"Perhaps Margot Robbie in a Bubble Bath Could Explain This One To Me"
Friday, January 15, 2016 at 12:17PM 
Now that we've had 24 hours to process the Oscar nominations I polled Team Experience for one last Oscar Nomination reaction roundup. Which nomination did each of our contributors find most mystifying? Here are their answers which amused me so I hope you feel the same.
Please bear in mind that these items do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management. We each have our pet peeves and our "achievements" we just can't with. Share your headscratchers with us in the comments. What's still antagonizing you this morning a full 24 hours after getting used to it as an "Academy Award Nominee"
Individual targets after the jump...
"Writing's on the Wall" - Original Song
Some notes on the James Bond theme songs:
-"Goldfinger": Shirley Bassey purrs her way through a sexually charged tribute to a dangerous man, ending one one of the all-time great sustained belted notes. Result: no Oscar nomination.
- "Thunderball": Tom Jones uses raw dramatic passion to blast through goofy lyrics, and ends on a sustained note so great that he fainted at the end of it. Result: no Oscar nomination.
-"You Only Live Twice": Nancy Sinatra beatifically croons against the subtly melancholic backdrop of a tentative, sweet romantic melody. Result: no Oscar nomination.
-"GoldenEye": Tina Turner oozes sensuality and predatory menace in a hard-edged, smoky R&B number. Result: no Oscar nomination.
-"Writing's on the Wall": Sam Smith bleakly sings like frozen corpse in a sexless retread of "Skyfall" that attempts to rhyme "blood" with "up". Result: Oscar nomination. - Tim Brayton
The Revenant Nomination Tally
The most for any film? I found it to be excruciatingly unbearable, a slog to get through. Nothing was gonna stop the "overdue" train for Leo's journey to his inevitable Best Actor win (can't we wait for a performance that's actually worthy?), but I didn't expect all the craft categories to join him as well. Particularly in Production Design (so...trees? Waterfalls? Are you nominating nature?) and Costume Design which was just mangy furs, the dead animals themselves did all the work already! (Oh, and have you heard that Leo almost died while filming this?! RAW BISON LIVER!) - Abstew
Robert Richardson, The Hateful Eight - Cinematography
I had really planned to stop talking about The Hateful Eight but this nomination in particular is too perplexing to ignore. Well, no. Perplexing isn't the right word. I know why he was nominated... but it doesn't mean I think it's okay. Oscar's cinematographer's branch has had a boner for Robert Richardson for ages and ages. But this, his 9th nomination, is galling both because he's been so excessively rewarded already (3 wins) and because this is hardly among his strongest films. I understand having perennial favorites but how could they look at the physical grotty energy of Maryse Alberti's work on Creed, or the iPhone ingenuity of Sean Baker and Radium Cheng on Tangerine, or the theatrical precision of Alwin Kulcher's Steve Jobs work or Rob Hardy's moody reflective gorgeous eye for Ex Machina, or [insert several other options] and think... "Nahhhh, let's go with Richardson for a ninth time!" Their field this year is composed of legends who have an average of 7 nominations each but given the creative wonders bursting from this artform in the past few years, and the blazingly new talents popping up all over the place hey really need to start looking towards the next generation and stop patting each other on the back. -Nathaniel R
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo - Best Actor
I’ve yet to hear one salient explanation for why Bryan Cranston’s chewable performance in Trumbo is winning any attention, let alone that of AMPAS. Can anyone help me out? At least Helen Mirren was left out in the cold. Cranston’s late career ascendence to an industry giant was heartening to see, but it’s been soured with his first film awards notices coming down the pipe for the ripe mess of Trumbo. Cranston’s lips are perpetually, excessively out of alignment as he drawls every gruesome line, his facial muscles pulling double time. It’s a grotesquely mannered performance that I feel bad for anyone suffering through as a result of this bewildering nomination. - David Upton
Adam McKay & Lenny Abrahamson - Best Director
Remember 2012 when the Directors Branch brushed off Ben Affleck, Tom Hooper, and Quentin Tarantino for Michael Haneke and — even more unexpectedly — Benh Zeitlin? What the fuck happened? Clearly, this adventurous spirit was a fluke because between Morten “Beelzebub” Tyldum last year and Abrahamson and McKay now, this branch is looking increasingly like the stick-in-the-mud old geezers’ club that everyone suggests they are. What’s weird is that I don’t actually think The Big Short or Room are remotely bad movies, but this is in large part due to the efforts of key, hardworking actors like Christian Bale, Steve Carell, and Brie Larson, who would’ve impressed in these movies regardless of the director. The Big Short is the world’s most enjoyable live-action BuzzFeed listicle, not so much directed as set up for eventual editing and its tricky blend of alpha male slyness and late-act sobriety only registers because its well-cast ensemble is so generally comfortable with improvisation. Similarly, it’s because of Larson and only Larson that the emotional wallops of Room’s best passages manage to even somewhat land. She rescues the film from some dubiously glassy filmmaking through the inherent warmth of her playing and effectively directs young, green Jacob Tremblay more than Abrahamson ever bothers to.
