2020 Oscar Nominations

Yesterday’s announcement of the Oscar nominations were met, I’d say, with more disappointment than fanfare. The choices seemed mostly predictable, and there was little to really excite – for the most part, all that was unexpected was who didn’t make the cut. The media was quick to point out that the Academy very narrowly escaped yet another #OscarsSoWhite, while many on Twitter countered that one actor of color out of 20 nominations is still pretty damn white (with Asian-American Twitter additionally “celebrating” Scarlett Johansson’s nominations for both Leading and Supporting Actress.)

We’ll start with Best Picture. I’ve seen three of the nine nominees so far (Jojo Rabbit, Little Women, and Marriage Story, reviews still forthcoming on the latter two,) and honestly, the only ones of the remaining six that I’m particularly eager to see are Parasite and 1917. The others don’t grip me all that much, and mostly feel like “well, of course” choices.

As far as acting goes, there are some choices I’m very happy with – Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh for Little Women, Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson for Marriage Story, Margot Robbie for Bombshell – these categories also contain my biggest gripes with the nominations. I’d had really liked to see Taron Egerton included for Rocketman and Eddie Murphy for Dolemite is My Name, and I pretty much carved Lupita Nyong’o’s name on the Leading Actress trophy back in February after I saw Us. I’ve seen four of the five Leading Actress nominees and I really liked all of them (and all accounts say Renée Zellweger in Judy is the one to beat,) but Nyong’o was astounding in that movie. And I never had any real hope for it, but I really would’ve loved to see Taika Waititi snag a Supporting Actor nomination for Jojo Rabbit.

Speaking of Jojo Rabbit, I was relieved to see it receive an Adapted Screenplay nomination, but Waititi’s exclusion from Best Director was a travesty (I also would’ve liked to see Greta Gerwig for Little Women and Lulu Wang for The Farewell – more on that in a minute.) That’s a category where I admittedly haven’t seen any of the nominated films, but Waititi’s work on Jojo Rabbit was just impeccable, and I have a hard time believing that five directors brought it harder than he did this year.

Other complaints? The complete lack of love for The Farewell overall, which was a major oversight in my book. Dolemite is My Name was also a terrific film, and while I think Rocketman’s plot gets a little by-the-numbers in places, the way it tells its story is anything but, and I’d have liked to see more recognition for it. On the whole, I saw a lot of great films in 2019, and this year’s nominations feel pretty centered around a much more limited range of movies.

Also, no Frozen II for Best Animated Feature? What’s up with that? Fortunately, though, Hair Love is up for Best Animated Short: the epitome of a precious I’m-not-crying-you’re-crying short film.