Althouse: The Oscar nominations are in.

January 23, 2024

The Oscar nominations are in.

Here's the full list (at Hollywood Reporter).

Notable: "Robbie Robertson Earns Posthumous Oscar Nomination for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Score."

29 comments:

David53 said...: I watched Oppenheimer last night. Great acting by Robert Downey Jr and Emily Blount.; 1/23/24, 12:23 PM
Ice Nine said...: >The 2024 Oscars are the first in which films must meet two of four representation and inclusion standards in order to be eligible for the top prize of best picture(women, racial group, LGBTQ+, people with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing, etc, etc).<

What?! What do these Hollywood jokers think they do - run an airline?; 1/23/24, 12:32 PM
rhhardin said...: I've heard of Emily Blunt and Jodie Foster. Jodie Foster in something forgettable and Emily Blunt in Edge of Tomorrow. She has other pictures where she plays characters that I don't understand.; 1/23/24, 12:46 PM
Iman said...: Gosling! Teh Patriarchy strikes again!; 1/23/24, 12:48 PM
Kate said...: They stiffed Gerwig for director. So much for Hollywood's principles.; 1/23/24, 12:58 PM
Dave Begley said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/23/24, 1:10 PM
Joe Smith said...: Haven't watched in at least 20 years.

Hollywood can burn to the ground for all I care.; 1/23/24, 1:16 PM
Roger von Oech said...: I watched “Anatomy of a Fall” last night. It's the best film I’ve seen in quite a while.

It’s a tense courtroom drama that dissects a marriage. I’m delighted that it along with actress Sandra Hüller received Oscar nominations. In English and French, and available to rent on Prime and Apple TV.; 1/23/24, 1:35 PM
Dave Begley said...: And the winner for best adapted screenplay is..... Dave Begley for "Frankenstein, Part II."

VO. Dave Begley is a lawyer in Omaha, Nebraska. His screenplay was adapted from the novel by his Creighton Prep classmate, Mike Kennedy. Mr. Begley is a strong advocate of Jesuit education. He is a graduate of Creighton University in Omaha.; 1/23/24, 1:51 PM
n.n said...: O-s-c-a-r... and Oscar - served with Green blight and scam - was his name-o.; 1/23/24, 2:13 PM
J Severs said...: What Ice Nine said.; 1/23/24, 2:34 PM
MayBee said...: I'll have to look up what Poor Things is.

I got distracted by a story about Natalia Grace, who it turns out was 9 when her adoptive family had her declared an adult and moved her into an apartment by herself. Now she's falling out with her new parents. What a mess.
That' such a weird legal case though.

Barbie was cute and Gosling was great, but I am surprised Gerwig wasn't nominated. She did create the perfect Barbie world in the film.; 1/23/24, 2:37 PM
JAORE said...: I've seen two of the nominees for top dog.

I won't be bothered to view the awards show.

I would have watched Joan River's reactions. Fearless and funny.; 1/23/24, 2:48 PM
MadisonMan said...: Wow -- I've actually seen a nominated film: Past Lives. Saw it on a plane. Pretty good.; 1/23/24, 2:50 PM
mikee said...: My wife wants to see Poor Things with me. Good idea, or not?; 1/23/24, 3:10 PM
Flat Tire said...: I won't watch because don't know who they are and unlikely to see any of the movies. But thanks to Althouse tip, I will see all the dresses on Tom and Lorenzo. They aren't as hilariously snarky as they used to be but still entertaining.; 1/23/24, 3:41 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: I'm not enough of a film enjoyer to accurately parse out what is good writing versus good directing, or good directing versus good acting or the negative versions of those. But apparently some say Greta Gerwig was snubbed because she didn't get nominated for best director for "Barbie", but she did get nominated for best writing for "Barbie". I'm assuming this has something to do with Best Director being viewed as more prestigious than best writing. Regardless, I assume the majority of it is all political. After the "12 Years a Slave" year, and the "It's Time." billboards seemed to work, plus the new DEI requirements for best whatever category, I'm assuming at least 75% of the consideration is political and the other 25% quality of the film/directing/acting/writing/etc.; 1/23/24, 4:08 PM
Dave Begley said...: Omaha Creighton Prep alum Alexander Payne's "The Holdovers" received five nominations.

