The
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) announced their 2020 Oscar
nominations this week, and for film fans there were plenty of reasons to
celebrate and rage about (if you’re so inclined, you can re-watch the live nomination
announcement online.
The Academy Awards remain the most
prestigious honor in Hollywood, though they tend to get things wrong at
least as often as they get them right. But there’s no denying that the Oscars
are still have a cultural power, and getting recognition (either a win or
nomination) automatically boosts the visibility of a film. And I can’t help it:
the awards are so much fun to argue about.
Leading the pack for nominations was
“Joker,” Todd Phillips’ gritty comic book origin story about
Batman’s most famous adversary, with 11 Oscar nominations including Best Picture,
Best Director for Phillips and Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix.
That film was trailed by Quentin
Tarantino’s nostalgic ode to 1960s Los Angeles “Once
Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic “The Irishman,” and Sam Mendes’ war drama “1917” with 10 nods a piece. Those
films, along with “Ford v Ferrari,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Little Women,” “Marriage Story” and “Parasite” will compete for Best Picture.
The AMPAS has been making efforts
toward diversity over the past few years, working to expand the pool of voters
to include more women, as well as more non-white and international voters.
Still, this year’s nominations demonstrated a frustrating lack of imagination
and as a whole, the films deemed worthy of nominations had a certain safeness
about them. But such is the way with large voting bodies.
Female filmmakers were once again
entirely shut out of the best director race. Not for a lack there of options,
of course. Perhaps the most notable absence was Greta Gerwig
for “Little Women” (nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Lead
and Supporting Actress — a combination you’d think would yield a directing
nomination as well).
Only five women have been nominated
for best director in the Oscars’ 92-year history. It’s worth noting that the
sole winner (Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker”) did so with a war film, a
side effect of the Academy’s tendency toward viewing dark, violent filmmaking
as a qualifier of “serious” work.
Some other female directors I’d have
loved to see in the mix: first-time filmmaker MatiDiop for her film “Atlantics,” Jennifer Kent for “The Nightingale,” Alma Har’el for “Honey Boy,” or Céline Sciamma for my beloved “Portrait of A Lady On Fire.”
The biggest shock to me was the
complete shut out of Lulu Wang’s lovely
“The Farewell,” which for my money should have been competing for the picture, director,
actress, and supporting actress awards. And aside from Tom Hanks (who received
his first nomination in 19 years) for Supporting Actor, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” missed out on any number of
deserved nominations, including for Marielle Heller’s
inventive direction.
There was also a disappointing lack
of recognition for performances from people of color. Only the presence of
Cynthia Erivo, who played Harriet Tubman in the film “Harriet,” avoided
another #OscarsSoWhite situation. Erivo
is only the 12th black actress ever to get an Oscar nomination for Best
Actress. Halle Berry (“Monster’s Ball”) is the only winner in that category.
Ever.
Again, absence of performers of
color wasn’t for a lack of possibilities. Jennifer Lopez missed out on a
widely-expected (and deserved) supporting actress nomination for her role in “Hustlers.” Also missing was Eddie Murphy and Da’Vine Joy
Randolph for the wildly entertaining “Dolemite is My Name” (which also deserved recognition for Ruth Carter’s flashy
’70s costumes).
Despite earning a record-breaking
number of nods, none of the wonderful ensemble of Bong Joon-ho’s
twisty class thriller “Parasite” made their way into the
acting categories. Lupita Nyong’o was left out for her excellent work in Jordan
Peele’s “Us,” which also had the Academy’s continued lack of respect for
the horror genre working against her. See also: nothing for Ari Aster’s great “Midsommar.”
And perhaps most frustrating of all
was the absence of Alfre Woodard’s phenomenal turn as
a death row prison warden facing a crisis of conscience in “Clemency.” My personal pick for the performance of the year, Woodard’s work somehow went
largely overlooked this awards season.
Despite the disappointments, there
were also some bright spots. “Parasite” became the first Korean
film ever to earn a Best Picture nomination. The strong overall showing for
that film, in combination with the success of “Roma” last year, shows that
foreign language films are being taken more seriously by the AMPAS membership
than ever before.
Martin Scorses’s
masterful “The Irishman” was deservedly shown a lot of love when in terms of
nominations, though I suspect it may go home empty-handed come Oscar Sunday. And
it was great to see Antonio Banderas make the Best Actor cut, for his subtle
performance in Pedro Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory.” Considering the Academy’s tendency to reward “most” acting
instead of “best,” that nomination seems something of a miracle.
The wonderful film “Honeyland” — about the lonely life of
a Macedonian beekeeper — received a documentary feature nod, and surprised by
also making the cut in the international feature category (previously Best
Foreign Language Feature).
I was thrilled to see the sweet,
heartfelt “Hair Love” receive a nomination for
animated short. And in the feature animation category, it was nice to see
recognition for “Klaus,” Sergio Pablos and Carlos Martínez López’s extremely
charming (and gorgeous looking) hand-drawn Christmas tale.
You can see this year’s full list of
nominees here. Winners will be
announced when the 92nd Academy Awards are broadcast live on ABC on Sunday,
February 9.
Adam
Lubitow is a freelance writer for CITY. Feedback on
this article can be directed to becca@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Jan 22-28, 2020.
