DISCLAIMER: this is not an anti-Academy post. I understand that these quotes only fully represent the views of a single voter, and when I inevitably become frustrated, it is directed towards the voter, not the organisation that they happen to be a part of. I doubt many of these opinions will hold much water when compared to the final winners. You can find the original article here.
Little Women was badly acted and confusing, and I have no idea why they cast four British actresses to play American girls.
A hot take right out of the gate. I’ve never understood the criticism that Little Women is confusing (in fact, I almost wrote a whole post about it) – anyone with half a brain can recognise the timeline shifts through the changes in location, colour grading, costuming, hair etc. Additionally, what the hell is she on about with ‘four British actresses’? Emma Watson and Florence Pugh are British, sure, but Saoirse Ronan is Irish-American and Eliza Scanlan is Australian.
And every time they said they were poor, I gagged — they’re living in a beautiful two-story house, and they have a cook. Jojo Rabbit was cute, but I found myself unable to laugh about Hitler — I don’t think that’s funny. Marriage Story was phony: You don’t have an off-Broadway director and an off-Broadway actress living in a nice house with no day job — if an off-Broadway actor makes $150 a week, that’s a lot.
I feel this has descended into the CinemaSins/YourMovieSucks brand of film criticism where you nitpick random details and inconsistencies rather than actually reviewing the movie.
If someone besides Martin Scorsese had directed The Irishman, it wouldn’t have all the accolades; it does because of his years in the business.
Anybody who’s ever studied art at a secondary or tertiary level knows that the context of the artist is pretty important to appreciating the artwork, so this criticism is pretty wonky. Also, critics would have loved Irishman with or without Scorsese, they just might not have seen it.
I don’t think foreign films should be nominated with the regular films
I have an idea for a drinking game with this article – take a shot every time this actress says something that sounds either vaguely racist or expresses the opinion that America is better than every other country.
I can’t vote for Marty — nobody wants to say it, but it’s just not that good.
And now we’re in the Hollywood Elsewhere brand of film criticism where if the majority opinion disagrees with you there must be some sort of hidden agenda or conspiracy at play.
I want an American director to win. The Oscars is an American thing; English things win BAFTAs and the French vote for the French
*knocks back a shot*
I wasn’t particularly impressed by Adam Driver. Leonardo DiCaprio has won already. I loved Jonathan Pryce, but I don’t know if I want to give it to the pope. So for me, it was between Antonio Banderas and Joaquin Phoenix, and I had to go with Joaquin because that is a performance that sticks in your mind. Antonio’s was much more subtle and poignant; Joaquin hit it out of the park.
The hot takes are hitting as if shot from a Gatling gun now. Not impressed by Adam Driver? Not voting for Leo because he’s already won (tell that to Hepburn, Nicholson, Streep and Day-Lewis)? I understand that the Catholic Church can be a bit dodgy at times but I didn’t realise it was problematic to vote for an actor pretending to be a Pope, and a fairly popular one at that (I think, I don’t know a whole lot about Popes outside of what I learned watching The Two Popes and skimming Francis’ Wikipedia page). I’m surprised that this woman even took into consideration a non-American actor in a non-American film, but she did go for Joaquin Phoenix in the end, citing Antonio Banderas’ subtlety as if it is a negative compared to Phoenix’s comparatively showy performance – quite strange.
Saoirse Ronan is wonderful, and I’ve liked her in so many things, but not Little Women. I can’t vote for Scarlett Johansson for a story I thought was not truthful. I won’t vote for Cynthia Erivo because I think that they should have gotten an American actress to play Harriet, not an English actress. Charlize Theron did a good imitation, but I find the real Megyn irritating, so I found her irritating, too. Renée was just wonderful in the movie — her singing and everything, she’s just great.
Here we go again with the Little Women actress hate – this time directed at the only semi-American lead in the film – not very consistent, is she? She’s not voting for Johansson because she somehow decoded that the (rumoured to be semi-autobiographical) story was not truthful because of the apartment one of the characters lived in or something. Knock back a shot for Cynthia Erivo. Also, imagine thinking Renée Zellweger was Oscar-worthy in Judy (admittedly, that’s more a hot take on my part than her’s).
Joe Pesci was good, but I don’t think that he did anything he hasn’t done before, just less of it.
Again with the criticising actors for being subtle!
I was irritated by Florence Pugh; she is so much older than her character is supposed to be that it was laughable. “You’re, like, 30 years old, why aren’t you a grown-up?”
Agree: it was a weird choice for Gerwig to cast the same actresses in the flashbacks as in the present. Disagree: Pugh wasn’t interesting. She’s the best performance out of the Supporting Actress nominees.
Laura Dern was annoyingly over-the-top. If I was her client in a divorce case, I would have walked out five minutes into her rant and hired Ray Liotta.
I’m starting to think that she’s sexist as well as racist.
I usually love Margot Robbie, but I didn’t really like her in Bombshell; it was just a caricature.
That performance was in no way a caricature. Moreover, a caricature of who? Sexual assault survivors? She was playing a fictional composite character.
So I voted for Scarlett Johansson, even though I didn’t like Jojo Rabbit very much, because she did something kind of different than I’ve ever seen her do before.
Would you care to elaborate on that please, ma’am? No? Alright then.
Little Women was back and forth [chronologically], and you didn’t know what was going on.
*sigh*
I actually went for The Two Popes over Joker because I didn’t think a movie about two popes could be interesting, but it was — and funny.
I thought she didn’t want to vote for Popes? Also, I remove points for not voting for The Irishman in this category.
But Quentin did an amazing job with his fairy tale, and that’s really what it is — it begins “Once Upon a Time,” after all.
Insightful screenplay analysis, thank you for that.
I didn’t like American Factory — when the Chinese boss says “We’re better than them” and they show the American workers as big fat slobs, I thought to myself, “Why is Obama attaching himself to this?”
*knocks back a shot*
Honeyland got my vote, though, because it’s a beautiful story about saving the environment that is told so simply, without hammering us over the head like Greta whatever.
I’ll just leave that here.
There was nothing special about the visuals of The Irishman or Joker.
I beg your pardon?!?
The Irishman was too long; Thelma Schoonmaker has worked with him Scorsese for years and should have reined him in.
Newsflash to the Academy members: generally, the editor does not have control over the director. Also, the editing in The Irishman was exceptional.
I wasn’t blown away by Bombshell, even if all the women had Fox News hair.
What the hell does ‘Fox News’ hair look like?
Apparently The Hollywood Reporter has published another one of these with a different Academy member, so I might do another one of these reactions, though it may have to happen after the Oscars due to time constraints.
Beyond the Popcorn 