tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17314923954262080862024-03-19T04:47:47.810-04:00TEA TO POURAaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.comBlogger3325125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-90076233654277937762024-03-08T10:59:00.000-05:002024-03-08T10:59:27.402-05:00Oscar Nominations 2023: 9 of 9 (with Final Predictions)<p>I just barely squeezed through! Neon finally released <i>Perfect Days </i>for VOD on Tuesday, and so I was able to watch it last night. None of these movies will win on Sunday, but they are our last three:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3zGJLbWum0OqrMrFpOUcMNsrI492v2Q_Dgn0IEWr-yoFHi-JrVlm3yPd8xHknxFF9jNJ22euK4nT6Web_MvNSjOIEbg8d6RuR8J4aiohoekkRVbDlYD7hw89M6Sb4c96oxVGoUuvO9Pcb47j53de99qmsZyOWg4vnlJpUh-58OP384OqJVBaAi1MK-rM/s1280/00%20perf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3zGJLbWum0OqrMrFpOUcMNsrI492v2Q_Dgn0IEWr-yoFHi-JrVlm3yPd8xHknxFF9jNJ22euK4nT6Web_MvNSjOIEbg8d6RuR8J4aiohoekkRVbDlYD7hw89M6Sb4c96oxVGoUuvO9Pcb47j53de99qmsZyOWg4vnlJpUh-58OP384OqJVBaAi1MK-rM/w400-h300/00%20perf.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Perfect Days</i></b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>International Feature: Japan</b> (<i>Drive My Car, Shoplifters, Departures, The Twilight Samurai, Muddy River, Kagemusha: the Shadow Warrior, Sandakan No. 8, Dodes'ka-den, Portrait of Chieko, Woman in the Dunes, Kwaidon, Koto, Immortal Love, The Burmese Harp, Samurai 1: Musashi Miyamoto, Gate of Hell, Rashomon</i>)</li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/wim%20wenders">Wim Wenders</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Yakusho Kōji, Nakano Arisa, Yamada Aoi, Emoto Tokio, Asō Yumi, Ishikawa Sayuri, Miura Tomokazu, Tanaka Min</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This is very good. It is a simple, quiet film (the main character, Hirayama, hardly speaks at all) about approaching each day with happiness. We do not know, really, what has happened to Hirayama before the film, and though we gradually learn a bit about his previous life, we mostly just spend time in the present. This, of course, is what the film is about, and Hirayama greets each day positively and richly. While I was watching this film, I felt like I got it, like the film's ideas made sense to me, but I think </i>Perfect Days <i>is better and better the more I think about it. It is sticking with me, and asking me to think more deeply about what it showed me. This is a very good movie.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#27 out of 82</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWneAPB3R3aNrtGyaf9ZVW974iOsHz2MTEkLM_z8FTJCoWCL4cztCEHUNO4nywvWu0Ga6cGCLgqt4AU4CZYJWdizqnucPOZ2NLA2miEpHYv_0eTBzbE4Eka94f50oT3m__KLvOmxjAUX-dkhoQxbrfsoWb37WlPvT8s5ctA5WSo8Wa1bUq23niLYELaN8/s1400/00%20teachers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="787" data-original-width="1400" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWneAPB3R3aNrtGyaf9ZVW974iOsHz2MTEkLM_z8FTJCoWCL4cztCEHUNO4nywvWu0Ga6cGCLgqt4AU4CZYJWdizqnucPOZ2NLA2miEpHYv_0eTBzbE4Eka94f50oT3m__KLvOmxjAUX-dkhoQxbrfsoWb37WlPvT8s5ctA5WSo8Wa1bUq23niLYELaN8/w400-h225/00%20teachers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Das Lehrerzimmer (The Teachers' Lounge)</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>International Feature: Germany</b> (<i>All Quiet on the Western Front, Never Look Away, Toni Erdmann, The White Ribbon, The Baader Meinhof Complex, The Lives of Others, Sophie Scholl: the Final Days, Downfall, Nowhere in Africa, Beyond Silence, Schtonk, The Nasty Girl</i>)</li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/ılker%20çatak">İlker Çatak</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Leonie Benesch, Eva Löbau, Michael Klammer, Rafael Stachowiak, Sarah Bauerett, Kathrin Wehlisch, Leonard Stettnisch, Anne-Kathrin Gummich, Katharina M. Schubert, Uygar Tamer, Özgür Karadeniz, Tim Porath, Kersten Reimann</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><i>İlker Çatak’s film is a modern nightmare of right and wrong set in a middle school. It’s truly terrifying. We watch a young, righteous teacher navigate between moral choices but seemingly misunderstand the human beings in her community. </i>The Teachers' Lounge<i> is a tense, ticking time bomb of a movie structured like one of Asghar Farhadi’s films, where a seemingly small injustice spins the characters out of control and into a terrifying world. The Farhadi structure is important here, because the way </i></span><span style="text-align: center;"><i>İlker Çatak and Johannes Duncker's script works is really modeled after movies like </i>A Separation <i>and </i>The Salesman<i>, but I don't think </i></span><i style="text-align: center;">Çatak works his way toward finality of any kind, and the end of </i><span style="text-align: center;">The Teachers' Lounge<i> is unsatisfying. It is an exciting ride, though, with its taut, horror-film score and its building tension. Good stuff.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#47 out of 82</a></div></div></span></div></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oyQ9RQgII8ruycr-EkjQDplRHCKrydtmxpTHgQ3GEW7OGTYC4zCUz3wNB4sBvNG7b2r-Jd86rZTORELYs9pl-vMP9Tz2Lr7a1647cZU703AJROAhwJss1WjGMQ43gNaj_h2ZaL5DwQxYtqXcbhXCqpMHKG5DhNY-JpiYrq86yeHPb5SRBUKzONjTff8/s6240/00%20io.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="6240" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oyQ9RQgII8ruycr-EkjQDplRHCKrydtmxpTHgQ3GEW7OGTYC4zCUz3wNB4sBvNG7b2r-Jd86rZTORELYs9pl-vMP9Tz2Lr7a1647cZU703AJROAhwJss1WjGMQ43gNaj_h2ZaL5DwQxYtqXcbhXCqpMHKG5DhNY-JpiYrq86yeHPb5SRBUKzONjTff8/w400-h266/00%20io.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Io Capitano</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>International Feature: Italy </b>(<i>The Hand of God, The Great Beauty, Don't Tell, Life Is Beautiful, The Starmaker, Mediterraneo, Open Doors, Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, La Famiglia, 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</i>)</li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/matteo%20garrone">Matteo Garrone</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Seydou Sarr, Moustapha Fall, Issaka Sawadogo, Hichem Yacoubi, Doodou Sagna, Khady Sy, Venus Gueye, Cheick Oumar Diaw, Joe Lassana, Mamadou Sani, Bamar Kane, Beatrice Gnonko, Flaure B.B. Kabore</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>T</i><span style="text-align: center;"><i>his definitely tugged at my heartstrings, but it felt like an Italian movie from the 1990s. Très romantique! It has a kind of triumphal, soaring, beat-the-odds quality that I associate with a kind 1990s filmmaking. This is a grueling portrait of young men attempting to leave their home in Senegal for what they believe will be a better life in Italy. The odyssey from Senegal to Mali to Niger to Libya is insane and almost unimaginably dangerous. And then there's the boat ride to Italy, which is also nearly impossible. This is an extraordinary portrait of young men (and the many, many other people who the film pictures only briefly), who are not given the freedom to move through the world, who are restricted by government violence and militamen, who are exploited by grifters because governments do not let people move freely. Still, the movie didn't quite work for me because it treats all of these things rather like small obstacles for our main characters that don't need their own interrogation. The world these young men have to navigate has been created by irresponsible governments in all of these countries (including Italy), but because we focus on the boys – their wonder, their difficulties, their tenacity – Garrone's portrait of this world takes on a romantic hue.</i><i> </i>Io Capitano<i> is very well made, but this kind of thing is not what I want from Matteo Garrone and his usual portraits of crime.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b>2024 release – unranked</div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><b>My earlier Oscar posts for 2023:</b></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/oscar-nominations-2023-1-of-9.html">1. <i>Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie, Maestro</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-2-of-9.html">2. <i>Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, American Fiction</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-3-of-9.html">3. <i>Napoleon, Past Lives, Nyad, Society of the Snow</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-4-of-9.html">4. <i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, The Creator, Rustin, May December</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-5-of-9.html">5. <i>The Color Purple, El Conde, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-6-of-9-animated.html">6. Animated Features</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-7-of-9.html">7. <i>Godzilla Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Golda, American Symphony, Flamin' Hot</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-8-of-9-animated.html">8. Animated Short Films</a></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>My Predictions for Sunday:</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Best Picture: </b><i>Oppenheimer</i></li><li><b>Best Director: </b>Christopher Nolan, <i>Oppenheimer</i></li><li><b>Best Actor: </b>Cillian Murphy, <i>Oppenheimer</i></li><li><b>Best Actress: </b>Lily Gladstone, <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i></li><li><b>Best Adapted Screenplay: </b>Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, <i>Barbie</i></li><li><b>Best Original Screenplay: </b>David Hemingson, <i>The Holdovers</i></li><li><b>Best Supporting Actor:</b> Robert Downey Jr., <i>Oppenheimer</i></li><li><b>Best Supporting Actress: </b>Da'Vine Joy Randolph, <i>The Holdovers</i></li><li><b>Best International Feature: </b>United Kingdom, <i>The Zone of Interest</i></li><li><b>Best Animated Feature: </b><i>The Boy and the Heron</i></li><li><b>Best Documentary Feature: </b><i>20 Days in Mariupol</i></li><li><b>Best Film Editing: </b>Jennifer Lame, <i>Oppenheimer</i></li><li><b>Best Cinematography: </b>Hoyte van Hoytema, <i>Oppenheimer</i></li><li><b>Best Production Design: </b>Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, <i>Barbie</i></li><li><b>Best Original Score: </b>Robbie Robertson, <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i></li><li><b>Best Costume Design: </b>Jacqueline Durran, <i>Barbie</i></li><li><b>Best Sound: </b>Johnnie Burn and Tarn Willers, <i>The Zone of Interest</i></li><li><b>Best Visual Effects: </b>Nojima Tatsuji, Shibuya Kiyoko, Takahashi Masaki, and Yamazaki Takashi, <i>Godzilla Minus One</i></li><li><b>Best Makeup & Hairstyling: </b>Mark Coulier, Nadia Stacey, and Josh Weston, <i>Poor Things</i></li><li><b>Best Original Song: </b>Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, <i>Barbie</i></li><li><b>Best Animated Short Film: </b><i>War Is Over!</i></li><li><b>Best Documentary Short Film:</b> <i>The ABCs of Book Banning</i></li><li><b>Best Live-action Short Film:</b> <i>The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar</i></li></ul></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-13500637112628798332024-03-03T10:50:00.002-05:002024-03-08T11:00:23.952-05:00Oscar Nominations 2023: 8 of 9 (Animated Shorts)<p>Here are the five animated short films. (I've decided to skip the documentary short films and the live-action short films – they're always so bad, and I've already suffered through <i>Golda </i>and <i>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.</i>)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlwXxDIkFU_T0rZOw6Sf48_K1pT2bdpG6rCNWdo68ncWpECSSS2Y6e59HqySUsAuqTUpWH-SR7r-MdBsaEPU5qcNZuatFXOCoEq04ND9cW00k5BLmKR9Rw_kML5Oj9Eiz4DT7ukWYEVahkuhDqPe-tYwc9DJaoYxi3ASVd_EoMqM4xCG-AhXUCA5JWW6I/s1200/0%20war%20is%20over.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="643" data-original-width="1200" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlwXxDIkFU_T0rZOw6Sf48_K1pT2bdpG6rCNWdo68ncWpECSSS2Y6e59HqySUsAuqTUpWH-SR7r-MdBsaEPU5qcNZuatFXOCoEq04ND9cW00k5BLmKR9Rw_kML5Oj9Eiz4DT7ukWYEVahkuhDqPe-tYwc9DJaoYxi3ASVd_EoMqM4xCG-AhXUCA5JWW6I/w400-h214/0%20war%20is%20over.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>War Is Over!</i></b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Animated Short Film</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/dave%20mullins">Dave Mullins</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This is a sweet fantasy in the realm of </i>Joyeux Noël<i>, where the soldiers from both sides in World War I have a relationship with one another and don't really want to kill one another, but the warlords and the ruling class push a war. In this little film, the men play chess by writing their moves on paper and then sending a pigeon to the other side (this is not actually possible, but for the sake of this fantasy, I guess we accept it). Anyway, this is sweet but very much a fantasy, which is why I guess I expect it to win.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: Animated Short Film</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win:</b> N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b>#4 out of 5</div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsT8NFqjpjZK1FFlk9kPxZuSWx8UYNdh3UTU_C0wz-BNkC-CxKgnlYU1TAdao1SjNRbbTEZRE2T7glTkUMOanm-B55v3njW4Pkdu5tFbECNeZY6Q_xzyqMKaJZgYW9YOIAW0MKhlYkTVD6PVzoCQXR0XdjsTkuPBBNYy9wmmx92pi5vuxtwFfVxhxRws/s4096/0%20ninety-five%20sense.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="4096" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbsT8NFqjpjZK1FFlk9kPxZuSWx8UYNdh3UTU_C0wz-BNkC-CxKgnlYU1TAdao1SjNRbbTEZRE2T7glTkUMOanm-B55v3njW4Pkdu5tFbECNeZY6Q_xzyqMKaJZgYW9YOIAW0MKhlYkTVD6PVzoCQXR0XdjsTkuPBBNYy9wmmx92pi5vuxtwFfVxhxRws/w400-h211/0%20ninety-five%20sense.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Ninety-five Senses</i></b></div></b></div></span></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>1 nomination</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Animated Short Film</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/jared%20hess">Jared Hess</a>, <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/jerusha%20hess">Jerusha Hess</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Tim Blake Nelson</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Easily the best film of the group, this beautiful movie is an exploration of the five senses by an older gentleman who tells us things he knows about the five senses. More is revealed about the man as the film progresses, and we learn about him and the choices that he has made – and about the choices he hasn't made but have been made for him. The film is a powerful, extraordinary description of human being, of bravery in the face of death, and of the terrible power of the state. I absolutely wept, and I loved this so much. It deserves to win, and maybe it will.</i></div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Animated Short Film</div><div><b>My rating: </b>#1 out of 5</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsN-YRG9hFPUkCpCpdC756-AbxSD8yGBJGA6L7VvGJ-CyOb4f43Hr0yhUM4amp-m2gVH1AEnih87-7xgcBX_X3XcAv-rY_HtXDW5urRk6eY2pGpBW9hPJ070cBeqjg_ihl3V65VfJddVzLR4trcYiXwsYA8bHdAkvsk-mUxmH2Ks_BF7lYDu7jNV7mHeI/s1920/0%20pachyderm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsN-YRG9hFPUkCpCpdC756-AbxSD8yGBJGA6L7VvGJ-CyOb4f43Hr0yhUM4amp-m2gVH1AEnih87-7xgcBX_X3XcAv-rY_HtXDW5urRk6eY2pGpBW9hPJ070cBeqjg_ihl3V65VfJddVzLR4trcYiXwsYA8bHdAkvsk-mUxmH2Ks_BF7lYDu7jNV7mHeI/w400-h225/0%20pachyderm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Pachyderme (Pachyderm)<br /></b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Animated Short Film</b></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><b>Directo</b><b>r</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/stéphanie%20clément">Stéphanie Clément</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Christa Théret</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This is a story of a young girl staying with her grandmother and grandfather in the country. It's mysterious and scary, and takes us to unexpected places. The animation style is beautiful but slightly surreal, almost in a kind of art nouveau kind of way. We experience things with the young protagonist and aren't sure what's real or not. The film clarifies at the end, though, and we understand what has been happening and why the surrealism is there, as well. The movie moves in dream logic, and that logic is smart and well crafted and beautiful.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>Animated Short Film</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b>#2 out of 5</div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNppnYL3TrQbYPZmk_auN4jDoHt4pqGTqC44l-Fw7NPugkftd5YD8fvcMFACUNcVF9nw9uFs2dvc5gtrSlNn85LZ_HrJWqTld-J4bSMgxBieRdltu4yfdsKMcV_yZD9DT6GlXqnscokwiKZHNYcFdYwVaJFxyjsCLsDUy2XDMcwvb4SUAX_y7gycwtNFY/s1280/0%20leter%20to%20a%20pig.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNppnYL3TrQbYPZmk_auN4jDoHt4pqGTqC44l-Fw7NPugkftd5YD8fvcMFACUNcVF9nw9uFs2dvc5gtrSlNn85LZ_HrJWqTld-J4bSMgxBieRdltu4yfdsKMcV_yZD9DT6GlXqnscokwiKZHNYcFdYwVaJFxyjsCLsDUy2XDMcwvb4SUAX_y7gycwtNFY/w400-h225/0%20leter%20to%20a%20pig.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Letter to a Pig</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Animated Short Film</b></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/tal%20kantor">Tal Kantor</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Alexander Peleg, Moriyah Meerson, Ayelet Margalit</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>I will have the most to say about this movie, perhaps. In Tal Kantor's movie, a survivor of the Shoah escaped from the Nazis and hid with pigs. The pigs protected him, and so he has written a letter to the pig, which he reads to a bunch of kids in a Jewish school. In the letter, however, he begins to spout racist hate, saying other people are no better than animals, and he seemingly forgets that he began by praising an animal. The children take this in with varying levels of boredom, but we move into a fantasy in which they find a pig and torture it. The film then shifts again and the pig gets younger and younger and younger until the protagonist – a young girl – pets the pig, snuggles with it, and then lets the pig go. In other words, the plot of </i>Letter to a Pig<i> is very interesting! But the film is not, actually, and I liked it the least of all of these. The reason for this is that the animation is startlingly ugly, and I'm not sure why. The people are partially drawn and drawn to be uglier than usual. There are parts of each body that move into a kind of beautiful realism, but those are frequently just a hand or a strand of hair. Mostly we're stuck with ugly drawings of people doing awful things. It's a film with a central idea that I really liked, but I just could not enjoy this. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>Animated Short</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b>#5 out of 5</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvAeh6k8qD11uEsVqmOjBjQqAufl0KuM4peY_pbzefcKE4DLJpfEnal_adyPzK8VUCHS4LhSibpJYTnzZRPL-ySuo1vubTxhUSl0sl3tPTShhPdjlpmGuUYNFr1-e5A-qN4fKOZHxZp92tJ1puviFjMEUUYYHPNZ4qTZY_EXKm0dSJEsoHJk59piCFXI/s580/0%20our%20uniform.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="580" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNvAeh6k8qD11uEsVqmOjBjQqAufl0KuM4peY_pbzefcKE4DLJpfEnal_adyPzK8VUCHS4LhSibpJYTnzZRPL-ySuo1vubTxhUSl0sl3tPTShhPdjlpmGuUYNFr1-e5A-qN4fKOZHxZp92tJ1puviFjMEUUYYHPNZ4qTZY_EXKm0dSJEsoHJk59piCFXI/w400-h225/0%20our%20uniform.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Our Uniform</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Animated Short Film</b></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/yegane%20moghaddam">Yegane Moghaddam</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Moghaddam</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This is perhaps the simplest and most unassuming of the films. Yegane Moghaddam's movie is animated on clothes, which you can see in the still above. She tells the story of growing up in Iran and being required to cover her hair. Even more, the film is about the ways that we separate girls from boys, and transform them into "females" instead of people who might have a future and be anything they wish. This is not an exciting or bold movie in any way, but it is simple and clear and charming, and I enjoyed it.