When Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie) has an existential crisis due to unrelenting thoughts of death, the appearance of cellulite, and a sudden flattening of her feet, she is forced to transition from her world into our own. We learn this when the heroin visits Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), who isn’t what she used to be because her owner played with her too hard. The brutal play regimen resulted in chopped hair, a marker-tatted face, and legs bent into eternal splits.

The trailer set to Also Sprach Zarathustra pays direct homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey, highlighting the tongue-in-cheek humor Gerwig brings to the property. Accompanied by lavish costuming, impressive set designs, and dance montages, Barbie looks to achieve something wholly unique. Hopefully, the film shares more in common with The Lego: Movie rather than G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra.

Parasite is the best movie of the year, and Joker is a close second. Still, it’s hard to imagine the Academy resisting Quentin Tarantino’s exquisite plunge into 1969 Hollywood. The movie is catnip for voters. Plus, Parasite is destined to get its due in other categories. The screenplay for Parasite is one of the greatest original scripts in recent memory. It has a dazzling, Shakespearean depth. Quentin Tarantino’s screenplay is flawed (especially that unacceptable ending, which flirts with canceling out the significance of everything that leads up to it), but the vision he expressed on the page merits recognition. 

Baumbach co-wrote the screenplay with Gerwig, and the latter – an underused actress – does a fine job in the title role. It, no doubt, helps that Gerwig had such intimate familiarity with the material because the film is more concerned with the things going on in Frances’ head than those taking place in her life. Baumbach opted to shoot the movie digitally and release it in black and white, a move that results in a classic, arty feel, even though the characters and events are decidedly contemporary.