A displaced Oscar writer writes about the Oscars
I realized yesterday that since moving back to Southern California I have met a ton of people, many of whom might be reading this right now who have no idea that for 30 years I have been obsessed with the Oscars.
For three decades I have watched the race closely - since I was 12…dreamed of attending the ceremony, and hoping one day to make it up to that stage.
In 2008 I started my own website, Awards Wiz and began freelancing for Awards Daily. When I first started writing for AD I covered the NY film festivals…I also managed to squeak out one, two, maybe three Oscar essays a year - almost never missing my yearly examination of Foreign Film (now International Feature). On my own site I would write about Oscar season but always through the lens of the films themselves and what they made me feel about the year at hand and my own life.
In 2010 my readership skyrocketed. To date, that is my absolute favorite Oscar year. I wrote a piece at Awards Daily about “The Social Network” and can still remember Sasha (the editor and founder of AD)’s email to me. Hey, kid- the piece is doing very well…that meant everything to me. And led many readers to Awards Wiz.
But as my decade long readers already know, things weren’t always as sunny as they might have seemed on the site. I was in a terrible relationship at home. I had alienated almost everyone out in the real world, so I turned to Twitter for solace and relationships (not healthy, my friends!). That year I also began an addiction to adderrall - initially using it to stay up and watch as many movies as I could and churn out as much content as possible. For anyone who understands addiction, you already know, it didn’t work.
I had another blast covering the Oscars a few years later when my two favorite films, “La La Land” and “Moonlight” were vying for the top spot. Unfortunately most people who now write about the Oscars can’t seem to publicly like two films competing against each other at once, and can’t seem write something positive about one film (or any subject for that matter) without trashing its closest competitor, something I struggled with myself back in 2010 when “The King’s Speech” (a film I initially enjoyed) started to beat all of my favorite films of the year. When “Moonlight” beat my favorite film, “La La Land” I was happy…I really was.
“Call Me By Your Name” came out the next year, and I had another great season. I wrote one of my most important personal essays for Awards Daily about Love and Heartbreak after talking to the producer and star of the film. I was clean, the Oscars were fun again, and I had a film that I loved that was (hopefully!) going to win at least one award on Oscar night.
The following year, the year “The Shape of Water” beat “Three Billboards,” the Oscar race got so ugly. At Awards Wiz I would try to write about the Oscars by means of the films and my life, but others, especially on Twitter, were using the Oscars as a tool to platform their causes. Suddenly “Three Billboards” was racist. People who liked/defended the film were racists. It was really, really disgusting. I found myself writing more about that…or trying not to write about that more than anything else.
The next year - last year - I began with an Oscars Mission statement. Something to guide me through the season to avoid what happened the year before. To this day I don’t know if it worked or not. I do know that I hated covering the race. I did it, but it was absolutely perfunctory and not at all fun. So, I shuttered my site.
It’s still there…you just can’t see it because it forwards to this site, but my favorite things from Awards Wiz are here, if you are interested.
I wanted to focus on my own work, which I have. I directed my first film last year, and before starting this very piece I edited the current draft of my next film directing project.
SO…where do I go from here? Do I delve into the race? I honestly don’t know. I do have some things to say about the Oscars, so here goes.
I think Jennifer Lopez gives a brilliantly complicated and nuanced performance in “Hustlers.” Variety mentioned that if “Hustlers” was directed by Scorsese she would have gotten in. And that might be true. She doesn’t have a showy moment like Pacino does in “The Irishman” but I do liken it to Pesci’s performance. Others simply don’t see it for some reason. Also… I can’t imagine Scorsese ever directing another film centering around a woman. Although he did it very well once with “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.”
I’m so happy to see Florence Pugh get in for “Little Women.” I think it’s one of the best performances of the year!!
“Frozen 2” is one of the best films I have seen this year. BUT…I haven’t seen “Missing Link,” “Toy Story 4,” or “I Lost My Body.” And I might not every watch them. That being said, I do think “Frozen 2” is better than “Klaus.”
I don’t think that Greta Gerwig’s directing is the top 5 of the year. I don’t. I think her screenplay is brilliant, and having seen the other nominees, she absolutely deserves to win. But I do find her direction at least equal to Todd Phillips’s for “Joker.”
Best Picture seems to be a wild card right now, but there is a Best Picture winner out there. We just don’t know what the Academy is thinking. I have mis-predicted this category since “La La Land” lost to “Moonlight” but it’s (almost) always fun to try to figure it out. My gut…I almost always go with my gut.. tells me that “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” will win. But, I can also see “Parasite” winning.
I am guessing that many people who saw/loved “Joker” will consider watching the Oscars as it leads the total nominations with 11…maybe even from their basements on Twitter…and if “Parasite” wins…a movie that absolutely deserves the Oscar (same with Hollywood…and maybe even “1917”) our fractured society will have two reactions. The internet will proclaim that the Oscars got it right and the internet will also claim the Oscars irrelevant and out of touch.
“Green Book” won last year. What is this year’s “Green Book.” For a film to win Best Picture it has to survive the preferential ballot. It has to be liked…not necessarily passionately loved, but it can be as long as it doesn’t offend a majority of the members
Could that film be “1917?” Could it be “Jojo Rabbit?” Did Jojo actually offend any actual Academy members, or anyone?? other than Twitter and some critics?
Many claim that some members might not even watch “Parasite” because it is an International Film with subtitles. I love when Sasha talks about the film that the entire family watches at Christmas…how that’s the film to consider. Well…my family refused to watch “Parasite.”
BUT…the Best Picture doesn’t even have to be seen!! Parasite could win best picture with votes from members who didn’t even watch the movie but heard it is zeitgeist film of the year. SO…is “Parasite,” a film that doesn’t exactly strike the obvious Oscar checkmarks, like “Moonlight,” a film too good to ignore? We shall see.