I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or because we've all been cooped up in our houses for most of a year, eyes closed and fingers in ears as we try to imagine everything being not quite so fucked for a few hours, but the passage of time has lost all meaning to me.
When the Oscar nominations dropped last week, it barely even registered with me how odd it was to be starting awards season two months later than usual, or even that it was two months late: you could have told me it was still January and I probably would have taken an embarrassingly long time to question it.
But at any rate, this is where we are: the slimmest pickings the Oscars may have ever seen. There definitely seems to have been a scramble for worthy qualifying films this year, such that the final selection is taking monumental amounts of piss when it comes to the whole '2020 release' thing. And of those that have been chosen, some in particular seem to have attracted a lot more awards than any sane person would have attributed in a normal year.
But hey, I guess if there was a year where only one film was made, I suppose it would probably win a record share of Oscars, even if it did lull everyone into a gentle doze.
Best Picture
The Father
Well let's get things rolling with what may be the most egregious example on the list. Us Brits aren't to expect The Father on our screens until mid fucking June. June! 2020 release, my arse. Like Parasite, a seemingly arbitrary number of months have just been stapled onto the American release date, only this time they've gone too far and landed the film way past the point where anyone will still care, rendering the entire exercise pointless.
It is interesting to scroll through this list and see that none of the films here are what I would traditionally describe as bait, for what might be the first time ever. Turns out when cinemas aren't going to be open during awards season, all those crusty-old Spielberg-directed Meryl Streep biopics magically vanish into the aether, who'd've thought. That being said, of all the films on this list, this is the one that probably feels the most baity, or at least certainly looks the most baity at a distance.
It sounds very much like an acting film, if that makes any kind of interpretable sense. Just two big name actors, Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins in this case, acting at each other for ninety minutes. It's not necessarily a bad thing, and the IMDb blurb was enough to win my interest over with musings on life, death, memory, and other existential concepts, but it still seems like the kinda thing that was more comfortable on stage.
It's definitely gunning for some Oscars, I suspect Best Actor and Actress, but I don't think it's much of a threat to the other Best Picture nominations. Oh shit, maybe it is bait then. Ah well, better luck next time.
Judas and the Black Messiah
The first of the three entries that have been released over here, although just barely in time for the nominations. Shame that it had to do so as one of those £15 digital rentals that make the fatal mistake of thinking most people watch films with their entire family at all times: a hivemind family where no-one has individual tastes or ever wants to just watch their own thing. It also doesn't account for eternally single film bloggers like me. Hello!
Not to mention, I happily spend £5 or even £10 in some cases to watch a film at a cinema where it's presented in the best possible format, but now I have to spend three times that amount to watch it on my comparatively shitty home setup? For the same price they're asking, I could at least buy a Bluray copy to keep permanently and watch as often as I like, and that's assuming I buy it brand new at release without waiting for a sale.
I don't have anything against pay-per-view digital rentals as a concept, but they've got to be more realistic with the pricing, especially when Netflix and Prime offer a months-worth of unlimited film and TV content for less. No wonder piracy's an issue.
But I digress. I have checked out Judas and the Black Messiah and it does stand up to most of its hype. It's a film that's really made by its performances, with Daniel Kaluuya oozing charisma as the revolutionary leader, while LaKeith Stanfield convinces with his emotionally torn double agent. Jesse Plemons and Martin Sheen are also worth a mention for their particularly slimy villains, and Dominique Fishback as Hampton's fellow revolutionary sister and girlfriend, who in a particular scene at the end manages to communicate so much with naught but a single facial expression.
Crucially, Judas succeeds in crafting a genuinely enjoyable and entertaining experience out of pretty heavy subject matter, which makes its emotional punches hit all the harder as we reach the horrifying ending.
It's a strong film for sure, and the added relevance of George Floyd and the BLM protests from the past year only adds to its power. In terms of predictions, I wouldn't consider it the front runner for Best Picture, exactly, but I think it does stand more of a chance than several of the films on this list. Despite the diversity shown in the awards this year, we know from previous years the Academy rarely awards the top prize to a film quite this politically galvanised, often aiming for safer, more crowd-pleasing affairs (see Green Book vs Blackkklansman from 2019), so I wouldn't be surprised if Judas is snubbed for something that doesn't make the Academy feel quite so guilty.
Mank
It occurred to me at the time that through sheer lack of competition this year, Mank was in a position to be quite the darling at the Oscars. This was offset slightly in my mind when I watched it and saw how rubbish it was, but there was still enough boxes ticked and an empty enough playing field that I was braced for it getting a couple of nominations.
