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You remember Oscar villains, dont you?
Perhaps it was the middlebrow drama that prevented your favorite director from finally taking home their long-awaited trophy.
Or maybe it was a movie that was just plain god-awful.
The Oscars have never been above politics.
Major contenders seemed to hide the lurking specter of Trumpism.
The Oscars were supposed to be the great unifier!
At least then theyd know people were paying attention.
There was no Oscar villain last year.
With barely anyone watching, what was the point?
A subtweet here, a grimace GIF there.
Oscar Heroes
A villain is nothing without its hero.
These are the films that will get showered with praise in the (often unlikely) event they win.
15.Drive My Car
15.
Criticshit back, saying it wasnt their job to influence the Oscar race; the pundits called criticsdisingenuous elitists.
14.The Lost Daughter
14.
13.The Power of the Dog
13.
The other cinephiles choice in the race and the one that could actually win.
Can you imagine Spielberg or Scorsese having to wait that long?
12.CODA
12.
As the marketplace for indie film has collapsed, the cultures moved on from those ill-feelings.
Get your money any way you could, filmmakers!
11.Tick, Tick … Boom!
And right at the exact moment Garfield found himself in the middle of aSpider-Man-driven blush of goodwill, too!
The Muddled Middle
The line on these films, neither hero nor villain, hasnt solidified yet.
One perfectly crafted tweet could tip it.
10.King Richard
10.
They were swiftly reminded that Venus and Serena Williams are executive producers on the movie.
(The term white feminism got a lot of play.)
Note that the matter may be readjuciated if Will Smith starts saying moreweird sex stuff.
9.Dune
9.
8.The Tragedy of Macbeth
8.
7.Nightmare Alley
7.
Ablack-and-white re-releaseaims to turn things around, but feels a bit like the cinematic equivalent of wearing a fedora.
6.Spider-Man: No Way Home
6.
Now Were Getting Somewhere
This is the JV squad of Oscar villainy.
But if one of them starts taking home trophies, look out.
5.Belfast
5.
It is both accurate, and a slight roast, to sayBelfastis a movie your grandparents will love.
4.West Side Story
4.
Credit to Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, they really did try it.
3.Licorice Pizza
3.
Lets say … 1,000 percent.
2.Dont Look Up
2.
Dont Look Upis a rare sort of Oscar villain.
The films politics are unimpeachably lefty; its justso obnoxious about themit became a hate-object anyway.
(Besides, everyone knows you cant fight climate change by making a star-studded Netflix comedy.
True praxis is blogging.)
In the industry, though, McKay is a much less controversial figure.
1.Being the Ricardos
1.
Aaron Sorkin was already on thin ice, owing to its not being 1999 anymore.
Everyone getting up in arms about the Academy nominating a mediocre showbiz biopic?
Perhaps things are back to normal after all.
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