My favorite time of year, besides Christmas, is finally here. It is officially Oscar season. This year’s Oscars are hot and spicy, sad and more sad, funny and a little too funny. The 2024 Oscars have some big lenses to fill. Let’s see if this year’s Oscars is worth watching or if it’s a bust.
This year will make it The Academy Awards’ 96th year premiering . The Oscars are amongst one of the most prestigious awards to win and one of the most important Hollywood nights. However, in recent years they’ve broken out into the scene with big blockbuster hits that aren’t “traditional Oscars.” What is “traditional Oscars?” (goes inside quotations) Well, the Oscars have a long-standing history with sad and melodramatic movies. That’s just a little prequel, now for this year’s nominees.
Now I won’t make this article as long as any of the nominated movies. So, I’ll just give you some of my favorite categories and nominees from this year.
Best categories this year:
Best Picture
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Song
Best Actress
Honorable Mentions:
“Barbie” – Best Picture
“The Holdovers” – Best Picture
“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Best Picture
“Maestro” – Best Picture
“Oppenheimer” – Best Picture
“Past Lives” – Best Picture
“Poor things” – Best Picture
“The Zone of Interest” – Best Picture
Jonathan Glazer, “The Zone of Interest” – Best Director
Yorgos Lanthimos, “Poor Things” – Best Director
Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer” – Best Director
Martin Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon” – Best Director
Justine Triet, “Anatomy of a Fall” – Best Director
Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon” – Best Actress
Ryan Gosling, “Barbie” – Best Supporting Actor
America Ferrera, “Barbie”- Best Supporting Actress
Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple” – Best Supporting Actress
“What Was I Made For?” (“Barbie”) – Best Original Song
“May December” – Best Original Screenplay
In my opinion, I believe that the Oscars have an amazing nominees list. It’s the perfect mixture of what viewers like to watch, industry standard and traditional Oscars. My overall favorite category this year is Best Picture. In this category you have movies from all walks of film., including “Barbie,” a comedy mixed with realism and “Oppenheimer,” a historical period piece. Sadly, I am not on the Oscar committees so I have my own takes on all the lists this year.
Okay, I lied, I don’t really have a huge take on the lists this year because they are all nearly perfect. However I would change would be removing “Maestro” from Best Picture, (beautiful yet very controversial) add Greta Gerwig to Best Director (she had an amazing year), add Ariana Greenblatt for Best Supporting Actress (she had an amazing performance in Barbie) and lastly, remove “I’m just Ken” from Best Original Song (I adore the song just not the right award’s ceremony).
Lastly, there is nothing like talking about the Oscars without a little bit of drama. Once the nominees came out, many people were upset that we didn’t see Greta Gerwig nor Margot Robbie nominated for their works in the “Barbie” movie. Critiques went as far to mention that Ryan Gosling being nominated but not the other two quintessential parts of the movie was proving the movie’s point. I agree, both ladies should have been nominated. However, spotlighting the fact that neither one was nominated while America Ferrera was nominated is proving a different point made in the “Barbie” movie. That sometimes other Barbies can be overshadowed. So, I believe we can be upset, but also give respect for America Ferrera and all the other great nominations this year.
The Academy Awards, for the most part, recognized the many talented people who put in hard work this year to make some of the most beautiful cinematic masterpieces ever seen. Maybe next year will be better. But this years season isn’t a wrap just yet, it’s only getting started.