A couple, mind you. Not fucking ten.
Between this and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, what is it with dull, plot-less nostalgia trips about old Hollywood based to varying degrees on real life where the main character just potters around doing stuff with little in the way of any major obstacles and the event that should be the entire point of the story crammed into the final few minutes and getting ten Oscar nominations?
I recall being asked on the podcast at the time whether I thought Mank was Oscar bait, and I still stand by my diagnosis that it isn't, or at least wasn't intended to be, but I can't deny it certainly looks that way now. There are definitely some very Oscar-friendly elements here if we start to break it down: romanticising Old Hollywood, a film about filmmaking, a revered and prolific actor (Gary Oldman) playing a real life 'troubled' figure in history, a subject matter centred on a weakly controversial topic that makes old Academy voters feel like the stories edgy even though it really isn't (in this case, the writing credit for Citizen Kane, despite both parties being dead and no-one giving a shit, compare to say the Watergate scandal in The Post which stopped being controversial decades ago).
Again, I get that there wasn't much to choose between this year, but for a film that feels so underwhelming and mediocre, the elements this film has been nominated for is mind boggling: Direction, Production Design, Sound, Original Score, Makeup and Hair, Costume, Cinematography, plus of course Lead Actor and Actress and Best Picture.
As always, period piece means seemingly automatic nominations for Production Design, Costume, and Makeup and Hair, but other technicals continue to baffle. How has a film as sonically forgettable as Mank been nominated for Original Score and Sound? As for cinematography, outside of being shot in black and white, I can't think of anything notable or even particularly interesting about Mank's cinematography.
Do you know what it hasn't been nominated for? And this is the most telling: screenplay. For all the "flash" (and I use that term very loosely) that Mank has in its production values and acting and directing talent, it still can't distract from the fact that at its core, it's a boring uneventful story. A man sits in a bed and types on a typewriter, and every now and again he goes and mooches around a film studio and yells witty verbose insults at people the film assures us were famous Hollywood figures. That's it, that's all there is. You sit there bored out of your mind for two hours waiting for it to pull some kind of punch that will bring it all together, and it never comes.
The sad thing is this whole film started as a screenplay written by David Fincher's late father, that he has realised on screen in his memory, which maybe explains why no-one stepped in to improve the plot, but I'm sorry David, your father's script just isn't very interesting. And all the Gary Oldmans and black and white cinematography in the world cannot rescue that.
In terms of awards, I can't fathom Mank winning the Best Picture: Mank is the worst of the three films here I've seen by quite a margin, and if the other contenders here are as good as I've heard, then Mank is surely the dullest of the lot. Maybe it'll snag some of the other more minor awards like Costume and Makeup/Hairstyling, but even then, Mank isn't the only period film this year, and being up against Emma in both categories, it's not the eldest period setting either.
As I pointed out earlier, the similarities between Mank and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are many and intriguing, and while Tarantino's snoreful epic had an equal number of nominations, it only won two relatively minor statuettes, and I predict a similar fate for Fincher's effort.
I've previously referred to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as 'three hours of cinematic wank'. Well, let's just say this was two hours of cinematic Mank.
Minari
I'm guessing this was the fault of Sundance back in January last year, but I feel like I've been hearing about Minari for absolutely ages. With a UK release date of April 2nd, it's actually coming out right in the middle of awards season, which is pretty orthodox when you think about, but just with the timings of the pandemic, especially with the displacement of the Oscars ceremony, and it feels like we've been waiting for Minari a lot longer than usual.
I've been hearing a lot of good things, particularly from the Letterboxd community, and if I were to pick the most likely winner (and the format usually indicates that I do), my gut says Minari has the strongest chance. I can't put my finger on why exactly; just something tells me this is going to be the one. I suppose it might help that it's got a non-white cast which gives the Academy the chance to look progressive. But maybe that's a cynical way of looking at it; maybe the Academy will give it Best Picture because it's a genuinely enjoyable film.
It's also completely possible it won't win at all, rendering all of this a moot point. Shame it's not out yet or I might have something more interesting to say.
Nomadland
It's looking like a post-results day release for this one, so once again, little to say here. What I can say is Frances McDormand is fantastic, and if her performance in this is anything like as good as in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, then I'm sure she'll have no problem winning another Best Actress award. Again, gut feeling tells me this will be one of the frontrunners, but I have very little to base that on, other than it being highly-praised but still relatively unpolitical compared to other nominations on the list, and that Frances McDormand's in it. Well, we'll just have to wait and see.
