21 November
Movie Review: Piece by Piece 
November 21, 2024 Movie Review: Piece by Piece
November 14, 2024 "Humor on the Margins: Cartoons in the Turkish Jewish Newspaper Şalom" by Rakel P. Meşulam
November 7, 2024 The "Ottoman and Turkish Ketubbot" Exhibition
November 4, 2024 TV Show Review: Nobody Wants This
November 1, 2024 The Irresistible Drunkenness of Reading Books
Oscars 2024
The 96th Academy Awards will be live on March 10, 2024, at 4:00-7:00 PM PST this year. I have been a candid follower of the Oscars ever since I was a kid back in Turkey. I believe I watched them live staying up all night back home and kept watching them here in Los Angeles. February 2, 2024
By Bessy ADUT
Every year, I wait in excitement to hear about the nominees and most of the time I am happy with the winners, I love hearing their speeches. It is one of the most motivating things for me to watch to keep the dream alive. And sometimes many interesting things happen on live TV.
This year the show is going to be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel which in my opinion is a great choice. He is classy and funny at the same time, no wonder they make him host it for the 4th time. The show will take place at Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood honoring movies in ’23.
I will be happy to see most of the movies whose reviews I wrote so far at Şalom in 2023 winning awards and I hope some of my readers will share their joy. I would like to go over all the candidates and will have a say only on the ones I have seen.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
NOMINEES
BRADLEY COOPER - Maestro
COLMAN DOMINGO - Rustin
PAUL GIAMATTI - The Holdovers
CILLIAN MURPHY - Oppenheimer
JEFFREY WRIGHT - American Fiction
They are all excellent actors. I had a chance to see Jeffrey Wright as a bitter author/academician, Cillian Murphy as a scientist under a lot of pressure going back and forth with pride and guilt, and Paul Giamatti finding an almost son/friend he didn’t know he needed in The Holdovers. I haven’t seen Maestro and Rustin just yet but the Golden Globes winner has been Cillian Murphy with his performance in Oppenheimer. Paul Giamatti also won in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and he became a social media sensation celebrating in the famous In & Out Burgers in LA. With these three candidates I have seen, I’d be happy with any of them as winners holding the Oscar. We shall see who will win, my personal favorite is Jeffrey Wright with his performance in American Fiction that I have seen most recently.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
NOMINEES
STERLING K. BROWN - American Fiction
ROBERT DE NIRO - Killers of the Flower Moon
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. - Oppenheimer
RYAN GOSLING - Barbie
MARK RUFFALO- Poor Things
Sterling K. Brown was great playing the gay, fun-loving but emotionally distressed brother. Robert De Niro needless to say had a stellar performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, it was so good you could almost hate one of the most likeable actors in history. Robert Downey Jr. was great in Oppenheimer. Ryan Gosling also did a really good Ken performance and his nomination raised a lot of noise when his director and co-star weren't also nominated. Yet it was a comedic performance so I doubt it would win. Mark Ruffalo also did a wonderful job as a supporting actor in Poor Things, he was really one of the poor things in the movie but I think once again it was a bit too comedic for Oscar’s taste. So we shall see... I think I would go for Robert De Niro and most people would however, the Academy might also want to reward a younger actor who never won an Oscar before. Let’s see who will win this award.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
NOMINEES
ANNETTE BENING - Nyad
LILY GLADSTONE - Killers of the Flower Moon
SANDRA HÜLLER - Anatomy of a Fall
CAREY MULLIGAN - Maestro
EMMA STONE - Poor Things
Once again all great actresses, I particularly like Annette Bening; once she came to CalArts as a Guest Artist and she is great, however, in terms of this one I am torn between Lily Gladstone and Emma Stone. Poor Things was one of my favorite movies this year and I think Emma Stone really did a terrific job with her unique performance. However, she has already won the Golden Globe. Lily Gladstone is being advertised by her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. She did an incredible performance and with apologies to everyone else, I would give this award to Lily Gladstone and I am almost certain that she will win this one.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
NOMINEES
EMILY BLUNT- Oppenheimer
DANIELLE BROOKS - The Color Purple
AMERICA FERRERA - Barbie
JODIE FOSTER - Nyad
DA'VINE JOY RANDOLPH - The Holdovers
For this category, I am torn between 3 options: Emily Blunt in Oppenheimer, America Ferrera in Barbie, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers. Even though I truly loved all their performances, I am going to go with the most dramatic and believable one for me, which would be Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers. I think America Ferrera was terrific as well and I’d be equally happy with her inclusion and diversity on the table but her comedic performance doesn’t stand as strong as a woman who just lost her son and trying to go on. It’s more about the characters they play rather than their characters. Jodie Foster and Danielle Brooks are also great actresses but they don’t shine in my eyes for this year.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
NOMINEES
THE BOY AND THE HERON - Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
ELEMENTAL - Peter Sohn and Denise Ream
NIMONA - Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary
ROBOT DREAMS - Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE - Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal
I have only seen THE BOY AND THE HERON by Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki which I separately will write a review soon. I have known and followed Miyazaki for many years ever since I wrote a thesis paper on his “Spirited Away” animation. It’s so very original and holistic story, very dramatic but kid-friendly at the same time. This is going to be my favorite but I haven’t seen all of them yet. Spider-Man Multi-Verse was great; haven’t seen this one yet. However, I bet it can’t be as original as Miyazaki’s animation. Of course, that’s my personal taste and to be fair to the other animations I have not yet seen, I am going to say no more. I am very curious about ROBOT DREAMS and intend to see it next.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOMINEES
EL CONDE - Edward Lachman
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - Rodrigo Prieto
MAESTRO - Matthew Libatique
OPPENHEIMER - Hoyte van Hoytema
POOR THINGS - Robbie Ryan
All great cinematography here and I am torn between Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer, and Poor Things. The most artistic, creative, and original-looking was Poor Things per my taste. I would vote for Poor Things although the other two had some really great scenes in them as well.
