|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Putting Out the Fire With Gasoline
When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the Oscar nominations on January 13, it seemed that no one was happy. Even actors John Cho and Issa Rae, announcing the nominations, appeared disappointed. Rae, right after divulging the Best Director nominees added “Congratulations to all of these men,” a dig at the Academy continually snubbing woman directors. Only two people of color total were included in the 20 total acting nominations. Once again, more attention focused on who wasn’t honored than on who was. In prior years I have written about the Academy’s struggle with diversity. In another earlier column I suggested that the Oscars allow more nominees for key categories as it did for Best Picture. Those earlier points all still hold true, but it makes no sense to repeat them now. In recent years the Academy added hundreds of new members in an attempt to make itself less old, white and male. So one can’t help but feel sad that timeworn habits and patterns still continue. Unfortunately, these patterns included largely ignoring 2019’s array of stellar work from talented female and minority filmmakers. One other reason for the unenthusiastic response to the nominees received less scrutiny. In 2018, after years of declining Oscar ratings, the Academy moved up the 2020 Oscar date from February 23 to February 9. That’s a week after the Super Bowl, meaning that the two biggest live events in pop culture will air on successive Sundays. Not much time to build up interest after football ends. Why the Academy thought this plan would help is unclear. When asked, one Academy Governor said “We have to do something” and you can’t argue with that airtight logic. Supposedly, this was a way to alleviate against the Oscars being the last in a long line of film awards. That makes no sense because all of the precursor awards are still happening, just in a compressed time frame. Of course everything was compressed, including the time Academy voters had to see and vote on the films. While we never know exactly why the Oscar voters make their choices, you have to figure the earlier date exacerbated long-standing problems. If there’s less time to see the films and make the decisions, would you be more likely to seek out diverse films and filmmakers, or to go with the safe choices? Human nature would dictate the latter. Thankfully, next year the Oscars will return to the late February date. In the meantime we are left with some infuriating snubs, but those should not overshadow the deserving nominees. In an effort to find the silver linings, I hand out some grades: BEST PICTURE Ford v Ferrari The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Joker Little Women Marriage Story 1917 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Parasite Grade: C Credit Oscar voters for recognizing Parasite, a searing look at class struggles in South Korea. Bong Joon Ho’s masterful work challenges assumptions and seamlessly moves from a satire to a thriller to a tragedy. His precision shows not only with his actors, but with the cinematography and production design. Everything blends together perfectly. Some of the other choices proved lacking. Jojo Rabbit had an admirable message, but its scattershot approach left me cold. The film can’t decide if it is a Mel Brooks-style parody of Nazism, or a more sober depiction of these evils. It moves back and forth between these two possibilities, and becomes a watered down version of both. Ford v Ferrari is a fun racing movie with some solid performances. It’s the type of old-school film Hollywood used to make but doesn’t do so much anymore. Still, the scenes outside the race track are often pedestrian, and there’s not enough meat to the film for it to warrant Best Picture. The Farewell, which somehow the Academy completely overlooked, had plenty of meat. Lulu Wang drew upon her own life in this tender and funny story of a Chinese family struggling over whether to tell its beloved matriarch that she is dying of cancer. Wang deftly contrasts the clashing Western and Eastern values, without shortchanging either. She takes time telling the story, drawing humor from moments large and small. Wang makes the most out of her exquisite ensemble cast, building up the characters so we get a better sense of the family dynamics. Author Mark Harris has written about how the Academy will often include one “black film” or “woman’s film” and ignore the rest of them. My hunch is that this year Parasite became “the Asian film.” Of course such as narrow approach shuts out worthy films that don’t fit neatly in a box. The Oscar voters also seemed to have almost forgotten about Knives Out, a surprise critical and commercial hit. It did garner a lone screenplay nomination, but the film is more than its brilliant script. Rian Johnson flipped the traditional mystery on its ear, playing with audience expectations. He keeps the story moving quickly but not so fast that you can’t follow it. Johnson draws out the laughs at just