Oh, Wait, The Oscar Nominations Came Out, Didn’t They
Posted on February 8, 2022 Posted by John Scalzi 23 Comments
And for the third straight year, I’m indifferent enough about the whole affair not to write up an official prediction of who will win in all the major categories! I’m sorry, I used to be much more interesting, I know.
I will say that I suspect this is the year Paul Thomas Anderson comes away with an Oscar for something (he’s up for three) because he’s been nominated for years, it’s about goddamn time, and no one wants another Martin Scorsese situation, where the man picked up his Oscar for what was roughly the eighth best title in his filmography. People (by which I mean critics and industry types) love Licorice Pizza! It’ll do!
But, yeah, other than that, meh, I’m not really into it this year, again. Although if you have thoughts on this year’s Oscar class, by all means leave a comment.
— JS
Dune dune DUUUUUUNE
and maybe Don’t look up for realism
At least I’ve actually seen two of the Oscar movies this year (CODA forever!), which is two more than I usually ever see. I read some article ages ago about how the Oscar movies are usually ones that most people haven’t seen any more, and ain’t that the truth.
Belfast was by far the best movie I saw this year. Just mesmerizing.
The Power of the Dog is a perfectly crafted movie.
Predictable and boring.
I haven’t looked at the noms and I see very few movies, but I’m thrilled to see CODA mentioned in the comments above.It’s a fantastic movie, with excellent acting including all three deaf actors (the father is awesome), and it deserves to win some statues.
And Troy Kotsur, who played the deaf father in CODA, is nominated for best supporting actor! He turned in a stellar performance.
She wasn’t nominated, but kudos to Marlee Matlin for using her clout to fight the studio and insist that all the deaf characters were played by deaf actors. It’s sadly the norm for characters with disabilities to be played (usually misplayed) by actors who aren’t disabled and get crucial aspects wrong. No one who wasn’t already fluent in sign language, which is very expressive, could have performed those roles nearly as well just by learning the ASL by rote.
I haven’t seen many of the nominated films or performances.
I have seen West Side Story and Encanto. They were both extremely good. I hope they win in all the categories they were nominated in, and maybe some other categories via write-in votes.
I must have missed it, again.
I didn’t care much for Licorice Pizza, so I’m having trouble rooting for P-T Anderson this time. Weird little movie, and not really in a good way, imo.
Can’t believe that the highly praised (deservedly so) PASSING was ignored, while the abysmal mess DON’T LOOK UP (OK, parts of it were fun) got a Best Picture nomination. WTF? And it amused me that people were shocked, I tell you, shocked, that Gaga wasn’t nominated for Best Actress for her over-the-top clownish HOUSE OF GUCCI performance. I mean, after all, she was nominated for a Golden Globe, right?
My prediction: this will make last year’s terrible 10 million Oscar viewers look good.
Encanto!!!
Also I was like why dos ortugas and not We don’t talk about Bruno or surface pressure and I just watched the clip now and still have tears running down my face.
I haven’t seen enough of these yet to feel comfortable with offering a prediction or preference for the big awards. Some surprises, though – surprised The Tragedy of Macbeth didn’t get into the BP slate (I think Nightmare Alley was the biggest surprise among the ten for me, since it seemed to come and go without much fanfare).
Dune should sweep all the technical categories handily, or at least Sound and VFX. I don’t think it’ll take Best Picture, though, especially without a directing nod for Villeneuve. Part of me wonders if it isn’t a situation like with the LOTR trilogy, where since we know there’s a Part 2 coming, the Academy is saving some of the accolades for later.
I feel like I should be thrilled that Dune earned an Oscar nod but….I’m not sure it was that good? But then, I’m not hugely concerned with the Oscars overall, at this point. The movies I bothered to see this year don’t generally match the big Oscar movies (though I want to see Nightmare Alley) and my favorite Andrew Garfield performance was in Spiderman: No Way Home, where he nearly brought me to tears there.
Power of The Dog is easily the best of the (uh, three) nominees I’ve seen.
BUT you can watch Flee on Hulu now, if animated documentaries are your jam–it’s not Persepolis, but it’s certainly Persepolis-adjacent.
I looked at the noms and my reaction was “Huh, is that all there is?” It just all seems boring. I didn’t really care for West Side Story or Encanto because I don’t like musicals. Dune was just … Dune. I didn’t see what the big deal was. Licorice Pizza was OK, but kind of squicky. Don’t Look Up was heavy-handed. Parallel Mothers had an unlikely telenovela plot, but was well-acted.
The Tragedy of Macbeth was awesome, though. It should get all the Others.
entertainment industry is one of USA’s most profitable industries and a huge export…
…Raspberries Awards are so much more illuminative of state of the entertainment industry…
such as Bruce Willis getting pee’d upon… was a moment when he could do no wrong… now?
“Cosmic Sin” had good basics but so utterly imitative of so many other movies it was a waste of CPU cycles for the FX… could have been better as a 13 part mini series with actual storyline and deeper subplots and character backgrounding… instead… feh
I find that lately Hollywood cinematography is loosing big time to Korean cinematography in both movies and TV Shows if you are looking for thought provoking cinema.
Delighted that CODA and Belfast and Kristen Stewart and Andrew Garfield were recognized, bummed about Passing and Denis Villeneuve (how does a film get 10 nominations, including Picture, and no Director nod?)… and while I loved Encanto and would be happy to see it win Animated Feature, my nerdy little heart will leap for joy if The Mitchells vs. the Machines wins.
Ugh-Licorice Pizza! Two plus hours of my life I won’t get back. As previously noted, weird little movie, and not in a good way. Not sure why it’s getting ALL the loves. Oh well, something for everyone.
The lack of a directing nomination for Dune likely dooms its chances of winning Best Picture.
Yes, I know there are numerous examples of Best Picture and Best Director going to different films, but there are vanishingly few instances of the Best Picture winner not even getting a Best Director nomination. Only four films in history have ever pulled that off, the most recent being Argo.
Nonetheless, Oscar season is a great chance for me to catch up on notable films I’ve missed. I’ve said before and I say again that the Academy often nominates overrated films, but rarely nominates bad films.
Best Picture looks totally up in the air. Frankly I don’t think 2021 was a strong year. Dune and Don’t Look Up seem to be getting a lot of buzz, but neither are the type the academy usually goes for. (Also, I don’t think they were good.)
Of the 8 nominees I’ve seen I’d probably give it to Licorice Pizza, which of course would also double as an Anderson lifetime achievement award. But while I loved the movie, I also recognize that politically it’s an awkward fit with contemporary Hollywood.
The portrayals of the Japanese wives in Licorice Pizza soured it for a lot of my friends.
I have a friend who co-wrote Raya and the Last Dragon , but would be happy with other nominees winning.
I loved Raya, but I suspect that’s a tough category this year!