It’s been a strange time for film-making — working around COVID protocols, virtual festivals, and audiences reluctant to head out to the theatres have all been obstacles no one has figured out how to circumvent. Even the Oscars got rescheduled, and while this year everyone was in the theatre and unmasked, the ceremony still felt subdued and maybe even uneasy, surrounded by the controversy of having eight of the winners announced before the ceremony official started (though the acceptance speeches were then edited and aired as part of the broadcast). While the ceremony had some historic wins, it’ll probably be best remembered for one historic smack in the face. So obviously I got the WWAC crew to answer some pre- and post- ceremony questions — and I promise none of us tried to have the Definitive Take on any of it.
How would you describe your relationship to the Oscars and awards season? Do awards influence your movie viewing habits?
Louis Skye: I’m usually a big Oscars fan. I try and watch all the films nominated for the major categories. I tune in to watch the awards live (sometimes even when I was living at the other end of the world and could only watch it at 6 am). But the Oscars films are rarely my favourites of the year and I’m usually annoyed at some of the nominations.
Rosie Knight: I do enjoy the pageantry and ceremony of the Oscars, especially if there’s a movie that I really love and want to support. But award shows don’t impact my viewing habits and never have. I usually wish there were other movies being recognized, this year is no different. If anything there are actually way fewer movies I care about than usual.
Paulina Przystupa: I usually watch award show highlights. So I’ll watch if there’s something someone else wants to show me or if there’s a particular movie I really like that’s going to be featured in some special way. However, most movies that I like tend not to get nominated so Oscars or awards don’t usually influence my viewing habits. The one recent exception was Parasite. However, I ended up watching that years after its initial release.
Lisa Fernandes: I am an Oscar nut; I watch every year, I do pools. I watch as much as I can but I don’t let the awards wholeheartedly drive or influence my viewing habits. Every year I make my traditional cream cheese pound cake and have it with some ginger ale.
Andrea Ayres: I used to watch them all the time with my family growing up, it used to be a huge event for us. My relationship with the Oscars now, however? Totally nonexistent. Honestly, nothing influences my movie viewing habits. I am truly only interested in the Oscars for the fashion.
Elvie Mae Parian: I also used to watch them a lot with my family because it just so happened to be on, but over time my relationship with many mainstream awards shows have become so cynical as someone who has worked within the industry. It’s great when the things I like get the acknowledgement they deserve, but I think there’s still a huge problem with the structure behind these events when it comes to fair and diverse perspectives over who gets rewarded over what. I usually catch up and follow on the drama and aftermath of it all through all the memes people churn out in the hours after all.
Kat Overland: I am, unfortunately, an Oscars lover — my friends and I in high school essentially used it as a launch pad into more adventurous movies, but it was always a fun challenge to watch as many nominated films as possible. And as an adult it’s pretty fun to scope out what films you’re able to catch on a big screen; every year I always tried to catch at least one of the International Feature nominees and at least the narrative shorts, animated and live action, in theatres (along with the usual best pictures etc). Unfortunately this was the first year I wasn’t comfortable seeing the shorts AND they weren’t streaming in one package like last year, major bummer. While I don’t only watch award-nominated films I think they are a good guide of some of the notable films for the year and I am generally more likely to watch something that’s had awards buzz than I am to dig up something totally obscure, in terms of new releases.
The pandemic has made it an extremely weird few years for media — have you found your viewing habits changed?
Louis: I’ve seen a massive change in the kind of media I consume. I’ve found my tolerance for anything too intense has decreased immensely. It messes with my head and gets me down. The pandemic is already intense enough! All I can watch are comedy shows, animated films, and anything light and fluffy.
Rosie: For me, the biggest thing that the pandemic has done is created a more accessible space for movies. I have watched so many more brilliant movies that were available at home rather than via the standard cinematic release, and that has really been a blessing. That’s kind of ended now but I have still seen streamers picking up a ton of what would have usually been VOD or for purchase movies for wider release which is nice.
