Photo Credit: Mirko Fabian
From Barbie to May December to Maestro, what will be the biggest surprise?
Zoe Zusman, Staff Writer
I’ve said this before, but I am not the biggest fan of the Oscars. In my opinion, they usually don’t account for many incredible films that are loved by the public, nor do they cater to films made within smaller Hollywood communities. Still, the Oscars have surprised me once or twice, and last year was an especially great year for historic wins. But how will this year compare?
If you don’t know already, there has been a fair bit of discourse surrounding Oscar snubs and nominations this year. So, I thought, why not offer my two cents and unpack what everyone (myself included) is upset about?
The biggest public upset right now is the lack of nominations, respectively, for Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie for best director and best actress for Barbie. With Barbie acquiring 8 Oscar nominations, many find it odd that the director and main actress are the ones not to receive nominations, yet Ryan Gosling received a nomination for best-supporting actor in the film.
Although I understand the public upset surrounding this, I personally never viewed Barbie as an Oscar-worthy film when it comes to acting. Even though the film had strong points in terms of its set design, costume, and makeup — receiving nominations for costume design and production — I personally found that the acting in the film was not as strong as other films this year. As for Gerwig, she received nominations for best screenplay and best picture. Overall, my perception of Barbie is that it is a blockbuster film that people are making a lot deeper than it is. It’s nothing revolutionary, even though it was done very well.
I do believe, however, that the lack of May December nominations is wild. All the main performances by Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton were amazing and super important for the film. Yet not even one of them was nominated? Robbery. Although it got a nomination for best screenplay, I think it deserved a few more for direction and acting.
Finally, in my opinion, one film that was nominated way too much is Maestro. And this is my problem when it comes to the Oscars. Maestro is the most Oscar-baiting movie I think I have ever seen, and I guess it worked. It received 7 nominations, but I haven’t heard that many good things about it. Despite that it seemed pretentious and centered on a topic that not many are interested in, it seems to have achieved its goal.
It will definitely be an interesting year for the Oscars. Now to see who comes out on top!
