Nomadland was added to the AP best films and National Society of Film Critics 2020, and as well as beingan Oscar contender will now be available for viewers to watch starting February 19, 2021. Movie-goers can either visit the big screen available anywhere movie theaters are open, or opt for a stay-at-home watch.
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers
Disney’s Slate Continues to Outperform Commercially, if not always Critically
Although the first animated feature film debuted way back in 1939 with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,” the Best Animated Feature category at the Academy Awards has only existed for nineteen years, arriving in 2001 when DreamWorks’ “Shrek” won the inaugural prize.
Although “Shrek” may have taken home that initial award—beating out fellow nominees “Monsters Inc.” and “Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius”—DreamWorks would not be the animation studio to rein supreme over the category in the coming years. In the nineteen years that the category has taken place, Disney’s Pixar has won ten times, making it the unrivaled champion of the Best Animated Feature title.
In fact, almost every time Pixar releases a movie, it gets a nomination, and almost every time it gets a nomination, it wins. Only three times has a Pixar movie been in the runnings, but lost to one of its competitors. Following “Monsters Inc’s” initial loss to “Shrek,” “Cars” lost to “Happy Feet” in 2006 and “Incredibles 2” lost to “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” just last year—albeit, the studio won Best Animated short with yesteryear’s “Bao.”
Many were happy to see “Spider-Verse” win in 2019. The movie was original and its animation was captivating, far from the predictable family narratives and re-hashed 3D style of Pixar that audiences have become all too familiar with over the past twenty-six years. Furthermore, with Disney being a conglomerate juggernaut in modern Hollywood, there is something cathartic about seeing an underdog beat them out—in addition to the ten Pixar wins, Walt Disney Animation studios have also won three of the nineteen Best Animated Feature titles, leaving the House-of-Mouse with all but six of the total trophies for the category.
With “Spider-Verse” winning last year, some assumed that Pixar might be losing its power, and when “Toy Story 4” lost to the commercially unsuccessful, but critically acclaimed “Missing Link” at the 2020 Golden Globes, many were optimistically foreseeing another Pixar defeat at the upcoming Oscars—making it Disney’s first consecutive defeat in the category since 2006.
Overrated or Just still too Big to Ignore, Toy Story’s Success is Undeniable
“Toy Story 4” is by no means a bad movie, and it grossed over a billion dollars at the Box Office, but many movie goers grow weary of Pixar’s cash-out sequels. Likewise, the fourth installment in the “Toy Story” series feels a bit unnecessary, especially considering how excellently “Toy Story 3” seemed to conclude the saga in 2010. Also, it is hardly a stretch of the imagination to think that Disney insisted on a fourth film just to sell more Woody and Buzz toys to a younger generation.
Moreover, the Animated Feature category was filled with some suburb competition this year. “Missing Link” was a visual masterpiece from unsung stop-motion animation company Laika. “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” was a wonderful conclusion to DreamWorks’ heartfelt fantasy trilogy—all three of the films losing to Disney titles in previous years’ Oscars. Then, Netflix’s “Klaus” was an aesthetic stunner, and Jérémy Clapin’s “I Lost My Body” was a mature meditation on the human condition and the first animated movie to win the esteemed Nespresso Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
In short, the competition was stacked for Best Animated Feature and while the winner was anything but a sure thing, the divisive “Toy Story 4” hardly felt like anyone’s first pick. Thus, when actress Mindy Kaling presented the award partway through the evening, few expected and many were disappointed when she announced the Pixar title as the victor.
When director Josh Cooley and producers Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera took the stage, their acceptance speech was sincere. All involved in “Toy Story 4” seemed grateful for the prize, but audiences cannot help but feel like some of the other titles deserved it more.
Everything New is Old Again
In a year of Oscar firsts and progressive wins—from “Parasite” being the first foreign film to earn Best Picture, to the animated short “Hair Love” and the documentary “American Factory” winning with stories that celebrate multiculturalism—the Best Animated Feature category seemed a little regressive, championing the default, blockbuster Pixar nominee over some truly innovative pieces of cinema.
At least Pixar claims that it is done with sequels now and that the studio will be returning to original stories from here on out. 2020 promises the releases of “Onward” and “Soul” from Pixar, a couple movies with no connection to any previous intellectual properties. When they inevitably get nominated at the 2021 Academy Awards, let’s hope that they deserve their opportunity for hardware, and that the Academy keeps up its progressive tendencies when deciding on animated movies going forward.
1917 The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Joker Little Women Marriage Story Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Parasite√ Ford v Ferrari
“Parasite”
Best director
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite√ Sam Mendes, 1917 Todd Phillips, Joker Martin Scorsese, The Irishman Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
“Joker”
Best actor
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker√ Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory Adam Driver, Marriage Story Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes
“Judy”
Best actress
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet Renée Zellweger, Judy√ Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story Charlize Theron, Bombshell Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
“Ford vs. Ferrari”
Best film editing
The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Joker Ford v Ferrari√ Parasite
Best supporting actress
Laura Dern, Marriage Story√ Florence Pugh, Little Women Margot Robbie, Bombshell Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Best cinematography
Roger Deakins, 1917√ Rodrigo Prieto, The Irishman Lawrence Sher, Joker Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse Robert Richardson, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Best sound mixing
Ad Astra Joker 1917√ Ford v Ferrari Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Best sound editing
1917 Ford v Ferrari√ Joker Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Documentary short feature
In the Absence Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)√ Life Overtakes Me St. Louis Superman Walk Run Cha-Cha
Documentary feature
American Factory√ The Cave The Edge of Democracy For Sama Honeyland
Best costume design
Sandy Powell & Christopher Peterson, The Irishman Mark Bridges, Joker Arianne Phillips, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Jacqueline Durran, Little Women√ Mayes C. Rubeo, Jojo Rabbit
Best production design
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood√ The Irishman 1917 Jojo Rabbit Parasite
Live-action short film
Brotherhood Nefta Football Club The Neighbors’ Window√ Saria A Sister
ScarJo in JoJo Rabbit
Best adapted screenplay
Steven Zaillian, The Irishman Greta Gerwig, Little Women Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit√ Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes Todd Phillips & Scott Silver, Joker
Best original screenplay
Rian Johnson, Knives Out Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns, 1917 Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood Bong Joon-ho, Parasite√
Animated short film
Dcera (Daughter) Hair Love√ Kitbull Memorable Sister
Animated feature film
“Toy Story 4”
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World I Lost My Body Klaus Missing Link Toy Story 4√
“Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”
Best supporting actor
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood√ Al Pacino, The Irishman Joe Pesci, The Irishman Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Makeup and hairstyling
Bombshell√ Joker Judy Maleficent: Mistress of Evil 1917
Visual effects
Avengers: Endgame The Irishman The Lion King 1917√ Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Music (original score)
Joker√ Little Women Marriage Story 1917 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Music (original song)
“I’m Standing With You” from Breakthrough “Into The Unknown” from Frozen II “Stand Up” from Harriet “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman√ “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from Toy Story 4 “Glasgow” from Wild Rose
“Parasite”
International feature film
France, Les Misérables North Macedonia, Honeyland Poland, Corpus Christi South Korea, Parasite √ Spain, Pain and Glory
ScarJo and Joker cast shadows over the hope for new faces
On the morning after a Critics Choice Movie Awards ceremony that heavily paralleled the Golden Globes—“Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood” won best picture, Joaquin Phoenix won best actor, Renèe Zellweger best actress, Brad Pitt best supporting actor, Laura Dern best supporting actress, etc., the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences released their nominations for the 92nd Oscars, the pinnacle of the awards season that will take place in early February as per tradition at the famed Dolby Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
Renée Zellweger as “Judy”
The Oscar Nominations for 2020 offer the usual suspects in most categories. Like the Critics Choice Awards’ Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Golden Globes’ Foreign Hollywood Press, the Academy is big on yesteryear’s work from Tarantino, Mendez, and Scorsese. Likewise, they favor performances from Phoenix, Pitt, and Zellweger.
That being said, there are still a few head turners on this year’s nomination list, from the names included, to the names left out, to the handful of names that dominated.
