1. As I was catching up on reading about the Oscars nominations this afternoon, this Forbes article pretty much says it all… Oscars in danger of losing its relevance.
The Academy needs to wake up and understand the innate diversity of Generation Z before it’s too late. Nearly 50 percent of post-millennials are nonwhite, more than any other demographic in the United States and we all want to see ourselves represented.
I couldn’t say it better myself…
2. So basically #OscarsSoWhite is baaaack! Just because a single person of color is nominated–Cynthia Erivo (Harriet)–doesn’t negate that hashtag. Now, I’m happy for miss Erivo, as she was great in Widows as well, which was grossly overlooked by the Academy in 2018.
But really, no Lupita Nyong’O (Us), Awkwafina (The Farewell), Eddie Murphy in (Dolemite Is My Name), Jamie Foxx (Just Mercy)??
3. Oscars-So-Male … Female directors are snubbed once again [sigh]
It’s not like we haven’t seen this before… but in a year where there are a TON of terrific films directed by women, it’s especially crushing! Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Kasi Lemmons (Harriet), Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) and Alma Har’el (Honey Boy), just to name a few…
4. Oscars-So-Serious. The academy hate didn’t get comedy… Jojo Rabbit is the only [dark] comedy amongst the 9 nominees. I mean just because the main character is a clown, I wouldn’t categorize JOKER as a comedy really.
5. Speaking of which… WOW! They like JOKER that much??! That movie led the nominees with a whopping 11 nominations, including Best Actor and Best Director nods for Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips, respectively, and a Best Picture nod. Ok I knew Joaquin is a shoo-in, I’d even be fine with it getting a Best Picture nod (meh!), but Best Adapted Screenplay, too??? What a joke indeed!
6. In any case, on a more positive note… Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach made history as the only couple nominated in Best Adapted and Original Screenplay category! I’m rooting for both of them, how cool would it be if they go home with matching gold statuettes!!
7. Still no love for The Lighthouse… as I commented in my Golden Globes post, that film might have been way too weird for the Academy. It’s kind of a bad year for A24 all around as The Farewell was completely snubbed as well.
8. As if mimicking Jo and Amy’s rivalry in Little Women, Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh are both nominated! I’m totally ok with that as I think both actress are deserving of nods… and miss Pugh is quickly becoming one of my fave actresses!
9. It’s been an amazing year for Scarlett Johansson! She became just the 12th person to be nominated for two acting Oscars in the same year – one for Best Actor for Marriage Story and Best Supporting Actor for Jojo Rabbit. That said, I don’t know if she’s really THAT great in Jojo Rabbit, I think she might have robbed that from J-Lo in Hustlers.
10. Happy for Parasite for landing SIX noms, wow!! I think the Best Foreign Language is a shoo-in, but it also lands Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, Best Editing AND Best Original Screenplay nominations! I think the Best Foreign Film is in the can, but let’s see if they’d collect any more statuette.
11. Glad to see Knives Out by Rian Johnson nabbed Best Original Screenplay nod, but I’ll still be rooting for Marriage Story by Noah Baumbach!
12. It’s a happy day for Netflix which earned 24 nominations across all of the categories while Amazon got a big fat zero! Clearly they biggest winners are The Irishman and Marriage Story, though the streaming giant barely went home with any Golden Globe awards despite a bunch of noms.
13. YAY for Klaus nominated in Best Animated Feature! I saw it around Christmas, and I thought it was great. The reimagining of Santa Claus is absolutely gorgeous to look at and has a genuinely moving story. The Spanish animated Christmas comedy-drama film written and directed by Sergio Pablos (in his directorial debut) is a Netflix original.
Haven’t seen FROZEN II (and honestly not that interested to check it out anytime soon), so I have no thoughts about it not being nominated.
Oscars will air live on Sunday, February 9 at 3:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Well, what are YOUR thoughts about the Oscars noms this year?
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I’m happy that Scarlett (finally) got nominated while I’m elated that she got 2 nods as she deserves it as she had a great year and is one of the best actresses we have right now.
Then there’s the snubs. I admit that I’m not a fan of J-Lo but having her nominated would’ve been a nice surprise. The snubs towards Eddie Murphy, Lupita Nyong’o, Awkwafina, or anyone in Parasite and The Farewell (I haven’t seen either of those films yet as well as Dolemite is My Name) is upsetting. I was more upset over Greta Gerwig not being nominated for Best Director as I thought she did an amazing job and actually made some visual risks with Little Women. I’m also upset that Avengers: Endgame didn’t get Best Picture as I really thought it was better than it should’ve been as it really raised the stakes of the superhero film and part of me wishes it would be a bigger deal as a tribute to Stan Lee.
Yeah, good for Scarlett. I haven’t seen her being nominated much the past few years then boom, she got two! I LOVED her in Marriage Story especially, such a phenomenal performance from both her and Driver.
