The Envelope Please: Those Oscars

The Envelope Please … Those Oscars

That time of the year again, and you can find out all about the 91^st Academy Awards this Sunday here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/91st_Academy_Awards.

Also a few other links:

https://www.rogerebert.com/chazs-blog/my-joys-and-sorrows-of-the-2019-oscar-nominations

Gold Derby predictions tracker: https://www.goldderby.com/c/film/oscars/

https://variety.com/2019/film/awards/advantages-and-challenges-for-the-2019-best-picture-nominees-1203120868/

https://www.macleans.ca/culture/movies/will-roma-make-history-or-will-bradley-coopers-snub-turn-a-star-is-born-into-the-underdog/

I won’t go through all the categories.  However I am glad to see that the Academy backed down on a ridiculous earlier decision to relegate best cinematography and best editing to commercial breaks. No host should mean less inane patter, and there’s other fluff that could be cut to reduce the length of the ceremony.

Best Picture

I fully expect Alfonso Cuarón’s semi-autobiographical Roma to emerge as the overall winner, as it should.  At the Brit awards (BAFTAs) it had competition from the UK production The Favourite (tied for the most Oscar nominations with 10) but that will be less of a factor here. Roma is also the prohibitive favorite for best foreign-language film.  So this will mark a first both for a foreign-language movie and a Netflix production to take Hollywood’s top accolade.

I didn’t dislike Bohemian Rhapsody as much as many critics. But it is outrageous to see it recognized and not such superior films as If Beale Street Could Talk, First Reformed, and First Man.  The nomination is acknowledgement enough for the Black superhero blockbuster Black Panther and Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman.

Best Director

Yes Bradley Cooper was snubbed for A Star is Born. (But so was Barry Jenkins for If Beale Street Could Talk.) Poland’s Pawel Pawilkowski is fully deserving for Cold War, one of two black-and-white historical dramas in this category.  (The best cinematography award is probably between these two.) The favourite should be Cuarón for Roma.

Best Actor

The egregious snub is Ethan Hawke for the overlooked First Reformed given that he topped virtually every critics’ poll. Also excluded, Canadian Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in First Man. That said, I don’t think Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) will repeat his BAFTA win.  I give the edge to Christian Bale for Vice.  His uncanny impersonation of Dick Cheney was the best thing about that movie.   Left out, Lucas Hedges who was terrific in both Boy Erased and Ben is Back.  But he has a long career ahead of him.

Best Actress

Such a competitive category that strong contenders were excluded: Nicole Kidman (Destroyer), Viola Davis (Widows), Nathalie Portman (Vox Lux).  However. great to see an Indigenous woman from Mexico, Yalitza Aparicio, included for Roma. It’s probably between Glenn Close for The Wife and Olivia Colman for The Favourite.  Lady Gaga will have to be content with best song.

Best Supporting Actor

The prohibitive favorite is Mahershala Ali for Green Book in what was really a principal not supporting role. That should partially atone for Viggo Mortenson getting the best-actor nomination for that controversial movie.   

Best Supporting Actress

Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz will split the vote for The Favourite.  The odds favour Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk.

Best Animated Feature

I have not seen the Japanese Mirai.  The edge goes to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Best Documentary Feature

One category hardly suffices for the prolific field of nonfiction filmmaking. Among the nominees, I must say I was underwhelmed by Hale County This Morning, This Evening. The notable exclusions are almost too numerous to mention.  The most surprising is Won’t You Be My Neighbour?, an acclaimed festival, box-office and broadcast success.  Given the U.S. political situation I give an edge to RBG which profiles indefatigable liberal Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, still hanging in there at 85.   However, the nominated title that most impresses me is Of Father and Sons, an astonishing portrait of life inside the family of an Islamist extremist in a rebel-held part of Syria.  It was made by Berlin-based expatriate Syrian director Talal Derki who put his life at risk over several years to capture the footage.  You can hear more about that here: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/director-who-lived-undercover-with-jihadists-calls-it-most-dangerous-thing-i-did-in-my-life-1.5024306. Although the film was awarded the Sundance festival grand jury prize in January 2018 it has as yet hardly been screened in Canada.  The Oscar recognition may help to change that.  [*Note: Of Fathers and Sons can now be streamed on the “Kanopy” platform (www.kanopy.com).  If you have a public library card you can use it for access to up to four free movie titles each month.]

Best Foreign-Language Film

As already indicated, Roma is the prohibitive favourite. I’m still waiting to see Germany’s Never Look Away that premiered at the Berlin film festival over a year ago.  Hopefully the nominations for Shoplifters (Japan), Cold War (Poland), and Capernaum (Lebanon) will give them a somewhat wider distribution in Canada.   

That’s it for the main categories.  But I would like to mention two of the nominees for best documentary short subject because both can be viewed now online.

A Night at the Garden uses archival footage of an “America First” pro-Nazi rally held in New York on the eve of the Second World War: https://anightatthegarden.com/

Lifeboat looks at the perilous journey of desperate migrants attempting to cross from North Africa to Europe: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-screening-room-lifeboat

Amid the ephemeral glitz and glamour of the Oscars, it’s good to be reminded of more important things than who’s wearing what.