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Oscar Nominations: A Brave New World?
 How quaint it was when we debated the merits of theaters vs. streaming. I wrote two columns about this debate, and I wonder if it is still relevant now. The Academy had no choice but to modify its rules to allow films to open simultaneously on streaming and in theaters. It even allowed films that didn’t open in theaters at all, provided they were set to do so before COVID hit. Five of the eight Best Picture nominees opened on streaming, with a concurrent theatrical release for some of them. Out of the nominees I address in the categories below, nearly 70% were from movies that opened concurrently or solely on streaming services. This includes all five of the Best Supporting Actor nominees. With theaters gradually reopening the Academy has not yet determined if this year’s rule changes will be permanent. The traditional studios postponed many of their likely contenders to the next Oscar season. Still, given that most of this years’ nominees have been seen at home, it’s hard to believe that film distribution will simply snap back to the pre-COVID practices. It was just a couple of years ago when many wondered if Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon could compete for Oscars with the studios. From now on we’ll expect it. While the steaming/theatrical Oscar shifts are complex, another change presents pure, unadulterated hope. Last year only two of the 20 acting nominees were not white. This year it’s nine. Steven Yeun became the first Asian American nominated for Best Actor. Chloé Zhao’s Best Director nomination was the first for an Asian-American and the first for any woman of color. Finally we’re seeing Oscars better reflecting the U.S. and the world. These nominations may lead to more chances for performers for whom opportunities were lacking. More of these opportunities can lead to more diversity both in front of and behind the camera. Half of the total of the acting nominees worked in films by non-white directors. This isn’t some PC, woke feel good story. Critics and moviegoers alike (myself included) have maintained that Hollywood has moved into a franchise, superhero driven homogeneity, where so many movies feel the same. More diversity means a wider range of stories told. A wider range of stories means better films. No one knows if these nominations are a blip or a movement, but at a minimum they are a small step in the right direction. With this light of optimism, I hand out some grades: BEST PICTURE The Father Judas and the Black Messiah Mank Minari Nomadland Promising Young Woman Sound Of Metal The Trial of the Chicago 7 Grade: B- With so much to celebrate, it’s disappointing that the Oscars fell short in their largest category. The Academy could have nominated ten films, but included only eight. Writer Mark Harris observed that the Academy will sometimes pick one African-American film to honor and ignore the rest of them. That certainly seems true in this category, where Judas and the Black Messiah is the lone African-American entry, while there were so many to choose from. Perhaps the most glaring omission is One Night in Miami. Not only did the film feature four outstanding performances, but it also spoke to racial and celebrity issues that are as relevant now as they were in 1964, when the film was set. Director Regina King made the conversation scenes vibrantly come alive and avoided the claustrophobic talkiness that bedevils many adaptations of stage plays. The same held true for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of August Wilson’s play. Oscar voters almost completely forgot about Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, the first major film effort to address the black experience in the Vietnam War. After a year where racial issues were front and center, these omissions were a missed opportunity. The Academy could have also honored The Assistant and Never Rarely Sometimes Always, two films tackling timely, feminist issues in an intimate, character-centered way. Or it could have taken a chance with Vast of Night, a finely crafted, innovative low-tech science fiction film. Voters took chances in some of the other categories, spotlighting such eclectic efforts as the hilarious Borat sequel, the tender Danish comedy Another Round, and the dark, cynical examination of the Indian class system The White Tiger. What a shame the voters played it safe here instead. DIRECTOR Lee Isaac Chung – Minari Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman David Fincher – Mank Thomas Vinterberg – Another Round Chloé Zhao – Nomadland Grade: A- As with Best Picture, Regina King’s absence sticks out. Like many actor-directors, she showed a talent with other actors. Together, King and her cast made four historical figures authentic, compelling, and relevant. Still, I’d have a hard time kicking any of the five nominees out. Vinterberg’s nomination was surprise, as he was not honored in any of the precursor awards. In the past I’ve complained about the Best Director and Best Picture picks not lining up. Not this time, as Vinterberg, one of the pioneers of the Dogma 95 movement, got both laughs and pathos from four men’s alcohol fueled mid-life crisis. While his naturalistic shooting style gave Another Round his usual raw intimacy, Vinterberg also showed a gentle sweetness that’s new for him. ACTOR