This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2023

With Bening in the race now, I wonder if the chatter will turn to honoring her at last.

Yeah, best actress now becomes kind of the hottest acting race

yeah that'll be interesting. but it also feels like a nomination from the acting branch that the academy as a whole might not be as enthusiastic about.

These nominations are more bad than good, but I'll admit that's as respectable a 10-deep best picture lineup as we've had since category expansion.

I'm not mad about Mulligan -- I never am -- but the Best Actress nominees are among the strongest in a while.

Saltburn shutout?

Appears so? I had a feeling that was a BAFTAs phenomenon.

surprised gerwig didn't get a director nom.

The Academy doesn't like comedy.

I liked Anatomy of a Fall quite a bit, but Barbie seems like a more accomplished directorial achievement. (Comparing them not bc they're both women but bc Triet took the slot Gerwig was expected to fill.)

I actually prefer AOAF but I'd rather the Academy for once stopped taking itself so goddamn seriously.

Yeah. I'm also not looking forward to the inevitable discourse about this.

I wayyyy prefer AoaF and also think it was a bigger directorial achievement, but it's pretty telling that they nominated Ferrera and not Gerwig/Robbie. Ferrera and her speech makes them feel like they've done their diligence

The more it sits, the more annoyed I am with that Ferrera nomination, which came at the expense of much better options in a much wider open category

Wes Anderson slides in with a Best Short Film nod for Henry Sugar.

But not Almodovar

ferrera was not good in the barbie movie

She should move to Florida and run for Senate. We need her!

Make America America Again

Between this and Eric's recent post about it, I might just give it a watch...

Don't think of NYAD as a Netflix biopic, think of it as a fun dramedy about stubborn lesbians

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) January 23, 2024

It's not fun.

I mean, it's not offensive but it's a thin premise stretched to a couple hours.

If taken strictly as a showcase for two older actresses, I've seen far worse ... It's not great cinema, but I have no objections to what Foster in particular brings to the screen here. Especially her big "I know my friend is annoying the room so I'm going to save her from herself" energy.

But speaking of Netflix, you really can't say that it was Netflix resistance that led to the May December collapse now, given how well so many other Netflix movies (all of them inferior) did

The Academy just doesn't like Todd Haynes; MD's tonal mixtures confused voters who think The Holdovers is awesome.

I don't remember Emily Blunt doing *anything* in "Oppenheimer," but maybe that means she *was* acting, vs. whatever it was that, say, RDJ was doing.

Nothing (even technical) for Ferrari or The Killer.

Yeah I think the treatment of May December is testament to its subversiveness. It makes people uncomfortable.

whatever it was that, say, RDJ was doing

Per my wife, "He's not playing this role, he's playing David Strathairn playing this role."

I know, and I get that. Still doesn't make it any less annoying that the only thing these voters seem to respect above all else are biopics

xp

I knew Blunt was getting nommed as soon as I left the theater

I knew she was getting nominated the moment I saw she was very nearly the only female cast member

Keep me away from all the "So I guess Barbie/Past Lives directed itself??" takes. There are only five slots!

I guess Asteroid City just Pantoned itself…

The more precursors pile up on top of each other, the more each Academy branch feels no need to color outside the lines anymore ... even the reliably nutty costume design category is almost entirely carbon copy best picture nominees (Oppenheimer for costumes?! for fuck's sake)

2023's Oscar Nominees

i think America Ferrera was fine in Barbie, for a supporting role that seems extremely boilerplate and asks her to do nothing except give The Speech. which is also fine for that very on-the-nose kind of thing, and probably helped for me by the sentiments expressed, which i'm sure drove the right people absolutely insane with fury.

whatever it was that, say, RDJ was doing

Per my wife, "He's not playing this role, he's playing David Strathairn playing this role."

― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, January 23, 2024 9:36 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

Your wife finally helped me put a finger on something about that performance that’s been just out of reach

I thought RDJ was good in that role, but that awards slot should’ve gone to someone else.

All of Us Strangers episode of This Had Oscar Buzz when

Does the format of that show require it be movies that got zero nods? Because The Color Purple feels like a gimme this year

omigod how have I never heard of this podcast?!

However: two hours a show?

Every movie podcast that's not Karina's deserves to be chopped down by at least half

Does the format of that show require it be movies that got zero nods? Because The Color Purple feels like a gimme this year

― badpee pooper (Eric H.), Tuesday, January 23, 2024 12:11 PM (four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Yes, it must be zero. Except they've recently started a Patreon series that covers movies that got one or two (but still less than what might have been hoped for).

Two hours would be a short episode of Blank Check. Both of those podcasts are chatty hangouts and sort of live and die by how much you like hanging out with the hosts.

Seeing as they're both about pampered blonde women living in dream houses walled off from harsh reality, Barbie and The Zone of Interest may split their votes.

TSPDT's 50 Most Critically-Acclaimed Films of 2023 (Based only on 2023 end-of-year ballots)

01. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Martin Scorsese
02. FALLEN LEAVES Aki Kaurismäki
03. MAY DECEMBER Todd Haynes
03. THE ZONE OF INTEREST Jonathan Glazer
05. ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet
06. DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD Radu Jude
07. PAST LIVES Celine Song
08. OPPENHEIMER Christopher Nolan
09. POOR THINGS Yorgos Lanthimos
09. SHOWING UP Kelly Reichardt

11. AFIRE Christian Petzold
11. BARBIE Greta Gerwig
13. CLOSE YOUR EYES Victor Erice
14. ASTEROID CITY Wes Anderson
15. PASSAGES Ira Sachs
16. THE DELINQUENTS Rodrigo Moreno
17. TRENQUE LAUQUEN Laura Citarella
18. THE BOY AND THE HERON Hayao Miyazaki
19. MUSIC Angela Schanelec
20. OUR BODY Claire Simon

21. MENUS-PLAISIRS - LES TROISGROS Frederick Wiseman
22. ALL OF US STRANGERS Andrew Haigh
23. THE HOLDOVERS Alexander Payne
24. LA CHIMERA Alice Rohrwacher
24. THE KILLER David Fincher
26. PACIFICTION Albert Serra
27. YOUTH (SPRING) Wang Bing
28. ABOUT DRY GRASSES Nuri Bilge Ceylan
28. THE HUMAN SURGE 3 Eduardo Williams
30. PRISCILLA Sofia Coppola
30. SAINT OMER Alice Diop

32. THE TASTE OF THINGS Tran Anh Hung
32. TÓTEM Lila Avilés
34. DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel
34. DRY GROUND BURNING Joana Pimenta & Adirley Queirós
36. EVIL DOES NOT EXIST Ryusuke Hamaguchi
37. UNREST Cyril Schäublin
38. TÁR Todd Field
39. ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME, MARGARET. Kelly Fremon Craig
40. LAST SUMMER Catherine Breillat

41. RETURN TO SEOUL Davy Chou
41. A THOUSAND AND ONE A.V. Rockwell
43. ALL DIRT ROADS TASTE OF SALT Raven Jackson
43. THE BEAST Bertrand Bonello
43. ROTTING IN THE SUN Sebastián Silva
43. THE TRIAL Ulises de la Orden
47. BEAU IS AFRAID Ari Aster
47. THE DAUGHTERS OF FIRE Pedro Costa
47. SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers & Justin K. Thompson
50. IN WATER Hong Sang-soo

I finally watched Oppenheimer. The biopic is one of my least favorite movie categories, in my mind it is one step up from a heist or action film...

But I liked it more than I was expecting to. Compared to other 'genius scientist' biopics such as The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything, it stands out.

As good as Emily Blunt's performance was in it however, I don't know if it deserved an academy award nomination over Julianne Moore in May December. Maybe they both deserved it over America Ferrera

I can see Robert Downey Jr. winning easily for his hammy performance, but not Cillian Murphy

Do you all think Past Lives is one of the best films of the year? I mean it was a good debut film, but Charlotte Wells' first film Aftersun went so much deeper

I just can't with this shit:

https://mnfilmcriticalliance.wordpress.com/2024/02/04/oppenheimer-wins-seven-mnfca-awards-including-best-picture/