oscars '24

lily gladstone icons

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“This is a historic win, it doesn’t belong to just me… This is for every little rez kid, every little urban kid, every little Native kid out there who has a dream, who is seeing themselves represented and our stories told, by ourselves, in our own words.”

Mollie Burkhart - Killers of the Flower Moon, 2023

{Lily Gladstone icons}

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Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

dir. Martin Scorsese

im so in love with lily gladstone and jacob elordi and cailee spaeny and

Hello, Sandra! I would love some icons of Lily Gladstone (in or out of character in Killers of a Flower Moon).

Sure:

like/reblog if you take, please! let me know if you want a different color

5 more icons under the cut

Why hoping Lily Gladstone won an Oscar does not equal valuing race over talent.

Social media is never a great place to have discussions about race and culture. The real issues at hand are way too nuanced and detailed for outrage factories like X/Twitter and Instagram to handle.

Still, I was disappointed to see so many people – perhaps willfully – missing the point online when discussion rose after the Oscars about Lily Gladstone failing to win best actress honors.

No doubt, a win for Gladstone – who would have been the first Native American woman to earn a major acting Oscar – also would have felt like a serious triumph for champions touting the power of diversity in film.

Feeling the love big time today, especially from Indian Country. Kittō”kuniikaakomimmō”po’waw - seriously, I love you all ❤️ (Better believe when I was leaving the Dolby Theater and walked passed the big Oscar statue I gave that golden booty a little Coup tap - Count: one 😉)

— Lily Gladstone (@lily_gladstone) March 12, 2024

Those of us who clock these things regularly knew that Emma Stone’s turn in Poor Things was most likely to spoil that scenario. Stone offered a showy-yet-accomplished performance as a singular character in an ambitious, creatively weird production. A much-loved past winner delivering a career-best effort, she was just the kind of nominee that Oscar loves to reward. And, as Vulture pointed out, modern Oscar voters seem to enjoy turning against expectations in big moments like this.

But when I expressed those feelings online – that Stone was marvelous and more than earned the award, but the Oscar academy really missed a chance to make history by overlooking Gladstone’s more subtle, quietly powerful turn in a better movie – the knives came out.

The gist of most negative reactions was the implication that I and others lamenting her loss were insisting that ethnicity should trump talent. As if the only or most important reason that an indigenous woman could be nominated for such a lofty award, is by people trying to bring social justice to the Oscars. (I guess Gladstone’s wins as best actress at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards, among others, were also nods to diversity?)

As if it couldn’t be possible that perhaps -- just perhaps -- some racial cultural preferences were mixed up in Oscar voters’ attraction to the story of a beautiful, young white woman who has loads of sex while learning to define herself in a male dominated world.

What really disappointed me, however, was reading an analysis which reached all the way back to the 2017 Oscars to imply that one reason Barry Jenkins’ masterpiece Moonlight won best picture honors over La La Land was the pressure to bring social justice to the Oscars.

Talk about missing the point by a mile. What I’m driving at, when I advocate for contenders like Gladstone, Barry Jenkins and Jeffrey Wright, isn’t a finger on the scale to make up for past exclusion.

It’s a plea for Oscar voters to see these performances the way I and so many other people actually see them.

I still remember watching last year’s version of The Color Purple in a screening alongside lots of folks from Black fraternity and sorority organizations. And when the moment arrived where Danielle Brooks’ character intoned about her husband, “I loves Harpo — God knows I do — but I’ll kill him dead before I let him or anybody beat me,” it felt like the whole theater said those words with her. That’s how iconic those lines -- first spoken on film by Oprah Winfrey in the 1985 production – have become for Black America.

That same feeling came after I first saw Cord Jefferson’s brilliant American Fiction, centered on a frustrated, floundering Black writer who creates a stereotypical parody of a Black novel as a dark joke, only to see it become a best seller. I felt as if Jefferson had pulled the same bait-and-switch with his movie that his lead character managed onscreen – using the outrageous premise to draw us all into a more subtle and deliberately powerful story of a Black man struggling to connect with his family after huge losses.

I needed three attempts to get through watching all of Gladstone’s work in Killers of the Flower Moon. Not because the movie was so long I had to “get my mail forwarded to the theater,” like Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked. But because it was so hard for me to watch a film centered on the historic exploitation and murder of Native American people by white men.

It sounds like a simple idea, but it’s worth repeating: evocative moments in films will speak differently to different people.

