My hometown critics group announced their nominations, and as always they are solid nominations. They also are very conscientious of making sure the actual technical directors are named in their nominations, not just saying a film for, say, Best Production Design. More organizations should follow suit.
Also a matter of housekeeping, we’re getting really into the thick of awards season. How thick? Matchup #3, which starts today, only lasts THREE days and there aren’t even any nomination or win announcements scheduled for that third day (December 13), so these next two days will not feature individual reactions to one or two announcements. Instead, these blog posts will become more general. But I can’t leave out my DC critics! So let’s get to it.
Link to the nominations: Washington DC Area Film Critics Assoc and Las Vegas Film Critics Society
Why can’t both Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu be nominated?
Las Vegas only nominated Jamie Lee Curtis, but DC found room for both. The Oscars does have a history of nominating two actors or actresses from the same film, sometimes even in the same category. Last year saw Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee get Oscar nominated. Including both at the Oscars will be nearly universally applauded. If the DC critics slate matches up exactly with the Academy Awards, just about everyone would applaud the nominees. As a reminder, can you imagine Hsu and Curtis nominated alongside Angela Bassett, Kerry Condon, and arguable frontrunner Janelle Monae? Sure, Michelle Williams is probably the first name on snub lists if this was to happen, but having three women of color in one acting category is a step in the right direction and all five would be well-deserved nominations.
The Oscars need to honor Voiceover work
DC is the first ceremony of the season to award voiceover AND motion capture work, something that should absolutely be added as an acting category pretty much everywhere. All Best Motion Capture nominees were from Avatar: The Way of Water (Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, and Zoe Saldana, the latter being the presumed favorite), and the five nominees for Voice Performance were only from three films. Even so, voiceover work is an underappreciated talent. If I was leader of the world, Voiceover and Stunts would be added to next year’s Academy Awards.
Nope picks up steam
Matchup #2 saw Nope be included in the exclusive AFI Top Ten. Jordan Peele also got two writing nominations at DC and Las Vegas. The horror genre is always grossly overlooked during awards season, so it’s really nice to see Nope appear on lists for any category.
Michael Giacchino also picking up steam
The score from The Batman is so in your face and so brooding, you can’t help but root for it in score.
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