Well wonderful people, the Oscar nominations are in and for the most part, they’re exactly what we thought they would be give or take a few. So here’s my quick analysis of them.

The Good
1. All of the love for Hell or High Water, Moonlight, and Hidden Figures.
2. A record 6 black actors were nominated and British Indian Dev Patel made it in as well. 4 of the 5 documentaries are directed by folks from the African diaspora.
3. Kubo and the Two Strings making it into Visual Effects, the first animated film to do that since The Nightmare Before Christmas. Laika has been changing the game lately with their animated films by combining stop motion and VFX and it’s nice to see them rewarded.
4. Mica Levi is an Oscar nominee!

The Bad
1. La La Land is very good, but 14 nominations, tied for the all time record good? Not even close. I get that this year has been kind of wonky but this is a lot of rewarding in noms when there was a ton of other great work.

2. Amy Adams not making it into actress lineup kinda sucks. This year was uber competitive but with Arrival tying for the second most nominations, I’m surprised she didn’t make it in. Also, I know we all love Meryl, and that Globes speech was something else, but why did she get nominated again? There’s so many other actresses that could have had that spot.

The Ugly
There is nothing really ugly about these nominations. The only ugly thing I’m currently seeing is these big media companies tripping over themselves to declare that #OscarsSoWhite is over because of this year’s more than usual diverse lineup. I am here to tell you friends that it is not the case. Do you see any Latino, Native American actors nominated? How about anyone in the LGBTQ community or someone who isn’t able bodied? Something as pervasive as inequality cannot be “over” in a single year just like the election of Barack Obama didn’t make this country less racist.

2 thoughts on “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Oscar Nominations”

  1. I was sad to see there wasn’t some recognition for the actors of 20th Century Women, though I guess I should be grateful to see that extraordinary film nominated anywhere.

    And while erotic thrillers from Korea aren’t anyone’s definition of “Oscar bait,” I was expecting The Handmaiden to show up somewhere. Production Design, at the very least, should have been a no-brainer.

    1. Yeah I’m actually surprised The Handmaiden didn’t get into PD with everyone championing it so hard.

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