Sword of the Golden Man

[setsuled]

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The full list of Oscar nominees was released earlier this week. Of the movies I've seen, I'm not especially fond of any. I suspect One Battle After Another will sweep the awards. If nothing else, Teyana Taylor is a shoe-in for Best Supporting Actress. And she was good in the movie, the stuff between her and Sean Penn was the best part of the movie. And I'm glad the Oscar category is still called "actress" instead of "female actor" like the Golden Globes. Where are the people who used to be angry about "female" being somehow a sexist term? I suppose in a couple years it'll be "woman or girl actor". Whatever sounds the most inelegant, the most like a crude AI translation.

The Oscars, as usual, are all about politics, both Hollywood's internal politics and U.S. politics at large. One Battle After Another arrived just as ICE was solidifying its reputation as America's less competent version of the Gestapo. Everyone's gonna feel good sticking it to them, even if it is ultimately an impotent gesture. Maybe this year someone will make a really good movie about how fucked up the ICE situation is. At any rate, I'm sure more than a few people will try.

I'm not surprised Kokuho wasn't nominated for Best International Picture, though it did pick up a nomination for Best Makeup. I think the film was in part crafted specifically with the intention of getting international awards attention but the makers of the film lacked an understanding of the politics of American and European cinema. Japan previously won Best International Feature Film with 2021's Drive My Car, which fit the mould much better with its story from the iconoclast Murakami Haruki and featuring an ambiguous relationship between a man and a younger woman. At its heart, Kokuho is a very conservative film.

I think Frankenstein has a solid chance at winning Costume Design and Production Design but I don't think its screenplay has received more than polite affection.