Voting for Sunday's 94th Academy Awards has come to an end. What are the chances?
A global epidemic that lasted for two years and is still going on has altered people's perspectives, even those in the entertainment sector. Before the winter break, the awards season seemed to be back on track, but events were being delayed, and a recurring dark passenger reappeared with new names.
This year's Oscars have been striving for a nice vibe, and it's no mystery why. On Feb. 8, Netflix's "The Power of the Dog" received the most nominations, with 12, and it appeared that the streaming behemoth had finally arrived at its golden moment with the Academy after previously falling short with films like "Roma" (2018) and "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (2019). (2020).
My long-held belief is that the Academy Awards are important because they may provide a picture of the world at a given time, both in terms of what they recognize and exclude. At that year's 14th Oscars, "How Green Was My Valley," a 1942 John Ford film, won the Best Picture Oscar, beating Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane," often considered the greatest film ever produced. When it was released three months after Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941, the timing was perfect for Ford's drama depicting hope and the search for a better life for a family.
The world is now seeing the horrors and war crimes that are taking place in Ukraine, where the invasion began on February 24, four days before Apple Original Films' "CODA" received the SAG Award for best cast ensemble. Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Eugenio Derbez, and Daniel Durant, as well as the rest of the ensemble, made the movie a delight to see. With a cast like that, it's hard not to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
In addition, the Producers Guild of America and the BAFTA Awards, both of which ended voting on March 8th, were interrupted by this event. Goodwill for the $25 million Sundance acquisition remained intact, resulting in a win at the PGA Awards this past week as well as a notable adapted screenplay prize at the BAFTAs, even though "CODA" was not nominated for best film in its category.
It's all about timing at the Oscars. A young Buddy (Jude Hill) witnesses the commencement of turmoil in Northern Ireland in the opening sequence of Focus Features' "Belfast," which has been considered a positive, happy picture.
"CODA" arrived just in time for a world in desperate need of inspiration. "The Power of the Dog," directed and written by Jane Campion, is a stunning work of art, but there isn't much to hold onto in this dark, brooding Western for future generations.
An emotional roller coaster ride in its closing 20 minutes, Siân Heder's family drama about a little girl struggling to combine her passion for music with her family's economic future brings even those detractors of its simplistic approach to tears.
Best picture winners like "Million Dollar Baby," "Crash," "The Departed," and "No Country for Old Men" showed that the Academy Awards were recognizing films with overtones of tragedy and violence in the early 2000s (2007). Slumdog Millionaire" (2008) provided a brief respite from the more depressing material that followed, but they returned to the darker side with films like "12 Years a Slave" (2013), "Spotlight" (2015), and potentially "Parasite" and "Nomadland."
Over the previous six days of voting, numerous AMPAS members told me that there would be a photo finish in many categories, with a few surprises hiding in the shadows.
On Thursday, before Sunday's presentation, the final Oscar predictions will be published. While Warner Bros.' "Dune" is expected to bring in a large number of awards, we could witness some historic occurrences, such as Billie Eilish becoming the second youngest original song winner ever (behind Marketa Irglova, the Czech-Icelandic songwriter who wrote "Falling Slowly" for "Once") or Lin-Manuel Miranda becoming the "fastest" ever EGOT recipient.