Why Isn't 'Cinderella' an Oscar Contender?
Monday, November 2, 2015 at 12:30PM 
Glenn here.
You will no doubt have read – or least seen the headlines – that people are saying that Ridley Scott’s The Martian should be taken very, very seriously as a Best Picture contender. I’ve even seen people claiming it could win, which seems awfully bullish given its hastily rising status in Oscar circles is due almost entirely to the film’s overwhelming success at the box office in the face of a glut of underperforming Oscar players like Steve Jobs. But amid this new wind of blockbuster excitement and the snickers at (contractually obligated) Oscar campaigns for other big-budget, uber-successful movies, there’s one film that has so far gone under the radar in the conversation and ought to be taken far more seriously than it likely will be.
Yes, I mean Cinderella... more after the jump
I was surprised, too, Lily James!
Trust me when I say it’s entirely rhetorical asking “Why Isn't Cinderella an Oscar Contender?” Believe me, I am keenly aware of why without having to have it laid out point by point. But for all the reasons that people are chalking the Matt Damon sci-fi vehicle up as an Oscar player are the exact same reasons Kenneth Branagh’s ought to be as well. In the wise words of Melissa Leo:
Consider…
Both have big box office: Cinderella ended its March run with a positively magical $201 million. As we discussed in yesterday’s box office piece, The Martian, currently sitting at $183mil, will no doubt overtake the live action princess tale within a week or two, but that doesn’t stop Cinderella from being a remarkably big success. Disney can certainly afford a campaign based on those numbers. And as we know, money opens a lot of doors in Hollywood.
Both are surprise critical hits: Most didn’t expect Ridley Scott, he of bloated blockbuster flops like Exodus: Gods and Kings, Robin Hood and The Counselor, to make something as light and enjoyably old fashioned as The Martian. Especially since his last journey into outer space was Prometheus. Alas, that return to spark for Scott fuelled much of The Martian’s early buzz-filled press. Likewise, many didn’t expect yet another retelling of Cinderella to be quite as strong as it was. The latest in Disney’s effort to make live-action versions of its animated properties was certainly not all that anticipated coming off of Maleficent, but its gorgeous, jewel-encrusted effervescence was a welcome breath of fresh air, whisking many audiences away in delight. The pair of films are nice mirrors as lights amid the March and October doldrums post and pre award season glut.
Just to prove a point, and despite the ultimate silliness of using it as a gauge, The Martian is at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, while Cinderella is at 85%. There will no doubt be multiple Best Picture contenders with lower scores than that.
Both are craft hot spots: Depending how well it really goes over with the Academy, it’s easy to see The Martian winning some extra tech category love beyond just visual effects. The production designers have long shown affection to sci-fi as recently as Gravity and Scott's own Alien, and I’d personally go to bat for Harry Gregson-Williams’ score, which graba you from its opening flurry of clarinet, synthesizers and timpani. But honestly, there’s no reason why Patrick Doyle’s lush score for Cinderella can’t fight for a nomination alongside its sure-fire costume nod (Sandy Powell!) and maybe production design (Dante Ferretti!). Isn't Haris Zambarloukos’ cinematography worth considering if for nothing else but the romantic, swooping camera shot as Cinderella escapes the ball and the way the light catches the evil stepmother’s chartreuse blouse ever so.
Both have a nominatable performance: Matt Damon will no doubt be a strong contender for The Martian, a lead role that uses his charms perfectly in a way that hasn’t been utilized in a long time. But to be perfectly honest with you, I thought people would be beating the drum of Cate Blanchett for Cinderella, too. She does campy evil far better than Jessica Chastain in Crimson Peak, but I guess she will already be heavily in conversation with Carol (Truth is likely an also ran now) so there's no need for her to be nominated. Still, she’s done a double nomination before so why not throw in her wicked performance as this deliciously evil villain? There aren’t many actors like Cate for whom an excess of nominations can quite easily be forgiven and after her exceptional 2015 who could blame them? And besides, it’s not like the Best Supporting Actress category is overflowing with obvious choices right now.
Cate, smash!
Both are good movies: The most important aspect of all. Yes, both The Martian and Cinderella are good. Great, even. That’s clearly working for Ridley Scott’s film as it rises and rises, but most seem to just be forgetting about Cinderella. Have people forgotten it was released in 2015? Is this why we can’t have nice things all year 'round?
Maybe if it were the ‘90s when both Beauty and the Beast and Babe could get nominated and Al Pacino could get in for Dick Tracy, Cinderella would stand a better chance? Who can ever know for sure?! But it will be a shame to see such a delightful film be little more than a footnote in the season while people gravitate towards the new and shiny especially since they have much in common. Many will say the box office is reward enough for the Disney flick, but can’t we say that about The Martian, too? Why isn't there room for two surprise, old-fashioned hits?
I guess if nothing else we will always have Richard Madden in his royal tights.
Readers? Would you let Cinderella go to the ball (the Oscars) or is the evil stepmother right?
Well, shall she?!?
Reader Comments (25)
An obvious one that needs to be stated nonetheless because it's still true : Cinderella is a movie about a woman with a cast filled with women with men mostly as side pieces, and thus the perception also falls into predictably sexist patterns. It's a "frothy" movie about princesses.
Also apparent: it's been done before as it's one of the oldest tales in the world. To be fair, I think Shakespeare adaptations would also suffer the same fate unless there's a truly magnetic performance in there, but even then, that doesn't necessarily always happen. Hello, Vanessa Redgrave in Coriolanus! Though the first point may also count against her.
Not as apparent: Disney never marketed Cinderella as potential Oscar bait. The Martian may be populist, but it's still marketed as potential Oscar bait, so many people consider it as such.
