OSCAR NOMINATIONS 2024 BY CATEGORY - 96th AWARDS

By FilmZ and Guy S. Malone

Hey Kids, Long time no see.  Sorry about that. Film reviews have taken a back seat to editing our manuscript for publication. But here we are again for our last-minute Academy Awards picks.

This is the year of Oppenheimer.  Christopher Nolan captures the sweet spot where he's made a film that is both epic and intimate.  It is not only the Best Picture of 2023, it might be the best picture since Lord of the Rings swept the Oscars.  Its running mate last summer, Barbie, should get some recognition for Greta Gerwig's brilliant transformation of Barbie into human form. All-in-all, 2023 was a terrific year in film where, in other years, films like Poor Things, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, and American Fiction could vie for the Award.  Unfortunately, there isn't a Best Animal category or else Messi, the dog who co-starred in the excellent courtroom drama, Anatomy of a Fall, would be a shoo-in.

Full disclosure and fair warning, we've seen most, but not all, of the films and my co-conspirator, Guy Malone, balances his prejudices with exhaustive research.  Bottom line: don't make any bets based on our picks.  Below are our picks for for each of the categories, the winner in BOLD and other contenders in alphabelical order:  

Best Picture

OPPENHEIMER  Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers.             Though there are some truly excellent films on this list, there really is no competition for the Award. 

AMERICAN FICTION  Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers

ANATOMY OF A FALL. Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers

BARBIE. David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers

THE HOLDOVERS Mark Johnson, Producer

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON  Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, 

MAESTRO  Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, 

PAST LIVES. David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers

POOR THINGS. Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers

THE ZONE OF INTEREST. James Wilson, Producer

Directing

Christopher Nolan  OPPENHEIMER                                                                                                        In a just world, Greta Gerwig would be a contender for her inventive and joyfully entertaining BARBIE.  Yorgos Lanthimos (POOR THINGS) has a puncher's chance to upset Nolan's juggernaut.

Justine Triet. ANATOMY OF A FALL

Martin Scorsese. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Yorgos Lanthimos  POOR THINGS

Jonathan Glazer. THE ZONE OF INTEREST

Actress in a Leading Role

Emma Stone in POOR THINGS                                                                                                             This is a difficult category to pick. Anyone who watches POOR THINGS,  KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, and ANATOMY OF A FALL back-to-back, would rank Emma Stone's daring portrayal of a dead woman re-animated with a child's mind and Sandra Hüller's heartrending performances as a woman accused of killing her husband neck and neck for Actress, but Lily Gladstone is the prohibitive favorite here, having won many precursor awards.  Draw your own conclusions.

Annette Bening in NYAD

Lily Gladstone in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Sandra Hüller in ANATOMY OF A FALL

Carey Mulligan in MAESTRO

Actor in a Leading Role

Cillian Murphy in OPPENHEIMER                                                                                                       The excellent Irish actor has been one of Christopher Nolan's mainstays across his filmography, but this is Murphy's first time center stage. He makes the most of it.  Paul Giamatti's curmudgeonly teacher forced to monitor a troubled teenager over the holidays at a private school, and Jeffrey Wright's cynical and satiric take as a professor/author are performances not to miss.

Bradley Cooper in MAESTRO

Colman Domingo in RUSTIN

Paul Giamatti in THE HOLDOVERS

Jeffrey Wright in AMERICAN FICTION

Actress in a Supporting Role

Da'Vine Joy Randolph in THE HOLDOVERS                                                                                      Not to demean any of the other fine performances, but Randolph's portrayal as a cook at a private school dealing with the loss of her son over the Christmas holidays is riveting.

Emily Blunt in OPPENHEIMER

Danielle Brooks in THE COLOR PURPLE

America Ferrera in BARBIE

Jodie Foster in NYAD

Actor in a Supporting Role

Robert Downey Jr. in OPPENHEIMER                                                                                                RDJ, like Randolph above, is pretty much a shoo-in, despite stiff competition, especially from Sterling K. Brown. He disappears into his role, both physically and artfully.

Sterling K. Brown in AMERICAN FICTION

Robert De Niro in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Ryan Gosling in BARBIE

Mark Ruffalo in POOR THINGS

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

AMERICAN FICTION Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson.                                                        In our opinion, AMERICAN FICTION is the best film no one is talking about.  One of our favorites of the year.

BARBIE  Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach

OPPENHEIMER  Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan

POOR THINGS  Screenplay by Tony McNamara

THE ZONE OF INTEREST. Written by Jonathan Glazer

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari  ANATOMY OF A FALL                                                                  Triet and Harari inject suspense and drama into an immersive, gripping courtroom drama.

David Hemingson  THE HOLDOVERS

Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer. MAESTRO

Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik. MAY DECEMBER

Celine Song  PAST LIVES

Cinematography

OPPENHEIMER  Hoyte van Hoytema                                                                                                Hoyte van Hoytema shows why he is Christopher Nolan's go-to photographer.

EL CONDE. Edward Lachman

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON  Rodrigo Prieto

MAESTRO  Matthew Libatique

POOR THINGS  Robbie Ryan

Film Editing

OPPENHEIMER  Jennifer Lame                                                                                                        Would not be surprised if either ANATOMY OF A FALL or THE HOLDOVERS win here.

ANATOMY OF A FALL. Laurent Sénéchal

THE HOLDOVERS  Kevin Tent

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON  Thelma Schoonmaker

POOR THINGS  Yorgos Mavropsaridis

Production Design

POOR THINGS  James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek                               A tight race here, but the surreal world built in POOR THINGS really sells the surreal tale Lanthimos tells

BARBIE  Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis

NAPOLEON  Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Elli Griff

OPPENHEIMER  Ruth De Jong; Set Decoration: Claire Kaufman

Costume Design

BARBIE  Jacqueline Durran                                                                                                             Another tight race that we wouldn't bet a nickel on. This Award could go to any of these contenders.

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON  Jacqueline West

NAPOLEON  Janty Yates and Dave Crossman

OPPENHEIMER  Ellen Mirojnick

POOR THINGS  Holly Waddington

International Feature Film

THE ZONE OF INTEREST  United Kingdom                                                                                          If a movie is up for both Best Picture and Best International Feature Film, bet on it here.

IO CAPITANO  Italy

PERFECT DAYS  Japan

SOCIETY OF THE SNOW  Spain

THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE  Germany

Documentary Feature Film

20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL  Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath                In the near-absence of first-hand knowledge, we will rely on Guy Malone, Researcher's work here.

BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT  Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek

THE ETERNAL MEMORY  Maite Alberdi

FOUR DAUGHTERS  Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha

TO KILL A TIGER  Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim

Animated Feature Film

THE BOY AND THE HERON  Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki                                                     In a two horse race in which nearly everyone is picking SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE, we're rooting for the underdog because of rumors that this is Miyazaki's last film and because SPIDER-MAN was overlong and did not make it clear that it was a part one.

ELEMENTAL  Peter Sohn and Denise Ream

NIMONA  Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary

ROBOT DREAMS  Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE  Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal

Makeup and Hairstyling

MAESTRO  Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell                                                       Bradley Cooper's uncanny resemblance to Leonard Bernstein is the selling point here.

GOLDA  Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue

OPPENHEIMER  Luisa Abel

POOR THINGS  Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston

SOCIETY OF THE SNOW  Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé

Music (Original Score)

OPPENHEIMER  Ludwig Göransson

AMERICAN FICTION  Laura Karpman

INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY  John Williams

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON  Robbie Robertson

POOR THINGS  Jerskin Fendrix

Music (Original Song)

"What Was I Made For?" from BARBIE  Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell

"The Fire Inside" from FLAMIN' HOT  Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

"I'm Just Ken" from BARBIE  Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt

"It Never Went Away" from AMERICAN SYMPHONY  Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson

"Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)" from KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. Music and Lyric by Scott George

Sound

OPPENHEIMER  Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O'Connell

THE CREATOR  Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic

MAESTRO  Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE  Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

THE ZONE OF INTEREST  Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn

Visual Effects

THE CREATOR  Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould

GODZILLA MINUS ONE  Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3  Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE  Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould

NAPOLEON  Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould

Documentary Short Film

THE ABCS OF BOOK BANNING  Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic

THE BARBER OF LITTLE ROCK John Hoffman and Christine Turner

ISLAND IN BETWEENS   Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien

THE LAST REPAIR SHOP  Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers

NǎI NAI & WàI Pó  Sean Wang and Sam Davis

Short Film (Animated)

WAR IS OVER! INSPIRED BY THE MUSIC OF JOHN & YOKO  Dave Mullins and Brad Booker

LETTER TO A PIG  Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter

NINETY-FIVE SENSES  Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess

OUR UNIFORM  Yegane Moghaddam

PACHYDERME  Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius

Short Film (Live Action)

THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR  Wes Anderson and Steven Rales

THE AFTER  Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham

INVINCIBLE  Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron

KNIGHT OF FORTUNE  Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk

RED, WHITE AND BLUE  Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane

ASTEROID CITY - a Review by Guy S. Malone, Researcher 

"I want to know what the f**k Wes Anderson is on." -- Captain HE's first comment as the credits rolled after we saw Asteroid City, the newest addition to the wild, wild world of Wes Anderson.