the right places. He uses his actors wisely (most of them in limited screen time) to make roles three-dimensional that could easily have become one-note. The Academy can nominate up to 10 films for Best Picture, meaning The Farewell or Knives Out could have been included even without displacing one of the current nominees. This fact makes the oversights that much more frustrating. DIRECTOR Bong Joon Ho -- Parasite Sam Mendes -- 1917 Todd Phillips -- Joker Martin Scorsese -- The Irishman Quentin Tarantino -- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Grade: B Critics, social media, and even former Presidential candidates have all decried Greta Gerwig’s omission for directing Little Women. She would certainly have been a good fit, given that she was nominated two years ago for Lady Bird. Little Women did garner nominations for Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actress and Screenplay, so Gerwig must have been doing something right. In other years a common rejoinder to criticisms regarding no female Director nominations is that there are too few women directing films, and as such, the snubs are merely a symptom. Certainly women filmmakers deserve way more opportunities than they have been receiving. But in 2019 alone, we saw compelling work not only from the aforementioned Gerwig and Wang, but also Alma Har’el for Honey Boy, Melina Matsoukas for Queen & Slim, Marielle Heller for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Joanna Hogg for The Souvenir, and Kasi Lemmons for Harriet. The quality was always there, but now the quantity is also growing. It’s time for the Academy to catch up. Of course if we would add Gerwig or Wang, who would need to go? Phillips is the obvious choice. While Joker has no glaring flaws, and boasts an already iconic Joaquin Phoenix turn in the title role, the rest of the film is solid but not spectacular. Phillips capably pays homage to Scorsese and the late 70s-early 80s “New York City as living hell” films. But think of it this way: Ryan Coogler was not nominated for the Marvel movie Black Panther. Christopher Nolan was not nominated for the DC Comics’ The Dark Knight. Was Phillips’s work on their level? I don’t think so. ACTOR Antonio Banderas -- Pain and Glory Leonardo DiCaprio -- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Adam Driver -- Marriage Story Joaquin Phoenix -- Joker Jonathan Pryce -- The Two Popes Grade: A While I would have loved to see Kelvin Harrison Jr. nominated for his work in either Luce or Waves, I can’t complain about any of the five choices. It’s gratifying to see Banderas and Pryce with their first nominations this late in their careers. Banderas successfully transitioned from romantic leading man to character actor. Pedro Almodóvar always brought out the best in Banderas and does so again in Pain and Glory. As an aging, ailing film director (likely based on Almodóvar himself) Banderas shows uncertainly and vulnerability and draws us into his character’s struggles. Pryce has been working on stage and screen for almost 50 years, playing everything from a Bond villain to a “Game of Thrones” cult leader. In The Two Popes, he takes Pope Francis off a pedestal and makes him relatable, filled with conviction but also very human doubts. His chemistry with Anthony Hopkins makes their scenes together shine, and both deserved their Academy recognition. ACTRESS Cynthia Erivo -- Harriet Scarlett Johansson -- Marriage Story Saoirse Ronan -- Little Women Charlize Theron -- Bombshell Renee Zellweger -- Judy Grade: B Charlize Theron did a masterful job of channeling Megyn Kelly in Bombshell, but it wasn’t really a lead role any more than Nicole Kidman or Margot Robbie’s work in that film. They were an ensemble. Robbie landed in the Supporting category, and Theron should have too. This is another instance where the Academy could have recognized The Farewell. Awkwafina holds the screen for every minute of her performance. She conveys her character’s conflict both in large strokes and small, subtle ones. But the most glaring omission is Lupita Nyong’o for her spellbinding work in Us. Nyong’o played two roles, a traumatized mother and her deranged doppelganger and would have been a good choice for either one. But for doing both so well she should have been a lock. Us came out a while ago, so maybe it wasn’t as fresh on the voters’ minds as some of the other movies. Many critics have also pointed out that Oscar often overlooks acting in horror films. Whatever the reason, it’s a true shame not to see her here. SUPPORTING ACTOR Tom Hanks -- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Anthony Hopkins -- The Two Popes Al Pacino -- The Irishman Joe Pesci -- The Irishman Brad Pitt -- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Grade: A Another category with tough competition. Jamie Foxx for Just Mercy and Jonathan Majors for The Last Black Man in San Francisco also merited a nomination, but the five actors selected all truly earned their honors. You rarely see a category where four nominees have won acting Oscars before. Even