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dean-winchesters-clit · 2 years

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With the release of the Little Mermaid (2023) trailer, I want to tell you all about the gay man who saved Disney

After the death of Walt Disney in 1966 and Roy Disney in 1971, the Disney Animation Studio floundered for over a decade and a half. The movies released following the Disneys’ deaths did not do well at the box office or with critics, and the company began losing money quickly. It didn’t help that during the production of The Fox and The Hound, Don Bluth along with a bunch of other Disney animators left the company to start their own animation studio.

After The Fox and The Hound released in 1981, Michael Eisner (best known as the inspiration for Lord Farquad) took over after Walt Disney’s nephew resigned as CEO. Michael Eisner came into the company with the sentiment that they “had no obligation to make art”, and released The Black Cauldron in 1985 to critical and commercial failure. The company hit rock bottom and in response, Eisner moved the animation studio out of the buildings that were DESIGNED FOR ANIMATORS TO ANIMATE IN and into various hangers, warehouses, and trailers. Eisner was about to get rid of the animation studio for good until Walt Disney’s nephew intervened. Thanks to the mild success of The Great Mouse Detective and Oliver and Company, Eisner gave the animation studio another chance.

That’s where our man comes in.

Howard Ashman was born in Baltimore, Maryland in May of 1950. He and Alan Menken (the composer for many many many Disney films) collaborated on The Little Shop of Horrors. Ashman was the lyricists, librettist, and director of the project while Menken wrote the music. They were nominated for a Grammy Award and Ashman received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics. Ashman then wrote the screenplay for the Frank Oz film adaptation of the musical.

Ashman was brought in to Disney to write a song for Oliver and Company. While there, he was told about several projects the animation studio had on the back burner, one of which was The Little Mermaid.

Ashman became a driving force behind the creation of The Little Mermaid and subsequently, all of the Disney films made between 1989 and 1999. He explained to the animation team how musical theater and animated films were made for each other, and how they had the exact same amount of suspension of disbelief for audiences, which made them a perfect substitute for live action movie musicals which had gone out of fashion after the 1960s.

Ashman wrote all the lyrics to the songs in The Little Mermaid and insisted that Alan Menken be brought on to write the score and music. It was Menken’s first ever movie score and he fucking nailed it. Ashman was the one who insisted on bringing on actors who had musical theater backgrounds. He also insisted that Sebastian the crab be Jamaican so he could include Caribbean inspired music and have an “up” number during the movie. He explained to the writers how musicals were structured, where to include songs, and how those song would weave themselves into the story and feel natural. Ashman was credited as a producer on the film, which was released in 1989 to ENORMOUS SUCCESS. Ashman then went on to write the lyrics to the songs in Beauty and the Beast and three songs from Aladdin, the latter of which he pitched to Disney as an animated musical and wrote a treatment for.

After the release of The Little Mermaid, Ashman revealed to Menken that he had tested positive for HIV/AIDs. Jeffery Katzenburg, the then animation director at Disney, fully supported Ashman during the making of Beauty and the Beast, even creating a studio near his home in New York so he could work easier while receiving treatment. He got to see a private early screening of Beauty and the Beast before he lost his eyesight. He died of heart failure seven months before the film was released in November of 1991.

Beauty and the Beast received a standing ovation at its premiere and was the first and only animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, a decade before the Best Animated Feature category was added. The film is dedicated to Howard Ashman, a message at the end of the film reading, "To our friend Howard, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful.“ Beauty and the Beast won for Best Original Song at the Oscars, the award presented to Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Ashman’s partner Bill Lauch accepted the posthumous award for Ashman, making it clear to the audience that he and Howard were a couple and loved each other. Disney was furious that Lauch had said those things during his acceptance speech.

Following Ashman’s death, the 2002 special DVD release of Beauty and the Beast added the song “Human Again” which Ashman and Menken wrote but was cut from the original film. The DVD also featured a special short called Howard Ashman: In Memorium. It features many people from the animation studio talking about Ashman and his invaluable contributions to the films he worked on. Jeffery Katzenburg said that there were two angels watching over them during his days at Disney: Walt Disney himself, and Howard Ashman.

If it weren’t for Howard Ashman, a gay man who died of AIDs in 1991, Disney would not be what it is today. They would have continued to flounder and eventually have gone under. Ashman brought Disney back to life and gave us unforgettable films and inspired countless others. He was the backbone of the Disney Renaissance, creator of the formula that these films followed and allowed them to succeed where previous films hadn’t.

And the modern Disney Corporation refuses to acknowledge his existence. While doing research for this post, I found a documentary on Disney+ about Howard Ashman. It has a one minute long trailer on the Disney+ YouTube account and that’s it. There’s no other marketing for this documentary, no one posting about it, NOTHING. It came out in 2018. FOUR YEARS AND NO ONE KNOWS IT EXISTS. Disney has been erasing the existence of queer people in their history and continue to profit off of the work that queer people did to keep their company afloat. The Beauty and the Beast remake was the first Disney movie to make over a billion dollars and in doing so, they butchered the work of a dying gay man who didn’t even get to see the finished film he worked so hard on.

So, as you make art and gif posts about The Little Mermaid (2023) as more and more trailers and promotional material come out for it, remember Howard Ashman. Remember the man who gave many of us our childhoods, who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul.

Rest in peace, Howard.

Here is a video the goes more in depth about Howard’s contributions to Disney and the history surrounding the importance of The Little Mermaid:

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listen-to-the-inner-walrus · 4 months

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...wait, people are genuinely upset that greta gerwig didnt get nominated for best director for the toy commercial movie when the movie got nominations for best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best original song, best production design, best costume design, best picture, and best adapted screenplay for which greta gerwig was nominated?

#kai rambles #im sorry #im just like so annoyed at all the #''movie about feminism and patriarchy made by women has oscar nom go to ken'' reactions #as if no women were nominated at all?????#america ferrera was nominated #billie eilish was nominated #margot robbie was nominated as part of the best picture nom #greta gerwig was fucking nominated #like im sorry but this is like the white feminist version of a moral panic #also justine triet was nominated for best director for anatomy of a fall but i guess yall dont care about films in different languages #also lily gladstone got a best actress nomination becoming the first native american to nominated for an oscar #nimona got a best animated feature film nomination #in general we're seeing more non-english language films get nominations which goes a long way in convincing the general public in the #angliaphere to actually engage with media outside of it #*anglosphere #i just #your babys first feminism toy commercial not sweeping every category is a non-issue #and these reactions are so fucking embarrassing #like im sorry but the toy commercial movie happens to also have a lot of issues with white feminism #and a lot lf native americans have spoken out about it being outright hostile to them #its not a perfect film and its not being snubbed by the patriarchy #it just happens to be that there are other films that came out which were better

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dweemeister · 4 months

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96th Academy Awards nominations reactions

Well, it wasn't doomsday. But it wasn't the best Oscar nomination morning I've ever experienced either!

And goodness me, the two major Best Picture contenders that have the most upwards momentum right now (Oppenheimer doesn't have upwards momentum, it's been top of the pack for the whole awards season) did well. And it just so happens, those two films are the ones I'm the most terrified to criticize.

Some thoughts:

From some of the talk going around and the lack of love from outside the United States, I'm a little concerned with Killers of the Flower Moon as it stands. It's my personal pick for Best Picture, jsyk. Ten nominations sure, but missing out on Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor for DiCaprio is not a good look, despite the surprise Original Song nomination. Certainly, AMPAS is majority/plurality American, so the story strikes deep chords for any of us who care a smidgen about the nation's history and racial injustice. But I have been seeing chatter - not gonna name nationalities - from outside North America saying how they're tired of American racial guilt movies. That is an aspect of KOTFM, but that completely flattens a morally complicated, beautifully made work. A near-miracle it was made in 2020s Hollywood. I think another part of it is that we are all now taking the Scorsese and Spielberg generation of filmmakers for granted. They've come full circle. Their films have done wretchedly at recent Academy Awards ceremonies as of late, and undeservedly so.

