The Tameside Radio presenter goes through the frontrunners for the Oscars, which have been announced this week.

Unusually for me, I've not managed to watch any films this week on the big screen, due to frenetic packing of boxes ahead of moving house at the weekend.

I managed to watch Brian and Charles on DVD, which is a charming film about loneliness, companionship, and artificial intelligence. The robot in this film is a lot more friendly than M3gan in the current big screen horror, as a lonely inventor in rural Wales builds himself a companion which reads the dictionary and quickly starts to answer him back.

It's quirky, silly and sweet all at the same time, and I've added it to my list of great films that you can watch in under 90 minutes. If a film about a seven foot tall robot that adores cabbage sounds like your thing, it comes highly commended.

I'll be reviewing Babylon next week, but in the meantime, I thought we'd take a quick look at some of the frontrunners for the Oscars, which have been announced this week. Everything Everywhere All At Once leads the pack, with an impressive 11 nominations. It was a sleeper indie hit set in a launderette, that was visually stunning, clever, and completely original, so I'd say it's in with a good shout of cleaning up. It has made an impressive 100 million dollars, which is more than four times its budget.

Meanwhile, Top Gun and Avatar both did well in the list, and there are acting nods for Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell, Bill Nighy and Ana de Armas. I'd love to see Colin Farrell win for Banshees of Inisherin, which was one of my favourite films of 2022, hands down. It picks up an impressive nine nods.

Streaming services have had a weaker showing year on year, with All Quiet on the Western Front the only nominee from one of the streaming platforms in the top category (it equals Banshees with nine nods). Netflix poured big budgets into Glass Onion and the Pinocchio reboot, but both only garner a single mention in the list. Netflix, Apple and Amazon total 19 nominations this year, a sharp fall from 37 in 2022.

I'm really shocked that Olivia Colman misses out in the Best Actress category, as I thought she was exceptional in Empire of Light. She made the film for me with her portrayal of a cinema manager battling with her mental health, and this seems like a real omission. She won an Oscar for The Favourite back in 2018.

Ahead of her performance at the Super Bowl next month, Rihanna picks up a nomination for the Tameside Radio favourite Lift Me Up, from Black Panther, in the Best Original song category. She has to stand a good chance of winning, I reckon. Lady Gaga's ace Hold My Hand from Top Gun : Maverick also makes the cut.

Women Talking is a surprise inclusion in the Best Picture category, and hits UK cinemas on 10 February. Check out the trailer. It looks well worth a watch, I reckon.

It's a good list, and proof that cinema is in rude health going into 2023. Long may that continue!

You can listen to Alex every weekday from 7am to 11am and on the 'Super Scoreboard' show on Saturdays from 3pm to 7pm, on Tameside Radio 103.6FM. 

Alex also has a regular newspaper column where he gives his unique take on life. Read his latest one here.

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