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b>#3 out of 5</div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><b>More posts coming soon:</b></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/oscar-nominations-2023-1-of-9.html">1. <i>Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie, Maestro</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-2-of-9.html">2. <i>Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, American Fiction</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-3-of-9.html">3. <i>Napoleon, Past Lives, Nyad, Society of the Snow</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-4-of-9.html">4. <i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, The Creator, Rustin, May December</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-5-of-9.html">5. <i>The Color Purple, El Conde, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-6-of-9-animated.html">6. Animated Features</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-7-of-9.html">7. <i>Godzilla Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Golda, American Symphony, Flamin' Hot</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-9-of-9-with.html">9. <i>Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, Io Capitano</i></a></div><div><br /></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-82977706242061601062024-02-24T11:49:00.004-05:002024-03-08T11:01:08.079-05:00Oscar Nominations 2023: 7 of 9<p>We are scraping the bottom of the barrel, nomination-wise, with these five films. These are traditionally the categories that include the worst films, but we will start with a movie that I think everyone liked:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcYoHVAfiJZaKeVsjwG-6ABHSx3kYXIVkdVp220k466VHZb9nTaMuJF1Ad6odGgpLTCiqGeM_pIJwzVMMzHNih8BQYBLZYo2V-JI4kzd9-_LiFd6qA5K5Kqej33nNXpJGbbEXdKZ47ffVGFsMgS6x3JcWoaE31rl-bg6P31-Q5CZrUOSBtwETLqKNZkw/s780/0%20g-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="780" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTcYoHVAfiJZaKeVsjwG-6ABHSx3kYXIVkdVp220k466VHZb9nTaMuJF1Ad6odGgpLTCiqGeM_pIJwzVMMzHNih8BQYBLZYo2V-JI4kzd9-_LiFd6qA5K5Kqej33nNXpJGbbEXdKZ47ffVGFsMgS6x3JcWoaE31rl-bg6P31-Q5CZrUOSBtwETLqKNZkw/w400-h225/0%20g-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i>G Minus One </i>(</span></b><span><b>ゴジラ-1.0</b></span><b style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">)</span></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Visual Effects</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/yamazaki%20takashi">Yamazaki Takashi</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Kamiki Ryūnosuke, Hamabe Minami, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Andō Sakura, Sasaki Kuranosuke, Yamada Yūki, Aoki Munetaka</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This was pretty good. Godzilla looks really amazing in this—he’s a kind of perfect throwback to 1950s Gojira without looking too cheesy—and the script explicitly links the fight against G to Japanese national performance and postwar economics. I found the non-action sequences a little long though, and they telegraphed too much about the final showdown to the audience ahead of time, so it didn’t have the surprise it should have. But, look, I love Godzilla/Gojira (I love monster movies in general), so I enjoyed all of the time I got to spend with the big guy. It's just that </i><span style="text-align: center;"><i>Kamiki Ryūnosuke sure did spend a lot of time crying in this. So many tears!</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>Visual Effects</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#38 out of 81</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhBxqrOhqlloQlLKwpko9bPIdN1NJSG1n8RZZ5Ly_e3xbbVC48jE7SxSrJA11mtrsat6VYWhHwm7JWF7WQ1-LhNchsE1CtUdpdmqvepc-QuRIAQuki1s8fOOiBf70OG3J_iFMgu3iE-QUEKXfuMb7e0xFoWglkq3KTyltjKd91UI5P_J_QvfQbkCTSYFg/s1200/0%20guardians3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhBxqrOhqlloQlLKwpko9bPIdN1NJSG1n8RZZ5Ly_e3xbbVC48jE7SxSrJA11mtrsat6VYWhHwm7JWF7WQ1-LhNchsE1CtUdpdmqvepc-QuRIAQuki1s8fOOiBf70OG3J_iFMgu3iE-QUEKXfuMb7e0xFoWglkq3KTyltjKd91UI5P_J_QvfQbkCTSYFg/w400-h210/0%20guardians3.png" width="400" /></a></div>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Visual Effects</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/james%20gunn">James Gunn</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: <span style="text-align: center;">Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, Maria Bakalova, Elizabeth Debicki, Sylvester Stallone</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><i>I liked the plot of this. It’s smart for a while. But the third act really drags, and at one point I was like </i>oh god there’s still another hour?? <i>I’m into the film’s approach to animals, but at one point the whole thing just becomes too preposterous. And also I didn’t know who a good thirty percent of the characters were. There’s a dog that speaks English? A whistling dude? And they fly a kind of planet-ship with its own ecosystem and gravity? Who lives on this ship with them and why? I don’t know. The stakes of this were lost on me. I get that these Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are made for people who understand the lore a lot better than I do and who, I presume, have seen the other films more recently than I have (the last one came out literally 6 years ago—I’m supposed to remember it?), but I do wish this studio would make its films more accessible to people who aren’t steeped in their lore. But I do love Bradley Cooper. I love him in everything, and I love him in this.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#66 out of 81</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DDeeGmWBEI8WANG7HmI7kqEs74iEz3lv3HZ22uwVtIZTTSevR_3tZk94P9xJA_LXn0BfIEJFq-4Iwh63mcqNlQ7EFOdYA5MF8Oo7YXxDxQsTb1KMVxQtIoK1sld42svV6VwXuMsYFxsqVmxDqpDH6ujXjOANzm3f3jEoxUxeYhUhzzue_sWvQkMk0AU/s730/0%20golda-2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="392" data-original-width="730" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DDeeGmWBEI8WANG7HmI7kqEs74iEz3lv3HZ22uwVtIZTTSevR_3tZk94P9xJA_LXn0BfIEJFq-4Iwh63mcqNlQ7EFOdYA5MF8Oo7YXxDxQsTb1KMVxQtIoK1sld42svV6VwXuMsYFxsqVmxDqpDH6ujXjOANzm3f3jEoxUxeYhUhzzue_sWvQkMk0AU/w400-h215/0%20golda-2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>Golda</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Makeup & Hairstyling</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/guy%20nattiv">Guy Nattiv</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Helen Mirren, Camille Cottin, Liev Schreiber, Lior Ashkenazi, Rami Heuberger, Rotem Keinan, Dvir Benedek, Ellie Piercy, Henry Goodman, Ed Stoppard, Dominic Mafham, Ohad Knoller</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Nope. Honestly, after Guy Nattiv won an Oscar for his <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2019/02/oscar-nominations-2019-part-6-of-11.html">horrible live-action short film </a></i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2019/02/oscar-nominations-2019-part-6-of-11.html">Skin</a><i>, I don't know why anyone would give him money to make a movie. Well, they didn't give him much—</i>Golda <i>was definitely made on the cheap—but still. This movie is awful. </i><span style="text-align: center;"><i>In many ways, this is basically the same movie as </i>Rustin<i>. It’s a kind of live-action Wikipedia entry with questionable filmmaking, a terrible screenplay, and famous actors in the roles of recognizable historical figures. </i>Golda<i> just has ultra conservative politics instead of </i>Rustin’<i>s vaguely left-of-center politics. What's almost totally insane about the movie is that it has no connection to soldiers or battles. This is a movie about a war that has no soldiers even as </i>characters; <i>instead, Nattiv gives us the battle sequences with blurry animated footage that is actually impossible to follow. At one point, we watch a battle in a windowless control room, and the score is completely gloom and doom, and we stare at Golda Meier, and she looks miserable, and I thought for sure that things were going very poorly for the Israeli military, but then everyone starts cheering and celebrating. Apparently I was supposed to understand the weird animated footage I had been watching to be a positive thing. It's a mess.</i> <i>There's no reason to watch this movie.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#81 out of 81</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3K3Txe20i6Wy9h44UFB1MvJdkow4EjgJM_CNF4miqdlllXqMjGrTxmhCTgqsn-21Jb0CxI8rGVQ6CCProsQPEcjyvlgsyvBRtVKgQKx06K1kA6WqpNgKtCUD6hMVZZxwhKh8EbHjetqZ659L6r7QkoKfk2n3z8m5x4anJcmttiuxY3Ip1pliIMNGAuU/s1581/0%20amer%20symph.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="889" data-original-width="1581" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo3K3Txe20i6Wy9h44UFB1MvJdkow4EjgJM_CNF4miqdlllXqMjGrTxmhCTgqsn-21Jb0CxI8rGVQ6CCProsQPEcjyvlgsyvBRtVKgQKx06K1kA6WqpNgKtCUD6hMVZZxwhKh8EbHjetqZ659L6r7QkoKfk2n3z8m5x4anJcmttiuxY3Ip1pliIMNGAuU/w400-h225/0%20amer%20symph.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>American Symphony</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Original Song – "It Never Went Away": Jon Batiste</b><i> </i>(<i>Soul</i>)<b style="font-style: italic;"> </b><b>& Dan Wilson </b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/matthew%20heineman">Matthew Heineman</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This was not interesting. I think maybe it’s because the film really doesn’t give us access to Jon Batiste, the man at the movie's center at all. In many ways it’s a very cold look at Jon Batiste. Like, obviously the filmmaker loves him, but he doesn’t seem interested in getting any deeper into what makes him tick or what moves him and mostly just stays at the level of </i>oh wow this man is very cool<i>. I mostly feel like not very much happened in this movie, if I’m honest. I mean, sure, there were events, but they are transmitted to us more like news than a personal journey. Jon Batiste gets married, his wife has cancer, and the two of them cope with that together—and also frequently apart. He also works on composing his symphony, although we really don't see any of this process and don't know anything about the music or how he figures out what the music sounds like. I really just don't know anything about this guy after this movie. It feels really odd.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>Original Song</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b>Unranked</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz6LRAg1-TeezkK88zFXX8rgUK8aspwGgiCgFvvLBJ1Fgk_yhlXhrsdXAmzATLAJeNQKpCSjIaQmHVKll2yxqmJG9PdLeH52Joh40RB2V130ZF8EwifcHcQAgg91GDOtB-7ODnDYy3SoqgeaYU-f-8J2LchRJUtiKGtLx8tB7M7PslVgoIk46MSQ-hufk/s1500/0%20flamin%20hot.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz6LRAg1-TeezkK88zFXX8rgUK8aspwGgiCgFvvLBJ1Fgk_yhlXhrsdXAmzATLAJeNQKpCSjIaQmHVKll2yxqmJG9PdLeH52Joh40RB2V130ZF8EwifcHcQAgg91GDOtB-7ODnDYy3SoqgeaYU-f-8J2LchRJUtiKGtLx8tB7M7PslVgoIk46MSQ-hufk/w400-h200/0%20flamin%20hot.png" width="400" /></a></div>Flamin' Hot</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Original Song – "The Fire Inside": Diane Warren </b>(<i>Tell It like a Woman, Four Good Days, The Life Ahead, Breakthrough, RBG, Marshall, The Hunting Ground, Beyond the Lights, Pearl Harbor, Music of the Heart, Armageddon, Con Air, Up Close & Personal, Mannequin</i>)</li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/eva%20longoria">Eva Longoria</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Jesse Garcia, Annie Gonzalez, Emilio Rivera, Vanessa Martinez, Dennis Haysbert, Tony Shalhoub, Pepe Serna</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This is a movie about a guy who came up with a brand so he could sell more chips. The brand succeeded, and so did he. We are in a very strange moment of capitalism in which viewers are expected to root for a brand. </i><i>The issue with this movie, though, is simply that not one thing in it feels authentic. The acting is terrible, and the whole thing just feels completely fake. </i>Flamin' Hot <i>occasionally leans into its mythmaking silliness, but not enough. It believes its own story way too much to work. </i><i>I did like the part where Montañez tells his father off; movies always want to tell us that family is the most important thing, so I appreciated that. I also thought that Montañez's little boy was super cute. We needed more of him. But mostly Eva Longoria's film is a flamin' hot mess. Of course, that doesn't much matter when Diane Warren has written a song for your movie. You're gonna get nominated anyway! Warren has been nominated nine out of the last ten years for the Original Song Oscar, and </i>Flamin' Hot<i> marks her fifteenth nomination. She has never won, and I'm beginning to suspect she never will. The music branch just nominates her every year. I expect to be writing the same thing next year. The reason she's never won, though, is that if you look at the movies she's been nominated for in the last ten years you also won't find anything good. The movies themselves are bad, and she has to know it. I find the Diane Warren nomination to be a very strange annual tradition.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#78 out of 81</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><b>More posts coming soon:</b></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/oscar-nominations-2023-1-of-9.html">1. <i>Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie, Maestro</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-2-of-9.html">2. <i>Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, American Fiction</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-3-of-9.html">3. <i>Napoleon, Past Lives, Nyad, Society of the Snow</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-4-of-9.html">4. <i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, The Creator, Rustin, May December</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-5-of-9.html">5. <i>The Color Purple, El Conde, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-6-of-9-animated.html">6. Animated Features</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-8-of-9-animated.html">8. Animated Short Films</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-9-of-9-with.html">9. <i>Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, Io Capitano</i></a></div><div><br /></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-46255935388211376802024-02-17T10:47:00.009-05:002024-03-08T11:02:25.003-05:00Oscar Nominations 2023: 6 of 9 (Animated Features)<p>For some reason, each of the animated feature films only received one nomination. Usually one or two get an Original Score nomination or an Original Song nomination, and sometimes screenplay nominations or even Best Picture, but not this year. The other key thing about 2023 – and every year – is that you can generally expect the movies to be split between the studios. This is why there's almost always a random Netflix nominee you've never heard of, one nominee from Japan, and another nominee from Europe in addition to the big studio usual suspects from Disney–Pixar and Dreamworks. I assume this is because the Animation branch votes in blocs. Anyway, here are this year's five nominees.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ywxlTO2uxRO6QnpOxMqcB-V3S_YyjJWGCaM4kDYXaP_7GFa0hR2-OMraXtfqHeqR3bWeMcuKNoSbF7_E_JjNBrRYnmu635tm1ZHV0975Bj5tGYyQ2Jmd80QmVTlsXy1NGkiw1s0YguALofP4b62-392BlJyF9x4mTyvybOVnsR-5gVuJEf0myvNrS7M/s2000/00%20across%20the%20spider-verse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="2000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6ywxlTO2uxRO6QnpOxMqcB-V3S_YyjJWGCaM4kDYXaP_7GFa0hR2-OMraXtfqHeqR3bWeMcuKNoSbF7_E_JjNBrRYnmu635tm1ZHV0975Bj5tGYyQ2Jmd80QmVTlsXy1NGkiw1s0YguALofP4b62-392BlJyF9x4mTyvybOVnsR-5gVuJEf0myvNrS7M/w400-h200/00%20across%20the%20spider-verse.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Spider-man: across the Spider-verse</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Animated Feature</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/joaquim%20dos%20santos">Joaquim Dos Santos</a>, <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/kemp%20powers">Kemp Powers</a>, <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/justin%20k.%20thompson">Justin K. Thompson</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jason Schwartzman, Oscar Isaac, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Shea Whigham, Greta Lee, Amandla Stenberg, Jharrel Jerome, Andy Samberg, Jack Quaid, Rachel Dratch, Ziggy Marley, Jorma Taccone, Daniel Kaluuya, Mahershala Ali, J.K. Simmons, Donald Glover, Elizabeth Perkins, Kathryn Hahn, Ayo Edebiri, Nicole Delaney, Antonina Lentini, Atsuko Okatsuka, Peter Sohn</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>This is very very cool for all of its running time. It's unexpected and interesting, and it has more surprises up its sleeve than you can basically ever imagine. The animation for this film – as with the original – is inventive and almost shocking. It places different styles next to one another in such a brilliant way that it makes the totally incongruous seem natural. In many ways this is just a genius piece of moviemaking and more-than-worthy sequel to the first film, </i>Into the Spider-verse<i>. But... and this is a very large but... the ending drove me nuts. I went with a friend, and when it was over we looked at one another and said "shame about the ending". The filmmakers opt for a cliffhanger, but it feels inept, and because I wasn't expecting a cliffhanger, I was </i>very<i> disappointed by this choice. Still, this is a good movie, and I would say it's the favorite to win the Oscar (though it is not what I'm going to predict). Also, I have a question: when all of the spideys are in the world with all of the spideys instead of in their home-worlds, who's guarding the home worlds? They're just all hanging out in a different dimension and leaving their worlds to go to hell? I wouldn't mind this idea so much except that this </i>Spider-man <i>series sees the world as </i>intensely <i>dark and filled with peril. To take this series at its word, the world is on the absolute brink of ruin and evil. Anyway, it's something I've been wondering.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>Animated Feature</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#34 out of 78</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRuEkCnoHAbZjnDg_lcUzTjoSZWI0rSmv7fM1Ik0DMTmONjjg5J5H3fNhL1syKs-2TnDxRPqMC1emc6hi1RYRyaTH77RydLUc4inoPeVQiNmw-Wwb2Q54YlUpZA16R1LU2eobtS37BfzVuS7609V4-xLEclGQZRCbegd1dc7oBqP8Kx1Bf2cGxc5UPUng/s1200/00%20boy%20and%20the%20heron.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRuEkCnoHAbZjnDg_lcUzTjoSZWI0rSmv7fM1Ik0DMTmONjjg5J5H3fNhL1syKs-2TnDxRPqMC1emc6hi1RYRyaTH77RydLUc4inoPeVQiNmw-Wwb2Q54YlUpZA16R1LU2eobtS37BfzVuS7609V4-xLEclGQZRCbegd1dc7oBqP8Kx1Bf2cGxc5UPUng/w400-h225/00%20boy%20and%20the%20heron.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Boy and the Heron</i></b></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>(君たちはどう生きるか)</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Animated Feature</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/hayao%20miyazaki">Hayao Miyazaki</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Ko Shibasaki, Aimyon, Yoshino Kimura, Takuya Kimura, Keiko Takeshita, Jun Fubuki, Sawako Agawa, Karen Takizawa</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>I really, really liked this and it's the highest ranking of the animated features for me this year. It's surreal and i</i><span style="text-align: center;"><i>maginative and beautiful and striking and magical. This is also an extraordinarily adorable take on the multiverse and the ways that grief fragments the experiences of our lives. I say adorable because this vision of the multiverse (and we had a few this year with </i>Past Lives, The Boy and the Heron, Spider-man, <i>and </i>Robot Dreams<i>) thinks about the different ways that loss affects us, and the different ways that those we love and lose can live on within us or around us. This is a film about family and legacies, but it's also about how we process the loss of a loved one. And it does that in typical, surreal, Miyazaki fashion, with goose-stepping parakeets and shattering castles and souls reborn. This is wonderful.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: Animated Feature</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#13 out of 78</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0dVGsfbUTTF_AaB-h7AJt3CUNsyJeutmN-yNhwvhj8EYxpdSj6qbkjqC5e3B4x5uyeaC3hx1brFYGHoyIwz-NIPtNjwxeYyHi5DceLt2k_u5PiO7UkIAi-kgMpon4xtuusdqTunPP-bjo3ygiHuDo3kQ2FxnAgL8ZnVAVbXmqBi5R0OKXiYk-aGJt5Y/s1920/00%20elemental.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB0dVGsfbUTTF_AaB-h7AJt3CUNsyJeutmN-yNhwvhj8EYxpdSj6qbkjqC5e3B4x5uyeaC3hx1brFYGHoyIwz-NIPtNjwxeYyHi5DceLt2k_u5PiO7UkIAi-kgMpon4xtuusdqTunPP-bjo3ygiHuDo3kQ2FxnAgL8ZnVAVbXmqBi5R0OKXiYk-aGJt5Y/w400-h225/00%20elemental.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Elemental</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Animated Feature</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/peter%20sohn">Peter Sohn</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Ronnie del Carmen, Shila Ommi, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Catherine O'Hara, Mason Wertheimer</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>This is cute. It’s completely predictable in every imaginable way, but it’s kind of irresistible anyway. This is, first and foremost, a story of immigrants and growing up with immigrant parents, and although it would seem to indicate some kind of </i>specific <i>allegory for the immigrant experience of one group, it's trying to do something more inclusive and, perhaps (I'm not quite sure) more interesting. It's intensely clever in its world building, and I liked much of it, especially the world itself. It definitely has its problems, though. For one thing, the main character, "Ember", spends most of the film as an anxious ball of fire (if you will), and she's uptight and kind of annoying. The young water-man who loves her, "Wade", is perfect and understanding and does all of the right things. This makes for a movie that is off-kilter. She is hard to like and he is easy to like. I think it's just a kind of basic androcentric position that filmmakers often take. </i><i>I think my other problem with movies like this (predictable romantic comedies, I mean... or maybe I mean animated movies that are aimed at young people) is that “doing the right thing” is so obvious. The audience knows what the right thing to do is </i>way<i> before the characters figure it out. This makes us feel good as viewers, of course – we are so much wiser than these fools/kids on the screen – but I find it very boring. And nothing like real life. And more often than not, parents are not quite as open to change as these narratives would like to imagine. But, hey, this is a fable about fire-people and water-people, so we can live in the fantasy.</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#60 out of 78</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLSCAXp8JaMDNUx5QveLfc7Lkc5YJWReC5h1h8nvkH7oE090xzgBy2to-7WjNwNFmMRc12f5d6tsIb0tFL9rNWxceTEEKNwj72EscwomZODW2YC33VgSYi6Sx8B0eLSxl5C_jjESZyGCukQtO7nANyqbeacWLnZmfRSqnrPgbif1RJDa4TXdIaCd1IVk/s1998/00%20robot%20dreams.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1998" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLSCAXp8JaMDNUx5QveLfc7Lkc5YJWReC5h1h8nvkH7oE090xzgBy2to-7WjNwNFmMRc12f5d6tsIb0tFL9rNWxceTEEKNwj72EscwomZODW2YC33VgSYi6Sx8B0eLSxl5C_jjESZyGCukQtO7nANyqbeacWLnZmfRSqnrPgbif1RJDa4TXdIaCd1IVk/w400-h216/00%20robot%20dreams.png" width="400" /></a></div>Robot Dreams</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Animated Feature</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/pablo%20berger">Pablo Berger</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Ivan Labanda, Tito Trifol, Rafa Calvo, José García Tos, José Luis Mediavilla, Graciela Molina, Esther Solans</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>This is much better than the cuteness of </i>Elemental.<i> Pablo Berger's film is a very cute story about coping with loneliness and meeting a friend instead. Or perhaps it's about falling in love instead of friendship. Actually, yes; it's about falling in love. There are several wonderful things about this. First, it's done as a film without dialogue; there's sound, of course, so it isn't a silent movie, but the whole thing is done without anyone talking. Second, this movie is called </i>Robot Dreams, <i>and it is quite literally that. It lives in the multi-verse world that so many of this year's films live in, where we are inside the dreams of a robot for some of the film's running time. These dreams are sweet and sad and sometimes wonderful. The whole thing is inventive and delightful, and then it takes a turn in the third act. This turn is nothing short of extraordinary, and because I wasn't expecting it, I still feel surprised by the wistful regret and wisdom that </i>Robot Dreams <i>offers its audience. It's a really lovely movie. Now, let's talk about release dates. I do not understand why a distributor would release a movie for a single week in theatres in December so that it can qualify for the Oscars and then not release the film in wider release during the six weeks it's nominated. Literally </i>Robot Dreams <i>will never be as popular as it is right this second, and yet Neon is planning to release the movie in May or June </i>well <i>after either </i>The Boy and the Heron <i>or </i>Spider-man: across the Spider-verse <i>will already have taken home the Animated Feature Oscar. Why? What is the logic here? It makes absolutely no sense to me. So, anyway, this is impossible to see on either a big screen or a streaming service right now,</i><i> and actually it makes me kind of mad</i><i>. (Mind you, I'm annoyed with the distributors of </i>Io Capitano <i>and </i>Perfect Days<i>, too; Cohen Media is doing this in addition to Neon.) And I really don't like bootlegging things – they actually deserve my money – but I got frustrated and found the movie <a href="https://ridomovies.tv/movies/robot-dreams-rd2">here</a>.</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#49 out of 78</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhalFOYqrQExwh_B_vErm0rx3mSaf-I8uXBA0yQN4p-vhuPT0qoLHO6Vncj4QHYXS2D9hCRrVbSRlzOp6EXHBX1m3v4URXgNi9sM2pA9xlwlmhXb0FQdSFtAPn4Tn18S2ZHbAss2uvYiD6EUYTmzMje_lxvujMWnkpYTWFlkiWnKOjtaCWBrBJ-2rQCgAo/s1068/00%20nimona.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="1068" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhalFOYqrQExwh_B_vErm0rx3mSaf-I8uXBA0yQN4p-vhuPT0qoLHO6Vncj4QHYXS2D9hCRrVbSRlzOp6EXHBX1m3v4URXgNi9sM2pA9xlwlmhXb0FQdSFtAPn4Tn18S2ZHbAss2uvYiD6EUYTmzMje_lxvujMWnkpYTWFlkiWnKOjtaCWBrBJ-2rQCgAo/w400-h225/00%20nimona.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Nimona</b></div></b></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Animated Feature</b></li></ul><span><b>Director</b></span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/nick%20bruno">Nick Bruno</a>, <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/troy%20quane">Troy Quane</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Chloë Grace Moretz, Riz Ahmed, Eugene Lee Yang, Frances Conroy, Lorraine Toussaint, Beck Bennett, RuPaul, Indya Moore, Julio Torres</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>Oh dear. <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/nimona-2023.html">I wrote my thoughts on this already here</a>. This is very gay, and I'm glad it's very gay, but it's also predictable and boring and has some "very important" </i>lessons <i>it's interested in teaching us. No thanks. As much as I like gay things, I would like them to be better than this. </i><i> I will say that I love Riz Ahmed and I love this very gay cast (except Chloë Grace Moretz; <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-closet-and-its-protections-on.html">I haven't forgiven her for this really offensive act of outing she pulled in 2018</a>), but </i>Nimona<i> is not a good movie. </i><i>My friend Caleb says that the original graphic novel is very good, and he even mailed me a copy, so I'm gonna read that and hope it's better than this nonsense. I recommend that you do that too.</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#76 out of 78</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div></span></div><div><br /></div></div><div><b>More posts coming soon:</b></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/oscar-nominations-2023-1-of-9.html">1. <i>Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie, Maestro</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-2-of-9.html">2. <i>Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, American Fiction</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-3-of-9.html">3. <i>Napoleon, Past Lives, Nyad, Society of the Snow</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-4-of-9.html">4. <i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, The Creator, Rustin, May December</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-5-of-9.html">5. <i>The Color Purple, El Conde, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i></a></div><div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-7-of-9.html">7. <i>Godzilla Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Golda, American Symphony, Flamin' Hot</i></a></div></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-8-of-9-animated.html">8. Animated Short Films</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-9-of-9-with.html">9. <i>Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, Io Capitano</i></a></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-42203296108147193922024-02-13T22:50:00.001-05:002024-02-13T22:50:10.891-05:00Silence Is a Falling Body (2017)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWN3gJuF79uw403NBJGVjNciHzXyfMymmylJvSKWFir5z2za2ZUDIzI75iZvM5Tj7dn8gBgJhKpA4NSfgEMFir3K1JysENQBMJiLPA8k_d9ffTTMrctSzyCm3xDVhYe34L8VFiHcGfwm2mbQwdNywM8E2rjAgc5Jn2WutwtgTs6_chhyUiVBZm1iwOZk/s1200/el%20silencio%20es%20un%20cuerpo%20que%20cae.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="806" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWN3gJuF79uw403NBJGVjNciHzXyfMymmylJvSKWFir5z2za2ZUDIzI75iZvM5Tj7dn8gBgJhKpA4NSfgEMFir3K1JysENQBMJiLPA8k_d9ffTTMrctSzyCm3xDVhYe34L8VFiHcGfwm2mbQwdNywM8E2rjAgc5Jn2WutwtgTs6_chhyUiVBZm1iwOZk/w269-h400/el%20silencio%20es%20un%20cuerpo%20que%20cae.jpg" width="269" /></a></div>I wish <i>Silence Is a Falling Body</i> were better. It’s a home-video movie about the filmmaker’s father and his life as a gay man <i>before </i>he married the filmmaker's mother, but the director doesn’t have quite enough footage to fill out her exploration of her father’s life. To make matters more complex, she avoids two pieces of the narrative puzzle that would have made the film more intriguing and compelling: she doesn’t interview her mother and she doesn’t analyze her own gaze at all critically. What does she want to find looking at these images, sifting through these stories? Comedi never actually asks that question in the film. And that’s a let-down.Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-39910569565806476592024-02-12T10:39:00.007-05:002024-03-08T11:02:38.468-05:00Oscar Nominations 2023: 5 of 9<p>The rest of the movies that got Oscar nominations all got only one nomination. Some of these will be hidden gems (usually the International Feature nominees), and some of these will be completely abominable (usually the Original Song and Makeup & Hairstyling nominees), but I still watch them all. This post only has three films because the next post will have five:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div style="font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloNywqxwfYnCJwPdWQC4gVS7Q4djgNthpafFLPqKJtTUfdxmddfhVgaqGEC5B7mSv7s8qAXqxBrle8wePykW104Vl5DAsyWZF3vYsrm0MFvZ4QEy5cpPbCV6yNjPeZFP3knTfbL6zdmdkSp9zcjuiwNAty0m45fylFs11G2fJfII-W32NV_2sVApvm-4/s3000/0%20color%20purplr.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1688" data-original-width="3000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjloNywqxwfYnCJwPdWQC4gVS7Q4djgNthpafFLPqKJtTUfdxmddfhVgaqGEC5B7mSv7s8qAXqxBrle8wePykW104Vl5DAsyWZF3vYsrm0MFvZ4QEy5cpPbCV6yNjPeZFP3knTfbL6zdmdkSp9zcjuiwNAty0m45fylFs11G2fJfII-W32NV_2sVApvm-4/w400-h225/0%20color%20purplr.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Color Purple</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Supporting Actress: Danielle Brooks</b></li></ul><span>Director</span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/blitz%20bazawule">Blitz Bazawule</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, Halle Bailey, Ciara, H.E.R., David Alan Grier, Deon Cole, Jon Batiste, Louis Gossett Jr.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>I very nearly hated this. An <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Love-Aaron-C-Thomas/dp/1032329475/">entire fifth of my second book</a> is about the novel–movie–musical adaptations of </i>The Color Purple<i>, so I had high hopes for what this movie could have been. It's nearly a complete failure, I think. You can read my objections to the new movie's complete removal of the musical's spiritual themes <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/new-color-purple-same-as-old-color.html">here</a>, but my real objection is that this new movie is not a film adaptation of the stage musical. It is a musical adaptation of the 1985 movie. And that is just a bad choice all around. Now, listen, Danielle Brooks is obviously a highlight of this new movie that no one needed. She gets nominated for the role Oprah Winfrey was nominated for in 1986. It's hard to be mad at Brooks getting praised; who doesn't love Danielle Brooks? (She played the same role on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony there.) But this isn't winning anything, and it's the biggest missed opportunity of a film this year.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#69 out of 75</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0N8IcXcJjwmUzrpf8zT0XnmPJZTGRQx0irPg3AwwmCGo5JWt1CTsOuQYl4wJpCoW-8vnd5VbOdYfCETFq7y3ezIXcJiziYcosbHh9HIov3TzGuMM7oomGvFBe4AqRwcTPzaHEhvwyYx6mbLh-sCIb_cOSo-n3Jg8GDtgv_IsOnnvS2rmlDx4Ip-6oUE/s2560/0%20el%20conde.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1707" data-original-width="2560" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0N8IcXcJjwmUzrpf8zT0XnmPJZTGRQx0irPg3AwwmCGo5JWt1CTsOuQYl4wJpCoW-8vnd5VbOdYfCETFq7y3ezIXcJiziYcosbHh9HIov3TzGuMM7oomGvFBe4AqRwcTPzaHEhvwyYx6mbLh-sCIb_cOSo-n3Jg8GDtgv_IsOnnvS2rmlDx4Ip-6oUE/w400-h266/0%20el%20conde.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>El Conde</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Cinematography: Edward Lachman </b>(<i>Carol, Far from Heaven</i>)</li></ul><span>Director</span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/pablo%20larra%C3%ADn">Pablo Larraín</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer, Alfredo Castro, Paula Luchsinger, Stella Gonet, Catalina Guerra, Amparo Noguera, Antonia Zegers, Marcial Tagle, Diego Muñoz, Clemente Rodríguez, Rosario Zamora</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Pablo Larraín reimagines the Chilean dictator and war criminal Augusto Pinochet as a centuries-old vampire who faked his death in 2006 but is living on, feeding on the hearts of Chileans whenever he needs a boost. This is completely outrageous. "El Conde" is "The Count", which, apparently, Pinochet called himself, but it is also, of course, Dracula. </i><span style="text-align: center;">El Conde<i> is disgusting, satirical fun. I’ve never seen a world leader skewered in quite this way. This is a brazen, shocking comedy that loathes its central figure, but the film manages to enjoy itself, and consequently we do too, as it describes Pinochet’s many, many crimes against humanity. It's gorgeously shot by Todd Haynes' usual cinematographer (Lachman did not do </i>May December<i>). I am not sure how I feel about Larraín, though, honestly. I'm not sure what he's doing. I don't understand these projects of his. </i>Spencer, Jackie, El Club, El Conde: <i>What's going on?</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#33 out of 75</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvPadkZ3uGqn3Spdiu_F8Jd49V0hfqWxEBq7zi2eHD_Iv1rrkidc3GIKc9I8b3uax7QLQIPCBUYVWr9yddsV_GW7GGn9CsmaFU9c2hiEPwm_N2bgtC5yUCT3HqJVNzUP3G1_wSFF-aDTGZKX2ABL81_n-lkmXJ2kTiqIJCfW1FY0al1Vv9q6ikApjf2g/s1480/0%20dial%20of%20destiny.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="832" data-original-width="1480" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvPadkZ3uGqn3Spdiu_F8Jd49V0hfqWxEBq7zi2eHD_Iv1rrkidc3GIKc9I8b3uax7QLQIPCBUYVWr9yddsV_GW7GGn9CsmaFU9c2hiEPwm_N2bgtC5yUCT3HqJVNzUP3G1_wSFF-aDTGZKX2ABL81_n-lkmXJ2kTiqIJCfW1FY0al1Vv9q6ikApjf2g/w400-h225/0%20dial%20of%20destiny.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny<br /></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div style="font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Original Score: John Williams </b>(<i>The Fabelmans, Star Wars: Episode IX – the Rise of Skywalker, Star Wars: Episode VIII – the Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – the Force Awakens, The Book Thief, Lincoln, War Horse, The Adventures of Tintin, Munich, Memoirs of a Geisha, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Catch Me If You Can, Artificial Intelligence: A.I., Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Patriot, Angela's Ashes, Saving Private Ryan, Amistad, Sleepers, Nixon, Sabrina, Schindler's List, JFK, Home Alone, Born on the Fourth of July, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Accidental Tourist, Empire of the Sun, The Witches of Eastwick, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The River, Return of the Jedi, E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, Superman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, The Towering Inferno, Tom Sawyer, Cinderella Liberty, Images, The Poseidon Adventure, Fiddler on the Roof, The Reivers, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Valley of the Dolls</i>)</li></ul><span>Director</span>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/james%20mangold">James Mangold</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Boyd Holbrook, Olivier Richters, Ethann Isidore, Toby Jones, Antonio Banderas, Karen Allen, John Rhys-Davies, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Martin McDougall, Alaa Safi</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><i>Why did they even bother with this trash? I mean, I guess I hope Jez Butterworth and Mads Mikkelsen got paid well? This was so fucking stupid. </i><i>And also I want to say that I do not enjoy this colonial trope where our “heroes” descend on some non-American city like Syracuse or Tangiers and then wreck a whole bunch of shit and steal people’s motorbikes so that they can chase bad guys. This is basically a staple of the James Bond movies and the </i>Mission: Impossible<i> movies, but I just don’t understand how I’m supposed to stop thinking about the random newly married couple whose car just got stolen before their honeymoon while Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Harrison Ford drive off in their honeymoon vehicle. Like, I know I’m supposed to be focusing on whatever McGuffin the script has provided, but that is not where my brain goes. This was nominated because the Music Branch is corrupt and ridiculous and they nominate John Williams every single year he has a score out. Mind you, three of the four</i><i> previous </i>Indiana Jones<i> movies were also nominated for best "original" score, and they have found a way to nominate him for the most recent three </i>Star Wars<i> films as well. It's just so ridiculous when they could have finally given Joe Hisaishi a nomination for </i>The Boy and the Heron<i> or honored Michael Giacchino's gorgeous work on</i> Society of the Snow<i>. But no; the Music Branch is over here nominating John Williams for his </i>fifty-fourth<i> Oscar for a terrible fifth movie in a tired franchise. What a snooze.</i></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#67 out of 75</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b>More posts coming soon:</b></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/oscar-nominations-2023-1-of-9.html">1. <i>Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie, Maestro</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-2-of-9.html">2. <i>Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, American Fiction</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-3-of-9.html">3. <i>Napoleon, Past Lives, Nyad, Society of the Snow</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-4-of-9.html">4. <i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, The Creator, Rustin, May December</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-6-of-9-animated.html">6. Animated Features</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-7-of-9.html">7. <i>Godzilla Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Golda, American Symphony, Flamin' Hot</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-8-of-9-animated.html">8. Animated Short Films</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-9-of-9-with.html">9. <i>Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, Io Capitano</i></a></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-68280775134177106752024-02-10T11:14:00.011-05:002024-03-08T11:02:51.383-05:00Oscar Nominations 2023: 4 of 9<p>The next four movies on our list:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1S-sOSMkJMIDYT2vH6Uy7JxjwCvBEo1q3I3-baY3X0uifO8MHRbOeRjyzpSiIRWWOR3YRfLRAf2E-p4ChbWispmGgF9fZK1km2g_wP3B-2urnckyi1lhkwZJhnAO0Y5g4ADdSYM9_9KSsi3VTdVMjM3khWu17Lg9D-I7feGZH2i67rxZl1i5EgmhFlPQ/s2000/0%20dead%20reckoning.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1047" data-original-width="2000" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1S-sOSMkJMIDYT2vH6Uy7JxjwCvBEo1q3I3-baY3X0uifO8MHRbOeRjyzpSiIRWWOR3YRfLRAf2E-p4ChbWispmGgF9fZK1km2g_wP3B-2urnckyi1lhkwZJhnAO0Y5g4ADdSYM9_9KSsi3VTdVMjM3khWu17Lg9D-I7feGZH2i67rxZl1i5EgmhFlPQ/w400-h210/0%20dead%20reckoning.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One<br /></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>2 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Sound</b></li><li><b>Visual Effects</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/christopher%20mcquarrie">Christopher McQuarrie</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Shea Whigham, Henry Czerny, Pom Klementieff, Cary Elwes</div><div><br /></div><div><i>It seems crazy to say this, but these two nominations – for the seventh movie in the series – are this franchise's </i>first <i>ever nominations. In any case, </i>Dead Reckoning<i> was fun. It's also complete nonsense. As I left the theatre I asked myself: did a bot write this? Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised. McQuarrie's film was very very silly, but it's not without its charms. There is, however, a paradox in PG-13 films like this one. They purportedly shield young people (under 13) from seeing too much violence. At the same time, their plots are about saving the entire world from succumbing to violent destruction. And yet, they irresponsibly show the most brutal, horrible physical violence as if it has no consequences at all. You can get your face slammed into a stone wall and come right back to fight some more, and you can get your hand stabbed into a table and not bleed a drop. So while PG-13 films such as this (and the ones cranked out by Marvel Studios) purport to be opposed to violence, they make the world more and more violent by pretending that terrible violence does no harm.</i></div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Visual Effects</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#50 out of 73</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold;"><b><i style="font-style: italic;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxcnPSTTC4ySKl4w7A2f7wt9jDNrWbg0hboMVLC4f-rX6qcKpwjTiXb_l2Zyfn2O73s-ak6kDlAdcl0o1J_AOQldj-yrLb0Srw7C_9gRGgNJBHi2PnZa5_exUPf98PM7d1c4VksvGqopJgzn5_pwPbx20VvZn96liBwb68v91sfw0ASsyytjbOk4svR0/s1200/0%20the%20creator.