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) who are childhood best friends in South Korea. They drift apart as Nora emigrates with her family. "Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance." By the way, Nora is now married. Here's the trailer.

I love movies that breathe. Movies with that slow burn, and don't feel "busy" and full of action. That's what this felt like to me. It was beautiful and emotional and painful. It had me sitting in my feelings in the very best way. The storytelling felt special. It gave me time to absorb and experience what the characters were going through. I loved that it introduced me to the Korean word Inyeon. The term Inyeon means fate, or being connected in lives other than this one. "And in every lifetime, it's going to mean something a little different." (Writer/Director Celine Song Newsweek) I loved that the film had me thinking about it long after leaving the theater. To me, those are the very best movies. Movies that have me thinking of choices that I've made in life. Ones that have me questioning my thoughts about relationship dynamics. Movies that make me feel.

According to Betting Odds, here are their predictions.

I highly recommend you watch Past Lives.

With the 96th annual Academy Awards taking place on March 10, nominations for the coveted awards show have been announced Tuesday morning (January 23).

Jack Quaid and Zazie Beetz announced the nominees live from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. In addition to the Oscars airing live on March 10 from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, the ceremony will start an hour earlier at 7 p.m. ET. Jimmy Kimmel is returning as the host for the second year in a row, his fourth time hosting the event overall. Watch the show on ABC, streaming on Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV and FuboTV, or on ABC.com and the ABC app by authenticating with your provider.

Fantastic films are nominated for this year's Oscars, with Oppenheimer, Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things, The Holdovers, The Color Purple, Maestro, American Fiction, and Past Lives taking a lot of nominations in the major categories. This year, 321 feature films were eligible for the Oscars, and 265 of those qualified for the Best Picture category. For the first time in history, three of the ten movies nominated for best picture were directed by a female, the most in Oscars history. Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and Celine Song’s Past Lives are battling it out against directors Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, and Bradley Cooper. Only four years have included films directed by women for best picture: Lone Scherfig’s An Education, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right, Debra Granik’s Winter’s Bone, Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman, Siân Heder’s CODA, and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. Three of these women-directed films won best picture in their respective Oscar-nominated years: The Hurt Locker, Nomadland, and CODA.

Take a look below at this year's Oscar nominations:

Sterling K. Brown -- American Fiction

Robert De Niro -- Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr. -- Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling -- Barbie

Charles Melton -- May December

Mark Ruffalo -- Poor Things

Emily Blunt — Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks — The Color Purple

America Ferrera -- Barbie

Jodie Foster -- Nyad

Da’Vine Joy Randolph — The Holdovers

"The Fire Inside" -- Flamin' Hot

"I'm Just Ken" -- Barbie

"It Never Went Away" -- American Symphony

"Wahzhahzhe" -- Killers of the Flower Moon

"What Was I Made For?" -- Barbie

The Boy and the Heron

Elemental

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Bradley Cooper -- Maestro

Colman Domingo -- Rustin

Paul Giamatti -- The Holdovers

Cillian Murphy -- Oppenheimer

Jeffrey Wright -- American Fiction

Annette Bening -- Nyad

Lily Gladstone -- Killers of the Flower Moon

Sandra Huller -- Anatomy of a Fall

Carey Mulligan -- Maestro

Emma Stone -- Poor Things

American Fiction

Anatomy of a Fall

The Zone of Interest