As I sit at my computer getting ready for the first interview of the season to get a view of this week’s nominations from the Academy from a person who will be casting their ballot in a few weeks, I’m extra excited for this specific person who for the first time (since meeting two years ago) has built enough trust with me to allow me to get their thoughts on this year’s crop of nominees. It feels like an accomplishment that I continue to get to know and gain the trust of Academy members from different branches. Usually, I would be posting which branch they are in but I came to an agreement with them (as they are still nervous, and understandably, as this is the first time they have ever allowed this access) that I won’t name the branch but I can say this; their Oscar still shines bright and is a pride and joy for them.
Here’s what they had to say-
Voter: Overall this year the nominations are decent with a block of solid Best Picture Nominations.
Joey: Let’s start with VISUAL EFFECTS.
Voter: First of all, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Oppenheimer should be here, let’s be serious. With that said, for me, Godzilla: Minus One wins here easily and will have my vote. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, it really stood out visually on the budget and really put the “Hollywood” Godzilla films to shame. There was more integrity and authenticity here.
Joey: EDITING.
Voter: This really is a beautiful selection of films, and these five make sense as the nominees. Five of the best films here really, but out of these my vote will go to Oppenheimer, its editing was used the most effectively and really was its own character. Killers of the Flower Moon is on the longer side of run time but I don’t honestly find that to be an editing issue.”
Joey: COSTUME DESIGN.
Voter: Poor Things truly to me stands out the most. It’s the most interesting mix of classical costumes and modern expressionist and I like that type of twist. I wouldn’t be mad if Barbie got it, but I feel like that’s a template to where the most creative truly is Poor Things.”
Joey: CINEMATOGRAPHY.
Voter: For the absolute record I think Saltburn could’ve and should’ve snuck in. Killers of the Flower Moon is…okay, El Conde is such a cool nomination, my vote will go to Poor Things as I find it truly so striking and memorable, but I think Oppenheimer will win and I honestly find it interesting as to which shots were filmed in IMAX and which ones weren’t. It’s like you’d be watching these gorgeous IMAX shot moments and then be in a conversation that was cut in with Einstein and you can tell it wasn’t in IMAX and it feels like it wasn’t fully thought through.
Joey: MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING.
Voter: I want it to be very very clear to everyone, I am not (nor can I stand) a voter who doesn’t watch everything. I will not vote until I watch everything. With that said, I have not yet seen Golda, so I will hold my thoughts on it. From there, I found the makeup in Poor Things to be fun but honestly I (as of now) will be voting for Maestro as that make-up felt invisible in the best of ways, and what I mean by that is that you truly cannot tell at a certain point that these characters are wearing makeup. It’s so damn natural, and despite the controversy this year with the idea of “jew face”, if you are emulating a real person it needs to be as real as possible and the Maestro team did just that, it reads authentic.”
Joey: PRODUCTION DESIGN.
Voter: Poor Things is literally THE ONE. It’s striking and told so well from the black and white to the color. It’s rich, euphoric, stylized, and colorfully extraordinary. The production design here looks and feels unrecognizable while presenting completely new. I imagine Barbie will get it, it’s fun and notable but it’s just commercial recreations.
Joey: SOUND.
Voter: If The Zone of Interest wasn’t here I would be voting for Oppenheimer. With Zone, the sound is the theme of that film and all about what’s heard and not seen. Oppenheimer is hauntingly good, it’s chilling and I genuinely might rewatch both before voting to really make sure, but as of right now my vote is definitely going to Zone.
Joey: SCORE.
Voter: (Laughs and groans) Oh, Jesus Christ. This is one of the categories I feel they fucked up the most. First of all, two films really should be here- Spider Man: Across the Spider-Verse, as well as The Boy and the Heron. When it comes to what is getting my vote here, I’m torn between Oppenheimer and Poor Things. I think Ludwig (Goransson) is incredible and I feel that his score gives an emotional through line in a procedural film, his score underpins it in such a way and yet I’m drawn to the score from Poor Things as it’s just so memorable and all around fun. I fully think Oppenheimer will win here but my vote goes to Poor Things.”
