4 days til Oscar. With 4 nominations let's talk "News of the World"
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 at 9:26AM by Nathaniel R
News of the World is the only movie with exactly four Oscar nominations this year. That quartet of nods for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Original Score, places the movie squarely in the greatly admired but not-quite-loved camp we see each year. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom met a similar fate with five nominations; both movies stood a reasonable chance in a few other categories but missed suggesting solid support but perhaps not passion. We'd argue that Paul Greengrass' western is easily the least discussed of the dozen most nominated movies this year (that would be the 8 Best Picture nominees plus News, One Night in Miami, Ma Rainey and Soul). That's true even here despite the film landing in my personal top 20. Why was that exactly?
We'd guess there are probably three reasons...
1. Pandemic Circumstances. The movie went with a more traditional route for distribution, playing only in theaters and then VOD. In a season so thoroughly dominated by streaming due to the pandemic that surely hurt "discussability". This pattern didn't hurt Promising Young Woman or Minari which also chose the non-streaming-for-free route but people have limited budgets and with so many of the contenders available for free there were only a handful that people would have splurged for. We should note that News of the World did well for itself given the dire circumstances. It was the 9th biggest box office hit domestically among films released theatrically in 2020 during the pandemic. (Movies released theatrically in 2021 have been doing better but movie theaters in the biggest markets have now reopened). It's easy to imagine it being a much bigger hit in normal circumstances given that Tom Hanks is a reliable draw and his young co-star Helena Zengel might have become a more familiar presence in media coverage if the traditional ways of promoting a movie had still been in place.
2. No Narrative? Apologies to whoever said this in the comments (we've forgotten who but it was insightful!). News of the World had no narrative for awards, the only reason to vote for it being that it was a good movie. Before getting ruffled about that consider the truth: even in a perfect world, quality might not be enough because a lot of fims have that AND a narrative hook to vote for them. All that said, one of the things that's been unfortunately lost in the lack of discussion around the movie and perhaps this is on its campaign team, is that it does have modern resonance, and quite a surprising amount. Perhaps the movie will be rediscovered in 10 years and people will be like "why wasn't this a bigger deal?". Several of its vignettes -- in some ways it's a 'road trip' movie -- include gripping takes on "fake news", racism, and nationalism. Set in the aftermath of the Civil War, Captain Kidd (Tom Hanks) meets many people who are hanging on to the Confederacy, illustrating future fault lines quite well; it's one of the first movies we can ever recall seeing that really got across the complexity of what the US was going through in that seldom depicted period (most movies dealing with the Civil War take place before or during the war). How do you control a populace with that much post war fatigue (and probably PTSD), racism, and anymosity for each other... especially when they're spread out for thousands of miles, there is no mass media, news travels very slowly, and so many citizens are illiterate.
3. Western / Older Demographic Appeal. In our entirel lifetime, the western has never been a "cool" genre. Popular filmmakers are always trying to revive it and some have had impressive Oscar runs (Dances with Wolves, Unforgiven, The Revenant) but it's never become a dominant genre in the way it was in earlier decades. Even the musical, arguably, has had better luck about becoming a regular presence again. Appealing to older demographics is in no way a natural obstacle to Oscar nominations but sometimes it does mean less oxygen for the movie since the mainstream media tends to focus on the films that social media is buzzing about. And those are usually the edgier youth appeal movies (like Promising Young Woman) movies with more obvious politics (Judas and the Black Messiah, Trial of the Chicago 7) or whatever is brand new to streaming -- which we think will help also adult-skewing Nomadland in the crucial home stretch.
Have you seen News of the World and would you have given it fewer or more nominations?
News of the World, Oscars (20), Punditry, Tom Hanks, box office, politics
Reader Comments (18)
I think this film was hurt by the Pandemic more than most contenders. A film like this should have been catnip for me (I saw Greyhound on opening weekend - I love Hanks and History), but because of its rollout I never got around to it. I think others were too. There are some films, that need the box office to push it into conversation - this was one.
Oddly enough, this feels like a year where the classic "dad film" is missing (e.g., Ford vs Ferrari, Dunkirk, Hell or High Water, Moneyball).
