The nominees for this year’s Academy Awards were officially announced this week (see the full list here). And overall, it turned out much like many expected, with a few notable exceptions. Oh btw, if you’re feeling a bit like this award season has seemed all but nonexistent, it’s not just you.
Typically, by this point of the year, the Golden Globes, with all its fun and excitement, would have already taken place. And many, in the last decades have of course, considered the Globes the official start of Awards Season. Well, the Globes did happen last month. However, as the adage goes, “if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?”
Despite’s NBC’s announcement last year that it would not air the ceremony and a string of controversy surrounding the organization, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) stubbornly decided to hand out awards anyway. Even if it meant doing so during an untelevised and unattended ceremony.
So here we are – Oscar nominations announced, yet it still feels like we, or well I am, are still waiting for Award Season to kick into high gear. A great place to start, I guess, is to break down this week’s announcement. Keep reading for my overall impressions of this year’s Oscar nominees.
- The Unsurprising – As expected, The Power of the Dog had a strong showing, leading all other films with a total of 12 nominations. Other unsurprising strong showings were Dune, with ten nominations, Belfast with seven nominations, and King Richard with six nominations.
- The Surprises – It appears that the members of the Academy were not feeling the love for House of Gucci. Not even Lady Gaga, who many considered a sure thing for the Best Actress category, received a nomination. However, to many surprise, who did receive a Lead Actress nomination, was Kristen Stewart for her role in the critically divisive Spencer. After missing out on a Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) and BAFTA Awards nomination, many predicted that Stewart’s chances had fizzled. I wasn’t so sure. For whatever reason, call it a gut feeling, I knew she’d be nominated. No comment on what I think about her acting in general – the less said on that, the better.
- The “I Didn’t See This Coming” – Contrary to popular opinion, most of this year’s snubs weren’t that surprising to me. However, there were a few names announced that were a surprise. Most notably, J.K. Simmons for Being the Ricardos and maybe even Javier Bardem, as well. But Simmons was the bigger surprise, as he’s not shown up for any of the big precursor awards. That said, J.K. Simmons is a previous winner, as is Bardem. And the Academy does sometimes tend to lean toward previous winners. I would also throw in Denis Villeneuve’s losing out on a Best Director nod, only because it’s clear the voters loved Dune.
- The Meh – FYI, these nominees are meh to me. I accept that some may feel differently. Full disclosure, I’m not a fan of classic remakes, unless it adds something fresh and distinctive. For example, yes, A Star is Born was the fourth version of that film. But each film had unique characters and backstories of said characters. All this to say that I was underwhelmed by West Side Story and found its nominations for Best Picture and Best Director unnecessary. Frankly, I think Villeneuve would have been a more appealing addition to the category than Steven Spielberg. And just to be clear, I wholeheartedly acknowledge Spielberg’s brilliance as a director. However, I do not believe this remake of West Side Story, lovely as it was, added much to the greater filmmaking zeitgeist.
So who will win? Eh, who knows? As is often the case, the precursors will tell the tale. Having only the various critics’ awards to go on, and maybe the Globes, it’s looking like Netflix may finally nab the Best Picture crown with The Power of the Dog. But don’t sleep on Drive My Car, the surprise international film entry for both Best Director and Best Picture. We all saw what happened with Parasite a few years ago.
PoPnOgR@PhY 