I love awards shows. The terrible bits! The occasional songs! The awkward host banter! When John Travolta says “Adele Dazeem”! But mostly, the speeches. I can still remember watching the Oscars in my kinda run-down college apartment, sitting on a lumpy futon and wondering why I felt so emotional seeing Diablo Cody win for Best Original Screenplay.
Movie star speeches are exciting and interesting and sometimes scandalous, sure, but I love the speeches from the regular people (inasmuch as someone who goes by Diablo Cody could be regular). The writers, the sound people, anyone who makes a short film that not that many people saw. At the time of Diablo’s win for Juno, I was studying writing but completely unsure of how I could actually make a career writing. I didn’t know a lot of people who were creative for money, but there was Diablo in her funky animal print dress, crying on stage. It’s my favorite thing to remember, and why I almost always sit through the credits of every film I watch: movies aren’t just about celebrities (although, let’s be real, I love celebrities). They’re made by a ton of people who do a million specific jobs and they all work together to make a piece of art/entertainment (side note: my earnestness about this is why my five-year-old now says “wow, look at all the people who worked on this movie!” when the credits roll).
I know people like to say that the Oscars are just a big congratulatory, smug, out-of-touch, ostentatious display, but I don’t know. As a country, we aren’t great about recognizing the value of art, or beauty, or entertainment, or creativity. I don’t think it’s bad to acknowledge the work that people put in to films (and, of course, I am pretty disgusted that so many of the awards I love to watch won’t actually be awarded during the show. That sucks!).
Today’s newsletter is coming out a day early because I wanted to share my thoughts on the Oscars with you before the ceremony tonight. I’ll be watching the same way I always do: on my couch, alone. Hollis is invited but he’s more of a TV guy than a movie guy, so he probably won’t join in. I love watching the show alone because it gives me the freedom to cry whenever I want and also fall asleep. Usually I nod off sometime near the end and wake up to see the cast of the Best Picture winner on stage. It’s genuinely a great time for me. “Oscar night is my Super Bowl,” I always tell Hollis, although this year the Super Bowl was also my Super Bowl because the Bengals were playing and I’m legally obligated to support any and all Ohio teams.
This would’ve been a lot more impressive if I’d managed to watch all the Best Picture nominees but I didn’t even come close! I had a lot of work to do, and Wheel of Fortune doesn’t watch itself. But here are my thoughts on the Oscar nominees I did watch. I still want to watch pretty much all of them except Dune, because at 35 years old, I know myself enough to know that I will not be able to sit through that without falling asleep.
Best Animated Feature
Encanto
I typically get very stressed out during kids’ movies when they leave home/their parents. I don’t like it! If I were the plucky heroine who was called to go on a quest to save my homeland, I would probably find someone else to do it. I really like home. Finally, a movie about a bunch of people who like home as much as I do! I do not support the soundtrack, which my child was obsessed with for weeks. I, too, would like to not talk about Bruno, but I don’t have that option.
Luca
At first I was like, yeah, that’s okay. But then I kept thinking about certain scenes and how good they looked. This was a nice movie, and no one is doing more voice work than Maya Rudolph.
The Mitchells Vs. the Machines
I loved this movie. Actual jokes. Like, real, laugh-out-loud jokes in a family/children’s movie in the year 2022. Wow, what a thrill. My kid is obsessed with this one and draws the robots on everything. It also inspired us to find my old Furbies in my parents’ basement, and the thing is…I thought I had two, but there were three. Did the Furbies reproduce? This will almost certainly not win but I think it should! I cried more than once!
Raya and the Last Dragon
I watched all of these with my kid (which explains why I haven’t seen Flee) and about ten minutes into this one he said it was too scary. Sorry to Raya and the Last Dragon, but I can’t give an opinion.
BEST PICTURE
West Side Story
It’s really embarrassing how few of these I’ve seen but in my defense, I haven’t had a lot of time! I haven’t even finished West Side Story but as a treadmill watch, pretty good. My only experience with the original was a high school English class when I thought it was cool to point out the illogicality of musicals (it wasn’t cool and I was annoying!). Did you know these songs are…very good?
