Oscar nominations came out this morning.
I’ve been a long-time movie lover. I’ve been writing about movies for … not that long.
So, as a rookie member of the film media corps, I thought I’d take my first stab at talking a little about Hollywood’s ‘biggest’ night.
I’m going to discuss just a few categories in this post, so check out the complete list of nominees here.
I’ve seen a good amount of this year’s noms so far, and plan on seeing as close to all of them as possible by Oscars night.
Let’s dive in!
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
AUSTIN BUTLER
Elvis
COLIN FARRELL
The Banshees of Inisherin
BRENDAN FRASER
The Whale
PAUL MESCAL
Aftersun
BILL NIGHY
Living
From what I’ve read/heard so far, it seems like Brendan Fraser is the favorite to win here. I thought he was great in The Whale, which I thought wasn’t that great of a film overall. However, The Academy LOVES themselves a musical biopic and Austin Butler was fantastic in Elvis. I also loved Colin Farrell in his hilarious and tragic role, but I’m rooting for Butler who played one of the most famous men of the 20th century spanning three decades with various dialects and mannerisms.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
BRENDAN GLEESON
The Banshees of Inisherin
BRIAN TYREE HENRY
Causeway
JUDD HIRSCH
The Fabelmans
BARRY KEOGHAN
The Banshees of Inisherin
KE HUY QUAN
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Judd Hirsch was in The Fabelmans for all of like five minutes, but they were probably the best five minutes of a very good film. He was great, and so was Brendan Gleeson in Banshees, but Ke Huy Quan is the HUGE odds-on favorite at -1000. He also had the most complete and impactful performance in his respective film out of the noms in this category.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
CATE BLANCHETT
Tár
ANA DE ARMAS
Blonde
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH
To Leslie
MICHELLE WILLIAMS
The Fabelmans
MICHELLE YEOH
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Cate Blanchett is the favorite here but Michelle Yeoh is not far behind. I thought Blonde was terrible, aside from Ana De Armas’ performance, so I’m happy for her to get a nom. Michelle Williams was also great playing the fictionalized version of Speilberg’s mom. My pick here is Yeoh, since I didn’t care for Tár and thought Blanchett was good, not great.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
ANGELA BASSETT
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
HONG CHAU
The Whale
KERRY CONDON
The Banshees of Inisherin
JAMIE LEE CURTIS
Everything Everywhere All at Once
STEPHANIE HSU
Everything Everywhere All at Once
As a Marvel fan, I’m happy to finally see an acting nom for the studio. And Bassett is amazing in the movie, commanding every scene she’s in. I personally really liked Kerry Condon’s character in Banshees and her performance was full of emotion. Stephanie Hsu basically plays two characters in EEAAO and is great, but Jamie Lee Curtis was forgettable for me. I really hope Bassett holds on as the front-runner. For me, her performance elicited the most emotion and stood out the most.
BEST PICTURE
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
ELVIS
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
THE FABELMANS
TÁR
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
WOMEN TALKING
There are just two films here that I’ve yet to see: All Quiet on the Western Front and Triangle of Sadness. I’ll see them both before March 12th. EEAAO seems to be the favorite right now with Banshees in second. If either wins I think it would be well deserved, I loved both of them.
That’s it for today. I’ll probably post more about the Oscars with predictions and opinions over the next six weeks so stay tuned.
What was your favorite movie of the year? Who do you think is going to be the biggest winner on March 12th?