Spend Oscar night watching these stellar one-time awards hopefuls
Well, this weekend is the Oscars. On Sunday legions of film fans will be tuning in for what could simultaneously be the most controversial/lackluster awards ceremony in at least MY lifetime. If there’s one thing that’s universally agreed on about the nominated films and performances however, is that there are plenty of omissions to go around. Cinephiles are still fuming that If Beale Street Could Talk was dumped in favor of Black Panther, that Green Book got as much love as it has, that A Star is Born has hardly gotten any love at all and that Bohemian Rhapsody is even part of the whole equation.
Typically for this column during Oscar time, I offer up a collection of titles from the same producers responsible for the crop of the year’s Best Picture nominees. Yet, as much as I loved a handful of the nominated films, finding alternative titles linked with their respective producers proved just as “inspiring” as some of the films up for the big prize this year (although I’m team Roma all the way). Instead, I decided to offer up an alternate selection of films in ten of the top Oscar categories which are more than worth seeking out. While each title entered into the crowded awards game with ambitions of making it to the big night (eventually losing steam and momentum along the way for a multitude of reasons), their contributions to the year in film is almost impossible to dismiss.
Best Documentary– They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead
If only some of the excitement and anticipation that had greeted the release of Orson Welles’s famed long-lost final film The Other Side of the Wind had been saved for the follow-up documentary They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead. Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville, the doc traces the origins of Welles’s film and the bumpy road it took towards completion. More than that however, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead is a thorough examination of the personal and professional transformation of its helmer, and how the journey inspired him to create what would be his swan song as a director. Neville’s film has plenty of the classic tidbits of re-casting and other behind-the-scenes goings on to satisfy lovers of such tales. But it’s Welles himself who is the focus of They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead. His presence looms larger than ever thanks to commentary from friends, family and collaborators, including director Peter Bogdanovich. Naturally, the most telling thoughts about Welles come from the man himself through the huge amounts of archival footage, which shows his passion for the film he was making and is littered with classic Welles quotes such as: “No story has a happy ending unless you stop telling it before it’s over.” Although They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead took home the William K. Iverson Film History Award from the National Board of Review (tying for the prize with The Other Side of the Wind), it was Neville’s other 2018 effort on another famous figure, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, which earned him a handful of end-of-year awards. Still, few documentaries are able to create such a compelling portrait on one of the most decidedly complex subjects imaginable.
Best Cinematography- Solo: A Star Wars Story
Bradford Young may be the best cinematographer working in the business today. From Selma, to A Most Violent Year, to his Oscar-nominated work on Arrival, Young’s ability to bring cinematic worlds to life in the most striking and artful ways remains unparalleled. It’s then therefore totally bewildering why his work in Solo: A Star Wars Story has gone completely unnoticed this awards season. Say what you will about director Ron Howard’s Han Solo origin story (and many people have), there’s no denying how stunning the movie looks. Every frame of the film embodies Young’s talent, specifically the way he is able to take any movie landscape and drape in a soft dreamlike wonder. There’s something of a storybook quality mixed with a Renoir-esque feel which makes what is otherwise a perfectly decent addition to the Star Wars canon positively radiant. The various production problems were certainly well-documented and the film already had a good-sized number of detractors before it even opened. Despite all of this, Solo: A Star Wars Story was not only able to make a profit, but also managed to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. Still the soul of the film lies in its almost ethereal cinematography which serves as a testament to the skill of one man the film world should count itself incredibly lucky to have.
Best Adapted Screenplay- Wildlife
Actor Paul Dano and his real-life partner Zoe Kazan teamed up to bring Richard Ford’s poignant novel Wildlife to the screen ,taking home the Film and Literature Award at the Film by the Sea Film Festival in the process. The subtle, but telling drama is told primarily from the point of view of Joe (Ed Oxenbould), a teenage boy living in 1960s suburban middle America who must bear witness to the demise of his parents’ Jeanette (Carey Mulligan) and Jerry (Jake Gyllenhaal) marriage and the life changes which result from it. Wildlife (which also serves as Dano’s directorial debut) is less dialogue-heavy than most literary adaptations, but still has plenty to say. Long stretches of characters pondering and daydreaming manage to convey more than most stretches of dialogue ever could in terms of lost hopes and dreams left unexplored. At the same time, the plot-driven script manages to bring the story’s essence perfectly to light. When Jerry goes away looking for work and Jeanette starts to explore who she might be apart from him, Joe finds himself seeing the world for the first time through the monumental changes taking place within his parents and the slow disintegration of his family. Set against some of the most luscious staging and production design of any indie this year, Wildlife is about the coming-of-age of a family and the emotional place they unexpectedly find themselves in.
