It’s that time of year again! I’ve only seen a few of the nominated films so far (reviews forthcoming, of course,) but there’s still some interesting stuff to look at here.
They filled all ten Best Picture slots this year and somehow still left out films I was rooting for. Of the three I’ve seen—Don’t Look Up, Nightmare Alley, and The Power of the Dog—I thought they were all well done, but none of them hit me like tick, tick…BOOM! or Encanto did, both of which I feel should’ve been up for the top prize. Instead, Encanto is relegated to Best Animated Feature and the music categories. Fingers crossed that Lin-Manuel Miranda can finally complete his EGOT, but I do worry a little about “Dos Oruguitas”—besides concerns that the Academy won’t care as much about a song that’s in Spanish, “We Don’t Talk about Bruno” has just been such a monster hit that “Dos Oruguitas” might seem like a “lesser song” in comparison. And poor tick, tick…BOOM! is only up for Best Leading Actor and one of the technical categories. I’m happy for Andrew Garfield but sad for the film, which is so wonderful but isn’t getting its full due.
It seems like West Side Story is the chosen musical of the year, and by all accounts, it is a great movie. I’m looking forward to seeing it as soon as I’m able—and way to go, Ariana DeBose for Best Supporting Actress! Very cool if she can follow in Rita Moreno’s footsteps there. Most of the other Best Picture nominees I have yet to see do interest me, so that’s promising. I’ve heard strong things about Belfast, and I’m excited to see CODA. Side note: woohoo to Troy Kotsur for Best Supporting Actor! I’m glad that this year’s Deaf movie got a nomination for one of its actual Deaf actors! King Richard sounds like it’s really good, and I’m happy to see Drive My Car making the list—even though I haven’t seen it yet, it’s always cool when an international feature gets some other spots on the board. I’ve heard good things about Dune, although I am admittedly amused to imagine that Denis Vileneuve is probably blaming the fact that he didn’t get a Best Director nod on HBO Max. Rounding out the pack is Licorice Pizza.
It’s interesting to look at the lead acting categories this year. Among the Best Leading Actresses, none of them are in Best Picture nominees, and only two of the Best Leading Actors are (Benedict Cumberbatch for The Power of the Dog and Will Smith for King Richard.) That’s really striking to me. Of the ones I’ve seen so far, they’re not such firm ensemble pieces that you’d be hard-pressed to pick out a leading actor, although leading actresses are admittedly thinner on the ground. So what’s up? We see quite a few performers nominated for playing real people, mostly in films that didn’t garner Best Picture slots. Both Javier Bardem and Nicole Kidman grabbed a nod for Being the Ricardos, as well as Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Kristen Stewart in Spencer. We also get a bit of Shakespeare content, with Denzel Washington nominated for The Tragedy of Macbeth.
In terms of diversity, there are some things to celebrate. Again, glad to see Drive My Car scoring a Best Picture nomination for Japan, although it repeats the trend of recognizing Asian movies but not Asian actors. Of the twenty acting nominees, four are BIPOC—the aforementioned Will Smith, Denzel Washington, and Ariana DeBose, plus Aujanue Ellis for King Richard—and like I said, Troy Kotsur is holding it down for Deaf representation. Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) and Ryûsue Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) are both nominated for their direction as well as their screenwriting, and there are two other women joining Campion in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, Sian Heder for Belfast and Maggie Gyllenhaal for The Lost Daughter.
Finally, I knew it was a long shot (bias against genre films, the tendency not to recognize Asian actors,) but I was still really pulling for Tony Leung Chiu-wai to be the one to crack the acting categories for Marvel. After his stunning and acclaimed body of work, would it have been a little ridiculous for him to get his first Oscar nomination for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings? Sure. But let’s be real, it would’ve been no less deserved. He tore it up in that movie and the critics legit lost their minds.
No comments:
Post a Comment