First off, it should really be no surprise at this point in the awards season that Netflix got a lot of love for its 2019 filmography.
The Academy nominated both Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” for best picture and Fernando Meirelles’ “The Two Popes” appeared in several categories as well.
This bodes well for the streaming service that clearly spent the year trying to produce and promote prestigious original content.
If one film dominated the list, however, it was Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” which garnered eleven nominations including best picture, best director, and best actor.
This is significant as not every year does a movie based on a comic book character lead the race, especially not when that comic book character is a controversy-inducing villain brought to the screen by the director of “The Hangover.”
Nevertheless, “Joker” stood out amongst the competition. In terms of noms, the film was narrowly followed by “The Irishman,” “Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood,” and “1917,” all fellow best picture contenders that received ten nominations each.
Moreover, while there weren’t really any surprises on the best actor or best actress fronts, Scarlett Johansson managed to snag both best actress and best supporting actress nominations for her respective roles in “Marriage Story” and “Jojo Rabbit.”
Snubs and Overlooked Talent that was Coincidentally Diverse Abounded
Adam Sandler went unsung for his groundbreaking performance in “Uncut Gems,” and critic favorites Awkwafina from “The Farewell” and Jennifer Lopez from “Hustlers” were similarly snubbed, not receiving any accolades from the Academy despite earning praise elsewhere.
This brings us to the biggest elephant in the room, which has been a persistent topic for the past few Academy Awards—how diverse are this year’s nominees?
The noticeably whitewashed 2016 Oscars sparked this long overdue conversation about diversity in the Awards. Since then, the Academy has been seemingly more inclusive, nominating and honoring racially-charged films like “Moonlight,” “Get Out,” “BlackKklansman,” and, “Black Panther”, feminist features like “Lady Bird” and “Roma,” and queer narratives like “Call Me By Your Name” and “The Favourite.”
This year, however, despite all of the progress over the past couple of several telecasts, the Academy seems to have relapsed into yet another celebration of a white male dominated Hollywood. The only big 2020 nominees that deviate from this norm are Greta Gerwig’s female-centric “Little Women” and Bong Joon-ho’s Korean “Parasite.”
Both of these films were nominated for best picture and Bong Joon-ho was nominated for best director.
The rest of the nominations in these categories are filled with the work of white men. Characteristically, the films are overwhelmingly white as well—from the Western European World War I narrative in “1917,” to the Nazi-Germany satire in “Jojo Rabbit” to a movie literally titled “The Irishman,” there is not a whole lot of diversity going on.
Likewise, many of these movies also sideline female characters to subordinate roles such as wives, mothers, and girlfriends to the male leads.
While these skewed nominations may be mere products of their not being as many women or minority filmmakers in the industry, that very underrepresentation is a testimony to Hollywood’s systemic gender and racial inequality both in front of and behind the camera.
Thus, when the red carpet rolls out on February 9th, we can expect to see a lot of talent on it, but probably not as much color as we’d prefer.
Following the success of last year’s hostless ceremony, the Academy also recently announced that the event will again not have a host. Hence, there will be no central figure on stage to comically quell (or egregiously highlight) the Academy’s systematic issues regarding representation.
Still, if the Golden Globes were any indicator, we will probably still hear a lot of social commentary through the acceptance speeches.
In total, the Academy has taken a big step back this year, not showing the level of diversity that the public might desire or expect.
However, the Academy Awards are only the opinions of a handful of aged industry professionals. Just because they don’t recognize certain talent does not mean that there won’t be eventual recognition, at the latest once the demographics change in the voting block (cold comfort till then).
Academy Awards, Oscars, Joker, Scarlett Johansson, Whitewashed Hollywood, Netflix, Bong Joon-ho, Todd Phillips, Awkwafina, Jennifer Lopez, Movie,
Oscar buzz and predictions are building ahead of the Golden Globes, which are traditionally used as a gauge of what will most likely be among the Oscar nominations. The Globes are slated for January 6th, 2020 and the Oscar’s, a.k.a. 91st Academy Awards telecast is on Sunday, 24 February.