Best Original Screenplay- Vox Lux
Although Vox Lux was entered into competition at both Venice and Stockholm Film Festivals, where it was more or less enthusiastically received, major awards acclaim eluded this daring, unforgettable film. In Vox Lux, Natalie Portman plays Celeste, whose survival of a tragic accident in her mid-teens started her on a journey to become an innovative and controversial present-day pop diva, who must face her past when a violent act occurs on the eve of her comeback tour. Writer/director Brady Corbett’s second feature is an incredibly operatic document of two specific times: a Columbine-weary millenium and a nearly desensitized 2017. Corbett’s commentary on both eras and the shift from collective national grief to a time of daily tragedies and round-the-clock controversies would be sad to behold had the new filmmaker not set it against the backdrop of the music world. Much in the way Darren Aronofsky’s mother! favored ideology over straightforward plot, Corbett’s film comes alive most when Celeste is presented as the embodiment of the changing times through her music and personal antics. Told in three acts (with pitch perfect narration from Willem Dafoe), Vox Lux is a beautiful looking examination of a transforming society as seen through the eyes of a woman whose success, artistry and VERY own life exists as a product of it.
Best Supporting Actress- Rosamund Pike for 7 Days in Entebbe
For this awards season, Pike’s publicity camp chose to focus their attention on her acclaimed work in the true-life drama A Private War (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination) rather than on the heartbreaking turn she gave in another real-life drama- 7 Days in Entebbe. The film recounts the true story of a group of Palestinian/German terrorists who hijacked a Paris-bound plane full of passengers, holding them hostage in an abandoned air strip in Uganda during the summer of 1976. As Brigitte, the lone female hijacker among the group, Pike remains the standout in an ensemble which also includes Daniel Bruhl and Eddie Marsan. The filmmakers do a great job at recreating one of the events that would come to define modern-day terrorism, but never forget to devote time to the people in the middle of it all. Nowhere is this more true than in Pike’s performance as she takes Brigitte from determined revolutionary to weary soldier whose mental strain begins to show, particularly in one of the film’s moving latter scenes. 7 Days in Entebbe doesn’t romanticize the terrorists it depicts, but instead explores their motives, reasoning and the toll it all takes when the gravity of what they’re doing sinks in; a filmmaking goal that’s more than accomplished thanks to Pike’s gut wrenching turn.
Best Supporting Actor- Lucas Hedges for Mid90s
Like Pike, the publicity team behind Lucas Hedges certainly had their work cut out for them this awards season as the actor delivered two stellar performances in a pair of dramas worth launching campaigns for: Ben is Back and Boy Erased. While Hedges picked up a Golden Globe nom for the latter, it’s his third performance of the year which deserves just as much singling out. As bullying older brother Ian in director Jonah Hill’s debut coming-of-age drama Mid90s, Hedges screen time may be limited to mainly beating up his character’s younger sibling (Sunny Suljic) and being incredibly dismissive of their mother (Katherine Waterston). Yet the actor soars when he peels back Ian’s troubled existence, which includes a deep pain mixed with insecurity and a need for a life away from the only home he knows. Ian can somewhat rightfully be classified at the villain of Mid90s, but the way Hedges plays him shows a portrait of anger and self-loathing that becomes more fascinating with every scene. In a year which saw his other characters deal with homosexuality and drug addiction, it’s Mid90s which proves to be his most trickiest assignment as it requires Hedges to straddle the line between monstrous and vulnerable. It’s another startling and captivating piece of work from one of the most exciting and versatile actors working today.
Best Actress- Michelle Pfeiffer for Where is Kyra?
