As someone who’s been watching the Oscars since the late 1980s, I wasn’t surprised by the latest nominations, even though I did think it’s odd Wicked For Good was snubbed.
It happens sometimes. Look at The French Connection II, Babe: Pig in the City, and just about every Rocky sequel. Ok, the second and third Rocky were good but not Oscar worthy. And you feel the Academy nominated The Godfather Part III just out of obligation. Avatar: Fire and Ash isn’t nominated for Best Picture even though the previous movies were.
A lot of times, sequels aren’t as popular or well made as the original. And the great sequels rarely get the honor they deserve even though a lot of people will say The Bride of Frankenstein is better than the original Frankenstein. (It is, by the way.) And Guillermo Del Toro’s version of Mary Shelley’s epic novel has a Best Picture nomination as well as a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Jacob Elrodi as the Creature. But neither Del Toro nor Oscar Isaac as the mad doctor have been nominated which should tell you about the movie’s chances of a Best Picture win.
It seems after years of criticism, the Academy Awards are honoring more genre movies in recent years. Along with Frankenstein, Sinners another period horror movie directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo (both nominated for Lead and Supporting categories respectively), made history with 16 nominations including Best Picture and Director for Coogler.
The movie’s biggest competitor will be Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another with Leonardo DiCaprio, Benecio Del Toro and Sean Pean all getting acting nominations. While I liked this one better than Sinners, Teyana Taylor’s horrible performance makes the first 30 minutes hard to watch. Luckily, her character isn’t in the rest of the movie. Taylor already won the Golden Globe award and has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Yet, I feel Chase Infiniti gave a better performance but didn’t get a nomination. Veteran actor Amy Madigan who had been spending many years in character actor roles was the only good thing about Weapons. Julia Garner has had a difficult time transitioning from the gritty series Ozark to feature movies.
Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet and Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme seem to be the obligatory independent art house movies that should get wins in the acting category. Jessie Buckley seems to be leading with Hamnet while Timothee Chalamet may win for Marty Supreme. However, Jordan may get his first Oscar for his dual role as twin brothers.
And of course, it wouldn’t be the Oscar season if we didn’t have Bugonia, the latest Yorgos Lanthimos directed feature with Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons reunited once again. Stone won’t win. And Lanthimos wasn’t nominated in the directing category. It feels more like it’s a courtesy just to be nominated.
There’s also a new category this year – Achievements in Casting where the casting directors are being recognized. I think this is long overdue but some people might argue it’s a way to honor the actors who don’t get nominated.
What are your picks? Please comment.
Zane Says 