Awards Season 2022

[Pavel]

WGA nominations:

SpoilerShow

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Everything Everywhere All At Once, Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert; A24

The Fabelmans, Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner; Universal Pictures

The Menu, Written by Seth Reiss & Will Tracy; Searchlight Pictures

Nope, Written by Jordan Peele; Universal Pictures

Tár, Written by Todd Field; Focus Features

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Screenplay by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, Story by Ryan Coogler, Based on the Marvel Comics; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Written by Rian Johnson; Netflix

She Said, Screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Based on the New York Times Investigation by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett and the Book She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey; Universal Pictures

Top Gun: Maverick, Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie, Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, Based on Characters Created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps, Jr.; Paramount Pictures

Women Talking, Screenplay by Sarah Polley, Based upon the Book by Miriam Toews; Orion Pictures/MGM

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

2nd Chance, Written by Ramin Bahrani; Showtime Documentary Films

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, Written by Mark Bailey & Keven McAlester; Netflix

Last Flight Home, Written by Ondi Timoner; MTV Documentary Films

Moonage Daydream, Written by Brett Morgen; Neon

¡Viva Maestro!, Written by Theodore Braun; Greenwich Entertainment

Good to finally see a nom for Nope

[beamish14]

WGA nominations:

SpoilerShow

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Everything Everywhere All At Once, Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert; A24

The Fabelmans, Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner; Universal Pictures

The Menu, Written by Seth Reiss & Will Tracy; Searchlight Pictures

Nope, Written by Jordan Peele; Universal Pictures

Tár, Written by Todd Field; Focus Features

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Screenplay by Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole, Story by Ryan Coogler, Based on the Marvel Comics; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Written by Rian Johnson; Netflix

She Said, Screenplay by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Based on the New York Times Investigation by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett and the Book She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey; Universal Pictures

Top Gun: Maverick, Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie, Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, Based on Characters Created by Jim Cash & Jack Epps, Jr.; Paramount Pictures

Women Talking, Screenplay by Sarah Polley, Based upon the Book by Miriam Toews; Orion Pictures/MGM

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

2nd Chance, Written by Ramin Bahrani; Showtime Documentary Films

Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, Written by Mark Bailey & Keven McAlester; Netflix

Last Flight Home, Written by Ondi Timoner; MTV Documentary Films

Moonage Daydream, Written by Brett Morgen; Neon

¡Viva Maestro!, Written by Theodore Braun; Greenwich Entertainment

They’ve got to be kidding with She Said. What an incredibly inert, unengaging script that doesn’t do anything with the source material

[Computer Raheem]

The Academy is reportedly investigating whether or not Andrea Riseborough's nomination violated their guidelines

In my opinion, I feel like, if there was anything shady going on, many of the people who would be involved (mainly the A-listers) were probably unaware; I also wonder what will happen should her nomination get rescinded; does whomever was ranked below her get the spot or does it stay empty? The only previous example of this I've found of this happening is when Bruce Broughton was caught emailing his Best Original Song nominee to voters during the voting period, and they left the fifth spot blank. Just a mess overall, and I don't foresee a smooth resolution

[therewillbeblus]

Isn't it just a game of campaigning? I feel like the reaches of social media and general enhanced networking across mediums complicates things, but it also seems like the teams behind Till and The Woman King should bear some accountability for not having their ears to the ground leading up to the nominations, and potentially disengaging a bit too much assuming their actresses were locked in. It's not over til it's over

[swo17]

So much for stopping the televised horse race. Also, they shoot horses, don't they?

[MV88]

The only specific thing that article mentions that the Academy may consider a violation is advocating for the performance on social media, which really should not be against their rules if that’s the case. In fact, if they rescind her nomination because of nothing more than that, then that itself will register as “shady” in that the Academy would effectively be forcing people to campaign exclusively in ways that cost money. I mean, are they really about to decide that grassroots campaigns are now against their rules, thereby making it so that smaller, lesser known films have virtually no chance of recognition? That would be a far more fatal blow to the Academy in the long run in terms of whatever remaining shreds of credibility they have left.

Also, Andrea Riseborough has a lot of people on her side, including presumed frontrunner Cate Blanchett, who used her Critics’ Choice Awards speech to advocate for her (was that against the rules too?). If the nomination is rescinded, I have a feeling the backlash against that decision will eclipse whatever initial backlash against her inclusion has occurred this week, and what’s more, it’ll be coming from the other nominees. Does anyone think there’s even a chance if Riseborough’s nomination is rescinded that someone like Blanchett could even ask to have their own nominations revoked too in protest?

[Apperson]

The only thing that has been brought up that could I could even conceive of being considered shady is the naming of other specific contenders, the Variety article brought up an Instagram post that mentioned Cate Blanchett by name and I heard of other posts mentioning Deadwyler and Davis. Otherwise it's seems like a complete nothingburger that would cause so much more shit for The Academy than if they just left it and let copycat contenders trying the same exact strategy next year cannibalise each other.

