90th Oscar Nominations Reaction
Thanks to my gift from God aka my Moviepass, this is the first time I’ve seen a majority of the films nominated on Oscar day. That just means that I make even louder sounds of delight and shock while watching the nominations announcement stream. Here’s my thoughts on the big surprises from today.
Best Picture
Two films immediately stick out, Darkest Hour and Phantom Thread. Darkest Hour seemed to lose steam as it missed out on nominations like Best Picture at the Golden Globes and PGA along with Best Ensemble at SAG. However, it’s strong support in the tech categories showed that it was much more of a force to be reckoned with, it was one of the Academy’s favorites today. I have yet to see the film so I’m neither excited nor disappointed. Just a “huh, good for them!” from me.
I’m really excited by the love for Phantom Thread aka Let’s Make 50 Shades of Grey but Good. I thought it could have been this year’s Silence, a project from one of the great directors that just gets ignored in the big categories. It’s late December release date made the film ineligible for most of the precursors so I’m really happy to see such a great film get a lot of Oscar love.
Call Me by Your Name, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird and The Shape of Water and Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri were all expected to be Best Picture nominees. However, The Post seemed to be more on the bubble. Somehow, The Post secured its Best Picture nomination with only one other recognition: Best Actress. It is the least nominated Best Picture nominee since Selma only secured Picture and Song.
This is where my heart breaks, where are The Big Sick and I, Tonya? Though not the typical Oscar fare, both films built up so much momentum and buzz during this Oscar season. I blame the Oscar’s disdain for comedies striking again, killing Best Picture chances for two of the best talkies of the year.
To wrap up this category, shout out to The Florida Project. I have yet to watch it. I hear that it is very good. That is all.
Best Actress
This is a boring category in terms of award show predictions, these five seemed locked since mid-December. However, this is in no way an insult to Sally Hawkins, Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie or Francis McDormand. (I have yet to see The Post. Whether or not this is an insult to Meryl Streep, it will be determined sometime in the near future.) This is more of a testament to the greatness of their performances in what is arguably the most competitive Best Actress race in years. Performances like Jessica Chastain in Molly’s Game, Emma Stone in Battle of the Sexes, Judi Dench in Victoria and Abdul or Nicole Kidman in The Beguiled could have easily scored nominations in any other year. It just so happened that some of the greatest performances of the decade all came out this year.
Shout out to Vicky Krieps. I’m disappointed that the Phantom Thread love didn’t translate into a nomination for her, she’s my favorite part of the film.
Also, Aubrey Plaza in Ingrid Goes West. Not your typical Oscar fare, I think this is a career defining performance for Plaza who opens up and displays acting chops that I didn’t know she had. More people need to acknowledge this performance.
Best Actor
Gary Oldman, Daniel Kaluuya, Timothée Chalamet, Daniel Day-Lewis. Boom, easy.
The one surprise in this category, Denzel Washington over James Franco. The allegations against Franco came very late within the Oscar voting window so few thought that there would be much of an impact. I think it’s just that the average Oscar voter, old white men, didn’t get the performance. Separating the art from the artist, I think it’s a shame. Franco took a real life cartoon character and grounded him in reality, creating a complex sympathetic performance. I wanted his performance in The Disaster Artist to get nominated. I enjoyed Denzel in Roman J Isreal Esq., a great performance in a film that’s all over the place. I actually prefer this to his performance last year in Fences so I’m fine with this.
I can’t think of anyone that really needs a shout out. Let’s go with Adam Sandler in The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected). I enjoy comedians in more dramatic fare and found his performance to be extremely solid.
Best Supporting Actress
Again, the Phantom Thread love is unexpected. Not to say that it’s undeserving, Leslie Manville is fantastic in Phantom Thread. It’s just so out of left field.
On a similar note, I surprised by Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water. This being her third nomination, Spencer is slowly turning into the black Meryl Streep, nominated just for being in an Oscar-y movie. I don’t think she’s bad in the film, I just found other performances to be far more memorable.
The other three nominations were shoo-ins. Although her film has undeservedly been ignored in most major categories, Mary J. Blige has rightfully received credit for her turn in Mudbound. Then there’s Allison Janney and Laurie Metcalf whose performances in I, Tonya and Ladybird respectfully, are possibly the two best of the year. My hope is that they tie and both get an Oscar!
I need to bring up the two big snubs of the category, Hong Chau and Holly Hunter. Usually, there’s at least one actor who receives a Golden Globe, SAG and Critic’s Choice nomination just to miss out on Oscar nominations day. This year, it was Hong Chau joins the illustrious group with names like Amy Adams for Arrival, Jake Gyllenhaal for Nightctrawler and Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips.
Then there’s Holly Hunter, whose feisty performance helped create some of the most memorable moments in cinema this year. I will forever remember to be careful if Holly Hunter is in a comedy club.
Best Supporting Actor
This competitive category had three locks, Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards, Willem Dafoe for The Florida Project and Richard Jenkins for The Shape of Water. Both Rockwell and Jenkins kill it in their films and are well deserved nominees. Dafoe, I don’t know. I haven’t seen The Florida Project, I hear he’s good.
The there’s mother f-ing Woody Harrelson. Personally, I came out of Three Billboards loving Harrelson’s performance more than Rockwell’s. I’m excited to see Harrelson get his third Oscar nomination as I have recently realized that he only makes great movies even better (The Edge of Seventeen, Zombieland, No Country for Old Men, etc.).
*sigh* Then there’s Christopher Plumer. I want to hate on Christopher Plummer’s nomination, but I haven’t seen All the Money in the World. It just feels like he was nominated because of the narrative behind his casting rather than any actual love for the film. But who knows, maybe I’ll watch the film and just rave about Plummer.
The biggest travesty in this batch of Oscar nominations is the lack of a nomination for Michael Stuhlbarg. Is he a household name? No. Should he be a household name? Yes. This year, Stuhlbarg was in three Best Picture nominees: The Shape of Water, The Post and Call Me by Your Name. The last time this happened was in 2002 with John C. Reilly, who secured a nomination for Chicago. Not only should Stuhlbarg have been nominated, I think he should win the Oscar for his performance in Call Me by Your Name. Like an expected Oscar nominee, Stuhlbarg has this wonderful monologue that, on both of my viewings of the film, has made people in the audience audibly sob and make a “Hmph” sound. Beautifully written, you find yourself in a trance during this scene. Stuhlbarg brings such sincerity, love and inspiration to the scene, making his performance really linger with you long after watching the film. Out of all the “snubs” in the acting categories this year, his stings the most.
Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay
This has been an odd year for the Screenplay categories. Only one Best Picture nominee also received an Adapted Screenplay nom, Call Me by Your Name. However, that’s just because so many of the big films this year have original screenplays. This allowed four critical darlings to slip into Adapted Screenplay: Molly’s Game, The Disaster Artist, Mudbound and Logan, the very first comic book superhero movie to be nominated for a screenplay Oscar.
Usually, the critical darlings slip into Original Screenplay. Just look at past nominees The Lobster and Ex Machina. However, this was a very competitive race. Although I would have loved to see I, Tonya slip in, I am happy with the lineup consisting of Get Out, Ladybird, The Shape of Water, Three Billboards and the sole nomination for The Big Sick.
Best Director
This is the year of 5s. Guillermo del Toro is the fifth Latino to receive this nomination, Greta Gerwig is the fifth woman to join this club and Jordan Peele is the fifth African-American to receive this honor. All extremely well deserved.
Again, I’m surprised by Phantom Thread. Paul Thomas Anderson did an amazing job and every additional nomination for this film was a welcomed surprise.
Then there’s Christopher Nolan, receiving his very first nomination in this category. I thought he would be snubbed in the same way that he missed out for his long catalogue of films. But no, he got nominated and, although I don’t love Dunkirk, I can’t really argue against the cinematic genius of the film.
However, this is a category that has the most omissions. For me, there are four major snubs that need to be mentioned. First, Martin McDonough for Three Billboards. Recently, Billboards has placed itself in the position of frontrunner. However, only four films have won Best Picture without a Director nomination. What does this mean for Three Billboards?????
I also need to bring up Luca Guadanino, Dee Rees and Denis Villeneuve. I think Call Me by Your Name is the most beautiful, touching film of the year and it wouldn’t be the same without the magnificent direction by Luca Guadaninio. Mudbound might be the most powerful, Dee Rees presents a striking story that leaves images plastered in your mind. It would have been nice to see her recognized and be the first black female director nominated (side note: she did make history by becoming the first black woman nominated in screenplay). And Denis Villeneuve reminded film lovers why he’s one of the new greats with Blade Runner 2049, one of the most ambitious films I’ve seen and my favorite cinematic experience of the year.
Miscellaneous
I’m actually disappointed to not see Valarian and the City of a Thousand Planets in Best Visual Effects. I liked the movie more than most and the visuals effects were the best part. Getting out of the theatre, I regretted not watching it in 3D.
Why do the Oscars hate Lego movies? First The Lego Movie in 2014 and now The Lego Batman Movie. C’mon, these are great movies. (I’m not acknowledging The Lego Ninjago Movie because, like most people, I did not watch it.)
I’m happy to see Lou, the Pixar animated short shown before Cars 3, nominated in Best Animated Short. The only reason Cars 3 was worth watching in theatres is because Lou is pretty damn great.
For Mudbound, Rachel Morrison is the first woman to be nominated in Best Cinematography. This is well deserved and deserves to be talked about.