Well, everyone, it is the day of the year that my head blows off its top. This morning, the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences announced the nominees for the 89th Academy Awards, better known as The Oscars. Usually, I find that main frustrations and criticisms I have do not come with the actual awards won, but the nominations. This year is no different, as I felt there were some of the contenders left out this year were major faux pas. That being said, there were many surprise nominees that I am very happy got the recognition they deserved. You see, to me, and other fellow cinema lovers, Oscar nomination morning is like being a kid at Christmas. You wait all night with anticipation for what you want. Then in the morning, you are hopelessly let down by some of your presents, or giddy that you got exactly what you wanted. Usually, it's a combination of the two. I stayed up all night last night waiting for the nominations to be announced, so bear with me that this is coming later in the day. So, here we go!
Surprise: All the Nominees Aren't White!
 |
Pictured Left to Right: Viola Davis and Denzel Washington,, Dev Patel, Octavia Spencer, Mahershala Ali, Naomi Harris Barry Jenkins, Tarrell Alvin McCraney, August Wilson
Thank god that the #OscarsSoWhite controversy is over hopefully forever. This year, many deserving, non-white nominees were honored in the acting categories. 7 of the 20 acting nominees this year were non-white actors and actresses. Viola Davis and Denzel Washington were both nominated for their work in Fences, with Washington getting a double nomination for Best Actor and as producer of Fences. Dev Patel was nominated for his work in Lion. Octavia Spencer was nominated for her role in the film Hidden Figures. Mahershala Ali and Naomi Harris were both nominated for their supporting roles in Moonlight. Although it was nice to see some non-white actors and actresses nominated, I rejoiced more at the nominations in other categories. Barry Jenkins, the director of Moonlight becomes only the fourth African-American Best Director nominee in the history of the Oscars. Not only that, Jenkins received another nomination for co-writing the screenplay with fellow African American nominee Tarrell Alvin McCraney. Jenkins also received a producing nomination for Moonlight, making him the first African-American to be nominated for writing, directing, and producing. Finally, the late great August Wilson was posthumously nominated for his screenplay work adapting Fences from the stage to the screen. It is important to mention that the writing categories had all white nominees last year, so I am very pleased to see a most diverse group of writers this year nominated. Also, not pictured, but 4 out of 5 of the nominees for Best Documentary Feature are African-American, which might be the most diverse group ever in that category. Can the official hashtag be #OscarsSoDiverse now?
La La Land Gets The Love It Deserves
 |
| Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in La La Land |
I can go on and on about everything that is amazing about La La Land. I have already done so here. La La Land got a whopping 14 nominations, which ties Titanic and All About Eve most nominations of all time. Every single nomination was absolutely deserved of this movie, as it takes its place in Oscar history.
Surprise: Lion
 |
| Rooney Mara and Dev Patel in Lion |
Did anyone actually see this movie? Of course not, because it only opened in 600 theaters at the time of it's widest release! In comparison, Rogue One opened in 4,147 theaters at the time of its release. This is a very crafty and absolutely deplorable marketing scheme by Harvey Weinstein, who seems to be only interested in nominations, not people actually seeing the movies The Weinstein Company distributes. Yet, this cinematic crowd-pleaser managed to score a couple of nominations including Best Picture and Supporting noms for Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman. I'm not saying Lion isn't a good movie due to the fact that I haven't seen it. But there were many movies that played to more audiences that maybe deserved more of a glance of Academy voters than Lion.
Surprise: Silence
 |
| Liam Neeson in Silence |
The Academy loves Martin Scorsese, as he is the 2nd most nominated Director of all time. However, Silence was mostly ignored at this year's Oscars, only scoring a Cinematography nom. I can't say I would call this a snub since I believe the film was incredibly underwhelming, but it still comes as a surprise.
Moonlight Scores 8 Nominations
 |
| Alex Hibbert in Moonlight |
If it weren't for the brilliance of La La Land, Moonlight would have been my favorite movie this year. I got to see a limited release of the film in D.C. and gave it a glowing review, which you can check out here. Moonlight deserves every nomination is received, including the nominations previously mentioned. This movie is one of the most important pieces of all time in not just African American Cinema and LGBT Cinema but in the history of cinema.
