Fforget the real Oscars. Increasingly, the highlight of awards season is the sudden influx of anonymous Oscar ballots, in which actual Oscar voters rush to various industry publications to explain why they voted the way they did. they did it.
To be clear, the fun of these pieces is not hearing movie veterans, who inherently have more knowledge about feature film production than an audience member, praise the work that most impressed them this year. No, the funny thing is that these people are cartoonishly mean and vindictive, and it's crazy to hear them indiscriminately denigrate everyone in sight.
Even though many of this year's nominated films have managed (unusually for the Oscars) to combine critical acclaim with commercial success, that means many of Sunday's awards are already a foregone conclusion. Where are they? Let's analyze the wave of anonymous votes at this year's Oscars to see what the biggest trends are.
Oppenheimer will definitely win a lot
There is no denying that this will be Oppenheimer's year. Among the four voters who spoke to Weekly Entertainment, half voted for the film to win Best Picture and three chose Christopher Nolan for Best Director. One of Anonymous sources from Indiewire went to Oppenheimer for picture, acting, cinematography, directing, editing and music, although it should be pointed out that its fellow voter did not vote a single one in favor of Oppenheimer. Impressively, Variety voters voted for Oppenheimer nearly 40 times. Barbie may have won the battle, but it looks like Oppenheimer is going to win the war.
But it might not win everything
Not long ago, it seemed that Oppenheimer's most certain victory would come from Robert Downey Jr, thanks to a combination of talent, goodwill and the fact that he has won virtually every other prize in its category. So, is an Oscar locked in? Don't be so sure. Of Anonymous votes from Next Best Picture, two went with Ryan Gosling while only one went for Downey Jr. Indiewire's two ballots were also split between Gosling and Downey Jr. Of EW's four ballots, two went to Mark Ruffalo, one to Sterling K Brown and just one to Downey Jr. In Variety's slightly unsatisfactory ballot data, the vote was split evenly between Downey Jr, Gosling, Sterling K Brown and Mark. Ruffalo. But let's not completely rule out RDJ. As the The Hollywood Reporter voter said: “I'll be honest with you: I met Downey at an awards show, we had an interaction that I didn't initiate, and that tipped the scales for me.”
Poor Things is the most controversial film of the year
For every person who loved Poor things (One Next Best Picture voter said of its cinematography, “The whole visual style of the film was so overwhelming and creative.”) It seems several others absolutely couldn't stand it. “No one was more excited than me to see Poor Things,” the anonymous director said on EW's panel. “And then I hated it! I was so shocked. I love this director, I love all these actors, how could I hate this movie so much? …I felt like he was trying to make that comment about misogyny, but it ended up being misogyny for about three hours. Meanwhile, one Indiewire voter said of the film: “I couldn't sit through it. We went on saw the theater and left after 40 minutes. Emma Stone is currently at the top of the Best Actress rankings, but that may be negated by the fact that a lot of people can't stand the movie she's in.
Godzilla might win something
The VFX category currently seems to be a two-way divide between The Creator and Godzilla Minus One. Interestingly, the divide appears to be split between those who saw Godzilla's official Oscar VFX presentation and those who didn't. The first category tended to be blown away by what the film did on such a tiny budget and that the film's director was also responsible for the visual effects. Did enough people see the presentation to tip the scales in favor of the film? Uncertain. But how cool would it be if Godzilla won his very first Oscar? Undoubtedly.
Maybe Bradley Cooper should stay home
You already know that Maestro isn't the best movie out there because you've seen it. But your opinions pale in comparison to the fury the film has inspired among actual Oscar voters. The EW exec said: “I hated Maestro, I absolutely hated it… If you go that far with makeup and prosthetics, God forbid Bradley Cooper hides his beautiful, piercing blue eyes to be precise. was a true spectacle of acting vanity. Meanwhile, EW's voting writer said, “I didn't like Maestro… ALSO (Bradley Cooper was) terrible. He didn't take his cigarette out of his mouth the whole time, I could barely hear him. He was mumbling the whole time. I thought it was a terrible performance. Indiewire voter said: “Maestro was such a Bradley Cooper ego trip “, while one of the Next Best Picture voters said: “I didn't bother to see Maestro. Two people I trust in the industry told me very strongly: 'Don't “Don't waste your time,” so I didn't. Better luck next time, Bradley.