Promising Young Woman
IMDb is reporting 'May 2021' for a UK release date, so once again I'm at a loss for any meaningful input and will be until post-ceremony. With violence against women being a particularly hot topic here in the UK in the wake of the Sarah Everard case, you'd think now would be an ideal time to finally release a film like this, or would trying to capitalise on the zeitgeist like that maybe feel too exploitational? (not that Hollywood's above that kind of thing)
Regardless, it's a film I've been hearing about for a little while now, and perhaps the film on this list that I'm most disappointed hasn't come out yet cause I'm genuinely intrigued by it. Of all the Best Picture nominations, this one feels like it has the most passionate support among filmgoers, or at least among the filmgoers I hang out with, and my trusty gut is telling me this will be another top contender duking it out with Nomadland and Minari. But then like Judas, could it perhaps be too incendiary for the safe, crowd-pleasing Academy?
Sound of Metal
We're not getting this one until May either, so that makes four films on this list that aren't even coming out in time to make use of the Oscars hype, which to me just beggars belief.
From the bits and pieces I have gathered about Sound of Metal, both in passing and through cultural osmosis, it does sound really interesting and I'm actually pretty excited to see it. A story about a heavy-metal drummer losing his hearing is not only is a great starting concept (with echoes of Whiplash in themes of pursuing an artistic obsession to a mental and physical breaking point), but also has tonnes of potential for interesting use of sound and vision to convey the horrors of losing a sense, especially amidst an environment of sensory overload.
While I'm personally won over by the concept, I'm definitely surprised it's ended up on the shortlist. Something about it seems un-Oscary, I suppose, but I'd struggle to put into words exactly what I mean by that. How convenient. In a more normal year I suspect it wouldn't have made it, perhaps snagging a couple of technicals and then showing itself out, but then I suppose one of the advantage of a year like this is that smaller, more interesting films like Sound of Metal get a chance to shine when maybe perhaps they wouldn't.
The Trial of the Chicago 7
The last film on this year's shortlist is also the third and final one that I've been able to see, and as it turns out, my favourite of the bunch. Trial of the Chicago 7 is the second directorial effort of Aaron Sorkin's, lauded writer of snappy dialogue, and so what better genre to try his hand at than a courtroom drama, where audience engagement lives or dies on the dialogue. And as the writer of A Few Good Men, one of the great courtroom dramas, Sorkin's effort turns out about as good as you could expect.
These courtroom scenes are, as you'd hope, where the film really shines, with each member of the ensemble cast getting their chance to shine, most memorably Sacha Baron Cohen's smart-mouthed comic relief and Mark Rylance's genial lawyer, not to mention one of the most hateable film characters since Percy in The Green Mile: Frank Langella's villainous Judge Hoffman.
Outside of the courtroom, we also see glimpses of the corruption going on amidst the trial, as well as the escalating events of the riot that landed them there, revealed in snappily edited flashback as the titular seven recount the decisions and actions that led to the chaos, and of course the police brutality they were met with in return.
Between Sorkin's razor-sharp dialogue and his blood-pumping/boiling scenes of rioting action, Trial of the Chicago 7 is a surprisingly exciting and entertaining film, considering its dry-sounding premise, and the time absolutely flew by watching it. As mentioned above, this is my favourite of the nominations I've seen, and so by default I guess is my pick for Best Picture. In terms of actual predictions, it hovers somewhere around the middle for me. It feels like the kind of thing the Academy would enjoy, being both a period piece and a script-heavy story. And of course the courtroom drama is one of those classic formats that remind Academy voters of that lovely Old Hollywood period they love so much. On the other hand though, the police brutality that sits at the heart of the story and the deliberate parallels it draws with recent events might make it a little too spicy for the Academy's top prize.
Ranked Predictions (from most to least likely winner)
- Minari
- Nomadland
- Promising Young Woman
- The Trial of the Chicago 7
- Judas and the Black Messiah
- Mank
- The Sound of Metal
- The Father
Best Original Score
As someone who is literally listening to the Tenet soundtrack as he writes this, and hasn't stopped listening to it since it came out in early September, and may not have loved an original film score before as much as he has loved this one, can I just say, quite simply:
What.
The.
Fuck.
