2022 Oscars Wrapped Up

The much maligned Academy Awards have been struggling for viewership for years. In the last five or six years the respect for the Oscars has rotted away: overly political messages from the wealthy elites, a focus on representation rather than quality, honouring films that the general public have not seen, cringe-inducing hosting and humour or audience Twitter competitions- take your pick which is the biggest factor. But if the Academy wanted to get people talking, all that was required was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air smacking The Rock... sorry, Chris Rock before a packed auditorium. The moment is one for the history books, especially considering Will Smith's Oscar win a few minutes later (his defence amounts to how he embodied what Richard Williams did in King Richard). 

Whilst a great moment of drama, it has already been discussed, memed and blasted enough. So let's focus on the winners. 

Best Picture: CODA

Was Sam Elliot's sandblasting of The Power of the Dog the coup de grasse for its Best Picture chances? Jane Campion's Western drama seemed the surefire win for much of the awards race, but some last minute pit-stops at the Producer's Guild of America boosted CODA's chances. It became the first film released on a streaming service (Apple) to win the top prize, and that's where the first issue comes. Nobody really has Apple TV+, nobody has really seen this film, and nobody had even heard of it beforehand. It's been logged on IMDb and Letterboxd dramatically fewer times than The Power of the Dog, Nightmare Alley, West Side Story and Dune. Giving a mediocre cinematic text like Spider-man: No Way Home a Best Picture nomination just because everyone went to see it should not be the case, as that film will get sequels and the cast will be rich. And whilst smaller made films rely on awards prestige to gain greater distribution, there should be a middle ground where popular films are awarded. The Last Duel may well have been a big box office bomb, but it only grossed $9 million less than King Richard and, because of availabilty on Disney+, has over double the number of logged views on IMDb / Letterboxd. In fact, it isn't too far behind West Side Story. Streaming views, limited box office runs and tickets sold should be taken more into account here, especially if the Oscars wants viewership to be back to its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Ultimately, Best Picture winners are like X-Factor winners: the runner ups are usually better remembered (Mad Max: Fury Road > Spotlight, Whiplash > Birdman). Giving the Best Picture to The Power of the Dog would only make those that disliked it louder. 

The Technical Oscars: Dune Sweeps

Ten nominations, six wins. Dune repeated Fury Road's Oscar blitzkrieg by hoovering up Sound, Editing, Visual Effects, Cinematography, Production Design and Original Score (if Sound was still split with Mixing and Editing then it undoubtedly would have seven Oscars). This is entirely worthy: no other technical film was on the same level as Denis Villenueve's passion project. Hans Zimmer, the greatest composer of the 21st century, got his second (!) Oscar. His snubs for Interstellar, Dunkirk and Inception are still felt, however. Greig Fraser's win in Cinematography is perhaps the most joyous win: Fraser has emerged as one of the leading visonaries of the 2010s through films like Zero Dark Thirty, Rogue One, The Mandalorian and Dune, whilst his work on The Batman perhaps tipped him over the finish line as more and more people take notice of him. Dune's wins for Cinematography and Visual Effects matches Villeneuve's success with Blade Runner 2049 and emphasises how hand-in-hand these two categories have been in the 21st century: The Fellowship of the Ring, Hugo, Life of Pi, Avatar, 1917, Gravity and Inception. Dune deserved to win big- its $400 million box office gross is a remarkable feat, pandemic or no. In fact, the nine other Best Picture nominees have a total box office gross of $240.2 million, meaning an average of $26.7 million per film. Let that be a sign. 

Bond Song Hatrick

Billie Eilish won an Oscar for 'No Time to Die' in the Original Song category, following the success of Adele's 'Skyfall' (amazing!) and Sam Smith's 'The Writing's on the Wall' (terrible!) to show that Bond songs are either the easiest vote because of the credit song being inside the film (and not at the end like so many are) or because they are just always popular songs... Either way, it was great to see No Time to Die get a little gong to coincide with the franchise's 60th anniversary. Eilish's win has one explanation: 'We Don't Talk About Bruno' was egregiously not nominated. Encanto's nominated song, 'Dos Oroguitas' lacked the ubiquity to pursue the win, reflecting Disney's failings to predict which song would be the one everyone loved. 