[flyonthewall2983]

a castmate weighs in

[zedz]

The Guardian piece (here) on this controversy offers this weird and possibly revealing explanation:
in a lengthy comment piece in the LA Times film critic Robert Daniels wrote: “Although it’s easy to point a finger at Riseborough for taking a slot from Black women, broken systems persist when we focus our ire on individuals … what does it say that the Black women who did everything the institution asks of them – luxury dinners, private Academy screenings, meet-and-greets, splashy television spots and magazine profiles – are ignored when someone who did everything outside of the system is rewarded?”

So the Oscars really are seen by insiders as being all about servicing the media and the Academy rather than about the actual work? How dare they not nominate somebody who shook all those hands?

[MV88]

Maron is right. It’s absolutely ridiculous that the Academy is even considering rescinding someone’s nomination simply because they got in without a studio spending a bunch of money on a major awards campaign. It’s like they’re being accidentally transparent about how nominations are bought and sold.

As to the Guardian piece in which Robert Daniels expresses concern that Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler “did everything the institution asks of them” but were snubbed in favor of a white person who didn’t do any of it, I seem to recall the reverse sentiment being spread throughout the media in 2009 when Mo’Nique refused to do any awards campaigning for Precious and was painted as ungrateful and entitled because of it…yet not only was she nominated, she even won. The Academy definitely continues to have a blind spot with race, but in this particular case I don’t think that’s the reason Riseborough made the lineup, and suggesting otherwise feels like bitterness that some studios lost a lot of money trying to get Davis and Deadwyler nominated.

[Matt]

Given that Cate Blanchett has publicly praised Andrea Riseborough’s performance, I should think that all it would take to make this whole thing disappear is one phone call to the Academy from her agent saying, “If you disqualify Riseborough, Cate will publicly renounce her own nomination, refuse to attend the ceremony, and refuse the award should she win.”

Imagine being Andrea Riseborough and having to attend this hours-long, televised ceremony now. Great publicity for her film, but how embarrassing for her.

[therewillbeblus]

It’s also sad considering she’s arguably the least popular and securely-positioned actress of the bunch, including the two snubbed (I suppose it’s a toss up with Deadwyler, but Davis will likely be continuing her already-long streak of securing work in nominated performances for a while longer). Having this kind of gossipy press attached to her really spoils the victory, and for an actress who’s long been impressing small audiences in strong bit parts, it’s a sour dis. Imagine spending your whole career waiting for a moment like this and becoming the face of rumored privilege usurping the merits of talent. I guess in the year of the Nepo Baby drama superfluously concocted to give people something else to get mad at, it’s not surprising, but I hope it all blows over soon and doesn’t wind up affecting her negatively in the long term

[DarkImbecile]

No action will be taken by the Academy on Riseborough’s nomination

[Matt]

So there will be some private conversations between the Academy and a few of its members. Which is what should have happened in the first place instead of publicly and permanently tarnishing an actress’s integrity and reputation.

[hearthesilence]

Richard Brody's take on all the outliers among this year's nominees (including Riseborough's performance).

[ntnon]

Richard Brody's take on all the outliers among this year's nominees (including Riseborough's performance).

"The campaign for Riseborough is believed to have relied on a network of powerful—and mostly white—insiders to boost a white performer, when such a network, with such hiring powers in the business, isn’t available to nonwhite actors."

..really? The racial undertones to this storm in a teacup already seemed problematic, but this specific claim - that having a potential lobbying network of friends is only available to white people - seems like a significant overreach.

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah that's what's bugged me about the whole thing. I get the optical trigger of a white face usurping two black faces and the tendency for us to attach significance onto the vehicle we see, but the companies, PR teams, etc. lobbying behind the scenes to get their Oscars aren't necessarily, or likely, white vs black, or privileged vs disenfranchised. Feels like an opportunity for the teams who lost to learn a new strategy or lesson on when not to halt their efforts or where to open the peripheries of their attentions in the final stretch, but that development starts when one stop pointing fingers

[MV88]

I wonder if any of this controversy would have surfaced had Michelle Williams — who was far from a sure thing — been left out with either Davis or Deadwyler replacing her. In other words, is the backlash really about how Riseborough got nominated, or is it just that, however it happened (and it really seems like it was just enthusiastic word of mouth), she got in over two Black actresses who had featured more prominently in the conversation prior to the announcements? Because if it’s the latter, it seems to me that this whole investigation into Riseborough’s nomination was really just a way to divert attention away from the real issue and unfairly place the negative media coverage on her rather than the Academy itself.

And besides, there’s no way of even knowing she was the one who “cost” Davis or Deadwyler a spot. Michelle Williams was far from a sure thing, so it’s plausible that she, not Riseborough, may have been in 5th place in the voting tally and thus more directly edged one of them out. For that matter, is it even a guarantee that Davis or Deadwyler was in 6th place? It’s likely, but since the Academy never reveals that sort of thing, we can never know for sure.

[brundlefly]

Williams was in the conversation from the start, often because of the choice of category in which she was competing. Also, people have actually seen her movie. It's a Steven Spielberg movie. It would be shocking if Riseborough wasn't in fifth place. Though as this whole controversy is a campaign in and of itself, if it weren't a Yeoh-Blanchett battle I wonder if it may have been possible for her to win. I wonder how much of the industry brouhaha is only about lost advertising dollars; I don't know how it works now, especially as they're owned by the same company, but didn't Oscar campaigns used to act as Christmas does for retail, keeping Variety and The Hollywood Reporter afloat for most of the year?