With a cast second to none, it's evident that Wes is an actor's auteur. The question remains: is he a moviegoer's auteur? We used to think his films were an acquired taste, but we aren't so convinced anymore. The Czarina, for example, loves Fantastic Mr. Fox and thinks the rest of his films are "weird for weird's sake," and she has seen his most accessible films, Moonrise Kingdom and Grand Budapest Hotel.  And I know two people who went to Wes's movies on the recommendation of friends and were so incensed afterward that they broadcast across social media that it was the worst drivel they had ever seen.  

Our conclusion: you either like Wes Anderson films or you don't. If you like his movies (we do) your affection from film to film is a matter of degree. If you don't like his films, the matter of degree ranges from thinking he's "just weird" to a hatred that burns like a thousand suns. For the record, Captain HE liked Asteroid City, calling it "a masterful understatement of 50's America. A nation concentrating on the wonders of terrestrial science while living placidly with the destructive power of atomic fission."

Wes takes us back to 1955 in the titular small southwestern town with a grand painted desert vista. The camera does a 360-degree pan, revealing a more colorful version of the town in Bad Day at Black Rock, except for an on-ramp to nowhere (of course.) But the town is deserted--our cue that this is a set. And here is where a newbie to a Wes Anderson film either buys in or cashes out. Our film goes black-and-white and the aspect ratio becomes that of an old Sylvania TV set. We become witnesses to a 1950s-era teleplay-in-the-making, as explained by a Rod Serling/Edward R. Murrow-type host (Bryan Cranston). He introduces us to a stuffy playwright (Edward Norton) and an angsty director (Adrien Brody). The idea of showcasing a play-within-a-TV-show-within-a-movie is difficult to describe, but those three set the stage, as it were.

This is the transition that takes us back to the colorized movie set, where Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), a Marilyn Monroe-esque celebrity arrives with her daughter Dinah (Grace Edwards), an award winner in Asteroid City's Annual Junior Stargazers and Space Cadets convention. Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman), a recently widowed war photographer, shows up with his daughters, who think they are witches (Ella, Gracie, and Willan Faris), and his teenage son, Woodrow (Jake Ryan), another award-winner.  Augie's children have recently lost their mother, but Augie has not found the right time to tell them. His wife's ashes are in a Tupperware container, which Augie intends to present to his cranky and disapproving father-in-law Stanley (Tom Hanks) when he arrives. Woodrow falls for Dinah, which brings the laconic Augie and the aloof Midge together. They share their tales of woe and ennui through the windows of their side-by-side cabins in a rental park. Their confessions evolve into a kind of seduction. But it's difficult for romance to blossom when cars zip through the streets shooting at each other for no apparent reason, mushroom clouds from atomic bomb tests blossom on the horizon, and a close encounter of the second kind brings chaos and a military quarantine to Asteroid City.

Just when we're becoming accustomed to what is happening in the colorful movie, we're returned to the black-and-white world behind the scenes. 

As usual, a lot is going on--too much, really to take in with one viewing, and the detail and minutiae are big parts of what makes Wes Anderson movies special. They are the baubles that decorate the plot and provide the backdrop for the wide array of characters, many, little more than cameos. In addition to Johansson, Schwartzman, Norton, and Brody, many other Anderson regulars show up: Jeffrey Wright as an Army General, Tilda Swinton as an astronomer, along with Willem Dafoe, Tony Revolori, Liev Schreiber, and Jeff Goldblum as the Alien (of course). We also welcome newcomers to WesWorld: Tom Hanks, as mentioned; Hope Davis and Stephen Park as parents; Rupert Friend as a cowboy smitten with science teacher Maya Hawke; Steve Carell as the happy-go-lucky motel manager; Matt Dillon as an auto mechanic; Margot Robbie, in a walk-on, and many others.

Cinematographer Robert Yeoman perfectly visualizes Anderson's co-writer Roman Coppola's screenplay, as does Adam Stockhausen through his delightfully detailed production design. They frame both the order and the chaos of the film, with its inspired toggling back and forth between the paranoid 1950s-era Grade-B Sci-Fi flicks and the gravitas of anthology TV series, like the much-feted Playhouse 90.  Even as we write this review and reflect, the inventiveness and soul of Asteroid City grow in our estimation.  

A second viewing will likely push the score higher, but for now: 8.0 out of 10