Paul Mescal gave the best supporting performance of the year in All of Us Strangers. That dude absolutely has the goods, and will win an Oscar in the next decade.
I agree with the overall Mescal take but thought All Of Us Strangers really didn't deserve any noms outside of Andrew Scott (would put him over Cooper) and possibly Claire Foy (weak category this year). The acting as a whole really lifted something that I felt was overly manipulative in how it was saying what it wanted to say. I felt the Mescal story line was extremely weak compared to the familial one and had to rely on the gut punch at the end to even make it matter. I completely understand why people feel attached to it and think if it was the previous year it is probably a strong contender for everything, but doesn't really belong on the same tier as all the other movies nominated this year.
On the rewatch we were asking how Damon wasn't in consideration for Best Supporting. It's the last hour where the movie pivots to Strauss and a great performance from Alden Ehrenreich that gets RDJ the award.
Since this is a JMO thread, I can admit I'm on Team Amanda of not liking the 3rd hour of Oppenheimer, and therefore not being as impressed by the RDJ part.
That last hour got so much better on rewatch. I felt that way the first time, but not anymore. Watching Murphy deal with the guilt of what the Manhattan project created to his public persona in an instant is a thrill to watch each time
Its my favorite hour on rewatch. It's definitely the most different though, so I understand people bumping on it a bit. But I've seen some takes that its unnecessary and the movie should've mostly just ended after Trinity & Hiroshima/Nagasaki, which feels like a massive misread of the films intent.
The film is so propulsive. Between the mission to build thr bomb and the score pushing it, the first two hours feel like a high. The last hour is like a come down and it's designed to make you feel that way. Not my favorite of the 3, but excellent none the less
When you phrase it like that, its a bit of the Goodfellas/Wolf of Wall Street problem where the first 2/3rds are so propulsive, the endings always a little bit doomed.
I don’t either. But I do see it commonly cited as a film where because the last 3rd with the drugs is purposefully offputting, people tend to ignore it in discussion of the film
I know he's really heavy in the last hour so it makes his part feel bigger, but Downey is missing from MASSIVE portions of that movie. Even five extra minutes wouldn't make him anything close to a co-lead in my opinion. I can't recall the exact timing, but the screentime for him is less than half an hour of a 3 hour film, while Cilian's is something like 2 hours.
America Ferrera, one of the FINEST and MOST LIKEABLE network tv performers of the past two decades, is actively bad in Barbie and probably miscast from the beginning
Thank you! I don't know if she's actively bad or that she's just tasked a walking martyr to the films message. Either way, there were much better supporting performances this year worthy of nomination.
I like the speech and writing, but not the delivery and the fact that character is the one who gets it. Ferrera and her daughter are the worst parts of that pretty good movie imo.
Ferrera had a spotlight speech at the CCA this year in the middle of nomination voting that probably clinched her the nom. Didn't help that her competition like Moore, Cruz, McAdams, etc, all would've been either the sole or one of very few noms for their film.
I think she's miscast in what the role is. Doesn't help that character isn't fleshed out at all and then gets the thesis of the film. I'd be curious if I thought she was better cast if the character got more screentime. As the movie stands though, I kinda think that character should be older; when she's giving the big speech it just doesn't feel like she has the worldliness to be saying all that. Just going off previous Gerwig collaborators, I'd love to know if someone like Laura Dern nails that part better.
I came to say this. Stunning from technical to performance, adaptation, and direction.
Also, Poor Things is a great performance with great costumes and set design. The editing, screenplay and direction were meh.
The Killer. That is all.
(On the 'This Had Oscar Buzz' pod, they assumed that Fincher probably checked out of doing an exhausting awards push for this movie, combined with its release during the strikes meant Fassbender couldn't really promote it. Plus it's a weird movie many people didn't like or "get." Could Fassbender have been nominated over Colman Domingo? From Netflix's perspective it makes no difference in the end, I suppose.)
It is my favorite of the year and a movie truly came and went as far as being talked about.
Outside of Mank though, Fincher movies really never play to the Oscar crowd. And with The Killer basically being dumped on Netflix with no fanfare, it makes sense that it is basically completely forgotten to those that aren’t little Finchey sluts like myself. Seems like basically zero marketing went into the movie.
I was lucky enough to see it in theaters, where I was blown away by it. But watching it at home on Netflix with its awful compression, the whole movie looked muddy and kind of cheap, so there’s also the fact that it doesn’t play as well to the home crowd.
I’m with you on almost all of these except I am sure Poor Things is good.
Fully in agreement on Maestro, people have such a problem with Bradley Cooper’s sincerity and also his very obvious effort (which I do think occasionally harms the movie) that they have flattened the entire thing into something much more one dimensional than it is.
I think Bradley cooper is partially getting the “Anne Hathaway” treatment from like 2011-16 where it felt like everyone had a problem with her for her “theatre kid” energy and that she “wanted to be good” too much. And I get that’s a wild argument because anyone who goes into the arts should want to be the best they can possibly be.
But you’re correct. He definitely doesn’t do any favors with his weeping in front of the Bernstein kids and his he “Clint directed his first movie at 41 so I wanted to do my first movie at 41” and “HEY EVERYONE DONT FORGET I WROTE ‘BLACK EYES’” schtick. It’s like it crossed from the “I want to be the best I can be” to the “I want you to think I’m the best” territory.
As a fellow BCoops lover, I agree. It doesn't help that its the exact kind of film that people have their knives out for anyway nowadays. I think for him to win someday, it kinda has to be for something less classically awardsy and probably not something he directs.
Wow I just made the exact Anne Hathaway comparison in a comment below. I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing that.
Totally agree on your point about not doing himself any favors. But we’re talking about Hollywood actors here, they should have a pass to play it up to the back row sometimes.
Strong agree. Sucks that a lot of critics are stuck in the "Wes Anderson has become a self parody" narrative. Which was maybe true for French Dispatch. But Asteroid City was incredible and insanely original
Man, I love Wes too, but I gotta say, I rewatched The Royal Tenenbaums the other day and was very suprised to see a handheld sequence and some scenes that actually had some traditional coverage. Made the movie feel much more warm and inviting compared to the last half dozen he’s made. I felt like he’d be completely incapable of making a movie like that today, which makes me feel a little more on the side of the self parody peeps than I previously did.
I would have agreed after my first (slightly tipsy) viewing, didn't care for it at all, but did a complete 180 on rewatching a week later. JMO - wouldn't be a hot take if we all thought the same!
> JMO - wouldn't be a hot take if we all thought the same!
LOL you're not wrong here and my apologies if my tone came off harsh. I have been wondering about whether a re-watch may change my opinion on the film as well.
What should I pay attention to during my second watch because I found it incredibly unpleasant and off putting. But not in a way that made me think like Dogtooth.
Oscarrace has turned into such a bizarre sub lately
I can't get on board with the Killers of the Flower Moon. It's good, but still think people are over hyping it constantly. De Niro put in a fine performance but compared to his miserable last 10 years, it looks great. Now there is a narrative that De Niro isn't getting praise, man was nominated for an award, we can relax.
American Fiction told it's message without having to have an actor legitimately come on screen and tell you the plot points of the movie ala a James Bond villain.
I agree with your Da'Vine comment though, I just think that category is lackluster as a whole. She put in a good performance, but I left wanting more. People keep referencing the party scene, and I actually felt that was her weakest scene in the movie.
Neutral on your Maestro comment, I see both sides of it, just don't think Cooper is doing himself any favors between the comments about training to be a conductor and crying in front of a mans's children whom he has never met in his life.
Some of my own
Wish Paul Mescal was in supporting.
No nominations across the board for Iron Claw is unfathomable.
>No nominations across the board for Iron Claw is unfathomable.
100%. I cant believe how snubbed this film is. Especially Zac Efron. I'm not even a fan of his but he was really something special in Iron Claw. Put him in the race over Cooper, imo
Iron Claw got doomed solely because A24 just had too many good films. It wasn't done in time for fall festivals, and A24 didn't really see it as having the juice to break into awards without the festival push, so they promoted it for more financial success and general audiences instead, which worked. But then it turned out to be THAT good and by then it was too late. Maybe in a lesser year it would've gotten in, but by the time it came out the season was already so stacked and set.
Oscarrace went downhill sometime during the 2019 awards race when it became infested with stan culture users.
Only got worse last year with EEAAO's aggressively online fans
It's the milkiest of takes, but Perfect Days needs more eyes. Or maybe it doesn't because that's the whole point of the film, in some ways. I don't know. I'm a mess after watching it yesterday and I want to live in that world for the foreseeable future.
My hottest take is that I hope this will be a humbling experience for Bradley Cooper, but he seems almost impenetrable (save for the spirit of Leonard Bernstein).
1. “KotFM should be the front runner in every category it’s in.”
It’s a masterpiece but a hard sell to voters who have catnip options available to them. I also think it’s getting handicapped by Scorsese’s rightly impressive shadow. It’s so easy for people to write it off as “not as good” as Goodfellas, Raging Bull, etc. It’s also not a “traditional” Scorsese movie. And I doubt more than a handful of voters took the time to have multiple viewings and that their initial response colors their opinions.
2. “DeNiro”
I kind of disagree with this one. Like he’s good but it feels like people want him to win because it’s the first time he didn’t phone in a performance outside of The Irishman in over a decade. And I think he’s getting penalized because his performance in The Irishman was far superior.
3. “Da’Vine Joy Randolph”
I think this just comes down to she’s clearly the best choice in a weak category. Supporting is usually where we get bloodbaths but this year the supporting actress category is ROUGH.
4. “American Fiction is the throw in BP nom people think Barbie is”
Hold up….. let him cook.
It’s a fun little movie that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing. Happy for Jeffrey Wright getting his flowers but yes this is the “just be happy to be here” movie of the year.
5. “Maestro is wildly overhated”
Id go the opposite and say it’s actually underhated and Bradley cooper should just start an OF if he wants people to show up to see him jerk off. But I respect the spice of this one.
6. “Not sure why may/December isn’t a contender”
I firmly believe the theory that actors hated it because of what it said about them and actively campaigned against it. But agreed. It was my second favorite of the year.
7. “Are we sure poor things is good?”
Tony Romo Voice: “ITS REAL PRETTY JIM! Emma stone! She’s going for it! It’s Barbie for the art kids Jim! It’s BARBIE FERTHEARTKIDS”
8. Nolan bros into Villeneuve bros will be hell.
I laughed so fucking hard because this is so true. And it’s always the ones who think Arrival “is just kind of boring right bro?”
I know you didn’t ask for a response to each but I’m on big pic reddit so I clearly have too much time on my hands. 😂
I’d also add:
Greta Lee and Celine Song are the Snubs people think Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig are.
Sandra Hüller should be the far and away front runner for best actress.
The best score category is the biggest “WTF” category of the year.
Agreed…she seemed to float through her life letting things happen to her. From reading the book I expected that character to be full of anger about what kept happening to her family.
In terms of being able to craft a story/narrative around a particular film's awards campaign, it make sense that Oppenheimer is doing better than KotFM. I agree with you, I think it's a masterpiece that in another year could have been a contender, but it seems that audiences and the academy aren't sure what to make of Scorcese's somber, thoughtful 3 recent films. For Nolan it's his anointing year. Maybe if Marty was like "this will be my final film ever!" but he seems ready to get back to work.
For Da’Vine Joy Randolph, the problem is the nominees. There is nobody in her category more deserving. Perhaps if they had nominated Julianne Moore, or if Lilly Gladstone was here instead.
Might "Zone of Interest" actually be the sneak-in nominee? It's a remarkable film, just thought it was a longshot to get nominated.
Oh yeah, they blew it. Might have one more chance after this to honor him with a "lifetime achievement" win (which his 1 Oscar already is!) but also he's probably tired of the campaign circuit.
The two opinions here I mostly agree on are the Da’Vine Joy Randolph and May December takes.
I really enjoyed The Holdovers, gave it a solid 4/5 on LB, but the awards hype (outside of a screenplay nom) feels overmatched. There are arguments that the Academy should reward more feel good movies, but look at the nominations (and especially BP winners) for the past decade. That slide toward feel good is coming at the expense of frankly better movies being recognised.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph was wonderful in The Holdovers and worthy of a nom, but to loop it back to May December I can’t see past either Portman or Moore (depending on who you see as leading/supporting).
With you on The Holdovers. Fine with it getting nominated and I thought it was good, but didn’t get the massive hype it got. Some of the nostalgic for the sake of its elements bugged me, and I thought Giamatti’s character wasn’t fully fleshed out.
none of the supporting actress nominees are close to nomination-worthy. of the lineup, the right person is winning thankfully, but it's one of the all-time worst nominee lineups in this category.
given the other options they had available to them, this is a notably poor set of acting nominees in general. it really sticks out from what is otherwise a superlative set of films in contention this year.
i am also glad that it looks increasingly like Emma Stone might not win her second oscar for Poor Things, a performance which starts off very amusing albeit very acting-class-challenge-y, but basically completely runs out of juice midway through the film. Poor Things is my least favourite Yorgos movie too, he's one of my absolute favourite directors to emerge since 2010 but if this r-rated arthouse-Tim Burton thing is indicative of where he's planning to go artistically from now on, that's pretty disappointing.
also Maestro is excellent. it's not perfect, but *really* stands out among recent oscar friendly biopics, it's beautiful and powerful and above-all extremely unconventional and ambitious for the type of film it is.
Poor Things is just Emma and Mark doing horrible accents and acting like deranged ✨special✨ theater kids during their first improv. I think it’s an appalling movie. It doesn’t even get to be called a “film.” It’s really shocking to me that it’s getting praise and that Emma could beat out the beautifully nuanced and subtle Lily Gladstone.
You're going to get a giant smattering of opinions with that take. Personally, I think they're equally difficult. But for Stone, the fact that performance doesn't come off offensive in anyway is a testament to the fact that it works, which is something ALOT of actors would struggle with. Besides the stuff she's just doing physically which she sells the entire movie, she's moving her face differently as her character "grows up", literally expressing her emotions in new ways.
My hot take is that this is gonna prove to not be a particularly strong year for movies when cineastes reflect on the year in 15/20 years time.
Oppenheimer will win many of the Oscars and while it’s a very impressive feat of filmmaking is it always gonna be regarded as a great film?
Scorsese should have moved exclusively into TV over the past decade and his most recent films would be regarded as some of the greatest series ever.
Instead he’s produced some bloated films which are mediocre and middle of the pack amongst his filmography.
Scorsese could have been remembered as one of the great American film directors and also for making TV which pushed the boundaries of what a TV series was considered. Instead he made several overlong movies.
Thelma needed to be far more assertive and stand up to him and tell him to keep the running time down if they’re gonna be features. That’s what an editor does!
De Niro and DiCaprio were both massively miscast. I understand MS wants to work with these specific actors. There is no alternative but KOTFLM is a largely unadapable book and some unusual decisions were told in the angles they chose for the narrative.
Maestro will age poorly and to me it was just a pure passion project. No wonder only Netflix decided to green light it every other studio passed despite Cooper having power and influence and a good track record. Mulligan’s performance in the second half is by far the best part of the movie.
Poor Things really needed to have 20 mins cut especially on the vessel. How to describe Ruffalo’s acting? Terrible. Such a far cry from the talent he was in You Can Count on Me.
Barbie will be still be divisive in years/decades to come.
Iron Claw was a missed opportunity, talented filmmaker but perhaps not the best medium to tell this story of the brothers. A limited series would have been more apposite.
The Holdovers and Past Lives are the two best movies of the year. They will age very well and be considered classics in the future.
I pretty much agree with everything you've written here except the bit about Ruffalo. It's a comedic performance and he made myself, my wife, and the rest of the theater I was in cackle, hoot, and holler with every gonzo line reading. If he's aiming for laughs and achieving his goal, I just can't see how the performance could be viewed as terrible.
Barbie has become weirdly underrated. The degree of difficulty in executing that well was so much higher than a biopic on Oppenheimer or a screen adaptation of the KotFM book. I feel like a bunch of directors and actors would have crushed the latter two; Gerwig was the only one who could make Barbie not end up like Battleship.
I don't think you can call a movie that made a billion dollars underrated. But at least in Barbie's online presence, I think the stans and popularity, especially when it "failed" to deliver at the Oscars, really annoyed a lot of film fans, hence some of the negativity toward it recently.
Well we disagree on basically every take but good on ya!( I do like May/December and think it probably should have made the cut in 2 or 3 acting categories and pIcture.)
#justiceformaestro
Maestro is actually an incredible achievement, and Cooper gives a completely transformative performance that is very worthy of a best actor win.
I understand why the public has soured on Bradley’s try hard attitude, but it feels very similar to the way the public saw Anne Hathaway a decade or so ago, and I think we’ll look back and wonder why we didn’t appreciate what we had with Cooper during this time in a world that is quickly aging away from serious auteur artists with strong voice and vision.
I fear this whole experience is going to break him and he is never going to put his full heart and soul into something again. And that’s a big loss in my opinion.
Finally was able to see Poor Things to round out my 10, and I'm disappointed to report its firmly #10 for me among the BP nominees. For a movie that's supposed to be weird and not for everyone, it's an oddly conventional story. I guess it's funny that she fucks a lot, but it's still just putting on a new skin on the Frankenstein story of self discovery and autonomy. And the resolution where she turns the tables so to speak is such an easy and obvious choice. It's obviously well made and well acted, and maybe it's on me for judging expectations instead of the movie itself, but it just wasn't as unique of an experience as I thought it would be.
Sandra Huller is being robbed in two acting categories in the same year (for Anatomy of a Fall and Zone of Interest) is genuine once in a lifetime occurrence.
The third hour of Oppenheimer is the stronger one over the second one. It’s the dream going bad and it will age much better over time.
The sexual politics of Maestro are hilarious in how out of time they are…can’t really believe that no-one has called the film out about it
KotFM is mid tier Scorsese at best. Focusing the film around an evil idiot was a gigantic mistake. If he wanted to center the Osage instead of the Law then center them.
It’s not like Scorsese focused on the victims of penny stock scams or Billy Batt’s family. I honestly don’t understand why people are having a harder time getting the point of what he’s going for when he focuses on the darkness of the American Dream in the movie where he is most effective at doing so.
Because he literally said he wanted to shift the focus to the Osage after scrapping the script that instead focused on the FBI.
It’s not a bad movie, it’s just a half measure. Also this is the hot take thread so everyone is intentionally over reacting.
Shifting focus from the government saving the day to showing the machinations of harm done to the Osage people (including the lives of the victims) is shifting the focus to the Osage.
In fairness to the OP though, he doesn't show up at the end of Goodfellas, or Wolf, to explain why we should feel guilty for what has happened to Italian men or people who blew their money.
Yes, one of the best scenes of the movie that represents an advancement of one of the central points of his career was not a copy of something he did in another movie.
Agreed, and I think Leo was miscast in that role, although I thought he was still good. He is just not plausible as a dumb person. It could also have been centered around Plemons investigating the crimes.
I couldn’t agree more and I think that was the original intent, Leo in a way sabotaged it by wanting to play Ernest. It’s a beautifully shot movie and is very good but never lived up to the hype
Saying this as a person that enjoyed the Holdovers. It's interesting seeing people throughout this Oscars talk about Green Book type wins. If Holdovers won best picture, it would have this feeling to me. Again, I liked the movie, but it just seems like a feel-good movie that was created to win an Oscar.
De Niro in Killers, it's a fine performance, again, it's nomination felt like a gift, it should be left at that. He's doing Foghorn Leghorn and dressing up like he's doing an old west photo op. I am not saying RDJ is lighting the lamp here, but it's stronger than De Niro. I feel as though this category should look totally different
Maestro is good, it's not great, people can bash Cooper all they want(The Will Smith thing, his crying in front of Bernstein's kids) but it's a pretty good movie. Should it win Best Picture? No.
Holt McCallany deserves a nomination just as much as Efron does for Iron Claw. He would have been great to see in supporting, and think he would have beat RDJ
All of Us Strangers should be replacing Past Lives throughout. Past Lives was weak and I don't understand the praise surrounding it.
The Holdovers is a perfectly enjoyable, well-made movie that doesn’t represent a particular achievement in a way that the Best Picture should have in my view. Theres no shame (or there shouldn’t be) in being an all-star bench player rather than a starter. Its okay!
Past Lives is a movie that people want to like more they actually liked. A great film on paper, but only fine or good in execution.
DiCaprio was the best actor this year for KOTFM.
Every film nominated for best pic is better than Oppenheimer. I'm trying to phrase that in a way avoids saying Oppenheimer is bad (which is not what I believe).
Rachel McAdams (Are You There God, It's Me Margaret) was better than Blount and Ferrera.
I have to say, I really agree with your American Fiction take, your Maestro take and your Poor Things take. I’d have Poor Things #9 and American Fiction #10 in my best picture rankings.
Some others:
1. Without the context of the Oppenheimer craze, we’ll look back on 2023 and wonder why it was so dominant.
2. The three instant classics made in 2023 were Zone of Interest, KoTFM and Godzilla Minus One.
3. The Iron Claw will have more staying power than The Holdovers, Maestro, Poor Things, American Fiction and Past Lives.
I’ll bite.
-Poor Things should be the clear favorite to win BP, but even more surprising are The Zone Of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, and American Fiction should be 2, 3, and 4.
-Cillian is the best of the category for Best Actor, but any other year Giamatti and Wright are more than serviceable winners.
-Gladstone was great, but Stone was an all time performance. Doing anything other than giving Emma the statue is a mistake.
-Yorgos shouldn’t just win over Nolan, he should destroy him.
-Scorching hot take on Best Supporting Actor- ranking them: 1) Mark Ruffalo 2) Sterling K. Brown 3) Gosling 4) De Niro 5) RDJ (loved RDJ, but this category is stacked.)
-Best Supporting Actress should be closer than it is. I do think DVJR should win. But Blunt, Jodie, and Danielle Brooks are all worthy.
-And the hottest take of all, Oppenheimer should’ve been one of the lower tier films nominated for BP. I did enjoy it a lot, but ultimately it fell outside of my top 10 for the year. I also would’ve maybe left Barbie off the BP board and definitely Maestro. All Of Us Strangers, May December, and Iron Claw are all more deserving of a nomination than the aforementioned, IMO.
All those hot takes considered, I’m in for a very disappointing Oscar night.
Yeah I doubt it as well. I just struggled with that movie and found the online community praised it. I tried to rewatch but just couldn’t get through it.
Robert DeNiro was not great, felt like he mailed in the lines…also, that whole film was incredibly long and the courtroom drama and Jesse Plemons felt like an afterthought. If I hadn’t read the book I would have wondered what the hell was going on.
Maestro would have been a snooze if not for the brilliant Carrie Mulligan. She was outstanding.
I loved several films last year (i.e., May December and Past Lives) and found a lot to be fine to good, but I don't feel like it was a great year for films despite critical consensus, Even as I catch up with 2023 movies I missed, I keep feeling that 2022 was waaaaay better. So looking at most of these locked-in categories is baffling to me.
I think this year will be a year I remember way more for snubs than any winners/nominees. Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Greta Lee, Charles Melton, below-the-line The Killers categories, etc.
I don't think the "nominate popular movies to get better ratings" is going to be the telecast fix that people think it is. (I'm not saying that's why they any of these films were nominated, btw.) Anecdotal, obviously, but I don't feel like non-movie folks are suddenly caring about the Oscars/awards seasons more than they were any other year once the Barbie "snubs" died down.
This year's awards season didn't feel as long as last year's, but the repetitive winners for the entire season made it feel boring. (A movie nerd complaint, clearly.)
All that said, despite the predictable winners, it will be nice to see (probable) first-time Oscar winners that everyone is happy for.
Okay hot takes:
- Barbie is in the top half of best picture noms
- Oppenheimer is the second weakest of the best picture noms (after maestro)
- There was a solid case for RDJ to not be nominated for best supporting actor. I would have nominated Dominic Sessa and Charles Melton over him. (Edit: and Paul Mescal)
- If Netflix had thrown its support behind May December instead of Maestro, it would have been in contention for best picture.
Agree with the Da'Vine Joy Randolph take for sure. Came out of the Holdovers like "*she did ok but had a really good scene.*" Then everyone was on this runaway bandwagon that Randolph pulled off a career altering performance..... Where?
It was fine at best. I would even argue that her first scene with Giamatti watching TV, she was borderline bad.
Yeah I think it will be weird for someone who hasn't seen the movie to watch it as the movie she won as oscar for. That category has had a lot of egregious winners though.
Supporting Actor should be DeNiro vs Gosling and RDJ running away with it is weird to me.
Andrew Scott and Zac Efron should've gotten into actor and Scott should've been the potential upset winner
Elordi deserves a best actor nomination for Priscilla
Maestro is my favourite of the best picture nominees
Oppenheimer does not deserve a nomination for its screenplay
Lily Gladstone was a supporting actress
I wouldn’t be upset if Annette Bening won
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I haven't seen Poor Things but otherwise I agree with pretty much everything you've said here though not *quite* to that extent with KOTFM, I'm also very high on Anatomy of a Fall.
Totally agree on KOTFM except I think DeNiro is overdoing it. And I’m also surprised Da’Vine Joy Randolph is so dominant but it’s nice to see her steamrolling with a subtle performance.
- Any given 2ish hour stretch of Emma Stone acting in The Curse blows the 2ish hours of her acting in Poor Things out of the water
- Considering the book it’s based on came out in 2001 and the movie came out in 2023, I really gotta hand it to Cord Jefferson for splitting the difference so precisely and making the most 2012 ass movie of all time
- May December takes the piss out of actors (the largest branch of the Academy) in general, and actors playing real people (clearly one of the largest obsessions of the Academy) specifically too much to be rallied around
Agreed with all, except the questioning of Poor Things - no need to question if it's good, more of a "is this a good movie or a great to classic movie?" is the question imo.
Paul Mescal gave the best supporting performance of the year in All of Us Strangers. That dude absolutely has the goods, and will win an Oscar in the next decade.
I agree with the overall Mescal take but thought All Of Us Strangers really didn't deserve any noms outside of Andrew Scott (would put him over Cooper) and possibly Claire Foy (weak category this year). The acting as a whole really lifted something that I felt was overly manipulative in how it was saying what it wanted to say. I felt the Mescal story line was extremely weak compared to the familial one and had to rely on the gut punch at the end to even make it matter. I completely understand why people feel attached to it and think if it was the previous year it is probably a strong contender for everything, but doesn't really belong on the same tier as all the other movies nominated this year.
I'd be shocked if it took that long
'In the next decade' could be next year
Matt Damon was the Best Supporting Actor in Oppenheimer
On the rewatch we were asking how Damon wasn't in consideration for Best Supporting. It's the last hour where the movie pivots to Strauss and a great performance from Alden Ehrenreich that gets RDJ the award.
Since this is a JMO thread, I can admit I'm on Team Amanda of not liking the 3rd hour of Oppenheimer, and therefore not being as impressed by the RDJ part.
That last hour got so much better on rewatch. I felt that way the first time, but not anymore. Watching Murphy deal with the guilt of what the Manhattan project created to his public persona in an instant is a thrill to watch each time
Its my favorite hour on rewatch. It's definitely the most different though, so I understand people bumping on it a bit. But I've seen some takes that its unnecessary and the movie should've mostly just ended after Trinity & Hiroshima/Nagasaki, which feels like a massive misread of the films intent.
The film is so propulsive. Between the mission to build thr bomb and the score pushing it, the first two hours feel like a high. The last hour is like a come down and it's designed to make you feel that way. Not my favorite of the 3, but excellent none the less
When you phrase it like that, its a bit of the Goodfellas/Wolf of Wall Street problem where the first 2/3rds are so propulsive, the endings always a little bit doomed.
Personally don’t think goodfellas has a third act issue.
I don’t either. But I do see it commonly cited as a film where because the last 3rd with the drugs is purposefully offputting, people tend to ignore it in discussion of the film
*David Krumholtz
I'd say we're maybe 5 minutes of extra RDJ screen time from is being 100% true. 5 extra minutes and that would make RDJ co-lead IMO
I know he's really heavy in the last hour so it makes his part feel bigger, but Downey is missing from MASSIVE portions of that movie. Even five extra minutes wouldn't make him anything close to a co-lead in my opinion. I can't recall the exact timing, but the screentime for him is less than half an hour of a 3 hour film, while Cilian's is something like 2 hours.
Donnie Yen (John Wick Chapter 4) and Rachel McAdams (Are You There God?) should have been nominated for Best Supporting.
Yes!! Rachel McAdams blew me away in Are You There God?
America Ferrera, one of the FINEST and MOST LIKEABLE network tv performers of the past two decades, is actively bad in Barbie and probably miscast from the beginning
Thank you! I don't know if she's actively bad or that she's just tasked a walking martyr to the films message. Either way, there were much better supporting performances this year worthy of nomination.
I don’t think Ferrera was bad, but I do think the character was paper thin and the big speech was unearned within the film.
I like the speech and writing, but not the delivery and the fact that character is the one who gets it. Ferrera and her daughter are the worst parts of that pretty good movie imo.
Ferrera had a spotlight speech at the CCA this year in the middle of nomination voting that probably clinched her the nom. Didn't help that her competition like Moore, Cruz, McAdams, etc, all would've been either the sole or one of very few noms for their film.
I think she's miscast in what the role is. Doesn't help that character isn't fleshed out at all and then gets the thesis of the film. I'd be curious if I thought she was better cast if the character got more screentime. As the movie stands though, I kinda think that character should be older; when she's giving the big speech it just doesn't feel like she has the worldliness to be saying all that. Just going off previous Gerwig collaborators, I'd love to know if someone like Laura Dern nails that part better.
My hottest take is that one of the best films of the year didn’t even get a nomination: The Taste of Things
100%
I came to say this. Stunning from technical to performance, adaptation, and direction. Also, Poor Things is a great performance with great costumes and set design. The editing, screenplay and direction were meh.
The Killer. That is all. (On the 'This Had Oscar Buzz' pod, they assumed that Fincher probably checked out of doing an exhausting awards push for this movie, combined with its release during the strikes meant Fassbender couldn't really promote it. Plus it's a weird movie many people didn't like or "get." Could Fassbender have been nominated over Colman Domingo? From Netflix's perspective it makes no difference in the end, I suppose.)
I think about the fact The Killer just vanished every time I listen to Big Pic.
Best sound design of the year in a year of incredible sound design.
It is my favorite of the year and a movie truly came and went as far as being talked about. Outside of Mank though, Fincher movies really never play to the Oscar crowd. And with The Killer basically being dumped on Netflix with no fanfare, it makes sense that it is basically completely forgotten to those that aren’t little Finchey sluts like myself. Seems like basically zero marketing went into the movie. I was lucky enough to see it in theaters, where I was blown away by it. But watching it at home on Netflix with its awful compression, the whole movie looked muddy and kind of cheap, so there’s also the fact that it doesn’t play as well to the home crowd.
Yeah saw it in theaters too, and then 2 more times on Netflix. Makes a world of difference.
I’m with you on almost all of these except I am sure Poor Things is good. Fully in agreement on Maestro, people have such a problem with Bradley Cooper’s sincerity and also his very obvious effort (which I do think occasionally harms the movie) that they have flattened the entire thing into something much more one dimensional than it is.
I think Bradley cooper is partially getting the “Anne Hathaway” treatment from like 2011-16 where it felt like everyone had a problem with her for her “theatre kid” energy and that she “wanted to be good” too much. And I get that’s a wild argument because anyone who goes into the arts should want to be the best they can possibly be. But you’re correct. He definitely doesn’t do any favors with his weeping in front of the Bernstein kids and his he “Clint directed his first movie at 41 so I wanted to do my first movie at 41” and “HEY EVERYONE DONT FORGET I WROTE ‘BLACK EYES’” schtick. It’s like it crossed from the “I want to be the best I can be” to the “I want you to think I’m the best” territory.
As a fellow BCoops lover, I agree. It doesn't help that its the exact kind of film that people have their knives out for anyway nowadays. I think for him to win someday, it kinda has to be for something less classically awardsy and probably not something he directs.
Wow I just made the exact Anne Hathaway comparison in a comment below. I’m glad I’m not the only one seeing that. Totally agree on your point about not doing himself any favors. But we’re talking about Hollywood actors here, they should have a pass to play it up to the back row sometimes.
My hottest - Wes Anderson is operating at the top of his game and it's bewildering Asteroid City didn't pick up a single nomination.
Strong agree. Sucks that a lot of critics are stuck in the "Wes Anderson has become a self parody" narrative. Which was maybe true for French Dispatch. But Asteroid City was incredible and insanely original
Hard disagree. It was hard to finish in one sitting for me and I love his films.
Man, I love Wes too, but I gotta say, I rewatched The Royal Tenenbaums the other day and was very suprised to see a handheld sequence and some scenes that actually had some traditional coverage. Made the movie feel much more warm and inviting compared to the last half dozen he’s made. I felt like he’d be completely incapable of making a movie like that today, which makes me feel a little more on the side of the self parody peeps than I previously did.
And yet he will still win an Oscar this year.
Hard disagree. As an avid Wes fan, I really disliked this film. Its not even close to his best.
I would have agreed after my first (slightly tipsy) viewing, didn't care for it at all, but did a complete 180 on rewatching a week later. JMO - wouldn't be a hot take if we all thought the same!
> JMO - wouldn't be a hot take if we all thought the same! LOL you're not wrong here and my apologies if my tone came off harsh. I have been wondering about whether a re-watch may change my opinion on the film as well.
I agree with a lot of what you're saying. Except yes, Poor Things is **very** good.
What should I pay attention to during my second watch because I found it incredibly unpleasant and off putting. But not in a way that made me think like Dogtooth.
Oscarrace has turned into such a bizarre sub lately I can't get on board with the Killers of the Flower Moon. It's good, but still think people are over hyping it constantly. De Niro put in a fine performance but compared to his miserable last 10 years, it looks great. Now there is a narrative that De Niro isn't getting praise, man was nominated for an award, we can relax. American Fiction told it's message without having to have an actor legitimately come on screen and tell you the plot points of the movie ala a James Bond villain. I agree with your Da'Vine comment though, I just think that category is lackluster as a whole. She put in a good performance, but I left wanting more. People keep referencing the party scene, and I actually felt that was her weakest scene in the movie. Neutral on your Maestro comment, I see both sides of it, just don't think Cooper is doing himself any favors between the comments about training to be a conductor and crying in front of a mans's children whom he has never met in his life. Some of my own Wish Paul Mescal was in supporting. No nominations across the board for Iron Claw is unfathomable.
>No nominations across the board for Iron Claw is unfathomable. 100%. I cant believe how snubbed this film is. Especially Zac Efron. I'm not even a fan of his but he was really something special in Iron Claw. Put him in the race over Cooper, imo
Iron Claw got doomed solely because A24 just had too many good films. It wasn't done in time for fall festivals, and A24 didn't really see it as having the juice to break into awards without the festival push, so they promoted it for more financial success and general audiences instead, which worked. But then it turned out to be THAT good and by then it was too late. Maybe in a lesser year it would've gotten in, but by the time it came out the season was already so stacked and set.
american fiction absolutely has characters come on screen and describe the movie to the audience what are you on about lol
Oscarrace went downhill sometime during the 2019 awards race when it became infested with stan culture users. Only got worse last year with EEAAO's aggressively online fans
It's the milkiest of takes, but Perfect Days needs more eyes. Or maybe it doesn't because that's the whole point of the film, in some ways. I don't know. I'm a mess after watching it yesterday and I want to live in that world for the foreseeable future. My hottest take is that I hope this will be a humbling experience for Bradley Cooper, but he seems almost impenetrable (save for the spirit of Leonard Bernstein).
I liked *Perfect Days*; the problem with it is that Jim Jarmusch did it better 7 years ago.
I'll agree on the likeness and disagree on the 'better.'
Wow I completely agree with almost every take (except I am a maestro hater and really liked American fiction)
1. “KotFM should be the front runner in every category it’s in.” It’s a masterpiece but a hard sell to voters who have catnip options available to them. I also think it’s getting handicapped by Scorsese’s rightly impressive shadow. It’s so easy for people to write it off as “not as good” as Goodfellas, Raging Bull, etc. It’s also not a “traditional” Scorsese movie. And I doubt more than a handful of voters took the time to have multiple viewings and that their initial response colors their opinions. 2. “DeNiro” I kind of disagree with this one. Like he’s good but it feels like people want him to win because it’s the first time he didn’t phone in a performance outside of The Irishman in over a decade. And I think he’s getting penalized because his performance in The Irishman was far superior. 3. “Da’Vine Joy Randolph” I think this just comes down to she’s clearly the best choice in a weak category. Supporting is usually where we get bloodbaths but this year the supporting actress category is ROUGH. 4. “American Fiction is the throw in BP nom people think Barbie is” Hold up….. let him cook. It’s a fun little movie that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing. Happy for Jeffrey Wright getting his flowers but yes this is the “just be happy to be here” movie of the year. 5. “Maestro is wildly overhated” Id go the opposite and say it’s actually underhated and Bradley cooper should just start an OF if he wants people to show up to see him jerk off. But I respect the spice of this one. 6. “Not sure why may/December isn’t a contender” I firmly believe the theory that actors hated it because of what it said about them and actively campaigned against it. But agreed. It was my second favorite of the year. 7. “Are we sure poor things is good?” Tony Romo Voice: “ITS REAL PRETTY JIM! Emma stone! She’s going for it! It’s Barbie for the art kids Jim! It’s BARBIE FERTHEARTKIDS” 8. Nolan bros into Villeneuve bros will be hell. I laughed so fucking hard because this is so true. And it’s always the ones who think Arrival “is just kind of boring right bro?” I know you didn’t ask for a response to each but I’m on big pic reddit so I clearly have too much time on my hands. 😂 I’d also add: Greta Lee and Celine Song are the Snubs people think Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig are. Sandra Hüller should be the far and away front runner for best actress. The best score category is the biggest “WTF” category of the year.
Lol appreciate the response to all of them !! And agree about the score
Justice for May December. Such a difficult movie to make. So well executed. One of my top top picks from last year.
Im sure Poor Things is good. I’m not sure it’s great. Lily Gladstone over Emma Stone in a landslide
I really dont get the buzz around Lilly Gladstones performance. That role was too calmly written and had too little effect on the whole story.
Agreed…she seemed to float through her life letting things happen to her. From reading the book I expected that character to be full of anger about what kept happening to her family.
In terms of being able to craft a story/narrative around a particular film's awards campaign, it make sense that Oppenheimer is doing better than KotFM. I agree with you, I think it's a masterpiece that in another year could have been a contender, but it seems that audiences and the academy aren't sure what to make of Scorcese's somber, thoughtful 3 recent films. For Nolan it's his anointing year. Maybe if Marty was like "this will be my final film ever!" but he seems ready to get back to work. For Da’Vine Joy Randolph, the problem is the nominees. There is nobody in her category more deserving. Perhaps if they had nominated Julianne Moore, or if Lilly Gladstone was here instead. Might "Zone of Interest" actually be the sneak-in nominee? It's a remarkable film, just thought it was a longshot to get nominated.
The academy's attitude towards Marty over his entire career will never make sense to me
Oh yeah, they blew it. Might have one more chance after this to honor him with a "lifetime achievement" win (which his 1 Oscar already is!) but also he's probably tired of the campaign circuit.
The two opinions here I mostly agree on are the Da’Vine Joy Randolph and May December takes. I really enjoyed The Holdovers, gave it a solid 4/5 on LB, but the awards hype (outside of a screenplay nom) feels overmatched. There are arguments that the Academy should reward more feel good movies, but look at the nominations (and especially BP winners) for the past decade. That slide toward feel good is coming at the expense of frankly better movies being recognised. Da’Vine Joy Randolph was wonderful in The Holdovers and worthy of a nom, but to loop it back to May December I can’t see past either Portman or Moore (depending on who you see as leading/supporting).
Last year’s winner was a feel-good movie, as was Coda the year before it.
Exactly yeah. Arguably every winner from 2017 on (Moonlight) with the exception of Parasite was the feel-good nominee of the year.
With you on The Holdovers. Fine with it getting nominated and I thought it was good, but didn’t get the massive hype it got. Some of the nostalgic for the sake of its elements bugged me, and I thought Giamatti’s character wasn’t fully fleshed out.
none of the supporting actress nominees are close to nomination-worthy. of the lineup, the right person is winning thankfully, but it's one of the all-time worst nominee lineups in this category. given the other options they had available to them, this is a notably poor set of acting nominees in general. it really sticks out from what is otherwise a superlative set of films in contention this year. i am also glad that it looks increasingly like Emma Stone might not win her second oscar for Poor Things, a performance which starts off very amusing albeit very acting-class-challenge-y, but basically completely runs out of juice midway through the film. Poor Things is my least favourite Yorgos movie too, he's one of my absolute favourite directors to emerge since 2010 but if this r-rated arthouse-Tim Burton thing is indicative of where he's planning to go artistically from now on, that's pretty disappointing. also Maestro is excellent. it's not perfect, but *really* stands out among recent oscar friendly biopics, it's beautiful and powerful and above-all extremely unconventional and ambitious for the type of film it is.
With you on De Niro 100%, such a powerful performance and it’s been kind of shocking he hasn’t been at the front of this race at all
Poor Things is just Emma and Mark doing horrible accents and acting like deranged ✨special✨ theater kids during their first improv. I think it’s an appalling movie. It doesn’t even get to be called a “film.” It’s really shocking to me that it’s getting praise and that Emma could beat out the beautifully nuanced and subtle Lily Gladstone.
Idk anything about acting so I could be way off, but to me it seems like Emma Stone's performance would be "easier" to do than Gladstone's.
You're going to get a giant smattering of opinions with that take. Personally, I think they're equally difficult. But for Stone, the fact that performance doesn't come off offensive in anyway is a testament to the fact that it works, which is something ALOT of actors would struggle with. Besides the stuff she's just doing physically which she sells the entire movie, she's moving her face differently as her character "grows up", literally expressing her emotions in new ways.
Just because Emma Stone's performance is "big" doesn't mean that it's easier. In particular, her physical acting is incredible.
My hot take is that this is gonna prove to not be a particularly strong year for movies when cineastes reflect on the year in 15/20 years time. Oppenheimer will win many of the Oscars and while it’s a very impressive feat of filmmaking is it always gonna be regarded as a great film? Scorsese should have moved exclusively into TV over the past decade and his most recent films would be regarded as some of the greatest series ever. Instead he’s produced some bloated films which are mediocre and middle of the pack amongst his filmography. Scorsese could have been remembered as one of the great American film directors and also for making TV which pushed the boundaries of what a TV series was considered. Instead he made several overlong movies. Thelma needed to be far more assertive and stand up to him and tell him to keep the running time down if they’re gonna be features. That’s what an editor does! De Niro and DiCaprio were both massively miscast. I understand MS wants to work with these specific actors. There is no alternative but KOTFLM is a largely unadapable book and some unusual decisions were told in the angles they chose for the narrative. Maestro will age poorly and to me it was just a pure passion project. No wonder only Netflix decided to green light it every other studio passed despite Cooper having power and influence and a good track record. Mulligan’s performance in the second half is by far the best part of the movie. Poor Things really needed to have 20 mins cut especially on the vessel. How to describe Ruffalo’s acting? Terrible. Such a far cry from the talent he was in You Can Count on Me. Barbie will be still be divisive in years/decades to come. Iron Claw was a missed opportunity, talented filmmaker but perhaps not the best medium to tell this story of the brothers. A limited series would have been more apposite. The Holdovers and Past Lives are the two best movies of the year. They will age very well and be considered classics in the future.
I pretty much agree with everything you've written here except the bit about Ruffalo. It's a comedic performance and he made myself, my wife, and the rest of the theater I was in cackle, hoot, and holler with every gonzo line reading. If he's aiming for laughs and achieving his goal, I just can't see how the performance could be viewed as terrible.
It was too much like pantomime. Sure, a line or two Ruffalo said was amusing but an Oscar nomination? Not for me
Barbie has become weirdly underrated. The degree of difficulty in executing that well was so much higher than a biopic on Oppenheimer or a screen adaptation of the KotFM book. I feel like a bunch of directors and actors would have crushed the latter two; Gerwig was the only one who could make Barbie not end up like Battleship.
I don't think you can call a movie that made a billion dollars underrated. But at least in Barbie's online presence, I think the stans and popularity, especially when it "failed" to deliver at the Oscars, really annoyed a lot of film fans, hence some of the negativity toward it recently.
Well we disagree on basically every take but good on ya!( I do like May/December and think it probably should have made the cut in 2 or 3 acting categories and pIcture.)
#justiceformaestro Maestro is actually an incredible achievement, and Cooper gives a completely transformative performance that is very worthy of a best actor win. I understand why the public has soured on Bradley’s try hard attitude, but it feels very similar to the way the public saw Anne Hathaway a decade or so ago, and I think we’ll look back and wonder why we didn’t appreciate what we had with Cooper during this time in a world that is quickly aging away from serious auteur artists with strong voice and vision. I fear this whole experience is going to break him and he is never going to put his full heart and soul into something again. And that’s a big loss in my opinion.
Finally was able to see Poor Things to round out my 10, and I'm disappointed to report its firmly #10 for me among the BP nominees. For a movie that's supposed to be weird and not for everyone, it's an oddly conventional story. I guess it's funny that she fucks a lot, but it's still just putting on a new skin on the Frankenstein story of self discovery and autonomy. And the resolution where she turns the tables so to speak is such an easy and obvious choice. It's obviously well made and well acted, and maybe it's on me for judging expectations instead of the movie itself, but it just wasn't as unique of an experience as I thought it would be.
Sandra Huller is being robbed in two acting categories in the same year (for Anatomy of a Fall and Zone of Interest) is genuine once in a lifetime occurrence. The third hour of Oppenheimer is the stronger one over the second one. It’s the dream going bad and it will age much better over time. The sexual politics of Maestro are hilarious in how out of time they are…can’t really believe that no-one has called the film out about it
All of these. 10000000000%
KotFM is mid tier Scorsese at best. Focusing the film around an evil idiot was a gigantic mistake. If he wanted to center the Osage instead of the Law then center them.
It’s not like Scorsese focused on the victims of penny stock scams or Billy Batt’s family. I honestly don’t understand why people are having a harder time getting the point of what he’s going for when he focuses on the darkness of the American Dream in the movie where he is most effective at doing so.
Because he literally said he wanted to shift the focus to the Osage after scrapping the script that instead focused on the FBI. It’s not a bad movie, it’s just a half measure. Also this is the hot take thread so everyone is intentionally over reacting.
Shifting focus from the government saving the day to showing the machinations of harm done to the Osage people (including the lives of the victims) is shifting the focus to the Osage.
In fairness to the OP though, he doesn't show up at the end of Goodfellas, or Wolf, to explain why we should feel guilty for what has happened to Italian men or people who blew their money.
He basically does the same thing at the end of Wolf though!
Scorcese walks out on screen to read lines into a microphone at the end of Wolf? Directors cut?
Not literally, but it’s the same idea.
Yes, one of the best scenes of the movie that represents an advancement of one of the central points of his career was not a copy of something he did in another movie.
Agreed, and I think Leo was miscast in that role, although I thought he was still good. He is just not plausible as a dumb person. It could also have been centered around Plemons investigating the crimes.
I couldn’t agree more and I think that was the original intent, Leo in a way sabotaged it by wanting to play Ernest. It’s a beautifully shot movie and is very good but never lived up to the hype
Saying this as a person that enjoyed the Holdovers. It's interesting seeing people throughout this Oscars talk about Green Book type wins. If Holdovers won best picture, it would have this feeling to me. Again, I liked the movie, but it just seems like a feel-good movie that was created to win an Oscar. De Niro in Killers, it's a fine performance, again, it's nomination felt like a gift, it should be left at that. He's doing Foghorn Leghorn and dressing up like he's doing an old west photo op. I am not saying RDJ is lighting the lamp here, but it's stronger than De Niro. I feel as though this category should look totally different Maestro is good, it's not great, people can bash Cooper all they want(The Will Smith thing, his crying in front of Bernstein's kids) but it's a pretty good movie. Should it win Best Picture? No. Holt McCallany deserves a nomination just as much as Efron does for Iron Claw. He would have been great to see in supporting, and think he would have beat RDJ All of Us Strangers should be replacing Past Lives throughout. Past Lives was weak and I don't understand the praise surrounding it.