Alejandro González Iñárritu could very well be included amongst these gripes and The Revenant is certainly an unduly arrogant mess. But at least Iñárritu is attempting something on a grand-scale level, however woefully misbegotten. His ambition may bespeak uneven, even unsavory ideas about the future of cinema, but at least he’s got the future on the brain. He clearly wants to push cinema forward and I can admire that way more than McKay’s patchwork PowerPoint and Abrahamson’s unexceptional safe-playing. - Matthew Eng
Best Picture - The Big Short
I understand that the passion for this film is in part driven by the anger it incites. However, I don't get how so many adore a film that so actively condescends to the audience - even outside of the witless bubble bath, gambling asides. With shoddy construction and a bland cacophony of an ensemble, it's an eye and ear sore that never aligns with its admirable intentions. Yikes. - Chris Feil
Reader Comments (60)
There's nothing heartening about Cranston's ascendance to industry giant at all.
But yeah, I would just cite all of Best Song and the male acting categories minus Rylance and call it a day.
Matthew Eng - Thank you for mentioning Lenny Abrahamson. The film is supposed to be shown through Jack's eyes but beyond perhaps the one scene in the hospital room but the film never shows that he has any sense of wonder (or fear) about the world around him once he leaves the room. Is this really how a child would react to the world if it were totally new to him? Think what a truly visionary director like Spike Jonze could have done with this material - or what someone like Benh Zeitlin did, similarly showing us the world through a child's eyes, with Beasts of the Southern Wild. People seemed excited about the Abrahamson nomination, but the direction of the film seemed so weak to me.
My quip on JLaw's nomination: And here we have...the wrong second Joy.
People have been shitting on Abrahamson all awards season. I don't understand it. How many directors have the escape scene the way it is? People who are complaining about how Abrahamson handled Room seem to be in the Game of Thrones/I-read-the-book-and-this-is-how-it-should-be camp. Room wasn't automatically the film it was, Abrahamson led it to be that way. I love the nomination. He 100% deserves it.
agreed on THE BIG SHORT. the adam mckay nod is incredibly baffling as the directors branch should have been able to see through it
That's a hugely reductive and really, quite ignorant assessment of "The Revenant"'s production design, which is really quite brilliant in its tactile detail and amazingly lived-in. It is Jack Fisk, after all, and only on his second nomination if you can believe it. Well deserved (even if I would prefer "Carol," but we could knock "The Martian" out of the lineup instead).
I'm all in favor of Abrahamson; he's relatively new to the conversation, which is exciting in itself. But I also think his "Room" direction was great. I was worried from the opening narration that the film would be too cloying and whimsical, but I think he reigned that in really smartly most of the time. I appreciate the decision to make the film live mainly in the real world, if that makes sense; the wonder comes from Jack himself rather than externalizing it too much, which could have led to big lurches in tone.
i like Abrahamson's work on Room too. But everyone has their own head scratchers.
I completely and totally agree with the comments about The Revenant. I thought the production design and costuming were pretty poor actually unless the goal was to make everything look the same from scene to scene and make the audience lose track of who was who, and where we were. Now which guy is grunting and mumbling at me now? Is that Tom Hardy? etc. And how did they magically get from that snowy waterfall to the fort in one edit? Etc.
Woah, really puzzled by the hate for the Abrahamson nomination, especially from someone I usually agree with! To me, his work on Room is a tremendous achievement. He earns every one of those emotional beats but never panders and it never moves into melodrama. And the escape scene is just tremendous. Also how do you know who is responsible for Jacob Tremblay's performance? Sure Brie Larson had a lot to do with it, but if you watch any behind the scenes stuff you'll see just how integral Abrahmson was, OBVIOUSLY. Yikes man.
Ben
I'm with you. I just jumped out of my seat when Lenny Abrahamson's name was announced. Especially finding out that he replaced the ludicrously overrated Ridley Scott. Although it doesn't come close, it is at least some compensation for the Todd Haynes debacle.
Worst nomination: The Revenant for Costumes. Suck on that Crimson Peak and Far from the Madding Crowd and Brooklyn, etc. etc. etc.!
Am I the only one who liked Trumbo and Cranston in it.
