96th Academy Awards

 

(Variety)

Hey, welcome back to my blog that I'm always all the time writing at! See my latest posts like "95th Academy Awards" or maybe stick around for my next piece, "97th Academy Awards!" Gee whiz, I'd write more often but it's just that I'm too busy seeing awesome movies!! Several of my favorites are making an appearance at the Oscars this year. Mind if I dump all my thoughts on 'em real quick? 

Best Visual Effects

Will win: Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima for Godzilla Minus One
Want to win: Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts, and Neil Corbould for The Creator

When it comes to this year's visual-effects-heavy movies, these two have dominated the conversation. Napoleon, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One... good looking movies, but The Creator and Godzilla Minus One both managed to look even better with a fraction of the budget ($80m and $12m respectively). That comes down to great planning, great direction, and they deserve to be commended for that here. Godzilla has gone from underdog to front-runner, but The Creator's visual effects really struck a chord with me and helped elevate the whole movie from "dud" to "well it was a dud but did you see how awesome it looked??"

Best Film Editing

Will win: Jennifer Lame for Oppenheimer
Want to win: Laurent Sénéchal for Anatomy of a Fall

Here are two movies that really owe a lot of their success to some terrific editing. Oppenheimer is a three hour drama about a reticent scientist, so how in the world did it make nearly $1b at the box office? It's definitely got something to do with its excellent pacing- Despite the lengthy runtime, audiences stay glued to their seat as the movie bobs and weaves between interpersonal drama, high-stakes politics, and an uncertain legacy. Unlike most of Christopher Nolan's movies, there isn't a ton of spectacle to keep audiences entertained, but Jennifer Lame's masterful editing works to mold his chaotic vision into something extremely palatable. With that in mind, I still gotta give a shout out to Laurent Sénéchal as Anatomy of a Fall would not have hit nearly as hard without his awesome work. He turns an interesting-enough courtroom drama into something really affecting- The order and pace that evidence is presented keeps audiences entertained and helps the movie last beyond its runtime.

Best Costume Design

Will win: Holly Waddington for Poor Things
Want to win: Holly Waddington for Poor Things

This award is usually too focused on congratulating accurate recreations of outfits from a long time ago- The other nominees (Oppenheimer, Napoleon, Killers of the Flower Moon, and Barbie) all have great costumes, but they don't do anything interesting with them. Poor Things is very special in this regard; It takes place in a sort of otherworldly Victorian era, and the costumes are the biggest reflection of this. Visually reminiscent of a familiar period of time, but with a modern twist (even moreso than Yorgos Lanthimos's last film, The Favourite). I love how it dances along the line of "period accurate" and "totally original," and I hope it gets awarded for it.

Best Production Design

Will win: Jack Fisk and Adam Willis for Killers of the Flower Moon
Want to win: Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer for Barbie

Barbie is kind of my favorite movie of the year, and it owes a lot of its success to its amazing production design. The sets and decorations are very impressive recreations of classic Barbie toys, but the movie goes beyond mere recreations; The film's whole look is informed by the set design, particularly the stage musical aura it evokes. A close second in my mind is the immersive town of Fairfax, Oklahoma depicted in Killers of the Flower Moon. Homes, businesses, and town squares, all richly detailed and shot from all sides to help bring the viewer into this century-old conspiracy. The film leaves no stone unturned regarding its depiction of events, and the production design really leans into this philosophy; I think the Academy will award it in kind.

Best Original Song

Will win: Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell for Barbie's "What Was I Made For?"
Want to win: Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt for Barbie's "I'm Just Ken"

Ok, this is a silly category and thus I have a silly soapbox to stand on: I do not care for drama and sadness as much as I care for levity and humor, but the Academy is always more interested in awarding the former over the latter. That's fine, ya know, I've made my peace with it. But here's a great example... I think "What Was I Made For?" really struck a chord with audiences and does a great job of underlining the movie's thesis, but "I'm Just Ken" is the movie. It's funny, it's magic, it's what made me realize that the movie was a cut above. Billie, Finneas, great work, loved you in 4*TOWN, but I gotta side with Mr. Uptown Funk here, and it has everything to do with my love for laughter. "I'm Just Ken" is the kind of zany goofiness that Barbie is built on and I can't wait to see Ryan Gosling do his thing on Oscar Sunday.