I'm also quite displeased at the lack of The Trial of the Chicago 7, which I thought had some pretty excellent music, especially in its montage scenes. As far as I can tell based on the soundtracks page on IMDb, those were licensed cues, so that's almost certainly why, and if so, this was the same reason why Blade Runner 2049 got snubbed back in 2018, which was an incredible shame considering the original compositions on there were some of the best tracks Hans Zimmer's ever done. But alas, this is a jig I've danced before.
I wonder if Tenet's been disqualified because of its inclusion of THE PLAN, the credits song written by Travis Scott (specifically for the film, mind you). Maybe some adjustments to the rules need to be made: as long as there's an original composition in the soundtrack it should be eligible, but then arbitration can only be made based on those original tracks, so any licensed tracks just get ignored. Tenet and Blade Runner 2049 would be laughing, but maybe Trial of the Chicago 7 and something like Baby Driver would fare worse.
On the complete flipside, you know what is eligible and received a nomination and absolutely does not deserve it? Let's see if you can all sing-a-long: it's Maaannnnkkkk.
Fucking Mank? Who the fuck is listening to the Mank soundtrack? Mank's soundtrack is so inconsequential, if you'd asked me about it I would have said it didn't have one. Someone lobbied hardcore on that nomination. Buncha inbreds wouldn't know a good score if smacked them round the face!
Best Original Screenplay
As I kinda alluded to earlier, I think Judas and the Black Messiah owes a lot to its performances, and while that's not to say it was badly written, far from it, I think something like Trial of the Chicago 7 was much more impressively written, I suppose. For a film that is so dialogue driven, as courtroom dramas often are, the writing has to be absolutely razor sharp. Of course, this is Aaron Sorkin we're talking about, one of the industry masters of this kind of dialogue and exposition-heavy stories, and while "Aaron Sorkin is a good writer" is hardly a fresh take, it doesn't make him any less deserving of a statuette.
I've heard some people call out the cheesiness of the ending, and while I'd agree it was quite a lurchingly abrupt end to the narrative, I'm not sure I'd call it cheesy. It's certainly set up throughout the story and it makes a pretty substantial point that gets right to the heart of the protagonists' original protest. I can see why some people might not be as thrilled though, it does kinda feel like the film's just gotten bored and declared "right that's your lot, I'll tell you the rest via text dump, now leave me alone!"
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Interesting that both LaKeith Stanfield and Daniel Kaluuya are here as supporting actors and not as leads. Kaluuya you could argue I suppose, but was Stanfield not the protagonist? It's hard to know what to make of such a distinction, especially when Judas has no nominations in the leading actor/actress categories so I guess no-one was the lead? I'm not sure I'd even class the film as an ensemble particularly, so who knows what's happened here.
For what it's worth, of the two of them I think I enjoyed Daniel Kaluuya more, and of the three performances here I've seen, I suppose he'd probably be my top choice. As much as I loved most of the acting in The Trial of the Chicago 7, and not that I don't think Sacha Baron Cohen was very entertaining in his role, on the contrary he was very enjoyable as the comic relief, are we just going to completely overlook Frank Langella's performance as Judge Hoffman?
I don't know how much of his impact was just the things he said (i.e. Sorkin's dialogue) versus the actual performance, but the man's gotta be doing something right if I'm literally shouting at him from my sofa as he dishes out yet another completely vile, contradictory ruling on a trial he's already decided the outcome of.
Mark Rylance is also very likeable as their lawyer, a beacon of level-headed sense in a courtroom ruled over by an incompetent megalomaniac. If either of these two had been nominated, they'd absolutely be my first choice, but in their absence, Cohen, Kaluuya and Stanfield are all worthy picks.
Best Sound
Ah, warmest of welcomes to the Best Sound category, making its debut this year. May Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing forever rest in peace in their pointless, unnecessary graves. Separate graves, of course, cause you know, they're so different and distinct.
Suppose I can't really make fun of it anymore, the Academy actually fixed one of my suggestions. This may be the last joke I ever make about Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. I mean, it probably won't be because I'm very unoriginal, but still, last time I can make a relevant joke I suppose. Now we just sit and wait for everything else I've ridiculed the Academy for over the years to get reversed, presumably starting with Meryl Streep having her acting nominations forcefully taken away from her.
Prediction-wise, nothing's necessarily jumping out at me. Greyhound has the advantage of being a war film, which often lends itself to interesting sound design, but then also I feel a strong case can be made for Sound of Metal, which is about a drummer going deaf whilst playing in a heavy metal band, which not only makes it a story inextricably linked to sound but also gives it a lot of opportunities to play around with mixing and experimental audio effects.
You know what film shouldn't be here though? I'll tell you what, why don't I let you figure it out?
