I remember less than 30 years ago, they were discussing how they would find five actresses to nominate for the Best Lead Actress category. In the last few years, they’ve had too many, it’s hard to limit. Last year, I though Mia Goth should’ve been nominated for Pearl and Aubrey Plaza should’ve been nominated for Emily the Criminal.
It’s a good problem to have. But apparently, this year, so many people are mad that Margot Robbie didn’t get nominated for Barbie, even though as producer she is nominated as it’s up for Best Picture. Also, America Ferrera and Ryan Gosling picked up nominations in the Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor categories, respectively. Saying Robbie was well, robbed, means the other five actresses weren’t deserving.
This Annette Bening’s fifth nomination for Nyad. You got to admit, she is a great actress. But it’s also the first time a Native American, Lily Gladstone, has been nominated for Best Actress. Maybe it’s because they expected Barbie‘s major success at the box office to transfer to Oscar gold all around. I remember when late film critic Gene Siskel criticized Uma Thurman’s nomination for Pulp Fiction as good dialogue written for a character. That’s not always the case. But Robbie should take heart in one thing – she’s got a lot of company.
Do you know Sidney Poitier wasn’t even nominated for In the Heat of the Night? No, it was Rod Steiger who ended up winning as the jerkwater bubba police chief who actually isn’t what we think. Paul Giamatti wasn’t nominated for Sideways even though his co-stars Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen were. That might be why he is a top contender this year for his great role in The Holdovers. Leonardo DiCaprio wasn’t nominated for his role as Ernest Burkhardt, even though his Killers of the Flower Moon co-star Robert DeNiro was.
Hey, he’s used to it. He wasn’t nominated for Titanic and neither was James Cameron’s script. Yet Cameron ended up walking home with an Oscar in each hand for Directing and Best Picture. A lot of things go into nomination process. Sometimes a movie is better written than it is filmed. Sometimes it looks better but there’s a better script out there. Sometimes, things don’t make a bit of sense. Grand Hotel won Best Picture even though it wasn’t nominated for anything else. Spotlight won Best Picture and Best Screenplay even though it was a well-acted and directed movie.
But let’s face it, maybe Barbie was more about a good marketing campaign than a good Oscar campaign. Comic Stacy Cay commented on X, formerly known as Twitter, back in July the fan base around the movie was at the Rick and Morty level. And that’s the most accurate I’ve heard. Very likely, the movie could’ve bombed like Jem and the Holograms. The plot was somewhat similar to The LEGO Movie but I understand what they were trying to do in the first hour. It’s the second hour that fell apart.
Box office success doesn’t always equal Oscar gold. Two years ago, people were upset over the nomination of Don’t Look Up, which had mixed to bad reviews. While many people said Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was well made and a box office success, didn’t get nominated. Sofia Coppola’s highly anticipated and well-reviewed Priscilla didn’t get any nominations. Neither did May December, which despite its controversial plot, didn’t receive any nominations either. Cailee Spaeny got rave reviews for playing Priscilla Presley and Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore got rave reviews for their performances in May December. Why isn’t there any discussion about them or Charles Melton for his role?
Going back to the 1990s, Penny Marshall didn’t get a nomination for Awakenings, which she directed. And a year later, Barbra Streisand was snubbed for directing The Prince of Tides. The only thing said about it was a snide comment during Billy Crystal’s Oscar monologue. And this was back when Babs was one of the biggest celebrities in the world with movies and concerts.
Even Steven Spielberg didn’t get a nomination for Best Director for The Color Purple. Speaking of that movie, the latest version which is also a musical only received one nomination for Danielle Brooks in the Best Supporting Actress category. It was well-reviewed as well. Where do you draw the line? Should the Oscars go up to 10 nominations for acting categories? A Best Picture nomination doesn’t always mean the cast should get automatic nominations.
And speaking of Spielberg, Jaws was nominated for Best Picture but he wasn’t nominated for Best Director. However, Verna Fields won the Oscar for Best Editing. Some early criticism was that Fields had saved the movie from Spielberg who was criticized by some as just a young TV director who got in over his head. The movie’s production is the thing of cinema history with the crew nicknaming it “Flaws” because of all the problems. Biographer Joseph McBride wrote that Spielberg had resented the fact that he wasn’t nominated. And I don’t blame him.
Yet, in a world where you throw yourself in competition, you got to take the risk that you’re not going to get anything. When I was a news editor, I was just glad that we got at least one First Place win in a division for the Oklahoma Press Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest. In 2013, the paper won the Sequoyah Award, which is the highest award to get per division. But I knew it wasn’t something that would happen each year. That’s not what journalism is about.
And it shouldn’t be what filmmaking is about. Telling a good story and entertaining people should be a top priority.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 