Not a terrible thing to decentralize the awards campaign industry. But race obviously has something to do with this simply by dint of representation. When actors nominate actors, and a bunch of prominent successful actors -- and there are far more prominent successful white actors than black ones -- throw emphatic weight behind a particular performer it matters to their peers. You can blame Sony and MGM plenty for whatever their efforts were -- who stole Lashana Lynch's spot in that open category? -- but it's not like Theron was campaigning for Riseborough and Norton was campaignging for Deadwyler and Blanchett opened her speech with Tang Wei's name. It would look even worse if black actors were doing the same for Davis or Deadwyler and looked to be shouted down by their white counterparts. But it's not like race wasn't a factor at all.

[therewillbeblus]

Maybe I haven't been looking in the right places, but I wish there were more solution-focused, celebratory pieces championing the nominees of Yeoh (the first Asian actress nominated in the lead actress category) and de Armas (a reversal of the normative 'WASP plays historical figure belonging to marginalized demographic group they can pass for' by having a latino actress play an American icon). I know whiteness is a malleable construct and de Armas could be labeled as white, but if not 2/5 noms being non-white is tying the record from two years ago, by my count, even if neither are black. That doesn't discount the snubs from this year or negate that race is a factor or invalidate the (at this point, I can only imagine, exhausting) frustrations at Oscars being #sowhite particularly in relation to the proportionally growing number of black and brown actors in the industry right now, but sometimes I wish conversations were more equitable between praising progressivism and continuing to hold institutions accountable for their ongoing problems. In a way, I feel like Yeoh and de Armas are also losing out on being affectionately spotlit for their milestones with this Andrea Riseborough story

[lzx]

On the subject of whiteness as construct, it's perhaps prudent to note that the first Asian person nominated for Best Actress is not Michelle Yeoh but rather Merle Oberon, who passed as white her whole life. This has led to journalists using some awkward phrasing such as "openly Asian" and "Asian-identifying", which was immediately seized upon and mocked by conservative pundits and Film Twitter folks who couldn't be bothered to read beyond the headlines.

[ntnon]

On the subject of whiteness as construct, it's perhaps prudent to note that the first Asian person nominated for Best Actress is not Michelle Yeoh but rather Merle Oberon, who passed as white her whole life. This has led to journalists using some awkward phrasing such as "openly Asian" and "Asian-identifying", which was immediately seized upon and mocked by conservative pundits and Film Twitter folks who couldn't be bothered to read beyond the headlines.

Ha. I was reading Wikipedia's list of Asian nominees a day or two ago, and was..... amused(?), confused, etc.

Ben Kingsley (who was born in India), and then the female nominees goes: Merle Oberon, Vivien Leigh, Cher, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman... and Michelle Yeoh.

Terrence Malick is on the Asian director's list, despite being "born in Ottawa, Illinois... the son of Irene (née Thompson; 1912–2011) and Emil A. Malick (1917–2013)," because his "paternal grandparents were of Lebanese and Assyrian descent." Huh.

When, oh when, will America manage to come to grips with colour and race and just judge people by the content of their character?

[therewillbeblus]

I chose my words carefully by saying Asian and not Asian American, but didn't consider Merle Oberon's heritage though I did mean openly. Either way, "Asian" is a wide net to cast, and it would have been more appropriate to say East Asian. I'm really connecting this to a milestone in friction with the stereotypes of East Asians and the 'Asian hate' awareness that finally entered the zeitgeist within the last few years

[beamish14]

On the subject of whiteness as construct, it's perhaps prudent to note that the first Asian person nominated for Best Actress is not Michelle Yeoh but rather Merle Oberon, who passed as white her whole life. This has led to journalists using some awkward phrasing such as "openly Asian" and "Asian-identifying", which was immediately seized upon and mocked by conservative pundits and Film Twitter folks who couldn't be bothered to read beyond the headlines.

Ha. I was reading Wikipedia's list of Asian nominees a day or two ago, and was..... amused(?), confused, etc.

Ben Kingsley (who was born in India), and then the female nominees goes: Merle Oberon, Vivien Leigh, Cher, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman... and Michelle Yeoh.

Terrence Malick is on the Asian director's list, despite being "born in Ottawa, Illinois... the son of Irene (née Thompson; 1912–2011) and Emil A. Malick (1917–2013)," because his "paternal grandparents were of Lebanese and Assyrian descent." Huh.

When, oh when, will America manage to come to grips with colour and race and just judge people by the content of their character?

For years, I thought that Malick was of Armenian extraction, as his last name echoes Melikian/Malikian, which are common surnames there.

I think his place and year of birth might still be in dispute. Some sources say Oklahoma or Texas.

[therewillbeblus]

The Daniels win the DGA, Charlotte Wells takes First-Time Feature award

Edit: Most importantly, Sam Levinson won for Euphoria's “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird”