by Ben Miller
Of all the decisions the Academy Awards producers/directors must make, the Oscar clip decisions are surely the most covetous -- who among us wouldn't want to chose? They're fairly crucial, too. I ranked all the clips last year, and Nathaniel was nice enough to let me do it again. The clips preceding each of the categories ranged from brilliant to “what the hell was that?” Let’s rank them 20-1…
Cringe-worthy
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at aaaaaaallllllll 🎵
20. Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
19. Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Woo boy. I would personally defend the work of both of these performances, but the snippets shown on Sunday did not lend any firepower to those arguments. Viggo gets to wax on like an idiot about not knowing the difference between Russian and German before laying on some casual racism. Malek has plenty of good moments in the Queen biopic, but a simple shot of him lipsyncing reads like an Oscar producer’s opinion on the performance itself seeping through.
Not Doing Anyone Any Favors...
Is it? Just a meeting.
18. Sam Rockwell, Vice
17. Amy Adams, Vice
16. Yalitzia Aparicio, Roma
The performances in Vice are fairly solid, but both Rockwell and Adams don’t have much to work with, and it shows in their clips. I’ve been cool on that pair all season and if you were also hoping that the clips would show you something you were missing, they came up empty. As for Aparicio, her performance itself wasn’t showy, but there were at least 20 more expressive clips than that longshot “I like being dead” interlude.
Go Big or Go Home
It's not your fault. It just isn't.
Who does that? Garbage!
15. Sam Elliott, A Star is Born
14. Mahershela Ali, Green Book
13. Christian Bale, Vice
12. Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
This is a great example of “This is my time, I’m going for it” in each case. Ali is the only real outlier as he had a plethora of other material to work with, but they chose the clip that shows him the actor-iest outburst. Pretty much any other clip of his works better. I’m glad they went with King’s “that’s your grandchild!” speech, but it does not encapsulate the performance as a whole.
Less is More
He speaks to me. He threatens me. And all he wants to do is plunge a knife into my heart.
Good luck Nathaniel, I'm sure you'll write a wonderful book.
11. Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
10. Marina De Tavira, Roma
9. Adam Driver, BlacKKKlansman
8. Glenn Close, The Wife
I was worried they were going to butcher these clips because the roles themselves were not overtly showy. This is where Aparicio should have placd with a better selection. Dafoe’s restraint is on full force, while De Tavira has some strange editing around her best scene in the film. As for Driver, we surely all knew after seeing BlacKKKlansman, that his “I didn’t grow up Jewish” speech should be his Oscar clip, but they cut it off one line too soon. If they had only had the “I’m thinking about it now…” part, it jumps a few more spots. The eternal Oscar bridesmaid Glenn Close had plenty of yelling in The Wife, but her calculated brilliance is on full-force in her clip as she threatens and reassures in a five second span.
Cream of the Crop
...but I'm not very good at keeping secrets.
7. Lady Gaga, A Star is Born
6. Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
5. Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
4. Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
A pair of pairs do the heavy lifting. Gaga’s perfect clip is the performance of Shallow, but she already had her Oscar at that point so something subtler was smart. Cooper’s brilliance lies in his drunken charm, and that Supermarket parking lot scene has that charm in spades. McCarthy’s courtroom monologue is where everyone expected her clip to be, and it proves why she is so good. I had a specific clip in mind for Grant and I was ready to crown him the champ, but they went with broader comedy. It doesn’t change the fact that he is wonderful in the entire film.
The Favourites
A monster for the children to play with perhaps? Grrrrr.
1a. Rachel Weisz
1b. Emma Stone
1c. Olivia Colman
Whoever put the Oscar clips together, they LOVED The Favourite. Yes, all three clips are somewhat obvious choices, but they are also brilliant ones. They're all singularly memorable (“Oh, I did not know that”/ “Grrrr!” / “I do fear confusion and accidents”) and showcase highlights of the performance via comic timing, physical spontaneity, and line readings respectively. That said, the clips are upsetting, since they remind us of the war crime that was the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
Until next year…