The One That Got Away
It would be unfair to say awards season doesn’t matter at all, but at the same time it’s essential to remember just how good the films are that don’t take home any trophies. The day after some pretty heartening Oscars nominations, Ella Kemp takes time to celebrate the films that didn’t quite make the cut.
For whatever reason, sometimes good things don’t happen to good films. While it can be exciting for the Oscars, the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes (ahem) and others to get things right, it’s worth remembering that some decisions can be a bit arbitrary, or circumstantial, with fantastic films not quite getting the credit they deserve.
Before we look ahead to rooting for our favourites at this year’s Oscars, let’s take a minute to nod towards those just as worthy – the underdogs are always that bit more loveable, aren’t they?
Red Rocket
Sean Baker tells stories of life on the fringes of society like nobody else. With Red Rocket he brought his most vibrant world to life so far, focusing on a washed-up porn star who returns home to his native Texas where nobody really wants him. It’s anchored by the performance of a lifetime from former MTV veejay Simon Rex who gifts us with one of the most focused, erratic, sharp, strange and utterly hypnotising performances of the year. Roles like this come around rarely – and performances of this calibre even more so.
Most deserving nomination: Simon Rex for Best Actor (and a Best Editing one wouldn’t have gone amiss)
The Matrix Resurrections
In the current soul-crushing climate of sequels and remakes and spin-offs and every possible retooling of our precious original stories, Lana Wachowski found away to make a movie that could be qualified as all those things yet none at all. The Matrix Resurrections wasn’t going to exist until the beloved filmmaker went through a loss so acute all she could do was write her way through and out of it. What begins as a breathtakingly smart deconstruction of the whole content-churning economy turns into a beautiful meditation on love, death, eternity and hope as fluid and always hopeful things. Neo and Trinity forever.
Most deserving nomination: Visual Effects might seem obvious (and deserved), but it’s really Original Screenplay for this masterpiece.
The Green Knight
What’s the German word for a film skyrocketed by an online hype machine months before release that quietly, heartbreakingly, somewhat disappears into nothingness as soon as it’s actually released? David Lowery gifted the world with an erotic, impassioned, visually unbelievable Arthurian tale with The Green Knight, which sadly fell by the wayside once a hot, sweaty summer gave way to a pretty suffocating autumn festival season. Still, the beauty in every frame of the film (hello Dev Patel) isn’t going anywhere – in equal parts thanks to Andrew Droz Palermo’s rich, almost hallucinatory cinematography and and Jade Healy’s regal production design. May posters decorate our walls forever.
Most deserving nomination: Best Cinematography (the fox!)
Passing
When a beloved actor makes the leap into directing, you know you’re in for some pretty special performances. Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga were in safe hands in Rebecca Hall’s elegant feature debut Passing, but it’s Negga who really stood out as Clare in a story of friendship, loyalty, race, duty, love. She’s got something of The Great Gatsby’s Daisy Buchanan in her desperately sad commitment to the life that’s been chosen for her, with the sparkle in her eye trying so hard to keep shining despite the world around her. She’s magnetic, even on a tiny screen (a product of the first pandemic-affected Sundance film festival last year, and later a Netflix release). It feels criminal she can’t be celebrated on the biggest stage.
Most deserving nomination: Best Supporting Actress (or Lead Actress) for Ruth Negga
Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar
Anyone who says they didn’t feel a little lighter and brighter after watching Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar is lying. Look at the image. Look at those flowers. Look at the colours. Look at all those different little hats. Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo’s film is a comedy marvel, but also a breathtaking technical feat. Beach scenes choreographing hundreds of holiday covers have the precision of a pointillist painting and the vibrancy of the best fireworks display you’ve ever seen. Comedy rarely fares as well as dramas and thrillers do at the Oscars – but recognition for this one would have only been fair.
Most deserving nomination: Best Production Design for Saklad
C’mon C’mon
“I fucking hate it sometimes. I mean, I love him more than I can even understand. And that makes it even worse when I can barely stand to be in the same room with him. On, and on, and on, and on, he never stops. It’s a fucking nightmare.” Few films have ever been as wise about family, loneliness, motherhood, childhood, the future, youth, hope, despair, exhaustion as C’mon C’mon. It’s everything all at once. It’s hard to bottle just how much it means with our own words – all we can do is listen.
Most deserving nomination: Best Original Screenplay – like written out from the most intimate, vulnerable parts of our brains.
The French Dispatch
If you like Wes Anderson, you will love The French Dispatch. But for those not yet converted, the filmmaker’s new feature is a lot: intricate and dense and self-referential and wry and complex. It can be exhausting, but it’s also beautiful. It unfortunately makes a bit of sense as to why the Academy might ignore it – perhaps knowing all too well how comfortable Anderson is during awards season, perhaps not feeling the need to even consider this one because they know he’s seen success with so many others. Or, perhaps it was all a bit too much.
Most deserving nomination: Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay (the effort is undeniable) – there were so many options here.
Titane
In a surprising turn of events, BAFTA took a chance on something quite radical this year. Titane filmmaker Julia Ducournau received a nomination for Best Director, after setting Cannes ablaze last year with her groundbreaking new film. But France went down a different route with their pick for Best Film Not in The English Language (which didn’t even get nominated) and Ducournau ultimately fell by the wayside (Jane Campion, the only other woman to ever win the Palme D’Or, is the one woman nominated for Best Director this year). Still, the fearless piece of art Ducournau created will undoubtedly be dissected, feared, beloved for years to come. Sometimes a singular talent is just a bit too singular for the Academy.
Most deserving nomination: Best Director for Julia Ducournau
The Harder They Fall
Jeymes Samuel’s feature debut is visionary for many reasons – the dynamic Western starring an all-Black cast shines a light on cowboys and bandits Hollywood history has often ignored, but beyond the vital resurrection of notorious figures the film is also electric on a technical level. Samuel worked with none other than Jay-Z himself on the score – and was a singer-songwriter in The Bullitts himself. The result is a delicious and infectious musical thread enlivening every living room and cinema screen (for the short time Netflix allowed it) lucky enough to experience it. It’s slick, sharp, and part of the film’s DNA. It’s masterful – and could have offered the Academy something of an education.
Most deserving nomination: Best Original Score (there are too many individual songs to choose from).
Cow
Look, there’s quite enough documentaries about people, and Andrea Arnold knows this. The story of Luma the dairy cow woke us up from our slumber when it reached cinema screens in January, causing a buzz since Cannes last year. But maybe the Academy aren’t yet ready to sacrifice human interaction for a couple of hours – and that’s on them. Arnold was gracious enough to share Luma’s story with us. Oscars or not, her life and legacy will live on.
Most deserving nomination: Best Documentary Feature
The winners of this year’s Oscars will be announced on March 27. But it’s the taking part that counts, obviously.
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