Brian: After reading what I wrote earlier, you're absolutely right about Al Pacino in The Irishman. Honestly, I was just looking at it as who I would replace in the nominations, and I chose Pacino... while completely glossing over Anthony Hopkins. I was totally wrong. Not sure why I felt the need to berate his performance when I actually really liked it. Chalk it up to a brain fart.
Anyway, I'll have to check out The Beach Bum. I've avoided it because it's from the director of Spring Breakers, which is one of my least favorite movies of all-time. I'm generally in to the "not for all tastes" movies, but I've been apprehensive about this one. On to the next category... Best Actress.
I know you were Lupita or bust with this category. I'm in agreement with you. Like i said earlier, her performance(s) were not just the best of the year, but they were generational. Something that I think will be talked about and studied for a long long time. It's clear that the Academy has no intention of changing its ways, despite modest efforts to diversify ranks. Lupita's performance had everything you could possibly ask for, and yet she wasn't even given a chance to compete on the biggest stage of them all. Heaven forbid if the Academy would dare to nominate two people of color. Would the world implode?
So here we are... honestly, I feel like skipping this category, but tradition is tradition. To me, it's one of the weaker categories in the whole show. Nothing against these performances, but nothing from these performances really screams cream of the crop to me.
Here are the nominees:
Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”
Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”
Saoirse Ronan, “Little Women”
Charlize Theron, “Bombshell”
Renee Zellweger, “Judy”
Who will win: If I had to guess, I would say Renee Zellweger. Honestly, I'm tired of singing biopics and the almost automatic nomination for someone who looks and sounds like the person they are portraying. To answer your question from earlier, Rami Malek won for his color-by-numbers portrayal of Freddie Mercury (I had to look it up). That movie terrible and while Malek did an admirable job of playing the part, I didn't feel like he was anything special. I have not seen Judy, but it's being heralded as Zellweger's big comeback vehicle. Great. Awesome. Next.
Who should win: Of the women nominated, I'd go with Scar-Jo for Marriage Story. I feel like Adam Driver is getting most of the love (in for his performance in that movie, but Johansson was equally admirable in her role.
Snub: I'm sure you have much more to add about Lupita's historic snub, so I will go with Awkwafina in The Farewell. Confession: I didn't love The Farewell, but it had nothing to do with the sum of its parts. It was just too damn sad for me. Maybe I watched it in the wrong mood, but I felt like if I wanted to see people cry for 2 hours, I'd go to an actual funeral. That's not to say I hated it... I'm actually wanting to give it another viewing because I don't think I was fair to it in my initial viewing. That being said, Awkwafina deserves to be in that group of 5. Her character felt lived-in and real in a way that these nominees didn't. But, you know, can't break the one woman of color rule.
Adam: Oh man, I loved Spring Breakers which I admit is not for everyone's tastes and if you hated it you should definitely steer clear of The Beach Bum because in that movie writer-director Harmony Korine doubles down on that aesthetic and goes even further.
Ok so this category is easily the most infuriating to me and I'm not even sure where to begin. For some reason, Renee Zellweger has been sort of crowned since the beginning of the season, even though the film she's in has been roundly greeted with only so-so reviews. I haven't seen it and I actually quite like her as an actress (especially her wonderful performance in Nurse Betty) but I have never understood this comeback narrative around her.
First of all, she already has an Oscar, so shouldn't the nomination be enough of a welcome back? And it's not like Mickey Rourke situation where they had literally not starred in almost any legit movies in decades, she simply had a string of flops recently and had fallen off the A-list.
I love how for white actresses that's the bar you have to hit. Oh you slightly altered your appearance (Charlize Theron in Bombshell) here's a nomination. Meanwhile, Lupita Nyong'o gives the performance of a lifetime (and again, the performance that has by far won the most critics' awards) in a hugely successful, influential, culturally significant film but somehow she can't make it in, because the Academy deemed four spots for white actresses only (seemingly), while leaves actors like Nyong'o, Awkwafina and eventual nominee Cynthia Erivo to battle it out for the final spot.
It's worth noting, that two women of color have never been nominated for Best Actress in the same year since 1972 and I believe that was the only time this has happened. And only ONCE has a black woman ever won best actress. In fact, no other woman of color has EVER won this award. If you're looking for proof that these awards still, despite attempts to diversify, still represent the tastes of old white men, look no further than this category, where Erivo gets in for playing a slave (albeit a triumphant one) in a movie that also got mediocre reviews.
In fact the only performances here in movies that were well received are Scar Jo's and Saoirse Ronan's. Speaking of whom, she is only 25 years and already has her FOURTH Oscar nomination. Alfre Woodard, a beloved and acclaimed black character actress who is said to have given a career best performance in the little seen drama Clemency, has only been nominated once in her career -- back in 1983. I rest my case.
Who will win: Renee Zellweger. I need to see this film to understand why she's been viewed as such an inevitable sure thing. I suppose she gets a lot of kudos here for performing the Judy Garland numbers herself, which is no small feat. But I can't help but feel this is in keeping with the Oscars' self-congratulatory preoccupation with rewarding movies about the movies. Now, in the case of a nuanced take like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, this might be the right choice, but consider me dubious and it's hard to get past the feeling that what Lupita pulled off in Us is so much more impressive.
Who should win: This is tough for me since I am so turned off of this category. I thought Scar Jo was very good in Marriage Story but I am just not as blown away by that movie as so many other people are. I just couldn't get as emotionally invested as I think I was supposed to be. I guess of this group I was most impressed by Ronan. I know I just threw shade at the fact that she has been so lauded at such a young age, but she is a consistently terrific presence and she is the engine that makes Little Women run.
Snubs: If anyone deserved to be a 'double-nominee' this year it should have been Florence Pugh, who blew me away in Midsommar in addition to Little Women. Clearly there is a horror bias at the Oscars, because Toni Collette should have been here for Hereditary the year before -- ugh -- just thinking about all these snubs makes me furious. Like Awkwafina, who was so wonderful in The Farewell, giving a touching, funny performance that was both relatable and rewarding. I think you should give that one another chance -- it definitely is a sad movie -- but I found it more life affirming than depressing.
And last but not least I want to give a shoutout to Ana de Armas who steals Knives Out in an incredibly winning performance as the hero of that cool comedic thrill of a movie. I'm really excited to see what she does next and I'm glad she's getting to show she's more than the 'babe from Blade Runner 2049).
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