Re: (D)Evaluating the nominees
Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2019 6:21 pm
This is the worst kind of Oscar year: generally bad nominees AND quite predictable outcomes. We can only hope for some surprises during the Big Night - the winner won't be great anyway, but at least we won't be bored.
BEST PICTURE
1. The Favorite - The best of the eight nominees, and the only one I could in theory nominate (only) in a very poor year. For a movie about power, it's not extremely profound. For a movie about palace intrigues, the screenplay is lively but without memorable dialogue. But with its youngish and attractive women using their bodies in order to get money and social prestige, it's the perfect (and refreshingly un-politically correct) answer to you-know-what.
2. Vice - Some on this board didn't even want to see it - they didn't want to spend money on it, yet they spent money to watch A Star is Born TWICE! This, of course, means that Vice can't be really bad. And it's not, though I admit that I've seen more biting political satires.
3. Blackkklansman - an enjoyable, funny take on a subject which isn't really enjoyable nor funny. But you feel the hand of an expert director behind it.
4. Green Book - It's as lightweight and superficial as the ideas of those who suddenly accuse it of being cliched - the good thing about entertainment is that it immediately shows how banal certain political or social attitudes are. Still, this is a reassuringly professional Hollywood product, its heart is on the right side, and it’s as smartly effective as, say, Mrs Miniver was decades ago.
5. Black Panther - I must admit that I kind-of enjoyed watching it: it was something new for me, as I never see movies like this, and my last superhero film was the first Spider Man, about 15 years ago. But as a Best Picture nominee, it's on the same level as, say, King Solomon's Mines or Three Coins in the Fountain.
6. Roma - Unlike Black Panther, this is a movie made to be on this on this list. Too obviously made to be on this list (did we really need the austere black and white cinematography?). The first foreign movie to win Best Picture should have been much better, and much more genuine, than this one.
7. Bohemian Rhapsody - A huge box-office hit, and while I don't anything against box-office hits, in this case it's clearly due to the cautious approach to an edgy, complex, somehow revolutionary human being and artist.
8. A Star is Born - a lesson on how NOT to make a movie, taken too seriously by inept film critics, though maybe the Academy in the end will see through it.
BEST DIRECTOR
1. Pawel Pawlikowski - Cold War is flawed and imperfect, but more interesting than the same director's much praised (and more conventionally "perfect") Ida. What's good in this movie is very good.
2. Yourgos Lanthimos - An inventive, original director who has worked with better material before, but can do very good things even here.
3. Spike Lee - Nice to see a director who doesn't need to be showy at any cost, yet preserves even here his own assured style.
4. Alfonso Cuaron - Nobody can't deny that he's a careful filmmaker, with a keen eye for detail and composition. Still I have rarely seen a more detatched, uninvolving autobiographical piece.
5. Adam McKay - Better as a screenwriter.
BEST ACTOR
1. Viggo Mortensen - Let's be clear: none of these five should have been nominated. But if I have to pick the best performance - not the best role, not the best-written character - I'm afraid it's this one: warm, sympathetic, never irritating despite the ethnic cliches. A good actor doing good, honest, solid work.
2. Willem Dafoe - The movie is admittedly awful, and makes one look back to the OTHER American movie on the same European genius (Vincente Minnelli's) with even more admiration and respect. The performance is a bit vague, a bit tedious, but it's not his fault.
3. Rami Malek - a very good imitation of a great singer, but still just an imitation.
4. Christian Bale - the make-up sadly limits a performance that is probably subtle but that at times looks monotonous.
5, Bradley Cooper - Bradley, be grateful to Italiano. At least he's been honest with you from the beginning.
BEST ACTRESS
1. Melissa McCarthy - An unexpectedly great turn by an actress I had never thought too highly of. I was wrong: she is very good, funny and sad often at the same times.
2. Glenn Close - Her movie isn't good - and at times it looks just like a long close-up of her face. But what an expressive face she has, and how technically expert she is at showing every single subtle emotion her character goes through. Far worse performances have won Oscars - especially recently.
3. Olivia Colman - a brilliant exercise in grotesque, but with an eye for the human side of the character. If she wins, it won't be deserved but I clearly won't complain.
4. Yalitza Aparicio - the new Jocelyne LaGarde.
5. Lady Gaga - Yalitza doesn't act, but Lady Gaga acts badly, which is worse. An amateurish, unwatchable, embarassing turn.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Richard E. Grant - Brilliant actor giving a brilliant - and truly supporting, in more ways the one - turn. An Oscar would be appropriate.
2. Mahershala Ali - Brilliant actor giving a good - but of course not really supporting - performance. But if this weren't his second Oscar, I wouldn't complain too much when he wins.
3. Sam Elliott - Let me say that this is one of the best living American actors: professional, never excessive, subtly powerful. He should have an Oscar. But not for his too short turn in this thing - though he's by far the best in it.
4. Sam Rockwell - another brilliant actor, but his (good) impression of Bush jr isn't a towering acting achievement.
5. Adam Driver - I don't remember anything about his performance. Honestly. Not even his face.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Rachel Weisz - the best written and probably more complex character in the movie, very well served by a now matue actress who can do it justice.
2. Regina King - She has a face - a real, interesting face, the kind of face a camera is happy to explore. And she's a good actress, too.
3. Emma Stone - Obviously a good actress, and probably happy to play such a nasty, mischievous character.
4. Marina de Tavira - She certainly makes her character believable and human, but as she is mostly seen from the point of view of another character, she never seems to have a scene which is really hers.