Best Film Editing
The Trial of the Chicago 7 had some really neat editing, and while I can't say it should win without having seen the others, I think it's a worthy nomination. That's it. That's all my thoughts on the subject. Were you expecting a joke or something? Not everything has to be funny you know.
Sheesh.
Best Visual Effects
Well Mulan can get in the bin for a start. I know this is gonna sound weird coming from me, but the most notable absence here is Marvel; normally one of the big superhero blockbusters routinely finds its way into the visual effects nominations. Which kinda just reinforces what a weird year it's been, with none of the big expensive summer blockbusters that often find themselves here.
Well, almost none. The big news here is Tenet, which is also for me the clear winner. Say what you like about Nolan, but one thing he's got absolutely nailed to the rotating floor is effects. Not only does Nolan do so many of his effects practically, but he also doesn't allow that for even a second to restrict his ambitions, and in fact he pushes himself and his crew to achieve some of the craziest stunts in recent cinema. And when it comes to Tenet, just take your pick of exquisite setpieces: the Protagonist's inverted fist fight with himself, cars driving backwards at speed on the Estonian highways, an elaborate rolling truck heist, or maybe a real Boeing 747 jumbo jet crashing into the Freeport? Even little things like bullets being 'dropped' in reverse from the table into characters' hands, something you'd think was just reversed footage, was achieved with hidden strings pulled through the character's costumes (arguably an over-engineered solution if you want to get cynical about it).
Tenet was a flawed film, and while people can criticise the writing or sound mixing as much as they like and I'd be inclined to agree, when it comes to action spectacle, Tenet packs an absolute punch, and I'd be shocked if anyone disagreed that it fully deserves the visual effects Oscar.
Best Animated Feature Film
Pixar has two entries this year, because apparently they don't win quite enough. Of the two, Soul is of course the clear winner, and while it pains me to have the equivalent of the arsehole jock team win this award, there's no denying Soul was a fantastic film and worthy of the praise it receives. And Soul will win, because it's Disney Pixar, and since that only narrowed it down to two, it's the notably good one rather than just the perfectly fine one. Cause this is what happens when a studio has enough of a stranglehold on an art form that people think their output is all that exists in the world of animation.
But hey, let's play the game and at least entertain the idea of the Academy not being completely predictable when it comes to animation.
Pixar's runner-up effort Onward was, as above, perfectly fine, although certainly nothing special and if the western animation scene was any more diverse this film would have disappeared beneath the waves. It's nice to see classic stop motion is still seeing some representation in the form of Farmageddon, with Aardman being seemingly the only other major studio besides Laika keeping the art form alive. I never got around to seeing Farmageddon, although I genuinely did consider it, but if it's as charming as Aardman's other efforts, or even its uninspiringly-named predecessor Shaun the Sheep Movie, then it's placement on this list is deserved. While there's been a stop motion entry on most of the last few year's Oscar rosters, none of the have won since Curse of the Were-Rabbit in 2005, so it would be pretty awesome if Farmageddon won just for the sake of variety, and to prove that stop motion is still an equally valid and vivid art form alongside 3D computer animation.
Then we've got WolfWalkers, the latest film from Cartoon Saloon which had
a limited release here, but between COVID restrictions and work, I
never got a safe opportunity to see it, much to my frustration. It is available on Apple TV, but since I refuse to get Apple
TV, I'm just praying that it'll be rereleased when the cinemas reopen here in the coming months. Cartoon Saloon are one of the few major western studios still making traditional hand-drawn 2D animation, and by god have they got a talent for it. Their animations
are filled with not only some of the most beautiful hand drawn
animation outside of Studio Ghibli (hey, maybe even better than), but
also an enduring heart and soul of human creation. Their films never
feel like squeaky products in the way Pixar often does, but instead actual
genuine works of human art. Song of the Sea in particular is an absolute visual feast, full of imaginative designs and richly textured environments, and truly one of my favourite films of the last decade. And it made me cry, which I admit with absolutely no shame.
Refreshingly, Wolfwalkers seems to have attracted quite a lot of attention (or maybe I'm just hanging out with the right people) and seems to have been the most publicised of Cartoon Saloon's releases so far, so there is still a remote chance that it could win, even though it won't. False hope is still hope, and what's more it can be the first step towards a day of real hope.
To clarify, Soul is still a great film in its own right, and might even be the best film here, but I'm sick of Pixar winning nearly every single year simply because they're Pixar and the only animation studio most people can name. My point is even if Soul was subpar, it would still be on this list and would probably still win, and that's the problem here.
