I watched Nyad on Netflix. The performances were excellent. Foster and Bening had great chemistry. But.....afterwards, I read articles about her assumed lack of truthfulness and if she really completed the Cuba swim with never touching the boat. There was enough information for me to decide she is not beyond "fraud".
On a lighter note, since I am not always paying close attention, I have a hard time distinguishing between Peter's and Sonny's voices.
Yes, Barbie was snubbed. Brilliant take on Barbie, visually amazing, soundtrack highlights. From the opening 2001 spoof onwards. Should have been nominated for best actress, best script, best director, best movie. You blew it, Academy. This was a will smith level slap in the face. And you did it to yourselves.
The Oscars tend to ignore comedies, which played a part in the omissions of Gerwig and Robbie. I hadn’t considered Sonny’s point that directors don’t nominate actors turned directors, but it’s a good one.
It’s also a factor that some years just have an extraordinary amount of very good films, while others are just meh. (12th Oscars is probably the best example of “OMG all those movies were made in the same year?!)
I very much enjoyed Barbie. My only real criticism is that, while I’m on-board with the content of America Ferrara’s monologue, it was far too long and interrupted the flow of an otherwise fast, well-paced movie.
It truly WAS a fabulous year for movies. I can think of at least three other fine movies (two directed by women!) which received no Oscar nods despite being wonderful films: Polite Society, Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, and All of Us Strangers. I am sure others can think of more. Many years I'd struggle to think of even 5 films that are Oscar-worthy IMHO, but not this year!
I have recently made Ryan Gosling my Best Actor Working Today winner. Based on his melting performances in First Man and Barbie. By melting I mean goodbye R Gosling and hello character. For reference previous holders of my Best Actor were Denzel Washington and Dustin Hoffman. Also I thought Barbie was brilliant even though I almost stopped watching about 5 minutes in. Glad I waited for the good parts.
I went to the drive in to see Barbie and I cried through the entire movie. It was funny, but it also made me feel like nothing has changed for women.. me.. I’m a woman, and the best director snub sealed it, that is exactly what this movie is about, it doesn’t matter how hard we work or how well we do some mediocre dude is always going to be seen as the groundbreaking talent. So yeah, completed and totally robbed but good job Oscar voters for proving the entire point of the movie. I’m 61 by the way and a professional in a field dominated by men, so I’ve lived this and it still sucks that it hasn’t changed.
With 10 slots for Best Picture and only 5 for Best Director, it's guaranteed that half the Best Picture directors are going to be snubbed. I probably would have preferred to see Gerwig nominated over Scorsese, but that is just one person's preference, and one the Academy voters obviously didn't share. And is Gerwig being snubbed if Barbie doesn't win Best Picture?
Barbie already won the only award that matters, really (Biggest Box Office Take of 2023). Gerwig will have her choice of projects going forward, and a LOT of directorial control. Those are the wins that actually matter!
The reaction to Maestro that it was about nothing or lacked context is like the reaction to Barbie - age specific. For those who grew up in the 50s we remember Bernstein's young people's concerts then as we reached our late teens, we saw Bernstein as the epitome of Limousine Liberal. So for older folks perhaps this glimpse into a life we knew well but only as a public life, well Maestro was enough.
There is a distinct age issue with Barbie. Older viewers (like my wife and her 70 year old friends) were not impressed. These woman saw the launch of Barbie, so it was not an aspirational object as they grew up. The issue of age effects the voters for the oscars. The voters are always older on average than movie viewers. So even if Barbie was popular it was not necessarily impressive to the voters. That does not really matter - the success of Barbie will ensure that its director and stars will have a better chance at getting their next project approved. Barbie was so successful that Barbie does not need anything more.
I watched Nyad on Netflix. The performances were excellent. Foster and Bening had great chemistry. But.....afterwards, I read articles about her assumed lack of truthfulness and if she really completed the Cuba swim with never touching the boat. There was enough information for me to decide she is not beyond "fraud".
On a lighter note, since I am not always paying close attention, I have a hard time distinguishing between Peter's and Sonny's voices.
Yes, Barbie was snubbed. Brilliant take on Barbie, visually amazing, soundtrack highlights. From the opening 2001 spoof onwards. Should have been nominated for best actress, best script, best director, best movie. You blew it, Academy. This was a will smith level slap in the face. And you did it to yourselves.
Not making the cut isn't the same as being snubbed.
The Oscars tend to ignore comedies, which played a part in the omissions of Gerwig and Robbie. I hadn’t considered Sonny’s point that directors don’t nominate actors turned directors, but it’s a good one.
It’s also a factor that some years just have an extraordinary amount of very good films, while others are just meh. (12th Oscars is probably the best example of “OMG all those movies were made in the same year?!)
I very much enjoyed Barbie. My only real criticism is that, while I’m on-board with the content of America Ferrara’s monologue, it was far too long and interrupted the flow of an otherwise fast, well-paced movie.
It truly WAS a fabulous year for movies. I can think of at least three other fine movies (two directed by women!) which received no Oscar nods despite being wonderful films: Polite Society, Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret, and All of Us Strangers. I am sure others can think of more. Many years I'd struggle to think of even 5 films that are Oscar-worthy IMHO, but not this year!
Where is the watch party for Dune pt2 going to be?
I have recently made Ryan Gosling my Best Actor Working Today winner. Based on his melting performances in First Man and Barbie. By melting I mean goodbye R Gosling and hello character. For reference previous holders of my Best Actor were Denzel Washington and Dustin Hoffman. Also I thought Barbie was brilliant even though I almost stopped watching about 5 minutes in. Glad I waited for the good parts.
I went to the drive in to see Barbie and I cried through the entire movie. It was funny, but it also made me feel like nothing has changed for women.. me.. I’m a woman, and the best director snub sealed it, that is exactly what this movie is about, it doesn’t matter how hard we work or how well we do some mediocre dude is always going to be seen as the groundbreaking talent. So yeah, completed and totally robbed but good job Oscar voters for proving the entire point of the movie. I’m 61 by the way and a professional in a field dominated by men, so I’ve lived this and it still sucks that it hasn’t changed.
You are aware that another woman did receive a Best Director nomination, and that Greta Gerwig has received on in the past?
With 10 slots for Best Picture and only 5 for Best Director, it's guaranteed that half the Best Picture directors are going to be snubbed. I probably would have preferred to see Gerwig nominated over Scorsese, but that is just one person's preference, and one the Academy voters obviously didn't share. And is Gerwig being snubbed if Barbie doesn't win Best Picture?
Barbie already won the only award that matters, really (Biggest Box Office Take of 2023). Gerwig will have her choice of projects going forward, and a LOT of directorial control. Those are the wins that actually matter!
The reaction to Maestro that it was about nothing or lacked context is like the reaction to Barbie - age specific. For those who grew up in the 50s we remember Bernstein's young people's concerts then as we reached our late teens, we saw Bernstein as the epitome of Limousine Liberal. So for older folks perhaps this glimpse into a life we knew well but only as a public life, well Maestro was enough.
There is a distinct age issue with Barbie. Older viewers (like my wife and her 70 year old friends) were not impressed. These woman saw the launch of Barbie, so it was not an aspirational object as they grew up. The issue of age effects the voters for the oscars. The voters are always older on average than movie viewers. So even if Barbie was popular it was not necessarily impressive to the voters. That does not really matter - the success of Barbie will ensure that its director and stars will have a better chance at getting their next project approved. Barbie was so successful that Barbie does not need anything more.
My take on the “snub”: https://open.substack.com/pub/susanbordo/p/barbie-and-the-oscars-lets-get-more?r=384ha&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Regarding America Ferrara's monolog: Truer words were never spoke.