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxcnPSTTC4ySKl4w7A2f7wt9jDNrWbg0hboMVLC4f-rX6qcKpwjTiXb_l2Zyfn2O73s-ak6kDlAdcl0o1J_AOQldj-yrLb0Srw7C_9gRGgNJBHi2PnZa5_exUPf98PM7d1c4VksvGqopJgzn5_pwPbx20VvZn96liBwb68v91sfw0ASsyytjbOk4svR0/w400-h225/0%20the%20creator.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Creator </i>(創造者)</b></div></span></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>2 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Sound</b></li><li><b>Visual Effects</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/gareth%20edwards">Gareth Edwards</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: John David Washington, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Ken Watanabe, Sturgill Simpson, Amar Chadha-Patel, Marc Menchaca, Robbie Tann, Ralph Ineson, Michael Esper</div><div><br /></div><div><i>I was into this! </i>The Creator <i>is a smart movie about AI. It's the complete tonal opposite of Kogonada's </i>After Yang,<i> but it has a similar heart to that movie (which, if you haven't seen... what are you doing?). The acting in </i>The Creator <i>is very, very good, and I liked its politics. For me, too, the film is smart enough that it invites me to think</i><i> about the stories we tell ourselves to justify the genocidal violence we commit or allow our governments to commit in our name. Many of us are probably thinking about genocide right now, and this is a film about the ways governments (and we ourselves) make sense of those atrocities. My favorite performance in </i>The Creator <i>was Amar Chadha Patel's. He's a really excellent actor, and he does amazing work with his two parts. But the best thing about the movie – and the Academy noticed this, clearly, is the insanely cool light-scanning murder device with which the film begins. It's just an insanely cool idea that's executed beautifully by </i>The Creator<i>'s visual effects team.</i></div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#27 out of 73</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiF6-J18NxrAEm_BCjtNSaZQT1pgkyzTWQghhZu1ufgBlVSV2kCtzuGXoFO98Tko6cVK8aLlKL9teO8RFR-cTe9b0zRgY0roO1NfPxB01-Xya4LsRviNNm0FskLjKeF2YCbqCIRWYd9VOWVOOy8Hj9BCXBiRuBtMZ0Nifvf_ruIO4LlrwUfpxuUVK3tBo/s2400/0%20rustin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="2400" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiF6-J18NxrAEm_BCjtNSaZQT1pgkyzTWQghhZu1ufgBlVSV2kCtzuGXoFO98Tko6cVK8aLlKL9teO8RFR-cTe9b0zRgY0roO1NfPxB01-Xya4LsRviNNm0FskLjKeF2YCbqCIRWYd9VOWVOOy8Hj9BCXBiRuBtMZ0Nifvf_ruIO4LlrwUfpxuUVK3tBo/w400-h266/0%20rustin.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Rustin<br /></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="font-style: normal; text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Actor: Colman Domingo</b></li></ul><b style="font-weight: 400;">Director</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: </span><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/george%20c.%20wolfe" style="font-weight: 400;">George C. Wolfe</a></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Domingo, Gus Halper, Johnny Ramey, Aml Ameen, Lilli Kay, CCH Pounder, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Audra McDonald, Jeffrey Wright</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><i>This movie is so bad. <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/rustin-2023.html">I've already written about it a little bit here</a>, but it's really the script that is just so embarrassing. This movie has the kind of energy that expects that no one has heard about Bayard Rustin before and that this is some kind of hidden gem of a story, and so it gives us a kind of shallow, hagiographic presentation of this man who was, in fact, very important to the history of our country. I know why movies like this need to get made, I guess, but I really don't understand why they can't be better movies. This is almost unwatchable. There's no reason that a movie about Bayard Rustin needs to be a cartoon. </i>Rustin<i> is, however, filled with a who's who of Black American movie actors, and the cameos are somewhat fun. I am singling out the terrible script because I continue to find Dustin Lance Black's treatment of homosexuality onscreen to be truly offensive. I understand that he has an LGBT-rights framework for his thinking about queerness, and so we will always get these stories about queerness as it contends with the law. But he does this thing where he frames homosexuality as "true love" and some kind of magical, wonderful thing in the middle of a horrible world, and this frame always makes homosexuality into a kind of guilty pleasure that is</i><i style="font-style: normal;"> </i>indulged <i>in by his film's protagonists. They're always partially (or mostly) ashamed of their homosexual desires, and Black frames that as an </i>internal <i>struggle with containing pleasure and desire – rather than as a restriction placed on pleasure and desire from outside. It's very frustrating to me. So, predictably, in </i>Rustin<i> homosexuality will ruin your life, and it's insidious and makes you make bad decisions. It should be protected by the law, of course, because love is love is love, but queer desire will fuck you up. It's just so gross. This is not what I want from gay history. One more thing on Colman Domingo, though. I love him. I am happy for him. I'm glad everyone is going to know who he is now, and I'm glad he's going to get more work.</i></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#68 out of 73</a></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;"><i><b><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i style="font-weight: 400;"><b><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRZ3NzvjfxTirtkT1DV8J5iSOFM_CE7H8VtfbG9aa-TCTK8gk7SzbxibMx6jmBuBfY99YU-teo0LrkcG-1T6k0hyAwCCrx5DvKXXrkReet3FocwaMi8f7Tr2SHWYNS32qOT10z3wC5JYG4twulHfroBCQIxk-PdMHQdav9w2dKQxgag8nvGjMItCDqNQ/s2000/0%20may%20december.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRZ3NzvjfxTirtkT1DV8J5iSOFM_CE7H8VtfbG9aa-TCTK8gk7SzbxibMx6jmBuBfY99YU-teo0LrkcG-1T6k0hyAwCCrx5DvKXXrkReet3FocwaMi8f7Tr2SHWYNS32qOT10z3wC5JYG4twulHfroBCQIxk-PdMHQdav9w2dKQxgag8nvGjMItCDqNQ/w400-h266/0%20may%20december.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-large;">May December</span></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><u><br /></u></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><u>1 nomination</u></div><div style="font-style: normal; text-align: left;"><ul><li><b>Original Screenplay: Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik</b></li></ul><b style="font-weight: 400;">Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/todd%20haynes" style="font-weight: 400;">Todd Haynes</a></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton, Charles Melton, Chris Tenzis, Andrea Frankle, Gabriel Chung, Mikenzie Taylor, Elizabeth Yu, Piper Curda, Cory Michael Smith, D.W. Moffett, Kelvin Han Yee</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><i>This movie is sooooo good. <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/may-december.html">I've already praised its use of the melodramatic form</a> and its brilliant skewering of Hollywood actors, so I'll leave that behind, and I'll spend this space praising the Writers Branch. The screenplay nominations this year are completely spot on. Original Screenplay as a category, especially, honors five excellent scripts, with not a miss on the list. I think the Adapted Screenplay list is a little less strong (</i>Poor Things<i> was included, after all), but even that left off </i>Killers of the Flower Moon <i>in favor of Cord Jefferson's </i>American Fiction <i>script. Great call. But the Original list? Amazing. This is where the Academy shines the brightest, I think. The Writers Branch seems to me the most discerningly intelligent of the branches, and I appreciate them. (Except for their weird rule on what's adapted and what's original. The idea that </i>Barbie<i> is somehow an adapted screenplay is insane.) Anyway, </i>May December<i> is campy and smart and troubling and excellent. I love how the film shifts its perspectives in intriguing ways, and I adored, especially, the scene with Melton and Portman near the end where she says "that's what grownups do". Great stuff. So smart. And honestly this movie should have gotten way more Oscar nominations than this little one. I don't understand what people missed here. I guess Todd Haynes's sensibilities just are not for everyone...</i></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#19 out of 73</a></div></div></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b>More posts coming soon:</b></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/oscar-nominations-2023-1-of-9.html">1. <i>Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie, Maestro</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-2-of-9.html">2. <i>Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, American Fiction</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-3-of-9.html">3. <i>Napoleon, Past Lives, Nyad, Society of the Snow</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-5-of-9.html">5. <i>The Color Purple, El Conde, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i></a></div><div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-6-of-9-animated.html">6. Animated Features</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-7-of-9.html">7. <i>Godzilla Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Golda, American Symphony, Flamin' Hot</i></a></div></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-8-of-9-animated.html">8. Animated Short Films</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-9-of-9-with.html">9. <i>Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, Io Capitano</i></a></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-59470870341217426762024-02-07T10:42:00.009-05:002024-03-08T11:03:04.501-05:00Oscar Nominations 2023: 3 of 9<p>We're jumping to a slightly lower tier with the next four movies:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv47P9Myz_jpchryyABotF9SyOYataa71j2_8_d8hK_2277TR9gQyonkVjuAsBhHcWPeBYgoDcwpedcOKR3vmP1RPOJrfSkAuS-lxb0Tv0wq07k7HbZ8wscowpTDV4v3SFH0zA2TO09EMF6lc46OBsDeZcqtod7NmloMT5XbCTQQ6RCX-rUhHOAnR548A/s1480/0%20napoleon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="1480" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv47P9Myz_jpchryyABotF9SyOYataa71j2_8_d8hK_2277TR9gQyonkVjuAsBhHcWPeBYgoDcwpedcOKR3vmP1RPOJrfSkAuS-lxb0Tv0wq07k7HbZ8wscowpTDV4v3SFH0zA2TO09EMF6lc46OBsDeZcqtod7NmloMT5XbCTQQ6RCX-rUhHOAnR548A/w400-h225/0%20napoleon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Napoleon</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>3 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Production Design: Arthur Max</b> (<i>The Martian, American Gangster, Gladiator</i>) <b>& Elli Griff</b></li><li><b>Costume Design: Janty Yates </b>(<i>Gladiator</i>) <b>& Dave Crossman </b></li><li><b>Visual Effects</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/ridley%20scott">Ridley Scott</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, Rupert Everett, Tahar Rahim, Edouard Philipponnat, Mark Bonnar, Paul Rhys, Riana Duce, Ben Miles, Ludivine Sagnier, John Hollingworth, Youssef Kerkour, Miles Jupp, Scott Handy </div><div><br /></div><div><i>The best thing about this movie was its visual effects, so I'm glad it got honored there. <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/napoleon-2023.html">I've written about this movie already</a> and what I thought about its interminable running time, its real lack of adventure, and its deep pettiness toward the emperor at its center. I was not surprised to see it appear in the production design and costume categories. Both are excellent achievements, but I do wonder why this branch bothered with this movie. There are actually more interesting costumes and production designs in other places. Also, it's hilarious to me that the Academy split the Art Directors branch so that the Costume Designers had their own branch (this happened in 2013), and yet here both branches are nominating the same 5 films in their respective categories. Boring. Also </i>Napoleon<i> won't be winning anything. And I am very sorry that this movie is not better.</i></div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#63 out of 72</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3E7BhksA4jseNBu42OIV8YwCziI5_lS_jry8cnOpa_OvDrglk5enPmNyXD8I-wKjq9fzFf5YO68vzHEGH0CaN7tkNcj75NeHI9tvN2I4XBXtnA7cdd4iW9uOSQn1voBR3cvpxqsLb_JFJ7fAipWEVbCkgsibqoL70Y4gbiknWOG89bpFHBWDD6UZ8JU/s2560/0%20past%20lives.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV3E7BhksA4jseNBu42OIV8YwCziI5_lS_jry8cnOpa_OvDrglk5enPmNyXD8I-wKjq9fzFf5YO68vzHEGH0CaN7tkNcj75NeHI9tvN2I4XBXtnA7cdd4iW9uOSQn1voBR3cvpxqsLb_JFJ7fAipWEVbCkgsibqoL70Y4gbiknWOG89bpFHBWDD6UZ8JU/w400-h225/0%20past%20lives.png" width="400" /></a></div>Past Lives</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>2 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Original Screenplay: Celine Song</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/celine%20song">Song</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Greta Lee, Yoo Teo, John Magaro, Moon Seung-ah, Yim Seung-min, Yoon Ji-hye, Choi Won-young, Ahn Min-young</div><div><br /></div><div><i>This is one of the most original films to come out this year, and it is probably also one of the most critically acclaimed films this year. It deserves all of its accolades. This movie is a </i>real<i> exploration of the multiverse. Our past lives or other lives </i>really do exist<i>, they live on in our memories, and they pop up suddenly with the arrival of a former lover or a memory of something that might have been. Celine Song's movie explores the singular heartbreak of meeting someone with whom one could have had a whole entire life except that your choices have taken you in different directions. If you haven't seen this film, you should. I am very glad it managed a Best Picture nomination. It deserves it, despite it being what seems like a "small" movie next to something enormous like </i>Napoleon<i> or </i>Oppenheimer.</div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Original Screenplay</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#4 out of 72</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3uj4zZipFxX9eQI6bGEBg4HXE4_JviLto2oTcuCSP4F_gzmnh6oUwvlEe6moKvLYCuU_dqCuRsE6f04c6VO21IwNSM382bPot-FfT8zSfGZTu99EskBdC6mXMBHBk5YY8TovV-mvMqsej5aJNtKW4yuAW2nulEq4bN6mgIcSpkIlu5zzU4e21TkN7yM/s2048/0%20nyad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3uj4zZipFxX9eQI6bGEBg4HXE4_JviLto2oTcuCSP4F_gzmnh6oUwvlEe6moKvLYCuU_dqCuRsE6f04c6VO21IwNSM382bPot-FfT8zSfGZTu99EskBdC6mXMBHBk5YY8TovV-mvMqsej5aJNtKW4yuAW2nulEq4bN6mgIcSpkIlu5zzU4e21TkN7yM/w400-h266/0%20nyad.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Nyad</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>2 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Actress: Annette Bening </b>(<i>The Kids Are All Right, Being Julia, American Beauty, The Grifters</i>)</li><li><b>Supporting Actress: Jodie Foster</b> (<i>Nell, The Silence of the Lambs, The Accused, Taxi Driver</i>)</li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/jimmy%20chin">Jimmy Chin</a>, <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/elizabeth%20chai%20vasarhelyi">Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Bening, Foster, Rhys Ifans, Eric T. Miller, Anna Harriette Pittman, Nadia Lorencz, Karly Rothenberg, Luke Cosgrove, Marcus Young, Ethan Jones Romero, Jeena Yi</div><div><br /></div><div><i>This is much better than it should be. </i><i>I was very surprised to like this as much as I did. But this is, in the first place, quite a fun time, and in the second place, pretty damn inspirational. </i><i>I am actually surprised that Annette Bening got a nomination here. I know she was nominated in all precursor awards shows, but I thought for sure she'd be a sort of also-ran in the category. She's </i><i>s solid in this, but she does spend most of her time in the water being pummeled by exhaustion and jellyfish, so we spend most of our identificatory energy on Jodie Foster, who I adored in this movie. The</i><i> real standout of </i>Nyad<i> is the return of Jodie Foster! And it heralds her new appearance on TV in </i>True Detective<i>. She's back, baby, and she's so good. (But this isn't going to win any Oscars.)</i></div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#30 out of 72</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHGeziYNwldNTMHswp4e9CXq6rPpS30ARmY1dctcDwnj_1ZWyKac9GgdChMkNLXTRSanXf8FXkf2_8gb-uDWo5rlRmDpD4XsIMW27CnDN5pUOR89MS6XFyRnDttFATMW0S09Y3kQkcLiBliDFiQwcWFK8r3bxkK4vHuvKCyDL7unj2XkdFPnH1pIeA4Pw/s1500/0%20society%20of%20the%20snow.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="844" data-original-width="1500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHGeziYNwldNTMHswp4e9CXq6rPpS30ARmY1dctcDwnj_1ZWyKac9GgdChMkNLXTRSanXf8FXkf2_8gb-uDWo5rlRmDpD4XsIMW27CnDN5pUOR89MS6XFyRnDttFATMW0S09Y3kQkcLiBliDFiQwcWFK8r3bxkK4vHuvKCyDL7unj2XkdFPnH1pIeA4Pw/w400-h225/0%20society%20of%20the%20snow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>La Sociedad de la Nieve (Society of the Snow)<br /></span></b></i></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>2 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>International Feature: Spain </b>(<i>Pain & Glory, The Sea Inside, All about My Mother, The Grandfather, Secrets of the Heart, The Age of Beauty, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Course Completed, Double Feature, Carmen, Begin the Beguine, The Nest, Mama Turns 100, That Obscure Object of Desire, My Dearest 'Señorita', Tristana, Bewitched Love, Los Tarantos, Placido, La Venganza</i>)</li><li><b>Makeup & Hairstyling</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/juan%20antonio%20bayona">Juan Antonio Bayona</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi, Diego Vegezzi, Fernando Contingiani, Esteban Kukuriczka, Francisco Romero, Rafael Federman, Valentino Alonso, Tomas Wolf</div><div><br /></div><div><i>This movie is so good! Do not be deterred by its long running time and its troubling subject matter. It's wonderfully shot and beautifully acted, and it packs a powerful emotional punch. This is on Netflix, so unfortunately most of us won't be able to see it on a big screen, but if you can, you should. The plane crash in the film's first act is one of the best I've ever seen put in a movie. It's edited </i>impeccably<i>, and one has a sense of every single thing that's happening. Then the movie shifts into an almost completely different mode as we suffer with the passengers the long wait in the mountains with the hope that someone will come rescue them. Somehow Bayona is able to manage the shift from intense action to contemplative, philosophical film. It's quite a feat, and </i>Society of the Snow <i>is really not to be missed. Enzo Vogrincic is extraordinary in this, and the entire company is amazing. Honestly, I'm surprised this wasn't nominated for more awards. Right off the bat, I can say that I really wish the Music Branch would stop hating Michael Giacchino; his score for </i>Society of the Snow<i> is absolutely beautiful and memorable, and it'll be in your head for days afterward.</i></div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>N/A</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#28 out of 72</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>More posts coming soon:</b></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/oscar-nominations-2023-1-of-9.html">1. <i>Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie, Maestro</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-2-of-9.html">2. <i>Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, American Fiction</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-4-of-9.html">4. <i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, The Creator, Rustin, May December</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-5-of-9.html">5. <i>The Color Purple, El Conde, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i></a></div><div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-6-of-9-animated.html">6. Animated Features</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-7-of-9.html">7. <i>Godzilla Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Golda, American Symphony, Flamin' Hot</i></a></div></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-8-of-9-animated.html">8. Animated Short Films</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-9-of-9-with.html">9. <i>Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, Io Capitano</i></a></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-8936085279614473482024-02-05T12:32:00.002-05:002024-02-05T12:32:19.858-05:00The Gold-laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain (2018)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2pk5FmKz4XxUC5M9p5OBIO_V6Q3fdyv3ib3Gyfb_nSXwzvoFpPrrOffuGlDpZa8rzwSIlYykXucPi_tXUVwIlT5Wtr7JGa9L1N0STCX89pHFQQwJ38hUf1QV-jyGuZdrtCUBAFWTWFwN3JPDYPHAX1DZVuLb6XLki7MAwQwe2FfEu3FYXJ_mzDaRMvA/s3508/the%20gold-laden%20sheep%20and%20the%20sacred%20mountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3508" data-original-width="2480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio2pk5FmKz4XxUC5M9p5OBIO_V6Q3fdyv3ib3Gyfb_nSXwzvoFpPrrOffuGlDpZa8rzwSIlYykXucPi_tXUVwIlT5Wtr7JGa9L1N0STCX89pHFQQwJ38hUf1QV-jyGuZdrtCUBAFWTWFwN3JPDYPHAX1DZVuLb6XLki7MAwQwe2FfEu3FYXJ_mzDaRMvA/s320/the%20gold-laden%20sheep%20and%20the%20sacred%20mountain.