Usually the trade papers wait until the very last minute to publish their “Oscar voter ballot” pieces, but this has been an especially weird awards season, and the timelines have gotten all messed up. So here we are: the first anonymous Oscar ballot(s) of the season. I’m just putting some highlights in this post, but you can read Variety’s piece here.
The Best Director race: Brady Corbet’s BAFTA win cannot be ignored. The last time a BAFTA-winning director (who was also Oscar-nominated) lost the Oscar? Sam Mendes for “1917” (2019). Corbet’s meticulous direction has drawn voter praise, with one anonymous Academy member saying: “If RaMell Ross [Nickel Boys’ director] was nominated for director, and I don’t know how he wasn’t, this would be an insanely tough choice. But since he wasn’t, Brady was the clear pick.”
Voter Ballot #1: “It was a fine year for movies… it is accurate to say, ‘Emilia Perez’ was the worst of the best picture nominees.”
Voter #2: “Adrien Brody is a remarkably gifted actor, and I’m very happy for him.”
Voter #3: “We don’t see movies like ‘A Complete Unknown’ made in Hollywood anymore… Studios are scared of them.”
Voter #4: “It took me five days to watch ‘The Brutalist’ and another two days to wake up from it.”
Voter #5: “I don’t know how ‘Dune’ wasn’t nominated for every category… and I hate sci-fi.”
The messy Best Actress race: Mikey Madison received a massive boost after winning the BAFTA for “Anora,” mainly because the film lost best picture, director, and screenplay, and she still won. Her performance has been hailed as a “pure and genuine acting showcase” by one voter and “the arrival of a star” by another. It feels very Brie Larson in “Room.”
Some voters despised ‘The Substance’: One voter stated unequivocally, “I despise ‘The Substance.’ It was gross, over the top, and I didn’t think Demi was anything special.” It is worth noting that a few voters also state their disdain for the film but are voting for Moore anyway. “What a remarkable career she’s had, and she deserves this moment,” one voter says gleefully.
I think the conversations around Demi and The Substance are fascinating – The Substance was awful, and yet I think many people want to give Demi the Oscar for her body of work, for her decades as a movie star and producer. But if people are judging the Best Actress race solely on the nominees’ performances? I really don’t understand how Demi is even in the conversation.
What else? It’s also insane to me that Dune 2 isn’t a bigger part of the Best Picture race – what Denis Villeneuve is doing with these Dune films is really something special. After looking at the ballots Variety provided, I predict that there will be at least two surprises in the major categories. My prediction is a surprise in Supporting Actress for sure, but I’m going back and forth on whether I think Demi will pull it out or whether Mikey Madison or Fernanda Torres have made a late surge.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
