And the Oscar goes to...
Happy Monday and a belated Happy New Year! Welcome back to Jacob’s Letter, a free pop culture newsletter full of puns and occasional badly-PhotoShopped dog photos.
Opal, the true Uncut Gem, wants a parlay bet on the Super Bowl, with Kansas City winning the coin toss, Pat Mahomes throwing four touchdown passes and Kansas City winning overall.
This week’s newsletter is all about the Oscars and everything I’ve missed since I last sent out a newsletter. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get into it.
And the nominees are…boring
Two weeks ago, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released its nominees for the 92nd annual Oscars.
Predictably, the picks were lampooned and maligned for their predictability, whiteness, maleness and just overall blandness.
You can see a full list of the nominees here, but in this newsletter, I’m going to do a rundown of some of my choices for what should’ve been nominated. Read on, and respond with your Oscars hot takes.
Best Picture
Actual nominees: “Ford v. Ferrari,” “The Irishman,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Joker,” “Little Women,” “Marriage Story,” “1917,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “Parasite”
What I think will win: “OUATIH”
What I want to win: “Parasite,” but it will probably win “Best Foreign Film” and that will be that.
What the category should’ve looked like: Swap out “Joker” and “Marriage Story” with “The Farewell” and “Hustlers.” Equally as compelling performances, and both are crafted to within an inch of their lives.
Best Actor
Actual nominees: Antonio Banderas for “Pain and Glory,” Leonardo DiCaprio for “OUATIH,” Adam Driver for “Marriage Story,” Joaquin Phoenix for “Joker,” Jonathan Pryce for “The Two Popes”
Who I think will win: This is a toss-up. Phoenix has been getting awards acclaim for “Joker,” but the Academy loves to reward actors who portray actors…so my money’s on DiCaprio.
Who I want to win: Adam Driver
What the category should’ve looked like: For as much acclaim as “Parasite” has been getting for director and cinematography, it’s been blatantly overlooked in the acting categories. I’d like to have seen both Song Kang-ho and Lee Sun Kyun get nominated for their roles as Kim Ki-taek and Park Dong-ik, respectively, but, alas.
Also, Adam Sandler’s performance as a degenerate gambler in “Uncut Gems” is one of the only things that made me interested in the movie, but was snubbed here as well. And Eddie Murphy got no love for his “Dolemite is My Name” performance.
Best Actress
Actual nominees: Cynthia Erivo for “Harriet,” Scarlett Johansson for “Marriage Story,” Saoirse Ronan for “Little Women,” Charlize Theron for “Bombshell,” Renée Zellweger for “Judy”
Who I think will win: I haven’t seen “Judy,” but have heard nothing but good things about Zellweger’s performance, and again, the Academy loves it when actors portray performers. If that performance is in a biopic, even better.
Who I want to win: Saoirse Ronan
What the category should’ve looked like: Awkwafina (“The Farewell”), Constance Wu (“Hustlers”), Florence Pugh (“Midsommar”) and Jessie Buckley (“Wild Rose”) were robbed, as were the two female leads for “Parasite,” Cho Yeo Jeong and Chang Hyae Jin.
I would argue Charlize Theron does belong here, but for “Long Shot,” not for “Bombshell.” And what’s up with the only black nominee being nominated for playing a slave? Lupita Nyong’o literally played two people in “Us,” Alfre Woodard’s prison warden in “Clemency” earned her rave reviews and Tessa Thompson’s role in “Little Woods” was the best thing about that movie.
Supporting Actor
Actual nominees: Tom Hanks for “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” Anthony Hopkins for “The Two Popes,” Al Pacino for “The Irishman,” Joe Pesci for “The Irishman,” Brad Pitt for “OUATIH”
Who I think will win: It’s very interesting that Robert De Niro wasn’t nominated for his turn as Frank Sheeran in “The Irishman,” yet his co-stars were. I think Joe Pesci will win, although this could go to Brad Pitt as more of a career recognition award.
Who I want to win: Joe Pesci, for a career-capping performance as Russell Bufalino
What the category should’ve looked like: A bit awkward that Tom Hanks is a supporting actor in a movie about his character, Fred Rogers.
I’m mostly fine with this list, but I’d swap out Anthony Hopkins for either Robert Pattinson or Willem Dafoe for their work in “The Lighthouse,” Melvin Gregg for his performance as a young basketball player in “High Flying Bird,” Winston Duke for his role in “Us,” or Choi Woo Shik for “Parasite.”
Supporting Actress
Actual nominees: Kathy Bates for “Richard Jewell,” Laura Dern for “Marriage Story,” Scarlett Johansson for “Jojo Rabbit,” Florence Pugh for “Little Women,” Margot Robbie for “Bombshell”
Who I think will win: If ScarJo wins for “Marriage Story,” I think the likelihood that she wins in this category goes up. But the real money is on Kathy Bates, in the only nomination for “Richard Jewell.”