Acting Awards are as Predictable as Ever 

Ariana DeBose, whose career is about to skyrocket, deservingly won Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in West Side Story. Her win is notable for trivia-heads: following Rita Moreno's win as the same character in 1961's West Side Story, there are now three characters who have had double Oscar wins (Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix for Joker, Marlon Brando and Robert De Nero for Vito Corleone). Troy Kotsur lapped Kodi Smit-McPhee to become the first deaf actor to win an Oscar, to much praise. As for Best Actor and Actress it was a tiresome affair as Will Smith and Jessica Chastain won Oscars for, yes, biopic performances. Since the 2001 Oscars, 22 of the 44 lead actor wins have been for biopics / true stories. That number does not include performances like Olivia Colman in The Favourite (too expressionistic) or Leo DiCaprio in The Revenant (too little to actually base a performance off of). It is a remarkable figure, one that epitomises the Oscar-bait nature of the biopic. A great deal of respected actors have won Academy Awards for their biopic performance, even if public sentiment is that they have done many other much better performances (e.g. Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour). The Eyes of Tammy Faye was honoured with a Make-up and Hair Oscar but it has become tiresome to see actors win for what are essentially impersonations. Benedict Cumberbatch crafted a new, multi-layered character with Phil Burbank, but that no longer seems enough if you are up against an 'overdue' actor. It is a lot more refreshing when Emma Stone wins for Mia or Anthony Hopkins wins for... um... Anthony. 

The Oscars Fan Favourite 

We have seen what Boaty McBoatface can do to social media polls. Why the Oscars thought doing a Fan Favourite Twitter competition would be a great idea is beyond comprehension. The bizarre nominees for 'Oscars Cheer Moment' were the three Spider-men, the Avengers assemble sequence, Neo dodging bullets, Effie White singing in Dreamgirls (!) and the Flash speed force scene from Zack Snyder's Justice League (which didn't even go to cinema). The Flash won. How? Thousands of Twitter accounts and bots plugging the polls every day to honour Zack Snyder. You have to feel sorry for the guy- his films are worshipped by a totally monomaniacal fan base who are gagging for the restoration of the Snyderverse. There is no other conceivable way for that Flash scene to outmatch the two MCU entires. The Oscars Fan Favourite Film for 2021 was even stranger: Cinderella came second, beating tick tick... BOOM!, Johnny Depp's Minamata and No Way Home. The winner was Zack Snyder's Netflix disappointment Army of the Dead. Boaty McBoatface indeed. 

All told, as irrelevant and unecessary as ever. 

Review: The Batman

Minor spoilers follow.

Like James Bond, Bruce Wayne has had his fair share of actors, with each one offering a different style and tone. It seems rather surprising then that since 2012, we have had three Batman actors. Christian Bale bailed out with The Dark Knight Rises, Ben Affleck took over in 2016 and now Robert Pattinson, teenage-vampire-hearthrob turned indie-darling, has embodied the Caped Crusader with The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves. Was it necessary to bring in a new Batman so soon after Batfleck? Whilst the character has been mercilessly exploited since 1989, this new incarnation is fully justified and worthy of the greats. 

Batman in comics and video games is acknowledged as the 'world's greatest detective' but, besides a few moments in The Dark Knight trilogy, there is very little evidence of this cinematically. Matt Reeves has plunged himself into the detective aspect, making his Batman an observational master of deduction within two scenes of meeting him. He makes the professional cops look like they flunked their forensic's exams. As a detective tale told over three hours, Reeves draws on David Fincher's crime dramas Se7en and Zodiac to establish his creative desires. The perpetual rain in Gotham echoes Se7en's neo-noir desires and the Riddler's (Paul Dano) puzzles and crime scenes are highly evocative of the Zodiac killer. It is an apt choice for inspiration. 

As Bruce Wayne (but mostly as Batman), Robert Pattinson is a triumph of casting. All the naysayers that only see him as Edward Cullen and have not seen Good Time, Tenet and The Lighthouse are wonderfully proven wrong in moments. There is no ridiculous Bat-voice and his physicality is lean and powerful rather than the battering ram approach of Ben Affleck. One sequence at a funeral sees Wayne silently observe a recently orphaned boy staring at his dad's grave. Pattinson's eyes tell it all: the pain, tragedy and the desire to stop this boy from following in his path of vengeance are beautifully portrayed. 

Orphans are pivotal to the film's narratives and themes. Wayne's relationship to Alfred (Andy Serkis) is fractured; we get the feeling that the butler thinks his employer is rather insane whilst Wayne is too emotionally splintered from his parents' death to connect to anyone else. The opening scene uses binocular vision to create a sense of dread and voyuerism. Later on, the same shot is used to watch someone else. The misdirection makes us assume its the original 'watcher' but instead it's another orphan character who took on the pains of his past with a completely different approach. In one of the most graceful moments in superhero history, the orphan boy from the funeral is rescued under the deep reds of a flare, an act of heroism that redeems our protagonist and solves his angsty mindset. 

