Podcast: On the nominations for the 91st Academy Awards

with Nathaniel R, Nick Davis, and Murtada Elfadl 

Hopefully you're not sick of talking Oscar nods, yet, since here's the last bit of the post-nomination blitz coverage... though obviously Oscar discussions will continue through Oscar night but we can diversify our attention after this one. 

Index (63 minutes)
00:01 Marina de Tavira for Roma (!) and women's stories at the Oscars
05:00 Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman & Coen brothers Buster Scruggs
12:00 Netflix and working hard for your nominations; it pays off
17:00 The joy of reaction videos: Richard E Grant and more
20:30 Best Cinematography: Caleb Deschanel for Never Look Away
23:30 Best Actor: Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, or Rami Malek?
29:45 No more Potterverse nominations but that Elizabeth vs Mary franchise never goes away. And the same people are rewarded for it again!
32:35 Nominations we don't quite understand but aren't opposed to.
40:00 A24 Oscar fate: First Reformed and Eighth Grade
43:15 Discussions of these career moments and potential futures for the 20 acting nominees. 
57:00 Saying nice things about Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody
60:00 Random happy thoughts to wrap-up

Referenced in the Pod
• Bobby Pontillas (animated short) reaction video
• Richard E Grant (supporting actor) reaction video
• Oscar Charts
• And this Blanchett-obsessed acceptance speech from Jenny Shircore...

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? 

Deep dive into the nominations

Film Bitch Awards: Makeup, Visual FX, and Film Editing

Though the Academy's makeup and hair voters regularly mystify with their finalist lists, barring one entry for 2018 they chose extremely well. Which is to say my own ballot closely mirrors Oscars this year in that craft. I was prepared to be indignant, for example, at the exclusion of Sweden's unforgettable whatsit Border but didn't have to be. Mary Queen of Scots sounded like a lazy pick from a distance but once the movie arrived the makeup and hair work was exceptional... even fresh. Fat suits normally aggravate but I was unhappy to leave the biopic Stan & Ollie, a worthy Oscar finalist, out --  it has to settle for finalist at the Film Bitch Awards.

We only wish Oscar's board of governors would wise up and allow five nominations in this category as they do with all other categories. It's appalling to make makeup and hair the bastard child of the industry since every live-action film requires hair and makeup work. Original Song, Visual Effects, and Animated Features all get five nominees and there's far less to choose from in those regards! You've heard this rant before so we'll move on. Click to see the honors for Makeup, Visual Effects, and Film Editing honoring 15 different films (this was not intentional but no film repeats between those three categories).

Final Predictions: All Visual Categories

We're almost to the nominations, can you believe it? So we're furiously trying to wrap up our predictions. Let's do Costume Design and the rest of the eye candy categories.

COSTUME DESIGN
My favourite tech category should give three-time winner Sandy Powell a historic THIRD double-nomination in a single category with both Mary Poppins Returns and The Favourite feeling secure for nominations. It also feels like there's little chance that Black Panther could miss, and we expect voters will want to take this opportunity to finally hand Ruth E Carter her Oscar (this will be her third Oscar nomination, tying her with Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for most Oscar nominations for a black woman). Those are the locks...

Click to read more ...

All the Oscar Shortlists

BREAKING: We don't like this new system of announcing ALL the finalist lists (in the categories that get finalist lists, that is) on the same day as it doesn't give you time to individually think about each list and write multiple thorough articles. So we'll have to investigate more deeply over the next few days. But for those who are okay with just the quick take list format you can see the lists and a few gut reactions right after the jump. Every Oscar chart will be updated tomorrow to reflect the past week of awards season madness and these lists.

But without further ado, the finalist lists before the nominations are announced on January 22nd... 

Click to read more ...

Pfeiffer in the A.M.

The world's Most Elusive Movie Star actually took a selfie selpfie this weekend. In the A.M. no less. Here is Michelle Pfeiffer by Michelle Pfeiffer. This glorious pfoto was provided by Brigitte Reiss-Andersen, makeup artist to the stars, who writes...

Click to read more ...