2022 Oscar Nominees (pt. I)
The Power of the Dog
The Lost Daughter
It’s March and officially springtime on Animal Crossing, and if you’re a spooky, cool-weather loving, cedar allergen-suffering gal like me, it’s your least favorite time of the year. I love what Spring symbolizes, but I struggle with what it actually ends up being: wildly-fluctuating weather, a cocktail of miserable allergens, and the return of every insect ever. What I do love about this time of year, though, is the air of hopefulness, and the guarantee of the Academy Awards, in all of their well-intentioned but messy, movie-loving glory. Last year I only viewed two Oscar nominated films on Double Feature Thursday before the awards ceremony, but this year I plan to watch way more. The Oscars are just a few weeks away and this season of films were filled to the brim with memorable performances, beloved directors, and only a small amount of drama associated with finding a host for the show. I did already have the chance to see a handful of Oscar-nominated films: I of course saw the heavily-nominated film Dune, to support my muse Timothée Chalamet. It was incredibly dense but still easier to follow than I expected, and with the sequel on the way I hope the hype of this franchise drowns out the hype of Denis Villenevue’s last sci-fi attempt Blade Runner 2049. I watched Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos, which unfortunately only gave us a glimpse into a piece of the life of the iconic couple, when there was so much more story to tell. I thought Javier Bardem and Nina Arianda and especially J.K. Simmons killed it, but I wish all of the scenes where Nicole Kidman had to play Lucy as a bitch were balanced out with some scenes of Lucy doing some goofy shit. I thought Spencer was an engaging and intriguing study of Princess Diana, unlike any I’ve seen, with Kristen Stewart delivering a hypnotic performance that warrants an Oscar she’s very much due. Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley is also nominated for several awards, which was a little surprising, but not as surprising as the brief shot of Bradley Cooper’s dick in the film. I wish I had the time (and the access) to watch every film nominated this year, but every week leading up to the Oscar’s I’ll be watching all that I can. As a continuation of Female Filmmaker February, I thought I’d try two more critically-acclaimed women-directed films both up for awards this year. I’ll start with the bad news. I, a well-known non-fan of Jane Campion, watched another Jane Campion film. I was told by Sam Elliott, among others, that The Power of the Dog was a gay cowboy movie, so I thought: “Well, that does sound up my alley. And Jane Campion does love to feature male nudity at least.” But early on in my watch I realized that this nudity would be mostly coming from Benedict Cumberbatch exclusively, which if you’re into, great, if you loved Sherlock but didn’t LOVE Sherlock like me, it was only aight. One thing I will give Jane Campion is that her way of confronting and questioning the expectations of gender and sexuality often comes in the form of placing prominent male actors in compromising, emasculating positions that are nothing if not intriguing to observe. But like every other film of hers I’ve seen, I felt like The Power of the Dog, in all of its dark, daring, homoerotic prowess, could’ve been darker, more daring, and far more homoerotic. The piano, the bleakness, the intimate gaze, the brand of horny that doesn’t quite satisfy—it was all there, as I expected, I was just hoping to be proven wrong. I appreciate Campion’s way of finding eroticism in the mundane, but once again, it ain’t doing it for me. As much as I love Kirsten Dunst and think her Oscar is also long overdue, so many aspects of this movie just turned me off—and I’m not just talking about Benedict Cumberbatch, who’s mode of method acting included not bathing during the filming, although I could literally smell him through the screen. No, the biggest turn offs were, to me, the pacing, the persistence animal cruelty, and the fact that this film had a good story that I felt could’ve been told in a stronger, less sugar-coated way. The love story between Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and George (her real-life husband Jesse Plemons) was sweet, but could’ve been sweeter if we got to know them better. Their story felt like a side-plot to the main story: Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) the closeted, angry cowboy and ranch-hand and the complicated feelings he has toward Rose’s son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Cumberbatch was grimy and intense and twink king Kodi Smit-McPhee once again proved he didn’t come here to play. Without giving anything away, I’ll say that I didn’t absolutely hate this movie, but I felt that the stakes could’ve been higher and the payoff could’ve been more definitive. Out of all of the Jane Campion movie’s I’ve seen, I probably hate this one the least, but once again, it only had the illusion of horniness, without actually being pleasurable. There was really no reason for Sam Elliot to be so bothered by the gay implications in this movie, it was all pretty tame and as I said, I thought it could’ve been WAY gayer, but I guess a little male nudity and rope stroking was too much for him. I always appreciate what Campion tries to do, I just don’t know if she’s ever succeeded. I want to say this will be my final foray into her filmography, because, to quote Doja Cat, “I’m a freak, not a masochist”, but who knows. I struggled to stay engaged with The Power of the Dog, but this was not the case with the next film, The Lost Daughter. In Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, we follow Leda (Olivia Colman), a professor and translator on holiday in Greece, but very early on we come to learn that this story is not that simple. While reading on the beach, Leda observes and becomes slightly obsessed with a young mother named Nina (Dakota Johnson) who seems to have the same complicated relationship with her young daughter that Leda experienced when she was a young mother. While becoming a bit entangled with Nina and her large, chaotic family visiting from Queens, we’re also introduced to Young Leda (Jessie Buckley) through a series of flashbacks—it seems that Leda’s fascination with Nina awakens some kind of uncomfortable personal awareness within Leda, one that causes her to make some rather bizarre choices. I’ll leave it at that because this story, and the way it’s told, is much better to experience with as much mystery as possible. With the stunning backdrop of Attica, Greece, and an engaging, talented cast featuring hotties like Ed Harris and Paul Mescal, I simply couldn’t take my eyes off of this film. Maggie Gyllenhaal proves herself to be an auteur and an artiste with her first film, and in, the eyes of this Taylor Swift fan, the better of the two Gyllenhaal siblings. If you’ve been wanting some insight on the films up for Oscars this year, but don’t have the time, I’ve got you covered. Stay tuned for more!
