My thoughts on the Oscar Nominees

~ Lincoln Spector

The Oscar nominations came with a very big disappointment. Cyrano received only one nomination, and that was only Costume Design. I was hoping Peter Dinklage would come home with the Best Actor Oscar. I also thought that this wonderful film should have been in the running for Best Picture.


Cyrano

Why is it so overlooked? Because it’s still not in theaters – nor streaming. Talk about burying a masterpiece. (I saw the film at the Mill Valley Film Festival.)

So, let’s take a look at some films that did get into theaters and got nominated.

Best Picture


West Side Story

There are ten Best Picture nominees this year. I saw six. Here are the ones I’ve seem, from best to not-quite-best:

I have yet to see Drive My Car, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, and Nightmare Alley.

By the way, I’m pretty sure that this is the first time that two of the Best Picture nominees are remakes of earlier movies, and the first when a Best Picture nominee is a remake of a past Best Picture.

Best Director

Whoever will win Best Director will almost certainly take the Best Picture award, as well. Based only on the films I’ve seen, I’d go for West Side Story, despite the film’s dismal box office.


Don’t Look Up

I noticed that Adam McKay has not been nominated for Don’t Look Up, which tells me that his movie would almost certainly not get Best Picture.

But then, comedies such as Don’t Look Up rarely get the big statues. Out of the 91 films that won Best Picture, only seven have been comedies.

Acting awards

There are four acting categories, and whether you get nominated is based on your gender and how big a part you got in the movie. And, of course, giving a good performance.


The Power of the Dog

So I’ll just list the performances amongst the candidates that really caught my eye:

  • Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)
  • Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)
  • Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
  • Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
  • Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)

But the absence of Peter Dinklage for Cyrano is a major disappointment. This was the best performance I saw in a film from last year.

You can find all the nominations in The Hollywood Reporter.

Published by Lincoln Spector

Lincoln Spector writes about cinema, technology, and cinema technology. From 1986 through 2008, he wrote Gigglebytes, the first technology-oriented humor column. From 1977 through 2016, he wrote PC World's Answer Line column and blog.