Cruella
2 Nominations
- Costume Design: Jenny Beavan (Mad Max: Fury Road, The King's Speech, Gosford Park, Anna and the King, Sense and Sensibility, The Remains of the Day, Howards End, Maurice, A Room with a View, The Bostonians)
- Makeup & Hairstyling
Director: Craig Gillespie
Cast: Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Joel Fry, Paul Walter Hauser, John McCrea, Mark Strong, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Emily Beecham, Kayvan Novak
I did not really care about this movie, and I waited a very long time to see it. It suffers from the same central problem that plagues The Devil Wears Prada: to wit, it loves its central villain, makes her the most fabulous character in all creation and then expects us to dislike her. Well, I didn't. I guess we're supposed to think she's terrible for committing lots of murders and stealing other people's designs and being a really good editor. But in a world like this where literally everything is fake and the reality is all just surfaces, how can one hate someone who is almost pure surface, who is supremely the best at surfaces? Also this movie is, for some reason, two hours and twenty minutes long. My other real gripe is that it didn't seem like Emma Stone was having very much fun. It felt really earnest for a really long time. Ok but there is something I want you to notice about Jenny Beavan's career. Her earliest nominations are all for Merchant-Ivory films – adaptations of novels by Henry James, E.M Forster, and Kazuo Ishiguro. Then she makes Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility, and she continues to dress rich British people, including kings. Then she makes Mad Max: Fury Road and wins. And now she's going to win again. I thought this was a longshot until I saw it. The film is filled with awesome dresses and creative silhouettes. My money is behind Jenny Beavan.
Will Win: Costume
Could Win: Makeup & Hairstyling
My Rating: #48 out of 58
Spencer
1 Nomination
- Actress: Kristen Stewart
Director: Pablo Larraín
Cast: Stewart, Sally Hawkins, Jack Farthing, Sean Harris, Timothy Spall, Jack Nielen, Freddie Spry, Stella Gonet, Laura Benson
I've written about this film here. I think Spencer is a polarizing movie, and the central performance is equally polarizing, although I fall firmly on the side of thinking Stewart is wonderful in it. There has been lots of drama with this nomination. Stewart was long considered the favorite to win the Oscar in this category, and then Nicole Kidman somehow won the Golden Globe award instead. This was followed almost immediately by a snub from the Screen Actors Guild, who thought Lady Gaga and Jennifer Hudson deserved nominations. Insanity. This was all rectified when Stewart scored her first Oscar nomination on February 8, but things were definitely touch and go. Smart money now says the favorite to win Best Actress is Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, but I'm sticking stubbornly to Stewart. She's a hard-working actress who has been churning out excellent indie performances for years, and her performance in Spencer is lovely. I think she deserves this, and I think the votes will split in her direction.
The Hand of God (È Stata la Mano di Dio)
1 Nomination
- International Film: Italy (The Great Beauty, Don't Tell, Life Is Beautiful, The Starmaker, Mediterraneo, Open Doors, Cinema Paradiso, The Family, Three Brothers, Dimenticare Venezia, The New Monsters, A Special Day, Seven Beauties, Scent of a Woman, Amarcord, Investigation of a Citizen above Suspicion, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, La Ragazza con la Pistola, The Battle of Algiers, Marriage Italian Style, Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, 8 1/2, The Four Days of Naples, La Grande Guerra, Kapò, Big Deal on Madonna Street, Nights of Cabiria, La Strada, The Bicycle Thief, The Walls of Malapaga, Shoeshine)
Director: Paolo Sorrentino
Cast: Filippo Scotti, Marlon Joubert, Toni Servillo, Teresa Saponangelo, Luisa Ranieri, Renato Carpentieri, Massimiliano Gallo, Betti Pedrazzi
I adore Paolo Sorrentino, as you probably know. And The Great Beauty is one of my favorite films of all time, so I fully expected to love The Hand of God... and I did. It's a beautiful, very funny film, even quirky according to Sorrentino standards. The performances are excellent – particularly by Teresa Saponangelo and Luisa Ranieri – and the editing, photography, and design are all impeccable. It's the usual perfect Sorrentino movie, directed with supreme confidence. I loved this. It's on Netflix, and if you haven't seen it yet, I recommend it.
Will Win: N/A
I adore Paolo Sorrentino, as you probably know. And The Great Beauty is one of my favorite films of all time, so I fully expected to love The Hand of God... and I did. It's a beautiful, very funny film, even quirky according to Sorrentino standards. The performances are excellent – particularly by Teresa Saponangelo and Luisa Ranieri – and the editing, photography, and design are all impeccable. It's the usual perfect Sorrentino movie, directed with supreme confidence. I loved this. It's on Netflix, and if you haven't seen it yet, I recommend it.
Will Win: N/A
Could Win: N/A
My Rating: #8 out of 58
My Rating: Unranked; this is a 2022 release.
Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom (লুনানা)
1 Nomination
- International Film: Bhutan
Director: Pawo Choyning Dorji
Cast: Sherab Dorji, Ugyen Norbu Lhendup, Kelden Lhamo Gurung, Pem Zam, Sangay Lham
I've been rooting for Lunana since Bhutan submitted it for the 2020 Oscars but it was disqualified because it was never released because of the global pandemic. Then Bhutan submitted it again for the 2021 Oscars (a couple of countries did this), and it seemed a real longshot. This got a final slot in the five nominees for International Film. Drive My Car, Flee, and The Worst Person in the World all got multiple nominations, and so it's clear that they were shoo-ins for the category. There still remained a large amount of competition, including Finland's Compartment No. 6, which already had a U.S. distributor, Iran's A Hero, directed by multiple winner Asghar Farhadi, and Austria's Great Freedom, which I was also rooting for – since it stars Franz Rogowski and is about a gay prisoner. In any case, Lunana scored a nomination! The film itself, however... is pure Disney. It's a sentimental plot through and through: young man who wants to leave Bhutan is forced to teach small children in the most remote school in the world, high in the mountains. He is resentful and bitter, but then he slowly learns to love their way of life. It's sweet and wholesome, and the vistas are gorgeous. This movie does get better at its end – the last twenty minutes are actually excellent. But, and I hate to say this, you've seen plenty of movies just like this before. Whatever. I'm glad Bhutan got its first nomination, I'm glad Pawo Choyning Dorji made this movie, and I'm glad I saw it.
Will Win: N/A
Could Win: N/AMy Rating: Unranked; this is a 2022 release.
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