Snub: Nocturnal Animals
 |
| Amy Adams in Nocturnal Animals |
After the love it got at the Golden Globes, I was very surprised to see Nocturnal Animals, one this year's best movies, to be snubbed in several categories. Only scoring one nom for Michael Shannon's performance, this movie was one of the best shot, had one of the best screenplays, and had some of the best directing by Tom Ford. Nocturnal Animals deserved to be considered for many more awards than it was. Check out my review here
Reaction: Hell or High Water
 |
| Chris Pine and Ben Foster in Hell or High Water |
I was probably the only critic in America who thought Hell or High Water was nothing more than a middle of the pack average crime movie. Don't get me wrong, it was a solid film with a few standout performances by Jeff Bridges and Ben Foster, but I did not understand all the hype. This isn't the first time I have not thoroughly enjoyed a movie by Taylor Sheridan, a wannabe intellectual screenwriter who truly thinks he has important commentary to make on the current state of America. Unfortunately for me, I do not think it will be my last either as Sheridan's popularity somehow grows. To me, this film was nowhere near deserving of many of the nominations it received, including Best Picture. Acceptance is key right?
Reaction: Manchester by the Sea
 |
| Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges in Manchester by the Sea |
I have said all I need to say about my thoughts on Manchester by the Sea. You can follow the link here. At this point, I'm just getting you read all of my other reviews with various links. As Lord Vader said it....
Snub: Jackie
 |
| Natalie Portman in Jackie |
Yes, Natalie, I'm right there with you. Jackie was one of this year's most fascinating and deep biopics. it almost doesn't feel like a film, but a series of fine vignettes of Mrs. Kennedy's life woven together with a certain craft and beauty. To only be nominated for 3 Oscars is an absolute snub in my book, especially losing out on a Cinematography nomination. There is no reason why Jackie shouldn't be considered among this year's Best Pictures.
Surprise: Sully is Nearly Shut Out
 |
| Tom Hanks in Sully |
Snub: Amy Adams
 |
| Amy Adams in Arrival |
Amy Adams is the new Leonardo Dicaprio. She now has five nominations, but the past two movies that garnered her Oscar conversation ended up getting snubbed. Arrival simply does not work without Adams brilliant performance, and I think this is one of the major misses the Oscars had in the acting categories. Give this woman her Oscar!
Snub: Florence Foster Jenkins
 |
| Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins |
I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed Florence Foster Jenkins. Though it got several nominations today, including Ms. Streep's 20th Oscar Nomination (Holy Hell!) However, I think this film should have been one of this year's Best Picture Nominees. Also, Hugh Grant was definitely missed in the supporting category for his career best performance in this film. Florence Foster Jenkins went home a winner today, but I have the feeling it could've done a lot better.
Surprise: Deadpool is Blanked
 |
| Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool |
Believe it or not, Deadpool had a real dark horse shot of being nominated for several categories, including Best Picture. it would have been the first superhero or comic book movie to be nominated for the big prize. However, surprisingly, Deadpool received no nominations. Honestly, I didn't think it really deserved any, especially not Best Picture. Still, it comes as a shock to me.
WTF: Bad Movies Are Nominated for Oscars
 |
| Jared Leto in Suicide Squad, Jenniffer Lawrence in Passengers, and Jim Halpert err. John Krasinski in 13 Hours |
Suicide Squad, Passengers, and 13 Hours have no business being Oscar Nominees. yet these three movies managed to score 4 nominations between them. The fact that these god awful movies are now called Oscar Nominees are absolutely deplorable. Ugh. I hate movies sometimes.
Kubo and the Two Strings Scores 2 Nominations
Laika is a film studio that specializes in stop-animation. Laika is in jeopardy of closing their doors after Kubo and the Two Strings, one of the years' best-reviewed movies, failed to make money at the box office. I am thrilled to see the Academy nominate stop motion art, and to keep this masterpiece alive in the conversation.
And that concludes this year's Oscar nomination talk! The 89th Academy Award will be broadcasted on February 28th on ABC. See you then!
Comments
Post a Comment