The (imo) overperformance of Poor Things makes the Gladstone v Stone matchup look like it may be slowly tipping away from Lily Gladstone. I don't think I will be writing on the film on this blog but, suffice it to say, I didn't enjoy it. Yorgos Lanthimos is a director that has never truly clicked with me, largely due to his earlier, very cynical work. Poor Things is not as cynical, but I didn't care for the messaging at all (yes, Victorian men were sexual hypocrites and miscreants - how self-congratulatory, I found it) or its sense of humor. I guess some can say that I'm just another puritanical American prude, as well. But I thought the sex was getting into the male gaze-y territory, and the sex work subplot was way waaayyy too sanitized. I also despised the atonal score by Jerskin Fendrix, which was very close to stuff me and my orchestra mates might do if we were messing around in rehearsal (disclosure: I was taught classical piano and violin, have studied music theory up to the college level, played in various orchestras up to a decent level in high school, and am a massive film score fan).

It looks like Oppenheimer is running away with this. I just don't see how anything can stop it in Best Picture. I can respect an Oppenheimer Best Picture winner, even if I'm not even sure if it cracks my top three and Nolan is certainly not one of my favorite filmmakers.

I don't think Oppenheimer is getting Best Actor, though. Rooting for Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers on that one. Shame Dominic Sessa couldn't join him in Supporting Actor, but Da'Vine Joy Randolph has essentially got the Oscar in the bag - despite my reservations on how her character essentially disappears in the last third of the film.

But what about Barbie? It's a movie I respect, deeply. But I never thought it in the caliber of Best Picture nominee one bit. The America Ferrera nomination in Supporting Actress I don't support one bit. Gosling? Sure. Robbie? Had a better case than Ferrera, but I understand why she didn't get it. Gerwig? I'm on the fence over her exclusion in Director.

Sensational stuff for Justine Triet and Anatomy of a Fall. It's probably my #2 vote in Best Picture. I just wish Milo Machado Graner was in for Supporting Actor. This is a dark horse, folks, more than capable of pulling off an upset or two come Oscar night. And a damned good movie, too...

... But its success appears to have come at the expense of Trần Anh Hùng's The Taste of Things. And as the Artistic Director of Viet Film Fest in Orange County, California, that stings, as he's VFF alumni. When France passed over Anatomy of a Fall for The Taste of Things in Best International Feature, there was a lot of outrage directed at Taste by people who had and had not seen the film. Perhaps the damage was already done. A massive shame if that was the case.

Other than Poor Things, the other movie with tons of upward momentum right now is Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest. For the record, I think, on its face, you can still make a morally responsible movie about the Holocaust from a Nazi point of view - which I think Glazer mostly does. But my criticism comes from elsewhere. Glazer, in interviews, has said how he wanted to 1) make the movie not primarily about the 1940s, but about our time and our complicity in atrocities and 2) make a film shorn of cinematic artifice to absorb us into the setting. I think his messaging never evolves beyond the basics on the first point; I think he utterly fails on the second. Cases in point: the use of nightvision cameras that only serve to remind the audience they are watching an artistic exercise, the horrific score from Mica Levi that too many film critics (who don't know better, most notably David Ehrlich at IndieWire - really, everyone at IndieWire), and a weird sound mix that reminds me of when stage plays play off-stage sound effects or background noise but that audio doesn't sound sufficiently "far away" enough.

A slight underperformance by Past Lives. It was never going to get a boatload of nominations. But it appears Greta Lee was squeezed out (I have nothing constructive to say about Annette Bening and Jodie Foster in Nyad as I haven't seen the film) and there was scarcely a campaign for Teo Yoo.

American Fiction is, I think, going home empty-handed. Its nominations are the win, and I think it's a decent satire well worth watching.

Maestro doesn't deserve a Best Picture nor its screenplay nomination, but I'm not happy with some of the accusations of Bradley Cooper Oscar-thirsting that's flying around. You folks are taking it much too personally. Did he defecate on your kitchen table or something? Calm. Down.

And speaking about disrespect, there has been a ton of disrespect towards John Williams' nomination for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Again, we're coming full circle to an iconic figure of late twentieth century cinema. Especially from fans of Daniel Pemberton's score to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (who I agree should have been nominated in Score). No, Indy 5 was not great. No, Williams' score to the film was not the best score in the series. No, I don't think Williams should win this year. But did you listen to the score? Helena's theme was gorgeous and its integration across the score was the work of a master. The interplay between the Nazi and Dial themes is something lesser composers just simply cannot replicate. And for those complaining that Williams simply reuses material the entire time, I get the feeling you haven't seen the film or listening to the score by itself (or understand how themes can develop). Yes, I know melody is on its way out in film scores (see: Hans Zimmer, his acolytes, and any composer who thinks that orchestras should be used like drums) and pop music in general in favor of texture and a beat. But I bet you many composers will sell their souls to piece together something half as good as a lesser John Williams score. It's a great score, worthy of its nomination.

Where is Robot Dreams, Neon? This movie's been on my radar for some months now, but radio silence! Do you guys not know how to distribute an animated film? Flee (2021, Denmark) had this same problem! I'm so glad it's in, though.

That nomination for Nimona, though? Dreadful. Again, tumblr won't like I'm going to say this, but I thought it was gratingly written, poorly voice acted, and its humor and character behaviors are going to date like milk.

And a massive congratulations to Godzilla Minus One for its Best Visual Effects nomination. After 38 films in the series, the big fella with atomic breath is heading to the Academy Awards!

No Disney in Animated Short for Once Upon a Studio. Surprising, but not completely so. I'm excited for a slate of independent animated shorts when the short film categories come around!

The Live Action Short slate is rather disappointing. I like the category best when it's full of no-name directors and actors. Without having seen anything else, this is going to Wes Anderson isn't it?

Most prioritized films I haven't seen: all short films, Elemental, Io Capitano, Perfect Days, Robot Dreams, Rustin, Society of the Snow, 20 Days in Mariupol

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vavandeveresfan · 4 months

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"‘Barbie’ is bad. There, I said it." Thank god, someone I can agree with!

Opinion by Pamela Paul for the NYT, January 24, 2024.

We can all agree 2023 was a good year for the movies. Critically and commercially, several movies did well, and only one of those successes took place within the Marvel cinematic universe. Even the 10 Oscar nominees for best picture, announced Tuesday, included nine actually good films.

Is it safe now to call “Barbie” the outlier? Can I say that, despite winsome leads and likable elements, it didn’t cohere or accomplish anything interesting, without being written off as a) mean, b) old, c) hateful or d) humorless?

Every once in a while, a movie is so broadly anticipated, so welcomed, so celebrated that to disparage it felt like a deliberate provocation. After “Barbie” so buoyantly lifted box office figures, it also felt like a willful dismissal of the need to make Hollywood solvent after a season of hell. And it felt like a political statement. Disliking “Barbie” meant either dismissing the power of The Patriarchy or dismissing Modern Feminism. You were either anti-feminist or too feminist or just not the right kind.

Few dared rain on Barbie’s hot pink parade.

Those who openly hated it mostly did so for reasons having to do with what it “stood for.” They abhorred its (oddly anachronistic) third-wave feminist politics. They despised its commercialism and dreaded the prospect of future films about Mattel properties such as Barney and American Girl dolls. They hated the idea of a movie about a sexualized pinup-shaped doll whose toy laptop or Working Woman (“I really talk!”) packaging couldn’t hide the stereotypes under the outfit.

For those who hailed it, there was a manic quality to the “Barbie” enthusiasm, less an “I enjoyed” and more of an “I endorse.” How fabulous its consumer-friendly politics, its I-can’t-believe-they-let-us-do-this micro-subversions, its prepackaged combo of gentle satire and you-go-girl gumption. They loved it for reclaiming dolls and Bazooka-gum pink, its Rainbow Magic diversity, its smug assurance that everything contained within was legitimately feminist/female/fine. They approved of the fact that Weird Barbie’s quirks could X out Stereotypical Barbie’s perfection on some unspoken political balance sheet. That by being everything to everyone, a plastic doll could validate every child’s own unique and irrepressible individuality. To each her own Barbie!

