This year’s Academy Awards, which will be held on March 10, may very well feature the strongest slate of nominees in the ceremony’s history. Established filmmaking veterans like Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan are up for big awards, as are talents such as Justine Triet and Lily Gladstone, who are finally getting well-deserved recognition after doing years’ worth of great work under the mainstream radar. Thanks to Kanopy, you can currently stream some of those nominees’ “greatest hits” for free using your Livingston Library card.

Memento– 2001, directed by Christopher Nolan

It looks like this could be the year when director Christopher Nolan finally wins Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, thanks to his spectacular epic Oppenheimer. But it was 2001’s Memento, about an amnesiac (Guy Pearce) hunting his wife’s killer, that made Nolan one of Hollywood’s top filmmakers.

Raging Bull – 1980, directed by Martin Scorsese

Although director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert DeNiro have collaborated on a number of acclaimed films– including Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Casino, and The Irishman– there are only two films for which Scorsese’s directing and DeNiro’s acting have both been nominated for Oscars. One is this year’s Best Picture nominee Killers of the Flower Moon, and the other is 1980’s Raging Bull, the brutal yet poetic story of boxer Jake LaMotta. 

Certain Women – 2016, directed by Kelly Reichardt

Before Lily Gladstone received a Best Actress nomination for her stunning work in Killers of the Flower Moon, she stole scenes in Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women, which also stars superb actresses such as Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart, and Laura Dern.

Mahalia – 2021, directed by Kenny Leon

Danielle Brooks was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in last year’s musical adaptation of The Color Purple. And a couple years earlier, she delivered another powerful musical performance in this biopic of singer Mahalia Jackson. Salon wrote: “Thanks to Brooks’ resolute performance and Kenny Leon’s sturdy directing style, Mahalia successfully argues for our attention…Brooks reaches beyond the screen and grabs you every time she breaks into song, doubling that power to meet the grandeur of bigger stages.”

The Killing of a Sacred Deer – 2017, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos is nominated for directing and producing the twisted, Frankenstein-esque odyssey Poor Things. The Killing of a Sacred Deer, however, is an even darker and more haunting film about a surgeon (Colin Farrell) tormented by a vengeful teenager (Barry Keoghan). It is inspired by Euripides’ tragedy Iphigenia in Aulis, yet filtered through Lanthimos’ uniquely bizarre style.  

Sibyl – 2019, directed by Justine Triet

Justine Triet won the Palme d’Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival for her film Anatomy of a Fall, and now she’s nominated for the Best Director Oscar for that movie as well. Her previous film, 2019’s Sibyl, is about a psychotherapist (Virginie Efira) who writes a novel based on her new patient (Adèle Exarchopoulos).

In the Aisles – 2018, directed by Thomas Stuber

Sandra Hüller is nominated in the Best Actress category this year for her captivating role as a wife accused of murdering her husband in Anatomy of a Fall. She plays another fascinatingly inscrutable character in this 2018 German film about the camaraderie that develops between quirky employees at a big box store.

Passing Strange – 2009, directed by Spike Lee

Nominated for Best Actor this year for his portrayal of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, Colman Domingo played multiple roles in Spike Lee’s filmed version of the acclaimed Broadway musical Passing Strange.

Lady Bird – 2017, directed by Greta Gerwig

Before she was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay (along with husband Noah Baumbach) for Barbie, Greta Gerwig was nominated for writing & directing her charming and hilarious debut film about the complicated relationship between a teenager (Saoirse Ronan) and her mother (Laurie Metcalf).

The Man Who Sold His Skin – 2020, directed by Kaouther Ben Hania

Director Kaouther Ben Hania is nominated for Best Documentary Feature this year for her riveting, multi-layered film Four Daughters. She was also nominated for the Best International Feature Film award in 2021 for this story of a man who agrees to have his back tattooed by a famous artist in order to escape the war in Syria.

—Joe, Adult Services & Acquisitions