The snubs are so egregious this year as there are SO many worthy performances from actors of color. It’s also discouraging for female filmmakers, I think the Directors branch of the academy just lacks diversity overall. As for Endgame, well the Academy usually shuns blockbuster superhero movies, I think Black Panther getting nominated was a miracle.
I’m extremely disappointed that no women were nominated for best director and that barely any people of color were nominated either. I also really wanted Honey Boy to be given some recognition!
Hi Audrey! I personally haven’t seen HONEY BOY but my blog contributor who reviewed it for me gave a 5/5. Yeah, the lack of diversity is really disappointing.
You should watch Honey Boy, it’s one of my favorite movies ever! I’m just hoping that at this point, the people/movies I’m rooting for win.
I’ll definitely try to watch it soon! Just saw Peanut Butter Falcon and absolutely loved that one w/ Shia also. So aside from Honey Boy, which film(s) that are nominated are your faves? Yeah hopefully the ones we’re rooting for would actually win!
I can’t wait to see Peanut Butter Falcon, it looks so good! The main film that I’m rooting for is Little Women. What nominated films are your favorites?
I gotta admit I was thrilled with this year’s nominees, especially Best pictures. Out of the nine, one got 5 stars, seven got 4.5 stars, and one got four stars. That’s never happened (for me).
The directing category seems to be all the buzz right now. Personally of the ones you mentioned only Greta was close. I wouldn’t mind seeing her nominated (my #5 film). But I think really strong cases can be made for every single director nominated.
And it sounds like we disagree on Joker for adapted screenplay. I love that nomination. What surprised me was 1917 for original screenplay. I truly think it is a brilliant film, but screenplay?
I really did miss The Farewell. I wasn’t as high as most on J-Lo or Sandler, but I loved Awkwafina and Lulu Wang 100% should have been nominated for her screenplay!
And as expected my favorite film (A Hidden Life) of the year got a big, fat nothing sandwich. I knew it would be I still promote it any chance I get! 😁
Hey Keith! Out of the 9 nominated, there are only two I haven’t seen (1917 and Irishman) which I’m happy about. But I think we’re opposites in terms of JOKER. It’s one of those I appreciate (mostly the acting) but did not love and the more kudos it receive the more it aggravates me. But hey, glad you love A Hidden Life, I LOVE that one even though I don’t always love everything Malick’s done (in fact I hated Knight of Cups (a movie about a screenwriter WITHOUT a script??! WTH??)
So are you saying you missed seeing The Farewell? If so, I hope you do check it out soon, it’s such a fantastic, heartfelt film.
I didn’t like Knight of Cups at all. Totally with you. But A Hidden Life is such a return to form. I’ve seen it three times and it fills my heart with a swirl of emotions (sorry to sound silly).
I have seen The Farewell (it finished just out side of my Top 10 in my 11-20). I loved it. I missed seeing in among the Oscar nominees. I’m doing my annual picks for each of the acting categories this week and it has already been included.
Yeah, I agree about Malick’s return to form. A Hidden Life is a simple but deep, meaningful story that somehow felt personal to him.
Ahhh, glad you have seen The Farewell! I gotta check out your post… as I’m planning to do ‘Forgotten Performances’ post around Oscar time.
No surprised that the Oscar voters are still stuck in the bygone years. As you know I don’t pay much attention to the Oscars much. The show’s becoming irrelevant faster since the ratings has gone down each year. I still believe that many of the Oscars voters probably never watched any of the films that they nominated, they probably just voted on which ever films studio push to get it nominated. For example, Warner Bros. spent a lot of money on JOKER to get it nominated and it worked. Todd Phillips got nominated for best director??! The dude just copied Kubrick’s and Scorsese’s style for JOKER.
Yeah, it seems the Academy is filled with archaic people unwilling to change. I think they don’t even want to watch films that are out their comfort zone. That’s why The Lighthouse got no love at all I believe, they probably think it’s just too watch.
Yep, can’t believe Todd Phillips got nominated for directing and screenplay, ugh!! I mean, Taika Waiti is a much, much better and more consistent director. I’d rather see him being nominated than Todd,
A lot to agree with on your post, though I did like Joker a lot more than you. What do you think of the lack of a host?
Hi Alex! I don’t mind the lack of host… I mean I think they had that last year right? It seemed to work fine.
I do hope Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are very much involved though
Yeah I like those two! Are they gonna host the Globes next year? Not sure about Oscars but they might present there. I do like having different ‘hosts’ which are basically presenters at an award ceremony.
They have great comic timing, as well as a great chemistry together.
As for #1, Oscars lost its relevance when Bohemian Rhapsody won best editing.
I am surprised that Wang did not get a nom for Farewell. Very surprised in fact.
Hi Ian! I actually haven’t seen Bohemian Rhapsody in its entirety, just parts of it on the plane but I didn’t watch the entire thing. So did you see The Farewell? I LOVE that one and not only because I’m Asian and can totally relate to the story.
I haven’t yet, no. I’ve heard nothing but good things though. I did watch a directors round table with Yang included though, and I really liked her just based on that.