I suppose the fact that it took me time to get to this post means that my thoughts are not just a total knee jerk reaction. I’ve truthfully thought about these nominations, and what these nominations truly mean for the future of film. Is there a silver lining we are missing? Was anyone truly snubbed this year? Let’s talk.

BEST PICTURE:

While I did miss one in my projections, it was honestly because I didn’t think the PGA would go 10 for 10, for the first time in history. Going into the PGA, this was my list of films I would have said, but I felt like I needed to try and find the dark horse, and picked All Of us Strangers, based on how well it had been reviewed, and its release frame. Plus, as a voting member for another awards body, I can attest to the fact that they are making sure screeners get out there. Whereas, A24 is ghosting me on some questions I had about accessibility on The Zone Of Interest, which rumor has it now has audio description. They could just respond, knowing that their film is under my consideration, so perhaps ghosting voters isn’t a campaign strategy? Nevertheless, I predicted Maestro would lose the spot, not Zone.

All ten films are here, and I’ve seen eight of them. I have a strong feeling Zone and Poor Things belong here. I liked Maestro. I actually think this was a strong year for film. In my opinion, Killers Of The Flower Moon would be my first swap if I could. I don’t know why Scorsese can’t have a female protagonist, and told such a problematic white-centric storyline that the screen actors guild barely had any indigenous actors on their ensemble list. This should have been told from the perspective of the Osage people. So, I much rather would have wanted All of Us Strangers in over a film that could have been so much better. But, people keep writing off Andrew Hague’s film as a gay movie, completely missing the point. If we go beyond my own personal picks, I’m sure there’s a much deeper bench of films people would rather see here, but truthfully this is a solid ten for a year that saw at least 20 films that interchangeably could have been in this race. Not just Strangers, but films like May/December, Society of The Snow, Air, Origin, Saltburn, Priscilla, Are You There God It’s Me Margaret, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, The Color Purple, The Iron Claw, and even John Wick Chapter 4 likely could have landed. Even Godzilla Minus one. 2023 had no shortage of really exceptional films.

BEST DIRECTOR:

“Films don’t direct themselves.” Is an argument being used to talk about how Greta Gerwig and Alexander Payne didn’t get nominated for their films. There are ten Best Picture nominees, so it is weird that only 5 of those get Director slots. And there’s no real guarantee that a director of a non-Best Picture nominee couldn’t slide in. When I think about directors, and trying to pick this award, I often think about what a director truly brought to the totality of the project. Not every film is great because of direction. Best Picture winner Spotlight, arguably is a great example of someone writing an excellent screenplay, and the actors very deftly executing that script in a way that impacted the audience. while Tom McCarthy did a nice job, it didn’t feel necessarily like it was because of the man in the directors chair. That is thrown out of the door in films by established directors making bold choices, in films that don’t necessarily work.

What I’m saying, is that Greta Gerwig was actually snubbed. Barbie is the exact type of franchise that could have turned into something truly atrocious. It had the potential to go the complete opposite direction, becoming a critical failure, and bombing at the box office. Instead, Gerwig didn’t just create something for the masses, but she made something that had so much craftsmanship that people took a Barbie film seriously at the Oscars. Travel back in time ten years and try and convince yourself that Barbie will be a Best Picture nominee one day. It sounds insane. So, while I think Anatomy Of A Fall is excellent, Gerwig does deserve a spot there. I’d even say Gerwig deserves to be on this list more than Scorsese. While it’s cool to be the oldest ever nominated in the category, what’s even cooler is to be the female director whose entire directorial body of work has been nominated for Best Picture. All three of Gerwig’s films have been nominated for Best Picture. Why is she missing?

BESt ACTOR:

This is the absolute correct top five. There were other performances I enjoyed, but they would only occupy a list that goes beyond the five. This is the first time in a long time where I have to be honest and say I truly do not care who wins. While I love Giamatti, and think he’s overdue, so is Bradley Cooper. And even though the other three are all on their first nominations, they’ve been around for a while, and each performance is excellent. The Best Actor race is the most solid category.

