#OscarsSoAiight
Film snobs Seth Combs and Glenn Heath Jr. on Oscar picks, octopus sex and why Aaron Sorkin just needs to stop
The Oscars are this Sunday, and as someone who’s spent the past year watching Evil Dead and Ernest movies on repeat, I’m the least qualified person to make any judgement calls on who will win (I did, however, love TheSound of Metal, and I thought Nomadland was fine but kind of stock indie).
Luckily for me and my cinematic ineptitude, I have smart friends who’ve kept up on this year’s current crop of Oscar noms: former CityBeat editor/writer Seth Combs and former CityBeat film critic Glenn Heath Jr (who now writes Afterglow, to which you should subscribe). I’m stoked that these two offered to talk Oscars on AWKSD—not only because of their masterful analyses, but it also serves as a mini CityBeat reunion of sorts. Yay!
All right, I’ll hand it over to them. If you’re a betting person, I suggest reading this before filling out your Oscar pool.
Seth Combs: I was pretty excited about this year’s list of nominees, but I think you had a tweet that said you were a bit underwhelmed. I wrote a piece last year explaining my love/hate relationship with the awards, how it always disappoints me, but that I remain obsessed. How would you characterize your outlook on the Academy Awards?
Glenn Heath: I think my fascination with the Oscars was pretty much centered on trying to learn the history of what had come before or what was deemed important. Why were those films deemed important at the time? In a strange way, it opened me up film history in a very accessible manner where I could go and look at books that had all the different awards and just see what films I should target… It’s a fascination that starts out as something that’s very entertainment-based but the Oscars were my way of trying to figure out what does “award-worthy” mean and how do these films reflect the era? It works as a gateway.
SC: Yeah, I think that’s the type of relationship that some people have with it, especially for people who love the art of movies. It’s not so much an authoritative list of the best movies, because there are certainly past winners who didn’t deserve to win. But those ones that did win, or even the ones that were nominated, do serve as a useful guide or catalyst to finding other, better movies.
GH: Or it can be a guide to the actual filmmakers or certain actors who are nominated and you’ll be curious about their previous films. And oftentimes, those previous films are much more eclectic… The big mistake people make is that they get so enamored with what has been nominated for an Oscar, whereas it’s just a snapshot of that year. We have to be curious about what’s beyond that snapshot.
SC: Well, I think that’s why I’m excited about this year. I think it’s particularly cool that the films and performances that are nominated aren’t the usual Hollywood fare. I know things have been trending that way anyway, but there’s still a sense of tokenism when it comes to independent films, women directors and performances from people of color. My sense is that, due to the pandemic, this year may be a game changer in that this year the Academy was forced to look outside of the big studios for films. Or is it just a one-off and next year, it’ll be back to business as usual?
GH: I think it’s been two years since #OscarsSoWhite and it takes a few years to really see that change in Academy membership, and it also takes a few years for movies to get made. So I think the main thing is that more filmmakers of color have been slightly more empowered over the last few years. I hope that it’s part of that gradual evening-out, with a new wave of actors and filmmakers who are tackling subjects that might not have been deemed production-worthy even four or five years ago, but now there’s a lot more power in certain filmmakers’ hands. Ava DuVernay [Selma, When They See Us, 13th] is a good example of that type of filmmaker who has built this reputation for making films dealing with important topics.
So when it comes to this year, even though they’re made by Black and Asian filmmakers, some of them make the same mistakes that a classic Oscar-nominated movie would make; how they sentimentalize things and reduce history to an accessible, linear narrative. So I think that’s why I see this year’s films more as solid entries that just happened to be released this year.
SC: Yeah, I hear you, but I still think it’s a good thing, because as much as I love Minari and Promising Young Woman, I don’t think those films are nominated for “Best Picture” in a non-pandemic year.
GH: Yes, because in a non-pandemic year it likely would have had to compete against films like Dune and West Side Story, these monolithic movies that are made by filmmakers who usually get nominated. Your point is especially true for a movie like Minari, because it’s a film that was able to grow and have an audience grow over time, whereas in most years, we know exactly what will be nominated after something like the Toronto International Film Festival and stuff like that. But to your original point, I think we’re getting there. Things are gradually changing, but this is a weird year, and Minari is a good example of that.