Mary
Shhh. Don't let it get around but I also liked Trumbo and found Bryan Cranston excellent
what i need explained is how the Hollywood Foreign Press has whooped Oscar's Best Director lineup with their own (Bigelow, Greengrass, Fincher, DuVernay, Haynes, Scott) for the THIRD YEARD IN A ROW!!!!
@Mike: I don't hate Abrahamson's direction, just find it entirely ordinary and strange to single out in a year with such distinctive directorial visions, not solely from Haynes, but also Villeneuve and Nemes and even those who clearly didn't stand a chance like Marielle Heller or Hou Hsiao-Hsien, who might've at least been options with a more daring voting body. I also agree with Suzanne that a Benh Zeitlin or Spike Jonze might've toyed more creatively with the story's perspectival possibilities. Similarly, I like to imagine the deeper layers that might've been evinced from a female director like Eliza Hittman or Dee Rees or even Alice Rohrwacher and Célina Sciamma, two superb foreign directors of youngish performers.
As for Tremblay, he's undeniably good. But it's hardly a Quvenzhané-level breakthrough. In re-watching certain clips from Room throughout this awards season, there are so many scenes (the "I want a different story!" dialogue chief among them) where Larson seems to be directly shaping Tremblay's performances, compelling more disciplined variations and reactions from him than I ever see in the passages where she's absent. It's a fine performance, I just think a more skilled director of children could've elicited something truly stunning.
1. The whole category of female best actress: I wouldn't just single out Rachel McAdams - the Academy allowed 2 lead performances into this category. Alicia Vikander & Rooney Mara just plain cheated.
McAdams doesn't give the most inspired performance (Julie Walters, Elizabeth Banks, Rose Byrne would have been better choices) but at least she didn't cheat.
2. Way too many Noms for "The Revenant" - production design? Visual Effects? Costuming?
And remember nominations are voted on by the branches themselves - who are supposed to know what really counts. The journey that Hugh Glass took was 350 miles - when watching this film I never got the feeling of distance, expanse, at ALL. It was shoddy visual storytelling.
Watch "The Grey" for a better film and a better lead performance with Liam Neeson.
Oops - sorry for the typo in the above post - of course I meant Female best Supporting Actress.
I am pissed that Fonda missed for fraudsters.
Matthew Eng: But as I threw out as a question before: Doesn't that mean he's at least good enough to be an appropriate choice to act out a Robin origin? Kids on a Tremblay, Osment, Records level don't come around that often and I'm of the perspective of two things: 1. The Robin character probably needs his origin story told well to wash the bad tastes of Chris O'Donnell and Joseph Gordon-Levitt out and 2. You need to cast a convincing minor, ideally a convincing pre-teen, to even have a hope of telling the Robin origin well.
Lenny Abrahamson for Room was possibly the single best nomination announced yesterday. I'm with Ken s - thank god, Scott didn't make it and this partially makes up for the Todd Haynes snub.
The head-scratcher for me was Sylvester Stallone for Creed.
Maybe in the light of the giant category fraud happening this season, we've forgotten what a supporting performance looks like. Thought McAdams felt part of a true ensemble without vanity and fuss, and the movie would be much poorer without the scenes of her wonderfully compassionate and tender interactions with the abusive survivors. As someone who has to go through these kind of rough conversations in their day job, I loved how well she captured the art of truly listening while also trying to fulfill the manipulative necessities of her livelihood. The actors she played against were also excellent - these conversations were perhaps my favorite moments in Spotlight.
Matthew - I'm not sure you understand how directing works if you think McKay and Lenny are both undeserving? Those movies are all direction, that's why they work.
Spotlight and Room for BP. The former being a nicely done HBO movie and the second a highly manipulative tear-jerk-er.*
Oh, and speaking of head-scratchers : never understood the critic reaction to Mad Max. I guess I'm missing something big here, as when I watched it ( on DVD ) , it took me several attempts to go through all of it. I love Charlize but couldn't even see her through the make-up.
(imho, of course )
@Stella - I'm with you, McAdams does some fine work when she is listening to survivors and in that scene with the priest who confesses. She asks him a question, thinking he will refuse, and then has to keep her game face on when he chooses to answer. It's nice subtle work, and worthy of some respect. If the category hadn't been given over to cheaters the inclusion of McAdams wouldn't look like such favouritism.
I think the direction may have been the only thing I actually liked about The Big Short.
My potential head-scratcher is The Big Short, but I'm going on a feeling because I haven't seen it. So my actual choice is the entire Best Actor category. This is a strong lineup, certainly. But it feels so safe and when they're were other performances that really veered off into brilliance, I don't know why we had to be stuck with these. Leo is the only truly deserving nominee, but it's hard to argue with Damon. The rest? meh.
