31 Comments

Im on youtube alot so seeing its highest-praised movie (The Substance) and most maligned (Emilia Perez) get both globes and oscars is truly something. them ignoring good sequels is annoying, even if Furiosa was half as good as Fury Road doesnt mean it wasnt still metal AF

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Agreed about Furiosa. Not as good as Fury Road, but that's an insanely high bar and it still kicked ass.

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I have watched Furiosa a few times now, and I truly think there's an argument to be made that it's better than Fury Road. If nothing else, it elevates Fury Road by compounding just how brutal it is for her when she finally reaches the Place of Many Mothers and finds it to be a complete wasteland.

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It may not be as good as FURY ROAD, but (Tim Meadows in WALK HARD voice) it makes FURY ROAD *even better*.

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- I've seen 6/10 BP nominees, and I'd rank them:

Nickel Boys

The Substance

The Brutalist

Conclave

Wicked

Emilia Perez

Still plan to get to Anora and I'm Still Here. I need to rewatch Dune 1 before I get to Dune 2. No interest in A Complete Unknown - I'll only get to it if I get to all the others, out of a sense of completion.

- My hottest takes on Emilia Perez are that the cinematography was good, the songs were well-staged, and Zoe Saldana deserves her nomination and probable win. Otherwise, I gave it a 3/5 on Letterboxd - without wading into the various controversies, I found it audacious and intriguingly messy, but less interesting as it goes along. Selena Gomez has an all-timer line reading in it.

- The three biggest snubs, in terms of things I thought might actually get nominated, were Nickel Boys for Cinematography, Challengers for Score, and Clarence Maclin for Supporting Actor.

- My "only I'm excited about this" pick is Like A Bird for Original Song. I saw Abraham Alexander open for someone else last year, and it was a "that's a STAR" moment.

- I saw a whopping three documentaries last year: Child Star (nothing new, but entertaining), I Am Celine Dion (the scene where she has a seizure is harrowing, otherwise a standard music doc), and Seeking Mavis Beacon (sucked ass, do not watch).

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Yeah, I agree about Emilia Perez.

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And since Twitter is doing it, my ten favorite 2024 movies that got zero nominations:

Challengers

Exhibiting Forgiveness

Femme

Ghostlight

High Tide

Love Lies Bleeding

Rebel Ridge

Rob Peace

Sometimes I Think About Dying

Woman of the Hour

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I really did not get Love Lies Bleeding. I didn't finish Rob Peace, but what I saw was good. It's based on a really great book.

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Very glad I didn't read the title of that book before watching the movie. Thumbing through my list, I think Monkey Man was my only "I don't get it" of the year - the first half was DTV garbage. I was also the only person who really liked Here.

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Holy crap i thought i was the one single individual that watched Sometimes I Think About Dying. I love it and even bought it from Prime. I cant believe Daisy Ridley went from the gigantic loud Star Wars movies to one of the quietest roles (and films) ive ever seen. Anyway, it takes a specific kind if person to like it so i wish you well on your journey

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I never heard of this film. I'll see if I can convince my wife to watch it with me. I am not in charge around here.

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Really love a movie as gross as the Substance getting so much awards season love. How many olds are gonna' watch it because it was nominated and be like, "holy shit wtf."

And maybe I'm biased, but Dune 2 should've been nominated in best adapted screenplay. They made a lot of changes that modernized the source material but felt right spiritually.

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Finally watched The Substance last night. I liked it for being so over the top, but it's extra funny how its basically a gory Goosebumps story yet somehow landed 5 Academy Award nominations. Definitely want to eat some eggs after seeing it though.

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Moore was great in it, but I found The Substance overrated. There is zero reason why it needed to be 2.5 hours when it said everything it was going to say with the subtlety of a sledgehammer in the first 15 minutes. The body-horror effects are fun and worth sticking around for, but it just keeps going and going.

Plus watching "The Substance" (and "Love Lies Bleeding" and "I Saw the TV Glow" and several other recent films) made me notice how many movies released by Neon/A24 are ripping off Nicolas Winding Refn. It seems like a large number of indie movies come in 3 aesthetic varieties now: (1) "Bronson," (2) Valhalla Rising, or (3) "Drive/Only God Forgives/Neon Demon," with number 3 being by far the most popular. I don't think Refn gets any credit for it, but he's probably the most influential indie director of the past 20 years based strictly on how many young indie directors are imitating him.

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Agreed on The Substance, I should have fast forwarded it. It's not like it "hit harder" because of added build up, I was just bored

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I read that the ceremony will not include performances of the Best Song nominees this year, and I wondered if it was purely because someone was worried that “La Vaginoplastia" would be nominated.

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Beat me to it. That one minute of unintentional atonal hilarity makes their nominations worth it

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They really are giving Denis Villeneuve/Dune 2 the Peter Jackson/Lord of the Rings treatment: the Academy won't reward it for anything until the 3rd movie, which from my wikipedia plot summary reading of the book sounds like it may be too ridiculous and dark to be an audience pleaser. Major bummer, because how do you not give Dune 2 a Best Director or Costume or Makeup nomination!??!

Also damn you guys really are going to make me have to watch all 3.5 hours of The Brutalist sooner or later. Ugh.

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Yeah, I wonder about the third film too. Especially on how they would handle the sister who is basically like Hasbulla.

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Anna Taylor Joy as Space Hasbullah just made my day, thank you.

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People are going to look back on Furiosa in two years and realize how much they missed about it, and by then it will be too late to be blessed with a masterpiece of its kind ever again (it may be already). Instead, we'll be complaining about the worthlessness of a live-action prequel to the live-action remake of Aladdin or something equally derivative and stupid.

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If you have a chance I do highly recommend Nickel Boys. It's a really incredible movie.

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I've been meaning to! Waiting to see it before I make my best of the year list.

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I didn't realize that was directed by the guy that did "Hale County This Morning, This Evening"

Was ambivalent on seeing Nickel Boys- I think I listened to the book but forgot most all of it - but Hale County was singular enough that I'll definitely check out what whatever Ross does

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I liked the book but the movie is a huge swerve from the storytelling in the novel. Not so much the actual plot, which is the same but the way it’s adapted is a really unique way of getting the ideas in the book across in a way you could only do in a movie.

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The Oscars stink. It blows my mind that people whose whole lives revolve around movies seem unable to recognize good art. Remember when fucking Green Book won?

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I don't really get mad about Oscar snubs 'n flubs, but I'm more confused why no score nomination for Challengers. I thought we as a society agreed that was the best one?

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Emilia Perez absolutely stinks. Youre right about Furiosa. They absolutely beefed it not nominating it for at least costuming or hair/makeup. Would have loved to have seen a nom for Hemsworth.

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I wish I hadn't seen all of "Wicked." The entire run time of the stage show is the length of this movie, which is only PART 1. Holy hell, why.

And I'll argue with you about the songs — they are absolutely forgettable. I don't think I can remember a single one. I can't even remember the name of the one that's supposed to be the big number, and it's repeated over and over in the song itself. That's how unmemorable they are.

Bummed about all the Nosferatu snubs. I like it, although I wasn't as enthralled as I expected to be like with other Eggers joints. I do need to see Anora. Maybe I'll do that tonight.

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I completely agree about the Wicked songs. I kept saying to my wife that they all pretty much sounded the same to me. However, I don't like musicals, like, at all, so I'm not the best judge.

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MAH WAIFE!

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