And now there is a new Barbie cause to rally around: the Great Oscar Snub and what it all means — and why it is wrong. Neither Margot Robbie nor Greta Gerwig was nominated for best actress or best director, respectively. “How is that even possible?” one TV host exclaimed.

“To many, the snubbing of the pair further validated the film’s message about how difficult it can be for women to succeed in —<em> and be recognized for </em>— their contributions in a society saturated by sexism,” CNN explained. Ryan Gosling, nominated as best supporting actor for his role as Ken, issued a statement denouncing the snubs and hailing his colleagues.

But hold on. Didn’t another woman, Justine Triet, get nominated for best director (for “Anatomy of a Fall”)? As for “Barbie,” didn’t Gerwig herself get nominated for best adapted screenplay and the always sublime America Ferrera get nominated for best supporting actress? A record three of the best picture nominees were directed by women. It’s not as if women were shut out.

Every time a woman fails to win an accolade doesn’t mean failure for womanhood. Surely women aren’t so pitiable as to need a participation certificate every time we try. We’re well beyond the point where a female artist can’t be criticized on the merits and can’t be expected to handle it as well as any man. (Which means it still hurts like hell for either sex — but not because of their sex.)

Robbie had far less to do in “Barbie” than she did in “I, Tonya,” for which she justifiably got an Oscar nod. In this movie, she was charming and utterly fine, but that doesn’t make it a rare dramatic achievement.

With “Barbie,” Gerwig upped her commercial game from acclaimed art house to bona fide blockbuster. She was demonstrably ambitious in her conception of what could have been an all-out disaster. She got people to go back to the movies. All of these are successes worthy of celebration. But they are not the same as directing a good film.

Surely it is possible to criticize “Barbie” as a creative endeavor. To state that despite its overstuffed playroom aesthetic and musical glaze, the movie was boring. There were no recognizable human characters, something four “Toy Story” movies have shown can be done in a movie populated by toys.

There were no actual stakes, no plot to follow in any real or pretend world that remotely made sense. In lieu of genuine laughs, there were only winking ha-has at a single joke improbably stretched into a feature-length movie. The result produced the forced jollity of a room in which the audience is strenuously urged to “sing along now!”

A few reviewers had the gall to call it. The New York Post described it as “exhausting” and a “self-absorbed and overwrought disappointment,” a judgment for which the reviewer was likely shunned as a houseguest for the remaining summer season.

In our culture of fandoms, hashtags, TikTok sensations, semi-ironic Instagrammable cosplay, embedded anonymous reviews, sponsored endorsements and online grassroots marketing campaigns, not every critical opinion is a deliberate commentary on the culture or the virtue-signaling of an open letter. Sometimes an opinion isn’t some kind of performance or signifier.

There’s a crucial difference between liking the idea of a movie and liking the movie itself. Just as you could like “Jaws” without wanting to instigate a decadeslong paranoia about shark attacks, you can dislike “Barbie” without hating on women. Sometimes a movie is just a movie. And sometimes, alas, not a good one.

#Barbie #Barbie salt #barbie critical

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pynkhues · 4 months

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Thoughts on the Oscar noms? I’m pretty happy with them personally, some very classy choices. On Margot Robbie’s exclusion, I don’t think her performance in Barbie was better than any of the other actresses in the best actress category, it is an absolutely stacked list. I can’t pick a winner at all and I don’t know who would get bumped in favour of her.

My controversial opinion is that I really don't think Barbie should've been nominated for any acting awards, so I'm less mad about Margot missing out and more bugged that Ryan and America were, haha. Especially Ryan tbh - Best Supporting Actor has been stacked this year, and I could probably name ten actors off the top of my head who I think deserve the spot more. Best Supporting Actress has been less competitive, and I do like America so I'm happy for her even though I would've rather she was nommed for Dumb Money than this which was a similar, but slightly more interesting role (albeit in a very flawed film).

But yeah! Overall, I'm pretty happy. I still haven't seen a lot of the movies - there's been a real delay with them coming out in Australia this year which is kind of interesting in terms of regressions in theatrical distribution - but of the ones I have, I'd probably say that those Barbie acting nominations and Maestro's Best Picture + Original Screenplay nominations are the only ones that really pull me up.

Barbie I think is absolutely a technical feat and should be rewarded as such, but I don't think it deserves any Above the Line noms in such a strong year, and Maestro I thought was a disaster that's only gotten the awards attention it has due to strong performances and sublime cinematography. It had nothing to say about Leonard Bernstein, about music, about sexuality, relationships or family. I thought it was staggeringly hollow tbh, and that the screenplay in particular was very weak, so that nomination made me side eye a bit.

I'm bummed Asteroid City got paid dust, and I'm sure after I watch All of Us Strangers and May December that I'll be as mad about Andrew Scott and Charles Melton's snubs as everyone else, haha, but yeah! Overall, pretty happy! What a year for cinema!

#also i am SO happy for danielle brooks #taystee was my absolute fave in oitnb #and i can't wait to see color purple #my nephews went home this morning so i'm officially off kiddo duty which has eaten up the last 2 weeks #so i'm planning on doing the holdovers and anatomy of a fall this week #then color purple and all of us strangers next week #film asks #welcome to my ama #Oscars 2024 #i will watch everything before the actual ceremony #it's just gonna be a bit of a rush this season haha

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buffyfan145 · 4 months

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Love seeing Offscreen Central, a critics association, along with Cinemania World, announce their awards today and "The Iron Claw" got 12 nominations!!! 😀 They announced them earlier on Twitter/X but they also included a lot of other movies that were for the Oscars as well and others that weren't. It got ones for Best Picture, Lead Actor for Zac Efron, Supporting Actor for Harris Dickinson, Best Ensemble for the cast, Best Director for Sean Durkin, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Song (Mike's song "Live that Way Forever"), Film that Made Us Cry the Most, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Sound. Totally makes it up for me and those Oscar snubs. LOL 😏 Not sure when the winners will be announced but still so great to see.

#the iron claw #zac efron #harris dickinson #jeremy allen white #stanley simons #holt mccallany #maura tierney #awards #the von erichs

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denimbex1986 · 5 months

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'Christopher Nolan was lauded as best director at the Golden Globes for “Oppenheimer,” a grim, three-hour historical drama that ignited the box office.

It marks Nolan’s first Globe win, having been previously nominated for writing 2000’s “Memento,” writing and directing 2010’s “Inception” and directing 2017’s “Dunkirk.” In this year’s director race, Nolan was up against Bradley Cooper for “Maestro,” Greta Gerwig for “Barbie,” Yorgos Lanthimos for “Poor Things,” Martin Scorsese for “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Celine Song for “Past Lives.”

“The only time I’ve ever been on this stage before was accepting one of these on behalf of our dear friend, Heath Ledger, and that was complicated and challenging for me,” Nolan said. “In the middle of speaking, I got all stuck, and Robert Downey Jr. caught my eye and gave me a look of love and support — the same look he’s giving me now.”

Nolan directed Ledger in 2008’s comic book smash “The Dark Knight.” The actor died at the age 28 of an accidental overdose after filming was complete but before the movie was released. His haunting portrayal of the Joker earned him numerous posthumous awards, including the Golden Globe and Oscar for best supporting actor.

This time around, Nolan said from the stage, “I thought it would be simpler accepting for myself. But, as a director, I realize I can only accept this on behalf of people. As directors, we bring people together and we try to get them to give their best.” He shouted out the ensemble of “Oppenheimer,” including Cillian Murphy, whom Nolan called “my partner in crime for 20 years,” as well as “the incredible work of our amazing crew.”

Later in the night, Murphy took home the Globe for lead actor in a drama and thanked Nolan for “having faith in me for 20 years.”

“I knew the first time I walked on a Christopher Nolan set that it was different,” Murphy, who worked with Nolan on “The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception” and “Dunkirk,” said during his acceptance speech. “I could tell by the level of rigor, the level of focus, the level of dedication, the complete lack of any seating options for actors that I was in the hands of the visionary director and master.”

