My other annual pre-Oscars post. If I could’ve picked, this is who I’d nominate in each of my favorite categories.
Best Picture – This was a tough category, because I thought most of the existing Best Picture nominees were great, but there were plenty of other fantastic movies I wanted to include. I had to deliberate to figure out what to keep, what to lose, and what to add.
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Nimona – This is a Nimona stan account, and I will not be taking questions.
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
Polite Society – You’re about to see quite a bit of Polite Society on here. Such an incredible film!
They Cloned Tyrone – I wanted there to be a lot more They Cloned Tyrone on this list, but some of the categories I wanted to nominate it more wound up getting too crowded. Still, I’d call this one of the best films of the year.
Best Leading Actor – Only one change here, swapping out Bradley Cooper for Teo Yoo. Everyone from Past Lives deserved more credit!
Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
Teo Yoo (Past Lives) – God, Yoo is just heartbreaking in this!
Best Leading Actress – A couple changes to this one. Again with my pro-Past Lives agenda, and I couldn’t not nominate Margot Robbie!
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Greta Lee (Past Lives) – Just incredible, but in such a subtle way. Amazing!
Margot Robbie (Barbie) – No shade to any of the other very talented people involved, especially Greta Gerwig, but Robbie is sooooooo good in this film!
Emma Stone (Poor Things)
Best Supporting Actor – A lot of shakeups here. Side note: I considered keeping Ryan Gosling, but I decided that if I couldn’t justify nominating Kingsley Ben-Adir, who was my favorite Ken by a country mile, I could use Gosling’s slot to make room for another one of the great performances this year.
Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
John Magaro (Past Lives) – Yep, more Past Lives! Magaro’s role is a tall order to pull off, and he manages it with aplomb.
Charles Melton (May December) – This was one of my biggest disappointments this year. I really wanted Melton to get nominated. (Started from Riverdale, now we’re here!)
Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) – As with Past Lives, this is a film where I would’ve liked to see the entire main trio get recognized for their excellent work. This was Sessa’s film debut, and he’s fantastic!
Best Supporting Actress – Just one change, swapping out Emily Blunt for Taraji P. Henson. I also thought about Julianne Moore in May December, but I decided that she probably would’ve been up for Lead Actress, along with Natalie Portman (and I just didn’t have room in that category!)
Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
America Ferrera (Barbie)
Taraji P. Henson (The Color Purple)
Jodie Foster (Nyad)
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Best Director – Changed more than half of these, not because the actual nominees weren’t wonderfully directed—they absolutely were! But these are the films whose direction most wowed me this year.
Barbie – It’s a great film overall, but I feel like its crowning achievements are its direction and its production design, both of which are just stellar. I also love that it’s so different from anything else I’ve seen from Greta Gerwig.
Oppenheimer
Past Lives – I know that this was her feature film debut and, if there’s any justice in the world, she’ll have other chances, but Celine Song’s work here was impeccable out of the gate.
Polite Society – I will bang on this drum all day. Give Nida Manzoor her flowers, because this movie is incredible!
Poor Things
Best Adapted Screenplay – Only one change, but an important one.
American Fiction
Barbie
Nimona – This film has so much going for it, but it all starts with its exquisite script. So funny, so inventive, so emotional—I adore it!
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best Original Screenplay – Clearly, the screenplays that speak to me are from the smaller films, which makes sense. This would’ve been such an awesome list.
The Holdovers
May December
Past Lives
Polite Society – Nida Manzoor with the twofer!
They Cloned Tyrone – As I said, I considered They Cloned Tyrone in other categories too, especially for the actors, but I just couldn’t fit in everything I wanted to recognize it for. But I think its best element is probably its script, so I knew I had to have it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment