Are the Oscar nominations a Joke(r)?
Bruce Steele: So what do I know? Joker, which I found empty and annoying, is nominated for 11 Academy Awards. On the other hand, the movies with 10 nods each — 1917, The Irishman, and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood — are all works I admire. What do you think of this year's Oscar field?
Edwin Arnaudin: It accurately reflects the exceptional year of film … as has been the case for the various guild and critic association awards thus far. When Kathy Bates’ Best Supporting Actress pick for Richard Jewell is the big shocker of the day, you know it’s a pretty predictable set of finalists.
Bruce: Predictable even in some of the movies and performances that were overlooked. I was disappointed not to see more love for Rocketman — of which we're hosting a special screening on January 20. It's a much more creative musical biopic than the over-lauded Bohemian Rhapsody. Taron Egerton should have had Jonathan Pryce's Best Actor slot, and its costumes, cinematography, and production design were Oscar-worthy too.
Edwin: It’s sad when Rami Malek wins Best Actor for lip-synching and, the very next awards year, Egerton is snubbed for a far better performance in which he does all his own singing. Regardless, I’d have rather seen Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems) and Eddie Murphy (Dolemite Is My Name) in place of Pryce and Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), but all of the above are excellent turns and worthy of recognition.
Bruce: Yes, I was very surprised by the Adam Sandler omission. I thought the category might be an Adam vs. Adam (Driver) battle. Now it looks like Kylo Ren vs. Joker.
Edwin: I’m considerably less pleased with the Best Actress choices, where Akwafina (The Farewell) and Lupita Nyong’o (Us) are nowhere to be found, usurped by a pair of mediocre imitations of real people: Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman (Harriet) and Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly (Bombshell).
The cast of The Farewell reacts to the movie’s having been snubbed by the Oscars.
Bruce: The whole snubbing of The Farewell is just shameful, since it was one of the best American movies of the year, and far better than the just OK Bombshell and The Two Popes. I have to assume a combination of casual sexism and anti-subtitling laziness on the part of academy members played into it. How could it have been overlooked for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Shuzhen Zhao), not to mention Best Director (Lulu Wang)? As everyone has already pointed out, there are no women dominated for Best Director.
Edwin: I suppose Greta Gerwig had the best chance of making the cut for Little Women, but perhaps the Academy thinks she “already got her chance” with Lady Bird two years ago? And The Farewell seems to be the victim of A24’s screeners getting lost in the mail. With the exception of a Best Cinematography nod for The Lighthouse, the studio that gave us Uncut Gems, Under the Silver Lake, Midsommar, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, and Waves — plus the questionably lauded High Life and The Souvenir — was ignored. Who else were you expecting/hoping to see?
Bruce: I think we’ve covered the major omissions, although I would have liked more love for Ad Astra, nominated just for Sound Mixing, and Abominable, snubbed in the Best Animated Feature category. (I think Frozen II’s $1.2 billion box office haul is probably consolation enough for that movie.) I can’t complain about my beloved Woman at War not getting an International Feature nomination, since it was submitted by Iceland last year (and snubbed then). To change gears a bit — did someone mention Ford v. Ferrari? — what nomination made you the happiest?
Edwin: Probably Scarlett Johansson’s Supporting Actress spot for Jojo Rabbit. I figured “all she’d get” would be a Best Actress nod for Marriage Story, so I’m elated that her well-rounded year is being properly recognized. (It also helps ease the pain of Margot Robbie erroneously being nominated for Bombshell instead of Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.) How about you?
Bruce: All of Jojo Rabbit’s nominations made me happy, although I won’t be surprised if it comes away winless on February 9. And I was pleased the under-appreciated How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World earned an Animated Feature nod. In the craft categories, I especially applaud the inclusion of Parasite for Original Screenplay, Production Design, and Editing. That screenplay category will be quite a battle, with Marriage Story and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood also nominated. Maybe the best thing about the Oscars this year is that there aren’t a lot of sure things: Brad Pitt or Al Pacino for Supporting Actor? Scarlett Johansson or Renée Zellweger for Best Actress? Likely winners may become clearer in the next four weeks, but it may be a difficult year to predict the winners.
Edwin: Interesting! I think I could accurately predict “The Big 8” right now — and I’m only wincing at a few of them, though I’d much rather see upsets from more exciting options. Again, that reaction speaks to the strength of 2019 as a whole, and those current guesses would sprinkle out recognition across the field, though I also suspect that a handful of films will clean up big time, shutting out Jojo and other deserving nominees. The shorter-than-usual voting period seems likely to keep the frontrunners in the lead, but surprises are certainly welcome.
Jojo discusses his film’s six Oscar nominations with his imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler.
(Photos courtesy of, from top, Warner Bros., A24, and Fox Searchlight)