Paulina: It’s been a slow descent but I’ve actually sort of stopped watching things altogether. Year one of the pandemic I realized I wasn’t really interested in movies and shifted to TV shows. Now, I just really have the interest. Like Louis Skye, I tended towards lighter premises when I was watching things but now video-based media isn’t really something I do anymore.
Lisa: Yep. I have gone digital as much as I can, and have rarely been to the movies in the last two (counting three) years because of that.
Andrea: As Rosie said, being able to stream movies at home has increased the likelihood that I will see uh, any movie. The theatre stresses me out because I feel locked in. Like, you mean I can’t do anything for two hours but stare at this screen? I don’t know. It probably doesn’t say anything good about my mental health but it makes me itchy just thinking about it. I also have to say, like Louis I cannot watch anything intense. I don’t want it. Then again, I’ve always been like this, I reckon. It took me two years to watch the final season of Battlestar Galactica. Never again.
Elvie: I don’t think my viewing habits have changed, but in a lot of ways it encouraged me to finally catch up and watch things I have been meaning to that I kept putting off. I was generally already very reserved when it came to going to a theater to watch something, saving the occasion for very specific screenings tied in with some other event going on. That said, all of this definitely had made me yearn to want to go to the theater more.
Kat: I spent the beginning of the pandemic watching mostly what you might call “feel bad” movies and TV shows — The Leftovers, Criminal Minds, horror movies — but that stuttered to a crawl at the end of last year. Maybe it was pandemic fatigue or something but my household pivoted to Bake Off and anime for a while and I feel like only recently did I feel up to watching an “Oscar nominated film.” It feels harder to push through my reluctance to watch a film that doesn’t immediately grab me or that I think I might not enjoy as much; like if I’m putting in the work to watch a movie I’d better like it! I, too, have been mostly avoiding movie theatres and damn I miss it — I really miss watching blockbusters with a rowdy crowd in the audience. Also my attention span is busted so sitting in a theatre would really help
What unnominated movie would you add to this year’s slate and why?
Louis Skye: Passing not getting any nominations irritates me!
Rosie: I think this year’s Oscars are really weird because they almost replicate what many of us hoped would happen last year where smaller, weirder movies would get recognized due to the lack of cinematic releases, but instead this year it’s basically predominantly smaller drama movies picked up by huge corporate streamers or studio movies that didn’t make an impact.
In my opinion, the two best movies of the year weren’t even nominated!! Paul Verhoeven’s unreal and brilliant rumination on faith and sexuality Benedetta and The Green Knight, David Lowery’s delightfully esoteric hero’s journey!! Disrespectful and downright wrong tbh lol.
Paulina: I have no idea what even came out this year. Um. Oh! I saw In the Heights, which was a lot of fun. I don’t know where I’d place it Oscars wise but it was better than the other nominated movie I saw soooo. I’ll go with that
Lisa: In the Heights not being nominated is a national crime.
Andrea: I feel like it’s banana-pants that The Green Knight didn’t get any nominations. I also agree with Louis that Passing not getting any nominations is pretty criminal. Otherwise, I think I’m more annoyed at certain performers who didn’t get nominated than I am over specific films. To name a few, Ruth Negga for Passing, Jamie Dornan and Caitríona Balfe for Belfast.
Kat: I feel like Disney probably cut their losses in terms of campaigning for Encanto over In the Heights, especially up against West Side Story. I agree that Ruth Negga was snubbed this year! My favorite unnominated movie is one I never expected to see get a nod, but it would have been rad to see Cryptozoo in the animated features category.
What was your favorite nominated movie?
Louis Skye: I’ve barely seen any of the movies this year but I’ll go with Power of the Dog. It was weird and fascinating and the more I think of it, the more I like it.
Rosie: I don’t really have a fave but I’ll be cheering on CODA, Drive My Car, and also Kristen Stewart!!
Paulina: Of the nominated movies, I only saw Dune and I don’t know if I’d call it my favorite.
