2023/2024 Oscar Nominations Reactions

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-The nationalities of the 20 best actor nominees are:

16 US nominees though 2 are second-generation Latin American (Colman Domingo’s parents are from Guatemalan and Belize, America Ferrera is Honduran); 1 Canadian in Ryan Gosling; 1 Irishman in Cillian Murphy 1 German in Sandra Huller; 1 British (2nd generation Irish) in Carey Mulligan

-Zasie Baetz was announcing like she was giving away cars on either the Price is Right or Opera. At first, I was convinced that she was stanning American Fiction but that was likely my bias. Jack Quaid is one of my favorite young stars of Hollywood, but isn’t there still room in Hollywood for Jack and his dad? #FarFromHeavenforever

-I’ve seen 6 of the 10 nominees (Check: Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon, Anatomy of a Fall, Maestro, Poor Things, Holdovers, Didn’t See: American Fiction, Zone of Interest, Past Lives, Barbie) and 14 of the 20 nominees (Paul Giamatti, Cillian Murphy, Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Emma Stone, Sandra Huller, Annette Bening, Lily Gladstone, Robert DeNiro, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr, DaVine Joy Randolph, Emily Blunt, and Jodie Foster). Of the remaining four, I haven’t seen Zone of Interest holds the least interest to me. I don’t pressure myself to see everything that’s out there.

-The woke crowd will probably be split, but with the surprise inclusion of Sterling K Brown, America Ferrera, and the fact that one woman was still nominated (Justine Triet), they don’t have much basis that the patriarchy squeezed their voices out. To the degree that foreign film enthusiasts overlap with woke advocates (a lot of foreign films are made by white people and that’s all that counts to the woke), there’s much to celebrate on that front as three foreign films have never been among the final ten. I saw Anatomy of a Fall and the subtitles made the story difficult to follow, so audiences will have to adjust.

-Killers of the Flower Moon is the 12th Best Picture Nominee that Robert DeNiro has appeared in: Godfather II, Taxi Driver, Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, Soldier’s Story, Awakenings, Goodfellas, Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Irishman, Joker, and now Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s likely a new record. Leonardo DiCaprio is close behind at 11; Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe; Jesse Plemons (who’s had a streak of 6 in 7 years: Brides of Spies, The Post, Vice, Irishman, Judas and the Black Messiah, Power of the Dog), and Bradley Cooper are tied at 7;Emma Stone is at 5; and Margot Robbie, Gary Oldman, and Paul Giamatti are at 4

-These were the most competitive female acting categories in years. Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman in May December; Greta Lee in Past Lives; Fantasia Barrino and Taraji P. Henson in Color Purple; Rachel McAdams in Are You There God It’s Me Margaret; Rosamund Pike in Saltburn were all in the running. The last one in each category was likely the two elderly ladies from Nyad: Annette Bening and Jodie Foster. I’ve never loved a Jodie Foster performance but somehow she won me over this time. I think, all factors considered, Foster, got in on that extra bit of sparkle she bought to that inspirational role. Bening got in because of the tendency to award people who transform and exhaust themselves. They couldn’t recognize her in the role.

-Congratulations to Bradley Cooper, Jodie Foster and Annette Bening for being in the 5-timers club. Why Cooper is already considered by pundits to be out of running for the award is already beyond me. He completely transformed himself for the role, he keeps the movie watchable through his pure joy, and he’s turned into a great spokesman for classical music through the journey. He also co-wrote, directed, and produced the film. If he doesn’t get an Oscar now, he might get desperate enough to go full-Revenant and get eaten by a bear.

