Oscar Nominations! Picks! Controversies! PART I
PurpleAmerica Chooses the Winners
It’s that time of year again! When people choose people they don’t know in movies they’ve never seen to win awards that mean absolutely nothing to them! That’s right, its that annual celebration of fawning over Emperors with no clothes as we get excited about the Academy Awards!
There are always big to-dos about “who got nominated?!” and “who didn’t get nominated?!” There is always hub-bubs about this issue or that issue. But let’s face it—aside from the complete omission of Nope (some of which I get, since for it to get nominated something else has to go, and in a lot of categories I could see it either way, but to not get any consideration is just…. wow), they did generally an OK job this year. So here are my thoughts on the nominees, starting with the least relevant categories working up to the big one.
Best documentary short film
Analysis: Admit it— if you’ve seen any of these you’re a liar or on the Academy Documentary Short Submission panel. You’re also not likely to see any of them either. So how do you choose? Simple— “The Elephant Whisperers” has elephants. Hard not to like elephants.
Best live-action short film
Analysis: Same analysis as documentary short. I hear George Santos likes “Night Ride.” But to me, the winner is “An Irish Goodbye” which is going to sum up how well The Banshees of Inisherin is going to do at the Oscars (not well).
Best animated short film
Analysis: Love the titles on these. I’m a little worried what “My Year of Dicks” is about so I’ll go with the Ostrich. You can never trust those darn Ostriches.
Best animated feature film
Analysis: Pinocchio has been done before. Marcel The Shell With Shoes On was an original—it wins.
Best international feature film
Analysis: Usually I like seeing the International offerings, but have to admit this year I haven’t seen any of these. Coincidentally, the one I thought was a lock (“RRR”) wasn’t even nominated. Since All Quiet on the Western Front is nominated in so many other categories, it’s hard to ignore here.
Best documentary feature
Analysis: I’ve seen two; Navalny and Fire of Love. Fire of Love is good, but you know what Academy voters crave right now? The possibility of sticking it to Putin— Navalny is the winner.
Best makeup and hairstyling
Analysis: Finally something I’ve seen and I’ve seen them all except All Quiet on the Western Front. Of the one’s I’ve seen watching Elvis evolve through the years was amazing (though Tom Hanks’ makeup less so) and Black Panther was impressive since so much of it occurs underwater. The makeup work done on Brandan Fraser is impressive. Coin flip, with the Whale, but I’ll lean toward Black Panther.
Best costume design
Analysis: Seen all of these except Mrs. Harris. Babylon, Elvis and Black Panther are all worthy of the nod, but Elvis really kind of stands out here. Elvis’ character and evolution is told through his clothes and the times, and Baz Luhrmann clearly made that stand out. Elvis is going to win.
Best original score
Analysis: Someone noted The Batman wasn’t nominated, which is a little shocking since it was the most memorable score this year. However, John Williams is a legend, and this may be the last opportunity to honor the man. Give it to the Fablemans.
Best original song
Analysis: If there’s something Bollywood does right, its songs, and you can’t tell me anything beats this one—just TRY To get it out of your head:
Best sound
Analysis: You know what was one of the biggest thrills this year? Sitting in a packed cinema, and hearing the roar of the jet fighters in Top Gun: Maverick. From the opening scene to the last, that sound overpowered you. If it doesn’t win, it’s a crime.
To Be Continued in Part 2….Tomorrow