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br />Ridham Janve's <i>The Gold-laden Sheep and the Sacred Mountain </i>(सोना ढ्वांदी भेड ते सुच्चा पहाड़) is slow and contemplative and has some breathtaking photography. Its slowness began to wear on me after a while, though, and as the film headed toward its conclusion (the revenge of the god!) I sort of started to drift into sleep.Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-30673842565324267642024-02-05T00:50:00.007-05:002024-02-05T00:52:29.428-05:00Arrebato (Rapture) (1979)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZmZKBrY7t6exFKrRvIre9WoXJmiBMYCX3P3YxucmXVByz8IRVLDvfBdPsHki3iuJqKQoYijtHEUlXCOBXCQ13pndeKusqFEWlsoMis5WWQQ6UABBRDFn02fYNrUqpFxoBAjIm9J50bDUovLHiy-Ur6QS1dffdM_LiW-64U9lLnQVcJu5O2EaCeTofRU/s3040/arrebato.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3040" data-original-width="2149" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZmZKBrY7t6exFKrRvIre9WoXJmiBMYCX3P3YxucmXVByz8IRVLDvfBdPsHki3iuJqKQoYijtHEUlXCOBXCQ13pndeKusqFEWlsoMis5WWQQ6UABBRDFn02fYNrUqpFxoBAjIm9J50bDUovLHiy-Ur6QS1dffdM_LiW-64U9lLnQVcJu5O2EaCeTofRU/s320/arrebato.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br />Iván Zuleta's <i>Arrebato </i>is surreal and weird and very sexy. I’m not sure I really get what was happening. Vampires… vampiric cinema… heroin… honestly I don’t know. But I was into it. <div><br /></div><div>Also Eusebio Poncela is even sexier in this than he is in <i>Law of Desire</i> and <i>Matador</i>. In many ways, <i>Arrebato</i> actually feels like it's in the Almódovar universe. Cecilia Roth is gorgeous and young and hot in this, and the vampire filmmaker weirdo is played by Will More, who was also in <i>Dark Habits</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Arrebato </i>was released in Spain in 1979 and only released in the U.S. in October 1982. I am not really sure why this was on my radar to watch, but Criterion is kicking it off the channel at the end of the month, so I prioritized it. I'm glad I did.</div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-32904494400672529502024-02-03T10:53:00.009-05:002024-03-08T11:03:23.976-05:00Oscar Nominations 2023: 2 of 9<p>These four films each received 5 nominations. All four are nominated for Best Picture:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibblOguLVyc54v6o9enxJxB9r50z7dinA2Gnft8l1hzJlSsi5jkVUnX-rVrfrhLH7J97PWqEybQf6JX3iSo55w-7am8ajYA8P_kAWYw7Y18qLKA_11z34GtxWnGnV-aLoIVaR6aG-9c-HAV8VMLxBew4KsseZ-CYB0HKtZbnDkHaUrEc0BD_uTqnpoEhk/s3840/6%20anatomy%20of%20a%20fall.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibblOguLVyc54v6o9enxJxB9r50z7dinA2Gnft8l1hzJlSsi5jkVUnX-rVrfrhLH7J97PWqEybQf6JX3iSo55w-7am8ajYA8P_kAWYw7Y18qLKA_11z34GtxWnGnV-aLoIVaR6aG-9c-HAV8VMLxBew4KsseZ-CYB0HKtZbnDkHaUrEc0BD_uTqnpoEhk/w400-h225/6%20anatomy%20of%20a%20fall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Anatomie d'une Chute (Anatomy of a Fall)<br /></span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>5 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Director: Justine Triet</b></li><li><b>Actress: Sandra Hüller</b></li><li><b>Original Screenplay: Arthur Harari & Justine Triet<br /></b></li><li><b>Film Editing: Laurent Sénechal</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/justine%20triet">Triet</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Hüller, Swann Arlaud, Milo Machado Graner, Antoine Reinartz, Jehnny Beth, Samuel Theis, Camille Rutherford, Saadia Bentaïeb, Anne Rotger, Sophie Fillières</div><div><br /></div><div><i>One of the best movies of the year and the winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival (there is not generally a lot of overlap between Cannes and the Oscars). <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/11/anatomie-dune-chute.html">This is a troubling, unsettling film with a brilliant script</a> and superb acting all around. The Academy did very well with their screenplay nominations this year, especially, rewarding excellent adaptations and original work. The Film Editing nomination here means that this movie's position is much higher than other films with the same number of nominations. Film Editing is a category firmly linked with Best Picture. I was surprised and truly delighted by all of the love for this film on the morning of the nominations; I don't think it will win anything, but I hope this means everyone goes to see this movie.</i></div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Original Screenplay</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#6 out of 72</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSx_hV_6y7ZvxuZ7QWCv_H0YLfCGOVdIaL9BwT2fuc-11eLSBdZcokL0_ZLnRdLuhj3KpebvI5TKm9cizSTR3lIrqY0Luzg03_E5uKCA_HzLArDd9cgL1yHSttAOUEKKYzdTI2VWpjnQnGQ6geWQJqGS9TLsDXIFti8WMsENYjE5ZlouY84e3i2e9mmc/s1024/6%20the%20zone%20of%20interest.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSx_hV_6y7ZvxuZ7QWCv_H0YLfCGOVdIaL9BwT2fuc-11eLSBdZcokL0_ZLnRdLuhj3KpebvI5TKm9cizSTR3lIrqY0Luzg03_E5uKCA_HzLArDd9cgL1yHSttAOUEKKYzdTI2VWpjnQnGQ6geWQJqGS9TLsDXIFti8WMsENYjE5ZlouY84e3i2e9mmc/w400-h225/6%20the%20zone%20of%20interest.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Zone of Interest</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>5 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Director: Jonathan Glazer</b></li><li><b>Adapted Screenplay: Jonathan Glazer</b></li><li><b>International Feature: United Kingdon </b>(<i>Solomon and Gaenor, Hedd Wyn</i>)</li><li><b>Sound</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/jonathan%20glazer">Glazer</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Imogen Kogge, Freya Kreutzkam, Ralph Herforth, Ralf Zillmann, Stephanie Petrowitz</div><div><br /></div><div><i>I am a bit shocked by the intensity of affection the Academy has for Glazer's movie. This is a very difficult movie to enjoy, and it's designed to create a visceral reaction of horror and disgust. Glazer's work in general has been very off-putting to the Academy in the past, and this </i>movie <i>is just as troubling and horrifying as his other work, and yet here it is with five nominations. I think for me my difficulty with Glazer's movie is that everyone in it is so reprehensible; and the film (understandably) isn't attempting to let us into their thought processes or working to humanize them – I wouldn't want the film to do that. But this makes for a very weird viewing experience, one where it's easy not to feel implicated by the horrors on screen, to hate the men and women who did this without feeling any personal connection or responsibility for their actions. I'm saying I wanted more from this movie, and perhaps something slightly different from what we got. In any case, </i>Zone of Interest <i>is a very well made film, and <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-zone-of-interest-2023.html">although I didn't connect with this movie</a> as much as <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2014/07/under-skin.html">I connected with Glazer's </a></i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2014/07/under-skin.html">Under the Skin</a><i>, I still think every single bit of it is intriguing, and Glazer is an exacting, exciting filmmaker who deserves this recognition. Does it win anything? I think it will win International Feature as well as Sound (this is actually a film about sound), and it may also win adapted screenplay, although it's a very, very loose adaptation of the original novel.</i></div><div><b>Will win: International Feature, Sound</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Adapted Screenplay</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#36 out of 72</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFuxCo_tZcXlolqxlSxVD1ZxN_gWkYgKQBScH6JYO8oavshUDGOY6K3dAsgIVKZj4Qqj8CBNnQKgJgSvhaUhAjSNLPfjKHFLrsatAXhh1wKV3_eSSmPfYP-EVPYK6mJdKtiErZNA94Nhul8MEn1LG7aICsdqKlMmp4taR4epLThqi0UJEfI_-oFa6jDtI/s900/6%20the%20holdovers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="900" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFuxCo_tZcXlolqxlSxVD1ZxN_gWkYgKQBScH6JYO8oavshUDGOY6K3dAsgIVKZj4Qqj8CBNnQKgJgSvhaUhAjSNLPfjKHFLrsatAXhh1wKV3_eSSmPfYP-EVPYK6mJdKtiErZNA94Nhul8MEn1LG7aICsdqKlMmp4taR4epLThqi0UJEfI_-oFa6jDtI/w400-h205/6%20the%20holdovers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The Holdovers</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>5 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Actor: Paul Giamatti </b>(<i>Cinderella Man</i>)</li><li><b>Original Screenplay: David Hemingson</b></li><li><b>Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph</b></li><li><b>Film Editing: Kevin Tent </b>(<i>The Descendants</i>)</li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/alexander%20payne">Alexander Payne</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Giamatti, Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Carrie Preston, Naheem Garcia, Brady Hepner, Ian Dolley, Jim Kaplan, Michael Provost, Andrew Garman, Stephen Thorne, Gillian Vigman, Tate Donovan</div><div><br /></div><div><i>And now for something much more heartwarming. Amid the difficult movies the Academy loves this year is something easy to love and irascible yet touching. </i>The Holdovers <i>is a movie that is genuinely affectionate toward its characters, despite its propensity to laugh at them. It's one of the best movies of the year, and Alexander Payne's work is getting softer and more interesting, I think, as he gets older. Payne's movie boasts some beautiful performances, including the eventual winner of the Supporting Actress Oscar, and perhaps Best Actor too. I want to say one thing about Randolph's performance, which I find really excellent. I have heard people say that this is an Octavia Spencer role, a kind of stock comic foil part written for a different actress, and so Randolph's work isn't that remarkable. I find this line of thinking really stupid. In the first place, Spencer's work is excellent; she's good in absolutely everything, and she has the ability to turn mediocre writing into comic brilliance and fill it with sensitive, character rich nuances. Octavia Spencer works magic with the stock roles she is given by this industry. In the second place, <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2020/02/dolemite-is-my-name.html">Da'Vine Joy Randolph was fully </a></i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2020/02/dolemite-is-my-name.html">robbed<i> of an Oscar nomination in 2020 when the Academy slept on </i>Dolemite Is My Name</a><i> and refused to give it the nominations it deserved for Ruth Carter's costumes, Randolph's superb supporting work, and Eddie Murphy's excellent lead performance. I'm still irritated about this. Randolph is an excellent actress, and she's great in </i>The Holdovers<i> in a part that is much more interesting than a comic foil. The haters can choke.</i></div><div><b>Will win: Original Screenplay, Supporting Actress</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Actor</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#15 out of 72</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxCqEJB75xq_F9hEG8SSJ8kP_JUrbTYf-kQDFhY8q2ZcZ5-fHf3hqdMk89GZygNzrgIqy_-_cbW7GI8Q74RtHwQ4hweHeAGAks41lzWVOKtFjVf1TAX2U6i2GUSaIbBEnCA_JUK9Oi07QNmrSPwkTI2cCTtpftqOmQ7fiU6SnUP5l4oNUUINjwr5vPTo/s4500/6%20american%20fiction.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4500" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxCqEJB75xq_F9hEG8SSJ8kP_JUrbTYf-kQDFhY8q2ZcZ5-fHf3hqdMk89GZygNzrgIqy_-_cbW7GI8Q74RtHwQ4hweHeAGAks41lzWVOKtFjVf1TAX2U6i2GUSaIbBEnCA_JUK9Oi07QNmrSPwkTI2cCTtpftqOmQ7fiU6SnUP5l4oNUUINjwr5vPTo/w400-h266/6%20american%20fiction.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>American Fiction</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u><br /></u></div><div><u>5 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Actor: Jeffrey Wright</b></li><li><b>Adapted Screenplay: Cord Jefferson</b></li><li><b>Supporting Actor: Sterling K. Brown</b></li><li><b>Original Score: Laura Karpman</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/cord%20jefferson">Cord Jefferson</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Wright, Brown, Erika Alexander, Issa Rae, John Ortiz, Tracee Ellis Ross, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Miriam Shor, Jenn Harris</div><div><br /></div><div><i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/cord%20jefferson">This was one of my favorite movies of the year.</a> It's so smart, so funny, and so consistently surprising. I just absolutely loved it. Does it win anything? I think probably not, but I don't mind. We have this very very good movie as our own reward. I do want to say one thing about </i>American Fiction<i> that has bugged me since I saw it. I mentioned in my original response to the film that Sterling K. Brown is miscast. I stand by this. He's </i>great <i>in the film, don't get me wrong. <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-supporting-actor-2023.html">In fact, I put him on my own supporting actor list for the year, and I think he's great in anything he's in.</a> But his character should have been played by a more feminine actor. This is a gripe I have in general with casting gay characters. I wrote in my book </i>Love Is Love Is Love<i> that we don't actually have as much of a problem with gay male sexuality in our culture as we have with gay male </i>femininity. <i>Sterling Brown is very muscular and masculine throughout, and this serves to make him a much more easily digestible gay character (for audiences both gay and straight) than he'd be if he were played by a more feminine actor, but it would have reflected the issues the character has – the struggles with his mother, the difficulties feeling accepted by his brother, the issues with his kids – if he had also been struggling with the way his femininity was perceived. All of this just would have made more sense to me with someone like Noah Ricketts in the part. This, after all, amounts to a small gripe, however. </i>American Fiction <i>is in my top 5 films of the year.</i></div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Adapted Screenplay</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#5 out of 72</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>More posts coming soon:</b></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/oscar-nominations-2023-1-of-9.html">1. <i>Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie, Maestro</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-3-of-9.html">3. <i>Napoleon, Past Lives, Society of the Snow, Nyad</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-4-of-9.html">4. <i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, The Creator, Rustin, May December</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-5-of-9.html">5. <i>The Color Purple, El Conde, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i></a></div><div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-6-of-9-animated.html">6. Animated Features</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-7-of-9.html">7. <i>Godzilla Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Golda, American Symphony, Flamin' Hot</i></a></div></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-8-of-9-animated.html">8. Animated Short Films</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-9-of-9-with.html">9. <i>Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, Io Capitano</i></a></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-32704379231269699112024-01-31T11:40:00.017-05:002024-03-08T11:03:40.514-05:00Oscar Nominations 2023: 1 of 9Every year I post about each of the films nominated for Oscars—this year there are 38 features plus 15 short films. Usually, I see all of them except for the documentaries (I am just not that interested in documentary film; I'm not sure why), but this year I'm also going to do myself a favor and skip the live-action short films. As a group they tend to be terrible every single year, and then for some reason the worst one usually manages to win. <div><br /></div><div>This year there is a lot for me to appreciate; <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">many of my favorite films of the year</a> got at least one nomination (<i>Oppenheimer, Past Lives, American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall</i>). I am not sure I understand the incredible amount of love the Academy has for what I thought were total snooze-fests (<i>Killers of the Flower Moon </i>and <i>Poor Things</i>), but who knows; other people have different tastes than I do. </div><div><br /></div><div>I guess it's worth saying one more thing about <i>Barbie</i>, since that movie is taking up most of the social media oxygen at the moment. I'll just say one thing flatly: if you seriously think <i>Barbie </i>missed out on a Best Director nomination, it is my humble opinion that you need to see more movies.<b> </b><b>Is it true that more women should be nominated for Best Director? It absolutely is. </b>But it's not the director of <i>Barbie </i>who was overlooked in this category: it was Carla Simón, Erige Sehiri, Chie Hayakawa, Léa Mysius, Manuela Martelli, and especially Celine Song. Each of these women made amazing movies this year, and the only reason we're not talking about them is that our own viewing preferences skew white and corporate and American, and not enough people have seen their movies. I would encourage everyone to watch more films directed by women. There were many great ones this year, especially: my top 11 for 2023 includes 6 films directed by women.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's just what <i>I </i>liked, though. The more complicated issue is <b>how nominees are selected in the first place</b>. Each voter selects five names. But only <i>one </i>of those names gets a vote. So let's say my top 5 directors were Cord Jefferson, Justine Triet, Christopher Nolan, Celine Song, and Carla Simón. That would be my list this year, but then I'd need to rank them. If I rank them (1) Simón, (2) Triet, (3) Song, (4) Jefferson, and (5) Nolan, then my vote would end up counting for Justine Triet <i>and no one else</i>. Here is why: the way they count the votes is to stack them all by who you vote for #1. My vote for Carla Simón would have been eliminated after the first round because she didn't get enough number 1 votes; then my vote would have been moved to the Triet pile, which just got bigger. And now my vote doesn't count at all for any of the names that are lower on my list. This means that <i>the ranking actually matters during the vote</i>, and names at the top matter way more. What happened with <i>Barbie</i>, then, is that not enough of the voters in the Directing branch put Gerwig at the top of their ballots. Which, I think, makes sense. The directing isn't what is most sensational about <i>Barbie.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The problem for me every year is that the Academy concentrates their nominations on 5 or 6 movies and don't see more movies or spread the wealth better. This is, I think, the exact opposite issue from the complaint that <i>Barbie </i>only got 8 nominations instead of 10. I would have preferred <i>fewer </i>nominations for <i>Barbie </i>and more solo call-outs for excellent work in only one category, like the wonderful lone nomination for <i>El Conde</i>'s cinematography! Nominations like that show that that branch is actually watching things (unlike this year's production design and costume design nominations – which are identical: zzzz). </div><div><br /></div><div>I will go film by film discussing each movie individually rather than discussing categories, beginning with the movies most beloved by the Academy this year. <b>If the nominee has been nominated for Oscars previously, they will be listed next to their name in parentheses).</b>