I cheered yesterday when Emma Donoghue got a well-deserved nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. I was a little floored when Lenny Abrahamson's name was called over Ridley Scott's. I'm totally on board with his nomination because directing children is not easy. To say Brie Larson directed Jacob Tremblay more than Abrahamson did is like saying Ellen Burstyn directed Linda Blair more than William Friedkin did. That's utter hogwash. Just because Larson and Tremblay are scene partners doesn't mean Tremblay is getting all of his motivation from Larson. Remember there are least a dozen other people on set to distract Tremblay, so Abrahamson was there to keep the child focused, at the very least. It's more difficult than it may sound.
As for my own head-scratchers, Matt Damon's Best Actor nomination is the most mystifying in the major categories. He's a movie star and his movie did well with critics and audiences, but that doesn't mean he was better than Jacob Tremblay, Abraham Attah, Jason Segel, Michael B. Jordan or Jason Mitchell.
Like Matt Damon's nom, the love for The Revenant didn't surprise me, but I don't agree with it. I'm fine with giving Tom Hardy a Best Supporting Actor nomination since he gave the best performance in the movie, but Best Costume Design? Over Spy, Spectre, The Hateful Eight or even Mission: Impossible 5? Give me a break. I also think its Production Design nomination just shows that Academy voters were marking it on their ballots for every technical category.
Sean -- except for that each invidivual branch ONLY has their own branch and the Best Picture field to vote on (for nominations)... which means every single branch beyond the writers was kidn of obsessed with The Revenant. weird, i know.
I've been a big supporter of Abrahamson early on this season and called him out to be a surprise nominee all along. Given his lack of love with the DGA, I'd all but written off the possibility. When nominations were announced, his was the one where I screamed "YES!".
I loved his inclusion and think it's 100% deserved!
Yeah the whole Brie Larson directed that performance is way out there, even if it seemed that way, its likely because Abrahamson guided her to do a line reading or do something a specific way to illicit a response from Tremblay, nothing is done by accident on set. Director's guide performances in their films, to discredit their work like this is astonishing.
Agreed on McAdams you don't have to do a Melissa Leo and chew the cast and scenery,sometimes a quieter normal everyday performance works,She seemed like a co worker doing her job and that is the part unlike Ruffalo drawing far too much attention to himself and therefore over acting his part,the scene with the Gay victim were well done in general.
"so...trees? Waterfalls? Are you nominating nature?" Hilarious.
Also, Tangerine was NEVER going to be seriously considered for cinematography (or probably in any other category). I wouldn't be surprised if they simultaneously don't take the iPhone method seriously AND find it threatening to them and their "real" cinematography. There's no way they'd legitimize it with a nomination.
I'd love to hear what Abrahamson's champions admire about his direction in particular, since I get the fact that lots of people love his work here, but I still don't totally understand why that is or why Room is "all about direction" more than any other given film, as Adam suggests.
Matthew - That's the thing though. To me, Room is an entirely unique, distinct vision. Agree to disagree I guess.
Really confused by your Quvenzhane comparison though. To me, Tremblay is miles ahead of her, and I'm pretty sure many would agree. Weird.
I was pleased by the nomination for "Writing's on the Wall". Yes, there are a dozen better Bond songs, but: this one is a grower. It's a clever, elegant song that builds to a quietly haunting ending. And Sam Smith's performance of it on the Graham Norton Show was amazing - a recommended watch. (It's online.)
That and the Lady Gaga/Diane Warren song were the two I knew. When the nominees were announced yesterday, I went online and listened to the other three, and I think this is a very strong category this year. Well done to the Music branch.
Nathaniel: Re: Robert Richardson...I know he's been rewarded a lot already, but I think he deserves his three Oscars. I mean, JFK and Hugo are both magnificently shot, and even though I wouldn't have given him an Oscar for The Aviator - I'd have given it to The Passion of the Christ - it's impressive work. Worth noting, too, that the ASC has never given him their award, so one could argue that he's been under-rewarded there. As for the Hateful Eight nomination, I think part of it is the 65mm filming, but more than that, he brought his usual gorgeous game. I do agree, though, that the Cinematographers branch could do with broadening their nominee pool a bit. It's many of the same names year after year. That said, Richardson, Deakins, Lubezki et al are all amazingly talented. Perhaps this is an era of master cinematographers, and they are setting the standard that all others hope to emulate?