SC: Okay, so as far as the nominees, I thought we’d start with the categories I’m often the most passionate about: “Best International Feature” and “Best Documentary.”
GH: I’ve only seen two of the films in the “Best International Feature” category, but I love Collective and Another Round.
SC: Collective [nominated for both “Best Documentary” and “Best International Feature”] was probably my favorite film of the year and I realize I may have some bias there, because it’s about journalists, but there are just moments throughout the film where you’re saying to yourself, “I can’t believe this is real.” It moves like a thriller film.
GH: Yeah, it’s like a thriller that’s directed by a journalist, or someone who is obsessed with the minutiae of getting the story and how to ask questions. There’s a methodology there that a lot of documentarians don’t use. The filmmakers seem to be emulating the journalists themselves in how they’re presenting the story. You feel as if you’re going along with it and that it’s happening in real time.
SC: Well, let’s stick with docs for the moment. I think the thing that struck me is the category is so rich this year. One of the things I like about this year’s nominees is that they all deal in universal themes that could be relevant at any time. Collective deals with governmental corruption, Time deals with the prison industrial complex, The Mole Agent deals with elder neglect, whereas past winners and nominees, when you view them now, they seem dated and of a particular moment. A movie like Fahrenheit 9/11, for example.
GH: I think of the five nominees, Time is my favorite by far. It’s one of those documentaries that, as you’re watching it, it slowly develops this integral connection with you that you don’t even realize is happening as you’re watching it. You’re becoming increasingly more connected to not just the character, but to the loss and the grieving that they’re going through. It’s also presented in a way that is not the usual way a documentarian does it…That movie is something that will be around for a long time and taught in classes and used as an example of how to capture a moment.
SC: And yet the favorite to win this year, at least from the few things I’ve read, is My Octopus Teacher, which I like the least. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say I don’t like it. I thought that it was beautifully shot, but I really thought that guy was going to have sex with that octopus. The narrator [Craig Foster] was so self-involved, that every aspect of his relationship with this octopus was very one-sided. What it meant to him and what he was going through and this is how this octopus is helping him. And I just kept thinking, ‘bruh, it’s not all about you.”
GH: Yeah, I was mixed on it. It’s a sweet story at times, but it does venture into the obsessive. I also think it commits the sin that most documentaries suffer from, which is being conventional in the storytelling. I have the same issue with Crip Camp, in that it’s presented in such a conventional way. But My Octopus Teacher was incredibly conventional and like you said, it was just this guy’s idea of therapy. There are some beautiful shots, but it’s a movie aimed at older audiences.
SC: I just don’t want to have to listen to that guy get up and give a speech.
“Best Documentary” Picks
Seth: Should win: Collective; Will win: Crip Camp
Glenn: Should win: Time; Will Win: My Octopus Teacher
SC: So as far as the “Best International Feature,” again while I’d love to see a film like Collective win, I think Another Round is the favorite here. It’s just a bit more accessible and light-hearted and while it deals in serious topics like alcoholism, it’s still a humorous film that you could easily see an English-language version of in a few years. It’d probably star Vince Vaughn or some shit.
GH: God help us. But yeah, that movie will be remade. I definitely think it’s between those two because you have Collective nominated in “Best Documentary” and Another Round nominated in “Best Director” as well, which shows there’s a lot of passion for that particular movie.
“Best International Feature” Picks
Seth: Should win: Collective; Will win: Another Round
Glenn: Should win: Collective; Will win: Another Round
SC: So when it comes to screenplays, I’ve always made my predictions in this category based on past winners and it’s almost always the case that the winner of the screenplay categories almost never does well in other categories. So that’s where I could see films like Minari, Judas and the Black Messiah, One Night in Miami…, or even The Trial of the Chicago 7 doing well.
GH: I agree. If we hold to the idea that a film like Nomadland will take home some of the top prizes then I’d guess that it’s definitely between Promising Young Woman and Minari in the “Best Original Screenplay” category. I cannot see the Aaron Sorkin movie [The Trial of the Chicago 7] winning that category. Like all of his movies, it’s all talking. The love for that movie is baffling to me. So I could see Promising Young Woman winning here and maybe even in “Best Actress” so the Academy feels they spread the love around a bit.
I saw an oddsmaker having Nomadland winning “Best Adapted Screenplay,” but I feel like The Father might win that one precisely because it won’t win anything else.
