I know everyone has been breathlessly waiting for my opinions on the
recent Oscar nominations- but I've had a lot of feelings to sort through. And I've concluded that the Academy is very schizo this year.
On one hand they nominated blockbuster fare like
Black Panther, A Star is Born, and
Bohemian Rhapsody.
On the other hand, they nominated artsy and foreign flicks like
Roma, The Favorite, and
Cold War.
One one hand the diversity in the nominations is spectacular with
Black Panther,
BlacKkKlansmen, and
Roma up for Best Picture.
On the other hand, there are the cultural lightening rods of
Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody and Kevin Hart.
On one hand you have Lady Gaga.
On the other you have Yalitza Aparicio.
Whatever hand you're sitting on, here's what I think of some of my favorite Oscar categories this year.
Best Foreign-Language Feature
In a category that is perpetually a crap shoot for office Oscar pools since only a very few people actually watch all the nominees, this year there's a pretty good horse race.
Roma is sucking all the air out of the room, but
Cold War earned a Best Director for Pawel Pawlikowski. So maybe
Roma's presence in the Best Picture category means that
Cold War could grab the win in this category.
Best Animated Feature
The hugely popular
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse has a chance to break the Disney Pixar stranglehold on this category that it has maintained since
Rango creeped in in 2012. It's nice to see Wes Anderson's crafty and delightful
Isle of Dogs among the nominees.
Best Documentary Feature
To quote an old lady-crush of mine, "What? Did they have a hemorrhoid for breakfast?" This category missed the mark entirely. I'm sure
RBG is great- and the beloved subject practically insures a win. But neither
Three Identical Strangers nor
Won't You Be My Neighbor? made the nomination cut.
Strangers might be the most engaging film I've seen all year and
Neighbor was a perfect antidote to the perpetual Trumpian news cycle. But apparently Academy members had heaping bowls of hemorrhoids for breakfast.
Best Costume Design
This year the contenders check all the boxes for fashion genre movies. Period Pieces-
The Favourite and
Mary Queen of Scots. Imaginative Fantasy-
Mary Poppins Returns and
Black Panther. The- Oh I guess that's all the fashion genre movie boxes. Somehow the Coen Brothers' Netflix Western
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs managed a nod- but in my opinion,
Black Panther has this. The design on this film is amazing and is one of the reasons it transcends the typical comic book blockbuster.
Best Adapted Screenplay
This category is anybody's guess. Too close to call. But if I had my druthers, it would go to
BlacKkKlansman.
Best Original Screenplay
Roma will probably win this one- even though nothing interesting happens until 2/3 of the movie has unspooled. Anything but
Green Book, I say.
Best Supporting Actor
First of all, how is Mahershala Ali not in the Best Actor category??? Is
Green Book really about the white guy? Loved Adam Driver in
BlacKkKlansmen- but Mahershala should make space for a second Oscar for
Driving Dr. Shirley.
Best Supporting Actress
It's a
The Favourite girlfight with Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz probably splitting the vote and allowing the win for one of the other nominees. Regina King preferably.
Best Actor
This year it's the battle of the biographical prosthetics with Christian Bale's Dick Cheney vs. Rami Malek's Freddie Mercury. I thought Bradley Cooper was the best thing about
A Star is Born, and since he was denied a Best Director nomination, maybe the Academy will throw him an acting bone.
Best Actress
For the love of God give Glenn Close her Oscar! Seven nominations and no wins. Don't make her another Thelma Ritter. Her competition this year is not as stiff as some of her other go arounds, so I'm confident she will ascend to the stage. Sorry, Lady Gaga. It's an honor to be nominated. Next time star in a movie that doesn't turn out to be about your co-star. And I've loved Olivia Colman since she starred in British 80's science show spoof
Look Around You.
Best Director
Alfonso Cuaron cause the massive Netflix PR machine has convinced everyone that
Roma is the best thing since sliced queso. Glad to see Spike Lee in competition. Sad to not see Barry Jenkins.
Best Picture
There's something here for everyone which is a good thing. But I'm not sure there's one that my heart is really invested in. I'm super apathetic about
Roma which I think had one amazing scene and the rest feels like watching your neighbor who you don't know that well show you a home movie about his terribly important childhood.
Black Panther was a refreshing and exciting imagining of how a comic book movie can be transformed by other cultures- but it is still a Marvel movie. The
Roma train seems to have all the steam, but who knows? Maybe Kevin Hart will jump on stage and declare
Green Book the winner.
The only thing that is certain in this year's Oscars is the terror that will grip presenters who have to pronounce the names of nominees Yalitza Aparicio, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Pawel Pawlikowski.