5. Amy Adams - The role doesn't allow her do too much, but a more hystrionic actress would have been completely wrong for it.
BEST PICTURE
1. The Favorite - The best of the eight nominees, and the only one I could in theory nominate (only) in a very poor year. For a movie about power, it's not extremely profound. For a movie about palace intrigues, the screenplay is lively but without memorable dialogue. But with its youngish and attractive women using their bodies in order to get money and social prestige, it's the perfect (and refreshingly un-politically correct) answer to you-know-what.
2. Vice - Some on this board didn't even want to see it - they didn't want to spend money on it, yet they spent money to watch A Star is Born TWICE! This, of course, means that Vice can't be really bad. And it's not, though I admit that I've seen more biting political satires.
3. Blackkklansman - an enjoyable, funny take on a subject which isn't really enjoyable nor funny. But you feel the hand of an expert director behind it.
4. Green Book - It's as lightweight and superficial as the ideas of those who suddenly accuse it of being cliched - the good thing about entertainment is that it immediately shows how banal certain political or social attitudes are. Still, this is a reassuringly professional Hollywood product, its heart is on the right side, and it’s as smartly effective as, say, Mrs Miniver was decades ago.
5. Black Panther - I must admit that I kind-of enjoyed watching it: it was something new for me, as I never see movies like this, and my last superhero film was the first Spider Man, about 15 years ago. But as a Best Picture nominee, it's on the same level as, say, King Solomon's Mines or Three Coins in the Fountain.
6. Roma - Unlike Black Panther, this is a movie made to be on this on this list. Too obviously made to be on this list (did we really need the austere black and white cinematography?). The first foreign movie to win Best Picture should have been much better, and much more genuine, than this one.
7. Bohemian Rhapsody - A huge box-office hit, and while I don't anything against box-office hits, in this case it's clearly due to the cautious approach to an edgy, complex, somehow revolutionary human being and artist.
8. A Star is Born - a lesson on how NOT to make a movie, taken too seriously by inept film critics, though maybe the Academy in the end will see through it.
BEST DIRECTOR
1. Pawel Pawlikowski - Cold War is flawed and imperfect, but more interesting than the same director's much praised (and more conventionally "perfect") Ida. What's good in this movie is very good.
2. Yourgos Lanthimos - An inventive, original director who has worked with better material before, but can do very good things even here.
3. Spike Lee - Nice to see a director who doesn't need to be showy at any cost, yet preserves even here his own assured style.
4. Alfonso Cuaron - Nobody can't deny that he's a careful filmmaker, with a keen eye for detail and composition. Still I have rarely seen a more detatched, uninvolving autobiographical piece.
5. Adam McKay - Better as a screenwriter.
BEST ACTOR
1. Viggo Mortensen - Let's be clear: none of these five should have been nominated. But if I have to pick the best performance - not the best role, not the best-written character - I'm afraid it's this one: warm, sympathetic, never irritating despite the ethnic cliches. A good actor doing good, honest, solid work.
2. Willem Dafoe - The movie is admittedly awful, and makes one look back to the OTHER American movie on the same European genius (Vincente Minnelli's) with even more admiration and respect. The performance is a bit vague, a bit tedious, but it's not his fault.
3. Rami Malek - a very good imitation of a great singer, but still just an imitation.
4. Christian Bale - the make-up sadly limits a performance that is probably subtle but that at times looks monotonous.
5, Bradley Cooper - Bradley, be grateful to Italiano. At least he's been honest with you from the beginning.
BEST ACTRESS
1. Melissa McCarthy - An unexpectedly great turn by an actress I had never thought too highly of. I was wrong: she is very good, funny and sad often at the same times.
2. Glenn Close - Her movie isn't good - and at times it looks just like a long close-up of her face. But what an expressive face she has, and how technically expert she is at showing every single subtle emotion her character goes through. Far worse performances have won Oscars - especially recently.
3. Olivia Colman - a brilliant exercise in grotesque, but with an eye for the human side of the character. If she wins, it won't be deserved but I clearly won't complain.
4. Yalitza Aparicio - the new Jocelyne LaGarde.
5. Lady Gaga - Yalitza doesn't act, but Lady Gaga acts badly, which is worse. An amateurish, unwatchable, embarassing turn.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Richard E. Grant - Brilliant actor giving a brilliant - and truly supporting, in more ways the one - turn. An Oscar would be appropriate.
2. Mahershala Ali - Brilliant actor giving a good - but of course not really supporting - performance. But if this weren't his second Oscar, I wouldn't complain too much when he wins.
3. Sam Elliott - Let me say that this is one of the best living American actors: professional, never excessive, subtly powerful. He should have an Oscar. But not for his too short turn in this thing - though he's by far the best in it.
4. Sam Rockwell - another brilliant actor, but his (good) impression of Bush jr isn't a towering acting achievement.
5. Adam Driver - I don't remember anything about his performance. Honestly. Not even his face.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Rachel Weisz - the best written and probably more complex character in the movie, very well served by a now matue actress who can do it justice.
2. Regina King - She has a face - a real, interesting face, the kind of face a camera is happy to explore. And she's a good actress, too.
3. Emma Stone - Obviously a good actress, and probably happy to play such a nasty, mischievous character.
4. Marina de Tavira - She certainly makes her character believable and human, but as she is mostly seen from the point of view of another character, she never seems to have a scene which is really hers.
5. Amy Adams - The role doesn't allow her do too much, but a more hystrionic actress would have been completely wrong for it.