“Oppenheimer,” the unlikiest of summer blockbusters, crushed expectations to become the third-highest grossing release of 2023 with $951 million worldwide. The movie, adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “American Prometheus,” stars Murphy as American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who led the development of the atomic bomb. Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Florence Pugh and Alden Ehrenreich round out the cast.

“Oppenheimer” has been nominated for eight Golden Globes — the second-most of any film this year — including best actor (Murphy), supporting actor (Downey Jr.), supporting actress (Blunt), screenplay and motion picture – drama.'

#Christopher Nolan #Oppenheimer #Cillian Murphy #Golden Globes #Robert Downey Jr.#Emily Blunt #Matt Damon #Florence Pugh #Alden Ehrenreich #American Prometheus #Heath Ledger #The Joker #The Dark Knight #Dunkirk #Inception

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jadelotusflower · 1 year

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2023 Oscar Predictions

Since it's Oscars eve and I actually saw a good chunk of the nominees this year (with some exceptions, so I won't address those categories), my should win/will win breakdown in advance of the ceremony.

Best Actor

Should win: Colin Farrell, who I just thought was wonderful in Banshees, which I absolutely loved.

Will win: Brendan Fraser. I love him and want to see him thrive, I just wish it was for another role.

Best Supporting Actor

Should win: Ke Huy Quan, although honorable mention to Barry Keoghan who was heartbreaking.

Will win: Key Huy Quan

Best Actress

Should win: Michelle Yeoh, a long time coming for a brilliant career (that she wasn't even nominated for The Lady is criminal), but also for this fantastic, difficult role.

Will win: Cate Blanchett

Best Supporting Actress

Should win: Stephanie Hsu - i just loved her so much, and hope she gets the roles she deserves

Will win: Kerry Condon

Best Animated feature

Should win: Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio - beautiful, well worth watching!

Will win: Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio

Cinematography

Should win: All Quiet on the Western Front - often this category is a case of is it great cinematography, or are they just filming beautiful landscape? This does have some lovely scenery to contrast the trenches, but there were some beautifully composed shots (the train coming out of the darkness springs to mind)

Will win: All Quiet on the Western Front

Costume Design

Should win: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Will win: Elvis

Best Director

Should win: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Will win: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Film Editing

Should win: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Will win: Everything Everywhere All at Once

International Feature Film

Should win: All Quiet on the Western Front

Will win: All Quiet on the Western Front

Makeup and Hairstyling

Should win: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Will win: Elvis

Original Score

Should win: All Quiet on the Western Front

Will win: Babylon

Original Song

Should win: Lift Me Up - only because I havem't yet seen RRR and am perhaps missing the context of Naatu Naatu

Will win: Naatu Naatu

Production Design

Should win: Avatar: The Way of Water

Will win: Babylon

Sound

Should win: Top Gun: Maverick - I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this, considering it's not really my sort of movie, nor do I have any particular nostalgic feelings for the original, but was impressed by the practical action sequences. If EEAAO wasn't in the mix this would be my pick for editing too.

Will win: Top Gun: Maverick

Visual Effects

Should win: Avatar: The Way of Water

Will win: Avatar: The Way of Water

Adapted Screenplay

Should win: Women Talking

Will win: Women Talking

Original screenplay

Should win: The Banshees of Inisherin - EEAAO absolutely deserves it too, but Banshees really got me on a writing level.

Will win: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Picture

Should Win: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Will win: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Overall it was a really strong batch of nominees (unlike last year). EEAAO was my favourite, followed by Banshees, but I also really appreciated All Quiet on the Western Front. Elvis I wasn't really enamored with even though I am generally a Baz fan - it felt more like a feature length montage than a film even though the central performance was strong. Avatar was visually stunning but not much else, I haven't yet seen Tar but I'm not sure it isn't anything we haven't seen before from Blanchett but maybe I'm wrong.

Pinocchio has some incredible animation and also made me cry like a baby at the end, so there's that.

#oscars #oscars 2023 #should win/will win #jlf personal

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stereogeekspodcast · 3 months

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[Transcript] Season 4, Episode 2. Oscars 2024 Reviews and Predictions

It's Oscars season and you know what that means? Marathon-watching all the movies to have an informed opinion about which film and performance should win the accolades. Ron and Mon share their controversial takes on the Oscars picks of 2024 in this special Stereo Geeks episode. Do you agree with our choices?

Read Ron's reviews of American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, and The Teacher's Lounge (not mentioned in the episode).

Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Hello, and welcome to an Oscars 2024 special episode from Stereo Geeks.

I'm Ron.

And I'm Mon.

Every year, when it's Oscar season, you and I think to ourselves, we're not interested.

And then they announce the nominations.

And there's always one, sometimes two movies that I think to myself, oh wow, I really like these.

What are they up against?

Like last year with Everything Everywhere all at once.

I really wanted that movie to win.

So we ended up watching it.

It did do well.

I'm happy for that.

And this year, for me, it's American Fiction and Anatomy of a Fall.

The moment I saw those two in the best picture list, I was like, I need to see their competitors.

And so we're here.

I don't think we can escape the formal of Oscar season.

We try, we try every year.

And then it just gets you, you know?

So here we are.

We're gonna be talking about the best picture norms.

We'll also mention the extraneous acting categories and writing categories.

So yeah, let's go for it.

We're in for a ride.

Starting off with American Fiction, I literally got the last seat to watch this film at last year's TIFF.

And I loved every minute of it.

There is something to say about watching this film in a packed hall with loads of people of color who understood the references.

I just found it so funny and emotional.

It still is so relevant.

And the main character Monk played by Jeffery Wright, he is flawed, but he's also understandable.

And Wright is absolutely amazing in this film.

I'd say it's one of his best performances and this is somebody who elevates everything he's in.

Ever since you watched the movie at TIFF, I was like, this is a missed opportunity for me.

I was dying to watch it.

I'm so glad I got an opportunity to see it before the Oscars because I have an informed opinion.

And the opinion is, this is great.

This is a fantastic film.

Unlike you, I did feel like there were a few points that dragged a little bit.

But that being said, this is the kind of film that you need in a world which is just so dumb, you know?

It has so much to say about the insidiousness of racism in America without hitting you on the head with it.

Such subtlety, such brilliance.

And honestly, there is this one scene about a writer and his characters.

That scene alone deserves an Oscar.

And I agree with you, Jeffrey Wright, he sells this.

Like if you don't have that kind of gravitas as an actor to pull off this kind of character, you don't have a film.

But he is ably supported by Sterling K. Brown.

Honestly, I was a little bit surprised that he got a nomination for supporting actor because it can be a role that sort of disappears from the film.

But you know what, Sterling K. Brown, he is infuriating and endearing and he definitely deserves the nomination.

I'll end this by saying that ending sold me.

That's why it's here.

That's why it's nominated.

I want it to win.

100% agreed.

In fact, if American Fiction could win best picture and best adapted screenplay and share that with Anatomy of a Fall, I would be very happy.

Again, this is a movie that I lucked out with at TIFF 2023.

The PR team sent me a ticket literally hours before the screening.

It had been doing the festival circuit.

It was doing really well, highly awarded, both American Fiction and Anatomy of a Fall, one TIFF awards as well.

So I had to see it.

And you know what?

It's so much more than just a murder mystery.

It's a character study about family dynamics.

And the family in question is just two parents and a young boy, that's it.

But it's an examination of gender stereotypes.

And how on paper, subverting gender stereotypes sounds like a great idea, but in practice, not so much.

So there are so many questions that you have while you're watching this movie.

Did this person deserve to die?

Did they actually get murdered?

Did the person we think murdered them?

Do it.

It's a very long film.

The court case is where she takes up quite a lot.

For me, that was the most fascinating part.

And then the ending, I know people didn't really like it because it is ambiguous.

The director, Justin Trier, came out and spoke to us after the screening and she wanted to keep the ambiguous ending.

I think it was just right.