Joey: ORIGINAL SONG.
Voter: (Laughs again) Firstly, it’s insane to me that a film about Flamin’ Hot Cheetos exists. I think Americans get very excited compared to the rest of the world about the story of someone developing commercial products, which we saw a lot of this year in Air, Flamin Hot, and Barbie. With that said I will for sure listen to all the songs in full before that vote is cast, but as of right now I am leaning towards Wahzhazhe (A Song for my People) from Killers of the Flower Moon. It feels quite powerful compared to the songs that are here.
NOTE FROM JOEY- The voter here wanted again to reiterate that they watch everything, but has not seen all the shorts yet (as of this interview) and wants the respect of those categories to be at 100% before commenting on them. So due to the timing of the interview, those categories will be skipped as well as International and Documentary due to not having seen all of them yet.
Joey: ANIMATED FEATURE
Voter: Really nice selection here, one of the most pleasant selections in quite some time. I really wish Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem made it over Nimona but hey, what can you do? The Boy and the Heron is an outright masterpiece, as someone who loves Studio Ghibli, this movie made me feel like I was watching Spirited Away for the first time again, it was spellbinding in its telling of intergenerational relationships and it really stuck with me for a long time after watching. Now, I do have hopes that Sony will nail the next Spider-Verse film and we can honor the conclusion there but it’s a close battle for me here where Heron wins.”
Joey: ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY.
Voter: Really good selection of film here, and what people on Twitter and in real life who don’t vote on these need to understand is this- when you’re voting for screenplay you’re voting on what works in black and white on the page, strip the sound, get rid of the costumes, set pieces, actors etc. Does it hold you? Do you want to flip the page and continue? Yes? Well for me, that was The Holdovers, in terms of writing it’s so engaging.
Joey: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY.
Voter: POOR THINGS! POOR THINGS! A MILLION TIMES, POOR THINGS. Its ideas are so beautiful and condensed, they’re thoughtful, provocative, and shocking. It’s a script that is hopeful, goofy, and fun. When it comes to the “controversy” of Barbie in Adapted, the Academy did the absolute correct thing. This is not at all an original screenplay, this is adapted as all hell as it’s an existing commercial IP.”
Joey: SUPPORTING ACTRESS.
Voter: (Sighs) I COULD NOT STAND NYAD. I think both actresses were in an uphill struggle with a TERRIBLE screenplay. It felt so narcissistic and juvenile. Jodie is such a good actress but I am extremely disappointed she got in, especially when Rosamund Pike should be here for Saltburn. I truly think the inclusion of Foster is lame. Speaking of lame inclusions, America Ferrera…..I want to say the monologue is correct, I agree, but let’s compare that monologue to someone like Laura Dern in Marriage Story and her monologue about being a good father, it’s just day & night, let’s be very honest here- is this a nomination for acting or for that monologue…Danielle Brooks is here, The Color Purple was a thing. My vote will go to Da’Vine Joy Randolph but I would be totally fine if Emily Blunt wins, who is really good in Oppenheimer.”
Joey: SUPPORTING ACTOR.
Voter: Decent selection, I controversially would’ve been fine losing DeNiro for Dafoe but I appreciate that would be pretty fringe. I cannot lie, I love the Poor Things boys and therefore I’m voting for Mark Ruffalo. He’s a solid actor but I’m never really excited by him. Howeverm in this movie, I thought he was hilariously funny, over the top and unlike anything he’s ever done before, I was super impressed.”
Joey: LEADING ACTOR.
Voter: Good selection, wouldn’t change any of these. Obviously, Cillian Murphy is incredible in Oppenheimer, but Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers totally won me over and has my vote. I do think Cillian will win, but with Giamatti he brought so much authenticity and warmth to this curmudgeon of a man. It’s great to see Jeffrey Wright here and of course Coleman Domingo is here but what I find fascinating is how and why Bradley Cooper somehow became the villain this season for Maestro, he doesn’t deserve that.”
Joey: LEADING ACTRESS.
