Evan D.After a year off we are back with our annual Oscar nomination recap! Last year saw a massive pool of truly phenomenal films, making it difficult to project how Academy voters would winnow down the field of tremendous stories and performances. As always that process picks up some duds and omits some wonderful pieces of art. For the most part, this year was more good than bad and many of the seemingly biggest snubs came in stacked categories. A bit too much attention went to Oscar bait-y Maestro and another film got a baffling pair of acting nominations, but generally it was a day to celebrate in the above the line categories.
As always I will break down the favorites, the potential upsets, the surprises and the snubs in each of the acting categories, Best Director and Best Picture. Surprises can be good or bad so long as the nomination was the most unexpected of the bunch. I will try to highlight as many different films as possible so the snub identified may not be the only one or even the most notable. Finally, and importantly, if you think something has been snubbed, you have to be willing to take something nominated off the board. All of my snub picks will also indicate what picture or performer I would take out to accommodate.
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Evan D.The world of film is undergoing a massive change. More women and people of color are getting the opportunities to tell stories than ever before. This progress has been slow, at times frustratingly so, but the direction is a good one. As film diversifies so has The Academy, again, often slower than we would like, but the change is evident. After the debacle that was #OscarsSoWhite in 2015, The Academy began its deliberate effort to diversify membership. Record numbers of women, people of color, young people and non-Americans have joined the ranks of Academy voters and the fruits of that diversification have finally begun to bear. Add to that continued change the advent of the Academy’s new digital screening portal, making it easier than ever for members to see eligible films. Not every voter makes time for every film, but with easier access, more may have done so this year
Evan D.This past Monday was a momentous occasion, happy Spider-Monday to all those that celebrate. One of the most highly anticipated films since Covid arrived and shut down all social interaction, Spider-Man: No Way Home began selling pre-order tickets this week. The response was fervent. Would be cinema goers waited in hour long virtual queues to secure the right to purchase a seat, opportunistic scalpers listed their tickets online for astronomical prices, American audiences were clamoring for a big communal experience.
Evan D.Remember the Oscars? Believe it or not, more than 13 months have passed since Bong Joon-ho and his masterwork cleaned up at the Academy Awards. To some Parasite winning Best Picture is still the last good thing to happen in a since ravaged world. The film year that took place in those intervening months saw theaters closed and many would be awards contenders pushed back. Despite the migration of prestige films to 2021 and beyond, plenty of great films find themselves in contention this year. With nearly every title accessible at home in some form, the 93rd Oscars may be the toughest to prognosticate yet.
Evan D.What once was a simple task has become a Herculean undertaking in the time of COVID. While that statement can apply to just about anything, in this context I’m talking about projecting which movies will come out in 2021. Had I done this article a year ago, it would likely have included a large number of films that will populate this list. So many films got pushed, and many more still could this year, that a most anticipated list is purely guess work. Regardless, we soldier on. Here are some of the most exciting titles slated for release in 2021:
Evan D.In the world of movies, every year follows a similar pattern. Halfway through the calendar, those critics inclined to pessimism start ringing the warning bell over a lack of quality film. Outlandish fear over the death of cinema persists through the splashy summer season, but as Oscar season winds down the same conclusion is nearly always reached: a great year for film. Now, 2020 has broken just about every mold we understand, up to and including the way we perceive time. One thing this pandemic decimated year hasn’t changed? It has still been a great year for film.
Evan D.For years now, cynics in the world of film have been crying the downfall of movie theaters. To them, each new advancement in home video drives another nail into the theatrical coffin. In recent years these fears have only accelerated with companies like Netflix and Amazon chipping away at traditional industry norms. All that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Warner Media’s decision to completely blow up exclusive theatrical windows for 2021 landed heavily among those in the world of film.
Evan D.First it was James Bond. Peter Rabbit and Mulan soon followed. These films were the some of the very earliest to flee their theatrical release dates as it became clear that the novel coronavirus would force theaters closed for an extended time. That emptying of the 2020 release calendar only accelerated, forcing studios to weigh the costs of full year delays against premium VOD drops. Although no film escaped the reality imposed by a global pandemic, one film has consistently led the charge to reopen theaters: Tenet. Evan D.For film buffs, Oscar nomination day can be a bit of a roller coaster. Coming on the heels of the frequently wacky Golden Globes there is always a flicker of hope that the Academy will make good choices. Far more often than that though, the nominees are exactly what everyone pessimistically predicted plus a few surprises that are also usually bad.
2020 was no exception as beloved films such as ‘Knives Out’ and ‘Little Women’ underperformed while ‘The Farewell’ and ‘Uncut Gems’ were excluded entirely. Conversely the film that led all others in total nominations was the highly divisive ‘Joker.’ It wasn’t all bad news though, the Documentary branch nominated 4 women and 4 foreign language films in their category and ‘I Lost My Body’ found its way into the animated feature nominees after being snubbed by the Golden Globes. Just like last year, I’m breaking down the nominations in the major categories. If you’re interested in how I did last year, check it out here. Without further ado, the nominees are: Evan D.Towards the end of Summer, the year in film was looking pretty bleak. Endgame had smashed box office records, but moviegoers had precious few truly great films to choose from. Fast forward to December and to consider 2019 anything less that great year in film would seem crazy.
Like most years, the best movies in 2019 were reflections of the world around us. Some of the most resonant films put a microscope on the global inequality we see today. We were treated to films that thoughtfully explored economic hardship, the uphill battle faced by women in male dominated worlds and the zero sum nature of late capitalism. It’s truly been a spectacular year for movies and here are my 10 favorites from 2019. |
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