Don’t Look Up
The most important thing I learned getting a creative writing degree was read/watch every work through the lens of what it’s trying to be, not what you want it to be. I like that because it renders the “do I like this?” question kinda boring and moot. You can find something interesting in anything, even if you don’t like it. All this to say…frankly, I could not find a way into this movie. Who is it for? What is its point? I don’t know! I later found out that the one line I liked was improvised by Leonardo DiCaprio so good job Leo, I guess. I felt bad because I convinced Hollis, noted Non-Movie Guy, to watch this with me and we were both just like, “…well.” I don’t like to end a movie wondering if Adam McKay thinks I’m stupid.
CODA
Here are two tweets by film critic Robert Daniels that sum up my feelings about the CODA conversations I’ve seen online.
The way people are talking about CODA is weird, right? Like, what did CODA do to you? Well, personally, CODA made me cry very hard to Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now (a real theme for me). I don’t know that it “deserves” best picture because, well, what does? What does that mean? I do think that people expect a level of darkness and grit from Best Picture nominees and are uncomfortable when a movie is mostly pleasant. As I’ve stated before, I like to view CODA as an unofficial sequel to Children of a Lesser God where Marlee Matlin finds a much healthier relationship.
Anyway, I hope CODA doesn’t win. Leave CODA alone. Let it exist in peace.
Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay
The Lost Daughter
Frankly, I think this movie should’ve been nominated for best picture because I couldn’t stop thinking about it for days. I can’t imagine what it’s like to watch it if you’re not a mother, but I am a mother and I found it incredibly affecting/horrifying/infuriating/compelling. It’s a complex movie that doesn’t lend itself to simple or lazy analysis, which I appreciated, and yet it used some of the most obvious symbolism ever, which I also appreciated! I’m a busy lady, just show me some rotting oranges and allow me to figure out what they mean! Olivia Colman has been the queen of my heart since Broadchurch (“Miller!”-me in an extremely David Tennant voice), and she is truly SO good here. And of course Dakota, a perfect angel, is amazing. She disappears into this role, as she so often does! If you doubt Dakota, watch this and Suspiria and then get back to me. I guess also watch Fifty Shades of Grey, while you’re at it. I’m glad a film about motherhood and an extremely complex (might we even say…unlikable?) character is getting any attention at all. Maggie Gyllenhaal, you did it, girl.
Best Documentary Feature
Summer of Soul
I’m disappointed I didn’t watch more of the documentaries because they’re often my favorites, but if I had to watch one, I’m glad it was this one. It’s very very good and I had a lot of favorite parts, but a fun surprise was Redd Foxx talking about the moon landing.
Oh, and I almost forgot that I saw Robin Robin, which is nominated for Best Animated Short Film! I fully believe in Aardman supremacy and I think they should win whenever they’re nominated. This one is so cute and silly and available on Netflix.
Okay, I know, there are SO many nominees I didn’t see. As in…almost all of them. I really want to see Power of the Dog, Drive My Car, and especially The Worst Person in the World.
Please forgive any typos, because I’ve been working on pass pages for my next book, Just Another Love Song, up until basically this exact second. If you’re not familiar, pass pages are essentially the last time you get to look over your book and make corrections, and it is the only part of the writing/publishing process that I genuinely don’t like. I wish I was kidding, but pass pages always send me into an existential spiral wherein I loathe myself and my writing, become convinced that everyone I know hates me, get extremely depressed and anxious, and usually become physically ill at the end. It’s like my own personal Mercury in retrograde. If you’re reading this, then I’ve survived another round and lived to tell the tale, which means I’m onto the parts of the writing process that I actually like (all the other parts).
Next week I’m taking the name of the newsletter to heart and talking, in detail, about something you really didn’t ask about: 90s country music. Yeah, this is mostly a movie newsletter but my next book features a lot of country music and right now, all I’m thinking about is Dwight Yoakam/Brooks & Dunn/Trisha Yearwood. You can listen to this Spotify playlist if you want to prepare. See you next week, and let’s hope we have a fun ceremony tonight. I’ll be crying on the couch and falling asleep no matter what.
OOH boy I am EXCITED for anything inspired by that 90s Country playlist. It made me realize how much 90s country I must have absorbed riding around in my Dad's truck with him?