Voter: The very obvious outlier here is Annette Bening, incredible actress but (laughs) what are we doing here? Without a doubt, Greta Lee for Past Lives should have this spot. Lily Gladstone seems to be resonating with people better than with me, she’s good but this really is a three person race if we’re being honest with ourselves. Before we get to them though I know there was some talk on lead vs. supporting and there is for sure an argument to be had to put her in supporting with the seven hour run time and her screen time. But I’m not going to argue her placement here, in all honesty. With the other three, when it comes to my vote I’m giving it to Emma Stone because in this film she’s showing us that as an actress she’s extremely mature and competent; emotionally, physically and comically. She truly ticks off all the boxes for me and it makes me think back to the last time we gave Yorgos’ leading lady an Oscar, Olivia Colman winning for The Favourite has truly aged like fine wine. Now, regarding this whole Barbie “drama”- leaving Margot Robbie out was completely the correct decision. She is nominated as a producer and frankly her achievement as a producer massively outweighs her achievement as an actress, her being out makes sense.
Joey: BEST DIRECTOR.
Voter: You can have two women in this category, you can have three and regarding the other two big options here- I don’t honestly feel that Barbie was one of the top five achievements in directing this year. You cannot honestly say, with hand on heart, that the direction was the single thing that made the movie work and I certainly don’t think it was among the five of the year so I was very happy to see Greta Gerwig not here. Frankly, I think this is a pretty fucking good line up. There is so much to like about Past Lives but I think the direction, while it serves the film well is nowhere near the biggest achievement in directing for the year. Is a nomination warranted? No. If anyone was to be in this category who isn’t here it should be Alexander Payne, and I would swap him out for Marty, while Killers of the Flower Moon is directed incredibly well, Payne is just a whole different level of “wow”. All five of the films that made it in this category are in their own way quite provocative, but for my vote I need to go with my mind and not my heart on this vote, and with that I am voting for Christopher Nolan here. My heart so badly wants Yorgos but Nolan directed the shit out of that movie and he’s going to win here.”
Joey: For BEST PICTURE, lets go how you would rank these like on your actual ballot, let’s go 10 to 1 and after each, give a blurb about the film.
Voter: Okay, sounds good- before I start I want to say I find this to be a really good selection of movies and one of the first years where I don’t hate any of these movies, but there are clear movies here and clear winners here.
10. Barbie – easily the weakest of the bunch.
9. Killers of the Flower Moon – Marty really doesn’t miss but he’s made better and especially as of recent.”
(Beat) “AND NOW WE’RE ONTO THE REALLY GOOD MOVIES
8. American Fiction – fucking great.
7. Anatomy of a Fall – such a well directed film, such a maturely written film that fights the urge to be patronizing.
6. Past Lives – totally worked on me, deeply emotional. Did exactly what it was setting out to do.
5. Maestro – thought it was beautiful and compelling, baity as fuck but I think every scene does something fascinating.
4. Oppenheimer – this is winning, let’s be honest. So I want to give a different film another shot, one of Nolan’s best.
3. The Zone of Interest – hypnotic, it just worked on me. Unlike anything I’ve seen and it left me speechless.
2. The Holdovers – it’s got THE goods. One I can see myself rewatching. It’s understated and delivers on its own promise and does it joyfully. Low stakes but makes it MATTER.
1. Poor Things – film of the year, please keep giving Yorgos money because dude knows how to cook!
I would like to say that I am disappointed that the momentum for Spider Man: Across the Spider Verse died down and didn’t propel it into Best Picture. Does it surprise me though? No. I can only hope that with what Sony is doing in animation, we here in the Academy can honor the third movie in the franchise as long as the ending to the trilogy is incredibly cathartic and thoughtful. Sony really is pushing boundaries and making huge strides artistically. I would’ve also liked to see Beau is Afraid and Asteroid City get into Production Design, that category needs to learn how to have more fun, but their omission is no great shock with how decisive that branch is.
Joey: The first year post To Leslie “controversy”, did you notice any changes with campaigning, or any FYC’s this year due to the new rules?
Voter: No.
Joey: Thank you so much for your time, truly appreciate it.
Voter: Of course, and thank you for giving me my first time in doing this, I enjoyed it.