I'd also say that Sandra Huler, absolutely fantastic performance.

It's not grandiose.

She is just a normal person.

That's why I think she's not gonna get the best acting award, because it's just too normal.

She really does deserve it.

I am gutted that I haven't been able to watch this film in the run up to the Oscars.

Can I just say, whoever the distributors and owners of this film are, they are fools for not making it available on streaming before the Oscars.

Moving on.

Let's talk about this movie, Barbie.

It's actually so hard to remember anything about Barbie given that we watched it in the summer and it's been, well, an entire year since then.

With time and so many more films in me, I realized that Barbie the movie is uninteresting.

I'll admit, it deserves the Production Design Award.

Barbie world is stunningly rendered.

It's beautiful.

All that pink.

It's crazy.

I love it.

But the film itself, it left me cold.

At the time, it was fun.

I loved the fact that we got to do Barbenheimer.

We did it a little bit after a lot of people.

So some of the hype was gone.

It was a great experience.

I'm glad for the box office.

I'm glad a lot of young women and people have seen themselves, have realized so much about themselves.

Thanks to this film.

It is not Oscar worthy.

I'm sorry.

I don't see it winning Best Picture.

I would like to not see it win Best Picture.

I am upset that it got a writing nomination because the great grand monologue that everybody keeps talking about, it is pretty much stolen as far as I'm concerned.

It uses a lot of themes and dialogue, et cetera, that has been going around social media for years now.

Why should the writers of this film get the credit for that?

They stole it.

I think America Ferrera was good, but this is not her best role.

She's getting recognition and I'm very happy for her, but really for this movie?

So all I can say is, yes, it's an experience.

I'm glad it's out there, but it doesn't do feminism any justice.

It has a lot of issues and we can't ignore that.

I don't know, how do you feel?

I think I'm more annoyed now because there was such a hue and cry about Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig not getting nominations.

And honestly, if you look at it, this is a Ken movie.

It's not a Barbie movie.

I'm actually very happy for Ryan Gosling.

He should win this.

I'm not joking.

I find him such a wooden actor.

I find him uninteresting.

He's awful usually.

This movie, what a performance.

I was floored.

Give him the Oscar.

I'm happy for America Ferrera as well, but as you said, why this role?

Aesthetics-wise, yes.

Give Bobby all the prizes.

It was beautiful costume, makeup, stunning.

I just don't think this movie has aged well in 10 months.

I so agree.

But you know, there's a common theme that we're seeing in this year's Oscars, which is that people are getting so wrapped up in what they've seen.

Or maybe it's new to some people.

I don't know, but a lot of the films we're watching for the Oscars, it feels like we've seen them a thousand times before.

None more so than The Holdovers.

Listen, I knew that I wasn't gonna like this movie, that it was going to irritate me just from the trailer.

It was overwrought, it was stylized, and I was proven right.

We have seen this story so many times.

Why is it up for best picture and best original screenplay?

This is old hat.

I mean, the only thing which was unique about this film, which is weird to say in 2024, which is that we had Da'Vine Joy Randolph's character.

She's a black woman, and her story does deal with racism.

Talks about how racism can literally kill.

But the movie doesn't engage with that.

It's all about the white people.

Listen, Paul Giamatti, he is a character.

I tend to avoid his films.

He is a talented man, but sometimes talent can be too much.

He's good in this film.

He's quirky, he's interesting.

I'm not sure he's really got a win in him this year.

I'm not sure.

Now, Da'Vine Joy Randolph.

She's up for an Oscar nomination for her supporting role.

I've seen her in Only Murders in the building.

She is amazing in that.

They should make an entire show on her.

I was rooting for her.

I really was.

And I was looking forward to seeing her performance because she's been winning everything.

I didn't dig this, especially there's a scene, really emotional scene, very important.

She flubbed it as far as I'm concerned.

So I'm not sure what's going on.

I don't know.

This one irritated me.

This movie just really irritated me.

From all the Oscars films, this one was literally my least favorite.

In fact, I can't even put the word favorite there because it was awful.

And you know what?

I have seen Alexander Payne's Nebraska, which was also heavily Oscar nominated.

That was horrendous.

This is a close second.

This was like watching Dead Poets Society meets Sideways.

Those are already movies that exist and you've seen them.

It was just so boring.

And what really irritated me, aside from the three main characters, the rest of the cast was so bad at acting.

It was nigh unwatchable.

I literally had to look away from the screen.

Joy Randolph was good, in a way, very understated maybe.

At least that's what I was thinking.

But I don't fault her performance as much as I fault the film for not knowing what to do with her.

In fact, I would say, Holdovers would have been way more interesting if it was from her point of view.

And I feel like this is going to be a running theme this year.

Yeah, because on we go to the next film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

I was late to the party with this one.

I think I was trying to avoid it, to be honest.

It's three and a half hours long.

It's a commitment.

I can only say that my disappointment in this film knows no bounds.

It's basically the departed with the side of genocide.

That's the angle that we're going with for a movie featuring Native American people, an entire community that was decimated.

Here's the thing.

We tried to have this third act, which is supposed to be cathartic.

And it completely and utterly fell flat because it was so boringly done.

In fact, for me, this was a directorially uninteresting film.

I know Martin Scorsese is a huge name and I know he's made a lot of impact with his work.

But at this point, I just feel like the Oscars and the Academy are just giving him nominations because of the name, not the caliber.

Look beyond what we've always seen.

This film is uninspiring.

Robert De Niro's performance is uninspiring.

The only difference really was Lily Gladstone.

It's nice to see that a movie which features Native American stories and characters actually has somebody who has a significant role.

She does a good job.

I mean, there's only so much you can do when your job is to lie about pretending to die.

I just don't understand how this was the best we could give this person.

A Native American actress after so many years has been recognized and yeah, this is the role.

I can't say any more about this.

Every criticism that has been levied at this film is justified.

I really wanted to watch it because I wanted to know, are people justifiably vilifying this movie?

They are, they are.

Because why do we need to watch over and over again these brutal murders of indigenous people?

Has this not been part of the history of North America?

Why do we need to keep seeing it?

And we recently watched The Departed for my course and the ways that Scorsese shoots characters.

I'm sorry, The Departed is a fictional story and you're doing the same thing for a real story about a genocide?

Are you joking?

The disrespect.

And you know what?

This film was not Scorsese's to make.

As you mentioned, name recognition.

Why didn't he use that to get Native American writers, Native American directors and have them make this film?

Because then this movie would have been from the point of view of Molly Kyle, played by Lily Gladstone, and the movie would have made so much more sense.

I think Lily Gladstone does a really good job.

There's a scene near the end of the film, which I think for any other actor, they would have just chosen the easier route, shouting.

Instead, her voice stays the same pitch throughout.

And you know that this is a sick bird.

It was absolutely perfect.

That's why I was like, you know what?

She deserves the nomination.

But this movie is let down completely by Leo DiCaprio.

Not because of his acting.

He does a decent job and he hasn't been nominated.

He doesn't deserve to be, but he is hopelessly miscast.

His character is so phenomenally stupid.

And that only works if it was a younger person acting in the role.

Leo DiCaprio is 50 or something like that.

It doesn't make sense for him to be this dumb.

And he brought the whole movie down, in my opinion.

Wow, harsh criticism.

Well, I did read that the character that he plays, in real life, he was a lot younger than Lily Gladstone's character.

Talk about people bringing down an entire movie.

I don't want to be rude, but with Maestro, I don't actually know where to start with what all brought down the movie.

What was the point of this film?

We're talking about apparently a musical maestro, but it's the same old biopic story we've seen a thousand times.

Again, it comes back to those patterns that we're talking about.

Every biopic has the same cadence.

Man is genius.

Man marries strange woman.

Man has affairs.

That's it.

And this movie is no different.

There is music involved.

How does he come up with it?

What makes him a maestro, et cetera, et cetera.

None of that is there.

What is the point?

How can you not engage with the fact that this man is apparently gay?

And how does he deal with a restrictively heteronormative era?

Nope, nothing.

None of that happens.

So Bradley Cooper, he's directed this movie.

He has not got a nomination for best director.

He got a nomination for best actor.

And I don't agree with that.

He started off okay.

And then after that, I'm like, I actually can't see what you're doing because the camera is so far away.

And then there's Carrie Mulligan.

How did she get a nomination?

She is so boring and bad in this film.

She is atrocious.

All I can say is that the best actress category this year is another reminder that women get bad roles.

They put in subpar performances and are heralded as the next coming because the Oscars are governed by people who watch way too few films.

This nomination should have gone to somebody else, which we will come to in a minute.

But I am so upset that Mulligan has got a nomination.

So upset.

My disappointment in Maestro can be demonstrated by the fact that I fell asleep for 30 minutes and I woke up and I had missed nothing.

Because this movie is just about Leonard Bernstein cheats on his wife.

He is a maestro, he is a genius.

There is so much footage of him online, available now, talking about his music.

None of that is in the movie.

Why?

Bradley Cooper has made this film about a queer man and somehow he has made it homophobic.

Why didn't he make it instead about where the music is coming from?

How is Bernstein able to access these beautiful pieces?

We are not musicians, I want to know that.

And you get this 6 minute long performance at the end, which apparently Cooper took a long, long time to practice for perfect.

None of that gravitas comes through.

Generally, I liked Cooper's directing.

It's just that he made this entire movie about Bernstein being bad because he was gay.

And the focus on the domestic drama, I just, ugh, no.

As you said, it's the biopic that we have seen a million times before.

You start thinking that all those famous geniuses are all the same.

So I was very worried about this next film because it was billed as a romance.

Then I watched Past Lives and I was like, whoever said that is an idiot.

I also heard somebody say that Past Lives doesn't deserve the Oscars because it's just a student film.

I will personally hunt that person down and end them.

From the entire Best Picture category, for me, if I was giving the Oscars, Past Lives would be the winner.

It is so much more than a romance.

It is a film about immigration.

It is a film about making choices because you're an immigrant.

It's a film about love, loss, missed connections, home.

What is home?

Finding one's place.

At one point, the protagonist, Nora, played by Greta Lee, she says that she's immigrated twice to be where she is.

And she has to commit herself to that place instead of continuing these connections with the home that she left.

I have never felt that immigrant feeling so well articulated in words.

I was so massively moved by this movie.

This is my favorite film of the Oscars and probably of 2023.

And the fact that this movie hasn't got more nominations just means the Academy didn't understand the film at all.

I'm getting emotional just listening to you and thinking about how I felt about this film when I watched it.

Because this is such a beautiful moving film.

And like you, I would give it the Oscar.

It's a story about immigration and its triumphs and challenges.

All of it couched in this sad love story.

Honestly, thinking about this film actually brings out a lot of rage in me.

I am outraged that Celine Song doesn't have a directing nomination.

She is so precise and artistic with her direction.

I am also outraged that Greta Lee doesn't have an acting nomination.

You remember how I talked about Crary Mulligan getting a nomination?

She stole Greta Lee's.

How does her beautiful, expressive face not have all the awards?

And this one's got me because TOU, how does he not have an acting nomination?

I have never seen a more naturally endearing performance.

This film was absolutely magical to me.

I know it's not gonna win best picture, but it's the only one in the original screenplay category that deserves an award.

At the very least, I think it should get the screenplay award as consolation prize.

Well, after talking about my favorite film of the year and of the Oscars, let me talk about literally the worst thing I have ever witnessed with my own four eyes.

Poor Things is horrendous.

You owe me so much dude for making me watch this.

It's absolutely the worst film.

It is nothing more than a curiosity.

The director, Yorgos Lanthimos, as far as I'm concerned, the man has some kind of fetish and it comes across in his previous film, The Favorite and definitely in this one.

It's weird.

I genuinely can't believe it's got this many big nominations, especially the writing nomination.

It's based on a book.

Apparently, it's toned down a lot of the bolder feminist themes of the book.

Instead, the film has this obsolete, backward, outdated, infuriating female empowerment story.

And it doesn't help that Emma Stone, who I really don't understand what the raving about is, she's horrendous at the start.

And then she just does her own, you know, the usual stick that she has.

It was disturbing and distressing.

It was horrendous to watch.

It has a pathetic message about feminism at the core of it.

The only interesting part for me was Mark Ruffalo.

Now, I don't know if I haven't seen enough of Mark Ruffalo, but it's been a while since I saw him.

And I found his performance very interesting.

He does something different with his voice, with the accent, his demeanor.

So I'm not mad at him getting a nomination.

I am mad that this film was there anywhere close to the Oscars and that I had to witness it.

Let us please move on.

I apologize a million times for making you watch it.

The thing is, I knew that I was going to cringe throughout and I couldn't deal with it.

So I was like, you are a braver person than I.

I will buy you all the sushi in the world to make you feel better.

Well, thank you.

Let's talk about something interesting, also disturbing, but very interesting.

So the zone of interest, I really thought, you know what, it's fine.

It's a foreign language film.

I won't bother watching it.

But then, you know, the FOMO comes in, right?

You're like, I gotta complete it all.

I went into this movie completely cold.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

I genuinely thought as I started watching it, I was watching this homely period domestic drama, and then it hit me.

This was stupendous.

I have no other word for it.

You know what annoys me is that once I watched this film, it put into stark contrast everything I disliked about Oppenheimer.

I can't believe that a film was able to showcase atrocities in such a way without resorting even once to graphic imagery or torture porn.

This is next level direction and writing.

For me, Jonathan Glaser is the directing award winner.

I know he's not going to get it, but really he's the only one who really deserves it.

Damn, this was a good movie.

Unlike you though, I had actually read a few reviews before I watched it because when I saw it on the list of best fiction arms, I was like, what is this?

I don't even know what it is.

So I read a few reviews and I thought to myself, I'm not going to watch this.

But then I got the chance to see it and I was like, might as well.

Gotta catch them all.

I don't think I would have actually been able to understand this film had I not read those reviews.

I also kept it on really, really soft.

I think that was probably a better idea because it's two films basically, right?

The one that you see and the one that you hear.

And the one that you hear is very, very disturbing.

The Zone of Interest is such a smart film because the director Jonathan Glazer knows that World War II has had such a lasting impact on the world.

You don't need to see those things.

You already know.

You are the one who has to fill in the gaps.

And what we're imagining is always going to be so terrible because we have all that history behind us.

And I know that there are some people out there who watch this film and thought, why would we want to support a movie that is about Nazis living their lives?

I don't know whether they also had the sound down because this is actually a very unexpected way of showing the horrors of World War II.

And it's very easy to dismiss if you're just giving it a surface level viewing.

But I will say that some scenes which were interesting didn't really make sense until you did extra research.

And for that, I'm going to have to dock some points from the Zone of Interest, which is why I don't think Laser will get the directing award.

Interesting.

Here's my thing with Zone of Interest.

It's telling us something by focusing on a Nazi family and not the victims.

With Oppenheimer, it's the exact opposite.

It's not telling us the right things when it's focusing on Oppenheimer, the guy who created the atomic bomb and decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Because that film takes the story of a villain and makes him a sad, sympathetic hero.

It's funny, can we imagine a film about Nazis and we're supposed to be sympathizing with the Nazis?

No.

But because the bomb was dropped on a bunch of Asians, we're supposed to sympathize with the white guy.

We know Oppenheimer is going to win everything.

It's been winning everything.

And it's so weird for me to knock a film that is made by and stars so many people I like.

But this was not a well-made film.

This was not Christopher Nolan's best work.

This was a sob story.

And it did not even once engage with the horrors that this man inflicted.

I don't even think that it properly engaged with his own turmoil over what he did.

Which we have heard so much about.

Oppenheimer couldn't believe he did this.

He had to suffer the consequences and his inner turmoil about it.

Even that wasn't there in the movie.

So for me, I have all these problems with Oppenheimer and then I watch Zone of Interest.