Riz Ahmed – Sound Of Metal Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Anthony Hopkins – The Father Gary Oldman – Mank Steven Yeun – Minari Grade: B These nominations have a bittersweet flavor by deservedly recognizing Boseman’s remarkable work in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Boseman grabbed your attention the first time he appeared on screen and didn’t let up. As the brash, ambitious trumpeter Levee, Boseman’s charm and intensity blended perfectly. He also showed a range that he hadn’t before by delving deep into Levee’s pain and trauma. For the scenes where Levee told what happened to him and his family, the film never switched to a flashback. It’s all on Boseman to make those anguishing memories feel real, and he did this so convincingly that it took me a second to focus on what came next. While Boseman’s nomination and his likely win will have to serve as a coda for his all too short career, it’s also a reminder that, for all he accomplished, Boseman was just starting to scratch the surface of his talent. While there’s no debating Gary Oldman’s accomplishments, his nomination here may be more for his reputation. He acquitted himself competently, but never quite owned the role of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz for it to feel completely genuine. That could be partly because, depending on the scene, Oldman was 20-25 years older than Mankiewicz in real life. In the scenes with Mank and his fellow screenwriters, he looked old enough to be their father. Oldman did the best he could, but the Academy would have been better served picking Delroy Lindo for Da 5 Bloods instead. As Boseman did, Lindo found vulnerability and heart in a character very unsympathetic on the surface. Lindo’s live-wire performance provided a sense of danger that pervades the film, but made the anger more tragic than villainous. Lindo has been one of America’s underrated character actors over the last 30 years, and it’s a letdown that the Academy ignored his nomination-worthy portrayal. ACTRESS Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Andra Day – The United States vs. Billie Holiday Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman Frances McDormand – Nomadland Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman Grade: A While Julia Garner for The Assistant, Sidney Flanigan for Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Radha Blank for The Forty-Year Old Version were equally deserving, the five selected all were outstanding. How fitting that in an Oscars that’s so much about representation, we have both Davis and Day honored for playing show business legends that struggled with both social and economic racism. We already knew of Davis’s abilities and accomplishments, while Day is more of a surprise given that it’s her first significant screen acting role. She certainly had the vocal chops to play Billie Holliday, but was just as electric in the non-singing scenes. Day embodied Holliday as much as she played her, and evoked not just the singer’s talents and tragedy, but also her courage. SUPPORTING ACTOR Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7 Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami Paul Raci – Sound Of Metal LaKeith Stanfield – Judas and the Black Messiah Grade: A Warner Brothers campaigned for Stanfield as Best Actor, and many online have criticized his inclusion here, especially with Kaluuya likely to win for the same movie. It’s hardly the first time the Academy has nominated an actor in the wrong category, but it should in no way diminish Stanfield’s achievement. His turn as the guilt-ridden snitch complemented Kaluyya’s work as the charismatic Black Panther leader perfectly. Casting directors don’t have their own Oscars category, but they should. Just one wrongly cast part can destroy a film’s believability. Every single one has to be right. The directors may have some actors they know and some other they heard about, but they rely on the casting team to find non “name” actors and to fill out the smaller parts (for more on this process, see the terrific documentary Casting By. Paul Raci was not on anyone’s radar a couple of years ago. Now in his early seventies, Raci had worked primarily on the stage and television. When casting director Susan Shopmaker was looking for someone to play Joe, the leader of a deaf community, in Sound of Metal, she considered some bigger names. Shopmaker changed course and recommended Raci because he was proficient in sign language, having grown up with two deaf parents. Raci also had his own struggles with addiction in real life. He brought that lived-in credibility into playing Joe. He imbued Joe with the naturalness of someone who had seen it all and had lived a long, tough life. One of the most gratifying parts of the Oscars are recognizing hidden gems like Raci. SUPPORTING ACTRESS Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy Olivia Colman – The Father Amanda Seyfried – Mank Youn Yuh-jung – Minari Grade: A Speaking of discoveries, it’s safe to say that few in the English-speaking world had heard of Youn Yuh-jung or Maria Bakalova a year ago. Youn has garnered much national acclaim during her long career in South Korea. For a point of comparison, she’s been called “Korea’s Meryl Streep.” As Soonja, the gambling and swearing grandma, Youn stole almost every scene. She had such a spark and fierceness that she gives the film an added dimension, including humor. Youn exhibited superb comic timing and delivery. She also developed a chemistry with Alan Kim as the young grandson David that made their scenes together the heart of the film. Maria Bakalova was an aspiring actress in Bulgaria when out of nowhere she was invited to an audition for what became Tutar, daughter of the title character in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Without much of an improv background she was able to go toe-to-toe with Sacha Baron Cohen and prove herself his equal. Besides her comic skills, Bakalova brought a warmth and a heart to the sequel that the original didn’t have. Bakalova made us care about Tutar no matter how outrageous a situation she and Cohen put themselves in. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Ramin Bahrani – The White Tiger Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern and Nina Pedrad – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller – The Father Kemp Powers – One Night in Miami Chloé Zhao – Nomadland Grade: A Bahrani was less of a surprise than he might have seemed given his Writers Guild of America and BAFTA (British Academy Award) nominations. His clever adaptation of Aravind Adiga’s novel played with audience preconceptions about Indian society and class distinction. Like Parasite a year ago, the screenplay pulled off a difficult switch in tone. Speaking of surprises, how often does a screenplay with nine credited writers get nominated for anything? Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was not “written” in the traditional sense as the film created scenarios without always knowing how they would pay off. Their work brought a new a meaning to the term “adapted” as they had to change the story on the fly when COVID hit during filming. That the final product turned out to be as funny as the original with an even more pointed social commentary showed how deserving this nomination is, however unusual it may be. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas, and Keith Lucas – Judas and the Black Messiah Lee Isaac Chung – Minari Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman Darius Marder, Abraham Marder and Derek Cianfrance – Sound Of Metal Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7 Grade: A Derek Cianfrance originated the story of what became Sound of Metal on another project and then handed it off to Darius Marder. Cianfrance co-wrote and directed the searing marriage drama Blue Valentine and the criminally underrated epic The Place Beyond the Pines, neither of which garnered the recognition they deserved. This nomination is overdue, however indirect it may be. Chung drew on his own childhood for Minari, and it’s his memory of all the little details that gave the story its flavor. It was distinctively Korean, but also felt universal in its telling of culture clashes, hard work and sacrifice. It’s no secret that the Academy nominated two women for Best Director for the first time in its history. Certainly worth celebrating but the achievement is tempered by the fact that Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell bring the total number of female Best Director nominees to seven. This is across 93 years and 457 total Best Director nominations. These decades of omissions are no surprise, given how Hollywood’s sexism has a long and sordid history. One of these reasons for the dearth of Oscar recognition, I had always thought, was that women haven’t been able to make many films until the past 30 years. While it’s true that opportunities for female filmmakers have historically been far less than their male counterparts, I could not have been more wrong about the “haven’t been able to make many films” part. Last fall, Turner Classic Movies aired Women Make Film, a 14-part series from Mark Cousins that's now streaming on Apple TV and The Criterion Channel. The series opened my eyes to the astounding breadth of film female directors from around the world have been making over the past 110 years. Cousins doesn’t take a chronological or biographical look, but instead shows examples of film language, genre and style that all come from women. There’s sections on close-ups, editing, tracking, character introductions, comedies, and music, just to name a few. The series includes modern filmmakers such as Ava DuVernay and Kathryn Bigelow, and historical greats including Agnès Varda, Ida Lupino, Alice Guy-Blache and Dorothy Arzner. Those are just six of the 183 directors cited in the series, and I’m ashamed to admit that I hadn’t heard of most of them. Taken together, the series illustrates the vast and deep contributions women filmmakers have made whether they got the deserved acclaim or not (mostly not). Many worked far away from Hollywood, whether in other nations or in the U.S independent film world. Women are an essential part of film history and it shouldn’t have taken Women Make Film to make me fully understand that. That their accomplishments do not have the recognition they deserve does not diminish their importance. Women have made great films in every era, every genre, and in six continents. They played a critical role in developing film language and techniques that we take for granted. The talent has always been there. The quality has always been there. It’s about time the Oscars started to catch up. Adam Spector April 1, 2021 Contact us: |
