Oscar nominations came out yesterday and let me tell you something…they feel weird. I’d like to go through the Big Five categories (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay (Adapted and Original), Best Director, and Best Picture) and give a few thoughts on them. I also threw in a few other categories I have an interest in discussing.
First thing I’ll say is about the Barbie snubbing. Personally, I don’t think it should be on Best Picture, and maybe any category. I was not as taken with this movie as the rest of the world. However, if the Academy’s voting body wants to honor this movie, then it’s weird to nominate it for Best Picture, Supporting Actor/Actress, and Writing, and then not have a nomination for the movie’s lead actress and director. That doesn’t sit right.
Actor in a Leading Role
BRADLEY COOPER | Maestro
COLMAN DOMINGO | Rustin
PAUL GIAMATTI | The Holdovers
CILLIAN MURPHY | Oppenheimer
JEFFREY WRIGHT | American Fiction
To be fair, I’ve only seen Oppenheimer from these nominations, but from what I gather and the clips I’ve seen, Bradley Cooper could be removed from this list. Cillian did well, and I think deserves to be here. I also just personally love Jeffrey Wright and Paul Giamatti, so I’m happy to see their names here as well. I’d barely heard of Rustin, but Colman Domingo is a great actor, so that feels okay to me. Bradley Cooper should probably not be here, and instead I would move Mark Ruffalo to make room for another choice in Supporting—which we’ll get to…
Actress in a Leading Role
ANNETTE BENING | Nyad
LILY GLADSTONE | Killers of the Flower Moon
SANDRA HÜLLER | Anatomy of a Fall
CAREY MULLIGAN | Maestro
EMMA STONE | Poor Things
It doesn’t matter too much who goes here because Lily Gladstone is going to crush whoever is here. If she wins, it will be a deserving one, she was excellent. Sandra Hüller and Emma Stone are also good choices, especially Hüller, who was phenomenal in Anatomy of a Fall—I’m also excited to see her in Zone of Interest. I have not seen Nyad or Maestro, but I like both of these actresses a lot, so I’m not too mad to see them here. I would probably remove them though to put in Greta Lee for Past Lives and Natalie Portman for May December.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
AMERICAN FICTION | Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson
BARBIE | Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
OPPENHEIMER | Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan
POOR THINGS | Screenplay by Tony McNamara
THE ZONE OF INTEREST | Written by Jonathan Glazer
Having not seen American Fiction and The Zone of Interest yet is really making it hard to evaluate things. But from what I’ve heard, they seem deserving. I would remove Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Poor Things. I still can’t abide Barbie as adapted screenplay, it should be original, sorry. Replacing this would be Sophia Coppola’s Priscilla. Oppenheimer and Poor Things would also be out, with Killers of the Flower Moon and All of Us Strangers coming in; both of which I think are much stronger scripts.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
ANATOMY OF A FALL | Screenplay - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
THE HOLDOVERS | Written by David Hemingson
MAESTRO | Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer
MAY DECEMBER | Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik
PAST LIVES | Written by Celine Song
Probably the category I have the least issues with is Original Screenplay. Even without seeing The Holdovers, I’ve heard enough to be okay with it her. The only one I’d take away if Maestro, because it really lost my interest and I’ve heard not favorable reviews. I would put Wes Anderson in here for Asteroid City. I loved that movie, and I thought it was his strongest script since The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Directing
ANATOMY OF A FALL | Justine Triet
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON | Martin Scorsese
OPPENHEIMER | Christopher Nolan
POOR THINGS | Yorgos Lanthimos
THE ZONE OF INTEREST | Jonathan Glazer
I’ve heard great things about The Zone of Interest, but this is where I stop letting it slide by on word alone. It may belong here, but I haven’t seen, so off the list it goes. As much as I liked Killer of the Flower Moon, Scorsese doesn’t need this recognition as much as some other directors this year; sorry Marty, love ya’ but you’re gone. I also would take Poor Things off, as I personally didn’t like this as much as others. This leaves Nolan, a director I’m pretty cool on, but I think his directing style is a perfect match for Oppenheimer and Triet for her masterful direction of one of my favorites of the year. My choices to replace the three I removed are Celine Song for Past Lives, Todd Haynes for May December, Andrew Haigh for All of Us Strangers.