Congratulations to the 2023/2024 Oscar Class. These people all have a screen credit (as determined by Rogerebert.com) in one of this year’s best picture nominees: Adam Brody, Alexandra Shipp, America Ferrera, Anne Rotger, Antoine Reinartz, Barry Corbin, Benny Safdie, Bradley Cooper, Brendan Frasier, Camille Rutherford, Cara Jade Meyers, Carey Mulligan, Carrie Preston, Casey Affleck, Christopher Abbott, Christian Friedel, Cillian Murphy, Daniel Holzberg, David Krumholtz, Da’vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa, Emma Mackey, Emma Stone, Emily Blunt, Emily Cass McDonnell, Erika Alexander, Florence Pugh, Gillian Vigman, Greta Lee, Gustaf Skarsgard, Helen Mirren, Issa Rae, Jack Quaid, Jason Clarke, Jason Isbell, Jeffrey Wright, Jehnny Beth, Jerrod Carmichael, Jesse Plemons, John Cena, John Lithgow, John Magaro, John Ortiz, Josh Hartnett, Kate McKinnon, Keith David, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Lucy Boynton, Margaret Qualley, Margot Robbie, Mark Ruffalo, Matt Bonner, Matt Damon, Maximilian Beck, Maya Hawke, Medusa Knopf, Michael Cera, Michael Urie, Milo Machado Graner, Myra Lucretia Taylor, Olivia Thirby, Paul Giamatti, Ramy Yousef, Rhea Pearlman, Robert DeNiro, Robert Downey Jr, Ryan Gosling, Sascha Maaz, Sandra Huller, Sarah Silverman, Simu Liu, Scott Shepherd, Stephen Thorne, Skyler White, Sterling K Brown, Swann Arlaud, Tate Donovan, Teo Yoo, Tony Goldwyn, Vicki Pepperdine, Willem Dafoe, Will Ferrell

The nationalities of the 20 best actor nominees are:

16 US nominees though 2 are second-generation Latin American: Colman Domingo’s parents are from Guatemalan and Belize, America Ferrera is Honduran; 1 Canadian in Ryan Gosling; 1 Irishman in Cillian Murphy 1 German in Sandra Huller; 1 British (2nd generation Irish) in Carey Mulligan

Review of Batman Begins

Whatever you think of Batman Begins, you kind of have to give more credit to X-Men and Spiderman for getting it right the first time. The execs at Warner Brothers have changed their minds over what they want to do with this superhero franchise of theirs that they go and retool it every two movies.

So it’s kind of disorienting watching this one, in ways good and bad. For one, I feel a little disappointed in the batmobile: it’s more like a bat tank. Mainly, though, the story’s a lot more complicated with its humongous cast of characters. If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess there’s a rule that anyone who’s ever been nominated for an Oscar gets a coupon for a free role in a Batman movie that everyone’s cashing in on (if you want to know the exact stats, which I hope you do because I spent 10 minutes researching this, 5 actors in this movie have earned 12 oscar nominations between them), and they had to try extra hard to find parts for everyone., which led to some characters who just didn’t need to be there.

Like Morgan Freeman, for example, is a scientist who designs Batman’s gadgets. I love Morgan Freeman but what exactly is he doing there? Doesn’t Q belong with James Bond? Also, who’s the real villain? Aside from making the story confusing, I think part of the fun of Batman is that you have this whacked hero dressed up as a bat and then you have even wackier villains with themes of their own, like a guy who dresses like a Penguin or the Riddler. With the exception of the Scarecrow, this movie doesn’t really have that here. Unfortunately, I didn’t really see the scarecrow that much, anyway. I think the reason for adding someone like crime boss Carmone Falcone was to show us how bad of a place Gotham is. Now Tim Burton didn’t ever need to resort to that. He created such a dark tone that he could show us what Gotham just by showing us a frame of it. I will add, though, that most people who see this movie will probably agree that Commisioner Gordon and Alfred are both two really strong characters in this movie and they add a lot, unlike the other movies where they kind of stand around and look like idiots next to Batman.

So, as I say, the story’s different but as it stands on its own, it really works well. It had the same piecing-together-of-the-puzzle element that the Star Wars III prequels had, which is real cool. If you’ve watched any Batman TV episode or watched any Batman movie, then you can’t help but be intrigued by a movie that answers the questions, where did Batman get the idea for Batman, how did he get the batmobile or the batcave, where did he learn to fight?, etc.