Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot #3: 'BlacKkKlansman' Is "The Film We Need Now," 'Vice' "Kind of a Miss" - Hollywood Reporter

I wish that Eighth Grade and Can You Ever Forgive Me? had made it in — I nominated both of them. Bohemian Rhapsody disappointed me on a lot of levels. It was too long; it was too safe; it felt like it was made by a committee, because it was; and it refused to engage on the darker sides of Freddie Mercury, his relationship with the other band members and the music business, in general. Green Book is a nice film, but very old-fashioned; it deserves to be nominated, but not to win. The focus was on the wrong character; I really wanted to know more about Dr. Shirley, who was such an interesting person. Vice had terrific performances, but Dick Cheney is not a particularly interesting or compelling personality, and tonally the film was a mess — is it a satire or a biopic or something else? I still have no idea. I really enjoyed A Star Is Born — it's entertaining and it's romantic and it's sexy — but I think it was overhyped a little bit. I don't know that it was really all that different from the last version of the film, and I was hoping that it would feel more contemporary than it did; the '54 one was actually the best of all of them, and that didn't win best picture, so this one shouldn't either. Roma was wonderful and she [Yalitza Aparicio] is a real find and I couldn't care less that it's a Netflix movie — but I think it was built up to be some sort of universal experience, and it wasn't that for me; it's just a lovely homage to one person's childhood. I'm not a big comic book or superhero kind of guy, but Black Panther elevated the genre to a whole different level. The Favourite is a terrific film on every level — it told a story I didn't know with great production value on every level and great acting; it was wildly entertaining and made me laugh, but it didn't really have anything to say. But BlacKkKlansman did and I couldn't stop thinking about it for months afterwards. It was so unexpected. It was refreshing to be told a true story that I didn't know. The writing and directing were so unexpected. And I never imagined that Spike [Lee] could pull off the comedic elements of it as well as the dramatic aspects, but he did. And I salute him for putting that bit at the end about Charlottesville — it was the absolute right thing to do. It's just the film of the year and, to use the old cliche, the film we need now. And you want to know something? Contrary to what everyone is predicting right now, I think it's going to win.

My Vote: (1) BlacKkKlansman, (2) The Favourite, (3) Black Panther, (4) Roma, (5) A Star Is Born, (6) Vice, (7) Green Book, (8) Bohemian Rhapsody

Let's block ads! (Why?)