Oscar Recap #96
Hello and welcome to Cinema Wellman. I am your host David, and this episode wasn’t planned, but we figured why not?
Everyone else is doing an Oscar recap, why not Cinema Wellman?!
And our production staff has decided to make it an annual post-Oscar episode, so we’ll be doing an Oscar post-mortem every year!
We strive for transparency here at Cinema Wellman, so I will tell you that once the Oscar for Best Visual Effects was awarded, Chet and I started celebrating.
We’ve been on a Godzilla Minus One bender for days! I believe we have been banned from a restaurant in Haverhill, and a bar in Dracut, but it was worth it.
The 96th Academy Awards will forever be remembered as the night Godzilla won more Oscars than a Martin Scorsese movie with 10 nominations.
Not to pick on Marty, because we love him, but I was surprised Killers of the Flower Moon went 0/10 Sunday night. Maestro was also shutout going 0/7, and Past Lives was 0/2.
These three were the only Best Picture nominees to leave Hollywood sans hardware.
That has to be rough. I’m sure you’re extremely proud of your effort and the finished product, you worked with a great cast and crew to create something that was obviously well done and well received, you’re being honored by your peers, and you go home with nothing.
“It was an honor just to be nominated” must be something they practice saying. Ouch.
We’re going to break down this episode into the following categories:
Categories in which the Academy and Cinema Wellman agreed (8)
Categories in which the Academy agreed with a 2nd choice* by Cinema Wellman (3) *2nd choices were NOT made in all categories
Categories in which the Academy went with someone Cinema Wellman didn’t vote for, but we’re totally fine with it (11)
Categories in which the Academy went with someone Cinema Wellman didn’t vote for, and we are NOT okay with it (1)
We will begin with the 8 categories in which our votes matched the Academy, and I’m happy to say that a lot of them were in major categories.
As previously mentioned, we matched with Godzilla Minus One for Best Visual Effects. It was Godzilla’s 1st Oscar! And he’s been at it for 70 years!
Love those Gojira figurines they brought to the podium, AND their footwear! Amazing!
We were also “correct” with our vote for Poor Things in the Best Makeup & Hairstyling category. Wilem Dafoe is quite the sight.
Our Animated Feature Film vote paid off with the still to be seen The Boy and the Heron winning. Can’t wait to see that!
If you follow us on Instagram, you may have seen a Sunday post mentioning that we ended up seeing 47 of this year’s 53 nominated films before the ceremony, and we’re already up to 48.
We were so pleased that our vote for International Feature Film, The Zone of Interest won. An exceptional film that took home two Oscars!
The other four votes that “hit” were Actor (Cillian Murphy), Actress (Emma Stone), Director (Christopher Nolan), and Best Picture (Oppenheimer).
I’ll admit that none of those votes were really going out on a limb in any way, but I was happy to see the films/individuals that I thought deserved the Oscar actually won the Oscar.
I didn’t vote for them because I wanted them to win, I voted for them because I thought they deserved to win. Obviously, that overlaps, but I wasn’t making “predictions,” I just voted for who I thought should win based on my screenings.
We didn’t do a 2nd choice for all 23 of the categories, but there were a bunch that were too close to call, so we added a 2nd/unofficial vote here and there.
Cinema Wellman matched up with three of these 2nd choices; Best Score and Best Cinematography (Oppenheimer), and .... Wes Anderson has won an Oscar! Best Live Action Short, the wonderful The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.
So happy for Wes!
Eleven Oscars went to movies or individuals we did not vote for, but we have zero issues with the fact that they won.
These categories are as follows:
*Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers
Da’Vine did a wonderful job in The Holdovers as the grieving cook suffering mostly in silence at an upscale prep school.
I love her as the detective on “Only Murders in the Building,” so I’m very happy for her, and now I’ll start pronouncing her name correctly!
Sorry about that Da’Vine!
While I’m apologizing, I’d also like to apologize for mistakes I made in a recent episode.
While discussing Arylle, I somehow managed to mix up a couple of characters while talking about the plot.
