Best Picture 2023

A fun fact for this year, among the top 6 categories (including Best Director) there are only 13 films nominated for 35 total spots. I feel like that may be some kind of record. Seems wild to watch so few films for that many nominations. Once the awards season really settled in, this was Oppenheimer's win all the way. The only suspense was Al Pacino just coming out on stage, opening the envelope, and mumbling myeyessee...Oppenheimer, and then looking around confused. It took a second to realize it had won but that was really the only issue of an otherwise great ceremony. It was mostly to the point and I think a lot of people enjoyed the five past winners talking about the five nominees in each acting category. Though I hope they don't do that every year or else it will lose its luster. I was really hoping to watch everything before the ceremony but could not finish the previous year in time because I got lazy and because I took forever to finally watch Avatar 2. So I blame James Cameron. My goal for next year is to try and do the Oscar death race, which is watch absolutely everything nominated before the ceremony, including all the shorts. That means I have to at least finish this year on time, but with 13 films, I don't think it will be much of an issue. So let's go!

2023 Best Picture

 

Oppenheimer

 

Hey, Christopher Nolan finally breaks through with a film about nuclear physics and the atom bomb?! I guess that makes more sense than Tenet did. Ayyyy. Anyway, this was the backend of the two-headed behemoth with Barbie we know as Barbenheimer which is so damn clever! I like that a pair of movies get branded together because it's so fun and just speaks to how all of this isn't that serious when you really boil it all down. They tried it this year with Wicked and Gladiator II by calling it Glicked and it just didn't work and was kinda lame, but this film associating with Barbie was pure genius. They tapped into an audience that would probably never had gone to see this film even with it being a Nolan film, which is not the big draw that it used to be. It's a three hour film about nuclear physics and the man that created the atomic bomb and that feels like it shouldn't be so compelling but that's what Nolan can bring. My big takeaway was that this was a long film, but it flew by because the story was so compelling and engaging that you forget it was so long. But also, that third act with the trial stuff was so boring and really killed the vibe of the film. It should have ended with the bomb going off because that felt like the crescendo of the film and story, yet it insisted on keeping going. I know there is payoff in that third act, but it doesn't really matter because I didn't find the RDJ stuff interesting at all, though I got its purpose. I just feel like the film could have been much tighter and wrapped up better than extending it with the boring part of the film. The visuals were great, but I actually anticipated more explosions and whatnot. It really was a look at the gradual ramp up of the creation of the atomic bomb and it felt like we were privy to the goings on of those involved. This is a solid Best Picture winner that I am happy to watch again if it comes on TV, which is wild to say about a 3 hour film.

American Fiction

I watched this film twice, mostly because after the first time I just couldn't quite articulate my thoughts even though I enjoyed it a lot. There was a very long time between viewings and I think the second watch helped me understand the film a bit better. The story is about an author, a Jeffrey Wright at his best, who has been having a hard time getting his new book published and sees a young, educated black woman being celebrated for writing a stereotypical "black" book that is hugely popular. So Wright, uh, writes his own book in the same vein under a pen name and it becomes hugely popular and held up as a modern classic with everyone wanting to know who the author is. Obviously, this kind of satires the black experience as entertainment where some white lady wants to be the first to call it a masterpiece to seem hip and some white executive tries to relate to it so he can make it into a movie. We see the absurdity through Wright's eyes (again an incredible performance from him) and also experience the absurdity of sorts of his family life, as we see throughout the film. Cord Jefferson, who directed, wrote, and produced this as his first film ever, won Best Adapted Screenplay for his work. And honestly, the acting is top notch all around, but is clearly led by the stellar writing that is so funny, slick, emotional, powerful, and just perfect at times for the film. Jefferson had previously won an Emmy for writing an episode of Watchmen and it stands to reason that he is someone to watch in the future if this is the kind of output he can deliver. But back to the acting, it's all so good. Wright finally gets a well deserved Best Actor nomination and Sterling K. Brown, playing Wright's brother, finally gets his due from the film world with a Supporting Actor nomination. But the rest of the cast including Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, Keith David, Adam Brody, among others, are great additions to the film. The story has so many funny moments that it can be easy to miss just how scathing the deeper meaning of the black experience can be. The major draw of the film is absolutely the story and acting and the Oscars making Best Picture a firm 10 nomination category is a reason people will revisit this film in the future and hopefully enjoy it as much as I did. I especially liked the scenes where Wright is coming up with the novel and the scenes play out in real time and the characters look to Wright for better lines or characterizations. It's a thoughtful, captivating, and entertaining film about a world many of us could do more to understand.

Anatomy of a Fall

 

I am watching this as the second of the two foreign films nominated for Best Picture, the first time that's ever happened in Oscar history. And both of the films star Sandra Huller, which is pretty neat. I am so happy that with the more diverse and inclusive Academy, we are starting to see some films and performances get recognition and nominations that probably wouldn't have even just a few years ago. This film is a great representative of that point since it is a French film, starring the German Huller, that has a lot of English spoken throughout the film. I know I say this a lot, but it is better to go into films blind, I think, because you don't have any expectations or preconceived notions of what it might be about. I only vaguely knew this was about a death and thought it may be a whodunit, but it actually is a very well made courtroom drama. I think what sets this apart from other films of the same genre is that we have no idea if Huller's character is innocent or not. I read that Huller was told by Justine Triet, the director and writer (for which she was nominated for both and won the Oscar for Original Screenplay), to play the character as if she were innocent without telling her whether she actually was or not. And the editor (who was also nominated in Best Editing) said that the main challenge for them was to edit Huller's character in an ambiguous way because leaning too far one way or another made the film less interesting and I agree with that completely. The power of the film is all of these elements combining; the directing, writing, editing, and acting to give us this thought provoking look into a family drama of did she kill her husband or did he kill himself or what exactly happened? It's a raw and honest look at a relationship and how tough it can be especially after an accident blinds their son. We are riveted by the will she or won't she be convicted as well as the inner lookings of her marriage and family life that are laid bare for the court to see in all its ugly glory. I like that the tense feel of the film isn't just because we are waiting to see if she did it or not and I think that's part of why the film is so successful. The other main reason is because Huller gives an enthralling performance and is at the top of her game. The other surprise was that the child actor was very good in this, and if you've seen some of my reviews on them before, you know I am not kind to them. But he was perfect in the role and that is one of the things that makes for a great film is when everything comes together. A great year for foreign films and I really hope this isn't an outlier of a year because we have seen some great foreign films recently.

