MY FINAL RANT ABOUT THE 2024 OSCARS NOMINATIONS

If you’ve been reading all of my recent movie reviews–mini and otherwise–you know by now how upset I am by soooo many of the nominations, for all the movie awards. (If not, just scroll through the pages, or look for them in the “Search” boxes on the right.)

But now the granddaddy of them all, the Oscars, is upon us, and then it will finally all be over. Yay! You would think that I could calm down after that, but you’ll be wrong—I’m always upset by what I consider to be unfairness.

Before I mention some of the head-scratching choices the various voting bodies have made over the past few months, let me tell you that Mr. X and I rarely agree on anything. But we both feel the same way about everything I’ve been saying about the films this year. He’s a really good, successful actor, with no professional jealousies whatsoever, so I’ve always respected his opinion. And that makes me even more confident in what I’m writing here. I love when he and I are of the same mind! (You can also weigh-in, in the Comments section below.)

And even though none of the nominations and awards impact my own life, of course, I’m still pretty upset about them! Many of them are just not right.

I’ll get into a few specifics in a minute, but first I have to remind you that no one was “snubbed!” I don’t want to get my blood boiling by getting into the definition of the word again, so if you’d like to understand what “to snub” means, here’s the link to my recent column about it: itsnotaboutme.tv/news/karens-rantskarens-lessons-does-no-one-in-hollywood-know-the-meaning-of-the-word-snubbed.

Now, let’s discuss the nominations and winners of other awards this season that are still making my blood boil.

I haven’t seen many special performances this season, and I’ve seen *almost all of the movies! The absolute most special one belongs to Leonardo DiCaprio in Killers of the Flower Moon, and he hasn’t even been nominated for an Oscar nor a SAG! I wish I could have written him in when I voted for the SAGS! *[Note: I have yet to see Best Picture nominees Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest, though. I can’t find the former, and I can’t bring myself to watch a film about Nazis that is basically about an absolutely horrendous true setting.]

The other two best performances that I’ve seen this year weren’t nominated, either. Fantasia Barrino deserved a nod as Best Actress in The Color Purple, and her co-star, Colman Domingo, definitely should have received one for Best Supporting Actor in the same film. He did get a nod as Best Actor for his starring role in Rustin, but he deserved both!

Conversely, the absolute head-scratcher nominees, (who are all good enough in their films, but that’s what every employed actor should be!,) are America Ferrera and Ryan Gosling in Barbie, Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, and DaVine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers. And those latter two will probably win! Oh wait—the popular Emma Stone may beat Native American Lily out for Poor Things, although her sex-filled performance is basically just porn!!!

There have been other strange nominees and winners over the years, so why would I think that 2024 would be any different? (One can always hope, though.)

For example, how did Peter Sellers not win Best Actor for his ingenious turn in Being There over the victor, Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer? That was a true shonda!

Of course, there’s so much more to the Oscars than just Best Picture and best performances. And I am interested in all of it. But I doubt that many of the rest of you are, so I’ll just leave it here. But if Billie Eilish wins for Best Song, I’ll scream! [Note: I have no idea how Diane Warren’s song goes, but, after more than a dozen nominations with no victories, I’m really rooting for her once again.]

I want to say, “May the best [whatever category] win,” but it rarely does. And in this case, some are not even nominated! And we all know who and what will come out victorious, by all the previous erroneous wins this season, so we know fairness and good taste won’t start happening now.

And, with so many more Academy voters now than ever in history, (to keep up with diversity,) and many of them flexing their muscles by nominating and voting for very odd choices, thinking they’re reflecting the times, (when they’re really just ignoring the real quality work, and rewarding the mediocre–and in some cases less than,) movie awards seem to be going in the wrong direction.

But, of course, I’ll weigh in on all the proceedings next week, so keep an eye out for that. And I’ll try my best to live-tweet all of it on Sunday. So if you don’t already follow me on Twitter/X, this would be a good time. I’m at @MajorCelebrity on that platform. I’m often a little behind in my Oscars, and even the arrivals, watching, but so are many of you, so I doubt I’ll have any spoiler alerts on there. I write about their outfits and looks, not winners and losers. Until my full write-up next week! Then all bets are off!