Just as the NBA represents the highest level of basketball in the world, Hollywood also represents the highest level of global film production, so when the annual Oscars arrive, they represent a super gala of global movies.
When the nomination list for the 91st Academy Awards was finally announced, the original hanging heart was a little discouraged. Counting this list before and after, I have to say, people are powerless to complain. The only bright spot to say is probably the Marvel movie that the comic book blockbuster "Black Panther" was nominated for best movie for the first time, and then the female singer Lady Gaga was nominated for best actress for the first time.
Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born. Graph source network
"Black Panther" was nominated for Best Picture, which is considered to be the best of the people, but the "public expectations" here are only the "public expectations" of Americans. In the eyes of American audiences, "Black Panther" is not only a comic book blockbuster, but also cleverly integrates most of the history of the black affirmative action movement into the film. However, once film as an art is made, it no longer belongs only to American audiences, but also affects audiences around the world.
"Black Panther" did not set off a movie boom after its release in China, but it was because its artistic penetration was not strong enough. Chinese audiences have not experienced the black movement in the United States, and they cannot empathize with the political refractions in it, and only care about whether the story is good or not. Films that only conquer Americans are not outstanding masterpieces. From the perspective of the routine and depth of the story, "Black Panther" is far from reaching the epic height of the original "Lord of the Rings 3: The King is Invincible", and the comprehensive level does not surpass "The Dark Knight" and "Watchmen".
Black Panther doesn't score high on China's rating sites.
The overly stylized "Roma" won 10 nominations including Best Picture along with the court masterpiece "Darling", leading the nomination list. Moreover, "Roma" was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film, catching up with "Love" at the 85th Oscars in 2013. In the end, "Love" won the award for Best Foreign Language Film. The Oscars have never won two awards at the same time, Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film. Therefore, "Roma" is very likely to follow in the footsteps of "Love" and win the best foreign language film, and the best picture is currently very likely to go to "Green Book".
"Green Book" is a work that deals with both racial issues, racial reconciliation, and friendship across classes, which is both politically correct and a delicate art sketch. "Green Book" is fun and interesting, but compared to many Oscar best films in history, it is still a little bit worse. As for "Darling", it is reflected in the fact that the acting skills are greater than the story, three women in one play, and three powerful actors (Olivia Coleman, Emma Stone, rachel Weiz) contributed wonderful acting skills, but due to the film script, it was still unable to shoot a good work, some big and inappropriate. For several other works, they are a bit naïve and not enough to reach the final podium in one fell swoop.
According to the latest news, "Green Book" has been finalized in Chinese mainland.
In the battle for best director, there is a point worth saying, that is, whether Alfonso Cuarón can successfully win the little golden man. At present, he is the most likely to win the award. If it can win the award, it will set a record for the "Mexican Three" to win the Oscar for best director five times in six consecutive years, which will become a hot topic for many years. Moreover, this year's Alfonso Cuarón also achieved a new feat, as a director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer with "Roma" personally received 4 nominations, leveling the single Oscar single nomination record. Previously, Orson Wells has also received 4 nominations for "Citizen Kane", Warren Beatty for "Wrong Birth in Heaven" and "Beacon Of Fire".
As for best actor, for now, it will form a situation of Three Finalists: Christian Bale ("Vice President"), Rami Marek ("Bohemian Rhapsody"), and Vigo Morteson ("Green Book"), with Bell leading half a position. On the strength of acting, Bell's rubber-like body and down-to-earth acting skills should have been recognized by the Oscars long ago, but this time "Vice President" still suffered from the imperfection of the work, and the nagging momentum made this film not particularly brilliant, which will invisibly drag down Bell's wonderful interpretation. As for regrets, the awards season nominations for popular Ethan Hawke ("First Reformed Church") and "Sweet Tea" Timothy Chalame ("Pretty Boy") missed this year's Oscar nomination for Best Actor, becoming two major jewels.
Stills from "Vice President" Graph source network
This year's Best Actress may be the least interesting item in this year's Oscar nomination list. Olivia Coleman, the veteran actor who was nominated for the first time, her acting skills in "Darling" are as dazzling as hanging, becoming the heroine of the awards season, has won the award and won the soft hand, domineering like last year's "Three Billboards" "Cohen Sister-in-law" Francis McDormand. It is worth mentioning that Glenn Cross ("The Virtuous Wife"), who also received the nomination, this is the seventh nomination of the 71-year-old actor bone, but it has not been recognized so far, this time he met Coleman again, it is estimated that he returned empty-handed, which is really a bit of a sigh. Lady Gaga, on the other hand, was honored to be the first artist in oscars' 91-year history to be nominated for both "Best Actress" and "Best Original Song."
In the list of best supporting actor nominations, for now, it should be a duo between Mahershala Ali ("Green Book") and Sam Elliott ("The Birth of a Star"), each winning and losing in the outpost battle, and they have not yet separated each other.
In the list of best supporting actress nominations, Emma Stone and Rachel Weiz, the two main stars of "Darling", continued to compete for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in "Palace Fight", and Amy Adams was nominated for the sixth Oscar for her outstanding performance in "Vice President". But in recent years, black actresses have gained more preference for the oscar supporting actress finalists, and this year it is also the black actor Regina King ("If Beale Street Can Talk") who has the highest praise.
Emma Stone in "The Darling". Graph source network
Best Foreign Language Film, with the existence of "Roma", it is estimated that other films have to give way. "Thief Family" and "Cold War" these acclaimed and popular masterpieces can only lament that it is not the right time. And "Burning" didn't even squeeze into the shortlist.
In the nomination for the best animated feature, Disney and Pixar's "Invincible Destruction King 2" and "The Incredibles 2" although it is reasonable, but Sony suddenly exerted force and dedicated "Spider-Man: Parallel Universe" to play a new realm of works, which is an accident, it is estimated that Sony itself did not think that it was most likely to win. It is a pity that the "Isle of Dogs" that the master of art Wes Anderson worked hard to shoot, in front of the open sony, had to be defeated and not born at the right time.
Another achievement is commendable, and this year's Chinese filmmakers are also shining in the nominations. Director Liu Bing's documentary "Skateboarding Boy" was successfully nominated for this year's Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and Director Shi Zhiyu's Pixar animation "Bao Bao" was nominated for the Best Animated Short Film Award. However, the all-Asian work "Picking Gold" failed to receive nominations, living up to the previous call and becoming another regret.
Stills from "Bao Bao Bao". Graph source network
In general, looking at the list of Oscar nominations this year, there are small surprises and no big surprises, the overall blandness is flat, and there are not many slot points.
□ Li Xiaotian (Film Critic)
Beijing News Editor Wu Longzhen Proofreader Wang Xin