Bugonia - 4 Nominations

 

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score): Jerskin Fendrix

Best Motion Picture of the Year: Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, Lars Knudsen

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Emma Stone

Best Adapted Screenplay: Will Tracy

Longtime readers of the blog will recall that I am an ardent fan of Yorgos Lanthimos movies (and if you’re newer to his work, please go back and check out his first nominated film for International Language, Dogtooth) and he is a superb, authentic, and unique director. He has a slightly off kilter sensibility and has tremendous compassion for the oddball. He and Emma Stone have proven to be a powerful partnership making Oscar nominee after Oscar nominee (and sometimes winner!)

This is another quirky one - two conspiracy theorists, Teddy and Don, have determined that Michelle - a high powered, highly successful executive is an alien from another planet. They kidnap her because they are certain that her alien race is determined to destroy earth and all of its inhabitants. Once she understands what is happening, she attempts to employ every negotiation tactic she’s learned in her career, doing her best to gain their trust enough to let her go. It is never really explained how they have come to such deep knowledge of this alien kind, but every signal is given that at least one of the kidnappers (Jesse Plemmons) is a man who has done his homework.

The film is undoubtedly entertaining, and this is exactly the kind of picture that we expect from Lanthimos. The casting of these actors is spot on, but it is almost tragic that Jesse Plemmons was overlooked for this film. He is utterly believable and has the special sauce that allows you to escape into his reality, even if we “know” that his delusion is impossible. While I wouldn’t put Bugonia in my top three of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture, I’m awfully glad it got this recognition because hopefully more people will see it (including you!).

Cruella - 2 nominations

 

Best Achievement in Costume Design Jenny Beavan

Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling Nadia Stacey Naomi Donne Julia Vernon

I love a good prequel and this is a great one.  Cruella de Vil, notorious dalmation hunter, has an origin story and her name is Estela.  Estela is a talented, aspiring, and naive fashion designer.  Having been orphaned and left on the streets as a child, she's had to claw her way to a choice position with her idol, The Baroness, having raised herself with her trusty pals and fellow petty criminals, Horace and Jasper.

But the Baroness steals her designs and emotionally abuses Estela, and not only that, Estela figures out that the Baroness has had a hand in her own mother's death, and not only that, has stolen Estela's only connection to her mother, a precious necklace.  Estela becomes singularly focused on retrieving the necklace and it wouldn't hurt if in doing so, she can exact her own revenge.

I'm generally not a huge fan of "I was hurt so that explains how I became a villain" stories, but this one is absolutely delicious and it generally works for Disney.  The costumes are MAGNIFICENT and by all rights deserves to win this category (even if we won't see it televised).  Even if you don't see the film, I encourage you to search for the Cruella costumes on the internet, and I dare you not to be blown away.  While I didn't expect to even like this one, I loved it!

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Here's a link to our Oscars reactions episode! 

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1749819/10110400-oscar-2022-nominations-reactions.mp3?download=true

The Favourite - 10 nominations

Best Picture, Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos

Actress in a Leading Role, Olivia Colman
Actress in a Supporting Role, Emma Stone
Actress in a Supporting Role, Rachel Weisz
Cinematography, Robbie Ryan
Costume Design, Sandy Powell
Directing, Yorgos Lanthimos
Film Editing, Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Production Design, Fiona Crombie (Production Design); Alice Felton (Set Decoration)
Writing (Original Screenplay), Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara

GIRRRRRLLLLLLL FIIIIIIIIIIGGGGHHHHHHTTTTTT!

England is at war and Queen Anne is ill with spiraling mental health.  Her childhood friend and lady lover Lady Sarah has positioned herself as the Queen's bestie, her spokesperson, and the de facto head of government.  They are as close as two women could be, and Lady Sarah is the sole person in Anne's life who speaks truth to power.  Sarah's cousin Abigail arrives on scene in search of employment having lived through severe abuse and loss of status and wealth.  Sarah takes pity on Abigail and finds for her a place in court, but not a great place.  Abigail is no dummy, and her manipulative ways get her in good with the Queen, at her service in - ahem - every way.  The two women vie for Anne's affections and for the power that comes with being the Queen's favorite.

The performances in this film are so good, but Olivia Colman is an incredible standout.  Without a word, she goes from elation to exasperation to sadness to despair.  She is easily manipulated and insightful and wise.  To see Colman win this nomination as a long working but rarely leading actor, it reflects the best of what The Academy can do with a truly exceptional performance.  Her always good peers in Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz are very nearly dwarfed by Colman's Anne.