Great article, Nathaniel. I just watched this the other night, and I just adored it. It's in my Top Ten for the year. The themes of political danger, rampant crime, incendiary messaging and mass fatigue precisely hit the mark. And Hanks is his usual reliable self, and after all we've been through, that has a lot more impact than I ever thought it would. The art direction, photography and score are all terrific. And the ending is quite moving. Highly recommended.
I think the movie felt like something already seen. The theme and turns of the story were all foreseeable and conservative. The ending was lukewarm, overly idealistic and romantic for audiences of today.
That said, beautiful cinematography, good acting and nice soundtrack.
I, to my surprise, loved News of the World. Though it gets off to a bit of a lackadaisical start, once it kicks in, it's really gripping. It is, indeed, very much about a post-war America trying to right itself (which it still hasn't managed,) so its full of relevant themes but it never get pedantic or preachy. In fact, there are some really exciting sequences. Hanks and Helena are terrific, and at its core, it's about storytelling -- how we tell them, why they're important. I'm surprised it didn't resonate with more voters and viewers.
Perhaps part of the problem was its vague, generic title and the marketing told you nothing about it?
It is a very fine film. Would have made a respectable Adapted Screenplay nominee. Editing i strong too but probably not top five.
It had no narrative. It's just a good movie!
I really liked Zengel. I hope she stays in Europe to work with auteurs.
What you and Joe G said. I actually quite liked NotW, much more than I was expecting to (my husband was the one who wanted to watch it - I wasn't exactly resistant but not remotely excited either), though I also felt like it was another one that needs to be seen in a theater to get the full impact. Still, it particularly excels in the quieter, intimate scenes - though it does the big set pieces very well, too - and you're right about the contemporary resonance notwithstanding its "classic Western" trappings.
I also thought Tom Hanks was great - in a less competitive year, he might have had a shot at another Oscar nod. Ditto Helena Zengel, and Elizabeth Marvel had one of the best cameos of the year.
I adored News of the World - I've been recommending it to everyone. The Western genre is such a great place for the types of setpieces that Greengrass excels at.
I mean that shootout!
I loved this movie. DEEPLY. It is absolutely better than at least Mank and Chicago 7, and maybe better than Sound of Metal. Tom Hanks tore open my heart. Elizabeth Marvel should have been nominated for her perfect supporting role.
@ Joe G
THIS IS TOTALLY THE DAD FILM OF THE YEAR!
The 4 nods are good, maybe I would add Adapted screenplay, it's better than One night in Miami.
This is definitely going to be one of those films that grows on cable and has a major following in the coming years. I loved it.
Helena Zengel and Jared Leto are the two casualties this year of SAG + Golden Globe nom, but no Oscar nom.
On the flipside of that, Paul Raci and Lakeith Stanfield made it in despite missing those two key precursors.
I liked everything about it but the acting was a little ropey in places.
This is the kind of film I would have happily gone to see in a theater for $8.50--I'm sure it looks great on the big screen. But paying $19.95 to see it on a smaller screen when I could watch ANOTHER ROUND, NOMADLAND, MA RAINEY, ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI and SOUND OF METAL for no extra feel was a non starter for me back in Feb/March. If it had the kind of heat that MINARI or PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN had, I might have splurged, but it just seemed a notch below them in the online chatter. I actually didn't get around to (the excellent) THE FATHER until the nominations came along. I've just seen too many fine-but-nothing-special Brit theater adaptations (PLENTY, THE DRESSER, SHADOWLANDS) in my time. I'm guessing it made it onto people's screening schedules due to the buzz around Hopkins' stunning performance.
Dan --= yeah. that was a tough break for this movie. The cinematography is lovely but with this and with Nomadland i deinitely felft they would have been better on the big screen
Just saw the movie last week. It's better than some of the movies Oscar-nominated for Best Picture this year. And Tom Hanks is certainly better than one of the Best Actor nominees too.
@Ryan T. I just have a feeling Academy voters have come to think Hanks is a two-and-done level actor so why even bother nominating him any more? He's no Daniel Day Lewis or Jack Nicholson, so even when he's great, the sentiment is probably "nah. Why waste the nomination?"