Sometimes, when I’m pushing for a win in an awards category, or championing a particular project, it’s not because I’m putting a finger on the scale for the sake of equality. It’s because I’m more invested in that story than some others because of who I am. And I’m challenging some people, who might not see their cultural preferences as preferences, to consider exactly why they love one thing over another.

In many ways, it is sad to see great artists pitted against each other in these contests. Comparing the delightful, dangerous absurdity of Poor Things to the gritty, punishing tone in Killers of the Flower Moon feels like a fool’s errand, anyway.

But with so much that comes from an Oscar win – including proof that inclusion brings success, accolades and a great argument for more equity – it is important to understand why some people value some performances.

And part of living in a diverse society means valuing the wide range of opinions and reactions, not shrugging off those that don’t fit your worldview.

revamping this entire blog. pending.

as always feel free to unfollow i 100% it's nothing personal

3/7/24 - new icon, lily gladstone

3/16/24 - gonna be studying for an exam so probably following more study blogs & whatnot

top 5 oscar looks from this year?

thanks for the question!!

in no particular order but:

- lily gladstone

- anya taylor joy

- lupita nyong’o

- greta lee

- zendaya

+ xochitl gomez (she is always well dressed in red carpets, an icon)

and another topic for the boys because I couldn’t pick just 5…

- enzo vogrincic (❤️)

- colman domingo (who also always serves in every event)

Opinion on Poor Things (maybe unpopular):

I finally got to watch the movie a few days before the Oscars. From the rest of the nominees, I have also watched Barbie (won't get it), the Killers of the Flower Moon and I intend to watch Oppenheimer. I won't have time to watch any of the rest before the awards.

The funny conclusion I landed on after watching Poor Things is that I liked it for all the reasons that most others considered as only secondary virtues.

The acting is cool, including obviously Emma Stone's, but I am not exactly sure it's Oscar-worthy but then again I don't know how good the other nominees were, except for Lily Gladstone, whose performance was subtle yet amazing. However, this one which has also its own share of fan admiration, was in my opinion too subtle for its own good. Like, yeah, that perfectly accurate face of internal resignation but is it award worthy when it's the same face for nearly four hours? Back to Stone, I have this feeling her performance is more praised due to how risky and demanding it was (almost certainly the riskiest performance by a big name in Hollywood) rather than for how excellent it was in itself.

It's interesting how this movie did not pass the message to me at all. I got what it meant to explore; sexual liberation, freedom, living the moment, enjoying life, women taking their place in the world and fields gatekept by men, the fragile male ego but... for a movie that is so supposed to be about finding yourself, exploring the world and living your life, it's amazing that it did not generate a single (1) emotion in me. Ironically, I didn't get how Bella was better than other conventional ordinary people resigned in their misery and societal expectations. How was Bella happier or wiser than any of those? When she ate 100 pastries and then threw them up? When she drank so much, she passed out in a corner and had a headache? When she had countless sexual encounters that eventually were mechanical and made no difference to her? When her impulsiveness led her to the [SPOILER] man that she once killed herself to avoid? Where exactly do we see her being assisted by her lack of filter and inhibitions? Furthermore, her empathy is entirely unconvincing (regarding the injustice and misery in the world) because in most other scenes she seems to be totally capable of cruelty. I am making all these points, not so much as a critique to the movie but because I was baffled by so many people saying "Bella was an icon and she had figured out how to live life and we are all trapped and unable to follow her example". How many pastries and bad fucks it takes to find the meaning of life?! Um, no. In the end, Bella ends up [SPOILER] back in her home studying anatomy, things that she could have done anyway as she grew without ever leaving Baxter's side. I am not saying it was wrong of her to leave or to make those choices she made (although of course several were just stupid), I am just commenting on how surprising it was that many people viewed this as a new positive take in life when we weren't even rewarded with one deep emotion. Bella hardly loves, hardly hates, never truly connects with nature (apart from an one second long scene in the beginning and those walks in sunglasses which are still very superficial) and the sense of being and still basically does not "understand" the world despite all the philosophy she reads. There is nothing profound about her. She has grown in the end but she is not changed. She just likes anatomy and sex. That was the case in the beginning and that is in the end. Oh, plus she throws some wordy meaningless sentences with a totally expressionless face. I guess the pacing was a little off and a better one could have helped make these themes be explored more thoroughly. But it's unacceptable for a movie of such a premise to not provide any heartwarming feeling or any thrill. It's just a very bizarre comedy. It does that well. But Bella is not really an icon to me. Nobody in this movie is a role model about how to view life. Maybe for how to NOT live it. Just a lot of diverse clutter but no real happiness or living.