The Oscars are about politics rather than quality at this point anyway, so fuck it, Wolfwalkers should win, even if it isn't as good as Soul. This is a political stance: ¡Viva la animación 2D!
Best Actor in a Leading Role
To be fair, Gary Oldman's performance was by far the most interesting and engaging part of Mank so this is probably one of the few nominations it deserves. For a film that is made up almost entirely of scenes of Gary Oldman typing and scenes of Gary Oldman getting drunk and yelling at old-timey Hollywood people who I'm apparently supposed to recognise, it is at least commendable that the latter scenes are generally enjoyable, and that's pretty much entirely down to Oldman's delivery, so credit where it's due: I mean I literally gave this film an extra half star on Letterboxd purely for Oldman's performance alone.
The most notable nomination here though is for Steven Yeun's, which makes him the first ever Asian American Best Actor nominee. So that's pretty rad. Speaking of diversity, this year's selection is pretty racially well rounded I would have said, with three out of the five picks being people of colour. Riz Ahmed in particular is a joy to see among these ranks as he has long been a well known and liked British actor and personality. Most notably starring in the pitch black satire Four Lions, he's also been a long time campaigner for diversity in film and TV, especially for British Asians and Muslims, so it feels fitting for his efforts to be finally receiving more mainstream recognition.
Best Director
Considering recent (well, ever-present I suppose) controversies in regards to the lack of female directors in both the film industry generally and in the Best Director Oscar nominations specifically, (particularly with Greta Gerwig's absence last year for Little Women) it's pretty cool to see not one but two whole female directors in this year's list.
Hey, it doesn't sound like a lot, and I guess it truly isn't, but for a ceremony as creaky and old-man-dominated as the Oscars this feels like a pretty big step. And what's more it doesn't even feel like pandering cause as far as I've heard Nomadland and Promising Young Woman are genuinely great, well-made films.
Since, again, it is the only film here I've seen, it'd be remiss of me not to mention Mank and its absolute lack of directorial flair. I would consider Fincher to be somewhat of an auteur, maybe not in an in-your-face way like Wes Anderson or Tim Burton, but if you look at films like Seven or Fight Club, or even more recent works like Gone Girl or The Social Network, there's this kind of broody atmosphere and rich visual texture that really makes his films stand out, and there's just... none of that in Mank. You wouldn't even know it was Fincher just from watching it. Not saying that being auteur is the only mark of good direction, but as previously mentioned Mank is a boring mess soooo there's really not much going for it direction-wise at this point.
Snubs and Notable Omissions
Unsurprisingly, it's been a bit of a weak year for film overall and while there are a fair number of deserving picks here, there are also a few notable omissions, made particularly conspicuous by just how slim their competition was.
While I personally wasn't particularly engaged by it, I am surprised Boys State didn't get a nomination for Best Documentary considering the acclaim it got and its current sociopolitical relevance. Alternatively, Feels Good Man, a documentary I enjoyed a lot more, also wasn't nominated, perhaps because the Academy doesn't understand Internet culture and so had no clue what the film was about, despite it also having a lot of sociopolitical relevance.
Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, as well, I thought would have made more of an appearance, being one of the few other big lockdown releases, but has received only a nomination for its score. I've read some middling reviews of it, but it's not like that's stopped the Academy before.
The most notable absence for me is Never Rarely Sometimes Always, an incredibly powerful and honest portrait of the logistical, societal and bureaucratic nightmare of trying to get an abortion in America, especially as a teenager. It's quite an understated and lowkey film experience, instead full of many moments of quiet contemplation, but its titular scene still manages to put you through the emotional wringer, unfolding in one unbroken take where Autumn tells us through gradually escalating tears everything we need to know about her situation with nothing more than those four titular words. For me, Best Actress and Best Picture nominations should have been a no-brainer.
But of course, there's one film I've not seen mentioned here at all, whose exclusion absolutely shocks and appals me. Honestly, I feel slightly sick inside. One film stood head and shoulders above everything else that came out this year, nothing even came close. It impressed not only at the box office but with audiences and critics alike. I speak of no other than Sonic the Hedgehog. Where is it, Academy? Where's Sonic's Best Actor award? Sonic's witty remarks and pop culture references hit me where I live and made me cry like a little girl. Where's his statuette, Academy?
Where's. His. Statuette.
Welp, that's your lot. Join us next month for the results rundown and hopefully my thoughts on Minari. And apparently nothing else.
