More Catching Up With Oscar and Razzie Films

Alessandro Nivola and Adrien Brody
in The Brutalist.

In recent years, I've tried to see as many of the Oscar nominated films before the Big Night as possible. The pursuit makes me feel important, as if having partaken of all the nominees somehow transforms me into a qualified Academy voter. At the very least, I might do better at the Oscar pool. This year the race is unpredictable with several films including The Brutalist, Emilia Perez, Conclave and A Complete Unknown in the forefront for top awards. Last year, Oppenheimer had it all sewed up. Now various factors could play into the final outcome. Transgender actress Karla Sofia Gascon of Emilia Perez appeared to be a favorite, but some nasty politically incorrect tweets have emerged and she was forced to issue an apology. The Brutalist appears to be in the lead for Best Picture. It checks all the boxes--a staggering three-hours-plus running time, Holocaust subject matter, enigmatic, flawed protagonist, critique of the American Dream. Recently viewed at Kew Gardens Cinema, the massive epic of a Hungarian-Jewish architect reminded me of Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will be Blood and The Master. Both featured disagreeable protagonists scaling the heights of American economy and crushing those who stand in his way. I can't say I liked the film. The characters were so negative. I was never bored and I admired the direction, cinematography and screenplay. But I didn't enjoy myself as I do at the films of Woody Allen, Wes Anderson or Robert Altman. I've seen all but two of the Best Picture nominees (only missing I'm Still Here and Nickel Boys). Brutalist is still my prediction for the winner, but I have a feeling my preference would be Nickel Boys--it sounds fascinating with its POV angles and it won Best Picture from the notoriously picky National Society of Film Critics.

Inside Out 2: Sweet Without Being Cloying

In the less flashy Oscar categories, I've caught four of the five Animated Feature films (only missing Memoirs of a Snail.) The poetic Flow is the probable winner. The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2 were sweet without being cloying. Wallace and Gromit was too gimmicky, extending its jokes too long. In Documentary Features, I streamed Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat and Black Box Diaries, both unqiue depictions of societal cruelty. I tried to watch the Doc. Short Subject nominee Incident on YouTube, but it was very difficult. I only got through half of its 30 mins. of dashboard-surveillance footage of police shooting a man. Very uncomfortable to watch the overreaction of the police and then their attempts to cover it up. I will try to finish it.

Jerry Seinfeld (c.) in Unfrosted
Credit: Netflix

At the other end of the taste spectrum, I viewed Netflix's multiple Golden Razzie nominee (for the worst movies of the year), Unfrosted. Jerry Seinfeld's Netflix comedy throws everything at the wall to see what sticks. The ridiculous plot revolves around the creation of the pop-tart and which cereal giant, Kellogg's or Post, will get to the supermarket shelves first. Every comic actor that owed Seinfeld a favor and every early 1960s trope shows up in a chaotic screenplay co-authored by Seinfeld (he also directed). There's even a goofy satire of Jan. 6 with Hugh Grant leading an army of cereal mascots to stop the certification of the breakfast treat which may put them out of business. There were funny moments, but few and far between. Even so, it was silly fun to watch this gigantic goofball of a movie.

The cast of Unfrosted

Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis
certainly looks good.

The same could be said for Francis Ford Coppola's sci-fi passion project Megalopolis, nominated for Worst Picture and Shia LaBoeuf and one of Trump's "Ambassadors to Hollywood" (whatever that means) Jon Voight as Worst Supporting Actor. Voight is also nominated for his bad performances in Reagan, Shadowlands and Strangers. There's just too much going on in Coppola's fever dream of a futuristic fantasy with idealistic Adam Driver attempting to build a utopia against the wishes of slimy politicians Giancarlo Esposito and Voight. It's beautiful to look at and important to see because Coppola is the director-writer, but ultimately a confusing mess.

Golden Globes Full of Surprises

Seth Rogen and Catherine O'Hara
were the funniest presenters at
the Golden Globes.
Credit: CBS

It was a night of surprises at the Golden Globes with its precursor-to-the-Oscars status turning the competition for Hollywood's top honor into a real horse race. Netflix's transgendered-druglord musical Emilia Perez took the most awards with four including Best Picture--Comedy or Musical, Supporting Actress (Zoe Saldana), non-English-Language Film and Best Song. Leading actress Sofía Gascón, the first transgender performer to receive a GG nom, made an emotional plea for acceptance: 

"I chose these colors tonight, the Buddhist colors, because I have a message for you: The light always wins over darkness, You can maybe put us in jail. You can beat us up, but you can never take away our soul, our existence, our identity. And I want to say to you: Raise your voice for freedom. I am who I am, not who you want."

The Brutalist was next with three awards including Best Picture--Drama, Best Actor in a Drama (Adrian Brody), and Best Director. Brutalist and Emilia Perez move to the front of the pack for the Oscar noms which will be announced on Jan. 17.

Surprise winners were Leading Actresses Demi Moore in The Substance and Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here, for comedy/musical and drama respectively. Sebastian Stan won for Best Actor in a Comedy for A Different Man. He was also nominated in the Drama category for playing a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice. These wins for Moore and Torres skew the predictions for the Oscars since Nicole Kidman of Babygirl and Mikey Madison of Anora won most of the critics' awards. Marianne Jean-Bapiste of Hard Truths, winner of the New York, Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics Awards, was not even nominated for the GGs.

Nikki Glaser hosted the ceremony telecast on CBS and did much better than last year's lambasted emcee Jo Koy. Presenters Seth Rogen and Catherine O'Hara were the funniest, satirizing their Canadian roots by saying they had won various Golden Antler Awards for their work north of the border including Logrider and the Mooseknuckles trilogy. O'Hara then remarked she suffered nipple damage while breast-feeding an otter. (Well, I thought it was funny.) Melissa McCarthy and Awkafina were also amusing as they parodied noble causes while announcing the nominees for Best Comedy TV series. An unscripted highlight were provided by Sofía Vergara (Griselda) who jokingly heckled winner Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country) to whom she lost Actress in a Limited Series, or Made-for-TV Movie, after also losing to her at the Emmys.

Even with cutting the presentations to Viola Davis (the Cecile B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement) and Ted Danson (the Carol Burnett Award for TV Achievement) down to pre-taped clips, the evening still ran over its three-hour allotted network time by 15 minutes.