the one who hasn’t (yet), Pitt, won as a producer for 12 Years a Slave. While it feels as if Tom Hanks is always part of the Oscars, his last nomination came 19 years ago. He disappeared quickly into Mr. Rogers, capturing not only the man’s mannerisms and speech patterns, but also the calm, caring way Mr. Rogers treated other people. Hanks had earlier turned down this role in a different film, and it was more than worth the wait. SUPPORTING ACTRESS Kathy Bates -- Richard Jewell Laura Dern -- Marriage Story Scarlett Johansson -- Jojo Rabbit Florence Pugh -- Little Women Margot Robbie -- Bombshell Grade: B- Voters had to know that Scarlett Johansson was a sure Best Actress nominee for Marriage Story. So why the choice to honor her twice while bypassing Jennifer Lopez for Hustlers and Shuzhen Zhao for The Farewell? Was Johansson’s acting in Jojo Rabbit so special or unique? She held her own in the film, but you could see many other actresses playing that part. That’s not the case with either Lopez or Zhao. Lopez takes what could have been a stereotypical stripper role and imbues it with her drive and charisma. As “Nai Nai” the family matriarch, Zhao conveys a quiet authority and kindness, with just a hint of mischief. As with not adding a 10th Best Picture nominee, the Academy misses a big opportunity to spread the love a little wider. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Greta Gerwig -- Little Women Anthony McCarten -- The Two Popes Todd Phillips and Scott Silver -- Joker Taika Waititi -- Jojo Rabbit Steven Zaillian -- The Irishman Grade: B+ Once again the screenplay noms serve as a consolation prize, in this case for Gerwig and Waititi. Gerwig took a chance by reshaping her story’s narrative, alternating between the women as teenagers and adults. It paid off by contrasting young hopes with adult realities. Waititi’s nomination was likely more for the noble goals than for the uneven execution. Warner Brothers bungled the release plan and awards campaign for Just Mercy, and the film unfortunately got lost in the shuffle. Writer-director Destin Daniel Cretton and co-writer Andrew Lanham captured the themes and messages of Bryan Stevenson’s book while still keeping the focus on the stories and the characters. The screenplay made its points without becoming preachy, no small feat. Once again, the Academy should have looked a little deeper. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Noah Baumbach -- Marriage Story Rian Johnson – Knives Out Bong Joon-ho and Jin Won Han -- Parasite Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns -- 1917 Quentin Tarantino -- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Grade: B For this category the consolation prize goes to Rian Johnson, who’s expertly plotted, clever, suspenseful and hilarious Knives Out was overlooked in every other category. While I enjoyed and admired 1917, it was more of a technical than narrative achievement. This nomination was likely part of the film’s late season Oscar tidal wave. I’ll beat the dead horse one last time for The Farewell. The film’s ingenious tag line “Based on an actual lie” only hints at the smart, layered, funny and heartfelt gem of a story. I’m probably more surprised than I really should be that Oscar passed over this film in every single category. Screenplay would have been the perfect venue to at least give The Farewell a token acknowledgement. In a much too common theme this year, opportunity missed. Like everyone else in the free world, I was stunned and saddened to learn of Kobe Bryant’s death. His 13-year-old daughter and seven others were also victims of that fatal helicopter crash, which is that much more heartbreaking. Magic Johnson was my favorite NBA player growing up, the one I followed, the one I cheered for. For many in their 20s (including many currently in the NBA) Bryant was for them the way Johnson was for me. His 2003 rape allegation was troubling then and still is now. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching Bryant play and respected his complete dedication to his sport. Two years ago Bryant was an Oscar nominee for Dear Basketball , a short animated film based on an essay he wrote when he retired. Bryant hired the legendary John Williams to do the music. Williams was surprised when Bryant asked him, but Bryant told him that “I don’t want it to be hip-hoppy. I want timeless, classical music.” Even as a newcomer to filmmaking, Bryant still had a sense of what could help make Dear Basketball a resonant work. He brought the same relentless drive and preparation to making the movie that he did to basketball. Bryant became not only the first NBA player, but the first professional athlete in any sport to win an Oscar. That award was to be a stepping stone as Bryant had formed his own studio. With his talents and work ethic, who knows what kind of films and other entertainment he could have produced in the years and decades to come? We saw everything Bryant could do on the court, but just a glimpse of all he offered off of it. Adam Spector February 1, 2020 Contact us: |
