Field Guide to the Academy Awards 2024
What follows is a list of some of the nominations we will see in the televised Oscar ceremony tonight. I have ranked the nominees in each category based on my personal preference. I hope you find it useful to follow along tonight.
My opinion is just my opinion. And the Academy Awards winners are selected by hundreds of voters of varying levels of taste; they've certainly made choices in the past that with decades of hindsight we find baffling. But for a brief moment, it matters to some of these artists' careers. I find that almost every nominee is usually worthy of praise, but some are more interesting choices because some films are daring and come with a lot of bravery and daring on the part of the artists, and some are pre-packaged for success with talent and budget thrown at them.
Most importantly, the Oscars do have sway in getting general audiences to see these films. Many have been back in cinemas over the last two weeks. Some people join the "Oscar Death Race" to watch every nominee. The Oscars do matter, and for the most part I'm glad people have seen the movies below that they may have otherwise skipped.
Presumptive winners are marked (W). Also, I have ordered this roughly in reverse order, so you may be able to loosely follow along by starting at the bottom and scrolling back up.
Best Picture
France selected The Taste of Things (*****) as their nominee for Best International Feature, but distributor Neon's marketing pushed Anatomy of a Fall into the Best Picture race. Oppenheimer is the presumptive winner, and in a way it deserves it for revitalizing the box office and proving people will turn out for a smart drama, and not just for a superhero franchise.
Past Lives is a wonderful, nuanced little drama about wondering what our lives might have been if they had taken different paths. It also touches on questions of identity in the Asian diaspora in the West.
Best Actress
Emma Stone is considered a potential dark horse, but it's more of a shame that Carey Mulligan is being forgotten in a strong field.
Best Actor
Many have turned on Bradley Cooper for directing and starring in Maestro, calling it a "vanity project." This is unfair; nearly anything here could be dubbed a "vanity project" by the definition of the term. The term is fairly meaningless and reserved for moments of dismissal. Maestro is a meticulously researched film and a loving tribute that doesn't shy away from Leonard Bernstein's flaws. For better or worse, the movie does not "do the homework for you": it assumes you know his basic history, leaving many without the necessary stepping stones to meet the work on its terms.
Best Director
All very worthy. Personally, I think Greta Gerwig's unique directorial sensibility deserved a spot here.
Best Original Song
Usually, there's one song that's worthy of "Best Song" nominated in this category. This year there's one song that is a cut above - a magical confluence of the right song by the right artist at the right time - and it's by Billie Eilish. I could never bet on it, though, with the number of weird contrarian votes that can sometimes happen in the Academy's membership.
Best Original Screenplay
The Holdovers is an incredible throwback; they even filmed it to look as though it was filmed in the 1970s. It's not the most original work here, but it works because of just how well written it is.
May December (****1/2) is one of the best unsung films of the year. Natalie Portman plays an actress studying the real-life people behind a scandal wherein Julianne Moore's character had an affair with an underaged boy. The film reaches campy levels of melodrama and has a lot to say about how Hollywood treats real people as fodder for consumption.
Best Adapted Screenplay
American Fiction was adapted from an "unadaptable" novel which mashes several genres together and contains a book-within-a-book. The strain of adapting it is very apparent on screen here - the book-within-the-movie is represented by a movie-within-a-movie - and the satirical humor doesn't always land. But the message of authenticity and representation among black voices in fiction is one that I have thought about at length since seeing the movie.
Best Original Score
Oppenheimer is the likely winner, and the score is definitely up there. Personally, I really loved Poor Things, and it sounds unlike anything else. Robbie Robertson (Killers of the Flower Moon) may also win posthumously, the capstone on 45 years of collaboration with Martin Scorsese.
Best Visual Effects
The Creator (***1/2) and Godzilla Minus One (****) have both challenged the way visual effects are done in Hollywood, where things have gotten out-of-hand and unsustainable. Take a look at what one 35-person team produced on an extended timescale compared to the cheap-looking effects achieved by hundreds (on short deadlines) on any recent major studio superhero film:
Best Production Design, etc
These categories are comparing so many apples to oranges, it's impossible to say anything meaningful.
Best International Feature Film
Every year, this category - along with Best Documentary - is a real mixed bag because Academy voters are not well versed with everything that is out there, only what has marketing campaigns behind them. I found Society of the Snow technically stunning but devoid of personality or purpose. (So, it will probably win, lol.)
Best Documentary Feature
The Eternal Memory (****1/2) was one of my favorite films of the year: a real treasure. Augusto Gongora was a beloved journalist in Chile who was a trusted face for the people since the bloody coup in 1973. For this reason, he decided he was comfortable letting camera crews film his years of decline to Alzheimer's; there was no one better suited to face this bravely in front of cameras for all to see. The advent of COVID could have ruined the documentary, but instead the filmmakers had to teach the Gongora's to be their own camera crew, and in fact this created some of the most intimate film footage you will ever see.
20 Days in Mariupol is the presumptive winner, and Four Daughters is also very high on my list of things to catch up with.
Best Cinematography
All of these films are astounding achievements, but Hoyte van Hoytema absolutely deserves to win for Oppenheimer for contributions that will ensure film cinematography does not die for at least a few more years. They commissioned the first B&W 70mm film stock for the film, pushed the IMAX format to its limits, and convinced the IMAX company to announce they will design new, quieter film cameras after several years of pushing their digital products.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
I clocked Downey as a shoo-in for this Oscar from the moment I saw Oppenheimer. The Academy still has generational trauma for its part in the House of Unamerican Activities political witch hunt, and it loves to try to atone for by awarding movies that call it out. Downey is also well-loved in Hollywood, and an inspiration for recovering from substance abuse.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
So many great performances that didn't end up in their respective categories, but at least the presumptive winners are all very good.
Best Animated Feature Film
If The Boy & the Heron wins, there will be a group of people who will take it as a Lifetime Achievement Award rather than the merit for this film. It is not his most easily digestible film, but it shows that Hayao Miyazaki has only become more experimental, more personal, and more urgent in his storytelling with age.
Spider-Man is more than worthy of its likely win. It's an empowering story for millions of kids of all genders and backgrounds, and it has revolutionized the American animation industry in terms of opening them up to mixing different types of animation media together.
