This Sunday, countless motion picture participants will be vying for an award at one of the most star-studded awards shows of the year, “The Oscars.” Each year, the voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominate and select a winner in various categories, honoring the actors, films and production teams that defined the year. “The Oscars” are always bound to stir up conversation, so this week, the Opinion section answers: What is your Oscars hot take?
Tomas Hinckley, Opinion Editor: Maybe I’m just a big hater (true and real), but frankly I just don’t want Emilia Perez to win. This isn’t some anti-woke tirade against the first openly trans women to be nominated for Best Actress, but that movie was just bad. It’s a musical, but the music does not sound good. It’s supposed to be a progressive film, but many have criticized the representation of transness in it. Also, I just find it really funny how some characters are talking in non-Mexican Spanish accents for the entirety of the movie while the movie is supposed to be set in Mexico. Specifically, the Spainard accent is super distinct among all dialects, so it’s a bit of jarring change for those with the ears to hear it. Plus, this movie had an audience score on Rotten Tomatoes of 16%, which I know isn’t everything, but like, that’s bad.
Evelyn Pazan, Associate Opinion Editor: I don’t know how “hot” of a take this is, but I am of the conviction that “Wicked” should win the majority of what it is nominated for this year, particularly the awards for best costume design and Ariana Grande for best supporting actress. Paul Tazewell did an incredible job designing costumes for “Wicked.” Galinda’s ditsy persona would not be complete without her pink frilly dressing gown, and the dressing gown wouldn’t have been complete if anyone else was wearing it. Grande performed her role flawlessly, balancing humor, power and just enough likeability to do everyone’s favorite musical justice. What was almost a three hour movie transported me into another world.
Patrick Minnerly, Weekly Columnist: It’s a fact that Denis Villeneuve’s Dune 2 was already snubbed, despite getting a nomination for Best Picture. As a major fan of science fiction, Dune 2 was everything I wanted and more, building off the first Dune movie and bringing an enormously satisfying end to a story that previously proved difficult to adapt from the book version. Whatever happens, this movie deserved all of the nominations. Instead, it got five – a full eight less than Oscars frontrunner Emilia Perez. Villeneuve wasn’t even nominated for Best Director, when anyone who watched Dune 2 clearly saw his genius directing, whether it was beautiful cinematography or expertly crafted emotional moments. Also, no Best Actor nomination for Timothee Chalamet’s performance as Paul Atreides? Come on.
Raegan Skelly, Contributor: I need Jesse Eisenberg to win Best Original Screenplay for “A Real Pain” more than anything else. I will admit, I usually tend to only take interest in acting nominations, or Best Original Song but this year is different. I think Eisenberg is severely underrated, people always say he plays the same character, but he has been in so many good movies. He and Kristen Stewart should be in serious contention for the best acting duo of all time (please watch “Adventureland”). Besides my affinity for his acting performances, he also really deserves this win, “A Real Pain” is such a good portrayal of grief and Kieran Culkin’s performance may be the highlight, but there is no performance to be had without the script. I would also adore a Timothee Chalamet win for “A Complete Unknown” because he may just be the most likeable guy in Hollywood (and I’m still mad he wasn’t nominated for “Little Women”).