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Stephen David Miller's avatar

A few thoughts:

1. I am not remotely surprised by the EMILIA PÉREZ love, because I witnessed it firsthand. The hype was very real at Cannes; everyone I spoke to adored it and (give or take a SEED OF THE SACRED FIG) thought it was a lock for the Palme. Personally I was mixed: loved the audacity and spectacle (very “how the fuck does this exist”, which often scores extra points in a sleepy festival environment), but felt that its ultra binary handling of gender would be seen as clunky and regressive by a younger, especially American audience. In other words, it was the perfect recipe for a thing that would sweep awards while being hated by moviegoers. The Netflix of it all did it no favors, as most people experienced it in the *least* spectacular setting.

2. Totally agree with Tansy on I SAW THE TV GLOW, and David on CHALLENGERS, for original screenplay. I’d sub out SEPTEMBER 5 and THE SUBSTANCE (which I adored but not primarily for its script).

3. My other biggest snub would be NICKEL BOYS for cinematography. Maybe I’m falling into the “most cinematography” trap, but I can’t think of a movie this year that had half the ambition. It lives or dies by Jomo Fray’s work, and in my mind it’s a triumph. (It was also my favorite film of the year, period, but I knew better than to expect a sweep!)

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Marnie Phillips's avatar

I am stunned by the lack of love for Challengers

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Michael Koehler's avatar

Yes! This.

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JD's avatar

As Mexican, Emilia Perez is offensive and ridiculous. I wonder what the opinions would be like if the violence and tragedy of our actual situation used to tell the story were situated in the US or other country.

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Chris  Morris's avatar

How much did Netflix pay the academy for Amelia ? This is why we don’t trust the academy anymore

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Tore André Øyås's avatar

Well, I thought The Remarkable Life of Ibelin might be nominated for Best Documentary, especially since Netflix bought and showcased it, but that didn’t happen. I don’t think we should speculate too much about this. The Academy consists of thousands of members, so bribing them all would be quite a challenge, I think. ;)

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Tore André Øyås's avatar

I'm really glad the Academy sees the quality in films like Wicked and The Substance. A couple of years back, they would have overlooked films like this for being to commercial and "easy". Things have changed, to the better.

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Rob's avatar

Surprisingly not surprised by most of the nominations given how closely they mirrored the Golden Globes, though I would like to have seen more love for smaller films like Sing Sing and Nickel Boys. Also it’s funny that Emilia Perez apparently became the designated villain this year when a much more blatantly Oscar-baity movie like A Complete Unknown gets away scot free.

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Robert Gassaway's avatar

“A movie like Dune 2 would’ve swept the Oscars years ago”???? Since when does the Academy give any major category noms to science fiction?

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David Chen's avatar

I think in my mind it’s sci-fi/fantasy and Return of the King, shape of water, and even everything everywhere all at once came to mind. But you’re probably right in that dune is hard sci-fi!

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Michael Koehler's avatar

A bit disappointed by its lack of awards attention. I saw Part Two four times in theatres, what an extraordinary moviegoing experience firing on all cylinders!

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