Welcome to MovieJawn’s Split Decision! Each week, Ryan will pose a question to our staff of knowledgeable and passionate film lovers and share the responses. Chime in on Twitter, Facebook, our Instagram, or in the comments below.

This week’s question:

What is your favorite Oscar nomination (or nominated film) in any category?

Flee is my favorite Oscar contender this year and not just because it received the rare hat trick of being nominated in the Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best International Film categories simultaneously. It is because it is a film that really shows the difficulties of, LGBTQ refugees in the Middle East, and how their lives must remain hidden. (The film is animated specifically to protect the identity of its subject; and the film is dubbed so it can reach an audience that may be afraid of subtitles). The Oscar nominations can provide exposure to Amin’s story, which he is telling for the first time. It’s a sensational film. But I also have to give a shout out to Penélope Cruz, who gave the best performance of last year in Parallel Mothers, and ALL HAIL The Queen of Basketball, my favorite short film (a documentary) from last year about Luisa Harris, who died back in January. Watch it here: 

–Gary M. Kramer, Staff Writer

The upshot of the Academy nominating 10 films for best picture is that it puts movies on your radar that you overlooked. In an effort to watch all 10 movies before Oscar Night, I ended up watching CODA which immediately became my favorite film of 2021. Though the story is a basic family drama meets coming of age story, the added element of the protagonist balancing her life as the one hearing member of her deaf family made for a film that felt truly unique. All of the performances are phenomenal but Troy Kotsur’s Oscar nominated role as the father is one of the most deserving performances I have seen in years. His sign language is so expressive (and the jokes he cracks are so funny) you can’t take your eyes off of him when he’s on the screen. CODA is a long shot to take home the statue on Sunday but if you’ve seen it you know without a doubt it deserves to be there (and if you haven’t, it’s absolutely worth signing up for Apple TV+ for a month). –Ian Hrabe, Staff Writer

The Best Picture nomination of The Power of the Dog is the first time that one of my favourite films of the year has had a decent shot at winning since 1996 (I love The English Patient, bite me, Elaine!). My favourite nomination from this film is Ari Wegner for cinematography - I’ve interviewed her twice, for nearly an hour each time and she is absolutely fascinating to listen to, when she discusses her process. Obviously if she wins, it will be historic. The fact that cinematographers like Claire Mathon and Helene Lovart have never been nominated is a disgrace, but I digress. I am very much Team The Power of the Dog this year because it’s so rare for a film I love to have made it this far at the Oscars. The Academy usually has terrible taste (and them completely leaving out The Green Knight this year demonstrates that), but things are very slowly and gradually getting a little better. –Fiona Underhill, Contributor

Shout out to Questlove’s impressive directorial debut, Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), an important documentary with excellent music. I’m glad that Maggie Gyllenhaal received an adapted screenplay nomination for The Lost Daughter, and that The Tragedy of Macbeth received recognition for cinematography that made the tale as supernaturally spooky as it should be.  –Melissa Strong, Contributor

My favorite film of 2021 was Julia Ducournau’s absolute masterpiece Titane, which is a nominee for Best Pict–hold on, just looking at the Oscars website now, is this correct? It wasn’t nominated for Best Picture? My mistake. It must have been Best International Feature, then…No, not that either. Shoot. Okay, okay, but there’s no way they’d ignore Agathe Rousselle’s incredible performance. She must be up for Actress in a Leading Role…Really! Let’s see, Vincent Lindon – no, Directing – no, Original Screenplay – no. That’s so weird! I guess Titane isn’t up for anything after all. In that case I have to give it up to The Lost Daughter, which gave me some serious Don’t Look Now vibes. Kidding aside, three well-deserved noms for Olivia Coleman, Jessie Buckley, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. –Clayton Hayes, Staff Writer

Clayton, I feel you on Titane. I was also bummed Pig didn’t get any recognition, especially for Nicolas Cage’s performance. But you know who did a great lead job? That Benedict Cumberbatch fella. I’ve always thought he suffered in American roles because his accent was too stilted, but he played his role in Power of the Dog excellently. He’s very good at being a ferocious asshole while showing just enough humanity that you could see him getting exploited. It doesn’t feel unrealistic when the plot shifts the advantage away from him and you aren’t sorry it happens. So it’s a complicated character, but he does it justice. –Alex Rudolph, Staff Writer

Maybe it’s just because I turned 30 this year and could relate to the film quite a bit, but I have to make my case for Andrew Garfield, who I thought was so compelling in tick, tick… Boom! Beyond the learning to sing for the role thing, he’s so fun to watch as Jonathan Larson. The fear of turning 30 and never amounting to anything, the joy of finding the right words at the right time, and the frustration when inspiration won’t come anymore, he conveyed everything so well on screen. The “Sunday” and “Swimming” sequences were really spectacular, both for his performance and from a directorial standpoint. Plus, I haven’t stopped listening to the soundtrack since I watched this flick. –Megan Bailey, Staff Writer

The more distance I have from Spencer, the more I love it. Turning a Christmas with the awful Royal Family into a Henry James-esque ghost story is a brilliant move, and it wouldn’t work without Kristen Stewart’s performance. She captures a lot of what made Diana such a memorable figure, while allowing her to be fully human. So much of this movie rests on her face acting and she carries the whole thing easily. –Ryan Silberstein, Staff Writer