Who I want to win: Florence Pugh, although she may be too young yet
What the category should’ve looked like: I haven’t seen “Little Women,” so I have no opinion when people tell me Laura Dern should have been nominated for that movie instead of “Marriage Story.”
If we’re going to nominate Margot Robbie, my hot take is that nomination should have been for “OUATIH.” Despite her limited dialogue and actual screentime, Sharon Tate’s shadow hangs over that movie like a ticking time bomb, and Robbie portrays Tate as the person she never got to be — a regular everyday person. I also think Anna Paquin should have been nominated for “The Irishman” for much of the same reasons.
In an ideal world, Ana de Armas would have been nominated for her pivotal role in “Knives Out.” (Actually, that whole cast was phenomenal. The Oscars needs a Best Ensemble category.)
Best Cinematography
Actual nominees: “The Irishman,” “Joker,” “The Lighthouse,” “1917,” “OUATIH”
What I think will win: “1917” in all of its one-shot wonder
What I want to win: “The Lighthouse.” That film looks like it was somehow shot in the 1800s and magically transported to 2019.
What the category should’ve looked like: Swap “Joker” for “Midsommar.”
Best Director
Actual nominees: Martin Scorsese for “The Irishman,” Todd Phillips for “Joker,” Same Mendes for “1917,” Quentin Tarantino for “OUATIH,” Bong Joon-Ho for “Parasite”
Who I think will win: If “OUATIH” gets Best Picture, this award might go to Tarantino, who’s been nominated two other times for Best Director and lost. Scorsese has already won for “The Departed,” and Sam Mendes won for “American Beauty.” So this thing I wide open, but I think based on prior awards this season, it goes to Mendes.
Who I want to win: Director Bong, baybee
What the category should’ve looked like: I truly don’t understand how “Joker” got so many nominations, and it’s funny to me that that film, which was modeled on Scorsese pictures like “Taxi Driver” and “King of Comedy,” is competing against an actual Scorsese film. But I would add in Greta Gerwig for “Little Women,” Lorene Scafaria for “Hustlers,” James Grey for “Ad Astra” or Lulu Wang for “The Farewell” in here.
Best Editing
Actual nominees: “Ford v Ferrari,” “The Irishman,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Joker,” “Parasite”
What I think will win: If “Bohemian Rhapsody” could do it, “Joker” can do it.
What I want to win: “The Irishman”
What the category should’ve looked like: There is not a cut that is wasted in “Knives Out,” but I’m just happy it got nominated for Original Screenplay.
Best Visual Effects
Actual nominees: “Avengers: Endgame,” “The Irishman,” “The Lion King,” “1917,” “Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker”
What I think will win: “The Lion King”
What I want to win: “The Lion King.” I didn’t like the movie but I thought I was watching a nature documentary the whole time, so that’s gotta count for something.
What the category should’ve looked like: Conversely, I loved “The Irishman” and got over the de-aging effects relatively quickly — but there’s no denying that the actors in that film are clearly 50 years older than their characters in some scenes. Swap that for the stop-motion scene in “Booksmart.”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Actual nominees: “The Irishman,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Joker,” “Little Women,” “The Two Popes”
What I think will win: It’s gotta be “Little Women,” right?
What I want to win: “Little Women”
What the category should’ve looked like: “Logan” set the precedent for movies based on comics to get an “Adapted Screenplay” nod, but the story in “Joker” isn’t even based on a comics arc for that character. You might as well get a nomination for basing “Hobbs and Shaw” on previously established characters. I wish “Doctor Sleep” would have been nominated here, as it had the unenviable task of adapting both “The Shining” book and film and the “Doctor Sleep” novel, and pulled it off seamlessly.
Best Original Screenplay
Actual nominees: “Knives Out,” “Marriage Story,” “1917,” “OUATIH,” “Parasite”
What I think will win: “Marriage Story”
What I want to win: My beloved “Knives Out”
What the category should’ve looked like: Honestly, I’d be fine if any of these won. I haven’t seen “1917” yet but all the rest of these have solid writing. This category typically rewards genre films, though, so it would have been cool to see “The Lighthouse” get a nomination. I’m pulling for “Knives Out,” though.
Review roundup
No traditional review this week, but while I’ve been on a break, I’ve had a lot of different pieces published in some different outlets. Here’s a list:
My long-gestating project about the American Fellowship of Cowboy Churches and how it uses country music as an evangelization tool is now published in the Fall 2019 edition of Missouri Baptist University’s Intégrité journal. I started writing about this subject in 2015 at the Wise County Messenger in Decatur and when an old faculty member friend from Texas Christian University asked me if I wanted to turn that into an academic journal article, I jumped at the chance to expand on it. You can read the full thing, along with a lot of other great articles, by clicking here.
