The Oscars have ten best picture slots to put
potential deserving movies. Before 1944, it was a regular occurrence that ten
movies were nominated. There is also the case that in 1935, twelve movies were
nominated. I get it. That was a long, long time ago.
In 2009 and 2010, the Oscars nominated ten movies
for the first time since 1943, reestablishing the precedent for nominating ten.
This year the Oscars decided to only nominate nine movies. This was a
particularly phenomenal movie year, which makes it that much more surprising
that they didn't fill out all ten slots. Let’s get to the other nominees
and some other potential snubs.
OTHER MOVIES
Honestly the field is pretty stacked this year.
Movies like 1917, Marriage Story, JoJo Rabbit, Once Upon a Time in
Hollywood, Parasite, The Irishman, and Little Women are phenomenal
movies that deserve recognition of the highest degree. That leaves Joker and
Ford v Ferrari. I can get further into these movies on separate reviews
later, so I'll just gloss over them now with no spoilers.
Joker is a great
movie with a spectacular individual performance. No one denies Joaquin
Phoenix's stellar work, but is that enough to claim it as one of the ten best
pictures of the year?
Ford v Ferrari is another
great movie with exceptional camera work and exquisite editing. Christian Bale
(not nominated) is wonderful in this movie. Beyond being beautifully shot and
having one great acting performance, I'm not sure Ford v Ferrari
deserves to be in the top ten either.
So who does deserve those two spots instead?
Personally, I would have gone with Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler (not
nominated), which takes you on an anxiety driven trip through the world of
sports gambling, and The Two Popes (both leads individually nominated),
which addresses the problems of the Church through the perspectives of both
liberal and conservative Church leadership.
OK, so if I switch out those movies, there still
leaves one remaining empty slot, which Endgame deserves to occupy.
Here's why...
ENDGAME: THE FACTS
Avengers Endgame made just shy of 2.8
billion dollars at the box office in 2019, shattering records across the board,
including breaking Avatar's (best picture nominee in 2009) total box
office gross.
So a lot of people saw it. Great! But was it
good?
I'd argue that you can't make that much money and
not be good, but here is some actual objective proof. On Rotten Tomatoes, Endgame got a 90% fresh audience score and a 94%
fresh critic score. Just to compare, here are some other critic scores for the
Best Picture nominees: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (85%), 1917
(90%), Ford v Ferrari (92%) and Joker (69%). Also Endgame got
an A+ Cinema Score. Statistically it should merit a best picture nomination.
Avengers Endgame had the unenviable task
of wrapping up twenty-one other movies in a meaningful and satisfying way. This
was a massive undertaking that involved including more than thirty major
characters from all of the other films! This could have resulted in a muddled
mess of plot holes and inconsistencies but instead was clean, coherent, and
satisfying to audiences. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo along with producer
Kevin Feige deserve so much credit for expertly navigating all of the source
material prior to this movie and ultimately making a well received piece of
art.
You might ask, while it's an entertaining movie,
what makes it as cinematic and Oscar worthy as movies like Joker?
(Which, I’ll remind you, received 69% on the Rotten Tomatoes critics score)
ENDGAME: GRAPPLING WITH THE HUMAN CONDITION
Endgame deals with
a very deep emotion that everyone can relate to at one point or another: loss.
Each character processes this grief in a distinct way.
In the beginning, we see our most optimistic
hero, Captain America, struggle with the fact that he has failed, and with that
failure, lost his two best friends. He creates a support group for others who
lost loved ones before later mentioning to Black Widow that maybe it's time to
just give up and move on.
Black Widow also deals with the loss of a close
friendship, as well as her personal identity; while everything she has ever
known comes crashing down around her, she grapples with grief by attempting to
maintain appearances, even if it’s a false sense of control.
Hawkeye's downward spiral from losing his family
results in a dark turn of aggression and rage. His anguish intensifies after
losing Black Widow, his best friend.
Thor has the most visible changes as the result
of his depression. Not only does he gain a massive amount of weight, but also
loses all sense of self-worth. “The strongest Avenger” is the only one willing
to face his insecurities and accept counseling, allowing him to ultimately come
back stronger than ever.
Then what’s the difference between Endgame and
Joker?
While Joker decides to lean into the
despair and darkness, Endgame chooses to rise, picking its characters up
from the jaws of defeat so they can reach new heights. I don't believe Endgame
should be punished for coming out of the darkness. It should be celebrated
as the direction we should all move toward.
Despite being a comic book movie packed to the
brim with superheroes, at its core, this film represents the human experience.
If that isn't an Oscar worthy story, then maybe the Oscars should reevaluate
their criteria for storytelling.
If you like what you've read and you want more, then comment
and share! Let me know what you'd like me to discuss, and which of the movies
I've mentioned here you'd want me to review.