And I like Oppenheimer even less because you can see what can be done when you actually care about the people who were victimized.

It is a well-acted film.

Clareon Murphy does a great job.

Robert Downey Jr., I think he really deserves the win.

Emily Blunt, I mean, you're a fan.

But listen, I thought she was okay.

I liked her character more than I liked her performance.

But this film, I swear, it just makes me angry.

We all know this is going to win everything.

And it's annoying because this is not Nolan's best work.

He should have won it for Inception.

I am still going to say that that was a great movie, really, really well made.

And yeah, Killian Murphy is extraordinary.

He is always good, actually.

But you know, this is the culmination of a very storied career.

He is not even acting.

He's just embodying this person.

And I know you're not the biggest fan of Emily Blunt.

I love her.

In all honesty, Nolan's women are so badly written.

She's actually much better written than a lot of them.

And Emily Blunt does a good job.

It's a smaller role.

But when she's there, she gets to do a lot.

So I'm impressed by that.

I don't think she's going to win.

Sound editing, this movie is in for sure.

But I really wish that this movie had been made after Zone of Interest came out.

Nolan had seen it.

Because the way Zone of Interest handles crime and shame, this film really needed to be informed about those.

It glosses over so much.

And I'm going to be controversial when I say this, but am I the only one who wasn't impressed by Robert Downey Jr.?

What are you saying?

I'm so sorry.

Listen, our entire family loves Robert Downey Jr.

He is the best.

I love him.

But I was like, I cannot get past the RDJ of it all.

I'm so sorry.

I really don't want him to get it.

I'm shocked.

So those are the best picture nominations.

We'll go through the one offs as it were.

So I'm going to just touch on Rustin.

Coleman Domingo has got the best actor nomination for this film.

Honestly, you can't not love him.

He is so good in whatever role he's playing.

And I've seen him in a bunch of movies this year for some bizarre reason.

Each one is different, wildly different.

And with a film like Rustin, he literally carries it.

He's the main character.

This is a very important man.

And you know what?

I cannot believe that this is just the second nomination for an openly queer actor playing a queer character after Ian McKellen in 1999.

And it's this film.

Well, I haven't seen it.

Is it bad?

This movie was such a letdown.

It's during a period of history where there is so much change.

And Rustin has so many issues with Martin Luther King, and he believes that he can make a difference, but nobody's really on the same page with him.

But this film does not know how to spotlight those crucial moments.

You know that with Selma, when it had that march, when you saw it on screen, I was just like literally tightly wound.

And this movie has those moments and completely makes them go splat.

Well, it's hard to compare anything to Selma.

That is one of my favorite films.

That's so disappointing.

But a film which doesn't have any other norms for Coleman Domingo to get a nomination, do you think he even has a chance to win?

It's tough to say.

Remember when Meryl Streep won for Iron Lady?

Like that movie got nothing else, but of course she is Meryl Streep.

So there's that.

What I would have actually preferred, why not nominate Coleman Domingo for The Color Purple?

He was disturbingly good in that.

That being said, Color Purple came out pretty late, and I'm not sure how many Oscar board people actually watched it.

It's a musical.

It's about racism.

It's about the black community.

It's been done before by Steven Spielberg, of all people.

So I know there was a lot of discourse around the film.

Honestly, I didn't like it.

The only good thing in the film for me was Danielle Brooks.

She is a scene stealer.

From all the best supporting female actor nominees, she deserves the win.

However, I am biased.

I do love her.

Yeah, I have to say, Danielle Brooks was just so outstanding.

I would say from all the acting categories, you know, best actor, best supporting actor, all four of them, Brooks is my favorite performance of the entire year.

Again, I think we're both very biased because we have loved Danielle Brooks since we saw her as Tasty on Orange is the New Black.

But her performance is so powerful and measured, yet expansive, and she makes it look effortless.

I really want her to win this.

Well, it's interesting because she's up against Jodie Foster.

So Foster and Annette Benning are the only two nominations for NIAID, a random film from Netflix, honestly.

I would not have watched it if it wasn't up for the Oscars.

Now, Benning, her performance after watching so many films, I feel like it's a bit underwhelming.

Her physical transformation and the work she put in cannot be faulted.

Amazing.

Now, that being said, aside from Sandra Huler, I haven't seen Anatomy of a Fall, so I can't attest to how good she is.

Benning is the only performance in the best female actor category that I am rooting for.

I mean, I know.

It's just that Lily Gladstone deserves better.

Wow, okay.

Yeah, I was very unimpressed by Annette Benning.

I couldn't get past the fact that she was Annette Benning.

I just couldn't see Nighad.

I only saw Benning.

Whereas with Jodie Foster, it was the complete opposite.

I forgot Jodie Foster was the actor there.

She just puts in a really winning performance.

It's very natural.

Like, you can see that this is a veteran actor.

Like, she's not even acting.

She's just like Gillian Murphy.

It's just embodying this person.

If it was any other year, and Danielle Brooks is not up for the same category, I would want Jodie Foster to get it.

But Benning is a complete no for me.

But then that entire category, it's tough.

Yeah, but you know who I wanted in the best acting category?

Natalie Portman.

She was amazing in May December.

I was like, this is a shoe in.

I was wrong.

The film randomly has an original screenplay nomination.

I'm confused.

Isn't this based on some real guy's story?

How is this an original screenplay?

Can I just say, if May December had to get any nominations, it should have been supporting actor for Charles Melton.

I know he was Reggie on Riverdale, but you know what?

That was a very good performance.

He had very interesting scripts to work with, and he did a great job.

I was not at all surprised that he blew me away in May December.

He was robbed.

He is so stunningly emotional in this film.

Why didn't he get a nomination?

And also, like you said, how do you nominate a film that is based on a real person's life?

Oh, and he also never was consulted about this story about his life.

No, just no.

Just for that reason, they shouldn't have given them writing nomination.

Anyway, that's that from us about the Oscars 2024.

Yes, our opinions may be controversial, but we stand by them.

Let us know your thoughts about all things Oscars 2024.

See you next time.

Ron: You can find us on Twitter @Stereo_Geeks. Or send us an email [email protected]. We hope you enjoyed this episode. And see you next week!

Mon: The Stereo Geeks logo was created using Canva. The music for our podcast comes courtesy Audionautix.

#danielle brooks #the color purple #american fiction #jeffrey wright #barbie #oppenheimer #cillian murphy #christopher nolan #oscars #oscars 2024 #academy awards #mark ruffalo #robert downey jr #stereo geeks #podcast #anatomy of a fall #sterling k. brown #tiff 2023 #ryan gosling

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ikeameatballspoisonedme · 3 months

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Okay. My prediction + wants on Oscars

Best Picture: Oppenheimer | Killers/Anatomy

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone | also Lily Gladstone but add Sandra Huller and Emma Stone like can they share or something 😭😭😭😭😭

Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr | Mark Ruffalo

Best Director: Nolan | Scorcese/Triet

Best Original Screenplay: Anatomy of a Fall (PLEEEAAASEEEE LET IT WINN N)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Barbie :( | The Zone of Interest

Best Animated Feature: Spiderverse | The Boy and the Heron (ngl this is tough because even in award season it's split. I loved Heron more tho but of course I wont mind if Spiderverse win. I think Oscars audience enjoyed Spiderverse more?)

Best Production Design: Barbie | Poor Things

Best Makeup: Poor Things (surprised that Barbie isn't nominated???? They got a fucking Israel propaganda instead lol)

Best Cinematography: Poor Things

Best Score: Oppenheimer | Killers/Poor Things

Best Costume Design: Barbie

Best Editing: Killers of the Flower Moon (PLEASE... like it doesn't even feel like a 3.5 hours movie the editing is fucking incredible)

Best Sound: The Zone of Interest

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bloodpen-to-paper · 1 year

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Oscars 2023, Presented By Me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE AWARDS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Off the bat I went into this kinda sour cause I consider Jordan Peele's Nope to be one of last year's best movies for literally every category you can think of (I'll link my post on this here when I finish it) and the fact that it wasn't even nominated just kinda made me uninterested in the Academy's picks, but hey I watched it anyway so here we go

-The Whale has a lot of discourse surrounding it regarding fatphobia and appropriation; I will say that I am very proud of Brendan Fraser for getting the Best Actor win (seriously this man has been through a lot in the industry) and I acknowledge the talent that went into the makeup and hairstyle (which The Whale won the award for), but I agree that there needed to be more consideration around portrayals of morbidly obese people in a movie where they were... clearly not using actual obese people. Yeah. Anyway

-EEAAO won! Like everything! They swept the ceremony with wins in Leading Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress, Writing (Original Screenplay), Film Editing, and Best Picture! Ok so lemme break this down:

I know I'll get crucified for this or whatever but I was hoping Kate Blanchett would win Best Actress cause I loved her performance in Tár, but Michelle Yeoh was definitely deserving of the win, and it makes me very happy to see older women in the industry beating back the misogyny around Hollywood's aging policy by winning these kinds of awards

Ke Huy Quan, oh what to say about this man. 8 year old me had a crush on him in The Goonies, and I'm so proud of him for springing back so strongly despite his hardships. His acceptance speech was the most emotional I got all night (didn't help that Harrison Ford presented his award to him, I am being personally attacked-)

I love Jamie Lee Curtis, and I was very happy for her win (and anyone who gives her hate for winning is goddamn annoying and not achieving anything other than putting down someone who doesn't deserve it). Having said that, yeah definitely not the best decision giving the only white person in the cast an award for a role that was no where near as important as Stephanie Hsu's role (as well as Angela Bassett's in Wakanda Forever). Feel free to call out the Academy for their shit distribution system at any point

At this point I have yet to see EEAAO, but from what I can see the editing and creativity behind the visuals was insane so good for them for winning in those categories, as well as Best Picture

Loved the energy of the directors, and it was nice that this movie about the Asian diaspora experience not only told their story for all to see, but did a lot for the queer community as well (shout out to the co-director for calling out transphobia and the new anti-drag wave with no hesitation, we stan)

-India came out swinging with a win for "Naatu Naatu" in Best Original Song and The Elephant Whispers for Best Documentary Short Film, Desi folks have been wanting to share their media for eons so I'm very proud for them and can't wait to see more in the future

-The acceptance speech for Best Documentary called Putin the hell out, and the people behind it are still fighting to get Alexei Navalny out of prison; it was bold considering the Oscars are "non political", but speaking out against dictators locking up innocent people should never have been considered political in the first place so good for them

-Angela Bassett holding Austin Butler's hand when Best Actor was being announced 😭

-Who the fuck sold their soul for All Quiet on the Western Front to win all those goddamn technical awards (seriously they won nine. NINE. This movie was a REMAKE. How is Hollywood still so obsessed with 'white man in the trenches' type movies)

-Honestly I would've been sad no matter which movie won Best Animated cause this year's contenders were all SO strong (I watched more movies in this category than I ever have, that should show how good they were). I still wish Wendell and Wild had been nominated (Me? Having a Jordan Peele bias? Blasphemous). With Pinocchio's win, I'm glad that stop motion animation is getting appreciated (which Wendel and Wild totally doesn't have *cough cough* you totally shouldn't watch Wendel and Wild on Netflix *cough cough*). Personally, I wanted Sea Beast to win; it was a highly underrated movie with a black girl lead that was not only very diverse in their people of color and female characters, but also had a strong anti-colonialist theme about how history is written by the winner, and we must be critical of how we analyze the material we consume about the past (its also essentially a love letter to pirates; it shows more accuracy in accents, people and lifestyles surrounding actual pirates than most pirate media, seriously ITS ON NETFLIX, GO WATCH IT)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE CEREMONY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Moving on to the Oscar production itself, lets start with the host... I didn't care about the host. Moving on- (ok genuinely it wasn't the worst but I can't help but feel like the Oscar awards ceremony used to be funnier and now we just have Jimmy Kimmel making non-stop Slap jokes and asking Malala, the Taliban survivor, about Spitgate while a dude dressed as Cocaine Bear crawls around on the ground, what in the fuck happened to the Oscars lmao)

-Is it just me or did the Oscars go very quickly? The pacing was much faster than I remember, they spent less time building suspense for announcements, and moved onto new segments like they were in a rush. Not sure if its for practical reasons or cause of this new era of needing to get information out as quickly as possible (short attention spans and what not) but it really stood out to me this season

-We got an official trailer for live action The Little Mermaid and... god it was so weird, Disney is one of the biggest entertainment monopolies in the world HOW CAN THEY NOT AFFORD BETTER CGI (the under water scenes just don't look right and its taking me out) but uh congrats to Halle Bailey I guess?

-Harrison Ford is old as hell but he's out there putting his whole Fordussy into announcing the awards (also his voice is really fucking soothing for some reason, just close your eyes and listen to his announcement segment like??? free ASMR right there)

-They brought a donkey on stage. That's it that's the post. There was donkey.

-Ana de Armas looked gorgeous. Yes I am dedicating a part in this post to point this out

-So did Janelle Monáe. I really like Janelle Monáe. Anyways

-Ariana DuBose's voice cracking when she announced Best Supporting Actor like we do not deserve this woman and neither does the Academy

-Everyone in the crowd would cheer very loudly whenever EEAAO or Wakanda Forever won anything lmao they knew who deserved the awards and they were VOCAL

-When Michelle Yeoh made her acceptance speech I swear to god I have never seen the crowd that well behaved and hyped. They would cheer so loud and as soon as it looked like Michelle was gonna speak they were SILENT, and when she was done they were right back to roaring like it was so funny and very nice to watch

-Michael Jordan saying "Hi Auntie. We love you" to Angela Bassett was so sweet I'm gonna cry

-I'm a cinema history nerd so I was very invested in Michael B. Jordan and Jonathan Majors teaching me about how in old cinema when they wanted certain camera angles, they'd have to get a stage that rises up and sinks down and prop the camera on that cause there didn't used to be pulley systems for cameras and I thought it was cool :]

-Lady Gaga's voice is so fucking smooth even on a mic, how does she do it

-Andrew Garfield morphing into the physical manifestation of "photogenic" when Jimmy Kimmel shouted him out oml

-Having Halle Berry, the first woman of color to receive a Best Actress award, presenting Michelle Yeoh's award as the first Asian to win Best Actress is that one Gaga meme (this the one https://www.glossy.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/09/gaga.jpeg)

-Pedro Pascal and Elizabeth Olsen duo announcing and Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh duo announcing and Paul Dano and Julia Louis-Dreyfus then Salma Hayek and Antonio Banderas (Latines ftw) and Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt's funny backstage photos and Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry's announcing best costume and with their over-the-top glorious outfits and Miss Cara MF Delevingne and THE Zoe Saldana like were they TRYING to kill me with these announcers? (For context: they are hot, and beloved. Thank you for listening.)

-Speaking of Pedro Pascal... what the fuck was he doing there lmao? The finale of the fucking Last of Us aired DURING THE AWARD CEREMONY and he just pops up at the Oscars like he doesn't have somewhere to be lmao what an icon

-Loved seeing Harry Shum Jr. doing the moonwalk and carrying James Hong during the after party

-Stephanie Hsu going up on stage to perform "This Is a Life" when she came in as a crowd member nominee like the range this woman has

-"Naatu Naatu" live performance was the performance highlight of the Oscars, I don't care come at me I can fight (also the mental image of old white people at this awards ceremony seeing Bollywood style dance and song for the first time is so fucking funny to me like they thought the Encanto performance with Meghan Thee Stallion last year would be the end of it but NOPE)

-Overall, this year was not too crazy (the pain of Amy Schumer hosting mixed with The Slap can never be out-crazied tbh), Jimmy Kimmel was Jimmy Kimmel, and I'd say the highlights were in the EEAAO wins and the music performances. Its the Oscars, nothing more to say

#random thoughts #oscars #oscars 2023 #academy awards #academy awards 2023 #thanks for reading #lemme know what you think!#review

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