This year's nominees:</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_FUQUlfws3FYHYnm9Hpzu15czviyfwG-kV2-pRFeNsNo8vL3eo9D58JyImEmnqriIxFJj_RNvOQHGNhe_04x5Uuw8i31HQWxWHJYKxU3wiGwLgxyKvk6qIEyFUQQT3XtkRPcivb89afBLljcg9V7vijdY52TnCJvLUooi8MXE97AJSRiz0MlidG-rsQ/s1000/1%20Oppenheimer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="1000" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_FUQUlfws3FYHYnm9Hpzu15czviyfwG-kV2-pRFeNsNo8vL3eo9D58JyImEmnqriIxFJj_RNvOQHGNhe_04x5Uuw8i31HQWxWHJYKxU3wiGwLgxyKvk6qIEyFUQQT3XtkRPcivb89afBLljcg9V7vijdY52TnCJvLUooi8MXE97AJSRiz0MlidG-rsQ/w400-h220/1%20Oppenheimer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Oppenheimer</span></b></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>13 nominations</u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Director: Christopher Nolan</b> (<i>Dunkirk</i>)</li><li><b>Actor: Cillian Murphy</b></li><li><b>Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Nolan </b>(<i>Inception, Memento</i>)</li><li><b>Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. </b>(<i>Tropic Thunder, Chaplin</i>)</li><li><b>Supporting Actress: Emily Blunt</b></li><li><b>Film Editing: Jennifer Lame</b></li><li><b>Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema </b>(<i>Dunkirk</i>)</li><li><b>Production Design: Ruth De Jong & Claire Kaufman</b></li><li><b>Original Score: Ludwig Göransson </b>(<i>Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Black Panther</i>)</li><li><b>Costume Design: Ellen Mirojnick</b></li><li><b>Sound</b></li><li><b>Makeup & Hairstyling</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/christopher%20nolan">Nolan</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Cast</b>: Murphy, Blunt, Downey, Alden Ehrenreich, Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Tom Conti, Matt Damon, Jason Clarke, Josh Hartnett, David Krumholtz, Trond Fausa, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>I loved this. I saw it in IMAX with what appeared to be everyone in the Physics department at FSU. The acting is wonderful, and I loved the usual Christopher Nolan time puzzle. I have complained for a long time that Nolan's movies are soulless, and I rather expected this one to be that too, but it isn't. I was very moved by it, and found the whole thing fascinating. In fact, I've been loving Christopher Nolan's movies lately. I even loved </i>Tenet. <i>My favorite performances in </i>Oppenheimer<i> were Emily Blunt, Alden Ehrenreich, Trond Fausa, Benny Safdie, and Cillian Murphy,</i> <i>but I think just the amazing list of actors in this pushes </i>Oppenheimer<i> over the edge. It's an actor-fest, a marvel of technical work, and the script is great. I expect this to win a lot of Oscars. I think it's hard to be mad about this, too. Nolan has never won Best Director (it's only his second nomination!) and Cillian Murphy has never been nominated, let alone won. If you look at the list of contributors above, you'll see that this is the first nomination for almost everyone, so giving them Oscars is exciting. It's not like this is the Scorsese team, who have all been nominated 10 times apiece and already have 2 statues at home. These women and men are a new generation of filmmakers who the Academy has never honored before.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Will win: Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Film Editing, Cinematography</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Could win: </b>Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Original Score, Sound, Makeup & Hairstyling</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#2 out of 71</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBUZ9mdORUDSz1PxOewOMvfTjvGNkPjXOeMaskJC5H7XVei3bR_1RjF7QOBTiFziQ7OpOlQ3Qme08RaSbeRyYzZwCY_Px4GQzsripFSIh4DPgbTChoPpcfMXMfeuBT5ABS0tzQAg34vPhuza3DapD0DG2tUPQj2EJhp9u8EpgFwgXLblbYq4lHBG055I/s780/2%20poor%20things.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="780" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBUZ9mdORUDSz1PxOewOMvfTjvGNkPjXOeMaskJC5H7XVei3bR_1RjF7QOBTiFziQ7OpOlQ3Qme08RaSbeRyYzZwCY_Px4GQzsripFSIh4DPgbTChoPpcfMXMfeuBT5ABS0tzQAg34vPhuza3DapD0DG2tUPQj2EJhp9u8EpgFwgXLblbYq4lHBG055I/w400-h225/2%20poor%20things.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Poor Things</span></b></i></div><div><u>11 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Director: Yorgos Lanthimos </b>(<i>The Favourite</i>)</li><li><b>Actress: Emma Stone</b> (<i>The Favourite, La La Land, Birdman or (the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)</i>)</li><li><b>Adapted Screenplay: Tony McNamara</b><b> </b>(<i>The Favourite</i>)</li><li><b>Supporting Actor: Mark Ruffalo </b>(<i>Spotlight, Foxcatcher, The Kids Are All Right</i>)</li><li><b>Film Editing: Yorgos Mavropsaridis</b><b> </b>(<i>The Favourite</i>)</li><li><b>Cinematography: </b><b>Robbie Ryan</b><b> </b>(<i>The Favourite</i>)</li><li><b>Production Design: Shona Heath & Zsuzsa Mihalek & James Price</b></li><li><b>Original Score: Jerskin Fendrix</b></li><li><b>Costume Design: Holly Waddington</b></li><li><b>Makeup & Hairstyling</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/yorgos%20lanthimos">Lanthimos</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Stone, Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Kathryn Hunter, Christopher Abbot, Jerrod Carmichael, Hanna Schygulla, Suzy Bemba, Vicki Pepperdine</div><div><br /></div><div><i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/poor-things-2023.html">I found this movie boring, and all of the awards love it has received is baffling to me</a>. I found the performances in this weird and not very honest, and I think, weirdly, that Stone and Ruffalo were two of the people I liked least – the worst performance was definitely Jerrod Carmichael's. B</i><i>ut hey, whatever, people like things that I don't like, and that's how it goes. I really hope I like Lanthimos's next movie better, because I actually do like his work, including the last movie of his that the Academy loved, </i>The Favourite. <i>Still, expect this to win a few Oscars below the line on March 10th, and actually... Emma Stone could win another Oscar. There seems to be a lot of love for her around, so if people decide to vote against the Lily Gladstone avalanche, they'll vote for Stone.</i></div><div><b>Will win: Costume Design, Makeup & Hairstyling</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Actress, Production Design</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#60 out of 71</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_kN5nmfczfcnzE7oEktG1VWa4v3RtEj2LKAIj8DWBvgn94Pfkf_MrYbgWdn4sX1P469gBiC-8165JsLOyGdl3qSAKNLAERCtatvb_sGmSpL8xB0IpcGqbb4VZd9rvVn9Ey5oJxU10i1hJnvDft3ArMKwPukStMcoprBLNUl_HenQV-6gC5y8UI9vpZOk/s2000/3%20killers%20of%20the%20flower%20moon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="2000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_kN5nmfczfcnzE7oEktG1VWa4v3RtEj2LKAIj8DWBvgn94Pfkf_MrYbgWdn4sX1P469gBiC-8165JsLOyGdl3qSAKNLAERCtatvb_sGmSpL8xB0IpcGqbb4VZd9rvVn9Ey5oJxU10i1hJnvDft3ArMKwPukStMcoprBLNUl_HenQV-6gC5y8UI9vpZOk/w400-h200/3%20killers%20of%20the%20flower%20moon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Killers of the Flower Moon</span></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>(</b></span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>𐓀𐒻͘𐓂͘𐓄𐒰 𐒹𐒿𐒰𐓆𐒼𐒰 𐓓𐒻͘𐒼𐒰 𐓊'𐒷𐓍𐒷</b></span></span><span style="font-weight: 700;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">)</span></span></div><div><u>10 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Director: Martin Scorsese </b>(<i>The Irishman, The Wolf of Wall Street, Hugo, The Departed, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, GoodFellas, The Last Temptation of Christ, Raging Bull</i>)</li><li><b>Actress: Lily Gladstone</b></li><li><b>Supporting Actor: Robert De Niro </b>(<i>Silver Linings Playbook, Cape Fear, Awakenings, Raging Bull, The Deer Hunter, Taxi Driver, The Godfather: Part II</i>)</li><li><b>Film Editing: Thelma Schoonmaker</b><b> </b>(<i>The Irishman, Hugo, The Departed, The Aviator, Gangs of New York, GoodFellas, Raging Bull, Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music</i>)</li><li><b>Cinematography: Rodrigo Prieto</b><b> </b>(<i>The Irishman, Silence, Brokeback Mountain</i>)</li><li><b>Production Design: Jack Fisk </b>(<i>The Revenant, There Will Be Blood</i>)<b> & Adam Willis</b></li><li><b>Original Score: Robbie Robertson</b></li><li><b>Costume Design: Jacqueline West </b>(<i>Dune: Part One, The Revenant, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Quills</i>)</li><li><b>Original Song – "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)": Scott George</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/martin%20scorsese">Scorsese</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Leonardo DiCaprio, Gladstone, De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Scott Shepherd, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, Jillian Dion, John Lithgow, Tatanka Means, Everett Waller, Talee Redcorn, Yancey Red Corn, Jason Isbell, Brendan Fraser</div><div><br /></div><div><i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/11/killers-of-flower-moon.html">This is another movie that did not work for me and that I thought was quite boring.</a> This is a very frustrating film, and it drove me a little crazy. It's also a thousand years long, for reasons I don't really understand. But the real issue for me – and I've already said this, so I'm sorry for repeating myself – is that this film is only from the perspective of the Osage people at the very beginning and the very end. The remainder is a film made from the emotional and narrative perspective of people who tried to murder them. This is intensely frustrating, and it belies everything that Scorsese and everyone else involved with this movie said was supposed to be happening. (For example, we see the murder of Anna three separate times on screen in </i>Flower Moon<i>; not one of these is from her perspective. It's actually shocking when you think about it. We watch her murder three times from the point of view of her </i>murderers??? What kind of ethical filmmaking choice is that?<i>) This movie was the critical darling of the year, and I thought for a bit it would win the big award and maybe win everything else, too, but I think </i>Killers of the Flower Moon<i> is on the descent. Note its surprise omission from the Adapted Screenplay category! Even Lily Gladstone, who has been the presumptive Best Actress winner for months, may find herself in real competition with Emma Stone. I think Lily Gladstone is rather boring in this movie – the whole movie is boring; it's not her fault, really – but I will be happy for her to win. She's a cool woman, and she's been making good independent movies for years.</i></div><div><b>Will win: Actress, Original Score</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Picture, Director, Production Design, Costume Design</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#53 out of 71</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwamT_Jl8tDIgX2HfPbPVdO6J1eUHmq3WQVbdyuVJsw7js4NPH0jdYRtdhPmL6MSXVs-SQkKdqd7G020lK26QzQ8HRd_t3jqajHWvu7j5sRLjfoCyGM3A6QIn9o0r8y2MkwukCy1h7Ub1p2Ld94lMuBa_qO8FKVXbevPfG3hErR0apBh8tPk6S_qeMtk/s700/4%20barbie.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwamT_Jl8tDIgX2HfPbPVdO6J1eUHmq3WQVbdyuVJsw7js4NPH0jdYRtdhPmL6MSXVs-SQkKdqd7G020lK26QzQ8HRd_t3jqajHWvu7j5sRLjfoCyGM3A6QIn9o0r8y2MkwukCy1h7Ub1p2Ld94lMuBa_qO8FKVXbevPfG3hErR0apBh8tPk6S_qeMtk/w400-h266/4%20barbie.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Barbie</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u>8 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Adapted Screenplay: Greta Gerwig </b>(<i>Little Women, Lady Bird</i>) <b>& Noah Baumbach</b> (<i>Marriage Story, The Squid and the Whale</i>)</li><li><b>Supporting Actor: Ryan Gosling </b>(<i>La La Land, Half Nelson</i>)</li><li><b>Supporting Actress: America Ferrera</b></li><li><b>Production Design: Sarah Greenwood </b>(<i>Darkest Hour, Beauty and the Beast, Anna Karenina, Sherlock Holmes, Atonement, Pride & Prejudice</i>)<b> & Katie Spencer </b>(<i>Darkest Hour, Beauty and the Beast, Anna Karenina, Sherlock Holmes, Atonement, Pride & Prejudice</i>)<b> </b></li><li><b>Costume Design: Jacqueline Durran </b>(<i>Cyrano, Little Women, Darkest Hour, Beauty and the Beast, Mr. Turner, Anna Karenina, Atonement, Pride & Prejudice</i>)<b> </b></li><li><b>Original Song – "I'm Just Ken": Mark Ronson </b>(<i>A Star Is Born</i>) <b>& Andrew Wyatt </b>(<i>A Star Is Born</i>)</li><li><b>Original Song – "What Was I Made For?": Billie Eilish </b>(<i>No Time to Die</i>)<b> & Finneas O'Connell</b> (<i>No Time to Die</i>)</li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/greta%20gerwig">Gerwig</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Margot Robbie, Gosling, Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, America Ferrera, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu, Alexandra Shipp, Emma Mackey, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, Helen Mirren, Ariana Greenblatt, Michael Cera</div><div><br /></div><div><i>This is a very funny movie, and I had a great time at it. I still laugh once a week at Issa Rae's delivery of "Oh? Is this The GodFATHer?" I did think the movie didn't really stick its ending, though. I mean, why would anyone choose to be a real human person when one could be a doll and not have to work? No thanks. In many ways, the end of this movie felt to me like an apologia for mainstream culture, and that didn't sit well with me. In any case, the script (it's an original script, despite appearing in the adapted category) is great, and it was really excellent to see America Ferrera's surprise nomination. I'm so pleased about that. She's a jobbing actor who has been working hard for years – as long ago as Josefina López's </i>Real Women Have Curves<i>, the play. There's lots to be excited about here, and the Academy obviously loved this film. This and </i>Oppenheimer<i> and </i>Mario Bros. <i>and </i>Dead Reckoning Part One<i> really saved the box office receipts this year, too, so it deserves props for that as well (even though </i>Mario <i>and </i>Dead Reckoning<i> did not receive any similar affection from the Academy). One more thing: I think the backlash related to </i>Barbie<i> missing out on Best Director and Best Actress nominations may translate into </i>more<i> wins on March 10th, so I expect it to take home a couple more than I would have predicted if this movie had ended up with 10 nominations instead of 8.</i></div><div><b>Will win: Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Song</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Picture, Costume Design</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#23 out of 71</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUdxlbjM7qkpo2p-kwelSOMbRUacZj7qLHuwFrGkrOm70ZVOQWtL5BgtZAxf_5ysD1isgcV391nludAN-e_9A0TjxDbStAXqk3wCiVqgchERVFyq090tQVDMEWbahgmfkqVHVMIMBiinYA-x9ZlNt2H3ymdC0xci5-tMaonEmfK2yGEOwk_bcbTt18FI/s800/5%20maestro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="496" data-original-width="800" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUdxlbjM7qkpo2p-kwelSOMbRUacZj7qLHuwFrGkrOm70ZVOQWtL5BgtZAxf_5ysD1isgcV391nludAN-e_9A0TjxDbStAXqk3wCiVqgchERVFyq090tQVDMEWbahgmfkqVHVMIMBiinYA-x9ZlNt2H3ymdC0xci5-tMaonEmfK2yGEOwk_bcbTt18FI/w400-h248/5%20maestro.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Maestro</span></b></i></div></span></b></i></div><div><u>8 nominations</u></div><div><ul><li><b>Picture</b></li><li><b>Actor: Bradley Cooper </b>(<i>A Star Is Born, American Sniper, American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook</i>)</li><li><b>Actress: Carey Mulligan </b>(<i>Promising Young Woman, An Education</i>)</li><li><b>Original Screenplay: Bradley Cooper </b>(<i>A Star Is Born</i>) <b>& Josh Singer </b>(<i>Spotlight</i>)</li><li><b>Cinematography: Matthew Libatique </b>(<i>A Star Is Born, Black Swan</i>)<br /></li><li><b>Sound</b></li><li><b>Makeup & Hairstyling</b></li></ul><b>Director</b>: <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/bradley%20cooper">Cooper</a></div><div><b>Cast</b>: Cooper, Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Vincenzo Amato, Sarah Silverman, Maya Hawke, Michael Urie, Sam Nivola, Alexa Swinton, Miriam Shor</div><div><br /></div><div><i>This is a very good movie that I think is a little tough to love, and so it isn't much of a surprise to me that people liked it less than (I feel like) they ought to have. There's a way, too, that the movie is very hard on Leonard Bernstein, a man beloved by many in Hollywood, despite the way the movie actually adores him and sympathizes with him. <a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/maestro-2023.html">I've already written</a> about how well I think Cooper did with this and how fucking great Carey Mulligan is, so I won't say any more about that. But... I don't think this will be winning any Oscars on March 10th. 7 nominations is a lot, so the Academy definitely respects it, but it's not taking home any gold. The only real category it could win in – Makeup – has really polarized people. The other day one of my students told me he couldn't take the movie seriously because the makeup was too silly (!). I really liked this movie, though, and I think it deserves its nominations and maybe more.</i></div><div><b>Will win: N/A</b></div><div><b>Could win: </b>Makeup & Hairstyling</div><div><b>My rating: </b><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/p/2023-in-review.html">#17 out of 71</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>More posts coming soon:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-2-of-9.html">2. <i>Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, The Holdovers, American Fiction</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-3-of-9.html">3. <i>Napoleon, Past Lives, Society of the Snow, Nyad</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-4-of-9.html">4. <i>Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, The Creator, Rustin, May December</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-5-of-9.html">5. <i>The Color Purple, El Conde, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-6-of-9-animated.html">6. Animated Features</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/02/oscar-nominations-2023-7-of-9.html">7. <i>Godzilla Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Golda, American Symphony, Flamin' Hot</i></a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-8-of-9-animated.html">8. Animated Short Films</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/03/oscar-nominations-2023-9-of-9-with.html">9. <i>Perfect Days, The Teachers' Lounge, Io Capitano</i></a></div></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-82964971389794374142024-01-29T00:13:00.004-05:002024-01-29T00:20:21.224-05:00Ballando Ballando (Le Bal) (1983)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTHbS8QoD-MxIoaHoZtYMAThU6vkBnm1zJjbOkiXlsxeiBPv66Mt7wDj8yNUW948UYUQNJWUVbGsyrLySkwKx6JdrgTf9GfHuRsfi2b5OCYL5Ho7T1kwcArwJxL7mQQvmvYXswezlh8LlYDFxmkTnDCa7E-uHr8apmRN8qdnCIC29Ly6OCjtsZEvpzt8/s764/ballando%20ballando.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="478" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjTHbS8QoD-MxIoaHoZtYMAThU6vkBnm1zJjbOkiXlsxeiBPv66Mt7wDj8yNUW948UYUQNJWUVbGsyrLySkwKx6JdrgTf9GfHuRsfi2b5OCYL5Ho7T1kwcArwJxL7mQQvmvYXswezlh8LlYDFxmkTnDCa7E-uHr8apmRN8qdnCIC29Ly6OCjtsZEvpzt8/s320/ballando%20ballando.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />I’ve been trying to find a good copy of <i>Ballando Ballando</i> for years and found one last week, so I am finally watching it. Ettore Scola’s film is charming and funny with some very silly, delightful performances. The conceit is a nightclub where we spend nearly fifty years from 1936 to 1983 and we see many different characters over this time, but all the actors are the same. The music changes, the dances change, but there’s no spoken dialogue and we watch the passage of time. It’s a set of cinematic restrictions ripe for farce, and it’s successful and always fun to watch.<div><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="360" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="//videa.hu/player?v=5KjCe2uTc4PbtnNS" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="640"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This is not really interesting to anyone except me, but now that I've finally seen <i>Portrait of Chieko, The Walls of Malapaga, </i>and <i>Ballando Ballando</i>, the number of Foreign Language / International Feature Oscar nominees I've seen has jumped to 337 out of 347 nominees (that number includes this year's five movies). This leaves me only <i>Io Capitano, Perfect Days, </i>and<i> The Teachers' Lounge </i>from 2023, and then <i>Daens </i>(1992), <i>Memories of a Marriage </i>(1989), <i>Nights and Days </i>(1975), <i>The Deluge </i>(1974), <i>The New Land </i>(1972), <i>Live for Life </i>(1967), and <i>Dear John </i>(1964) from previous years.</div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-6504211205474131212024-01-29T00:06:00.003-05:002024-02-07T15:44:42.455-05:00Le Mura di Malapaga (1949)<i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysVRe-Ok4kGwYZt-tEOBRo05dJ6LWWNJldEQu2H0oqBEDQt8S04GNE07-yoIDtxEpe21HderRGa0AL6zk-UKIzrzCDT51D-kwBIquQuWgRVgdRL5QULteyo1DDBFrl-mjtyrox9Qe7ZEUelkc5csNzRim6JB9vE2e9FJ3WOikwmqGdFt1omT5bM2nSxY/s1000/le%20mura%20di%20malapaga.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="732" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysVRe-Ok4kGwYZt-tEOBRo05dJ6LWWNJldEQu2H0oqBEDQt8S04GNE07-yoIDtxEpe21HderRGa0AL6zk-UKIzrzCDT51D-kwBIquQuWgRVgdRL5QULteyo1DDBFrl-mjtyrox9Qe7ZEUelkc5csNzRim6JB9vE2e9FJ3WOikwmqGdFt1omT5bM2nSxY/s320/le%20mura%20di%20malapaga.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><br />The Walls of Malapaga </i>feels like a fairly standard post-war tragic romance in the vein of the great De Sica movies from this period. Jean Gabin does his gruff lovable-yet-unlovable thing. Isa Miranda is lovely in this, and Louis Page photographs the war-ravaged city of Genoa with heartbreaking care (it's a sound stage, actually, but I believed it).<div><br /></div><div>Also, I had been looking for a copy of this with English subtitles for years and was happy to have finally found one, so I watched it as soon as I found it. You can't find it on YouTube but it's over at Dailymotion:</div><br /><div style="height: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 56.25%; position: relative;"> <iframe allow="autoplay" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="100%" src="https://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x8htz1v?autoplay=1" style="height: 100%; left: 0px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 100%;" title="Dailymotion Video Player" type="text/html" width="100%"> </iframe> </div>
Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-7265488768982968922024-01-28T23:59:00.001-05:002024-01-28T23:59:18.069-05:00Le Meraviglie (2014)<i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkjmtVFMtnFDr87H25BSkOSe1qQS7RK-IgOV64teHbBKMQ2BdNnX4jL3jKa1RU16pvzKL47I9eVagZx023WLNeLvfxJ94i5ggswWgqTbLxnhwXzkmQPVSmiLWeHnIsIQzFGoxiQPe9jfli7bKbiGRnCJ6j26EAP5rzazeh82i1inhlfouOLPOq5RSGUM/s1000/le%20meraviglie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkjmtVFMtnFDr87H25BSkOSe1qQS7RK-IgOV64teHbBKMQ2BdNnX4jL3jKa1RU16pvzKL47I9eVagZx023WLNeLvfxJ94i5ggswWgqTbLxnhwXzkmQPVSmiLWeHnIsIQzFGoxiQPe9jfli7bKbiGRnCJ6j26EAP5rzazeh82i1inhlfouOLPOq5RSGUM/s320/le%20meraviglie.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><br />The Wonders </i>is marvelous. Rohrwacher’s portrait of a family working the land in traditional ways but getting squeezed by regulations and the modern world makes parallels between lost Etruscan antiquity and ghost stories. This is a beautifully balanced film with some gorgeous performances at its center.Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-90968592904032504702024-01-25T00:04:00.005-05:002024-01-25T00:08:17.176-05:00The Beguiled (1971)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRT3M3nXoEphKdexAFYfXZ7eGYjcK6sUStC4yRRL9HRwfXhPVh_piWgm9alEcrh_gThqgjiACDJbboK8E7hrFPkZbvoh69k5PF4ejvABd3bNZfaSslEF3wGpBN6CgAyyTepW0HuVLvsJJ4cdeg_ENZQ7O40qLJYH0h87hUfzL-lDMMrU5a8574BU_mF8g/s1497/the%20beguiled%201971.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1497" data-original-width="991" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRT3M3nXoEphKdexAFYfXZ7eGYjcK6sUStC4yRRL9HRwfXhPVh_piWgm9alEcrh_gThqgjiACDJbboK8E7hrFPkZbvoh69k5PF4ejvABd3bNZfaSslEF3wGpBN6CgAyyTepW0HuVLvsJJ4cdeg_ENZQ7O40qLJYH0h87hUfzL-lDMMrU5a8574BU_mF8g/w265-h400/the%20beguiled%201971.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />The original version of <i>The Beguiled</i>, directed by Don Siegel, is deeply, delightfully perverse and much, much queerer than the Sofia Coppola remake, which I liked a lot. But it’s unfortunate that she tamed the rough edges of this strange story. This film insists upon the weirdness. (Coppola apparently thought that this Don Siegel movie was too invested in sensational topics like incest and lesbianism? Sign me up! That’s what made this so fun.)<div><br /></div><div>Also, y'all, Clint Eastwood in the 1970s was a fox.</div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-55811964809345489482024-01-21T21:22:00.004-05:002024-01-21T21:22:48.874-05:00Heartbreak Ridge (1986)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSQBqgFp8TduOGwZF0vnRsifAjOzCA-bF-F2aDk7N0K1x11qATuIM3mHy3yyoEaibrBguP0gQPPZaKOJsUCa933MHgztou_8252SihTNW2LoqHLe0YRhfCuvLlz8O-UWb1kLPh9_93JYTqByLecxRCcslE-lvR_md0nOw1heIahWJrtFGLYO9njdbOBA/s719/heartbreak%20ridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="719" data-original-width="480" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSQBqgFp8TduOGwZF0vnRsifAjOzCA-bF-F2aDk7N0K1x11qATuIM3mHy3yyoEaibrBguP0gQPPZaKOJsUCa933MHgztou_8252SihTNW2LoqHLe0YRhfCuvLlz8O-UWb1kLPh9_93JYTqByLecxRCcslE-lvR_md0nOw1heIahWJrtFGLYO9njdbOBA/w268-h400/heartbreak%20ridge.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>Clint Eastwood's <i>Heartbreak Ridge </i>is genuine nonsense from start to finish. The military unit in this movie is absurdly silly. This is ostensibly somewhat of a comedic film, so I guess that works well enough, but <i>Heartbreak Ridge</i> also has pretensions of being a serious movie about masculinity, the military, war, and the true meaning of discipline or some such bullshit. All of it is so cartoon-like though, it feels impossible to take seriously. <p></p><p>Of course, one of the central features of Eastwood’s directing career is that he is interested in deconstructing and exploring US American masculinity and military and law enforcement regulations. But unlike a later film like <i>Gran Torino </i>or <i>Flags of Our Fathers </i>or even an earlier movie like <i>Unforgiven</i>, this 1986 nonsense actually <i>believes</i> in those values and questions them only in the most superficial ways. <i>Heartbreak Ridge</i> is a cheap, silly version of Eastwood’s later, more critical work. </p><p>Marsha Mason is luminous in this, and I adored her and Eileen Heckart, but this movie annoyed the hell out of me.</p><p>(I saw <i>Heartbreak Ridge </i>because it was the final film from Oscar season 1987 on my list, and I am a completist.)</p>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-16681562322999274892024-01-20T00:42:00.006-05:002024-03-10T03:01:04.315-04:00Best Actor 2023Here is my top five in alphabetical order. These are the five I would nominate if I were an Academy of one.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVO1wYnqUgBXqADwm9sBxZ_scOagdWGKWXzVtKupf0Om3H7gZ7zIG0p9mjnffcGyvmO4V9WcjgIUBHkt_QvQz7Tf71Tu-1hD1sCPWAtGDY-8NcCTIrC_Cz_PWxU-qhAPNA6lI1lIMq8nHKkVQsn40wYKR_2MYyW6o7SQRmIFiNfnQcz9ocbYsOiMZvQGI/s1000/elias%20anton%20in%20of%20an%20age.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1000" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVO1wYnqUgBXqADwm9sBxZ_scOagdWGKWXzVtKupf0Om3H7gZ7zIG0p9mjnffcGyvmO4V9WcjgIUBHkt_QvQz7Tf71Tu-1hD1sCPWAtGDY-8NcCTIrC_Cz_PWxU-qhAPNA6lI1lIMq8nHKkVQsn40wYKR_2MYyW6o7SQRmIFiNfnQcz9ocbYsOiMZvQGI/w400-h293/elias%20anton%20in%20of%20an%20age.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>ELIAS ANTON, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/02/of-age-2022.html">Of an Age</a></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gbdUBzOwDR6te9qsp0Lw_nejdQ1VE5-RBJFMdKLqzr1pqYnerRKBTnGovcuEv7JgJEFWMHEb4qrz5izFCHaSQWdynJIARKV3Gqf-yh78f4HbThq1P0ll6C3C6exAo91c6KJ6lWXBSlYKqUcmArhA-nUx7DSq1ou04Uazsz-hCniwcgCIKs4qKYWWLnI/s1024/bradley%20cooper%20in%20maestro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="1024" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gbdUBzOwDR6te9qsp0Lw_nejdQ1VE5-RBJFMdKLqzr1pqYnerRKBTnGovcuEv7JgJEFWMHEb4qrz5izFCHaSQWdynJIARKV3Gqf-yh78f4HbThq1P0ll6C3C6exAo91c6KJ6lWXBSlYKqUcmArhA-nUx7DSq1ou04Uazsz-hCniwcgCIKs4qKYWWLnI/w400-h236/bradley%20cooper%20in%20maestro.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>BRADLEY COOPER, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/maestro-2023.html">Maestro</a></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vgOjGmyV1HKDaAup3gmXQdBBaMQgz3zXkTG8B-3TEzmEzDOp0GJYxGJ9ZbvFRt-tcosePpNo_bkZ-Tbc4yjrUSXRCZKcN8I2msdjP9pJnDJZx2yYyxUyteSrN7nbrzB9tP8s68BNzaZdKp7eU3opVJLuZTSOcaOLUL6yxgBR5iaj4G425TsCFhRjerc/s960/cillian%20murphy%20in%20oppenheimer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-vgOjGmyV1HKDaAup3gmXQdBBaMQgz3zXkTG8B-3TEzmEzDOp0GJYxGJ9ZbvFRt-tcosePpNo_bkZ-Tbc4yjrUSXRCZKcN8I2msdjP9pJnDJZx2yYyxUyteSrN7nbrzB9tP8s68BNzaZdKp7eU3opVJLuZTSOcaOLUL6yxgBR5iaj4G425TsCFhRjerc/w400-h225/cillian%20murphy%20in%20oppenheimer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>CILLIAN MURPHY, <i>Oppenheimer</i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDU-WWuRR0a_DJSo9t2Df1oDs5tYLM2HTKTEQXZAbTooBSTNKBtoVsje4kXnBlNmrYYsFp6LD55LILvaXrYCgcpFXf5u2g0KWhxTV0WJY6GmQtW23J-jrIv8R_IFav4tCTBCNedeGYh_uwsGDHJ_TpOcasqCLGGA_RgNc2PV5ZPth7Tha8TAk6b3NVHCI/s695/Andrew-Scott-All-Of-Us-Strangers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="695" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDU-WWuRR0a_DJSo9t2Df1oDs5tYLM2HTKTEQXZAbTooBSTNKBtoVsje4kXnBlNmrYYsFp6LD55LILvaXrYCgcpFXf5u2g0KWhxTV0WJY6GmQtW23J-jrIv8R_IFav4tCTBCNedeGYh_uwsGDHJ_TpOcasqCLGGA_RgNc2PV5ZPth7Tha8TAk6b3NVHCI/w400-h251/Andrew-Scott-All-Of-Us-Strangers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>ANDREW SCOTT, <i>All of Us Strangers</i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSUtNEyxGxosGkZTSB47mozPlgvbqiHbnMfsXAna7c9jnWtvIk9k8YV6i2t4NAFULDD2bx1ZD4wuy0VPkV3VFom30rRt1qWVnyllCwOeNB616UYchGX6DyoNWXqiVPghjjUDXBOmNDJf0vPBRi9Hx4bFmn28gBPqgEyd9OI2kq3y1hyphenhyphenOcb4GOhZhfAuM/s1000/yoo%20teo%20in%20past%20lives.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSUtNEyxGxosGkZTSB47mozPlgvbqiHbnMfsXAna7c9jnWtvIk9k8YV6i2t4NAFULDD2bx1ZD4wuy0VPkV3VFom30rRt1qWVnyllCwOeNB616UYchGX6DyoNWXqiVPghjjUDXBOmNDJf0vPBRi9Hx4bFmn28gBPqgEyd9OI2kq3y1hyphenhyphenOcb4GOhZhfAuM/w400-h225/yoo%20teo%20in%20past%20lives.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>YOO TEO, <i>Past Lives</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Also loved:</b></div><div>Zac Efron, <i>The Iron Claw</i></div><div>Thom Green, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/02/of-age-2022.html">Of an Age</a></i></div><div>Barry Keoghan, <span style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/11/saltburn-2023.html">Saltburn</a></i></span></div><div>Ezra Miller, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/07/the-flash.html">The Flash</a></i></div><div>Enzo Vogrincic, <i>La Sociedad de la Nieve (Society of the Snow)</i></div><div>Yakusho Kōji, <i>Perfect Days</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Apologies to:</b></div>Casey Affleck (<i>Dreamin' Wild</i>), Gael García Bernal (<i>Cassandro</i>), Deniz Celiloğlu (<i>About Dry Grasses</i>), Felipe Ramírez Espitia (<i>A Male</i>), Paul Kircher (<i>Winter Boy</i>), Paul Mescal (<i>Foe</i>), Mads Mikkelsen (<i>The Promised Land</i>), Josh O'Connor (<i>La Chimera</i>), Jonathan Tucker (<i>Palm Trees and Power Lines</i>), Callum Turner (<i>The Boys in the Boat</i>), and Jeremy Allen White (<i>Fremont</i>), whose films I haven't seen yet.<div><br /></div><div><b>Related:</b></div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/my%20best%20actor%20picks">My Best Actor Picks from previous years (2004-2022)</a><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-actress-2023.html">My Best Actress Picks for 2023</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-supporting-actress-2023.html">My Best Supporting Actress Picks for 2023</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-supporting-actor-2023.html">My Best Supporting Actor Picks for 2023</a></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-77519866004743167502024-01-19T17:54:00.012-05:002024-01-20T01:20:39.803-05:00An Oscar Nomination Preview<p>Oscar nominations arrive bright and early this Tuesday morning. It's probably my favorite day of the year—like my own Christmas morning. And I don't usually like to make too many predictions about the nominations because, actually, the thing that I love the most about Oscar nomination morning is the <i>surprises. </i>Often on the day of the actual Oscars awards ceremony, there aren't too many surprises, but on the morning of the nominations? Surprises galore! Witness last year the surprise nomination for the very deserving Paul Mescal in <i>Aftersun </i>and the totally out of left field surprise nomination for the brilliant Andrea Riseborough in <i>To Leslie.</i></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9eBa5S3glTO9T2QCoOIWb9SQVvcJ3-I34-sNxfrgiiVCBCXXFPg7XmtxYSLRv5EznNTUT9weasPn_qrX1Pym-tD0rsuButR1PmMQOtDnXf7-dmnbTVZYn_1n5Zl3AHYQx4_p3_HdZMVb8V8y3vU0fK_hvtCE_9huU-9u_CUTRpsC6DN11BMJkgJi4Hc/s1600/MCDAFTE_EC171.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT9eBa5S3glTO9T2QCoOIWb9SQVvcJ3-I34-sNxfrgiiVCBCXXFPg7XmtxYSLRv5EznNTUT9weasPn_qrX1Pym-tD0rsuButR1PmMQOtDnXf7-dmnbTVZYn_1n5Zl3AHYQx4_p3_HdZMVb8V8y3vU0fK_hvtCE_9huU-9u_CUTRpsC6DN11BMJkgJi4Hc/w400-h266/MCDAFTE_EC171.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hi, Paul</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Anyhow, I thought it might be fun to rundown what I think I know about who is going to be nominated. As far as I can tell, things are <i>very confused at the moment</i>, and since the Screen Actors Guild nominees don't match up very well with earlier critics' prizes and the nominees for the Golden Globes, we might be in for some serious surprises come Tuesday morning.</p><p><b>Best Actor</b></p><p>The SAG nominees are:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Bradley Cooper, <i>Maestro</i></li><li>Colman Domingo, <i>Rustin</i></li><li>Paul Giamatti, <i>The Holdovers</i></li><li>Cillian Murphy<i>, Oppenheimer</i></li><li>Jeffrey Wright, <i>American Fiction</i></li></ul><div>This is a pretty good list. The Golden Globes had all of these gentlemen on their list of twelve (!), some of those have a very low chance of being nominated, like, say, Matt Damon in <i>Air </i>or Joaquin Phoenix in <i>Beau Is Afraid </i>but from their list you could add these two actual possibilities:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Leonardo DiCaprio, <i>Killers of the Flowe</i><i>r Moon</i></li><li>Andrew Scott, <i>All of Us Strangers</i></li></ul><div>I think <b>Murphy, Cooper, Giamatti, </b>and <b>Wright</b> are locks right now. I also think<b> </b>it's a little crazy that Colman Domingo keeps making these lists; <i>Rustin </i>is a legitimately terrible movie. I tend to think <b>Andrew</b> <b>Scott</b> will get in over Colman Domingo, but who knows. Maybe it's just because I like his movie so much better.</div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Best Actress</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2X-y1zypAoRLL2y9B1oAkJB4-OZRBnVlgMInSjhBtx-stlBwdTt87PzTYHMLjZ4lx5zCcbvDrKgIRUwPLQvP4XdGvadM68kWSdQg-YiR60pbitHFNtxzhhOEQ0W9t6eI-Jp4Qz5CNkzKZRF-IogisA8OdN-q3IkaTBAeEdRERh6OSS6o8ACqv15_m6t0/s1500/lily-gladstone-killers-of-the-flower-moon-102423-1-b87d4693d15245d48d00bbf1a3f08dda.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1500" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2X-y1zypAoRLL2y9B1oAkJB4-OZRBnVlgMInSjhBtx-stlBwdTt87PzTYHMLjZ4lx5zCcbvDrKgIRUwPLQvP4XdGvadM68kWSdQg-YiR60pbitHFNtxzhhOEQ0W9t6eI-Jp4Qz5CNkzKZRF-IogisA8OdN-q3IkaTBAeEdRERh6OSS6o8ACqv15_m6t0/w400-h268/lily-gladstone-killers-of-the-flower-moon-102423-1-b87d4693d15245d48d00bbf1a3f08dda.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you think I'm too boring to be nominated, think again</td></tr></tbody></table>The SAG nominees are:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Annette Bening, <i>Nyad</i></li><li>Lily Gladstone, <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i></li><li>Carey Mulligan, <i>Maestro</i></li><li>Margot Robbie, <i>Barbie</i></li><li>Emma Stone, <i>Poor Things</i></li></ul><div>From the Golden Globes, add to this list:</div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Sandra Hüller, <i>Anatomy of a Fall</i></li><li>Greta Lee, <i>Past Lives</i></li><li>Natalie Portman, <i>May December</i></li></ul><div>Here's where things get confusing. I think <b>Gladstone, Stone, </b>and <b>Mulligan</b> are the locks here. <i>Poor Things</i> is actually on the rise. I also tend to think that <b>Robbie</b> will get in; she's been nominated twice before, including a supporting nomination for <i>Bombshell </i>(does anyone even remember that movie?). SAG did not like <i>May December</i>, but will the Academy feel the same way? I think Greta Lee is probably out of the running here. But I actually feel like Annette Bening is not going to make the final list. Diana Nyad is a difficult character who is hard to like, and I feel like Jodie Foster steals the show from her. Here's what I predict: the Academy members are all watching <i>The Zone of Interest </i>right now, and they're loving it, and so they're remembering how good Sandra Hüller is in <i>Anatomy of a Fall </i>while they're looking for ways to also honor <i>The Zone of Interest. </i><b>Hüller</b> squeezes in as a nominee.</div></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Best Supporting Actor</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Screen Actors Guild gave us an unhinged list of nominees that left out the two critical favorites:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Sterling K. Brown, <i>American Fiction</i></li><li>Willem Dafoe, <i>Poor Things</i></li><li>Robert DeNiro, <i>Killers of the Flower Moon</i></li><li>Robert Downey Jr., <i>Oppenheimer</i></li><li>Ryan Gosling, <i>Barbie</i></li></ul><div>The Golden Globe list subbed out Brown and added in the two favorites:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Charles Melton, <i>May December</i></li><li>Mark Ruffalo, <i>Poor Things </i></li></ul><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVTT9c5VRyyGcq60JQEpNE7fWnP7oqnAgmBOiusYoFTFhTPKGr0veIiix3S78cDH22sLsFzM2IJSEUg4iqUZDG5khOwqH6lF4frGxBjRBZ36K_3SA7VfYJ9Hz-kHby_y0UkxJLTQN33eMEpv1HgcHJhZW63_egqjGeS69981a-tNc_dDsMyj9Nf_YXUk/s1920/charles%20melton%20in%20may%20december.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvVTT9c5VRyyGcq60JQEpNE7fWnP7oqnAgmBOiusYoFTFhTPKGr0veIiix3S78cDH22sLsFzM2IJSEUg4iqUZDG5khOwqH6lF4frGxBjRBZ36K_3SA7VfYJ9Hz-kHby_y0UkxJLTQN33eMEpv1HgcHJhZW63_egqjGeS69981a-tNc_dDsMyj9Nf_YXUk/s320/charles%20melton%20in%20may%20december.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry, Charlie</td></tr></tbody></table>It seems that the Screen Actors Guild simply did not care for <i>May December, </i>which I guess makes sense. They don't seem to get its camp or its melodramatic critique, and indeed, much of that critique is leveled at actors and their own self-importance, so perhaps SAG's dislike of the film is to be expected. Anyway, I think that means Melton will not be making a showing here.<i> </i>As for Ruffalo, here's a bit of trivia for you: in <u>five of the last six years</u>, two actors from the same film have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Last year it was <i>The Banshees of Inisherin</i>, the year before it was <i>The Power of the Dog</i>, before that it was <i>Judas and the Black Messiah, The Irishman, </i>and <i>Three Billboards outside Ebbing Missouri. </i>This means, it seems to me, that <i>both </i><b>Mark Ruffalo</b> and <b>Willem Dafoe</b><i style="font-weight: bold;"> </i>are in. <b>Downey</b> and <b>Gosling</b> are also in. And, I really, really hate to say it, but I also think <b>DeNiro</b> is in. Gross. Brown and Melton are both <i>much </i>better than DeNiro, and their <i>films</i> are also much better than <i>Killers of the Flower Moon.</i></div></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Best Supporting Actress</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>The Golden Globe list was:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Emily Blunt, <i>Oppenheimer </i><b>[LOCK]</b></li><li>Danielle Brooks, <i>The Color Purple</i></li><li>Jodie Foster, <i>Nyad </i><b>[LOCK]</b></li><li>Julianne Moore, <i>May December</i></li><li>Rosamund Pike, <i>Saltburn</i></li><li>Da'Vine Joy Randolph, <i>The Holdovers </i><b>[LOCK]</b></li></ul><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnvi3x5E7bSc9Ex3XSCpAZ5Olk5mNdyVPKXlzMoWdorsF9a1f4l7sttpQC3YokgKhjhWnMFpXasvqs0X5oWEWLwvj4GogkmVJLytPWfWTjctTbHcX65XrTUg08tlEYy7Vu7x2ixeYPQ2B9tuks8YzFljsPAriwlmRg5lkR62NjrbAYp8VPACVBvGJ3EU/s2128/rosamund%20pike%20in%20saltburn.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1596" data-original-width="2128" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnvi3x5E7bSc9Ex3XSCpAZ5Olk5mNdyVPKXlzMoWdorsF9a1f4l7sttpQC3YokgKhjhWnMFpXasvqs0X5oWEWLwvj4GogkmVJLytPWfWTjctTbHcX65XrTUg08tlEYy7Vu7x2ixeYPQ2B9tuks8YzFljsPAriwlmRg5lkR62NjrbAYp8VPACVBvGJ3EU/w400-h300/rosamund%20pike%20in%20saltburn.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't worry, darling, I don't need a nomination. I'm rich.</td></tr></tbody></table>The Screen Actors Guild disliked <i>May December, </i>so they left off Julianne Moore and also left off the very deserving Rosamund Pike, substituting instead Penélope Cruz<i>, </i>who gives a totally unhinged performance in <i>Ferrari </i>that I rather enjoyed. Will Danielle Brooks make it in? I don't think she's locked—the movie is terrible—but she's a bright spot in that film, so perhaps she will get nominated. As for the fifth slot... I think this is a complete wild card, and I wouldn't be surprised if it went to someone completely out of left field like, say, Sandra Hüller for <i>The Zone of Interest </i>or América Ferrera for <i>Barbie.</i></div></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Not giving Rosamund Pike a nomination would really be a crime. But I expect the Academy to fuck that up.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Best Director</b></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGyCF-eyKFWOpMSKEafug80NRMmsCPIM1-2rdKGUPUVEKR4hP6VZDE9sLdtXyi29y0nilDBlO8sS-_KPL1VQ_tCIKzCvqX228QSpiZD8GBfbx10aWxk9O7DB74e7AL7uoErVP075rVKaoPfD-7r0Gaap0NUyHdUIo4AktchxVgM3ac_z7aenmTXNa2q4/s2222/la%20sociedad%20de%20la%20nieve.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2222" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGyCF-eyKFWOpMSKEafug80NRMmsCPIM1-2rdKGUPUVEKR4hP6VZDE9sLdtXyi29y0nilDBlO8sS-_KPL1VQ_tCIKzCvqX228QSpiZD8GBfbx10aWxk9O7DB74e7AL7uoErVP075rVKaoPfD-7r0Gaap0NUyHdUIo4AktchxVgM3ac_z7aenmTXNa2q4/w270-h400/la%20sociedad%20de%20la%20nieve.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watch: this'll do well on Tuesday, too.</td></tr></tbody></table>You have probably noticed that I think <i>The Zone of Interest</i> is going to do very well on Tuesday morning. I actually think Jonathan Glazer is going to get nominated for Best Director for this movie. There's precedent for this if you look at the last few years. Last year, amid the usual suspects for Best Director appeared Ruben Östlund and <i>Triangle of Sadness</i>, a movie which only got three nominations overall (a low count) but wound up with nominations for Best Director and Best Picture The year before that the same thing happened with Hamaguchi Ryūsuke's <i>Drive My Car</i>, and the year before <i>that</i> it was Thomas Vinterberg's <i>Another Round</i>, skip a year and you'll find Paweł Pawlikowski for <i>Cold War </i>in that slot. All of this is to say, there is a voting bloc that chooses a very well respected film director who <i>isn't </i>based in the U.S. and gives him (it's always him) a nomination. This year, I think we're looking at Glazer.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>For Tuesday morning, of the films that are in the conversation (unlike, say, <i>Of an Age</i> or <i>Afire </i>or <i>Alcarràs</i>), I'll be rooting for my favorites of the year, <i>Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall, American Fiction, </i><i>All of Us Strangers</i>, and <i>The Boy and the Heron </i>(will Joe Hisaishi finally get an original score nomination???). I'm also gonna be rooting for <i>May December</i>, just out of spite, because it's very, very good, and I wish more people appreciated its strange melodramatic vibe.