"Now I am become Glutton, the consumer of films."
-Autumn
The Oscar Nominations have arrived at our laptops this morning and I'm feeling excited. Thanks to my new investment in theatrical membership I am WAY ahead of the game. I've been racking up possible nominees for months and as of today I only have 17 1/2 movies to watch before the Academy Awards airs on Sunday, March 10th. (Yes, there is half a movie for me to catch up on. I got halfway through El Conde on Netflix and gave up because I was too bored and now, four months later, I get to go back and watch the second half. How fortunate.)
Oppenheimer got the most nominations at 13, followed by Poor Things at 11. I'm listening to the Oppenheimer score as I write this and wondering how many of those 13 will Oppie take home. I think it's going to be nine of them, effectively sweeping this year's awards. I hope for more diversity than that after watching all of these films, but I sort of doubt it.
You can see the full list of nominees here.
Looking over the nominees, it almost feels like there is something for everyone. I think they have been striving for this for a while. There's always plenty of drama (Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, Zone of Interest, Maestro) and there's also some comedy (Barbie, American Fiction, Poor Things, The Holdovers). You've got Past Lives if you're into romance and Anatomy of a Fall covers mystery, thriller and crime. If you like musicals, there's something for you in Maestro, Barbie and The Color Purple.
If you dig deeper into the categories, you can find your science fiction offerings (The Creator, Godzilla Minus One) and action (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) both of which were pretty surprising nominations, actually. As usual, horror fans get nothing unless we try to claim Godzilla or El Conde as monster movies. Come to think of it, I think Zone of Interest was actually the horror offering this year, just not in the way we usually think of the genre.
It was a big year for movies shot on film! One half of the nominees were shot with good old celluloid stock. I don't think all movies need to be shot that way but I always get special warm feelings when they are.
Let's look at representation! I think it was a banner year for bisexuals in cinema! Four of the ten Best Picture nominees at least give a nod to the existence of bisexual people! And they aren't always bad people even though they do usually negatively impact the world around them. Still, progress is progress, I think.
American Fiction, Rustin and The Color Purple center African American stories. And Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon and Zone of Interest all tell the stories of the white people who carry out various war crimes and genocides. Yeah, ok. This isn't going great. Let's just say representation always needs more work.
The biggest disappointment for me is that Saltburn got completely snubbed. It's in my top three of the year and I just don't see how it didn't fit in anywhere. That feels rude to me. Personally, I'd take out The Holdovers and put it up for Best Picture but they NEVER ask me.
The greatest news is that both Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown were both put up for American Fiction! That movie is also in my top three and I'm thrilled about all five of its nominations.
This year's winner for "Movie I Least Expected I Would Have to Watch" goes to Flamin' Hot, a movie about the invention of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. I'm not judging the film (well not yet, but I will soon), it just doesn't feel like a typical Oscar subject. But then again, neither does Barbie!
The Official Oscar Countdown has begun! Come along with me; watch some movies, discuss some film making and guess what Hollywood will do next. Let's feast!
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