Barbie

 

The other part of the Barbenheimer cultural phenomenon. It was truly a joy to watch as people flooded theaters again to watch a double billing of the two most completely opposite films ever. And the fact that the directors and actors all responded by supporting each other and doing press work later was the icing on the cake. People were dressing up in all pink to see this film and then going to Oppenheimer right after is a testament to their unity and appeal. This film feels like it shouldn't exist. Why would Mattel allow this film to be made that basically calls out their leadership? I don't know, but I'm glad they did. I think they recognized that this wasn't going to be a box office bomb and were right when it made over a billion dollars. The aesthetic is amazing. When you are doing Barbie, you have to go all out with referencing all different iterations of Barbie and Ken. It looks vibrant and alive and just looks how a Barbie move should. It's exactly like people playing with like a Barbie neighborhood and bought Dreamhouses and cars and all that. It's got to have a beautiful lead as the Barbie herself and Margot Robbie fits that. Ryan Gosling is the perfect Ken. Getting those right is key to making the whole film believable. There are a ton of articles that dissect what the film means about patriarchy and feminism and capitalism and being yourself. I tried reading some and felt they were so convoluted and lost in themselves that they stopped being about the film and started being more about political and social agendas. Just watch the film and see what you think it means. To me, it's not that Barbie should rule or that Ken should rule, but that we need to come together and try to be the best versions of ourselves. I don't even think that the film really goes too deep into any real discussion on this and is legit just a film about Barbie and Ken. The humor is terrific, the songs are so good and deservedly won a Best Song award and had the best moment of the Oscar ceremony with the I'm Just Ken song. You've got an iconic monologue from America Ferrera that will probably be remembered for decades and shown over and over again. It's an incredible directing effort that somehow didn't get Greta Gerwig a Best Director nom, but admittedly this year was pretty tough. Margot Robbie also didn't get an acting nomination though I feel she should have on top of her producing nom. Michael Cera's Allan may have been my favorite part of the whole film because he's just so out of place but is an actual produced friend of Ken by Mattel. There's so much to find and love about this film that I can see why it made a billion dollars and sparked a cultural phenomenon.

 

The Holdovers

I'm not going to hide my affection for this film - this is absolutely a new Christmas favorite. And the director, Alexandor Payne, absolutely hates that characterization. He said that he thinks the cozy feeling attributed to the film is wrong and wants it to be known as just a good film and not a Christmas film. Motherfucker, you set this film during a Christmas break, so no, you don't get to tell us that you would rather it be just a normal film. You knew what you were doing so just go with it, man. Because this is a fantastic film that evokes the 70s with its aesthetic, its vibe, its characters, and its story. I love the scene transitions because they steal from the 70s with them dissolving into each other and making you feel a certain way. This is the second collaboration between Payne and Paul Giamatti and I wasn't kind to the first iteration, Sideways. I hated Giamatti's character and really didn't like his acting and just didn't give that film much of a chance though I did love The Descendants and Nebraska. I may have to visit that film again to give Giamatti a fair shake, but this is true for now. And I adore Giamatti here. I think this is the perfect character for him. From now until forever, this is the film and character I will forever associate with Giamatti because he makes it his own. And for those that have no idea, Giamatti is a professor at a boys boarding house who has to babysit the holdovers. Dominic Sessa, who deserved a Supporting Actor nomination, is the lone boy who Giamatti has to look after eventually. It's as you'd expect when hijinks, though I'd rather call it necessary plot points, get moved forward. Eventually Giamatti and Sessa settle their differences and come to an appreciation of each other. I never quite knew where the film and story would end up and I felt sad when it did end up at the point it did. I actually kinda love that the film didn't end up on some saccharine ending where everything is perfect. The ending is heartfelt but also true to life and speaks to Giamatti's character's sacrifice. The characters are fantastic, the story is compelling, and the lessons are more of a suggestion. Love this film a ton and enjoy that it's given us a new Christmas favorite, Alexander Payne's opinion be damned.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Hey look, another 3 and a half hour Scorsese film gets nominated in Best Picture. I joke, but this one didn't feel as long as it was to me, which is always a huge plus. It helps to have a story that you've never heard about with some great acting and of course great directing from Marty. The story was the highlight because we have so few stories about American Indians that aren't told through a white lens. And that's one of the interesting things about this film is that the Osage Indians, who the story is about, had a lot of say in the script and story and had things changed and rewritten to better reflect their people and beliefs and that is seen in the film because the book is told from the FBI perspective and the Osage convinced Scorsese it would be better to tell it from the point of view of the Osage - and the fact that Marty listened and changed it to that is great credit to him, because I'd imagine most other directors would have told them to fuck off. And I think it makes it a better and more unique film honoring that tribe and community. The story is that in early 1900s Oklahoma, oil is found on native lands and makes the Osage very wealthy because they control the rights to the land and oil money and members of the tribe start being murdered in great numbers to where the tribe goes to D.C. to ask the government to intervene and eventually the FBI shows up in one of their first cases ever. It focuses on Robert De Niro as the defacto king of the area and his nephew, Leo DiCaprio, who marries one of the Osage women, played by Lily Gladstone. The men scheme a way to get Gladstone's rights so they get her family's money. These three give incredible performances and I wish Gladstone had won Best Actress, because she was phenomenal. It's also one of the first films in a long time for Scorsese where a woman has a vital, important part in the story, which has been a big criticism of his films for awhile, so it was good to see him actually give us a strong female lead film. The main issue is the length of the film. It could have easily been edited down a bit and still been as strong in my opinion and length is a huge reason why people don't watch certain films like this. Marty not shying away from showing how poorly the Osage were treated by the white folks who wanted their money was nice to see this story not get whitewashed, not that Marty would ever do that, but it's nice to see a film shine a light and turn a mirror around to show us how awful we have been in the past. If you can get past the length, the film offers up a rich, indelible look at a moment in our history that we would be better off not forgetting.

Maestro

I was very intrigued about this film because I'm a big fan of Bradley Cooper's other directorial work A Star is Born. Not only a talented actor, he's becoming a really great director, too, and it's cool to see that happening almost in real time with each new project. This film is about the American composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia and their career and relationship. It's definitely a very niche subject matter because I imagine most people aren't aware of who he is. I know about him because his only film score was for On the Waterfront, which I adore. Interestingly, before Cooper did this film Steven Spielberg was in talks to possibly work on it and after he passed, he suggested Cooper do it after seeing a scene from ASIB and helped him whenever Cooper had questions or needed advice on things. I love that because Cooper is learning from the best including Marty Scorsese who was the first director attached to this project and stayed on as a producer. Cooper had some big directing brains to pick at and it shows in the final film because Cooper has a lot of great visual moments and shot compositions and the choice to film a lot of it in black and white is inspired. There's just so much directing talent on display in this film that I could watch this on repeat and find new things to appreciate. I am so surprised Cooper wasn't nominated for Directing because the Academy has loved nominating actors who turn into directors a ton in the long history of this award. But also, I must mention that the acting throughout is phenomenal especially from Cooper as the main lead. A lot of folks seemed to not like the story and felt it was mostly Oscar bait or that the subject was boring, which blows my mind. It touches on Bernstein's homosexual tendencies and Cooper doesn't shy away from showing that and how it effects his relationship with his wife and kids and that's some interesting, heavy subject matter. Also, a lot of the music is very good, but it helps to be into operas, choral arrangements, and classical to really get the full effect. The conducting scenes are typically pretty good to watch but some are so affected from Cooper that you get why some say it's baity. The music itself is almost like a character in the film and I love how it's ever present and driving the film along to its ending. I really enjoyed this film and how passionate Cooper was in his directing and acing because it made it a very rewarding watch for me. No idea why this didn't seem to connect more with the Oscar fans online, but I am super excited to see what Cooper does for his next directing effort.

Past Lives

One of the things about writing these reviews that I often think about is should I start writing immediately after watching a film or should I let some time develop between watching and writing so I can maybe be less emotional. Because I loved this film and feel like I need to let this wave of emotions wash over me to write something coherent. It's an emotionally resonant and devastating look at what could have been between two former childhood crushes. Greta Lee and Teo Yoo play the two former crushes and grew up in South Korea before Lee's family immigrated to Canada. Even in those early scenes (obviously played by child actors) you can see the bond they have and the sweetness with how they interact with each other. That sets up the premise of the film when twelve years later they reconnect online with Lee now living in NYC and Yoo still in Seoul. This is a brisk film at an hour and forty-five minutes because the chemistry between Lee and Yoo is so transfixing and utterly palpable. They start talking over Skype a lot and just watching these interactions is surreal because you can see the nervousness and awkwardness and the attraction and that bond they still have over a decade later. The film breezes by because you are so caught up in their relationship and want to see them succeed even though you know they don't. Which is what happens when neither can really schedule a time to actually visit the other because of their job/school commitments. And it feels too real because I think a lot of us have had either that long distance relationship or a flirtation or crush that went unrequited because of things out of your control. Yoo then eventually visits NYC after twelve more years where they didn't talk and Lee is now married to an American man. Their meeting together and then with the husband is so touching and visceral, it's like I'm standing in the room with them as all of this goes on. It's emotionally affecting without being manipulative for the audience because this is a universal theme everyone can feel and is not strictly Korean. Celine Song wrote and directed this, her debut, and her choices to keep Yoo and the husband separate on set until they actually film their first scene together shows how in command she was of this story. She did the same with Lee and Yoo, also, and it just makes their story that much more compelling because it feels so real and authentic. How Lee and Yoo weren't nominated for their performances is baffling to me. They are so full of this subtle, understated work where mere glances tell a thousand stories. I really hope this film launches them into more work and that we see more from Song, too. She is only the second Asian woman to direct a Best Picture nominated film which is highly impressive and speaks to how important the changes to the Academy have been in recent years. This is an incredible film that will make you shed some tears and think about your own what might have been moments.

Poor Things

I'm sorry to say, but I had absolutely zero interest in this film for no real reason. I have enjoyed Yorgos Lanthimos' films before this, love Willem Dafoe, and know this had the Best Actress winning performance in it, but I still was not at all interested. But of course, I ended up enjoying it, which is a lesson for those (Academy voters included) that don't watch or give up on films after a few minutes. Actually watch the films and you never know what may actually end up being something you like. This film is inventive and stylish and pretty unique story wise. It's about Bella Baxter played by Emma Stone, who is reanimated from a pregnant woman who killed herself by Willem Dafoe's character who took her baby's brain and inserted it for the adult brain. Crazy stuff indeed, the story shows us Bella basically growing up and discovering herself sexually and philosophically as odd as that combo sounds. Yorgos does a great job with the directing, I liked how he started the film in black and white to mirror Bella acting like a baby since babies can't see color and then adding color until it was completely realistic looking at the very end. Just like how Bella goes from minimal vocabulary to talking normally, it's those small details that make the film so much more interesting, though it is plenty interesting from the jump. The film just is a great amalgamation of amazing acting, inventive production design, wonderful direction, and a great score. I wish I could be a bit more academic in my review, but this is one where I say I simply loved it more than I thought I would and think everyone should see this one. It had buzz to win, though it was minimal, but I get why people would champion this to win. This is filmmaking!

The Zone of Interest

I didn't know a whole lot about this film going into it, which is honestly how I kinda like to watch these nominated films now. Give myself as much of an unbiased view as possible, though invariably I will know a lot about some of these as they get talked about so much. This one is a film from Jonathan Glazer, his first in ten years since Under the Skin and who also made the Supporting Actor nominated film, Sexy Beast back in 2000. I loved both of those films a lot, so I was very intrigued to see what this one had in store knowing that it dealt with a Nazi family living outside a concentration camp. Well, that family was the Commandant of Auschwitz who indeed lived literally a wall away from the camp. That's essentially what the film is about as we see this family go about their daily lives swimming, fishing, gardening, having meals outside, just being a normal family. Another review mentioned the mundanity of their lives and I loved that word because it is in stark contrast to the screams, gunshots, trains, smoke from the crematoriums that we constantly hear and see in the background. It's the banality of evil as we see this family go about its life as if the Holocaust just beyond the wall is a normal, everyday going on. Glazer uses a lot of wide angle shots to give the camera a detached feeling and also to better show the little bit of camp we can see behind the wall. Glazer also set up a bunch of cameras in the house they used to capture the actors without any crew present and to get authentic shots of them as they went about daily life as the actors never knew if they were in wide or closeup shots. All of this really helps to drive the point of the film home and it makes for such an interesting experience. Couple that with the scenes of a local Polish girl going around at night leaving apples at the worksites of the prisoners (which apparently was based on a real story) that were shot with a thermal camera so that she is in stark, bright white contrast to the darkness around her, it really plays off the main story very well. The story itself isn't a whole lot, but it's compelling because we know what is going on and know how callous the wife (played by Sandra Huller) is being as she threatens her help or gloats about all the amenities she has to her mother. We see that the evil is not just a raving, fascist lunatic with a little mustache, but a mundane family accepting and helping to commit the atrocities we see as if it's another normal day. I thought this film was very engaging and thought provoking while just genuinely being a pretty great film itself. Happy with this choice from the Academy.

The change to 10 nominees flat has been for the better and this year shows how necessary that change was. We essentially get 2 foreign films in this category and both felt deserving and not ham-fisted in here to show how diverse and woke and all that that the Academy likes to do. Oppenheimer is a good winner that I think will start to rank up there when doing all time BP lists. Got to add Barbie next to complete the Barbenheimer marriage, but it also is a great film that is going to be very easy to rewatch any time its on TV. Past Lives blew me away and was the highlight of this category for me. Just some very subtle and nuanced work that was so compelling. I just saw the trailer for Celine Song's next film and it was an underwhelming rom-com, so I hope she can be back here again. The Holdovers is a new Christmas classic, no matter what the director wants. It's got a great vibe and is just a great overall film. Then I've got the two foreign films up next with Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest. The death (murder?) of a man and the subsequent trial were riveting with great acting from Huller. And seeing the other side of the coin for a Holocaust film was really interesting and scary how evil can truly look. Killers of the Flower Moon is good Scorsese that will be up there with his classics, though not quite near the top. Maestro I enjoyed but understand why others had issues with it. Poor Things was much better than I thought it would be, but the subject can be problematic despite the great acting. American Fiction brings up the rear, even though I liked it, it feels like the one people will forget about the most, unfortunately. Alright, good group, but let's get to the most recent one so I can get back to the old films again.

Oscar Winner: Oppenheimer

My Winner: Oppenheimer

Barbie

Past Lives

The Holdovers

Anatomy of a Fall

The Zone of Interest

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Poor Things

American Fiction

Leading Actor 2023

I feel this was the category that most people were looking to as the feel good story of the night. People love Murphy and Giamatti and while Murphy started steamrolling through everything, there was a little bit of maybe Giamatti can pull off the upset. Obviously, he didn't but this was probably my favorite moment of Oscar night. Murphy looked so happy and relieved and had a big genuine smile that reminds you that these are people who get pitted against each other but have a ton of respect for each other at the same time. I think that moment of realization that the industry loves him, hit Murphy hard in a good way. None of these five had won previously and I'm always happy to see new winners and nominees in these categories. Excited to watch all of these performances.

2023 Best Actor

 

Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer

 

Somehow I forgot to write this review after watching the film. I wrote the 10 other ones for this film, but forgot this one. Damn. It sucks to try to write this literally weeks later because I like to get my immediate reactions into this review where everything is still fresh. I only realized as I went to publish this that it wasn't completed and yelled WTF out loud lol. Whoops. Murphy had this one in the bag all the way through the season and he was the very first Irishman to win Best Actor, which is wild when you think of all the Irish actors there has been in the 96 years of this award. So happy that Murphy won, because he seems like such a genuine dude who would never really campaign for an award like this to try to actually win. Obviously, he is the eponymous Oppenheimer, who helped create the atomic bomb and we see that this was a journey that wasn't quite straightforward. The word that keeps popping into mind when watching and thinking about this performance is captivating. Murphy just has "it" in the role and everything he says and does has us hanging on every word, no matter how scientific, because we know what's at stake. We follow Murphy into the story because we trust where he'll take us and the ride is a fun one. He helps humanize an otherwise mythologized figure (didn't mean to write a bar right there lol) and we can feel the fear and apprehension in creating something that will forever change the world, maybe not necessarily for the better. It's great work from Murphy who gives us that now iconic thousand yard stare that has been gif'd to death. Happy for this win and to say that he has an Oscar which just feels right.

Bradley Cooper - Maestro

If you've kept up with my blog at all (it's ok that you haven't, I know you haven't) you would know I'm a huge Bradley Cooper fan. Not a weird fan boy or anything, but someone who thinks he is one of the best actors currently going (and maybe director, too) to the point where I can't wait to see what he does next. Well, this next one was him playing American composer Leonard Bernstein in a biopic that sort of spans his career and highlights his relationship with wife, Felicia, and his extracurricular homosexual activities. There was a lot of talk about the fact that Cooper wore a big prosthetic nose to appear more like Bernstein, which to me was a lot of nothing. I mean Nicole Kidman did the same thing for The Hours with same sort of ridiculous talk which didn't matter because she still won the Oscar for that performance and didn't matter to me here for Cooper because by the end of the film, I had completely forgotten he was wearing it because he had become Bernstein, which is all that matters. Now, I do get the criticism that this was a very Oscar baity performance and Cooper's behavior while campaigning didn't help things with him saying some ridiculous things about Bernstein and clearly trying to win the Oscar and being a bit over the top. But I found the performance to be very intense and passionate from Cooper, who really wanted to become Bernstein and wanted to really be a composer. Which was a strength to the performance for me, I liked his sincerity in looking and acting like a composer. This is something that Cooper said was that he had learned and practiced for years to nail that six minute plus scene where Bernstein composes fervently, which became that scene that got shown over and over as his Oscar moment. I also liked how Cooper didn't shy away from the gay scenes in the film and embraced them because it was part of who Bernstein was. I think some other actors may have hesitated to do that. I really enjoyed the relationship between Cooper and Carey Mulligan because it's such a bizarre give and take and like a tug of war of emotions between she who loves him but he cheats on her in her face with young men but also showers her with love. It's so interesting to witness in part because how wonderful Mulligan is at handling all of the chaos she endures from Bernstein. Some of the criticisms of Cooper is that everything he does is excessive in the performance but I did say I liked the intensity and passion he displayed. So I guess it's based on how much you like or hate Cooper. I do understand that critique though, as this was definitely a vessel to try and win an acting Oscar and there are some ridiculous scenes and moments in the film. Oh well, I loved it but also know it shouldn't have won the Oscar, either. Still excited to see what he does next.

Colman Domingo - Rustin

This was a film and performance that I had been hearing about for what seemed like a couple years. Filming ended in August 2022 and there was some talk online it could maybe enter that years' Oscar race late, which obviously didn't happen. But Domingo's name kept staying in the discussions and when it moved to 2023, he became a contender for this category. I didn't know anything about Domingo or the film itself at this time. But as the Oscar season ramped up, Domingo did a ton of press and I saw him in one of those Actors Roundtable videos from The Hollywood Reporter and fell in love with him (and realized he had just won an Emmy for Euphoria and was also Tony nominated, so I realized he was hot stuff in Hollywood right now.). Not literally, but his charm and charisma is undeniable and his voice is great and he's a guy that you would love to just sit and talk with for like 10 minutes because he would actually engage with you. Just so full of personality and it actually mirrors his performance in this film. The film is about Bayard Rustin who was a seminal figure in the Civil Rights movement and was a huge reason the March on Washington event was able to be organized to such a great degree. Just one of those unknown Civil Rights figures who finally got their due with a film and is actually worth a biopic. That was one of the main issues with the film, that Domingo was so domineering in a very basic film but I thought it was actually a pretty good biopic. A little heavy on montages and exposition, but brought to life Rustin and gave us Domingo, too. Domingo's performance at first, to me, was so theatrical and overbearing that I was scared this was going to be some falsely heralded amazing work. But he settled into the role which is of an activist who is also a homosexual which permeates the story. Domingo himself is gay and the gay parts of the story never felt exploitative or shoehorned in for some perceived dramatic effect. Domingo does a great job of being a bit larger than life but reigns it in whenever necessary and never lets the character or the idea of the character get away from him. The film doesn't really get too deep into who Rustin is as a person, we only get lines or short scenes explaining he was a Communist or of his arrest for being gay, or much of his history before we first meet him. That's okay, not every biopic needs to go in depth especially when Domingo does what is necessary for the story. Maybe I'd like to see more of his faults and reactions to those, but Domingo is the reason you are watching this film point blank. Without him there is nothing to this film and that's a testament to his acting ability. It's quite possible we see him back in this category for Sing Sing, which is getting great reviews for his role, and that tells me Domingo could be a force for years to come (and this was written months before the 2024 Oscars, so this may age like milk or fine wine, I don't know.).

Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers

 

The race came down to Giamatti and Murphy and come Oscar night, even though Murphy had taken most of the precursor awards, the vibe was very much can Giamatti upset this and win the Oscar. And it was close because Giamatti's character and performance probably would have won in a weaker year. Giamatti was freaking fantastic in the role of a professor at a boys school who has to oversee the boys leftover during Christmas break (ya know, the Holdovers). Eventually those boys are only Dominic Sessa (who deserved a Supporting Actor nomination) and Giamatti has to look after only him. Giamatti's character is a guy who is reviled because of his wandering eye, his terrible fish odor syndrome, and because he's an asshole of a teacher. If that right there doesn't describe a quintessential Paul Giamatti character, then I don't know what does. I mentioned already that I wasn't the biggest fan of Giamatti's character in Alexander Payne's Sideways but that I think that this was the perfect character for him. He's an odd duck, thrust upon a situation that he is not really able to handle. He handles the holdovers when it's five boys and he can rely on compliance from the kids, but when it's just Sessa, that's when the film takes a turn. And that's when we see Giamatti have to deal with a student intimately and they begin to bond along with Da'Vine Joy Randolph as an unlikely group of friends, I guess you could call it. I'm not mentioning that this is probably a new Christmas classic and that the whole vibe of the film is nice to just take in. But legitimately, I have never seen a Giamatti character fit him so well as this one does. I dare you to watch this film and not think about giving him the Oscar here. That is how good Giamatti is in the role and how perfect it is for him. I can't articulate why I wasn't a fan of Giamatti before this other than he played some smarmy characters and was often a villain and wasn't very likeable because of those things, but Giamatti here has caused me to take another look at his oeuvre and judge it based on the content and not my opinion of him. If this had won on Oscar night, I'd actually be okay with it looking back. I'm now in that camp where I actually hope he does win an acting Oscar. Great film because of Giamatti's great performance, so let's enjoy this one.

Jeffrey Wright - American Fiction

 

I am a big fan of Jeffrey Wright. I don't know if I have ever seen a bad or mediocre performance from him and I don't know if I've seen him in a film like that, either. This feels so deserving because we have seen, or heard, Wright in so many amazing things starting with Angels in America. From there, just go to his Wikipedia or IMDB page and look at all he has been in as an actor or lent his voice to as a voice actor. James Bond, Batman, Hunger Games, The Last of Us, Marvel, HBO series, Wes Anderson films, Shaft - the list goes on. But you recognize him and certainly recognize the deep, dulcet tones of his smooth, iconic voice. And here he is at last nominated for an Oscar after winning a Tony, an Emmy, and somehow not a Grammy...yet. Just let him read some book and give him the Grammy like Viola Davis did. I kid, but it really points to just how talented Wright is and he is terrific in this film as an author who has been struggling to get his next book published and sees a young, black woman get huge acclaim for writing a stereotypical "black" book. He decides to do the same to point out the absurdity of it all, but the book actually becomes almost a modern classic with mainstream media falling all over themselves to say how much they love it and relate to it and get it. The film is hilarious at times and Wright actually does a lot of subtle physical things that you need to pay attention to fully get all the humor the film has to offer. He is so good at the deadpan or sarcastic delivery and it makes me want to see Wright in some more comedic roles because he nails it here. It also has the dramatic tinges that you would expect in a film that also showcases family issues. We know he's great at eliciting emotions, so when he's confused, we are confused. When he's exasperated, we are exasperated. When he's fed up with the absurdity, we are, too. Wright is a great everyman and a great actor and I am so happy that he finally got a nomination. I just hope he can win one someday.

Another solid group of guys. Just a great group of diverse actors and films, that's all I can ask for year in and year out. Domingo comes in last through no fault of his own, he seems like an amazing person that I'd love to sit down and talk to and just enjoy his presence. He carries Rustin, but it's just not a great script/film for him, unfortunately. I'll see him again soon because he was indeed nominated for Sing Sing like I predicted. Cooper is next up simply because I know most folks don't like how effected the performance is and felt he was trying too hard even though I loved it but recognize it shouldn't probably be a winner. Maybe one day, Bradley. Wright was his usual solid self and I'm glad he finally got recognized for it. The nomination was the reward here, but I hope it isn't the last time. Giamatti surprised me as I wasn't his biggest fan before this one. But this one was terrific and so warm and endearing that if not for Murphy, he'd be an easy winner. Murphy becomes the first Irish man to win Best Actor which is kinda crazy with the number of Irish actors we've seen throughout the years. He was unequivocally the best and I am glad he won, as it was a nice moment. Now let's get to 2024 finally.

Oscar Winner: Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer

My Winner: Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer

Paul Giamatti

Jeffrey Wright

Bradley Cooper

Colman Domingo

Leading Actress 2023

This was the only category of the main five that had any intrigue. This was a two horse race all through awards season between Stone and Gladstone. They shared Globes wins and then split SAG and BAFTA wins. I was rooting for Gladstone because she would have been a historic win and because Stone already has a win and you know how I feel about that. The other shocking thing was Margot Robbie missing out on a nomination and Bening getting that slot. I think everyone had Robbie as an absolute lock and then she was shut out and it kinda spelled doom for Barbie after that, with it only winning for Best Song. I'm still surprised she wasn't nominated and I don't know what that means for her future chances. As always, excited to dive in and see if the Academy got it right and if I think Gladstone (or someone else) should have won.

2023 Best Actress

 

Emma Stone - Poor Things

 

I'll be honest again, I wasn't hoping to like this which is the wrong attitude to have going in to watching films and performances, I understand that. If you've read this blog at all (you have not), then you know I am not a big fan of repeat winners, especially one so soon after their first. That's just a personal thing for me where I'd rather give it to someone who doesn't yet have an Oscar and skip all the make up Oscars down the line. Obviously, there are some actors who deserve and demand more than one win, I get that. So is Stone becoming an actor of that stature? Very possibly! I was blown away by this performance. But it is like a couple different roles in one as the story follows Bella Baxter as she essentially matures before our eyes after being reanimated by Willem Dafoe's character. So Stone has to play a grown woman with the brain of a young child who is curious about everything in a very in your face kind of way, much like a child. Stone worked with a choreographer to get Bella's distinctive walk down pat and it only enhances the performance and shows even the smallest of things was worked on by Stone which is the dedication you want to see out of an actor for any performance. It's also obvious that apparently this was somewhat rehearsed for a bit with the Director to allow Stone to really inhabit Bella and make her apart of herself and I love that. It shows in the performance that Stone has made so many deliberate choices with the character that it only serves to elevate the material overall. Stone is so funny in what she does with Bella, especially when she is discovering her body and sexuality which seems weird to say about a woman with a child's brain and many articles online were written about this very subject. I was laughing out loud many times at Bella's antics and that was when I knew Stone had won me over. Especially continuing to watch as Bella grows up and deals with everything going on around her and dealing with those that try to prey on her naivete. Honestly a fantastic performance that I was surprised that affected me this much and I absolutely see why the Academy loved the performance a ton (the nudity probably helps, it's still a male dominated Academy after all) even if I was a bit bummer for Gladstone on Oscar night. I say go into it with an open mind because it's way better than you think it could be and is absolutely Stone's best acting work to date. Now there's talk of her winning her third and OMG please miss me with that talk! Let's enjoy this performance and win and go from there.

Annette Bening - Nyad

Many may view the Nyad nominations as a nod to two esteemed veteran actresses for their enduring contributions and perhaps as a tribute to Bening with her fifth acting nomination. This perspective is not unfounded. The film is a pleasant, watchable piece that doesn't venture into uncharted territory with its familiar narrative of an underdog's victory. The performances, particularly the swimming sequences, are the film's main attractions and are executed superbly. The dynamic between Bening and Foster is remarkable, sparking a desire for a sitcom featuring the duo (kinda like Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda in their Netflix show). Their interaction is so genuine that one could easily believe they've been friends since childhood or have shared a long-term bond; they resonate and enhance each other's presence seamlessly. The plot revolves around Bening's portrayal of Nyad, a seasoned marathon swimmer who, after a failed attempt from Cuba to Florida at 28, aspires to conquer it again at 60. The film chronicles her multiple attempts before her eventual success. Bening doesn't just resemble Nyad; she captures her essence, tackling the arduous process of training, fundraising, and swimming with authenticity. Her portrayal exudes confidence, making the character appear real rather than a mere imitation. Bening fully immerses herself in the role, displaying a vast emotional spectrum that greatly benefits the film. It's a robust display of talent from a seasoned actress, rendering a challenging tale with apparent ease. (This was AI written where you can write a paragraph and I guess Blogger will rewrite your words with AI. I liked this so much, I left it as is after trying it. Won't do this in the future because I want these reviews to be authentic for me, but thought it was a fun little thing to try. It also captures my sentiment spot on, just with some more flowery language lol.)

Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon

Gladstone was the first Native American woman ever nominated for this category and it felt way too overdue. I'd like to start this off first by saying that I saw Gladstone for the first time in a film by Kelly Reichardt called Certain Women. Gladstone played a character in that film which was basically just three different vignettes, where she was a ranch hand that came into the city and randomly followed people into an adult education class taught by Kristen Stewart and Gladstone keeps coming to the class and strikes up a friendship with Stewart. They get close and Stewart then stops teaching and Gladstone goes to where she lives to find her and tell her that she had to see her once more or she never would again and Gladstone's performance was so heartbreakingly honest and quietly devastating that I screamed into the online world that she deserved to be nominated back in 2016 for Supporting Actress for that performance. It's utterly amazing and I felt that she would someday get a chance for something bigger and here she is nominated at last. But seriously, please go watch that film for Gladstone's story and see just how incredible she is. And then look at this performance and see some similarities in that in the earlier film she is super shy and demure, so she is doing a lot of acting with her face and eyes and then you look at this performance and see just how stoic her Osage Indian woman with oil rights is. She says so much with these little glances and facial expressions, that's what stuck out the most for parts of this performance. Couple that with the Osage language and how meekly at times she sounds or maybe shy is the better way of putting it, I don't' know. But she will whisper some word/phrase to Leo and it feels like she's saying a lot. Even at the end of the film when everything has come to light she still supports her husband to a degree and tolerates him and is just a very strong. I do wish that the film would have delved a bit deeper into who she was as a person, but the film keeps the Osage at a distance seemingly out of reverence or respect and it would have allowed Gladstone to show off a bit more than just being a suffering wife. Gladstone has had some traction since this nomination with a TV series on Apple, I think and a small movie or two, I just hope she gets another chance to show everyone how great she can truly be. She will win an Oscar if the opportunity presents itself, no doubt about that. I can't wait for that day.

Sandra Huller - Anatomy of a Fall

 

I apologize to start off because I have no idea how to make an umlaut in Blogger, so just pretend that Huller's name has it in every instance. With that said, what a year for Huller! She had some international success back in 2016 with Toni Erdmann (which is now on my watchlist) but she had a banner year with this film and The Zone of Interest, both being nominated for Best Picture, and I think that helped her get nominated here. She's attached to some projects in the future with big name producers and actors, so we will be seeing more of her soon which I am excited about. I'm excited because she gives a stellar performance here as a woman whose husband dies after a fall from a third story window in their home and we are left to wonder did she kill him or did he kill himself. The film is a family and courtroom drama that dives deep into their troubled marriage. What I love most about her performance is the directness of her acting. She was told by the director, Justine Triet, to play the character as if she's innocent without actually telling her whether she was innocent or guilty. That comes out in the performance where she's pretty steadfast in her manner and even when faced with embarrassing or hurtful or emotional accusations or evidence at trial, she doesn't launch into hysterics or cry and scream or any of that. She's at times exasperated, but she is always trying to stay level headed and I really liked that part of her performance. She does have a great flashback scene where she and her husband are having a fight and tempers flare and they start yelling and towards the end of the scene is when she starts screaming at him before it cuts away to the courtroom where we hear her break a glass and the two physically fight somewhat. It's in contrast to what we see in the courtroom and outside of it when she's trying to be a mother to her son and it all adds to the confusion of if she really did it or not. She is just so immensely impressive in this role and it's crazy to me that she learned French for the film, I assume she had to have some prior knowledge of it. But one of the things is that she's German in the film (and real life, of course) living in France and she speaks French a little, but mostly speaks English in the film. Some extra layers to the performance there and it just felt like an actress at her peak. Hopefully, it's not exactly the peak and we see more from her in the future because she is someone I can see being a big star internationally and I can't wait for it.

Carey Mulligan - Maestro

 

I'm not going to lie, I always seem to have trouble reviewing Mulligan's performances. I don't know why other than they don't push me too far in one direction or the other and I simply recognize them as being good, which can seem like an insult at times, but she is good in the performance as the wife of Bradley Cooper's Leonard Bernstein. Mulligan really has to do a lot going against Cooper's domineering performance and the two really play off each other well. Mulligan is in a weird situation as Bernstein loves her almost as much as he loves composing and their time together is a bit contentious since Bernstein also openly flaunts being with younger men. The number of emotions that Mulligan goes through on screen is immense and it's like we are seeing her process her relationship in real time as some of these things are happening. Which is incredible to see as she often has to pretend she is not as mad and pissed off as she really is because she is with family and her kids or around other guests or people. It's almost dizzying how many scenes she has to show she cares for Bernstein while he disrespects her to her face with his actions. It's a bit like a horror film watching her give him all her love while he gets to be the big star doing as he pleases and we see her dutifully standing by his side or doing her own thing since she is from high society herself and had sang and been an actress, meaning she had just as much to offer Bernstein as he brought to her. I wish I could do Mulligan's performance more justice than this slop, but if you go into the film, make sure to pay attention to just how strong she is as Felicia against Cooper's performance. 

This group was a lot better than I could have anticipated. It's nice to be surprised even when following the Awards all season long and seeing the discourse, as good and bad as it can be, throughout the season. This year could have legit had 3 different winners and I'd have been okay with any of them. I still give the win to Gladstone's very understated and beautiful work, though I am not mad at Stone winning at all. Huller would have been a great winner and really shook up the Academy for finally rewarding a foreign female performance. Mulligan really helped keep that film from going way off into Cooper's masturbatory pretentiousness. She kept this film grounded a bit and kept Cooper in check. Bening is just happy to be here again, knowing she was never going to win. A phenomenal group that I wish we could see every year.

Oscar Winner: Emma Stone - Poor Things

My Winner: Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon

Emma Stone

Sandra Huller

Carey Mulligan

Annette Bening

Supporting Actor 2023

This was another Supporting category that was over before it ever really began. Downey Jr swept everything just like Da'Vine Joy Randolph did, so these were a little boring to follow. This category was even more boring because these nominees, except for the surprise inclusion of Brown which wasn't much of a surprise, honestly, were the same group throughout the season. I say Brown was a minor surprise because he felt like the fifth spot but was nominated at SAG, so he had popular support. I am excited to watch all of these because they all had their champions online and in the media, and they all feel like they could get my support for the win, too.

2023 Best Supporting Actor

 

Robert Downey Jr - Oppenheimer

 

It seems a little silly that RDJ didn't have an Oscar before this because he had been in so many different great films with a bunch of good performances. This felt inevitable and I'm honestly glad it was for a non-comic book role. Nothing against Marvel, but this performance and role showed us that RDJ still has a lot more to give, which made the announcement that he was going back to Marvel kind of sting because he gave us a winner and then dipped. Maybe his Doom will be generational, I dunno. I just want more of this type of role from him. Here he plays Admiral Lewis Strauss, a high ranking member of the Atomic Energy Commission who eventually orchestrates a kangaroo court against Oppy, which in turn costs him a Senate Confirmation for Secretary of Commerce (yeah, I had to read wiki for that because I had no idea what either of the last trials were for). Which all stems from a perceived slight of RDJ's character by Oppenheimer while the latter greeted Einstein at a lake. We then next see RDJ trying to be slick in some government proceedings and the pettiness that sets all this off is interesting. I did find that the film sagged a bit at the end and I think it's mainly due to the build up to the bomb being much more intriguing and exciting than some bureaucratic proceedings, though RDJ is fine enough in these scenes. This performance was honestly much better than I anticipated because I was thinking it was going to be much shorter and more like a cameo, but it did have some meat on the bones. Hopefully RDJ gets his comic book film fill and comes back to these kinds of films so we don't miss out on some good to great performances.

Sterling K. Brown - American Fiction

Okay, this was a minor surprise on nomination day, but let's be honest, we kinda expect Brown to be nominated in this category. He's got a Globe, a few Emmys, and a few SAG awards mostly for his TV work. Naturally, he would take his talents to film and his character in this role is a younger brother who is over a marriage and now embracing his homosexuality and deep in his drug use. The film itself is a satire of a black man who writes a stereotypical "black" book because another book of the same mold from an educated black woman who wrote a best seller was getting lots of attention. Brown is the younger brother of Jeffrey Wright, the author, and we see him act unapologetically gay and as someone who is doing drugs and is just living his life as his true self now. He has some funny moments where he interrupts his brother and just has some wild behavior at other times. He also has some brief tender moments with his brother that don't last long before he either departs or says watch this bullshit and does something crazy. It's a minor performance that is elevated because Brown is such a phenomenal actor. He was never going to win but I think we all agree him having an Oscar nomination feels right and is totally deserved.

Robert De Niro - Killers of the Flower Moon

This was De Niro's 8th acting nomination and 9th total (he had a producer nom for The Irishman). It's honestly easy to look at any new De Niro nomination with a side eye and wonder if this is simply because he's an acting legend getting on in years and the Academy wants to reward him one last time. But this is also a Scorsese film, and you know De Niro ain't half-assing a performance with Marty, so then I get curious as to how good this might actually be. For me, the surprising thing about this performance was how benign he seemed initially and the accent he had going on. It wasn't De Niro sounding like De Niro or a New Yorker, he had the midwestern accent and it was nice to know he'd put in the effort to become King Hale, who basically runs the area in Oklahoma where this is set, and that he had such a grandfatherly demeanor. Especially since De Niro is essentially the villain of the story, which of course we find out later, but I'm glad that De Niro didn't play him evil from the outset and added more depth to the character to cause us to think about who he really was and didn't fall back into the cliches of De Niro like some veteran actors do when they don't put in the work. The performance builds as we see De Niro assert his influence on the town and the Osage members, one scene is where a tribal council has convened about the murders and they offer up money to have it investigated and De Niro pipes up that he'll put up $1,000 and for anyone with concerns or info to come see him directly. It makes him seem like a friend to the Osage and comes off as being normal and natural, but of course is a bit nefarious in hindsight. That's where the performance shines is the menacing nature that bubbles up at times to the surface of De Niro's character until we see just how evil he is. This is one of the better De Niro performances I have seen in a long time, much better than The Irishman and hope we can get more of this in the future before De Niro calls it quits.

Ryan Gosling - Barbie

 

There was a brief time during the Barbenheimer craze that Gosling looked to possibly be a front runner. I am of the belief that the Academy is very wary of rewarding a pure comedy performance like this one with no actual facts to back it up. This was Gosling's third Oscar nomination and I do hope he gets one some day. This one he plays Ken and really not much else needs to be explained because we all know what Ken represents. What I love about the performance is the earnestness with which Gosling plays the character. There is no wavering. There is no popping out of character to have some discussion about what the character means. Gosling is Ken. And his physical comedy for the role is dedicated and almost unmatched. This is full comedy but even when making jokes we can understand the different feelings Ken is going through. Apparently, Gosling made some choices for the character that cracked up director Greta Gerwig like the putting on double sunglasses or yelling Sublime! when Barbie tricks him by asking to be his girlfriend. I love when an actor is so dedicated that they can influence their character in the positive by being so in tune with them that they improve the performance with their improvisations. Gosling just gets Ken. One of my favorite scenes is Ken singing "Push" by Rob Thomas and he is singing it in such an exaggerated way. It's hilarious and perfectly Ken and really made me love the performance overall. This is what makes a great Supporting Actor. Gosling has the dramatic work that has been nominated and some that hasn't, but like his fellow nominees in Downey Jr and Ruffalo, they can excel at both dramatic and comedic and make them feel worth nominating. Gosling is certainly Kenough.

Mark Ruffalo - Poor Things

 

Ruffalo is starting to turn into one of those actors where they seem to get nominated whenever they do anything. I may be conflating his Emmy love with his Oscar love, but the guy just puts in the work in both mediums and delivers seemingly every time. This is not a nom that you point to as being bad or of some inflated worth, Ruffalo is legitimately good in this role. He's a lawyer called to set up the marriage contract between Emma Stone and her potential husband, Ramy Youssef. Ruffalo then runs off with Stone and has lots of sex with her, mind you she is a woman with a brain of a child, so he is clearly taking advantage of her. While doing so, Bella (Stone) begins to mature and doing things on her own as Ruffalo tries to keep her reigned in. There are lots of funny moments and Ruffalo is fine in the role and is this sort of scoundrel or reprobate, but it's hard to like the character who is essentially fucking a literal child mentally. It's icky and he's smarmy and really leans into the faux-sophisticated man he portrays. His performance is lustfully dumb even as he battles Bella as she becomes more philosophically inclined and independent. It's decent stuff from Ruffalo, though the character is hard to like even when you laugh at his physical humor and reactions to Bella. Not the biggest fan of this one and would like to see Ruffalo rewarded somewhere down the line, but not for this one.

Well, I certainly had higher hopes for this group, It's not awful, but it didn't live up to the expectations the awards season lead me to believe in. My win is maybe not a popular one, because everyone seems to love the Downey Jr win, but Gosling brought so much to Ken that honestly should have been a nothing role. It became so much more and so iconic. Then we have some Roberts up next with Downey Jr being very good in his role and De Niro giving us something we hadn't really seen before in a way, and I liked that. Brown eschews his TV stuff to finally break through in film and I'm here for it. Ruffalo is probably too low for most people reading this and I get it, but I don't like the character and need more from him than some pretty boy sexualizer. A good group of names that could have been better, frankly. Let's get to 2024, please.

Oscar Winner: Robert Downey Jr - Oppenheimer

My Winner: Ryan Gosling - Barbie

Robert Downey Jr

Robert De Niro

Sterling K. Brown

Mark Ruffalo

Supporting Actress 2023

This race lacked any real suspense on who was going to win because Joy Randolph swept everything and it was never in doubt for her to win. I'm eager to see the performance because from everything I've heard, she steals every scene, so I'm ready for that. The real suspense for this year was who exactly was going to be nominated. Foster sort of slipped into the fifth spot which could have been filled by a whole bunch of other women, so it was neat to watch that play out. I love that we have four first time nominees as I like to see new people rewarded for their work and not see the Academy going to the same well over and over again and that's no slight to Foster. Let's spread the wealth with these nominations!