</div></div><p></p>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-48319016201054539362024-01-19T00:39:00.008-05:002024-03-19T01:43:28.484-04:00Best Actress 2023Here is my top five in alphabetical order. These are the five I would nominate if I were an Academy of one.<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDN3u24N87HN6Y8EFsk7cHXkZoy1FFWLiE-4q6ncFDfXrD1I842hLj3UZ5X51ONgxchfyOBj0jjnicafSAd-Fst7rrj1Sb1sDgxtk9U-F0haO7oiopz_N8Nhzn42DQrEK7zAfzuN1lSEIShIq9ZWORdM18lveJZNfwiwDh6hFF-zluTpjCP2TVb4AvWg/s2048/baisho%20chieko%20in%20plan%2075.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDN3u24N87HN6Y8EFsk7cHXkZoy1FFWLiE-4q6ncFDfXrD1I842hLj3UZ5X51ONgxchfyOBj0jjnicafSAd-Fst7rrj1Sb1sDgxtk9U-F0haO7oiopz_N8Nhzn42DQrEK7zAfzuN1lSEIShIq9ZWORdM18lveJZNfwiwDh6hFF-zluTpjCP2TVb4AvWg/w400-h266/baisho%20chieko%20in%20plan%2075.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>BAISHŌ CHIEKO, <i>Plan 75</i></b></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvuP-IEkZv1bJ-uaniDJSJkm2uckmcBQSSBnDrNf9ToWsNPysyD8i46uT9S8FOduHWoVj9jI7k6o97ZKzGBEx0Ebh7oD81kZc76usK2PsGPr01dmXvztmpqSQrYm5tFyEFg0kO-hJy_IjGHdD689z7MYBVEbMK7TJmMQyWFP_IKjYrm_JIA0xqkl7e4Q/s2000/sandra%20h%C3%BCller%20in%20anatomie%20d'une%20chute.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="2000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvuP-IEkZv1bJ-uaniDJSJkm2uckmcBQSSBnDrNf9ToWsNPysyD8i46uT9S8FOduHWoVj9jI7k6o97ZKzGBEx0Ebh7oD81kZc76usK2PsGPr01dmXvztmpqSQrYm5tFyEFg0kO-hJy_IjGHdD689z7MYBVEbMK7TJmMQyWFP_IKjYrm_JIA0xqkl7e4Q/w400-h225/sandra%20h%C3%BCller%20in%20anatomie%20d'une%20chute.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>SANDRA HÜLLER, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/11/anatomie-dune-chute.html">Anatomie d'une Chute (Anatomy of a Fall)</a></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVXPFqUdUlgL9q29lNE3wAlvBo6VlU-avleXYouviIQyptrGGL6UsN1I3SlBxOvwiQnPnqFERkwZNPqk-EbH-aKXUEjpD5mzM7WiBF5baDrBiNh1FJV9iZZb5LlkXL46olDbXx7mi37XT8ln8YZyYUH9E4ia6SsfSCm39t5q6vcwLYdjaac45HNkTHd0/s1536/aline%20k%C3%BCppenheim%20in%201976.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1536" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibVXPFqUdUlgL9q29lNE3wAlvBo6VlU-avleXYouviIQyptrGGL6UsN1I3SlBxOvwiQnPnqFERkwZNPqk-EbH-aKXUEjpD5mzM7WiBF5baDrBiNh1FJV9iZZb5LlkXL46olDbXx7mi37XT8ln8YZyYUH9E4ia6SsfSCm39t5q6vcwLYdjaac45HNkTHd0/w400-h225/aline%20k%C3%BCppenheim%20in%201976.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>ALINE KÜPPENHEIM, <i>1976 (Chile '76)</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoLBaxew72T6S6l1a50WKZLugBP46iWXFa9-a00CxuJC8gMrvRB89xQtfzW_dYEH2xyRjXHlE1JwyXV7SIouLPeWR-tliwVDXCDd_2-JxjPbpIjISjMQzzXRJf2kQBx3zRQrpJo_7c_nBWs1w1D3w2M3O5DktFBNwIR_pySjYBieSuYIWcdo59gFj9Os/s2048/carey%20mulligan%20in%20maestro.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtoLBaxew72T6S6l1a50WKZLugBP46iWXFa9-a00CxuJC8gMrvRB89xQtfzW_dYEH2xyRjXHlE1JwyXV7SIouLPeWR-tliwVDXCDd_2-JxjPbpIjISjMQzzXRJf2kQBx3zRQrpJo_7c_nBWs1w1D3w2M3O5DktFBNwIR_pySjYBieSuYIWcdo59gFj9Os/w400-h225/carey%20mulligan%20in%20maestro.png" width="400" /></a></div><b>CAREY MULLIGAN, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/maestro-2023.html">Maestro</a></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8z0tP_q73VQA8lLqjYuwmSmNWxiF84VHMne_H3JwnAYKuD7OzDwggNJrvYjhDlg8nT9-Zq4uK0sXfin465qR3qXSRUmBYKqjtalgp9ShYCDv6SaUyID0AbFVy2o9K-CRSWWbqwaUO8JMwqx1ipEqboa1JtOvVfKfWoCCFBfKBD276GauPrQ-F5rxJ4wA/s1280/natalie%20portman%20in%20may%20december.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8z0tP_q73VQA8lLqjYuwmSmNWxiF84VHMne_H3JwnAYKuD7OzDwggNJrvYjhDlg8nT9-Zq4uK0sXfin465qR3qXSRUmBYKqjtalgp9ShYCDv6SaUyID0AbFVy2o9K-CRSWWbqwaUO8JMwqx1ipEqboa1JtOvVfKfWoCCFBfKBD276GauPrQ-F5rxJ4wA/w400-h225/natalie%20portman%20in%20may%20december.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>NATALIE PORTMAN, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/may-december.html">May December</a></i></b><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div><b>Also loved:</b></div><div>Andō Sakura, <i>Monster </i>(怪物)</div><div>Lubna Azabal, <i>Le Bleu du Caftan (The Blue Caftan)</i></div><div>Annette Bening, <i>Nyad</i></div><div>Lily Gladstone, <i>The Unknown Country</i></div><div>Joanna Scanlon, <i>After Love</i></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Apologies to:</b></div><div>Jessie Buckley (<i>Fingernails</i>), Zar Amir Ebrahimi (<i>Shayda</i>), Anne Hathaway (<i>Eileen</i>), Sally Hawkins (<i>The Lost King</i>), Eve Hewson (<i>Flora and Son</i>), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (<i>You Hurt My Feelings</i>), Joely Mbundu (<i>Tori and Lokita</i>), Rosy McEwen (<i>Blue Jean</i>), Laura Paredes (<i>Trenque Lauquen</i>), Saoirse Ronan (<i>Foe</i>), Sydney Sweeney (<i>Reality</i>), Teyana Taylor, (<i>A Thousand and One</i>), Michelle Williams (<i>Showing Up</i>), and Anaita Wali Zada (<i>Fremont</i>), whose movies I have not yet seen.</div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Related:</b></div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/my%20best%20actress%20picks">My Best Actress Picks from previous years (2004-2022)</a><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-actor-2023.html">My Best Actor Picks for 2023</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-supporting-actress-2023.html">My Best Supporting Actress Picks for 2023</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-supporting-actor-2023.html">My Best Supporting Actor Picks for 2023</a></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-56253188485611986732024-01-13T11:20:00.006-05:002024-01-20T13:52:02.657-05:00Best Supporting Actor 2023<p>Here is my top five in alphabetical order. These are the five I would nominate if I were an Academy of one.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgt1l5wAfOIJGCn9VB_TwUN1y8nLHoJPzBZDKOHy3nLZVxGor8XexdI_-xs9YrUPLjWiH3dhqGlEaEEL4kocs85hchapSTiU2q4yjz5TefwsX4cCNeF4nXwbkosqj_kXnGgKWi_9Dx6ZWinVmRozVs4yBMIrik29ekQodn7f4s-R1bKFv-47mjZJLq0w/s1437/matt%20bomer%20in%20maestro.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1437" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgt1l5wAfOIJGCn9VB_TwUN1y8nLHoJPzBZDKOHy3nLZVxGor8XexdI_-xs9YrUPLjWiH3dhqGlEaEEL4kocs85hchapSTiU2q4yjz5TefwsX4cCNeF4nXwbkosqj_kXnGgKWi_9Dx6ZWinVmRozVs4yBMIrik29ekQodn7f4s-R1bKFv-47mjZJLq0w/w400-h278/matt%20bomer%20in%20maestro.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>MATT BOMER, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/maestro-2023.html">Maestro</a></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIaHFNaVLxTHTovmyRcdJk-ZQXY7JO8h-Lh0xZVuexCfxrhSDINGvwI8vP-YKzqy51gQHq2Rx2V43-uoAwHyz3hcl8sWoyQ3tR40HzFHOpEnJhWxFYK7CF2VzLHbTU_JFjUFY5-eMPqmTrlH6Z3eZtde7OtjSWF_x2NGo0-P0rXKUNxIxvGiBXwcT-bn4/s630/sterling%20k.%20brown%20in%20american%20fiction.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="420" data-original-width="630" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIaHFNaVLxTHTovmyRcdJk-ZQXY7JO8h-Lh0xZVuexCfxrhSDINGvwI8vP-YKzqy51gQHq2Rx2V43-uoAwHyz3hcl8sWoyQ3tR40HzFHOpEnJhWxFYK7CF2VzLHbTU_JFjUFY5-eMPqmTrlH6Z3eZtde7OtjSWF_x2NGo0-P0rXKUNxIxvGiBXwcT-bn4/w400-h266/sterling%20k.%20brown%20in%20american%20fiction.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>STERLING K. BROWN, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/american-fiction-2023.html">American Fiction</a></i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbXAPFXMhd1E-J8ZWlAqoSKL1v54qjN37DeC09Ju-SERDDEIJR_0L7C0452URfmqlYBS1lX-VFHVND6rD3VZeUadEDHfRoZYhKgxvK6V1-B8zk_auJk3_hK9Wl06kTkfZfXzzUdvuphic2G1VK748XH6lJ65rzQzwRKoNVGuXraIiErl-Ad5SdPe3pGU/s1200/alden%20ehrenreich%20in%20oppenheimer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbXAPFXMhd1E-J8ZWlAqoSKL1v54qjN37DeC09Ju-SERDDEIJR_0L7C0452URfmqlYBS1lX-VFHVND6rD3VZeUadEDHfRoZYhKgxvK6V1-B8zk_auJk3_hK9Wl06kTkfZfXzzUdvuphic2G1VK748XH6lJ65rzQzwRKoNVGuXraIiErl-Ad5SdPe3pGU/w400-h300/alden%20ehrenreich%20in%20oppenheimer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>ALDEN EHRENREICH, <i>Oppenheimer</i></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0tA96KU21Q53-BjDnK8DwQrkz4Vkjp7B3Se5azn6WMZRpJBE_0wm0pkDh_X_kh6U-QN6Fx0fXnbhVMI-jDtWTsAX4h-VTd4G0mm6gq-lVkfoFx7GcqzIDlI6GYu6pl9iw964Yhs9jkH9Gemndj9gIcoSptKU3rr5G2vD3q1BSikxegTRVpmWz5wNIlXQ/s1280/milo%20machado%20graner%20in%20anatomie%20d'une%20chute.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="1280" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0tA96KU21Q53-BjDnK8DwQrkz4Vkjp7B3Se5azn6WMZRpJBE_0wm0pkDh_X_kh6U-QN6Fx0fXnbhVMI-jDtWTsAX4h-VTd4G0mm6gq-lVkfoFx7GcqzIDlI6GYu6pl9iw964Yhs9jkH9Gemndj9gIcoSptKU3rr5G2vD3q1BSikxegTRVpmWz5wNIlXQ/w400-h216/milo%20machado%20graner%20in%20anatomie%20d'une%20chute.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>MILO MACHADO GRANER, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/11/anatomie-dune-chute.html">Anatomie d'une Chute (Anatomy of a Fall)</a></i></b><br /><b><br /></b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vn84ybDGyjEz8EIyGzs7Ckt5GDjMs1qJ_hYZCRBXkOi3__I9PEP3EBBNmvKNavkupvCSynQ_U4yxlIf0iEJUvpEW3TRKMHuv7E5RQLo0NVgmf8ds_jt_7vkepXi7Ng3OYeXF1BG73UUNlTPspQ2jTx31LDHUy_VkUm6SVI-1Wsy76jFCOMIplS2sZmQ/s750/jamie%20bell%20in%20all%20of%20us%20stangers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="750" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6vn84ybDGyjEz8EIyGzs7Ckt5GDjMs1qJ_hYZCRBXkOi3__I9PEP3EBBNmvKNavkupvCSynQ_U4yxlIf0iEJUvpEW3TRKMHuv7E5RQLo0NVgmf8ds_jt_7vkepXi7Ng3OYeXF1BG73UUNlTPspQ2jTx31LDHUy_VkUm6SVI-1Wsy76jFCOMIplS2sZmQ/w400-h214/jamie%20bell%20in%20all%20of%20us%20stangers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>JAMIE BELL, <i>All of Us Strangers</i></b></div></div>
<b><div><b><br /></b></div>Also loved:</b><div>Christopher Abbott, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/poor-things-2023.html">Poor Things</a></i></div><div>Swann Arlaud, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/11/anatomie-dune-chute.html">Anatomie d'une Chute (Anatomy of a Fall)</a></i></div><div>Amar Chadha-Patel, <i>The Creator</i></div><div>Trond Fausa, <i>Oppenheimer</i></div><div>Charles Melton, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/may-december.html">May December</a></i></div><div>Paul Mescal, <i>All of Us Strangers</i></div><div>Benny Safdie, <i>Oppenheimer</i></div><div>Ingvar Sigurðsson, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/07/godland-2023.html">Vanskabte Land (Godland)</a></i></div><div>Cory Michael Smith, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/may-december.html">May December</a></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><b>Related:</b></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/my%20supporting%20actor%20picks">My Best Supporting Actor Picks from previous years (2004-2022)</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-actress-2023.html">My Best Actress Picks for 2023</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-actor-2023.html">My Best Actor Picks for 2023</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-supporting-actress-2023.html">My Best Supporting Actress Picks for 2023</a></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-64129860062152587922024-01-13T11:20:00.001-05:002024-01-13T11:20:06.698-05:00May December<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMqPH0zsBsGZCWHmE6EFnq42tNldkKIO5kOx4h3FG3pd8FuyojbZ7Ku2J5HBEoEKzkRMLJlV6PcDxdEQBCHY9NMP5WhNJZHo2xmMTnb3olUjPwBxML6GBb5YNFJlrKE8dvvsVS7Zz_T9K6EEf8yaCNFxJamOmqi0AsMXnAS_bzUmnOTF2pCiW5YfVITY/s2222/may%20december.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2222" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMqPH0zsBsGZCWHmE6EFnq42tNldkKIO5kOx4h3FG3pd8FuyojbZ7Ku2J5HBEoEKzkRMLJlV6PcDxdEQBCHY9NMP5WhNJZHo2xmMTnb3olUjPwBxML6GBb5YNFJlrKE8dvvsVS7Zz_T9K6EEf8yaCNFxJamOmqi0AsMXnAS_bzUmnOTF2pCiW5YfVITY/s320/may%20december.jpg" width="216" /></a></div>Todd Haynes' <i>May December </i>is such a smart movie. It’s also like this weirdly mysterious gothic potboiler thing that veers into Lee Daniels’ <i>Waterboy</i> territory but—I can’t believe I’m gonna say this—in a good way. It feels very Robert Altman’s<i> 3 Women</i> at times, but then it takes a very sensitive and smart approach to some of the characters, offering them a generous gaze. The other definite intertext here is Mark Robson's <i>Peyton Plac</i>e: those shots of butterflies emerging reminded me of the flowers blooming in that classic 1957 melodrama. Anyway, this whole thing is just really careful and smart and campy, and I was really into it.<div><br /></div><div>The danger with this film, I think, is that people have been taking it all a bit too sincerely, as if the movie is like some kind of deeply honest exposé of these central characters. But the whole point of offering us the plot of a shallow (but very good) Hollywood actress attempting to get into a character, of seeing these people as a "story" rather than people, is to give <i>May December </i>a particular kind of camp framework, one that makes the whole thing more fun and interesting to me than doing some kind of "real" story.</div><div><br /></div><div>Another thing I want to note is Haynes's attachment to melodrama as a form. <i>May December </i>is definitely a melodrama (the music—cribbed from <i>The Go-Between—</i>is hilariously rich in this), but Jonathan Goldberg's book <i>Melodrama</i> helps us understand what Haynes is doing with this form: and that is that he is attempting to stage the warring pieces within ourselves, our deeply conflicting desires. What looks like over-the-top dramatics is perhaps better examined as an attempt <i>on the part of the characters </i>to find something real, to figure out their own deeply divided selves. (And us, of course: our own deeply divided selves.)</div><div><br /></div><div>The more I think about <i>May December </i>the more I like it.</div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-33776751208299976492024-01-12T11:24:00.002-05:002024-01-12T11:24:51.526-05:00The Zone of Interest (2023)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JXeGU1cKHYBCkxaBTpJFzhzc10rEBx4a2WDi4ryVnAnvWYxwTkd2CRlzEMvOS08Wnp1LyY21feMgaagTRc2Rkbm9NIMyMV5aZFWQcdFMK928UgMKDCNupTBDkgVS1uZxKEtQLXUfGGL36SCueqpcFG4-JxMg-yoAWhND4blke8eM8gbBXYWb2koUjJo/s1500/the%20zone%20of%20interest.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1JXeGU1cKHYBCkxaBTpJFzhzc10rEBx4a2WDi4ryVnAnvWYxwTkd2CRlzEMvOS08Wnp1LyY21feMgaagTRc2Rkbm9NIMyMV5aZFWQcdFMK928UgMKDCNupTBDkgVS1uZxKEtQLXUfGGL36SCueqpcFG4-JxMg-yoAWhND4blke8eM8gbBXYWb2koUjJo/s320/the%20zone%20of%20interest.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br />Clean and cold and deeply fucked up. Jonathan Glazer's <i>The Zone of Interest</i> is a movie about sound. It's bout what we hear, what we know is happening and what we decide to behave as if we can ignore. <div><br /></div><div>I guess I want to say, though, that The Zone of Interest didn’t really surprise me. It felt rather like a shorter, more colorful version of Haneke’s <i>The White Ribbon</i> to me.</div><div><br /></div><div>I <i>loved</i> the ending, of course. I just rather felt as if the film hadn't quite <i>earned</i> that amazing trip to the museum. I think it's difficult, too, to watch a movie where you really loathe all of the characters. It's hard to <i>make</i> a movie like that, and it's hard to <i>watch </i>a movie like that. </div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-89787959968289326422024-01-12T11:21:00.005-05:002024-01-12T11:21:46.030-05:00Rotting in the Sun (2023)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LQHkUZqxP8uRmxPTXEzc1nL9S0DwGHzp13_sEQPNsSdkkIg6zKUJkaE2ifxEbAat3XLJNeqyQ2qTaDWvryjtWc-Vi4ZwEqZbS4cbAGoCghh3LZ4tq70dZPE54yCYGVaKApU4HtrbWV2qiStJCWnNdrPpvFERJrUejtgd4F-U7x37VRuqH5iSm5duDrg/s1396/rotting%20in%20the%20sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2LQHkUZqxP8uRmxPTXEzc1nL9S0DwGHzp13_sEQPNsSdkkIg6zKUJkaE2ifxEbAat3XLJNeqyQ2qTaDWvryjtWc-Vi4ZwEqZbS4cbAGoCghh3LZ4tq70dZPE54yCYGVaKApU4HtrbWV2qiStJCWnNdrPpvFERJrUejtgd4F-U7x37VRuqH5iSm5duDrg/s320/rotting%20in%20the%20sun.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><br />Sebastián Silva's <i>Rotting in the Sun</i> is hilarious gay meta-cinematic madness. I laughed a lot. But it’s also just a very smart–stupid meditation on life’s meaning, social media, art-making, suicide, the death drive, and faggotry.Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1731492395426208086.post-66796021294818518522024-01-12T11:08:00.009-05:002024-02-17T01:32:44.055-05:00Best Supporting Actress 2023<p> Here is my top five in alphabetical order. These are the five I would nominate if I were an Academy of one.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81E8ugyqdyvI2N7RZWGfdFJY-EgbueVbrFru99_LnyOk65f6t1a5GyPwGx7PWgYSGMt2v0kwrw_a-21-KD9jB9Dh2M6hp6Zl7LcZY6HDUaiHQ4Yh3heNRBjLZ2rcpo_rdSqWKCgFTLkfBf-tZfjAfEtNoujaITNNX5NJv2oWgpVOSQw3Kn8KejC7oKTI/s1200/emily%20blunt%20in%20oppenheimer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81E8ugyqdyvI2N7RZWGfdFJY-EgbueVbrFru99_LnyOk65f6t1a5GyPwGx7PWgYSGMt2v0kwrw_a-21-KD9jB9Dh2M6hp6Zl7LcZY6HDUaiHQ4Yh3heNRBjLZ2rcpo_rdSqWKCgFTLkfBf-tZfjAfEtNoujaITNNX5NJv2oWgpVOSQw3Kn8KejC7oKTI/w400-h225/emily%20blunt%20in%20oppenheimer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>EMILY BLUNT, <i>Oppenheimer</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbfaB97swgNBX_w_ZFXyzH4IIIwL49ulTUrMbIdNkgVLOwLQgWvqygAJaaaB6-LCWQrvcPXPdjjl9iaaQSWUYtH1lVS7bbWWuylFRmk-QvSMtuASFnqAS1pW5Rq_tWXDqx4YJyPjdWXAJBzEE-lpYT9miDn7TeBOWXX_FteoQ28wD4SnOOAcHljbYOvT0/s2048/jodie%20foster%20in%20nyad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbfaB97swgNBX_w_ZFXyzH4IIIwL49ulTUrMbIdNkgVLOwLQgWvqygAJaaaB6-LCWQrvcPXPdjjl9iaaQSWUYtH1lVS7bbWWuylFRmk-QvSMtuASFnqAS1pW5Rq_tWXDqx4YJyPjdWXAJBzEE-lpYT9miDn7TeBOWXX_FteoQ28wD4SnOOAcHljbYOvT0/w400-h225/jodie%20foster%20in%20nyad.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>JODIE FOSTER, <i>Nyad</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx11clLqGZR0EIMPFU6qlUs2TeFMLgiMobCmLnJm_-0ZGjQ-mqxlRyp-elHhSn-cf-AZQH81vzjjvsqlDDmObSQL3XFGFPhxdF7LE-1MUCORUzj18rNYKaYDBggRaalAuYDwBe79CecaeN3EvMlUROhEVlGUjcQQVAGwT4zbI2Nr2AIvFAYlhA69I97ZA/s800/sarwat%20gilani%20in%20joyland.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx11clLqGZR0EIMPFU6qlUs2TeFMLgiMobCmLnJm_-0ZGjQ-mqxlRyp-elHhSn-cf-AZQH81vzjjvsqlDDmObSQL3XFGFPhxdF7LE-1MUCORUzj18rNYKaYDBggRaalAuYDwBe79CecaeN3EvMlUROhEVlGUjcQQVAGwT4zbI2Nr2AIvFAYlhA69I97ZA/w400-h225/sarwat%20gilani%20in%20joyland.png" width="400" /></a></div><b>SARWAT GILANI<i>, Joyland </i>(</b><span style="text-align: left;"><b>جوائے لینڈ</b></span><b>)</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0NrAULjsatOJ-JADrTiMNs3BvhKb80Glw2PRRKaRB5maEhYXbZxH7dbxpdPdeSnLZTYrmp5O5FmLMJy25loHVVWLC6f8P_jnLGPEtsvlltZA1UlJ6GiG32Oxs5Fwnr-3BXfl56zuRQYN-qwlpiQrbvYPUmg04G6UeGWNoWcpzXoaArElBvmJBwoUE26w/s2128/rosamund%20pike%20in%20saltburn.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1596" data-original-width="2128" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0NrAULjsatOJ-JADrTiMNs3BvhKb80Glw2PRRKaRB5maEhYXbZxH7dbxpdPdeSnLZTYrmp5O5FmLMJy25loHVVWLC6f8P_jnLGPEtsvlltZA1UlJ6GiG32Oxs5Fwnr-3BXfl56zuRQYN-qwlpiQrbvYPUmg04G6UeGWNoWcpzXoaArElBvmJBwoUE26w/w400-h300/rosamund%20pike%20in%20saltburn.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><b>ROSAMUND PIKE, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/11/saltburn-2023.html">Saltburn</a></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWQdwTF4CExbnrMZEj7RAyokGD2TRN97wHb4aByAYZZu6S5jtfkBMvAGDIIgjnCsPLQm6_z0L0d-YH5h634sScGpUjBfxS9RwP-f_aqd7dJzvVc9w33hMmufQB0jhRNLbIw7ETsz_DRXgGdXVCQQIFh6t8P6BuwmUNAnXtxACkXVR57Fm_tFBcnsKtl0/s1920/da'vine%20joy%20randolph%20in%20the%20holdovers.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1920" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTWQdwTF4CExbnrMZEj7RAyokGD2TRN97wHb4aByAYZZu6S5jtfkBMvAGDIIgjnCsPLQm6_z0L0d-YH5h634sScGpUjBfxS9RwP-f_aqd7dJzvVc9w33hMmufQB0jhRNLbIw7ETsz_DRXgGdXVCQQIFh6t8P6BuwmUNAnXtxACkXVR57Fm_tFBcnsKtl0/w400-h214/da'vine%20joy%20randolph%20in%20the%20holdovers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>DA'VINE JOY RANDOLPH, <i>The Holdove</i></b><b><i>rs</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Also loved:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Erika Alexander, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/american-fiction-2023.html">American Fiction</a></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Penélope Cruz, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2023/12/ferrari-2023.html">Ferrari</a></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Claire Foy, <i>All of Us Strangers</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Isabelle Huppert, <i>Mon Crime (The Crime Is Mine)</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Kawai Yūmi, <i>Plan 75</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Julianne Moore, <i><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/may-december.html">May December</a></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">Catalina Saavedra, <i>Rotting in the Sun</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Related:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/search/label/my%20supporting%20actress%20picks">My Best Supporting Actress Picks from previous years (2004-2022)</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-actress-2023.html">My Best Actress Picks for 2023</a></div><div><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-actor-2023.html">My Best Actor Picks for 2023</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://teatopour.blogspot.com/2024/01/best-supporting-actor-2023.html">My Best Supporting Actor Picks for 2023</a></div>Aaron C. Thomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02696459385623802961noreply@blogger.com0