Sorry about that. I’d say it was a “senior moment” but looking at this year’s presidential nominees, I’m really not that old at all!
The person who pointed this out has been added to the Cinema Wellman staff as an Executive Producer.
No, you just don’t need to point out my mistakes to be added to the staff!
Hannah has been on board since the start, and is always ready with ideas, input, and coaching, all of which are much appreciated.
Nepo baby? Hell, yes!
Dakota is already on staff as costume and production designer.
I hire people I trust (and love).
Speaking of costume design…
*Costume Design: Poor Things
I mentioned how much I loved Poor Things and how I fought the urge to vote for it across the board, so I was ecstatic when they took home the costume design Oscar.
Once it won for Makeup & Hairstyling, I almost made a last second switch of votes since M&H and CD often “go together,” but I didn’t.
I loved this choice.
*Documentary Feature Film: 20 Days in Mariupol
I have now seen all five of this year’s nominees in this category, and I have no issue with the winning movie.
Being totally honest, 20 Days in Mariupol didn’t get the vote because of the heavy subject matter of the Ukrainian invasion. It was a hard watch.
As was Bobi Wine, but that had more of an uplifting feel to it, which is why it got our vote.
That being said, I do recommend 20 Days in Mariupol.
Nobody ever said all good movies were easy to watch.
At least I never said it.
*Documentary Short Film: The Last Repair Shop
This film was fantastic, and it involved schools and students and music.
It’s about a small group of people who repair musical instruments for the Los Angeles public school system.
I was impressed by the absolute dedication these heroes show to their craft, doing their best to make sure every music student in the city has a properly working instrument.
As IMDb states: “It is also a reminder of how music can be the best medicine, stress reliever, and even an escape from poverty.”
This was a heartwarming and uplifting film.
*Film Editing: Oppenheimer
No problem with this whatsoever. It was an extremely well-done film on so many levels, editing being one of them.
*Original Song: “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie
If you recall, I mentioned during the last episode that I wanted to vote for a Barbie song but felt silly choosing it over a culturally significant song celebrating a people.
The Academy obviously didn’t feel silly doing that.
*Production Design: Poor Things
This could have gone so many ways. Our choice was Oppenheimer, the production design in Barbie was tremendous, but the Academy chose Poor Things, and we love that choice as well.
The design team created a very odd setting for this film. Those combo-animals fit right in!
*Animated Short Film: WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
I just saw this film the other day, and I loved the message behind it, and I’m sure John & Yoko would approve.
*Sound: The Zone of Interest
The sound in this movie was phenomenal because it needed to make sure you heard certain things (gunshots, screaming, crying, moaning) without ever being able to see them.
I noticed that when I saw this film and should have voted for it.
It’s really the only choice I second guessed.
*Adapted Screenplay: American Fiction
*Original Screenplay: Anatomy of a Fall
I rarely get either of these writing categories correct, and I’m not sure why.
I pay attention to the writing in just about every film I see, but I can never tell which way the Academy is going to go.
American Fiction and Anatomy of a Fall were excellent choices.
As were the other eight films that didn’t win.
And the ONE winner that we here at Cinema Wellman had a problem with:
*Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer
First and foremost, I’m just not a fan. He’s been around forever and made a ton of movies, and I really only liked two of them.
Air America and Zodiac.
He’s a three-time Oscar nominee, Chaplin and Tropic Thunder before this, so he must be talented, but I just don’t see it. I find him to be exactly like his Tony Stark character.
And I hate his Tony Stark character.
Secondly, there were SO many supporting parts in Oppenheimer that I thought, either nominate ALL of them or none of them.
I thought Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr. were the weakest of all of the acting nominations.
I barely noticed them since there was so much going on in that story.
But what do I know?
Well, that is a wrap from here at Cinema Wellman for our Oscar recap!
We’ll do it all again next March and (obviously) compare the results.
We hope that you’re back with us next week as we salute an Oscar winning actor who has a penchant for playing real people.
Until then, take care.
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