It is well known that the 2024 Oscars are not in the business of judging a film’s artistic merits. Perhaps at some point in history this was her priority. But the moment came when they became a colossal cultural event. A nomination could mean millions of dollars in box office revenue.. This has prompted producers such as Harvey Weinstein to coordinate large-scale campaigns to first win a nomination and then a statuette.
They again became victims of their own cultural influence when the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite went viral on Twitter (now X). They were accused of ignoring African American artists, since the vast majority of nominations went to white people. At the 2024 Oscars, political considerations have become more important than artistic considerations.
For these reasons, the main criterion for Oscar 2024 when choosing nominees is there was the diversity of its production team, its merit as a work of art. In second place. The result is a list of interesting and well-made films. But they got there for a reason unrelated to their artistic qualities. The five films below are excellent, but were ignored at the 2024 Oscars.
Asteroid city
I’m not exaggerating when I say that Asteroid City has the most prestigious cast I’ve ever seen: Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Margot Robbie, Bryan Cranston, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, I could keep naming the stars. Due to the legendary status of Wes Anderson, the film’s director, all of these actors were paid only the minimum allowed by the union ($33,000). This is crazy considering Scarlett Johansson just made twenty million dollars for her role in Black Widow.
The film follows a group of genius children who, along with their families, travel to Asteroid City to take part in a government-sponsored science competition. Everything changes when they witness how an alien descends from his spaceship to retrieve the asteroid for which the city was named. The government imposes a quarantine to prevent the event from becoming public knowledge.
They say that if the city of Barcelona were a film, Wes Anderson would have directed it.. American style is known for its stark symmetry, with an emphasis on the “total.” Asteroid City is like a beautiful painting, populated by intriguing characters. It’s not a drama, but rather the story’s focus jumps from family to family, delving into the fun eccentricities that Anderson has accustomed us to.
Concrete utopia
It is often said that the basic unit of society is not the individual, but the family. From then on, the first human societies were organized into tribes, divided into family groups. However, In moments of crisis, we can say that the real unit of society is the gang.. We can clearly see the truth of this statement in Concrete Utopia.
We are talking about the consequences of a devastating earthquake. In the style of the 2012 film, the earth itself shakes so violently that all but one building in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is completely destroyed. This building will become the center of a brutal battle for survival.
Concrete Utopia is an excellent analysis of how human communities organize themselves in the face of resource scarcity.. It’s interesting to see how quickly, as if by instinct, they choose the leader of the building, who will have to make many difficult decisions to ensure the safety of their territory. The next step is to form a group of strong men to maintain order. The building becomes a kind of nation for its inhabitants. They are ready to sacrifice their lives to protect him.
May December
It’s unfathomable that neither of these two women, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, were nominated for the 2024 Oscars for their remarkable performances in film. May December. They are part of an impressive cast, which is passionately dedicated to telling a story that is psychologically oriented and therefore very mysterious.. The truth seems to be hidden behind several layers protecting each character’s ego, and having an honest conversation is not an easy task.
We follow Elizabeth (Natalie Portman), a famous actress, who tries to get into the head of Gracie (Julianne Moore) in order to play her in a film. This woman is infamous for seducing a thirteen year old boy.. She went to prison, gave birth in prison, and when she got out, she resumed her relationship with her victim. Decades later, they seem like an ordinary couple, but there are clues to their dark past.
May December This is a drama full of tension. It follows the classic structure of a stranger cautiously entering an unknown area until the protagonist is consumed by this new world. and then spat him out as if he had been born again.
Napoleon
Napoleon Ridley Scott’s film turned out to be quite controversial. Many did not like how the director dealt with historical accuracy in order to show us the whole life of the great conqueror in just two and a half hours. While other filmmakers devoted several hours to showing one decade in the life of a general or even one battle, Scott has given us an adrenaline-filled experience that ignores the details to focus on the show..
At the 2024 Academy Awards, the film was praised for its good production design, costumes and special effects, but ignored Ridley Scott’s excellent direction. The spectacle he brought to the screen certainly deserved a Best Picture nomination.. Napoleon isn’t the best historical film ever made, or even the best film Scott has ever made, but considering the other nominees, it deserves recognition.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is the most glaring example of a lack of common sense at the 2024 Oscars. It was only nominated in the Best Special Effects category, which is usually awarded to superhero films, which is considered a very common occurrence at the Oscars. except for Black Panther.
It effectively concludes one of the best trilogies in cinema history. The character development it boasts far exceeds most of the nominated films. Because Guardians of the Galaxy 3 isn’t just a superhero movie. but a passion project for James Gunn, one of the most talented and creative filmmakers alive.
Saving Rocket Raccoon’s touching story for the final chapter of the saga was a stroke of genius. Crying in solidarity with the pain of an anthropomorphized raccoon was not part of anyone’s plans. The comedy in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is 10/10, as Gunn has taught us, and the ending, inspired by the wonderful Dog Days Are Over Florence + The Machine, will go down as one of the best ever seen. . never. The only 2023 masterpiece that surpasses it is Oppenheimer.
Source: Hiper Textual