Imagine the number of nominations he'll garner when he directs my, "Frankenstein, Part II."; 1/23/24, 4:18 PM
Dave Begley said...: More on the voice over. "Alexander Payne is also a graduate of Omaha Creighton Prep. This is the first film where the screenwriter, director and novelist all attended the same high school."; 1/23/24, 4:20 PM
Rich said...: Robbie Robertson was a rare bird, and it's not likely we'll see a comparable talent again in most our lifetimes. As a writer he drew from a deep and flavorful stream of musical styles--field hollar work songs, country blues,gospel, old time jazz with hints of ragtime syncopation, country and western, classic rythm and blues and rock and roll--and shared with his splendid Band members the ability to cogently blend the styles into an unaffected, appealing organic sound. It's been said before, but his best songs seemed beyond era, as Robertson could have written them 100 years ago or two weeks ago. They were timeless and evocative and put one in the center of what was a vividly and deftly portrayed idea of the American South, no less so than Faulkner or Carson McCullers. His lyrics , as well, were dually colloquial and surreal, presented in different guises of meloncholy , a yearning for an idealized past, or which displayed an aburdist wit. The Weight, in particular, is the prize example of Robertson's talents--a rolling piano figure never far from gospel roots, the narrative details the oddness of small town life and provides details that suggest hallucinations of religious fervor, incest, hidden insanity. It has the power of storyboard from which a great novel or grand motion picture can be made. Robertson was an artist of great and delicate talents that was a large part of why The Band is one of the greatest bands of the rock and roll era.; 1/23/24, 4:27 PM
Kathryn51 said...: When I read the headline (Oppenheimer has most nominations), I thought no way will it win anything - just a bunch of guys. And WHITE guys at that.

But article went on to say that the top award must include at least 2 of something something in order to get a nomination? Was Oppenheimer black? hispanic? asian? trans?; 1/23/24, 4:35 PM
Big Mike said...: Another year when none of the Oscar-nominated films seemed at the time to be worth paying $10 per ticket and driving 10 minutes to the theater to go see.

Is Lily Gladstone really a member of the Blackfoot Nation? Or is she another Liz Warren?; 1/23/24, 4:41 PM
Patrick Driscoll said...: Didn't see any of the films nominated, but I am surprised Ridley Scott was snubbed.; 1/23/24, 6:43 PM
Lilly, a dog said...: Dave, don't forget the special screening of "Frankenstein, Part II" at the White House with President Ramaswamy. This makes it the first Oscar-winning film, screened in front of the smartest person the screenwriter ever met, where the screenwriter, director and novelist all attended the same high school.; 1/23/24, 7:19 PM
rcocean said...: Well, lets look at the list of nominees for best picture:

Oppenheimer – Biopic of Leftwing Jewish Scientist
Zone of Interest – Holocaust Movie
Maestro – Biopic of Communist Jewish composer
Past Live - Black Comedy/Satire
Killer of the Heat moon – Nasty white men kill poor Indians
American Fiction- Korean American Romance

Barbie A Doll gone Feminist
The holdovers - Coming of age story set in 1970 New England
Poor things –Feminist SF story of women resurrected from death who finds sexual liberation
Anatomy of a Fall – French Language Family drama

So, 3 movies about Jews, 1 black movie, 1 Asian-American movie, 1 American Indian movie, 2 Feminist Movies, and a foreign language film. And one movie about whtie guys back in 1970.

Yep, Hollywood is certainly run by conservative White men who dont like Jews.; 1/23/24, 7:20 PM
EAB said...: mikee asked if seeing Poor Things is a good idea or not. I didn’t see it but my husband did. He liked it but he’s a movie guy…foreign, independent, difficult movies. But…he thought it pretentious and not fully successful…he mostly appreciated the effort. He liked The Favourite, an earlier film by the same guy, a great deal. That being said, he also said it’s borderline pornographic in parts.; 1/23/24, 9:56 PM
Brad Preston said...: High profile snubs should include Tom Cruise. Pretty sure nobody else on that list rode a motorcycle off a 2,000 foot cliff.; 1/23/24, 10:06 PM
William said...: I definitely want to see Barbie, but not so much that I would go to a movie theater to see it. I want to see Oppenheimer, but in the dutiful way that I used to want to see the latest Bergman movie.....I saw Maestro. It's streaming on Netflix. It seemed pretentious and overdone, but I guess that's a reflection of the subject who was himself pretentious and overdone. Bernstein acted like a pretentious phony, but so far as musical talent goes, he was the real deal. Perhaps Bernstein pretended to be an intense genius because he didn't know how to be an intense genius. When in doubt, pretend to be Beethoven. Derivative performance. Dylan seems to be comfortable in his skin and has given the best contemporary version of a musical genius; 1/24/24, 7:55 AM
Rich said...: The Academy’s snub of the QAnon movie will only widen the cultural divide.; 1/24/24, 8:37 AM