After debuting at Sundance in 2017 and spending the rest of the year making the festival rounds, Andrew Dosunmu’s somber tale of a woman (Pfeiffer) pushed to the edge when her mother’s death and financial instability drive her to extreme measures was barely noticed upon its hardly-publicized April 2018 release. Even by indie standards, Where is Kyra? was always going to be a tough sell. The movie is largely character driven, heavily (and darkly) stylized and features one of the most jarring scores ever put to film. Yet it’s Pfeiffer’s brilliant turn as the title character which makes the film worth seeking out. Stripped of her typical movie star shine, the actress gives some of her rawest work to date playing a woman desperately trying to hold on to her existence in a city which seems intent on throwing her away. The film’s small-scale release meant very few people saw Where is Kyra? Despite this however, Pfeiffer did manage to get nominated for the Best Actress prize at the prestigious Gotham Awards. The nomination was something of a surprise given how the film had little-to-no support from its distributor, whose hopes for a last minute awards campaign following the nomination were shut down by the actress herself; presumably after feeling disappointed with how Dosunmu’s film was treated. Nevertheless, Where is Kyra? will forever stand as a high mark in Pfeiffer’s already legendary career and further proof of her immeasurable talent.
Best Actor- Hugh Jackman for The Front Runner
One of the trickier male protagonists of the year could be found in Jason Reitman’s The Front Runner; the retelling of real-life Senator Gary Hart’s failed 1988 presidential campaign, which saw him go from being a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination to losing it all following allegations of an extra-marital affair. The Front Runner remains one of Reitman’s most provocative films as it skillfully manages to pinpoint the shift in journalism when gossip and scandal regarding the personal lives of politicians became just as important as their ability to govern. As Hart, Jackman takes on his trickiest role to date; a man clinging to his principles by defiantly refusing to acknowledge or comment on any speculation about his private life. Before the scandal, the real-life Hart was something of a contradiction; a man whose bold ideas were seen as forward-thinking, but whose lack of natural charm and uncomfortableness in the glare of the spotlight made him hard to fully embrace. It’s quite possibly the most conflicted character of Jackman’s career, which results in the actor’s best performance. Watching as he brings forward Hart’s determination to cling to what he feels matters in the face of ever-growing sensationalism with such power is a marvel. Foolishly released on election day when the whole of the country was at home watching the midterms, both The Front Runner and Jackman’s outstanding work (which earned him Best Actor honors at the Hollywood Film Awards) passed audiences by unnoticed.
Best Director- Andrew Haigh for Lean on Pete
The Rider may have been the horse movie to emerge as the critical darling this past awards season, but that’s only because this equally moving and similarly-themed tale had long-since been forgotten. Haigh follows up his haunting martial drama 45 Years with this story of a teenager Charley (Charlie Plummer), whose troubled home life leads him to befriend a race horse about to be retired, the titular Lean on Pete. The director continues to prove himself as a master of both poetry and nuance by delving into what, on paper, could have easily been another “boy and his horse” movie and brings out themes of identity, growing up and, ultimately, finding home. The director isn’t content to opt for obvious sentimental beats to tell his story, but instead paints a world true to his young protagonist’s experiences, regardless of how emotionally painful they may be. Haigh’s ability to balance character, mood, suspense and sense of place help make Lean on Pete one of the most cinematic offerings of the year and continues to cement the director’s reputation as one of the most sensitive filmmakers of his generation. While the overwhelming love for The Rider meant Haigh had to settle for a mere British Independent Film nomination for Best Director, Lean on Pete remains one of the most stunning and lovingly crafted films of last year.
Best Picture- Stan & Ollie
If there was one title the whole of the film world more or less slept on this past awards season, it was Stan & Ollie; the biographical look into famed comedy duo Stan Laurel (Steve Coogan) and Oliver Hardy (John C. Reilly) as the pair embarked on a stage tour of the U.K. in the final stages of their careers. Filth director Jon S. Baird and Philomena writer Jeff Pope followed up their respective projects with this effortlessly poignant and utterly charming look into one of the most beloved showbiz teams of all time. The laughs generated from recreating the duo’s classic routines work, as do the surprising dramatic moments when the two are questioning each other’s loyalty, with the script and direction balancing the two superbly. Stan & Ollie is greatly bolstered by the performances of Coogan and Reilly; the only two actors who could have played these roles. The pair have chemistry, timing and dedication to spare, along with a genuine affection for the legends they’re portraying. Plenty of awards bodies seemed to have agreed. Among various other acknowledgments, Reilly received a Golden Globe nod, Coogan ended up with a BAFTA nomination and the film’s costumes, makeup and production design were each singled out by various awards groups. Despite Hollywood’s love of revisiting its own history however , the film ended up with no nominations, but still managed to prove itself as a thoughtful and wise exploration into the strength and beauty of male friendship.