Some of the films that are getting the most buzz and are favored to be in the running can be seen by peeking at the trailers (with links to our in depth articles) below:
New Zealand director Taika Waltiti’s movie “Jojo Rabbit” was released October 18th. The critic’s reactions have been positive, and the film won the Toronto Film Festival audience award putting it in line, if past years winners are any indication, for a possible Oscar nod. Waititi was also awarded the Festival’s new Ebert Director Award.
Waltiti is known for directing wacky comedies such as “What We Do In The Shadows,” “Hunt For The Wilderpeople,” and the borderline parody Marvel hit, “Thor: Ragnarok.” His latest film, “Jojo Rabbit” follows this same vein of outrageous, yet charming humor, but there is one key difference… “Jojo Rabbit” focuses on Germany’s Nazi party during World War II, making its hilarity just a touch more complicated.
More specifically, “Jojo Rabbit” is about a young boy in the Hitler Youth. Like many German kids of the time, he aspires to be a Nazi soldier when he grows up. He buys into the party’s ideologies and believes their propaganda. That is until he comes face to face with a Jewish girl and learns, despite what the Nazis have taught him, that she is harmless, pleasant, and appealing.
On the surface, the premise seems like the bones of a complex and sophisticated historical drama. With Waltiti behind the camera, though, such is obviously not the case. Instead of dry historical accuracy, Waltiti makes the Hitler Youth look like a summer camp filled with likable children and goofy leaders. Most boldly perhaps, Waltiti himself plays Adolf Hitler in the movie, but rather than depict him as the brutal dictator that he was, Waltiti makes him out to be the kind-uncle archetype, a socially inept, hilarious motivator and idol for the children in the story.
Quentin Tarantino has had success with his ninth movie, “Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood”. In a slight departure from his stark early 70s styled crime dramas, this time Tarantino pays homage to the late- 60’s genre and his love for his hometown, Los Angeles.
The film takes place in 1969 Hollywood, amidst the chaotic events of that year, including the infamous Manson Murders. Much like The Altamont Free Concert, as chronicled in the film Gimme Shelter (with it’s high profile murder during the show), the gruesome, violent Manson murders are often cited as an historical moment marking the end of the free love 60’s and a pivot towards the darker times in the me decade of the 70’s.
The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, as an actor on a Western television series alongside Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, Dalton’s stuntman. The two work and live closely together as they carry out their urban cinematic adventures. The characters and their friendship are said to be based on 70’s icon Burt Reynolds and his stuntman Hal Needham.
Even before seeing “Joker” the origin-story from Warner Brothers, there is a sense that this is an epic not easily categorized within the Comic-Book movie genre.
Starring Joaquin Phoenix (Oscar nominee for “Walk the Line”, “The Master” and “Gladiator”), directed and co-written by Todd Phillips (“Borat” and “The Hangover Trilogy”) and with Robert De Niro (as TV host Murray Franklin), the focus on how Arthur Fleck becomes “Joker” screams a muted, uneasy tension, that’s oozing from every pixel revealed so far.
In “Joker”, Batman’s Gotham City is a cesspool of dirt and depravity where Arthur appears doomed to live and die encircled with nothing but depression and humiliation. Mentally Ill and mercilessly tortured by the “sane” members of society all around him, he finds some respite in his chosen career of clown-for-hire and hopeful comedian wannabe by night.
The potential for the story to transcend the genre of Comic book heroes and villains is hinted at in the placard with the words “we are all clowns” scrawled on it, that can be seen in a flash, about halfway through the new trailer (above).
Followed by scenes showing mobs of clown-mask-wearing demonstrators / rioters (shades of anonymous, Guy Fawkes, Antifa and Hong Kong), there’s an implication that an anti-social movement is growing up around, and identifying with, the anger and twisted humor of the emerging “Joker” super-villain character.
The real life parallels to the fictional world of Gotham City and the way many could relate, after having suffered similar fates to those that produced the madness into which Arthur descends, are scary, already in previews, and could portend a film that is not only horrifically entertaining, but thought provoking, when seen in the shadows of current events and today’s zeitgeist.
