Monday, January 22, 2024

The Bland Leading the Bland: The Maven's Fearless (and Most Definitely Foolish) Oscar Nomination Predix Extravaganza 2024

The Oscar nominations seem to come earlier each year, and this is the furthest behind the Maven has been in writing the annual predix blog. Blame juggling faulty pipes, a research grant, and being academically homeless for the next two years and losing my personal office; the English building is being repurposed into offices for us professors, while a new classroom building is being built--at the same time. 

Still playing catchup with some films (like Academy members have seen them all at this point), but so far this year feels a bit bland. Save for a couple of films, I've just not been bowled over. Not a single film has screamed to me that it's the gold standard that will be remembered 20 years from now; certain performances and elements, yes, but not the films. I hope my opinion changes as I continue to plow through. 

So this one is going to be short. I'll elaborate when I write my final predictions in about six weeks. But a few observations for now:

1--Loved Barbie. It's eye-popping fun that turns in on itself. I never thought it was didactic nor preachy. It's diverse without calling attention to itself. And the performances are fun as hell. And this begs the question: Will Greta Gerwig win a goddamned Oscar finally? Unfortunately no, especially since the Academy moved Screenplay from Original to Adapted. And you know what this means...

2--Oppenheimer will win a lot of trophies, including probably in Adapted. Many of you well know that I am not the biggest Christopher Nolan fan, save for Insomnia, and the first two Batman films. Inception I hate with the passion of Trump supporter in heat. Nolan cannot find character development with two hands usually, and I think he succeeds here lately because he had to work from source material. 

3--The momentum seems to have left Killers of the Flower Moon, save for Lily Gladstone. She's not a lock for Actress but close. 

4--Actor could be interesting, coming down to Cillian Murphy, who is brilliant in everything versus Paul Giamatti, who is also brilliant in everything. 

5--One film I watched because of the two leads with absolutely no expectations because I thought it would be a typical biopic, and I was wrong, is Nyad. I think Bening sneaks into that fifth spot for Actress, since nobody can decide on a category for Sandra Huller. And this is one of Foster's best performances and hasn't a chance in hell of winning. 

6--Amercian Fiction should do well w/ noms, as will Maestro and The Holdovers. The latter film is the most pedestrian, but there's nothing wrong w/ that. 

7--And will Bradley Cooper finally win a goddamned Oscar? Again, not this year. 

Enough already. As usual, I don't do nom predix for docs, short films, foreign film, or music. 

Best Picture

Oppenheimer

Barbie

Killers of the Flower Moon

The Holdovers

American Fiction

Poor Things

Anatomy of a Fall

Past Lives

The Color Purple

The Zone of Interest


Best Director

Christopher Nolan

Martin Scorsese

Greta Gerwig

Yorgos Lanthimos

Bradley Cooper

---

Alexander Payne

Jonathan Glazer

Justine Triet


Best Actor

Cillian Murphy

Paul Giamatti

Jeffrey Wright

Bradley Cooper

Colman Domingo

---

Leonardo DiCaprio

Joaquin Phoenix

Adam Driver


Best Actress

Lily Gladstone

Margot Robbie

Emma Stone

Carey Mulligan

Annette Bening

---

Sandra Huller

Fantasia Barrino

Greta Lee


Best Supporting Actor

Robert Downey, Jr. 

Ryan Gosling

Robert DeNiro

Mark Ruffalo

Charles Melton

---

Sterling K. Brown

Willem Dafoe

Dominic Sessa


Best Supporting Actress

 Da'Vine Joy Randolph

Jodie Foster

Danielle Brooks

Emily Blunt

America Ferrera

---

Viola Davis

Julianne Moore

Rosamund Pike


Best Original Screenplay

The Holdovers

Maestro

Past Lives

Anatomy of a Fall

Air

---

May December

Saltburn

Astroid City


Best Adapted Screenplay

Oppenheimer

Barbie

Poor Things

American Fiction

Killers of the Flower Moon

---

The Zone of Interest

Nyad

The Color Purple


Best Cinematography

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Barbie

Maestro

The Zone of Interest

---

The Color Purple

El Conde

Napoleon


Best Editing

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Barbie

Poor Things

Maestro

---

Anatomy of a Fall

The Holdovers

Ferrari


Best Production Design

Barbie

Poor Things

Oppenheimer

Killers of the Flower Moon

Astroid City

---

The Color Purple

Napoleon

Saltburn


Best Costume Design

Barbie

Poor Things

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Napoleon

---

Oppenheimer

The Color Purple

Wonka


Best Sound

Oppenheimer

Maestro

Killers of the Flower Moon

Barbie

Ferrari

---

The Zone of Interest

Napoleon

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I


Best Makeup

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Poor Things

Golda

Killers of the Flower Moon

---

Society of the Snow

Napoleon

Beau is Afraid


Best Visual Effects

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Poor Things

Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse

The Creator

Godzilla Minus One

---

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Society of the Snow


Nominations

Oppenheimer                        12

Killers of the Flower Moon    11

Barbie                                    10

Poor Things                           8

The Holdovers                       6 

Maestro                                 6                          

Napoleon                              5

American Fiction                  4

Anatomy of a Fall                 3


I did not italicize film titles because Maven ain't got time for that. 

Them's my predix, and I'm sticking by them. The long haul begins at 8:30 in the morn. And my students will watch with me as usual. 

My work is done here until March 10th. Follow me or mute me on the socials to follow along. 

Happy Oscar Nominations Day, y'all! Seasons Screenings and, of course, Shalom!