2019 Oscars thread of Buzz and Snubs

Movies
21

I didn’t love Vice but it’s not strictly a comedy. There were a few parts of the film-making that rubbed me the wrong way but the major wrong-way-rubbing was what Dick and the gang got up to. Especially the Halliburton shit.

Roma is stunning and the best of the Oscar nominees by a significant margin.

A Star is Born is painfully earnest and self-indulgent but good performances make it watchable.

Green Book is painfully lightweight and formulaic but good performances make it watchable.

BlacKkKlansman (not to mention Sorry to Bother You) are far more urgent, confrontational, and compelling films about race than the feel-good Green Book. But I suppose there’s something to be said for feeling good about race relations. Some movie-goers don’t go to movies to get challenged.

It’s just so great to see Spike Lee back in the nominees! Remember how great Spike Lee is?

I’ll be watching Buster Scruggs in the next day or two. Love the Coens more than anyone but this premiering on Netflix thing is a weird adjustment for me so I’ve been waiting on it for weird adjustment reasons.

Oh, and hell yes to Sam Elliott’s comment on his first-ever nomination, “It’s about fucking time!”

22

Eh, he’s fun to watch and I love him in every role, but they’re all the same. ASiB is no exception.

23

I only own about 10 movies on DVD/Bluray, and that’s one of them.

24

Speaking of snubs, where is The Death of Stalin? Where is Thom Yorke for best original song?

I won’t be disappointed if A Star is Born wins best picture, as it made me teary which is rare for a film to do. I really liked Black Klansman too. I thought Roma was overrated but does deserve the best director category at least.

25

This is about 1000 times better than any joke that will be written for the actual Oscars broadcast.

-Tom

26

The lack of a nomination for Won’t You Be My Neighbor is a huge shock to me.

27

So Spider-Verse was never gonna get best picture, frankly I think it got lucky with getting in animated with how the Academy tends to vote, but it was also totally snubbed on best song and score.

28

Roma should totally win sound editing and mixing, it impressed me on the audio front far more than any blockbuster I’ve seen in years.

29

Oh, so apparently they dropped that idea of having a “popular film” category? I was looking forward to seeing what a shit-show that turned out to be…

My gripe is that Widows isn’t on there somewhere. Adapted screenplay, Viola Davis for Actress, I’d even give 'em Best Director.

Speaking of adapted screenplay, what the heck was Buster Scruggs based off of??

Is it too early for predictions? I hate to say it, but I think Green Book is looking good for Picture. Rami Malik for Actor, and Glenn Close for Actress (unless that goes to Melissa McCarthy).

I don’t feel like Director has an obvious stand-out. I’m guessing Cuaron will take it. Spider-Verse has to win Animated, and when it doesn’t we can riot. I even think it’s slightly overrated, but as a piece of animation, nothing can compare.

Now some stabs in the dark: Screenplays–Paul Schraeder and the Coens.

No points for predicting Best Song.

30

It should obviously be “All The Stars”, but I’m sure it’ll go to that stupid Star is Born song.

31

I reckon that is because they sliced up the Buster Scruggs TV miniseries and turned that into a movie.

I hope First Man gets something for the sound editing and sound mixing and possibly production design. The aural soundscape really made me feel like I was strapped into a rickety missile’s warhead as it went all kablooey.

32

The Coens claim Variety was wrong about the miniseries and that it was always meant to be a movie.

Joel: There was a discussion about what the format should be, but it was always the intention that they be seen together. There’s been all this stuff in the press about how it was originally a TV series and we restructured it. No, we had a script. The script is exactly what we gave Annapurna and exactly what we shot. That never changed.

Apparently, it’s in the “Adapted Screenplay” category because it was written as six short stories 25 years ago.

33

That was a great article. Wish I had read it months ago. Thanks!

34

I just saw Cold War. Not the revelation I had hoped for based on the incredible buzz…

…but Pawlikowski sure deserves his Best Director nomination for it.

Interesting that this means there are two foreign film directors nominated in the same year.

35

I just saw Vice and if it wins best picture, it will not be a pick that ages well. The cast do great upscale SNL impreessions, but the material just isn’t there.

Also see the oscars are going all in on best = most:

https://twitter.com/pramitheus/status/1089188260071514112

36

I genuinely have no idea what’s wrong with the scene. I mean none of it feels knock your socks off Oscar worthy, but the tweet implies there’s a serious flaw there?

37

It’s overedited to hell and back - there’s pointless cuts to people who have nothing to say and don’t have meaningful reactions. It’s basically the dialogue version of this:

39

It’s almost affected how many cuts there are.
{cut to speaker}
{cut to reaction by Freddie}
{cut to reaction by Brian}
{cut to Littlefinger sneering}
{cut for no reason}
“Pictures they make these days are all MTV: cut, cut, cut cut.”

Almost none of the shots are wide. They’re sitting at a table. No need for the frenetic cuts. It’s like it’s a music video… about a music band… with no movement and no music.

40

They should juxtapose that with Cold War. Opposite ends of the edit spectrum.

41

is Emma Stone really the supporting actress in The Favourite? Rachel Weisz as supporting, I could see that … I guess if you have categories, you have to fill them, sigh