Someone in Hollywood has it in for Glenn Close. Always the nominee but never the winner, once again this year, she lost for Best Actress. Good to write that the winner is deserving. Olivia Colman gave an outstanding performance in The Favourite. And yet, how can someone like Close get so close to winning so often? Makes you want to be the fly on the walls of all those expensive Beverly Hill restaurants where deals are cut and lights are lit in green or red.
I never advise people to place bets based on my Oscar forecasts but someone out there might have won the pool this year (you owe me 10 percent). I wrote last week that Roma, despite lavish publicity expenditures by Netflix, would lose Best Picture to Green Book but earn other Oscars including Best Director (Alfonso Cuaron) and Best Foreign Language Film. Roma is beautifully filmed but a little hard to get into if you weren’t living inside Cuaron’s childhood and—yes—not everyone in the Academy welcomes Netflix with warm hands and open arms. Green Book fits the Hollywood ideal of social consciousness packaged in a formula wrapper with a bright bow of a happy ending.
I called Best Actor: it went to the lovable, relatable (and thoroughly believable) performance by Rami Malek, who disappeared into his role as Freddie Mercury (Bohemian Rhapsody). I’m happy for Spike Lee’s win for Adapted Screenplay and was fully expecting his defeat as Director. He lives to fight in another year.
Surprises? I thought RBG had the lock on Best Documentary but I guess climbing the sheer face of a cliff is more important to some Academy members than climbing the sheer face of prejudice. Roma and The Favourite were tied for 10 nominations each and left the ceremony tied for only two wins apiece. The challenge in both cases came from promoting art house films to an unprepared wider audience puzzled both by black and white cinematography and by irony.
I’d like to give Best Acceptance Speech (that should be a category!) to Alfonso Cuaron for brevity, dignity and for honoring his own past as well as the heritage of cinema. As for the lack of a host? The show moved along efficiently without one. Queen launched the ceremony with a bang louder than the popping of the post-awards parties.
