Hollywood’s “Biggest Night,” the Oscars, just so happens to fall smack on Mardi Gras weekend this year – Sunday, March 2. So while many of you will be hailing our friends at Bacchus, me and mine will be cozied up watching the Academy chuck some golden hardware to some of the best films of 2024. Not all the best films. Quite frankly, most of the best films of the year weren’t even sniffed at by the Academy; a typical affair. Rarely do the established tastemakers of the film industry actually award their categories according to merit, but c’est la vie.
This year, we have a slew of selections that range the gamut from studio nostalgia fests to independent titans and streaming also-rans. At the end of the day, these awards are fairly silly, art being inherently subjective after all, but the Oscars telecast is the closest thing the movies have to a Super Bowl each year, so we may as well give them their due.
So, let’s take a trip through the main categories and see who’s nominated, who might win, and who, in a just world, SHOULD win.
Actor in a Supporting Role
Yura Borisov: Anora
Kieran Culkin: A Real Pain
Edward Norton: A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce: The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong: The Apprentice
While Yura Borisov’s performance in “Anora” is quietly devastating, he’s what you might call a “should be happy to be here” nominee. Guy Pearce and Jeremy Strong are strong contenders, both giving commanding performances as capitalists exuding the most corrosive elements of the American “self-made man.” Meanwhile, Edward Norton’s Pete Seeger feels like a great performance in a worse movie, and Culkin’s “A Real Pain” performance synthesizes what we loved him best for in “Succession” while decidedly breaking hearts in the most whirling dervish fashion.
WILL WIN: Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
SHOULD WIN: Jack Haven, “I Saw The TV Glow”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro: A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande: Wicked
Felicity Jones: The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini: Conclave
Zoe Saldaña: Emilia Pérez
Monica Barbaro and Felicity Jones both give solid performances in movies overwhelmed by, and more preoccupied with, the destructive men at their centers, while Isabella Rossellini’s several scenes in “Conclave” is a bright spot, if less impactful than you’d remember. Truly, the less said about “Emilia Pérez,” the better, but Zoe Saldana, while wonderful usually, is mishandled by filmmakers who have no idea what movie they’re making. On the other hand, Ariana Grande surprised the world with a comic performance nobody knew she had in her.
WILL WIN: Ariana Grande, “Wicked”
SHOULD WIN: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, “Nickel Boys”
Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody: The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet: A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo: Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes: Conclave
Sebastian Stan: The Apprentice
Plenty of heavy hitters are up for Best Actor, with a wide swath of performance styles to choose from. Timothée Chalamet and Sebastian Stan both tackle totemic figures in American culture who mistreat the women in their lives; though to my mind Stan’s performance is more transformative in how it somehow illicits some sympathy for a monster in-utero. Colman Domingo, one of those “always-great” performers, brings a universe of complexity and nuance to his role in “Sing Sing.” Adrien Brody, similarly, is all intense staring and dramatic cigarette smoking, while Ralph Fiennes’s rumpled forehead alone could have snagged him the nomination.
WILL WIN: Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”
SHOULD WIN: Ethan Herisse or Brandon Wilson, “Nickel Boys”
Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo: Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón: Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison: Anora
Demi Moore: The Substance
Fernanda Torres: I’m Still Here
Possibly the most interesting category, for good and bad, at this year’s ceremony leaves plenty of narratives worth tracking. Cynthia Erivo held the beating green heart of “Wicked” with commanding power and grace. Mikey Madison exploded across movie screens in a performance that held you by the throat and squeezed, while Fernanda Torres’s simple, devastating turn as a woman holding her family together in a totalitarian state felt intimate and modern in the most effective ways. Demi Moore is a powerhouse in “The Substance,” a performance that requires an intimate understanding of her own star persona and a level of selfless commitment that you rarely see in a star of her caliber. And then there’s Karla Sofía Gascón, whose social media feed is frankly irrelevant to the fact that her movie shouldn’t sniff these awards.
WILL WIN: Mikey Madison, “Anora”
SHOULD WIN: Mikey Madison, “Anora”
(Honestly, she’s that good, but I wouldn’t be mad if Moore or Torres took the gold.)
Directing
Anora: Sean Baker
The Brutalist: Brady Corbet
A Complete Unknown: James Mangold
Emilia Pérez: Jacques Audiard
The Substance: Coralie Fargeat
It’s nice to see genre film represented with Coralie Fargeat, whose “The Substance” more than earned its blood-drenched spot this awards season. Brady Corbet’s work on “The Brutalist” is impressive if mired in the ridiculous “own-goal” of a generative AI controversy. Sean Baker taps into something primally effective with “Anora” that shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s watched his career evolution, while James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown” feels as impersonal as a dental appointment. To round things out, Jacques Audiard is a great filmmaker, and even the greats can make a bad movie. They just usually don’t get this many nominations.
WILL WIN: Sean Baker, “Anora”
SHOULD WIN: RaMell Ross, “Nickel Boys”
Best Picture
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
It was an eclectic and, frankly, fantastic year for movies. The Best Picture nominees somewhat reflect that, with some notable exceptions. It is nice to see Dune: Part Two given its flowers; it’s the best blockbuster of the year afterall, despite its incredible snub from Best Original Score on a technicality. There is a world where Baker sweeps for Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, and Editing, which would be somewhat deserved but at the expense of the TRUE BEST PICTURE of the year.
WILL WIN: “Anora”
SHOULD WIN: “Nickel Boys”
The Oscars are streaming on Hulu for the first time ever, which is helpful for us folks unplugged from big, bad cable. And for those wanting a break from parading, join The Prytania Theater for their annual Oscar Watch Party or get your trivia on at Zony Mash for Oscars Trivia pre-ceremony!
Check out full reviews of MOST of the Best Picture nominees at the links below:
Nickel Boys
I’m Still Here
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Wicked
The Substance
NO OTHER LAND
The most important movie of 2024 that you’ve surely never heard of, “No Other Land” is coming to The Broad Theater for a one-week engagement.
The Oscar-nominated documentary tells the story of a young Palestinian activist named Basel Adra as he films a lifetime of gradual destruction enacted by Israeli soldiers in his homeland, culminating in the invasion of Gaza in 2023 and subsequent genocidal ramifications. This is a story desperately in need of being told and shown, yet you’ve surely never heard of this movie because every major American film distributor has so far refused to release it, either in theaters or even on streaming. The filmmakers, a Palestinian-Israeli collective of activists, made this film as a radical act of resistance by showing the devastation of Gaza without frills or political affiliation. Human suffering is evil, no matter whose flag tries to justify it. This is a movie that you literally cannot see anywhere else and is a testament to the raw and radical power of cinema to change hearts and save lives.
I know that Mardi Gras takes a lot of the oxygen, but some things are worth reckoning with.
You’ll be glad you did.
“No Other Land” is playing for ONE WEEK ONLY at The Broad Theater.