The Film Twitter-friendly casting is largely spot on. Jeffrey Wright's Jim Gordon has a similar Felix Leiter feel- not quite as expert as the main character but his heart is in the right place. Zoe Kravitz's Selina Kyle (Catwoman) gets the lion's share of characterisation due to her complicated relationship with Gotham's top criminals whilst also proving an athletic fighter. The trifecta of villains steal the show though. Dano's Riddler is frightening from the get go. His performance is a fusion of Dano's characters from Prisoners and There Will Be Blood with the twisted logic of Heath Ledger's Joker. Then there is Colin Farrell, clad in effectively jarring facial make-up, as the Penguin. Like Joe Pesci in Casino, he is an ugly, violent right-hand man with an eye on being top dog (or bird). He isn't in it much, but he steals the Batlight when he does. The real surprise is John Turtorro as Carmine Falcone, the crime lord who has turned the police and politicians into poisoned pawns that step aside for him wherever he goes. He too belongs in a Scorsese film, what with all these mentions of rats too. 

The crooks of Gotham very rarely emerge in the daylight, but then neither does Batman. Greig Fraser, the talented cinematographer, rarely allows daylight into his frames. The film is dark and rain-lashed whilst the oranges are infernal. If Hell exists, then the fiery outlines of Gothic buildings and the sepulchral chaos on the dirty streets must be the closest depiction of it. In complete cohesion with Fraser's aesthetic is Michael Giacchino's muscular, sombre score. Unlike Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL's more action orientated beats for Batman, Giacchino goes for something more akin to the Imperial March, whilst also delivering some nice themes for Catwoman and the Riddler. Batman's first introduction, a real knock-out scene, sees the central theme build from the darkness as we hear footsteps approaching some ill-fated goons. It is one of Giaccino's best efforts in years, enough to make you wonder why he wasn't properly applied to Spider-man: No Way Home (or why Marvel films never let their scores breathe). It is the second time Giacchino and Fraser have worked together (Rogue One) and it would be great to see them work together again in the future. Matt Reeves' cast and crew is a dream, and everyone pitches in work that ranks among the best of their respective careers. 

For a three hour film, modern audiences will be amazed at how swiftly the film flies. It is paced well due to its bursts of action, variety of characters and intrigue in the mysteries and riddles. The fistfights are worthy of Zack Snyder's warehouse crash-course in beating up red shirts, with Batinson delivering awesome coup de grasses. One sequence, lit entirely by the muzzle flash of semi-automatic rifles, is exquisite. Batman is at his best when his actions aren't entirely caught; it is left to the audience's imagination. Furthermore, it feels like we actually are watching the chaotic movements of a bat, which move at such rapid rate its hard to keep track of their course. The film's undisputed best scene has to the Batmobile chase. This is a riot in sound design and rain drenched carnage. It is like Prisoners' race to the hospital but with a loud muscle car instead. The low angle, rear wheel mounted shots capture corners and drifts with eye-popping pleasure. And the alighnment of a breaking ramp for a big jump sequence is deeply, incredibly cathartic (as is the speeding up of frame rates before a collision). Not since Mad Max: Fury Road has a car chase been so crazy and visually breathtaking. 

Despite this high praise, The Batman is not faultless. The first half's world building is so immersive that once everything is established and the plot moves to focus on Bruce, interest Waynes a little. Furthermore, whilst not fully turning into a CG spectacle finale, there is a 'big' moment that was costly to film that seems a little out of touch with the rest of the film's close quarters engagement. It isn't too overwhelming, but the final set piece could have been a little smarter. Finally, there is an egregious moment of sequel-baiting in the epilogue sequence that induced yawns. It could have served as a credit scene or it could have been cut- perhaps Matt Reeves had total creative freedom as long as he included it? Either way, it killed off the satisfying closure. 

At its best, The Batman is a brilliant, vital new version of the character in his early years. The inner conflict and need for vengeance works so well for a new version of the character. Even the black eye mask that still adorns Bruce's face without the mask emphasises how little of the playboy is alive in him- he is pure shadow and nightmare. An audio-visual triumph with a predictable but nonetheless immersive detective story.