SC: That’s interesting because I was thinking the other day that of the films nominated this year that are based on theatre plays [Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, One Night in Miami…, and The Father], I thought The Father was the best one. I know that it was the director’s [Florian Zeller] first film and it’s based on his own play, but I thought the film adaptation worked so well. And I know this might be an unpopular opinion, but One Night in Miami… and Ma Rainey still felt like plays to me. They still had that feeling of being a stage presentation in that the action mostly took place in one location, a record studio and a hotel room in this case, and while that’s also the case with The Father, I thought it was better adapted to the screen.
GH: Yeah, the fact that The Father deals with dementia, in losing one’s self, I think they were able to create schematic moments and misdirections. For me, it almost reminded me of a Christopher Nolan film, with the overlapping of time. I didn’t care for it as much as you did, but I did admire the craft behind it.
For me though, I think for that category, my heart lies with One Night in Miami… just because it’s such an effortless movie that they pulled off. Joyous at times, and hard to watch at times, but it was the complete package to me, and shocking that it didn’t get a “Best Picture” nomination. That was the big snub for me.
SC: For me, when it comes to the “Original Screenplay” category, I always think about it like this: If this was based on a book, for example, would I want to read that book even though I just saw the movie? Like, if Minari or Sound of Metal had been a book before it was a film, would I want to go back and read those books? And for those two movies, I think I would.
GH: Yeah, there’s just no dominant frontrunner in that category. For me, Minari is the one that actually gets to the heart of what a screenplay should do, that it builds over time. It leads you to a place that’s a bit more subtle. But I think it’ll be Promising Young Woman in that category, because like I said, I don’t think it’ll win “Best Picture” or “Best Director.”
“Best Original Screenplay” Picks
Seth: Should win: Minari; Will win: The Trial of the Chicago 7
Glenn: Should win: Minari; Will win: Promising Young Woman
“Best Adapted Screenplay” Picks
Seth: Should win: One Night in Miami…; Will win: One Night in Miami…
Glenn: Should win: One Night in Miami…; Will win: The Father
SC: So when it comes to “Best Supporting Actress” and the “Best Supporting Actor” categories, it always fluctuates between one of two things: The Academy either rewards big-name actors who’ve never won in the past, or the category serves to recognize new talent. This year, it’s a mixed bag of veteran and rookie performers, but I think this is the year where they have to recognize the new talent in both categories.
GH: When it comes to “Supporting Actor,” I’ve been following LaKeith Stanfield for a long time, ever since he made his debut in Short Term 12, and while I don’t think he’s going to win for Judas and the Black Messiah, I do think it’s the most interesting performance out of all of the nominees. Watching him, I was captivated in trying to figure out what he was trying to show us in any given scene. He’s a chameleon throughout the movie. I think Daniel Kaluuya is the more bombastic, charismatic and ultimately tragic character in the film and I think he’ll probably win. Even if I didn’t care for the movie as a whole, the performances were magnetic.
That being said, Paul Raci in Sound of Metal is the epitome of what a supporting role should be. Just every moment he’s on screen, you can’t keep your eyes off of him. So I’d be happy if either of those three won.
SC: Yeah, Raci was definitely my favorite performance of all of them. What’s interesting to me, and I’m not sure if anyone has wrote about this yet, is that between Sound of Metal, Crip Camp and a live action short film that’s nominated [Feeling Through], it’s been a great year for disability representation.
GH: Yes, you’re starting to see stories about communities and groups of people that you historically don’t get stories about. And if you did, you’d get very typical stories or sentimentalized stories… So yeah, I think these movies are dealing with these ideas and at least newer ways of trying to give voice to people who don’t usually get their voice onscreen.
“Best Supporting Actor” Picks
Seth: Should win: Paul Raci (Sound of Metal); Will win: Paul Raci (Sound of Metal)
Glenn: Should win: LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah); Will win: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)
SC: Let me tell you what concerns me when it comes to the “Best Supporting Actress” category. Glenn Close has been nominated for an Oscar eight times and has never won, and to think she might win for Hillbilly Elegy…
GH: I watched that movie for you by the way!
