Yeoh Is Everywhere All At Once
I’ve only had a chance to catch 3 of the 10 Best Picture contenders, so I don’t have any hot takes on the nominations. I will say that I’m so glad to be living in the portion of the multiverse in which Michelle Yeoh has earned a nod, with a solid shot at winning the thing. And I didn’t have to sprout hot dog fingers to live in that reality. In addition to the historical nature of her nomination, it’s just plain cool to see her finally receive such a well-deserved honor.
Much respect as well to several of her fellow nominees . Ke Huy Quan seems like such a likable guy, and you gotta love the sheer joy he has exuded throughout this entire award season. And how about Jamie Lee Curtis? Talk about a long time coming; I remember her as far back as that short-lived TV adaptation of Operation Petticoat. And turning towards a different movie, I haven’t seen Causeway, but I am very happy to see Brian Tyree Henry score a nomination. Well done.
Other Oscar Tidbits
I’d call these fun facts, but your mileage may vary, so let’s just call them nuggets.
Unless I overlooked someone, there are no potential new EGOTs this time. (As an aside, Viola Davis will become an EGOT in a couple of weeks if she wins the spoken word Grammy for which she was nominated.)
Jon Landau was nominated as one of the producers of the Avatar sequel, which would make him the latest Rock and Roll Hall of Famer with an Oscar in the unlikely event that Avatar: The Way Of Water wins. David Byrne also has a nod this year, but he already has a trophy on his mantlepiece, or wherever it is that he keeps his awards.
Angela Bassett earned the first acting nomination for an MCU movie.
Cate Blanchett is the only acting nominee who is a previous winner.
All Quiet On the Western Front has a shot of being the first to win Best Picture awards for two different productions of the same story.
The aforementioned Ke Huy Quan is considered the biggest sure thing to win the award this year. If so, he would be the first Goonie to win an Oscar.
One big relief - there is a dearth of nominees for actors portraying real people. Unless you want to count the actors from The Fabelmans, who played characters based on Spielberg’s family but not the actual people, only Austin Butler and Ana de Armas fall under this umbrella. I much prefer to see an actor portray an original character rather than a real life figure, particularly if it’s someone relatively contemporary. It almost feels like more of an impersonation rather than an acting performance. There have been way too many trophies given to these type of performances in the last twenty years or so.
The actually ceremony is obviously still taking shape, but now that they have a better idea as to who will potentially be honored the producers can kick the planning process into high gear. They’ve already indicated that there will be no repeat of last year’s unforced error as they plan to present each award live. There will be a slight tweak to one of the usual traditions. The previous year’s 4 acting honorees usually present the award for the opposite gender from their winning category, but since Will Smith has been banned, someone else will have to take his place.
A New Leader
It’s a sad fact of life that Olympic athletes largely fall off the radar of the majority of casual sports fans in between olympiads. That is particularly true for competitors that for whatever reason have a disappointing result in the most recent games. Such is the case with one of the most decorated athletes in history.
Congrats to a great one as this week Mikaela Shiffrin won her 83rd race on the World Cup ski circuit, breaking Lindsey Vonn’s record for the most career victories by a female. Within reach is Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark’s tally of 86, which would make her the winningest Alpine ski racer of either gender.
Unfortunately the most recent image many Americans have of her is her inexplicable showing in last year’s Beijing Games in which she not only failed to medal but she missed gates and skied off course in 3 different races. Keep in mind, of course, that events in the winter games all take place on ice or snow. In case one is unaware, both of those tend to be slippery. Hopefully she can continue her dominance over the next 3 years and will be able to tie a neat bow around a brilliant career with a strong showing in the 2026 Cortina Games.
The Never-Ending Madness
Earlier this week a mass shooting occurred in Baton Rouge. Thankfully there were no fatalities, but it fell through the cracks because the Monterey Park tragedy happened the same day. We’ve reached the point where mass shootings are so common that news organizations can’t fully cover all of them. Have you noticed something else? You don’t hear the words “thoughts and prayers” as often as we had in the past. It’s as if the people spouting empty platitudes have finally recognized that emptiness.
Despite that notable absence, the rest of the depressingly predictable cycle rolls on. People express their sorrow with varying degrees of sincerity, The Onion dusts off the “no way to prevent this” piece, legislation is promised that goes nowhere, wash, rinse, repeat. We don’t have to live like this, but we have made the collective decision to do so. Lots of shrugged shoulders and “what can we do?” comments. Apparently drag time story hour is a threat to children, but flying bullets are not. What a sad and shameful reflection on our society.
https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-nation-where-this-r-1850024424
Rolen, Rolen, Rolen
Not much more I can say about the Hall of Fame that I haven’t already. For now I’ll simply add that I’m happy for Scott Rolen, but I reiterate my earlier complaint. Todd Helton fell only 11 votes short. It serves no real purpose to prolong his agony, along with the other players showing significant support. I fully recognize this will never happen, but it would be so much more humane if the top 2 vote getters in any year are guaranteed election, along with anyone else who polls above 75%.
Thank Yous
Much appreciation to all of you that set aside a few minutes to read my ramblings. Please be sure to spread the word if you’ve been enjoying it.