I don’t usually take an entire column to discuss the Oscars, and if you’ve been reading me for the past few years, you also know that I don’t think it’s possible to designate anything as “The Best” unless the competitors have created similar works—more suited to genre books or timed athletic events. All that being said, this year’s entrants in the race reflect what’s going on in the world today to an astonishing degree: We are segmented into smaller groups, each fighting for territory and recognition, and as individuals we’re having trouble finding common lines of communication, not to mention empathy for our differences. So, it will be interesting to see how the strong showing from African American filmmakers will fare against more mainstream (white) works: how witty word-play will fare against what amounts to a couple of musical bio-pics, one based on a real character and one based on characters created nearly a century ago and revisited several times. As always, there will be the usual smaller, independent films versus larger, big-budget studio entries, but Academy members are more diverse than ever this year; the “old white guys” who used to make up the majority have been joined by younger members of many races and ethnicities, plus more aficionados of the counter-culture. These are huge differences, so let us discuss:
This segmentation shows up most strongly in the finalists for best picture: Both “Black Panther” and “BlacKkKlansman” salute the strength and wiles of the African American character; “Black Panther,” especially, salutes the power of the race and the diversity of many actors who have been relegated to The Maid or The Drug Dealer in previous films. “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “A Star is Born” salute the popular music industry. And of the four other films (“The Favourite,” “Green Book,” “Roma” and “Vice,” we have witty British dialogue versus a really well done racially mixed buddy picture, a black-and-white, non-English-speaking saga of family life in Mexico City in the 1970s. How to compare? How to judge? Whatever the outcome, they are all superb contenders.
As far as lead actors, Christian Bale (“Vice”) was buried under thick makeup, yet managed to cleverly portray a much-hated or -admired (depending on your politics) figure in the last century’s political landscape. And we know Bradley Cooper can act, but have we ever seen him this raw, this desperate (“A Star is Born”)? I missed Willem Defoe’s performance, but Rami Malek blew us away (“Bohemian Rhapsody”), while a solid Viggo Mortensen surprised and delighted us in a feel-good movie about friendships and race relations (“Green Book”).
The lead actress category pits a Spanish-speaking first-timer Yalitza Aparicio (“Roma”) against the underplayed-but-devastating performance by American acting icon Glenn Close (“The Wife”), the British treasure with comic timing to spare Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”), a major singing star in her first role, Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”), and a beloved comic actress in her first serious role, Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”).
In the short amount of space I have left, I’ll toss out a few favorites, even if they don’t win—because, for me, it’s not about winning, but being nominated. That’s not just a cliché, it’s how I feel: For supporting actor, Richard E. Grant (“Can You Ever Forgive Me?”), supporting actress, Amy Adams (“Vice”), animated feature, I’m torn between “Isle of Dogs” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Directing is “Roma,” documentary is “RBG” (again, how did they leave out the Mr. Rogers documentary?), foreign language film is “Roma,” adapted screenplay, “If Beale Street Could Talk,” and original screenplay, “The Favourite.”
I won’t be watching the Oscars this year, as I’ll be on a plane, and I’m not sure if I’ll record it or not. What I do know I will record is the final episode of “True Detective” on HBO. Major nail-biter!
