“Dune: Part Two” seems to be an entry predicated on the almost $300 million it has earned so far at the box office. Based on the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert, it has themes reminiscent of “Star Wars,” with a population at stake and threats of annihilation by another group with vastly superior firepower. A young hero, Paul Atreides, is out to avenge the death of his family at the hands of conspirators. Love, hate, war, vengeance and lots of gigantic weapons fill the screen that has at its root (very far down the root) a religious theme where Atreides is “the one” who has been called to deliver unity. Denis Villeneuve has directed a film of magnificent special effects and cliched writing where any attempt at character development is punctuated by an explosion because this isn’t really about character or story; it’s about the visuals. Part One introduced Atreides as he sees his father try in vain to bring different forces into harmony. Part Two is Atreides’ under-resourced effort to avenge his father and bring those forces together. Part Three, and make no mistake that there will be one because, like serial television, the last scene sets up the next movie as the battle for unity continues. There were no acting nominations, and rightfully so because the acting is, at best, perfunctory. The cinematography, visual and sound effects, all nominated, should benefit handsomely when the Oscars are handed out. Surprisingly, costumes and make-up did not make the cut.
“Emilia Pérez” was a particular favorite of mine and is a leading contender for Best Picture, among many others. There hasn’t been a story this original in quite some time, if ever, and the fact that it’s a musical, or rather a story with musical numbers, makes it even more unique. Led by trans actress and Best Actress nominee (and the less said about her the better), Karla Sofía Gascón,” this story of a drug lord who undergoes surgery to become their true self, “Emilia Pérez” boasts a great script, a terrific cast, including Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña, a great score and musical numbers. It has been nominated in almost every conceivable category but is hands down the creation and work of director/co-writer Jacques Audiard. It’s a Spanish-language musical set in Mexico with Latino actors directed by an audacious French director, nominated not just for Best Picture, but it’s also France’s entry for Best International Feature Film. Even if it wins nothing, and that will happen only if there is no justice in the world of cinema, Audiard has crashed through barriers we didn’t know existed. Saldaña gave a golden performance, and my hope is that she wins the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, like she did at the Golden Globes.
“I’m Still Here,” Brazil’s entry for Best International Feature Film, is an outlier. Its release at the end of the year and the publicity surrounding its theme, a repressive government’s kidnappings of alleged political opponents, may have contributed to its surprise nomination in the Best Picture category. It’s a good movie, but not a great one. Fernanda Torres, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actress may have contributed to her Oscar nomination as Best Actress in a Leading Role. She’s quite good, but as far as I’m concerned, her performance does not rise to the level of some other more worthy actresses in films that didn’t benefit from the remarkable publicity push of this one.
“Nickel Boys” definitely deserves to be on this list, although it’s a real long shot. Based on the excellent novel by Colson Whitehead, director and co-writer RaMell Ross attempted to tell this story of juvenile detention in the segregated South through the eyes of the two incarcerated boys, literally and figuratively. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but the approach is original and deserves recognition.
“The Substance” was an interesting choice, helped, no doubt by Demi Moore’s win at the Golden Globes. “The Substance” is that rare horror film to cross the breach into Best Picture territory. A black comedy about Hollywood’s tendency to cast aside actresses (not actors) of a certain age and the desire to recapture the beauty of youth, “The Substance” tells the tale of an older, but still great-looking, actress who has been deaccessioned from her on-air TV job. She learns of a new process that will let her, on a shared basis, return to her youth and live life again as that sought-after commodity. What happens when her younger self refuses to share and return to her older self, as per the agreement, quickly devolves into a graphic horror story. The plot is interesting, the acting is very good, but, in the end, literally and figuratively, it is a gothic horror show. A recent Opinion piece in the “New York Times” decried the lack of recognition given to horror films at the Oscars. What the writer doesn’t acknowledge is that most horror films are heavy on the make-up and gore and light on the writing, even when the plot is good. Case in point? “Nosferatu,” this year’s remake of the Dracula story that added nothing to the canon, but had the requisite wide-eyed innocence, gore galore and enough bad dialogue to earn a Razzie.
Demi Moore in “The Substance” was good in a role that she has, no doubt, lived but it doesn’t rise to the level of great acting. If she wins, it will be a vote from all the older actresses in the Academy who have unceremoniously been cast out unfairly and recognize themselves in this role. Does it warrant an Oscar? Not in my opinion and I fully understand the unfair judgment based on age. Under the circumstances, Margaret Qualley, the actress who plays the younger self, should have been nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role because she is the other half of Moore’s performance.
“Wicked” is number three at the 2024 box office with $433 million in revenue so far and it only opened on Nov. 22. It is a behemoth and deserves to be on this list because it is the whole package—lights, camera, action, great actresses in Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande both of whom have been nominated. The only controversy is that director John Chu was left off the nominations list for the Oscars and the DGA. That is a puzzle because there are a lot of moving parts in this beloved musical and they all worked together like gears in sync. Even more surprising was that Winnie Holzman, writer of the original musical and co-writer of the screenplay, was not nominated for adapted screenplay. The biggest movie of the year and neither the director nor the writer was nominated? That’s an unfathomable puzzle.
Snubs? Many people lamented that Denzel Washington was not nominated for “Gladiators II.” I loved his tongue-in-cheek performance but being the best thing in a not very good (but entertaining) movie is as unlikely to yield a nomination as losing out as MVP when you’re the best player on a bad team.
I was very surprised that Saoirse Ronan was not nominated for her outstanding performance in “The Outrun,” a completely overlooked film about a young woman returning home to recover from alcoholism and facing the demons she left behind. And, like the film or not, Amy Adams, in the quasi-horror film “Nightbitch,” gave a multilayered take on postpartum depression and a woman’s search for identity.
And finally, if it had been up to me, I would have included “The Count of Monte Cristo” on the Best Picture list. It’s in French and didn’t have wide exposure but it had the whole package from great acting, terrific story and production design capturing that period in history.
There’s not enough space to dissect the rest of the nominations. There were and still are some terrific films out there and more to come. Go to the theater. See a movie!
Neely Swanson spent most of her professional career in the television industry, almost all of it working for David E. Kelley. In her last full-time position as Executive Vice President of Development, she reviewed writer submissions and targeted content for adaptation. As she has often said, she did book reports for a living. For several years she was a freelance writer for “Written By,” the magazine of the WGA West, and was adjunct faculty at USC in the writing division of the School of Cinematic Arts. Neely has been writing film and television reviews for the “Easy Reader” for more than 10 years. Her past reviews can be read on Rotten Tomatoes where she is a tomatometer-approved critic.