2023 Best Supporting Actress

 

Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers

 

This was the performance that dominated everything up through Oscar night, so I was very excited to see just what exactly swept the awards season. Why did this specific performance and person just run away with the whole thing. Online I was hearing that Joy Randolph really took over the film at parts and had an emotional Oscar moment. So of course I'm expecting this to be great, but I feel like I was let down some. Joy Randolph is fantastic in this role, no doubt. She plays a kitchen manager at a boarding school and has recently lost her son to the Vietnam war. He went to this boarding school, so she is reminded of her loss with a Christmas prayer. We don't fully understand her pain because she stays so guarded but what many would consider her Oscar turn is when she is at a party from a fellow coworker and has a breakdown in the kitchen. I had heard of this moment beforehand and was honestly expecting more from it, but while being heartbreaking, it never felt like one of those Oscar moments that I point out in this blog all the time. She gets drunk and breaks down and cries. It's good acting, but I didn't feel it was a can't miss moment that gets played in those Oscar acting montages. It was brief and subtle and fit the moment, but wasn't something that people would go crazy over. Also, a lot of Joy Randolph's acting felt like a woman side eye-ing everyone else as the story goes along and occasionally pointing out how the main characters are fucked up and it feels like a natural thing for her character. But a lot of her acting was just judging the others in the film. She is delicate but her steadfastness to her family is admirable and to her friends is even more impressive. I think it's a pretty decent performance, but it certainly doesn't wow me. I can only feel that this is a weaker year, having seen only one other performance in this bunch so far. I love the film and Joy Randolph is great in the context of the film, I just have to see if this is my winner after I view them all. I'm loving what she brings to the film, just not what she brings to the category.

Emily Blunt - Oppenheimer

I will be honest and say I didn't expect much from this nomination. For one, this was a Nolan movie, and two, this is about a bunch of nuclear physicists with a ton of famous male actors. Blunt always felt like a throw in, even while watching the film - nothing against her. She probably should have already had a nomination for The Devil Wears Prada, so this is a situation of the nomination is the prize. After watching her performance, I'm still wondering what exactly Blunt did to be nominated. I guess she was sufficiently supporting and she did have I think a drinking issue that was very minimally shown and not really dealt with before being forgotten and being direct and angry toward Cillian later in the film. And I think that was it? I just watched the film and I can't remember anything of significance that she did. I do remember the awful love scene with Florence Pugh. But please tell me what does Blunt do? I do think it's cool that Jim from The Office's wife has an Oscar nom now. Where you at Pam?! And I do like all that Blunt has done and hope that she does some more interesting performances that offer more depth than this one does. Just nothing here worth grabbing on to.

Danielle Brooks - The Color Purple

I had initially started writing something like who even wanted a musical film version of this story shortly into my watching this. I like to write down my thoughts sometimes as I watch a film to better make sense of it after its done. But this musical had a lot of success on Broadway and Brooks was nominated for a Tony Award and the cast won a Grammy for one of their random, obscure, 500 awards they give out. So I understood why they wanted to cash in on that success, but does it denigrate the original work and the substance of that work? Nah, the actual musical parts of the film are not a lot for a two and a half hour film. But yes, this is about Brooks who plays the Sofia character that Oprah played in the 1985 film and the role she was nominated for the Tony Award on stage. The film does do the dramatics of the story well, but to a way lesser degree than the Spielberg film, which makes sense. Brooks is a firebrand character who comes into the film like a wrecking ball (Miley Cyrus would be proud) and instantly sets the tone of what Brooks is going to bring to the film. Easy to see why she was nominated out of all the choices the film could have had. And again, it makes sense because Brooks is the one who lived this role for a bit while earning a Tony nod. She's very comfortable in the role, knows who Sofia is and ain't afraid to make her character spring to life. She is a much needed spark in a film that can get a bit moribund at times with the whole domestic violence, women ain't shit, poor black women are even lower thing, etc. Brooks shows us that is not the case. A strong, sassy, somewhat independent woman is a very real and very likeable thing. It obviously makes her character arc more heartbreaking when she is beaten down and defeated and we feel that as the viewer. It's great that there is a happy ending, though we don't really see it for Sofia other than she overcomes her resignation. It's a good performance. Fantasia Barrino was really great as Celie, but she was never getting nominated in Best Actress. It has some catchy songs, though the film itself isn't amazing and certainly not on par with Spielberg. But Brooks satisfies and feels like a worthy nominee here.

America Ferrera - Barbie

 

I love this nomination! I loved Ferrera in Superstore, so seeing her get an Oscar nom is surreal but also not surprising. She was definitely the heart and soul of that show and has been doing a ton in TV since Ugly Betty. She's an incredibly funny actress who has the chops to pull off any dramatic moment. That is evidenced by her performance here where she gives an iconic monologue about what it means to be a woman. It went viral and there's nothing fake in her delivery. She is the tired and exasperated woman who is done having to be perfect and submissive and strong and dutiful to the household and be a million different versions of herself at the right time to not offend someone. I'm a man and even I feel her desperation in that monologue. It's a double standard that us men just don't really have to navigate. Ferrera is the Barbie doll player that pulls Margot Robbie's Barbie into the real world and she nails her limited use. Her daughter hates her because the daughter is a typical brooding teen and they eventually bond over her being this badass woman who helps Barbie clean up Barbie Land and become her own thing. I am totally cool with people getting nominated based on one particular scene because it has happened so much throughout Oscar history. It has to be earned, though, and Ferrera definitely earns her nomination. That is a monologue that will be forever shown on clip shows and various Oscar highlights as some of the best reasons someone has been nominated. Totally approve of Ferrera being here and it's so cool to see her achieve this level of success.

Jodie Foster - Nyad

 

Foster was never going to win here and I feel like she came along for the ride with Annette Bening as the older Academy voters were showing them some love for maybe the last time? She is already a two time winner, so not much left to prove and this performance was good but certainly not as good as she is capable of. The film was a decent, enjoyable watch about Bening's Nyad, a woman who did marathon swimming challenges all over the world. She had tried to swim from Cuba to Florida in her 20s but failed. Now at 60, she decided she wanted to try again and the film follows her as she makes a few attempts. It's a never give up and good things will happen sort of story and Foster plays Nyad's longtime friend and sort of coach / manager. The two veteran actresses have unbelievable chemistry and you just feel like they are longtime friends (which they might be, I don't know exactly) with how they interact with each other and joke around and tease and call each other out. It's a very realistic friendship portrayal and it's part of the reason anyone is watching this little film anyway. We are watching Foster and Bening do their thing in a film together and rooting them on to succeed in their crazy swim. And that's really it. Foster is solid, she is believable in the role, she hits the right emotions at the right times, she brings a great vibe to the film overall. Not her greatest work, but not the worst thing you'll ever see and it's kinda nice to see her nominated again after so long.

Not the greatest group for what was really a weaker year for nominees, sad to say. I don't understand the Blunt nomination at all. I think she just came along for the ride like so many previous nominees because she did nothing of note and I had trouble remembering what exactly she did after watching the film. I enjoyed Foster, but she was never winning. Just a good supporting role for Benning to work with and enjoy a possible last nomination and getting her flowers. Joy Randolph would be the middle woman and I was really hoping to love her performance, but it simply underwhelmed for something that swept the whole season. Brooks was surprisingly good to me. She had a lot of energy and passion in the role and she carried a mostly boring film. If not for Ferrera having that big, iconic monologue scene, Brooks would have been the choice. I just loved what she brought to the film that became a cultural moment and would have loved to see her win. So she's my choice. Let's get on to 2024, I am so ready for it!

Oscar Winner: Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers

My Winner: America Ferrera - Barbie

Danielle Brooks

Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Jodie Foster

Emily Blunt