Lisa: I loved a lot of these films for entirely different reasons; West Side Story for its sheer cinematic mastery; Power of the Dog for its storytelling. CODA is beautiful though, and one of the best films I’ve seen in the last decade. Drive My Car is the kind of film I want to make someday.
Andrea: Deffo do not have a favorite but I am absolutely clutching my titties hoping that Kristen Stewart wins that Oscar.
Kat: Power of the Dog was hands down my favorite out of the Best Picture nominees — I felt like it had the craftsmanship and artistry that really makes a best picture, along with a story that left me with a hollow little pit in my stomach. It definitely grew on me the longer I thought about it. Flee I think was my favorite overall nominee; I love adult animation and this just explored so much story that never gets told.
What movie was your enemy this awards season?
Louis Skye: Nightmare Alley. Just why? It wasn’t a good movie. It wasn’t interesting. The story added nothing to my imagination.
Rosie: Absolutely agree with Louis here, I really disliked Nightmare Alley, it felt hollow, soulless, and veered between parody and sincerity that never matched up. Also, I feel like it lacked what makes so much of del Toro’s early work great: an incisive understanding of the true horror of the historical period it was set in. Instead here the historical period is merely set dressing.
Lisa: Don’t Look Up. Just. Don’t Look Up.
Andrea: Adding my flame of injustice to the Nightmare Alley disdain. The New Yorker said it was like a “cinematic Christmas tree” which I think is perfect.
Kat: Okay I was going to be meaner here but I also really disliked Nightmare Alley and I was really shocked to not enjoy it! It really fell flat for me — aesthetically aping noir but without much happening subtextually. I’m also not a huge Bradley Cooper fan and while I don’t know that his performance was bad it certainly didn’t move me.
Any thoughts on the changes this year — cutting awards, three hosts, non-film celebrities? Will you be watching?
Louis Skye: I don’t like that some of the categories are being left out of the broadcast. The awards are the whole point! And honestly, we don’t need more hosts and performances. That’s not what we’re watching for. In any case, I don’t think I’ll be tuning in for this year’s show. It’ll be long and cringey and I’d rather just catch up on my Sunday sleep.
Rosie: I think that it’s absolutely counter-productive–and shitty–to cut the awards that actually celebrate filmmaking. It also seems silly to me that this isolates the community who really love and follow the Oscars. Though I will be hoping that Malignant wins the fan, Oscar!!! I’d also rather have more awards and less musical bits etc.
Lisa: Hate it. Hate it so much. They’re desperately chasing rating glory by trying to replace important categories with stuff like A Tribute to James Bond! Just have the awards show be about the awards!
Andrea: Three hosts? Tributes IDGAF about? No we are missing out film editing, makeup/hairstyling, documentary short, animated short (and a few more). Think about what a spring board the animated short category has been for people? I mean Bao won the Oscar in 2019 for best animated short and well, we know how that ended up (with the mega hit, Turning Red). I think it’s a load of actual ass.
I also just, I can’t imagine Amy Schumer talking about Ukraine, or like. I don’t know, anything. I just don’t want it. I don’t want to hear the jokes. I’m afraid.
Elvie: Yeah some of the cuts to the show also specifically once again seem to demonstrate how much the Academy seems to have utter disdain (or at least ignorance) to the integrity of animation and non-American films.
Kat: I’ll admit I think in practice I’m not sure what all these cuts were meant to do –– I’m happy that they didn’t cut speeches for technical awards entirely but I think having them prerecorded and edited didn’t actually cut down on the show’s time or interest. I’d much rather get a five minute explanation of cinematography than sit through an extended hosting bit. But I am all for more musical performances cannot lie.
What was the highlight of the awards?
Lisa: Well, this was one heck of a weird ceremony, with some very bad production choices. For the best moment, I’m either going to go with Liza Minelli and Lady Gaga’s gentle camaraderie, Ariana DeBose making me cry with her speech, Troy Kotsur making me grin, and Jessica Chastain nailing her much-deserved Oscar for Tammy Faye. And Questlove!!