Best Original Score

Will win: Ludwig Göransson for Oppenheimer
Want to win: Ludwig Göransson for Oppenheimer

Man, Ludwig is just the best, isn't he? His work on Black Panther, Turning Red, and Tenet- all electric. One of Oppenheimer's greatest strengths is how it employs music (and editing!) to keep the audience focused and excited on whatever comes next. You better believe I went straight home and listened to the soundtrack right after finishing that movie. There's some good competition here- Poor Things is nothing without its ethereal, somewhat offputting score, and the waning bluesy sounds of Killers of the Flower Moon evoke an equally offputting feeling. Still, I think the Academy is hot for Oppenheimer, and I think Ludwig is going to take the cake.

Best Animated Feature

Will win: Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Amy Pascal for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse
Want to win: Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki for The Boy and the Heron

This one is tough. Real tough. I was pretty disappointed by Spider-Man, but a feverish excitement has followed it all year, and I don't see it stopping any time soon. The Boy and the Heron has been the favorite for a while- It's kind of a magnum opus for Hayao Miyazaki, who is 83 years old, won his only Oscar over 20 years ago, and may-or-may-not continue making movies after this. This seems like prime Academy material, but I think Spider-Man has a greater reach, and it has only picked up steam over the last few months. This is a category that anyone in the Academy can elect to vote for, so I wouldn't be surprised to see Spider-Man win here. A nod to either one will make me happy!

(Everett Collection, Deadline)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Will win: Cord Jefferson for American Fiction
Want to win: Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach for Barbie

With Margot Robbie absent from the Best Actress race, you get the feeling that the Academy isn't as hot on Barbie as the rest of us. What gives? It's got everything! Existential crises, musical numbers, fitting jokes, cultural touchstones, all while depicting one of the world's biggest brands? To walk that tightrope and end with a backflip is nothing short of spectacular. But that's fine, I get it. There's a lot of great picks to choose from here: The Zone of Interest, Poor Things, and Oppenheimer all manage to do something really interesting with their source material, but American Fiction is probably the most impressive effort. The book, Percival Everett's Erasure, seems almost unadaptable with its unique structure- nested stories, miscellaneous literary artifacts, multiple narrators. The movie presents compelling characters, an easy to understand narrative, but maintains the experimental nature of the book, and twists its meta elements into something fitting for a film. As usual, a win for any of these screenplay nominees would satisfy me, but I think screenwriters seem most impressed with Cord Jefferson's work.

Best Original Screenplay

Will win: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for Anatomy of a Fall
Want to win: Celine Song for Past Lives

This is probably the Academy's best opportunity to award Anatomy of a Fall- An interesting piece with well-plotted twists and turns that keeps the audience invested. I loved it, I'm rooting for it, but ya know what, I really gotta hand it to Celine Song. Past Lives seemed like a movie that just wasn't for me. Romantic dramas are not my bag, and the setup here seemed totally uninteresting- but the way she wrote the characters (not to mention the actors’ performances) really turns it into something interesting. Halfway through the runtime and I'm all-in; Thankfully, by the end, it did not disappoint. This ain't no run-of-the-mill romantic drama! It's kind of special and I want to give Celine a high-five for it. We'll see what the Academy says.

