Timing is everything, especially when hardware and soft egos are involved.
Less than 12 hours after the Oscar nominations were announced yesterday, all of those lucky makers of movie magic from the past year that were honored with a chance at the Golden Boy were in the audience of the Critic’s Choice Awards—right alongside their fellow artists who may have expected to land on the ballot but missed the mark.
Oh look, there are the elated companies from Boyhood and Birdman… right next to the clearly distraught folks behind Selma (including Her Highness, Oprah), honored with only Best Picture and Best Song nominations, when it was expected to potentially take to the podium tenfold on February 22nd.
Down center, there’s Jennifer Aniston looking great as usual, but with a bit of a pained smile as she sits within the eyeline of Marion Cotillard, who theoretically (ok, literally) took her slot on the Best Actress roster.
And you couldn’t miss Angelina Jolie’s ever-stoic stance as she glows and grits her teeth while clearly stewing over her Unbroken not only being left out of the Big Race, but going home without any honors from the critics, either. (I’m Team Aniston forever and always, but Angie’s big snub, plus how she got ensnarled in the gnarly Sony hack last month, almost makes me feel bad for her… almost.)
One person who wasn’t there: Dick Poop. I mean, Dick Pope. POPE. The Oscar-nominated cinematographer from Mr. Turner. (Way to stick it, Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs.) But at least he could still celebrate landing a spot in the inner circle, which is more than some could say.
This strange mix of bizarre bad energy and ebullient excitement wasn’t just in full force at the Hollywood Palladium last night; it pulsed through the pop culture landscape from coast-to-coast all day, with reactions to the Oscar nominations evoking cheers (Boyhood, Birdman, Whiplash and The Grand Budapest Hotel get their due love!), bellows of disappointment (again, those unfortunate filmmakers behind Selma, Unbroken, et al) and puzzled commentary on the state of diversity in the entertainment industry (in the second ‘white wash’ in a decade, all 20 acting nominees are Caucasian).
I don’t think anyone would try to make the case that this was one of the finer years for cinema in recent memory—after all, we’ve been on a quality roll so far in the ‘10’s that has set the bar high—despite a few front-runner gems that truly broke away from the pack. However, it does open up the debate on whether or not we’re seeing the beginning of a new trend as we enter the second half of this decade where smaller films and indies continue to rule (which I wrote about earlier this week), a megastar name no longer guarantees recognition and the embarrassment of not making the cut is on full display—on live television, no less—with an unfortunately (or strategically?) timed awards ceremony.
In any case, it’s now left to the SAGs, BAFTAs and subsequent craft guild awards to shine a guiding light on what’s to come on a special Sunday night a little over a month from now.
Let’s just be glad we won’t have to endure another uncomfortable close-up of a brokenhearted starlet in the meantime (or at least we hope).
The next big stop on the awards season train is the Screen Actors Guild Awards, airing live January 25th on TBS and TNT.