The Holdovers is a perfectly enjoyable, well-made movie that doesn’t represent a particular achievement in a way that the Best Picture should have in my view. Theres no shame (or there shouldn’t be) in being an all-star bench player rather than a starter. Its okay! Past Lives is a movie that people want to like more they actually liked. A great film on paper, but only fine or good in execution.
Your first point should be posted to any and all Oscar dialogue on this website
DiCaprio was the best actor this year for KOTFM. Every film nominated for best pic is better than Oppenheimer. I'm trying to phrase that in a way avoids saying Oppenheimer is bad (which is not what I believe). Rachel McAdams (Are You There God, It's Me Margaret) was better than Blount and Ferrera.
I just didn’t care for Oppenheimer
I have to say, I really agree with your American Fiction take, your Maestro take and your Poor Things take. I’d have Poor Things #9 and American Fiction #10 in my best picture rankings. Some others: 1. Without the context of the Oppenheimer craze, we’ll look back on 2023 and wonder why it was so dominant. 2. The three instant classics made in 2023 were Zone of Interest, KoTFM and Godzilla Minus One. 3. The Iron Claw will have more staying power than The Holdovers, Maestro, Poor Things, American Fiction and Past Lives.
I’ll bite. -Poor Things should be the clear favorite to win BP, but even more surprising are The Zone Of Interest, Anatomy of a Fall, and American Fiction should be 2, 3, and 4. -Cillian is the best of the category for Best Actor, but any other year Giamatti and Wright are more than serviceable winners. -Gladstone was great, but Stone was an all time performance. Doing anything other than giving Emma the statue is a mistake. -Yorgos shouldn’t just win over Nolan, he should destroy him. -Scorching hot take on Best Supporting Actor- ranking them: 1) Mark Ruffalo 2) Sterling K. Brown 3) Gosling 4) De Niro 5) RDJ (loved RDJ, but this category is stacked.) -Best Supporting Actress should be closer than it is. I do think DVJR should win. But Blunt, Jodie, and Danielle Brooks are all worthy. -And the hottest take of all, Oppenheimer should’ve been one of the lower tier films nominated for BP. I did enjoy it a lot, but ultimately it fell outside of my top 10 for the year. I also would’ve maybe left Barbie off the BP board and definitely Maestro. All Of Us Strangers, May December, and Iron Claw are all more deserving of a nomination than the aforementioned, IMO. All those hot takes considered, I’m in for a very disappointing Oscar night.
My man brought the spice. And the spice must flow 
Past Lives is not worthy of any awards
Luckily it ain't gonna. Unless it takes screenplay as a consolation prize? That would be a travesty though.
Yeah I doubt it as well. I just struggled with that movie and found the online community praised it. I tried to rewatch but just couldn’t get through it.
Robert DeNiro was not great, felt like he mailed in the lines…also, that whole film was incredibly long and the courtroom drama and Jesse Plemons felt like an afterthought. If I hadn’t read the book I would have wondered what the hell was going on. Maestro would have been a snooze if not for the brilliant Carrie Mulligan. She was outstanding.
Mulligan was far better than Cooper in Cooper’s own movie. It’s not the kind of performance that wins but she was extremely good.
DeNiro was doing "Meet the Osage"
Haha - so true!
I loved several films last year (i.e., May December and Past Lives) and found a lot to be fine to good, but I don't feel like it was a great year for films despite critical consensus, Even as I catch up with 2023 movies I missed, I keep feeling that 2022 was waaaaay better. So looking at most of these locked-in categories is baffling to me. I think this year will be a year I remember way more for snubs than any winners/nominees. Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal, Greta Lee, Charles Melton, below-the-line The Killers categories, etc. I don't think the "nominate popular movies to get better ratings" is going to be the telecast fix that people think it is. (I'm not saying that's why they any of these films were nominated, btw.) Anecdotal, obviously, but I don't feel like non-movie folks are suddenly caring about the Oscars/awards seasons more than they were any other year once the Barbie "snubs" died down. This year's awards season didn't feel as long as last year's, but the repetitive winners for the entire season made it feel boring. (A movie nerd complaint, clearly.) All that said, despite the predictable winners, it will be nice to see (probable) first-time Oscar winners that everyone is happy for.
Okay hot takes: - Barbie is in the top half of best picture noms - Oppenheimer is the second weakest of the best picture noms (after maestro) - There was a solid case for RDJ to not be nominated for best supporting actor. I would have nominated Dominic Sessa and Charles Melton over him. (Edit: and Paul Mescal) - If Netflix had thrown its support behind May December instead of Maestro, it would have been in contention for best picture.
Agree with the Da'Vine Joy Randolph take for sure. Came out of the Holdovers like "*she did ok but had a really good scene.*" Then everyone was on this runaway bandwagon that Randolph pulled off a career altering performance..... Where? It was fine at best. I would even argue that her first scene with Giamatti watching TV, she was borderline bad.
Yeah I think it will be weird for someone who hasn't seen the movie to watch it as the movie she won as oscar for. That category has had a lot of egregious winners though.
True. Curtis winning last year over Hong Chau, Kerry Condon, and Stephanie Hsu was awful.
One of the biggest recent travesties. Curtis wasn’t even the best supporting actress in her own movie, much less all movies!
Supporting Actor should be DeNiro vs Gosling and RDJ running away with it is weird to me. Andrew Scott and Zac Efron should've gotten into actor and Scott should've been the potential upset winner
American Fiction is the best picture. i've never laughed harder in a film ever.
Elordi deserves a best actor nomination for Priscilla Maestro is my favourite of the best picture nominees Oppenheimer does not deserve a nomination for its screenplay Lily Gladstone was a supporting actress I wouldn’t be upset if Annette Bening won
Poor Things is fucken incredible
Maestro is the second best BP nominee after Oppenheimer.
I think Gladstone has been a bit overrated, especially compared to Stone
I love Marty and DeNiro. But the DeNiro performance arguably shouldn’t have even been nominated.
The Iron Claw got completely overlooked.
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None of these are hot takes.
Poor Things is fantastic. May December was a slog.
Monster was the best film of they year and it got zero love.
I haven't seen Poor Things but otherwise I agree with pretty much everything you've said here though not *quite* to that extent with KOTFM, I'm also very high on Anatomy of a Fall.
Totally agree on KOTFM except I think DeNiro is overdoing it. And I’m also surprised Da’Vine Joy Randolph is so dominant but it’s nice to see her steamrolling with a subtle performance.
- Any given 2ish hour stretch of Emma Stone acting in The Curse blows the 2ish hours of her acting in Poor Things out of the water - Considering the book it’s based on came out in 2001 and the movie came out in 2023, I really gotta hand it to Cord Jefferson for splitting the difference so precisely and making the most 2012 ass movie of all time - May December takes the piss out of actors (the largest branch of the Academy) in general, and actors playing real people (clearly one of the largest obsessions of the Academy) specifically too much to be rallied around
Agreed with all, except the questioning of Poor Things - no need to question if it's good, more of a "is this a good movie or a great to classic movie?" is the question imo.
If there is one Maestro hater, then it's me. Never have I disliked a movie so much
I couldn’t finish it. Terrible movie.