The Oscars, in many ways, are a spectator sport.
During the run-up to the Academy Awards, there are competitors, cheerleaders and fans, high spirits, high stakes and high blood pressures. And eventually, of course, there will be winners and the losers.
And many of us will be watching.
Millions tune into the Oscars every year (even if those numbers have been gradually declining), cheering on their favorites, booing the wins by those considered undeserving, and thrilling at the occasional last minute upset. One could argue, though, that the best part of the whole thing is the week or two leading up to the big broadcast itself. It is a time when we engage in lively conversation with friends and colleagues about those nominated films we’ve seen, the relative accuracy or inaccuracy of some of those nominations, and the movies we most fervently hope will end up taking home a heavy gold statue of a naked, sword-wielding man with no genitalia.
Film critics, young and old, are no exception to this.
Since last October, the Argus-Courier has been running a new film column under the name “So, I Just Saw This Movie,” succinctly and directly subtitled “Millennials Talk Cinema.” Simply put, we have assembled a small pool of young Petaluma-based film fans (they either work or live in town), and each week we present some of their thoughts on recently released films. The response from readers has been uniformly positive, so last week, we brought together three of our four “Millennials” - and no, they don’t mind the term at all - to talk about the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony, airing this Sunday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m., on ABC. Gathered together were Katie Wigglesworth, Anderson Templeton and Alexa Chipman (who also writes regular theater reviews for the Argus-Courier). Unable to attend the meeting - but fully present through a series of pointed texts - was the fourth member of our pool, Amber-Rose Reed.
Here is what they said, what they think about this year’s nominees and the one film they unanimously believe is most deserving of the Best Film prize.
“It was a really good year for movies,” says Katie Wigglesworth, reviewing her official Academy Awards ballot, along with Anderson Templeton and Alexa Chipman. All are seated in the Argus-Courier’s conference room, preparing to talk about this year’s nominees, especially the eight films nominated for Best Picture: “A Star is Born,” “BlacKKKlansman,” “Black Panther,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “The Favourite,” “Green Book,” “Roma” and “ Vice.” An impressive list. Adds Wigglesworth, “Considering how many great movies came out in 2018, it’s just too bad that more of the good ones didn’t get nominated for Oscars.”
“I know, right?” says Templeton. “What’s with ‘The Quiet Place’ not getting any nominations? Or ‘Eighth Grade’ or ‘Mid-90s’?”
The list rapidly builds, each person present tossing out the names of other deserving films or performances from 2018 that failed to pick up a nomination.
The science fiction thriller “Annihilation.” India’s groundbreaking “Pad Man.” The horror film “Hereditary.”
Before the group gets too far into the discussion, a series of texts from Amber-Rose Reed are read aloud. In answer to the question of which film will win the Best Picture award, she guesses that Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” or Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” will win. As for which film she thinks deserves to win, Reed writes, “I really want ‘Black Panther’ to win. It’s thematically relevant, has complex characters, carries real story-telling weight - and not even JUST for a superhero movie.”
In an additional text, she says, “Also, I love Christian Bale. That’s beside any point, but I hope he wins.”
Bale is nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for playing Dick Cheney in “Vice.”
The talk turns to how many of the Best Picture nominees everyone has seen. Wigglesworth still has to see “Roma” and “Green Book.” Templeton has yet to catch “Vice,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “The Favourite.” Chipman has seen half of the nominees, leaving “”Green Book,” “A Star is Born,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Vice.”
“I don’t necessarily try to see all of the Best Picture nominees,” allows Chipman. “Instead, I tend to go toward trying to see all of the Best Visual Effects nominees, which I know is kind of embarrassing. I really like special effects.”
“No it’s not embarrassing, it’s awesome,” encourages Wigglesworth.
For the record, this year’s Best Visual Effects nominees are: “Avengers: Infinity War,” “Christopher Robbin,” “First Man,” “Ready Player One” and “Solo.”
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