My head-scratcher of a nomination as Lenny Abrahamson - simply because I hadn't seen it coming. I thought it would be Ridley Scott. I haven't seen Room yet, so I can't comment on whether he is deserving. It was just a surprising moment, like when Jason Reitman got nominated for Juno or when the Coens got nominated for True Grit.
The direction in Room is pedestrian and the movie suffers for it. So yeah that's my choice too.
After these nominations, I am of the opinion that, if Jennifer Lawrence farted, she'd be nominated for best Sound Effects Her nomination and all the songs boggle my mind..
brookesboy - I can tell you that everyone has looked at me like I was crazy every single time I've told them my thoughts on The Big Short.
As for "The Big Short", I fully believe that any movie adapted from a Michael Lewis book is going to get BP.
The Blind Side (Very meh, outside Sandy Gets a Gun) - Best Pic
Moneyball (Actually really loved it) - Best Pic
The Big Short (yet to see it) - Best Pic
Luckily, we for us, there are a ton more books out there for adapting to screw up the Oscar year...
I don't like how so many people seem to equate "best direction" with "best wrangling of visual effects" The Directors Branch is one of the more thoughtful branches (at least a contingent of them) in the Academy and they tend to pick up on things that the pundits miss like Abrahamson's ability to get a great performance out of a five year old (see also the "shocking" Beasts of the Southern Wild" nomination).
Totally agree that McKay doesn't belong there though.
I knew Sam Smith's horrid song was going to be nominated, despite Nathaniel's constant "nah it won't" reassurance.
Sam Smith gets unfair comparisons to Adele because he's fat, british, sad, and sings about love. Notice how the Grammys showered him with love too. For me he's not even 1/4 as talented as she is and his voice is grating to my ears.
However, because of the Adele comparisons, the recent success of Adele's song, and the incredibly weak Original Song category this year, he didn't have much trouble making it in.
Completely disagree on Abrahamson, the morning's best surprise who would easily have my vote, and McAdams, who was nominated as part of an excellent ensemble and held her own better than co-star Ruffalo. Cranston was a lot less embarrassing than Redmayne, who ended up being pretty offensive (though I blame Hooper). And I know it's great that Jennifer Jason Leigh was finally nominated, but unless we are awarding hissing grotesquely, she should be on this list.
Can't say anything Trumbo or Revenant until I see them next week, but nothing about the nominations for The Big Short and Room is egregious or mystifying to me except the fact the Tremblay was snubbed.
Ah, Nathaniel, thank you for correcting me. It slipped my mind about each individual branch doing the nominating outside of Best Picture.
One thing I will add to this Lenny Abrahamson debate is I wouldn't vote for him to win over Tom McCarthy, even though Room is my favorite movie of the year. McCarthy is overdue for recognition after great films like The Station Agent and The Visitor went almost unnoticed. With Spotlight, he could have propped up these journalists as heroes and fighters for justice. Instead, he treated them like average people who finally get pushed to do the right thing. It pays off perfectly.
On Oscar night, I have a feeling McCarthy is going to get cast aside in favor of George Miller. I still think Spotlight will win at least Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. I'd love to see it win Best Editing, too, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.
This article articulates it much better than I could. Abrahamson just didn't fall into the same traps many other screenwriters do when adapting a famous novel. The movie, and the performances, work because of his direction.
http://www.indiewire.com/article/how-lenny-abrahamson-beat-out-the-rest-of-hollywood-to-direct-room-20151019
Phillip H -- that's one of my greatest disappointments this awards season that people will no longer trust me about the Bond song thing but IT IS FACTUAL. They almost always ignore them. So i'm still shocked that one of the songs that almost no one likes they went for.
and also the category wasn't remotely weak like people are saying. Ricki and the Flash and Shaun the Sheep and I'll See You In My Dreams and Youth and more had songs that fit with the tone and style of their movie and were also part of the narrative. It was only weak because people decided to vote lazily.
Chris, your taste is impeccable. That is why I am putting off seeing TBS. Sigh. The least they could do is put Ryan Gosling in the bubble bath.
Nathaniel, I thought the use of music in Youth was so creative and built so much emotional force into all the ornate visual metaphors Sorrentino was going for. Simply beautiful. Youth is such an underrated movie. Caine should be taking Best Actor.
brookesboy -agreed on the music in Youth. I had some issues with the movie but i thought everything aural in that movie was superbly handled
Count me in as a Rachel McAdams supporter. I thought she truly gave a supporting performance- she was an intelligent woman doing her job, never pulling away the focus from other actors or the main themes of the film. Also thought she showed true compassion and professionalism during her conversations with the abuse victims. I think it's easily her strongest work since Mean Girls.
I would've nominated Liev Schreiber over Mark Ruffalo, however.