The funny thing is that the most Oscar worthy aspects of this film were the technical ones and the direction (and I don't say this because I am Greek). I found Lanthimos' direction ingenious, eccentric, gripping. The cinematography and the visual effects are truly beautiful. The music and the costumes are very interesting as well.

I expect Nolan to take the Oscar, even though I haven't watched the movie yet, because 1) America and 2) I bet his direction was conventionally flawless and this certainly is appealing to Hollywood. But I really wish Lanthimos got some acknowledgment for this. Then again Lanthimos should have done a better pacing in the third part of the film or explore emotions better. On the other hand, Nolan's movie is three hours. I need to watch to see how effortlessly those 3 hours pass. Scorsese with his effing 3,5 hours won't get it either, however I will say that the premise of the movie was far more heart-wrenching and shocking to me. I had no idea this was an actual thing happening there. Killers of the Flower Moon was for me far more thought-provoking than Poor Things (or Barbie but I consider Barbie far inferior to all the rest).

I still gave Poor Things an 8/10 because it is enjoyable to watch.

P.S It took a short of a few seconds to be certain Robert Downey Junior should take the supporting role oscar and not Mark Ruffalo with his far too cartoonish performance.

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can we talk about lily gladstone being on the verge of quitting acting and then getting a call from scorsese to be in KOTFM and now being nominated for the highest award in her category???? icon

THE AARONS 2023 - Best Film Performance

I’m told the recipients of this award totally would have accepted them in person this year if not for the actors’ strike. What about next year, you say? Oh, uh, well, you see, they may be preparing for their next strike. Here is The Aaron for Best Film Performance:

WINNER: Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer - Oppenheimer

Throughout his career, Murphy has been rightfully acclaimed for his ability to fully immerse himself in his roles; now, he has become Death, Destroyer of Worlds. To convey the unfathomable nature of its wide-ranging events, Oppenheimer traps viewers in the haunted headspace of the eponymous scientist. Murphy’s brilliant embodiment of the intellectual traces his obsession with accomplishment through to its harrowing aftermath. A scarecrow could scarcely look more gaunt than the actor by the time of the film’s finale. Through the subtle reactions in Murphy’s eyes, one can plainly see the horrific chain of events that Oppenheimer feared he brought to fruition.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart - Killers of the Flower Moon

The wealth of talents possessed by the Certain Woman star reached full bloom with Flower. 

Margot Robbie as Barbie - Barbie

Equal parts perky and percipient, Robbie’s rendition of the iconic doll will leave viewers tickled pink.

Greta Lee as Nora - Past Lives

Lee leaves a lot unspoken as the loving lead; her nuances as Nora puts her in full control of Lives.

Zac Efron as Kevin Von Erich - The Iron Claw

Efron’s heartbreaking portrayal of a man wrestling with unthinkable pain is the strongest in the actor’s body of work.

NEXT UP: THE 2023 AARON FOR BEST SUPPORTING FILM PERFORMANCE!

What are your favorite looks from last night's Oscars? I always enjoy your fashion themed posts 🥰

Buckle up, it's time for Lauren's Oscars Fashion Roundup!

Starting with Carey Mulligan aka Mrs Mumford in a Balenciaga archive BEAUTY

I am OBSESSED with this. The velvet, the tulle, the sweetheart neckline, the mermaid silhouette, the gloves...I want it for myself. I WANT IT. STUNNING.

Sandra Hüller in Schiaparelli - I have to admit, this grew on me. I think the exaggerated shoulder thing threw me off a bit, but the more I look at it, the more it works.

Zendaya in Armani Privé - I have one thing to say - SLAY. Top to toe this look really pops. 10/10 instantly loved it.

Lily Gladstone in Gucci X Joe Big Mountain of Ironhorse Quillwork - I'm not usually a fan of straight strapless necklines but this works. The color is beautiful on her too, and it's wonderful to see the craftsmanship of the Mohawk, Cree & Comanche Nations make it to the biggest red carpet of the year.

Michelle Yeoh in Balenciaga - fabulous as always, she literally never misses.

CATHERINE FREAKIN' O'HARA. THAT IS ALL.

ALSO FRAN FREAKIN' DRESCHER. The woman I aspire to be both now and at 66. She's an ICON.

OSCAR WINNER RDJ AND SUSAN DOWNEY MY BELOVEDS!!! THEY'RE EVERYTHING TO ME.

Xochiti Gomez in another dress that I absolutely need for myself. I love everything about it. 10/10 no notes.