SC: Oh, you really shouldn’t have. I would have told you not to. So Close has never won, which is shocking to me, but to think she might win for a movie as shitty as Hillbilly Elegy is just emblematic of this paradigm of the Academy finally getting around to throwing these household names a bone even though the performance was not the best one that year and that they probably deserved to win in the past.
If I could compare it to another recent Oscar win, it reminds me of Brad Pitt winning last year for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood… That man has certainly deserved to win for Babel, The Tree of Life, even Inglorious Basterds, and not for a film that, to me, where he essentially played himself throughout the entire movie. He played the cool guy and he is the cool guy.
GH: Hillbilly Elegy is a strange movie and I’ll give it credit for being so awkward and disturbing at times. I thought the performances were exactly what that movie demanded of them. It just happens to be grotesque at times and it’s hard to get over the stereotypes. But I don’t think Glenn Close will win. I just don’t think this is the year where you do that. She has some more great films left in her. So I think this is Yuh-jung Youn’s year for Minari. Glenn Close, that performance is just too out there in terms of ridiculousness.
SC: I would love to see Yuh-jung Youn win, but I don’t think it’s happening.
“Best Supporting Actress” Picks
Seth: Should win: Yuh-jung Youn (Minari); Will win: Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)
Glenn: Should win: Yuh-jung Youn (Minari); Will win: Yuh-jung Youn (Minari)
SC: I’d love to lump the “Best Actor” and “Best Actress” categories into one conversation but there’s just too much gold in the “Actress” category to put them in with the men. Every one of these performances deserves to be nominated.
I realize this might be a controversial statement, but I’m starting to think that Frances McDormand’s performances are becoming a bit static. I liked Nomadland, but I didn’t love it as much as Chloé Zhao’s last film [2017’s The Rider]. But there was still this sense that I was watching the same character from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri; that this is the same sort of character she’s played so well in other films.
GH: I get what you’re saying about McDormand. To me, it’s like she took that Billboards performance and simmered the resentment down to a place where she needed to break out of it. I like how she resists going in certain directions where there’s a lot of potential for a big outburst. I love that movie and I know it’s really popular to hate on that movie right now. It’s letting the story itself evolve over time without any of the tropes that typically go into a narrative film.
Yeah, this is a tough category. I really like all of them. Well, maybe four of them. Just a caveat: I think Pieces of a Woman is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, but I think Vanessa Kirby is admirable in it. It’s like she’s trying to escape the movie itself. It’s misery porn, but she’s a talent.
Andra Day is really great in The United States vs. Billie Holiday, but if there was one performance where every frame I was like, “wow, what is going on” it would have to be Viola Davis in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. I was distinctly intimidated by that performance at times. It’s so monumentally powerful in that she commands every moment.
SC: I will say that, yes, while my two favorite performances in this category are women playing jazz icons, I will push back a little on Viola Davis and make the argument for Andra Day in that she saved The United States vs. Billie Holiday for me in a way that Viola Davis’ performance didn’t. What I mean is that Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom has such a fantastic ensemble of actors and Viola Davis doesn’t need to save it. I’ll put it this way: Would I have still enjoyed Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom without Viola Davis in it? Probably not as much, but the rest of the ensemble killed it. But would I have enjoyed The United States vs. Billie Holiday at all without Andra Day? No, not at all.
GH: Yes, there is something captivating about what Andra Day brings to the film, but for me the same argument could be made for Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman. I know you liked that movie. I don’t love it by any means, but I think she’s the best part of it. She’s a force in that movie… So I think it’ll be a race between Viola Davis and Carey Mulligan.
“Best Actress” Picks
Seth: Should win: Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday); Will win: Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday)
Glenn: Should win: Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom); Will win: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)
SC: “Best Actor” is pretty competitive as well, but I don’t think we need to talk about this one as much. I mean, Gary Oldman (Mank) is my favorite actor of all time, and Riz Ahmed (The Sound of Metal) and Steven Yeun (Minari) were both amazing, but I think they have to give it to Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
GH: I think he’s a shoo-in. It would be shocking if he didn’t win. And deservedly so. That performance is incendiary.