BESt ACTRESS

Does Margot Robbie deserve a spot too? That’s where I get a little more nebulous. I’ve moaned and groaned a bit about the persistent inclusion of gosling, Robbie, and Ferrara throughout Awards season, and now my only gripe is that Robbie was the only one left out.if it were up to me, I would drop all three. But I certainly would have voted for Robbie, if I was voting for the other three. But who to take out? All five nominated actresses actually deserve to be here.Yes, even Annette Bening who will continue to not win an Oscar. The weakest performance is Gladstone, who is poised to win, through no fault of her own, but rather that she feels a lot more like a shadow in what should be her movie. The other four women have a much more commanding presence, as the focus of the film. Even Mulligan, who maybe plays a little bit of a second fiddle to Cooper feels far more important to the narrative structure of Maestro. But would I swap Gladstone for Robbie? no. Would I swap her for Fantasia Barrino? No. Would I swap for Greta Lee? no. The only name I’d swap her for, is someone Oscar forgot about a long time ago, Tiana Taylor for A Thousand and one. But, sadly, that’s not the conversation we’re having.

SUPPORTING ACTOR:

As I said, there were stronger performances than gosling’s turn as Ken. He’s funny, but most comedic performances don’t get in at the Oscar’s. If that were the case, we’ve got to figure out a way to go back and give a nomination to Jim Carrey for at least either The Truman Show or Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Hell, Will Ferrell’s performance in Elf is iconic, and there’s always the Bill Murray in Groundhog Day debate. So, why should a non-comedian get this slot? If another hilarious performance comes along this year, will it stand a chance at next years Oscars? Interestingly, I did see some critics groups support for Jaime Foxx in They Cloned Tyrone, but most of this was a serious affair. I’d much rather see Glenn Howerton nominated for BlackBerry over, well, anyone. He has one of the most talked about performances of the year, which at one point critics kept pushing. If Oscar campaigns were equal and fair, he’d be nominated. Sadly, IFC distributed his film, and he missed out. Also, Charles Melton deserves to be here, as does Dominic Sessa.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

While I dislike the nomination for Ferrera, I’m also a big fan, and I would hope that this nomination at least leads to her doing more work like her breakthrough performance in Real Women Have Curves. Emily Blunt is here as a consolation prize because the Academy couldn’t be bothered to nominate her for any of the myriad of fantastic performances she’s had over her career. She could have had a supporting nomination years ago for The Devil wears Prada, and I’m not sure anyone would be mad. but certainly, a nomination for A Quiet Place was in order. Foster hasn’t been nominated since the 90’s and I’m not going to bash her excellent work in Nyad. I would love to swap out Blunt and ferrara for Rachel McAdams career best performance in Are You There God It’s Me Margaret, as well as a long shot contender, Patricia Clarkson in Monica. Clarkson was truly stunning in a film no one saw, and if they had, she’d be on this list. Equally deserving is Claire Foy, who is heartbreakingly great in All of Us Strangers, and who has been chasing a nomination for a minute now.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

If Barbie is adapted simply because the thing the film is based on previously existed, then biopics should have to compete in Adapted. Hell, I’m not sure what this category would actually look like. but following the absurd rules, I feel compelled to remove Maestro, and put Saltburn in its place. I would have said Air, but it’s based on a real company, and a real shoe, not to mention real people, and a real athlete. Barbie rules dictate it is adapted.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

I happened to check out a review from someone who has actually seen The Zone Of Interest, but had previously read the work on which it is based. They took a huge issue with Glazer’s adaptation, claiming he removed much of the plot from the book. Just like how I’m happy Killers isn’t here, if that is true, I’d much rather see an adaptation in this category that really worked. I was an early proponent of Are You There God It’s Me Margaret in this race, but I would also take All Of Us Strangers.

ANIMATED FEATURE

I have not seen Robot Dreams. I shall try, but it will be hard to top Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

I’m not sure how I feel about a category where the only nominee I’ve seen is Society Of the Snow.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Next year, I’m going to pick nominees I’ve never heard of and haven’t seen. This list is bizarre.