Oscar noms raise questions, concerns for movie enthusiasts

Ahh, the Oscars, Hollywood’s biggest night, filled with glamour and spectacle. A  celebration of the power of cinema; it’s a treat to watch even if the celebrities might be annoying and painfully unfunny for 90% of the performance. At the very least, the fashion is interesting to look at, and overreactions by the interviewers are somewhat amusing. But in a year where the “cinema” became the couch and the living room TV, will the excitement of the ceremony really be enough to make watching three hours of celebrities pandering and giving speeches worth it?

Well, with the recent release of this year’s Oscar nominations, the answer is shaping up to be… maybe?

Surprisingly, the ceremony will be in-person, which, while avoiding some of the pitfalls of other celebrations this year that have opted to go virtual, also raises some questions about the broadcast’s safety. The Academy has so far declined to comment on the safety precautions in place, and there has yet to be any word about the performance procedure. Will there be a red carpet? Who will host, if anyone, if recent years are anything to go by? Will the Dolby Theatre have a full house, or will it be at half or even less capacity? All these questions are still up in the air, and depending on the situation in the US come summer, when the Oscars are scheduled to air, things could rapidly change. While vaccination rates have been up across the country, normalcy is still far away on the horizon.

So with the ceremony itself in what seems like a permanent state of limbo, what about the nominations themselves? Well, far from the pale palette of years past, the Oscars in recent years, and especially this one, have been incredibly diverse, showcasing actors, directors, and creators from a variety of races, backgrounds, and countries around the world. Along with this, the late Chadwick Boseman received a posthumous nomination for his role in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a role he has already won a Golden Globe for that his wife accepted in his stead.

Disney’s controversial live-action Mulan received two nominations for both costume design and visual effects, two aspects of the film that, among other things, reviewers often criticized. The visual effects, regarded as laughably bad by many, are featured alongside such films as the poorly received The Midnight Sky and the equally sub-par The One and Only Ivan. When even low-budget Disney+ originals can make the cut, it seems like the category might need some re-evaluation. Then again, there were no big Marvel or Star Wars releases to steal the show visually this year.

On the subject of Disney properties, Pixar got not one but two nominations in the Best Animated Feature Film category. Pixar has won nine times since its creation in 2001. Both of its 2020 films, Onward and Soul, were featured in the category, giving Pixar as a studio an advantage over the other films, such as the independently produced Netflix film Over the Moon.

So, will the Oscars be worth watching this year? My guess is robably not. Ignoring the usual buffet of cringe that awards ceremonies like these produce, this time around it seems especially hard to watch. With pandemic precautions taking center stage, and the competition being far less intense due to just how average this year’s films were, it’s probably not worth the three hours set aside to watch the whole thing. Is that true, even in a normal year? Well, ultimately that’s for the viewer to decide. One thing is for certain: nothing, not even a worldwide pandemic, can stop celebrities from taking the chance to show off.

By Bailey Staerkel

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 6

March 25, 2021