SC: And while I don’t generally like the idea of awarding performances just because the actor died—Heath Ledger playing the Joker, for example—I still think Boseman’s performance would have been nominated and even won even if he hadn’t passed away so young. He’s that good in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
“Best Actor” Picks
Seth: Should win: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom); Will win: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
Glenn: Should win: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom); Will win: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
SC: I think the “Best Director” category, with exception of David Fincher (Mank), is representative of that dynamic I was talking about earlier where nearly everyone nominated is of that new guard of filmmakers where I’d honestly be OK with any of them winning. While I have issues with Nomadland, I concede that Chloé Zhao is a visionary director and it would be a great thing if she won.
GH: She’s the obvious favorite for sure. There’s only been one woman director who has won this category [Katherine Bigelow for 2008’s The Hurt Locker] so I think this an opportunity for the Academy to make a statement that this is the future; this talented, young director of color making the film that is emblematic of the year. I feel like it would look so bad if they gave it to Fincher and not even for one of his better movies. Mank is probably my least favorite David Fincher movie.
SC: Whoa, I wouldn’t go that far. Have you watched The Game lately?
GH: I love The Game.
SC: You love The Game!? This conversation is over.
“Best Director” Picks
Seth: Should win: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland); Will win: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)
Glenn: Should win: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland); Will win: Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)
SC: So let’s keep it simple. Of the nine movies nominated for “Best Picture,” what was the best one for you?
GH: Mine were Nomadland and Minari, and I think Nomadland will win. The writing has been on the wall for a while. The hate pieces have all come out and the knives are out. I think Nomadland is a movie that people will look back on and be thankful that the Academy awarded it.
SC: I’m going to have to disagree with you. At the risk of sounding elitist, I don’t think older audiences and general audiences have quite the same outlook on Nomadland as people like you and me. I don’t think it’s a very accessible movie. I love it, and it’s beautiful and it should definitely win “Best Cinematography,” but I just don’t think it’s accessible enough for Academy voters. But that being said, there isn’t a ton of other movies in this category that are wholly accessible.
GH: Looking at these movies as the nine that best represent this year, it’s very strange, but The Trial of the Chicago 7 is the most accessible. It’s also the only one that I actively dislike.
SC: I actively dislike anything from Aaron Sorkin. He needs to stop. No one talks like that!
GH: They’re all well-done films, but trying to determine what the collective would vote for, it’s kind of mystifying.
SC: We’ll leave on this then and here’s my big upset pick—I think Mank will win. If I’ve learned anything from Oscar history, it’s that you don’t bet against the movie that’s about movies. The other thing is that I can’t see it winning in any other category so that’s where I think they’ll reward it and play it safe.
GH: If you were going to do an upset, that would shock people. I think it’s in the top three or four that could win, but I just think it would look so bad for the Academy.
SC: Sure, but when has that ever stopped them before?
“Best Picture” Picks
Seth: Should win: Minari; Will win: Mank
Glenn: Should win: Nomadland; Will win: Nomadland
WEEKLY GOODS
Get tix for this
IMO, Grossmont College puts on the best lit events in the city, and this year’s Literary Arts Fest is no exception. The virtual festival will feature friends of the newsletter—How to Set Yourself on Fire author Julia Dixon Evans (AWKSD editor extraordinaire) and Bad Religion biographer Jim Ruland (who I make fun of a lot but it’s only because I’m jealous of his success). Plus, poets Lily Hoang and Gill Sotu are not to be missed. The fest happens all next week (Monday - Thursday, April 26 - 29) at various times, so check out the schedule and register. NOW!
Watch this
San Diego filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton was my first CityBeat cover story. Back in 2013, he was fresh off the heels of his excellent film Short Term 12, which launched the careers of LaKieth Stanfield and Brie Larson. Earlier this week, the trailer dropped for Cretton’s latest movie, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which is the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even though I have no knowledge of the comic it’s based on, I couldn’t be more stoked. Cretton is wonderfully talented, and was so humble and funny during our interview. I want all the good things to happen for him.
Get excited for this
Live music is coming back! Venues are beginning to schedule shows, so I think it’s worthwhile to showcase the ones that are slowly crawling out. Hell, there was one point when I had just given up on the idea of the concert calendar coming back, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel, friends.
On Facebook, Brick By Brick co-owner Shannon Joy posted, “Never thought I'd cry over a Deicide show, but here we are…” and I have to say that I, too, felt a little something in my eye. So, yes, Brick By Brick is scheduling shows now. Metal lives on.
Thanks for the shout out!