In the wake of so many “uplifting” but heavily computer assisted films where Comic book superheroes battle cartoon villains (and each other) the emphasis on live action grit and human emotions and failings is, at first look, refreshing and terrifying (in an interesting way), and that seems to have hit a nerve with the general public, judging from the $1 billion plus bos office take so far.
From “Logan” and “Walk The Line” director James Mangold, “Ford v Ferrari” follows the true story of American engineer Carroll Shelby who is solicited by Henry Ford II to build a car that can beat Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans World Championship in France. Shelby, determined to complete Ford’s ambitious task, insists on putting the wild and loose British driver Ken Miles behind the wheel. What ensues is the fast-playing tale of a couple eccentric and erratic people infiltrating a world filled with professional industrialists to take on the impossible.
Matt Damon plays Shelby in the film and Christian Bale as Miles. Rather than one being the lead and the other being a supporting role, both actors are co-leading the film, making them both eligible for Best Actor in a Leading Role nominations at the Oscars come February.
Money, Cars, Engineering, Sexy Racing scenes, what could go wrong?
From “Logan” and “Walk The Line” director James Mangold, “Ford v Ferrari” follows the true story of American engineer Carroll Shelby who is solicited by Henry Ford II to build a car that can beat Ferrari at the 1966 Le Mans World Championship in France. Shelby, determined to complete Ford’s ambitious task, insists on putting the wild and loose British driver Ken Miles behind the wheel. What ensues is the fast-playing tale of a couple eccentric and erratic people infiltrating a world filled with professional industrialists to take on the impossible.
Matt Damon will play Shelby in the film and Christian Bale will play Miles. Rather than one being the lead and the other being a supporting role, both actors are co-leading the film, making them both eligible for Best Actor in a Leading Role nominations at the Oscars come February.
With Two Top Tier Hollywood Veterans Co-Leading, Will this mean “Damon v Bale” at the Oscars?
Neither Damon nor Bale is a stranger to the Academy Awards. They each have a trophy and several nominations under their belts. Bale won Best Supporting Actor for his performance in 2010’s “The Fighter.” He was nominated in that same category for his 2015 performance in “The Big Short,” and has two Best Leading Actor nominations for 2013’s “American Hustle” and 2018’s “Vice.”
Damon on the other hand has never won an Oscar for acting. His only win was for 1997’s “Good Will Hunting” in the Best Original Screenplay category. That same year, however, he was nominated for Best Actor in “Good Will Hunting” and received the same nomination eight years later for his role in “The Martian.” He also earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in 2009’s “Invictus” and a best picture nomination for producing “Manchester By The Sea” in 2016.
Both actors are evidently prestigious and immensely talented. At the same time, though, it is safe to assume that they are also both hungry for that Best Leading Actor award. If they both deliver in “Ford v Ferrari,” then it could become Damon v Bale at the Oscars.
June Release pushed back and now will fight Streaming Wars for Audience Attention
“Ford v Ferrari” debuted at the Telluride Film Festival earlier this year and played again at the Toronto Film Festival. The film received favorable reviews following both festivals. In particular, critics praised the movie for its race-like rhythm and the performances from its two stars. Additionally, while Mangold’s previous work has been generally dark in tone, “Ford v Ferrari” has an upbeat energy and a good sense of humor.
Under the banner of 20th Century Fox, the movie was originally scheduled to come out on June 28th. However, after the merger between Fox and Disney, the release date was pushed back to put it closer to Hollywood’s awards season. It’s new November 15th release date does not give it much rivalry for opening weekend at the box office. However, it is sandwiched between the release of “Doctor Sleep” the week before and “Frozen 2” the week after. Likewise, Disney+ comes out on the 12th, which could very well keep people away from the theaters for a few days. Thus, when it comes to “Ford v Ferrari,” the key word may be competition. It is a movie about the clash between two automobile tycoons, focusing on the strained relationship between a radical engineer and a hostile driver. Furthermore, upon release, “Ford v Ferrari” will have to prove itself against other forms of entertainment coming out in November, and come award season, we may see Damon and Bale taking the stage against each other for their two performances in the same film.
