The Oscars Best Picture line-up is the strongest it's been for years

Not only is the overall quality of a consistently high standard not seen in the category for many years, but the sheer diversity of films on offer in terms of both style and subject matter is extremely encouraging.

The line-up includes everything from epic crime sagas by master directors (Killers of the Flower Moon) to understated romantic dramas from first-time filmmakers (Past Lives) with madcap comic fantasies (Poor Things), cerebral foreign-language court dramas (Anatomy of a Fall) and tender Christmas movies (The Holdovers) in between. And that's without even mentioning Barbenheimer – two films that caused a genuine cultural phenomenon and have rightly both been richly rewarded.

Whatever way you look at it, it further underlines the fact that the types of film that might reasonably expect to compete for elusive golden statuettes has changed markedly for the better in the last few years. Largely gone are the days of what has often been referred to as 'Oscar bait': safe, uninspiring films that pick up honour after honour only to be remembered more for being the answer to a trivia question than for any real artistic merit or value.

Instead, more daring films from more interesting filmmakers are being recognised where, previously, they might not have had a hope. And while big names such as Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan are hardly strangers to these award ceremonies, isn't it great that their most recent masterpieces are joined in the line-up by such a varied collection of films?

It's difficult to imagine, for example, a film from someone like Jonathan Glazer having made it into the Best Picture category even just a few years ago, while the fact that as many as three of the Best Picture contenders are entirely or partly in a language other than English (The Zone of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall and Past Lives) also speaks to the Academy's welcome – and overdue – embrace of international films, sparked by the monumental success of Parasite four years ago.

The Academy is, of course, far from infallible. For example, while there have been clear improvements when it comes to the number of films directed by women making it into the Best Picture category, there are still steps to be taken before we can speak of genuine gender parity (seven films in the ten-strong line-up were helmed by men). And, of course, while this year's list is undoubtedly exciting, it's entirely possible we might yet see a return to a more drab line-up in the future (Moonlight's well-deserved victory in 2017 being followed by a win for Green Book springs to mind).

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But there is certainly a case to be made that this is the finest Best Picture line-up in many a year, perhaps even the best since the category expanded to allow ten nominees instead of the previous five back in 2009. And while every cinephile will have a different view as to which film should eventually be announced as the winner at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre in March (if I was to choose my personal favourite it would be a toss-up between Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things), for the first time in a while I can see a good argument being made for just about every film on the list.

That speaks both to the positive changes in the Academy membership and also to simply how great a year 2023 was for cinema. Bring on the ceremony!

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The Academy Awards will take place on Sunday 10th March. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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