I saw John Mulaney’s Netflix children’s special and loved it so much I still have the songs stuck in my head.
I pondered the future of the “Star Wars” franchise now that “The Rise of Skywalker” sent the original saga out with a whimper. (Since that article’s publication, that Obi-Wan show has been placed in limbo. “Star Wars” news comes at you fast.)
I saw Michael B. Jordan’s legal drama “Just Mercy” and came away largely disappointed in how it treated such a powerful story in such a pedestrian way.
And finally, I started watching HBO’s adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Outsider.” So far, I’m liking what I’m seeing.
Weinstein trial begins
Current accused rapist and sexual predator and former Miramax Pictures and The Weinstein Company executive Harvey Weinstein started his criminal trial this month in Manhattan. He tried to garner sympathy in the jury trial by arriving to court in a walker.
More than 80 women have come forward to accuse the mogul of sexual assault and harassment, accusations that started the #MeToo movement in Nov. 2017. As the trial began, Weinstein was also accused of rape in Los Angeles.
A jury of seven men and five women will determine the verdict in the case. Read more here.
What does the 20th Century Fox say?
Now that Disney owns 20th Century Fox, it’s time for a name change. Don’t expect to see that classic logo with the drum fanfare anymore — 20th Century Fox will soon become 20th Century Pictures. Same with Fox Searchlight Pictures, which will just get shortened to Searchlight Pictures.
Islands in the Stream
“Islands in the Stream” is where I’ll discuss any and all happenings on the streaming front every week, since there’s so much of it now. While you’re here, read my deep dive for WFAA about how diverse the streaming landscape is becoming.
This week:
Peacock has debuted a pricing scale and set a launch date. NBC’s streaming service will offer one free tier and two paid tiers, starting at $4.99 for ads and $9.99 for no ads. The ‘cock comes July 15, in conjunction with the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Disney+ debuted to massive numbers in November, outperforming app downloads for TikTok, according to the data nerds at Sensor Tower:
Trailer Park
I’ll have a separate blog post over on jakeharrisblog.com about springtime movies, but in the meantime, here’s the trailer for the show I’m most excited to see this coming month:
“Locke and Key”
Adapted from the graphic novels by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez, “Locke and Key” is like a cross between “The Chronicles of Narnia” and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. This trailer looks like it’s leaning more on the YA and “Narnia” side of things, but I’m just excited this is getting made at all. I’ll have a review of the first season up once I watch the whole thing after it drops on Netflix in February.
Letter of Recommendation
Here’s a brief rundown of some of the best stuff I’ve read/watched/listened to/played since I last published an issue of Jacob’s Letter.
What I read: One of the best comic series I read last year was “Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Big Lie” by Anthony Del Col, a selection that I found randomly at the comic shop late in 2019. The limited series imagines Bayport’s finest detectives as teenagers trying to solve Fenton Hardy’s murder. It’s like The CW’s version of “Riverdale,” but less campy.
What I watched: If you’re looking for a movie that says what “Joker” thinks it’s saying, and says it better, watch Martin Scorsese’s “The King of Comedy,” about a comedian who thinks he’s funnier than he actually is. And for those looking for an off-the-beaten-path biopic, Ethan Hawke’s “Blaze,” about the life of Texas country musician Blaze Foley, is mesmerizing.
What I listened to: Did you know that David Allen Coe’s son has a country music history podcast? “Cocaine and Rhinestones” is hosted by Tyler Mahan Coe, and each episode delves into the behind-the-scenes stories behind famous country music events, like the reception of Merle Haggard’s “Okie From Muskogee” or the harrowing true crime story of Spade Cooley. It’s like “You Must Remember This” for country music nerds. Listen here.
What I played: After feeling very disappointed in “The Rise of Skywalker,” playing “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” on the PlayStation 4 felt like a return to form. So far, the story is one of the more engaging in the “Star Wars” universe, and the gameplay feels like “Uncharted” but with lightsabers.
Friday News Dump
A list of online writing I really liked this week:
Emily VanDerWerff’s look at how culture and the cultrue writing industry and the way Americans consume pop culture changed in the 2010s is just beautiful writing. (via Emily VanDerWerff in Vox)
“In the grand scheme of the [sequel saga], it’s Star Wars eating its own tail by becoming about Star Wars”: Siddhant Adlakha looks at the entire “Star Wars” saga through the lens of “Rise of Skywalker.” (via Siddhant Adlakha in IGN)
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See you next week,
Jake