Thursday
Jan162020
Podcast: Oscar Nom Rants & Raves
Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 1:16PM 
In this hour long conversation Murtada and your TFE mastermind Nathaniel rant and rave on Oscar Nomination Morning (aka our Christmas). We try to stay positive but there are a lot of things worth ranting about so it's a mix.
You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you?
Reader Comments (20)
I'm surprised you guys didn't bring this up, but I have a feeling that having so many films with 10 nominations or more has to do with the fact that everything is so early this year. An earlier Oscar date and a shorter window to vote for nominations probably resulted in less time to see films and more of a crunch to pick the nominations, which to me would explain why there aren't that many nominees from earlier in the year and why they picked from such a smaller pool of films. Maybe most voters didn't see The Farewell, or Uncut Gems, or Hustler or what have you because they had other priorities for films they had heard more about and less time to vote on them (therefore, less time to get creative). My feeling is the Oscars should go back to the last Sunday in February.
I'm also in a weird position, because I like-to-love all the films nominated for Best Picture and most of the films people say are snubbed are films I didn't care for. I also couldn't stand Uncut Gems (which may have to do with my hyper-sensitivity), I thought Dolemite is My Name was fine, but felt it made the same mistake as The Disaster Artist (it was too reverential toward its subject and therefore Rudy Ray Moore didn't really emerge as a full character in my eyes, despite Eddie Murphy's best efforts), I absolutely hated the first half of Waves (though it does get better in the second half), The Farewell was ruined for me by a final reveal that seemed to be going for the crowdpleasing and destroyed all the goodwill I had built up for the film. For me, the films that should have gotten nominations are Hustlers, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Booksmart and I also think A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood should have gotten more nominations. And while I get all the people upset that Greta Gerwig did not get a Best Director nomination, I would have nominated Marielle Heller, Céline Sciamma or Lorene Scafaria before Greta Gerwig this year (and Lady Bird was #2 film of 2017, so I'm not against Greta Gerwig).
Nonetheless, I do agree there is a lot to fix in the Academy, though I wonder at the end of the day how much of what we want fixed can actually be fixed, especially when at the end of the day, the Oscars are an exercise in collective taste and no matter how much you try, you may not be able to stop a group of people from responding to the next Scorsese or Tarantino movie, even if you wish they had responded to something else. It's frustrating, sure, but the Oscars are a game that only a select number of people are invited to play, and the rest only get to watch from the sidelines and see how they play it (it's our Superbowl, basically).
Always a treat to listen to you guys talk. My pony for the nomination was Antonio Banderas and I'm happy he got in (it would have been nice if Pain & Glory had gotten more nominations, but with Banderas not being a sure thing, I figured anything else besides International Film was too much to ask).
Personally, the only real snub for me was Pain & Glory not getting a BP nom. I was so meh about most all the films this year that it almost doesn't matter to me what got nominated and what didn't. I suppose noms for the Parasite cast should've been in order too.
Jlo not Oscar nominated not a big deal she's so mediocre ... remember Glen Close is a 8 time Oscar looser... NOW that's a drama....
Murtada, I am truly sorry Lopez was not nominated. It is hurtful when your favorite performance is not nominated. Especially when she had everything...but then got snubbed by Bafta. That was telling I am afraid.
Murtada, thanks for spelling it out and saying it loud and clear. The Academy is still made up of too many people who aren't open to the full range of characters and experiences and stories that would result in Oscar voters seeing a more diverse array of films and taking those films seriously and REWARDING them.
The presumption that genius is always found in films that explore male violence and male identity and male problems lies at the heart of the ongoing crisis that is the Academy refusing to keep up with the way the world, and films, are transforming. This year is so disheartening. Imagine if PARASITE wasn't in the mix? A complete disaster.
I am so confused by the abominable Zelwegger steamroll. I can't bring myself to watch the movie because of the horrific singing I have heard but I will watch it soon... But I feel like Rosemary Woodhouse.. this isn't a dream this is REALLY HAPPENING!
I just want to echo Murtada's sentiments regarding Florence Pugh. I thought she was excellent in LADY MACBETH and engaging in everything else I saw her in, but her bizarre baby-speak performance in LITTLE WOMEN is appalling (at least the bits where she is playing 13 years old), and the woman does not deserve an Oscar nomination for it.
Murtada, thank you for calling out Charlize's nomination for what it is. I can't believe that nomination has been permitted to skate by with so little criticism. I believe it is only because Charlize has been overlooked for good performances in the past (though she won an Oscar and was nominated for North Country, so she's not exactly Donald Sutherland). If Amy Adams were nominated for that performance, people would be up in arms. Personally, I think this is the worst Best Actress nomination of the decade.
You are correct about the number of critics' groups diluting the strength of the three major critics' groups. In addition, there is the general tendency toward anti-intellectualism, which disregards the nature of expertise... this has always been part of American society but has accelerated in the past decade, and I can't believe it wasn't a part of, for instance, the wins for Malek and Green Book last year.
Lol at calling Zellweger abominable without having seen it.
Also, people are a little unrealistic about what is likely to be nominated. Keep skimming the surface and you're bound to constantly complain, and never figure out the real issues.
Also, really crazy when people lump in Green Book with Bohemian Rhapsody. The latter is undeniably poor. No matter what you think of the former...just no.
Green Book was the first Best Picture winner since Crash to receive no awards from NSFC, NYFCC or LAFCA. Whatever you think of the film, that's quite a statistic.
Jules -- its' definitely interesting that race dramas are the types of films most likely to win big prizes even if they're widely deemed problematic.
I did think it was funny when Nathaniel said something to the effect that he only cared about Banderas in the Best Actor category and didn't care about anyone else--when months ago he described Driver's performance as "miraculous" and had Banderas-Driver tied in his festival wrap-up. Apparently, a sure thing breeds contempt.
Kate -- LOL at "contempt". I still LOOOOOOOOOVE Driver and am hoping he wins the Oscar (since he's far more likely than Banderas to upset Phoenix). And stand by all my praise for his performance. I was just very very nervous about Banderas and knew Driver was locked so there was nothing to worry about so the only name i cared about hearing was Banderas's...
Jules --totally diagree on the Charlize hate but I think you nailed it/ are absolutely right about the additional things you're adding to this particular theory.
John Williams reworking the Star Wars themes is fine but Clint Mansell reworking Swan Lake for Black Swan is not. Some please explain.
John Williams is a god. I am not a Star Wars fan so I can't comment on the actual scores beyond the first several movies. But he deserves all his Oscar noms because he is The Man LOL.
And he should have won for The Towering Inferno, one of his greatest achievements.
you guys be crazy. i liked, but didn't love jojo rabbit, but are we really surprised it was nominated for best production design and best costumes? both are flawless and absolutely gorgeous. the best aspect of jojo rabbbit is its style. i wish i could attach photos!
I sometimes wonder why we all care so much about an organization that chooses movies like Green Book, Argo, Crash & Gladiator as the best, numero uno film of the year. And yet we do!
As long as the Academy remains overwhelmingly white and male, white men will continue to be the gatekeepers of the organization. There will be no attainment of diversity/inclusion/representation until there is a shift in institutional power because it is extremely rare for those who benefit from an inequitable power dynamic to advocate for those who do not belong to their demographic.
Of course there always will be outlier years for POC/women/queer people in the same way that individuals from those groups make it to Congress or as CEOs. However, a seat at the table in a house that isn't yours isn't true progress.
@Troy H
Spot on!