I am on the side of this article on principle, though I confess to finding Cinderella deeply irritating. Cate is perfect and the costumes are perfection, but I'm a curmudgeon who found the bulk of it hokey and uninspired. Even so, plenty of Oscar contenders are hokey and uninspired, and this certainly doesn't deserve to be roundly dismissed.
I thought this was garish, with terrible direction from Branagh. He's mostly good with the actors (though I really disliked Cate--she's a more cartoony evil stepmother than the actual cartoon), but Cinderella is the kind of thin story that really needs the director to invest its major setpieces (arriving at the ball, the dance, fleeing) with magic and emotion. Instead, this film felt incredibly flat. A shame, because I think the script actually does a pretty good job of fleshing out the one-note characters from the animated version into people with a few more shades.
Lily James is really rather lovely in this film, though. Sweet and natural without simpering/syrupy-ness. I also loved Hayley Atwell in her brief cameo.
I think it's way overrated. Beautiful to look at, but no moreso than Mirror Mirror a few years ago. Of course Cate is excellent but it's not exactly her career-best.
No. Outside of the fantastic costumes and a delightful Lily James, this movie was not good. And many little kids and teens I know much prefer Ella Enchanted, Enchanted, and Ever After waaay more than this film. Mine even liked Mirror Mirror and Maleficent better, which is saying something as they didn't love either one of those... I guess Mulan still reigns supreme as the top Disney girl in our house.
FTR--In my world, The Martian would not be an Oscar contender either.
Since Mirror, Mirror has been mentioned a few times, I will say that I enjoyed that much more than this Cinderella. I'm not really a Tarsem fan, but I thought his particular type of stylization finally fit his film. It's got a lot of goofy humor, but that was fine with me.
I enjoyed the film very much but don't see it playing into the Best Picture race. It should be heavily present in the tech awards especially costumes which were both beautiful and eye popping. Set design is also very worthy of recognition, scoring, editing etc also wouldn't be out of place in their respective lineups but to me that's about all.
As for Cate she was fine but nowhere near the magnificence of Anjelica Huston's observant, dry as dust reading of the role in Ever After.
As for Cate she was fine but nowhere near the magnificence of Anjelica Huston's observant, dry as dust reading of the role in Ever After.
It's fine to prefer Huston's take on the character. But to throw Blanchett's version under the bus because she's the more revered actress of the two is played. Hopefully Anjel will win her elusive Emmy for her guest stint on season two of Transparent.
i wouldn't have thought to pair these Glenn but i like it. and agree on most of the point. I really loved Cinderella actually. thought it was a really smart and beautiful-to-look-at adaptation of that particular story updated but without feeling anachronistically forced.
I'm rooting for Cinderella in costumes for sure and I also think Lily James was the standout rather than Blanchett. Don't really think it should be in the Best Picture convo though, but I agree that it shouldn't be disregarded if we're considering The Martian.
Kate, I love MIRROR MIRROR for being so gonzo in its weirdness.
I agree that one of the biggest and most infuriating problems not just in Ampass-culture but film culture in general is the way women-centred narratives are automatically seen as 'lesser-than'.
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But I don't necessarily agree that Cinderella is the best supporting argument.
The blandness of Cinderella herself is what made it all feel pretty hollow to me, and I didn't see any imagination in Branagh's direction (to be fair, I never have - I was hoping he'd gone away permanently).
Blanchett however was indeed excellent - probably not top-5-of-the-year but close enough.
And of course Huston was phenomenal in Ever After.
also -- i am a MIRROR MIRROR non-believer. when people praise it i feel like i'm getting hives. it's so messy. badly acted.
Fun fact: both Cinderella and The Martian were produced by Simon Kinberg, who is otherwise terrible at making movies.
The costumes should get an Oscar nomination
I think maybe it opened too soon? If it opened now it could be a contender. It's really a delightful film.
I don't think CINDERELLA should be a Best Picture nominee, by the way. I also don't think THE MARTIAN should either. I just think it's sad that one frivilous movie is going to get nominated for being surprisingly better than other movies at the box office.
Blanchett's turn in Cinderella will be better and more multi-layered than at least one of the eventual 5 Supporting Actress nominees, just wait and see for yourselves.
probably not a Best picture contender, but it should get nods for the costumes (which is probably its best shot), production design and original score
Loved the post. So many good points!
I liked Cinderella and wouldn't mind seeing Blanchett getting a nomination for it. She's terrific in this movie.
Plus, Julia Roberts is a total delightful hoot in Mirror Mirror.
I loved almost everything about Cinderella and was hoping for a bunch of nominations for it. But also thinking maybe I was naive and that for whatever reason it wouldn't pass muster with the academy. Well the nominations are just out and I see the realist in me was correct! Only one nomination, for costumes, which was deserved, but is that all?? I thought the theme song (Strong) would at least be another but not to be. The only other contenders I've seen are Bridge of Spies and Mad Max. Bridge was good but Mad Max for best pic?? Well it's the academy's show and they are entitled to their opinion/standards but sometimes you just kinda wonder ...
Everything about Cinderella 2015 was superb. Script, direction, sets, special effects, musical score, costumes, and most of all the acting, all blending together to make this version of the tale, a classic rendering. It never had a chance for Oscar nominations because it espouses good, wholesome values despised by most of Hollywood!
Good comment Les, I think you've hit the nail squarely on the head!
I own this movie, and think it's one of the best ever!!
Despising violence, sex and all the other factors that go into movies that sell, this is a classic that will endure for all time.
The acting is SUPERB by all, the horses amazing, and the costumes over the top.
The story line, one of hope against all odds, is one that should be offered in film
and cannot be repeated enough in this world of despair.
Your review is spot-on.