Of course with period pieces, well done costumes and production design are almost destined for nomination, but I highly recommend paying attention to both when watching the film.  The designs are gorgeous but also intricate and clever.  So much so that you leave the film with a premonition of Oscars noms.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Yorgos Lanthimos movies are not for everyone.  They are always a little bit twisted and sometimes very weird.  I discovered Lanthimos with his first Oscar nomination with the Greek film Dogtooth.  (SEE IT.)  I continued my devotion with The Lobster, and this film completes the perfect trifecta.  The Favourite is the most mainstream of his narrative films, but his signature strange peeks through.  If you're a Lanthimos person, you'll love this film.  I sure did.

LA LA Land - 14 nominations

Best Picture - Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt

Actor in a Leading Role - Ryan Gosling
Actress in a Leading Role - Emma Stone
Cinematography - Linus Sandgren
Costume Design - Mary Zophres
Directing - Damien Chazelle
Film Editing - Tom Cross
Original Score - Justin Hurwitz
Original Song, "Audition (The Fools Who Dream)"  - Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Original Song, "City Of Stars" - Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Production Design - David Wasco (Production Design); Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (Set Decoration)
Sound Editing - Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
Sound Mixing - Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
Original Screenplay - Damien Chazelle

Two artists find each other, she an actress, he a musician.  Along the path to their individual successes, their relationship struggles as they try to support each others' dreams while remaining committed to their own.  Simple enough, right?  But then, you open the movie with Los Angelinos singing and doing a huge Broadway production number on the 105 freeway.  That's the moment I was IN.  Not in a little bit, but IN, with my whole being.  Now, I admit that my favorite movie is Gene Kelly's, "On the Town," and that this film paid homage to classic movie musicals that made up my childhood memories (NO, I'm not old enough.  We had them on VHS.)  If I'm really being honest, the comic strip that I still keep is one where Calvin (from Calvin and Hobbes) starts singing and adding laughter to everything he says and proclaims "I thought my life would seem more interesting with an original score and a laugh track."  Yes, Calvin, ME TOO.

But every element of this film supports the return to the age of the big movie musical, and all I can say is YES PLEASE.  La La Land ties for the most number of nominations in movie history, and for your Oscar pools, you can count on it to win a lot of them.  Who can resist Ryan Gosling with his three months of piano training knocking it out of the park?  Are he and Emma Stone the best singers? Maybe not. (Actually, Emma Stone has a fantastic voice, but this film didn't show off her chops with songs that suit her style - she is a better belter than soft singer.)  Are they the best dancers?  It just doesn't matter.  They are charming and engaging and everything musical leads should be.  (I will warn you that my mother left the theatre crying and upset about the unexpected ending, but I won't tell you why!)

La La Land manages to be classic and original.  It lands in my top three favorite films of the year.  I think it will in yours too.  Enjoy the two nominated original songs below.

And of course, the trailer:

BIRDMAN (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) - 9 nominations

Best Picture - Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole
Actor - Michael Keaton
Supporting Actor - Edward Norton
Supporting Actress - Emma Stone
Director - Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Cinematography - Emmanuel Lubezki
Sound Editing - Martin Hernández and Aaron Glascock
Sound Mixing - Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño and Thomas Varga
Original Screenplay - Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. & Armando Bo

Birdman is the tale of an actor, known primarily for his portrayal of a superhero, seeking validation by mounting a serious production on Broadway.  At the start of the film he is in rehearsals just days away from opening as he deals with emotional actors,  a nervous lawyer, a recovering drug addict daughter, and a haunting voice of self-loathing and self doubt embodied by his former character, Birdman.  

Michael Keaton gives a vulnerable performance and we understand that this play means everything to him - financially, spiritually, and emotionally.  He has constant hallucinations of superhero powers that range from telekinesis to flight, and each setback in the play slowly chips away at his sanity.  His ex-wife very pointedly tells him, "you confuse love for admiration," and the most powerful Broadway reviewer says, "you're not an actor, you're a celebrity."  All of this while he deals with a nervous female lead (Naomi Watts), an insane but clearly brilliant last minute cast addition in Edward Norton (himself manic and unstable, but hilarious), and a confused and struggling daughter in Emma Stone, who is raw and emotional in her own right.

This is a completely different kind of movie, and that's a tribute to Director, Alejandro Iñárritu, who had a clear vision having produced, directed, and written Birdman.  The screenplay is sharp tongued and quick witted.  It is funny and dark and emotional.

For the technical categories, the cinematography is subtle - I had to watch the film a second time to really ingest the brilliance of the camera work.  Yes, there are lots of shots in dark places with interesting lighting that usually attract the attention of this branch, but the amazing work comes in taking a drama and shooting it like a superhero movie.  I'm not sure that any of the three technical awards will go to Birdman, but the merits of the nominations are clear.

Watch the trailer here: