94th Annual Academy Awards

[Sawyer]

I feel like Sam has been the real winner in all this, because two weeks of nonstop discourse had me completely forgetting his dumb ****.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Good for Sam Elliot!

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Sam Elliot always seemed like a great dude, so I was surprised at his previous comments. Him owning up to them does not surprise me, because that’s just the kinda guy he is. Good on him.

 

[Mysteryman]

Sam Elliot always seemed like a great dude, so I was surprised at his previous comments. Him owning up to them does not surprise me, because that’s just the kinda guy he is. Good on him.

Indeed.
I am Very Glad that he apologized.

 

[Black Narcissus]

His comments were odd, if we consider that western type commercial he did with lil nas x. Surely, his ppl would've told him what lil nas is all about. lawd.

Also, I'm disappointed that we haven't seen a gif of Smith pimp slapping Thanos.

 

[Asr]

I'm finally watching the Oscars (it's available on Hulu; expiring soon though) and it's not really as boring as I expected.

As a fan of movies I still find it useful to find out about new movies I haven't heard of before, and it's already delivered on that for me.

Also moderately shocked at Regina Hall's actual age, legit thought she looked like she was in her 30s there on the stage.

 

[GREEN =w= DAY]

 

[CaptainWagner]

Okay, having let the slap drama die down, this was the first year I saw all the BP noms before the ceremony. Here's my official ranking:

10) Don't Look Up: Absolutely no business getting nominated, for anything, really. A half-***ed satire that took its subject matter too seriously to be as irreverent as it needed to be to become the 21st Century Dr. Strangelove that it wanted so badly to be seen as. It was like two movies smashed together, neither fully realized. I love McKay, but this was a mess.

9) Licorice Pizza: Not even bothered by the age-gap thing, but while technically well-made, it did nothing for me. Reminded me of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, which left me similarly unimpressed - a director meandering nostalgically through a favored era without much rhyme or reason. It was fine, fun, but nothing special.

8) CODA: A perfectly nice, heart-warming flick. The sort of family picture Disney used to make before they started doing nothing but blockbusters and animation. There's certainly nothing wrong with it, but its pretty by-the-numbers. Troy Kotsur absolutely deserved his Supporting Actor win, though, but he was the most memorable part.

7) King Richard: Pretty much even with CODA for me. Same sort of movie - uplifting, fun family picture that never aspires to anything really innovative in terms of artistry. Smith and Ellis are outstanding, though; and I love the transformation of Jon Bernthal into the Ted Lasso of tennis. Also, big props to the editors for how they shot the tennis scenes, it really captured the flow of the game well.

6) Dune: A technical marvel. Villeneuve brings the world of the novel to life in a way I don't know any other director working today could. But beyond the style, there wasn't a ton of substance. And that's not wholly their fault. It comes with the territory. But other movies have adapted partial works and still felt complete on their own. This one doesn't. And few of the characters ever felt fully fleshed out. Not to diminish what succeeded, but I wish the story worked as well as the crafts.

5) Drive My Car: Just WAY TOO LONG. A shame, I really wanted to like it, but this was a two-hour story at best. Yet here we are. I struggled to get through this one. Strong performances, strong script but... just another potentially great movie held back by an unwillingness to edit where edit is due.

4) Nightmare Alley: Del Toro darn well knows his business. An impeccably stylish neo-noir with mesmerizing production design and some truly hypnotic performances. In another year, it would have been way higher on my personal list, but this was a crazy strong year for movies, IMO. That said, it's definitely one I'll be re-watching.

3) The Power of the Dog: Torn in the rankings between this and Nightmare Alley. I was just more intrigued by the story in this one. I don't get the complaints about it being "dull" or "bleak" or having a "confusing ending." It's one of the shortest nominees, and I found the conclusion PRETTY explicit and practically fairy tale-esque. It's gorgeously shot, full of great performances and intimate directing choices, but a lot of the character dynamics are never fully fleshed out, which is a shame, because I'm fascinated by all of them.

2) Belfast: I love Branagh's work, and his heart is all over this. Just such a beautifully bittersweet tale of grief and hope, that takes a very specific moment of history and fills it with the universal feelings of love that speaks to the shared humanity that stresses across time. You have three stages of love on display here across three generations - the early, naive child's crush; the messy, imperfect, yet overcoming love of the parents; and the settled, understanding love of the elders. A dearly produced script brought to life by a great director and brilliant actors.

1) West Side Story: Part of me hesitates to name this number one. Because I REALLY don't like Ansel Elgort as Tony. And that's obviously a huge problem. But the scope of the production is so big and perfectly executed; and the rest of the cast is so brilliant that it more than makes up for Elgort's shortcomings. Spielberg's best work in a LONG time - a timeless story full of life that excels beyond the original, something many doubted possible but IMO was fully achieved.

 

[flickchick85]

Nice list, CW! I haven't seen Drive My Car or Power of the Dog, but my ranking of the others would go:

8.) Don't Look Up - There's just not much that I liked here.
7.) Licorice Pizza - I love most of PTA's films, but this one and Inherent Vice are pretty much battling out to be my least-fave.
6.) King Richard - A nice, well-made heartwarming true sports flick, but nothing especially remarkable.
5.) CODA - Again, a nice, well-made heartwarming flick. It gets a few extra points for showcasing a lifestyle/experience that Hollywood has rarely touched on, but again, nothing otherwise remarkable to me.
4.) Belfast - A heartfelt movie that made a bit more of an impression on me.
3.) West Side Story - Like CW, I really hate Ansel Elgort as Tony. Otherwise, I'd say this improves upon the original in most ways.
2.) Nightmare Alley - I'm not a huge Del Toro fan, but this was easily his best movie since Pan's Labyrinth, imo.
1.) Dune - As immersive and transporting movie experiences go, this one's all-timer for me. After 2 years of streaming at home, this single-handedly reminded me of the unmatched power the big screen can hold when someone knows how to use it.

 

[Prison Mike]

I only saw 4 of the BP nominated movies. My “ranking” is

4. Don’t Look Up - how the hell did this even get nominated?!
3. West Side Story
2. Dune
1. King Richard

Tick, tick…Boom! was robbed of a BP nomination and my personal choice for Best Actor was Andrew Garfield but Will Smith definitely deserved his award.

 

[Drizzle]

I saw all of the nominees before the Oscars as well thanks mainly to streaming. I'm basically copying and pasting from my 2021 films ranking but here goes:

10. Drive My Car - It was well made, but like @CaptainWagner said, just way too long for no reason. This really didn't need to be three hours at all.
9. King Richard - Will Smith gave a powerhouse performance but I thought the movie itself was okay.
8. Don't Look Up - I thought it was entertaining but I was still confused as to why it got a Best Picture nomination.
7. The Power of the Dog - I wish it had a little more substance to it but I did love watching Cumberbatch here.
6. Licorice Pizza - I enjoyed it even though it felt aimless at times but the performances and attention to detail were great.
5. Nightmare Alley - This movie had me at Willem Dafoe in a carnival setting.
4. Belfast - Branagh delivered a great autobiographical look at his childhood.
3. CODA - Even though it wasn't my personal favorite of the nominees, I did really love it and was rooting for it to win Best Picture.
2. West Side Story - Not only was it better than the original but it was also probably Spielberg's best film in almost two decades.
1. Dune - Just epic as all hell, especially watching it on an IMAX screen.

 

[Asr]

Still need to watch the majority of the BP nominees myself and have only seen Dune and King Richard. While both were good, really good even, wouldn't say either was necessarily deserving of being the winner (2021 was a good year for movies but I didn't see anything that stood out heads & shoulders above the rest). That said, IMO Dune was a fantastic technical achievement and totally immersive in IMAX.

Need to watch Nightmare Alley and West Side Story (which are both on HBO Max right now), along with The Power of the Dog. I know Don't Look Up got mostly panned, but still kinda interested in watching that regardless.

 

[Prison Mike]

I thought Don’t Look Up was okay but definitely not “best picture nominated” good IMO. Maybe they were thinking the movie being included would appeal to a wider audience compared to the other nominees but if that were the case, I would have gone with NWH (though that shouldn’t be included either).

Anyway, Tick, tick…Boom was robbed

 

[Kane52630]

I guess if we're ranking BP nominations, I would go:

1. CODA
2. Nightmare Alley
3. Drive My Car
4. King Richard
5. Dune
6. Belfast
7. The Power of the Dog
8. West Side Story
9. Licorice Pizza
10. Don't Look Up

My personal best picture nominations would probably include The Green Knight, Pig, The Card Counter, and Red Rocket.

 

[Prison Mike]

The Card Counter was a great movie

 

[Filmfreak]

To be honest I don't really have any interest in seeing the new West Side Story, but I did watch all the rest, so my ranking at the moment probably goes something like this:

9. Licorice Pizza
8. Don't Look Up
7. Power of the Dog
6. Drive My Car
5. Coda
4. King Richard
3. Belfast
2. Nightmare Alley
1. Dune

 

[Sawyer]

Oh I see. He’s just desperate for attention.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Celebrity Boxing?

 

[CaptainWagner]

One wild thing I noticed looking through the old nominee lists - These first two years of the 20's already have almost as many POC nominees as the entire past decade.

Lead Actress: 3 in 2 years compared to 5 in 10
Lead Actor: 6/9
Supporting Actress: 3/9
Supporting Actor: 3/4

 

[Sawyer]

The trades are really desperate to draw every last drop of blood from this stone.

 

[Prison Mike]

I hope Smith apologized in person though. People hide behind social media to do personal things in a very public way. It comes off as ungenuine.

 

[Drizzle]

I would think they at least talked it out on the phone.

But for the love of all things holy, this happened a month ago. The press needs to let it go. The only time it should really be brought up in the future is when Rock brings it up in his standup.

 

[Prison Mike]

I feel like someone would have leaked it by now if he had personally reached out to Rock by phone or in person.

 

[Boom]

Just gonna get this out of the way now.

The Northman should be nominated in several categories and will likely be snubbed in all of them.

 

[Kev4000]

Just gonna get this out of the way now.

The Northman should be nominated in several categories and will likely be snubbed in all of them.

I wonder why they choose April as a release date. This is more art cinema than a blockbuster, a fall date would fit better for it and it felt fresh for the voting.