Film Bitch Awards: Yellow Coats, Breathy Vocals, and Facial Reconstruction, Oh My!
Sunday, March 2, 2025 at 5:00PM by Nathaniel R
In an alternate reality somewhere I am a punctual cinephile, delivering his own personal awards with metronomic precision, one category per day for a month before the Oscar nominations or at least between the nominations and the big night. But we are in this reality and there are never enough hours in the day and always last minute screenings to shove in to try to see everything that people are talking about. While you'll have to wait to see my personal acting ballots until after the Oscar aftermath fades (as I'm still writing up star turns and need to have a clear head) but the rest of the 'traditional' i.e. Oscar parallel categories of my own awards are now up for your viewing / thinking / comparing-to-your-own-faves pleasure. I know it's Oscar day but I thought I'd throw this up if you're tired of talking predictions but are still hopped up with movie fever...
VISUAL CATEGORIES
I didn't intend for Best Costume Design to lean so contemporary this season. I swear I'm not trying to make a point though if I were the point remains that people need to appreciate contemporary designs more... The simple fact is that I found Elisabeth Sparkle's yellow coat and out of fashion date night ensemble (The Substance), Romy's severe suggestive wardrobe (Babygirl), and the mix of pure style, utiliatarian work wear, silly movie costumes, and bold color in the story of a stuntman-in-ttrouble (The Fall Guy) to be more inspired and character-enriching than many of the films aiming to recreate particular periods this year.
BLITZ
Best Cinematography and Best Production Design were agonizing to narrow down -- every year I want those categories to be ten movies wide since there's so much interesting and beautiful work being done on the regular. The only films that were nominated in both categories on my personal ballot were The Brutalist and Blitz. Regarding the latter, I understand why it was ignored this awards season (it is McQueen's weakest effort) but in terms of crafts, it's often a wonder.
The visual lineups that are closest to the Oscar ballot are Best Visual Effects (3/5) and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (4/5) but on the rest you'll see that usually only two Oscar players made it. This is not intentional. I am working on these ballots all year long while I see movies and always hope to post them before nominations so that they don't feel contrarian on purpose! For instance months ago I didn't expect A Different Man to be nominated for anything and I was planning to be outraged when they skipped it in Best Makeup. But happy result -- I didn't have to be!
MUSIC & SOUND CATEGORIES
While I find it difficult to write about the aural categories, my tastes and the taste of Oscar's music and sound branches rarely align. The Brutalist has a thrilling score but otherwise we're at odds on nominees. If you have ears how do you skip Cristobal Tapia de Veer's film-elevating score to Babygirl with its inventive mix of syncopated breath work and feral flourishes for example?
I've already said my piece multiple times over on what a mess Best Original Song continues to be. I wish with all my heart that this branch would vote for songs that feel integral to their movies. They did, I suppose, in a single case this year via "El Mal" from Emilia Pérez which just-missed my own Best Original Song list. It's 'snub' here was not a statement because I don't love the movie. You will see "El Mal" as a nominee in one of the 'extra' categories [Best Musical Sequence in a Musical] in a week or so's time. Best Original Song could be a highlight of Oscar nigth each year but they'd have to start choosing actually enjoyable songs that would be fun to see performed onstage! Imagine Kristen Wiig up there doing her comic Will & Harper thing, or the always exciting Miley Cyrus in a Last Showgirl vignette, or Saoirse Ronan in factory-wear singing a lovely ditty.
KNEECAP
Finally imagine how riled up the crowd could get if you let the Irish rap band Kneecap loose to shake things up with the rambunctious "Sick in the Head" showstopper!
The Acting nominations are yet to come but currently The Brutalist, The Substance and Wicked are leading the Film Bitch Nominations.
In case you missed it: Nathaniel's Top Ten and Picture / Director Ballot
Reader Comments (1)
I love love LOVE how contemporary your Best Costume Design lineup is. We even share a nominee with BABYGIRL.