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You catch the Oscars?
Every year, the Academy Awards seem to culminate both a massive following and a lot of discourse. As a movie fan and fanatic opinion sharer, I’ll be walking you through some of the highs and lows of the Oscars this year as I’ve perceived them and recommending some films I think were overlooked or underappreciated.
DANIEL KWAN, DANIEL SCHEINERT
Everything Everywhere All at Once
With an amazing seven wins, Everything Everywhere All At Once was certainly one of the biggest highlights of the evening. With emotional wins for Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, EEAAO brings enormously overdue recognition to the Asian community and its representation. In an absolutely deserved Best Picture win, EEAO manages to develop a complex narrative incorporating Eastern ideology and philosophy. It’s an incredible film that never loses hold of itself or its message, and absolutely worth the hype! If you haven’t already, put this at the top of your watch next list.
THE WHALE, THE WOMAN KING,
Other Highlights
Although I was personally rooting for Paul Mescal (in my dreams) and Collin Farrell (as a realistic possibility), Brendon Fraser’s win for The Whale was an emotional comeback story for a survivor blacklisted for speaking out and recognition of a career reignited. Equally, Jamie Lee Curtis’ first-time win for Supporting Actress in a near 50-year career was another point of recognition for an industry giant. An unexpected win within the context of the award season build-up, it was a shame Angela Bassett as another under-awarded acting legend and Stephanie Hsu with her outstanding work in EEAAO were snubbed for their much bigger and more impactful representations in place of Curtis’s relatively small feature. Perhaps the most disappointing to come out of Oscars night was its lack of female representation across the board, and although I am incredibly happy the Daniels were awarded for their feature debut and directorial masterpiece, it is a shame the incredible female directors were not even given nods for their work. Charlotte Well’s Aftersun, Sarah Polley’s Women Talking and Gina Prince Blythewood’s The Woman King were definitely on my favourite’s list this past year.
CHARLOTTE WELLS
Aftersun
In another debut this award season Charlotte Wells‘ Aftersun is simply a glaringly real depiction of the way we sow our familial relationships and the effect they have in forming the trajectory of our lives, set over a holiday trip with father and daughter. As irritating as I’ve found the expression “it’s better if you go into it knowing nothing”, in the case of Aftersun revealing any key points takes away from the magic of it being recollected to you in the film. What I will say is Frankie Corrio and Paul Mescal are magic on screen and manage to create a story so well-shaped and extensive, it’s hard to believe it only takes course over a week. Having received the Oscar nomination, Paul Mescal is subtly brilliant and really deserves the recognition. The disappointment comes in the Academy’s lack of recognition for Charlotte Wells both for her screenplay and directorial debut which is the magnificent stage pulling the entire film together and giving the actors and characters the space to shine.
SARAH POLLEY
Women Talking
In the lead-up to the awards, Women Talking seemed to be getting surprisingly little coverage or press despite its critical success and widely recognised cast. Similar to that much of the movie is just conversation with little action, Women Talking just succeeded to me where The Whale didn’t. The Whale has incredible performances held back by a messy script (besides Brendan Fraser, I’m ecstatic Hong Chau got her recognition for being the film’s redeeming voice), but Women Talking has both an incredibly well-written and real script as well as diverse performances. It simultaneously makes the subjects discussed in the film feel small and contextual and a representation of the larger issues popping up in feminist discourse with regard to sexual assault. With layered and shockingly convincing performances from the gentle thoughtfulness of Rooney Mara to the ferocity and soldier-like protectiveness of Claire Foy radiate off the screen. Another snub in the director’s category, Sarah Polley’s introspective masterpiece really deserved more airtime this awards season. Thankfully, Sarah Polley did receive some recognition in a win for Best Screenplay (meaning the category has had back-to-back female wins!)
LUCA GUADAGNINO
Bones And All
Not even receiving a single Oscar Nomination, Bones and All perhaps fell too close to the horror genre with its themes of cannibalism to entice the Academy. But despite its use of some squeamish scenes, the cinematography could be studied as artwork in itself. Equally, the acting from Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance and Timothee Chalamet in this film feels especially sensitive and quiet in delivering its romance. Although it seems to have fallen off most people’s radars, Bones and All is certainly worth the watch (even if you have to skip through some of the gore-ish scenes).
THE SCARY
Horror Snubs
The Academy has been known to gloss over the horror genre when it comes to its recognition, which is a shame considering this past year has produced some revolutionary and unique horror films that are certainly worthy of recognition. If you’re a horror or thriller fan, take this as your sign to check out Nope (d/Jordan Peele), X and Pearl (d/ Ty West) and Barbarian (d/Zach Cregger)