Best Supporting Actress

Will win: Da'Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers
Want to win: Emily Blunt for Oppenheimer

I know I'm the odd one out here, but as much as I enjoyed The Holdovers, I can't say Da'Vine Joy Randolph played any part in it. I liked her character but, I dunno, there were just a few too many line reads that didn't strike me the right way. It sounds like she has the category locked up though, not to mention the stunning number of awards she's already fetched for this performance, so I'll back away and let the music play out... assuming we'll award Emily Blunt for something else some day, right? Because, I mean, poorly written as Kitty Oppenheimer may be, my wife and I constantly reference her refusal to shake Edward Teller's hand at the White House, her drunken tendency to throw drinks at the wall, her visible disdain for motherhood... and, like, without a Honorary Oscar for The Devil Wears Prada, I'll just have to assume that the Academy knows something about 2024's upcoming The Fall Guy that I don't.

Best Supporting Actor

Will win: Robert Downey Jr. for Oppenheimer
Want to win: Ryan Gosling for Barbie

Dude! Robert Downey Jr.! Look at him go! He sunk so low, he became the butt of two (excellent) Simpsons bits– but ten Tony Stark performances later and now he's hit his Apex Mountain™. Tropic Thunder and Sherlock Holmes were huge for my generation, but Tony Stark is on a whole other level, and now that he's made a few billion dollars for Disney, he launches himself into this- a knock-out performance in yet another (nearly) billion-dollar-grossing movie. Give this man his award already, I dunno why we have to wait until tomorrow. It's too bad though, because without RDJ here I think this would be an amazingly competitive category. Mark Ruffalo, Robert De Niro, Ryan Gosling- These guys are already great actors but their performances this year were among the best I've ever seen from them. Even Sterling K. Brown heads such as myself can't be mad!

Best Actress

Will win: Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon
Want to win: Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon

Another good category here- Emma Stone is the only reason Poor Things works at all, Sandra Hüller blew my mind with her aloofness in Anatomy of a Fall, and Annette Bening is kind of the only reason to bother watching Nyad. And Carey Mulligan, well... I mean, I've seen her in this sort of role several times before, but sure, she did great too. Lily Gladstone was a cut above though; She held her own against heavyweights like Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, turning in a memorable performance as the centerpiece to Killers of the Flower Moon. And what does the Academy love more than granting a win to a first-timer who we had never heard of before this year? Go Lily Go!

Best Director

Will win: Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer
Want to win: Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer

Kinda shocking to be here, right? I mean, Christopher Nolan is one of Hollywood's most influential directors, but his work has never really resonated with the Academy- certainly not in a prestigious category like this. Things are different this year, though; Oppenheimer is the name to beat, and it's tough to make a case against it in many categories. The closest opponent in my mind is Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon, but c'mon, really? Nine nominations and one win already under his belt, is this really his time? Without Greta Gerwig in the mix, I think it's finally time to give Chris credit where credit is due.

Best Picture

Will win: Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, and Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer
Want to win: David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, and Robbie Brenner for Barbie

I dunno, man. This seems to easy. Oppenheimer up and down the ballot- how often does this happen at the Oscars? Surely there's an upset hidden somewhere, and if it's anywhere it's in a category like this where anyone in the Academy can vote for the winner. As a result, Best Picture winners tend to lean more towards "statement" movies that try to say something, and Oppenheimer just seems too safe in that regard. Still, who can possibly compete? What other nominees have the broad appeal to rival Barbenheimer? Barbie is clearly trying to say something, but it's also a giant advertisement unlike any other Best Picture nominee. Did Greta and Margot get snubbed because the Academy didn't gel with their work, or because they thought they were already guaranteed nominations in their categories? I'm not going to overthink it. Oppenheimer will win, but a surprise here would be absolutely delicious.

Thanks again for tuning in for another year of movie rambling. I got MARRIED!! last year which kept me quite busy, but I still got to see quite a few awesome works of art. Movies are giant, complicated, expensive behemoths so it's pretty cool when they're able to make you feel things. I'm on Letterboxd logging all of my movie feelings at a frightening pace, so feel free to join me there and share your own movie feelings as well.