Best Picture
AMERICAN FICTION | Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers
ANATOMY OF A FALL | Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers
BARBIE | David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers
THE HOLDOVERS | Mark Johnson, Producer
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON | Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers
MAESTRO | Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
OPPENHEIMER | Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers
PAST LIVES | David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers
POOR THINGS | Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers
THE ZONE OF INTEREST | James Wilson, Producer
Four of these are being removed for not seeing them yet: American Fiction, The Holdovers, Maestro, and The Zone of Interest. I think once I see these, the only one I’d probably remove is Maestro. Personally, I’d also remove Barbie and Poor Things, both movies I think weren’t as strong as others this year. My replacement choices are fairly easy though, as I think it was a strong year of film, not one of the best, but a better than year than the last couple. My replacements would be Asteroid City, The Boy and the Heron, May December, All of Us Strangers, Priscilla, and Napoleon (sorry, I loved this movie).
Actor in a Supporting Role
STERLING K. BROWN | American Fiction
ROBERT DE NIRO | Killers of the Flower Moon
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. | Oppenheimer
RYAN GOSLING | Barbie
MARK RUFFALO | Poor Things
This is where I start feeling confused about the nominations. I haven’t seen American Fiction but I love Sterling K. Brown and can’t be mad about seeing his name here. Sorry Robert De Niro does not need another nomination and, while a fine performance, his turn in Killers of the Flower Moon is something he could do in his sleep, it just doesn’t feel award worthy. I feel the same for Robert Downey, Jr. He was good, but it just doesn’t feel award worthy to me. Ryan Gosling does deserve to be here, but his nomination and *spoiler* Barbie’s Best Picture nomination feel so odd given Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were left out, so he’s going to go too. As I said above, I would move Mark Ruffalo up to Lead. Replacing De Niro, Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo? Charles Melton for May December, Paul Mescal for All of us Strangers, Jaime Bell for All of Us Strangers, and John Magaro for Past Lives.
Actress in a Supporting Role
EMILY BLUNT | Oppenheimer
DANIELLE BROOKS | The Color Purple
AMERICA FERRERA | Barbie
JODIE FOSTER | Nyad
DA'VINE JOY RANDOLPH | The Holdovers
This is one I feel is odd, but I haven’t seen three of the movies, so I can’t say much of why it feels weird. I love Jodie Foster, but she doesn’t need to be here, she’s fine. Emily Blunt was actually nothing great here, but I like her as an actress a lot, so I’ll keep her for now as more of a nomination for her body of work. I’ll also keep Danielle Brooks and Da’Vine Joy Randolph, as I’ve heard pretty good stuff about their performances. That leaves America Ferrera, and I’m sorry, she was my least favorite part of that movie and I really don’t think she needs to be here. I’m glad that one woman from Barbie got something, but this wouldn’t be my ideal choice. Subbing in for Ferrera and Foster, I would put Claire Foy for All of Us Strangers and Scarlett Johansson for Asteroid City.
Animated Feature Film
THE BOY AND THE HERON | Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
ELEMENTAL | Peter Sohn and Denise Ream
NIMONA | Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary
ROBOT DREAMS | Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE | Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal
I’m mostly okay with this. I’ll take away Nimona and Robot Dreams because I haven’t seen, but also I don’t think I’ll enjoy Nimona, unfortunately. I also don’t love Elemental, but I’ll let it slide, it was pretty good. Coming in would be the easy pick Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and a pick that I know a ton about but haven’t seen, however, everything I have seen makes me know I’ll love it Suzume.
Music (Original Score)
AMERICAN FICTION | Laura Karpman
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY | John Williams
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON | Robbie Robertson
OPPENHEIMER | Ludwig Göransson
POOR THINGS | Jerskin Fendrix
Off the bat I’ll take away American Fiction’s as I have heard nothing from it or about it. I also don’t love seeing Dial of Destiny on here, it’s good, but also we’ve known that for 40+ years. Even though I like Oppenheimer’s score, the use in the movie itself is too much for me. It works better alone, and there are other scores that are excellent within their respective movies. I would throw in Joe Hisaishi for The Boy and the Heron, Daniel Pemberton for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Atticus Ross/Trent Reznor for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.
Thanks for reading!
What were some surprises for you with these nominations? Anything you’d like to replace? Let me know in the comments!
Til next time!
-Colton
The chaos of “I haven’t seen it so I’d take it off” lololol!
A lot of opinions for not having seen so many of these movies ;)
American Fiction's score is wonderful, and that nomination is totally deserved.