Andrea: Uhhhh.
Elvie: Hmm.
Kat: The wins for DeBose and Kotsur felt so moving, really the kind of experience I watch the Oscars for! CODA was not my favorite movie (and I think I appreciated it a lot less that my fellow round-tablers) but I can’t be mad about its success and the actors deserved all the accolades they could get. I also loved the Beyoncé opening and the performance of Dos Oruguitas by dreamboat Sebastián Yatra.
What was the absolute worst part?
Lisa: The show’s desperate attempt to draw younger viewers by throwing in awkward pre-taped moments were predictably terrible, but the weird in-Memoriam with its please-applaud spotlight moment featuring Bill Murray talking about Ivan Riteman like he was a Miss Universe contestant was even worse. The jokes were uniformly unfunny during the monologue, and none of the additional bits landed. The sexual assault “joke” involving Regina Hall kissing stars against their will was appalling. The fan favorite polls were an embarrassment because they didn’t think of using IP-static polling and instead threw the idea out into a hashtag, which falsely inflated the popularity of certain movies because several vocal stan groups with multiple accounts decided to weigh in. And who the hell thought those music cues were appropriate and not blatant microaggressions? La Isla Bonita to play on Stephanie Beatriz? Africa to play on Daniel Kaluuya and H.E.R?!
Andrea: Uhhhhh.
Elvie: (laughs)
Kat: Andrea, you were right that the jokes were terrible this year — and they barely even got political! I appreciated Wanda Sykes trying to get in a few jabs at the GOP but damn Amy Schumer could not have been more weird about shoehorning in “and trans people” into her list of people losing their rights right now. I would have preferred edgier takes over blunt horny jokes.
Did your faves win?
Lisa: Most of them did! I’m happy with all the CODA wins, Jessica Chastain, Encanto and most of the other biggies.
Andrea: Not my fav Kristen Stewart, sad face. She did, however, own that custom Chanel suit.
Kat: I was surprised that Dune beat out West Side Story for so many of the technical awards, but I guess I’m not like, mad about it. I was also shocked that Flee lost out in three seperate categories, though the winners were all very deserving as well. And, well, I’m happy for Jane Campion despite her putting her foot in her mouth earlier this awards season, but how does a film take home Best Director and nothing else?
Any other thoughts?
Andrea: I don’t care about the fan favorite awards. I DO CARE ABOUT MEGAN THEE STALLION. I would like to propose replacing any fan favorite category with a performance by Megan. Also, her custom Gaurav Gupta was one of the most gorgeous gowns I’ve ever seen and she looked absolutely stunning in it.
Elvie: The (Will) Smith slap heard ‘round the world is certainly paving the way for an interesting PR campaign for the next couple of years.
Lisa: The show was a disaster, and this should cause a “fire everyone” moment at the Academy the breadth and size of what happened after the Snow White/Rob Lowe opening in 1989, and no this has nothing to do with the Smith/Rock incident. As a production, it was a towering disaster of embarrassing proportions even before that happened and afterward. And this sucked, because we had some AMAZING winners who deserve to have their moment in the sun. But everyone is going to remember this one because of the Smith/Rock incident, as well they should. Completely divorced from what happened, the show’s fear of spontaneity was fully and otherwise on display. The best award shows enter legend because they build up and off of the star’s personalities. Next year, no desperate fan fave pandering, fewer awkward comedy bits and long production numbers, please. Also Megan Thee Stallion should be included every year.
Kat: If we’re doing fan favorites they should commit to the bit! Give me a Camila Cabello/Billy Porter performance from Cinderella! Show me some zombies! But yeah it was kind of a bizarre way to cater to an audience that I don’t really think is that invested in the Oscars. The Oscars seem to kind of hate its core audience of people who like to watch the kind of movies that get nominated, and while I know that feels sort of tautological I think it’s strange that they’re not trying to tap into what the perennial Oscars-viewer is into. That said, I still watched, so what do I know?
