kevdonahue

It looks like a very Oppie year.

It’s been a while – like, 4 years – since I felt like I saw enough of the Oscar Best Picture nominees to have an opinion. But this year, I have, and I even saw some of them in theaters. Take that, covid!

That said, here are my thoughts on the Academy Award nominees, ahead of the March 10 show.

Best Picture

It’s Oppenheimer, the last movie I saw among the prime contenders. Even before I saw it, it seemed there wasn’t a strong-enough alternative. Killers of the Flower Moon is good but not great – and at least 80 minutes too long. You could cut an hour of Leo DiCaprio rubbing his head and trying to determine if he was evil (hint, he was) and the movie would proceed very well, indeed. American Fiction is sharp, at-time laugh-out-loud funny with a great cast, but it also feels a bit dated (I think the novel it’s based on is about 20 years old – though, honestly, the problems remain the problems) and not quite an Oscar best picture movie. What an ending! Anatomy of a Fall is very good and … very foreign (I loved the French court scenes! I don’t know I’ve ever seen that little world before). Barbie is fabulous and funny and, well, a movie about a doll. The race was, I thought, Oppie’s to lose.

After seeing it, that was not fair. It’s a great if imperfect movie. Like Killers, you could cut a good chunk out (for Oppenheimer, just 30 minutes) and not hit its dramatic muscle, but it tells such an important story – an Oscar-worthy story – that many of us know little to nothing about. How do we not know more about Los Alamos? About Oppenheimer himself and his misgivings about his creation and his treatment afterward? I began reading American Prometheus, the Oppie biography, beforehand, so maybe I was primed, but it’s all so well done. Cillian Murphy was great, Christopher Nolan’s direction, great. Matt Damon and Robert Downey Jr., both great. The cinematography, great.

I had Oppenheimer penciled in as the winner because I didn’t think any of the others could ascend to the top of the medal podium, but it’s a – full stop – worthy Oscar Best Picture winner.

Best Pictures, ranked

My rankings of the Best Picture nominees, separated by what I have seen and not seen, for what it’s worth:

1. Oppenheimer
2. American Fiction
3. Anatomy of a Fall
4. Barbie
5. Killers of the Flower Moon
6. The Holdovers
7. Maestro
8. Past Lives
9. Poor Things

Haven’t seen:

• The Zone of Interest

Best Actor

Like I said, Murphy was great and a deserving choice. For the silver medal, I think it’s Brad Cooper vs. Jeff Wright, and I’ll tilt to … Cooper, because all that smoking probably took 3 years off his life and he gets extra points for being the animating force behind making the movie. And the sweat, all … that … sweat.

Best Actress

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon. I saw them all, and God, I have no idea how the director Yorgos Lanthimos talked Emma Stone into doing THAT in Poor Things, and Sandra Hüller deserves something for her performance in Anatomy of a Fall – but Gladstone was perfect in managing the quiet strength and ambiguity of the role. You’re watching, going, He’s killing you. You know that, right? And truthfully, the answer is, maybe, maybe not. And she nailed it. And it might be hard to find another role this perfect in the future. Beyond that, how no nomination for Margot Robbie?!? She gets Carey Mulligan’s spot, in my book.

Best Director

I was really taken by Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall (image above). I think she kept it moving and balanced it just about perfectly. And Martin Scorsese is deserving of a lifetime achievement award here, as it’s hard to imagine him summoning this kind of effort again. It’s very good, but again, so, so, so long. So long, in fact, that should he win, he shouldn’t be allowed a speech. You should pay a price for such profligate waste. (On the other hand, my favorite musician Jason Isbell was in the movie and wrote a bunch of songs for his latest Grammy-winning album, Weathervanes, while lolling around on the set. Including one called King of Oklahoma in which he references his wife named – you guessed it – Molly.)

But all of that is window dressing. I think Nolan deserves it as a capstone to a marvelous two decades of movie-making. He should win, and will win.

What else?

I know that Robert Downey Jr. is a heavy favorite for Best Supporting Actor, and I can live with it if he gets it, but I’d vote for Sterling Brown for his great turn in American Fiction. I get the hype for Robert De Niro hype, and Ryan Gosling was good in Barbie, but if you give it to him when Robbie and Gerwig weren’t even nominated, the women will (deservedly) tear down the theater. Brown was great/awful/surprising in all the best ways … Regarding Barbie, at the very least, it wins best song for that Billie Eilish tune, right? And maybe a costume and/or production award, too? … I want to find an Oscar for The Holdovers, and I know Da’Vine Joy Randolph has been cleaning up on the awards show circuit, but I think America Ferrera should get it, if just for that speech (see below). Which might lead into … how in the world is Barbie up for Adapted Screenplay?!?! Adapted from what? I thought Gerwig did a genius job of making a movie that was a more cultural moment than a product placement (though, looking at Mattel revenue, it was pretty darn good at that, too). I liked American Fiction a lot, but Barbie was a very clever, fun, pointed script … As far as Best Original Screenplay, I could see Anatomy of a Fall winning here. I really enjoyed The Holdovers, but it’s really the Paul Giamatti Show. Take him out of it, and I’m not sure how much juice it has. (Said as an Alexander Payne true believer.)

That’s it, those are my picks. There were a lot of awesome movies. And I’m planning to see Dune soon, which friends have told me is an early frontrunner for best movie. I’m looking forward to seeing it!

Last year’s results

Just to be honest and up-front, I went and found my picks from last year. Here’s how I did, which I would say was “mixed.”

Best Picture: I said Everything Everywhere … would win; it did.

Best Actress: I said Cate Blanchett; Michelle Yeoh did.

Best Actor: I said Colin Farrell; Brendan Fraser did.

Best Director: I went Kwan and Schienert, and they did.

Best Supporting Actress: I thought Jamie Lee Curtis should but Stephanie Hsu would; Jamie Lee did.

Best Supporting Actor: I thought Ke Huy Quan would win; he did.

Original Screenplay: I thought Banshees would win; it went to Everything Everywhere.

Adapted Screenplay: I thought All Quiet on the Western Front; it went to Women Talking.