COSTUME DESIGN
NOMINEES
BARBIE - Jacqueline Durran
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - Jacqueline West
NAPOLEON - Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
OPPENHEIMER - Ellen Mirojnick
POOR THINGS - Holly Waddington
This one is very challenging... I think BARBIE needs to get at least this one although POOR THINGS was equally interesting. I think POOR THINGS was more original even though winking to ALICE IN WONDERLAND and DALI a lot. BARBIE really created an amazing world with all the colors and production design. Other films are period pieces so personally, I find it more interesting people being able to create imaginary worlds. We have seen many period pieces before so no offense to other movies but I would go for one of these films.
DIRECTING
NOMINEES
ANATOMY OF A FALL - Justine Triet
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - Martin Scorsese
OPPENHEIMER - Christopher Nolan
POOR THINGS - Yorgos Lanthimos
THE ZONE OF INTEREST - Jonathan Glazer
This is a tough one. Everyone was upset and screaming about Greta Gerwig's not being nominated. And I think that’s really unfair because if a film is being nominated for BEST FILM their DIRECTOR should also be nominated as there can’t be a best film without one of the best directors. That being said and to be fair, we have a woman director nominated here Justine Triet; Greta won an Oscar before but she never got one, so that’s good. Martin Scorsese proved himself in many years doesn’t even need an award but of course, he deserves one. So do Christopher Nolan, Yorgos Lanthimos and Jonathan Glazer. I am going to leave it to the Academy for this one. It’s too hard for me to pick this one. My main favorites are Scorsese and Yorgos Lanthimos this year as I reviewed both of their work.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
NOMINEES
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE'S PRESIDENT - Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek
THE ETERNAL MEMORY
FOUR DAUGHTERS - Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha
TO KILL A TIGER - Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL - Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath
I didn’t have a chance to watch any of them yet but as a documentary filmmaker who wants to make her own feature doc, I should. I guess I will start with the winner. Same with the documentary short.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
NOMINEES
THE ABCS OF BOOK BANNING - Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic
THE BARBER OF LITTLE ROCK - John Hoffman and Christine Turner
ISLAND IN BETWEEN - S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien
THE LAST REPAIR SHOP - Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
NǍI NAI & WÀI PÓ - Sean Wang and Sam Davis
FILM EDITING
NOMINEES
ANATOMY OF A FALL - Laurent Sénéchal
THE HOLDOVERS - Kevin Tent
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - Thelma Schoonmaker
OPPENHEIMER - Jennifer Lame
POOR THINGS - Yorgos Mavropsaridis
All of them were edited excellently by talented editors; I am happy to see several female editors on this list as well. In terms of editing and special effects, I think I am leaning towards Oppenheimer for this one although I’d be equally happy for any of the other nominees.
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
NOMINEES
IO CAPITANO - Italy
PERFECT DAYS - Japan
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW - Spain
THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE - Germany
THE ZONE OF INTEREST - United Kingdom
I haven’t seen any of them yet but looking forward to seeing all of these films as well making it to this list itself is an accomplishment. I hope a film from Turkey will be there soon.
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
NOMINEES
GOLDA - Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue
MAESTRO - Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell
OPPENHEIMER - Luisa Abel
POOR THINGS - Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW - Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé
Another movie I wrote a review for was GOLDA and I think they did an excellent job in makeup and hairstyling department. Although I see others I liked a lot such as POOR THINGS and OPPENHEIMER on this list one more time, I think I am going to go for GOLDA for this category.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
NOMINEES
AMERICAN FICTION - Laura Karpman
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY - John Williams
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - Robbie Robertson
OPPENHEIMER - Ludwig Göransson
POOR THINGS - Jerskin Fendrix
They were all so good original scores! One more time, I am going to go with POOR THINGS for its originality and experimental tones.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
NOMINEES
THE FIRE INSIDE - from Flamin' Hot; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
I'M JUST KEN - from Barbie; Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
IT NEVER WENT AWAY - from American Symphony; Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
WAHZHAZHE (A SONG FOR MY PEOPLE) - from Killers of the Flower Moon; Music and Lyric by Scott George
WHAT WAS I MADE FOR? - from Barbie; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell
BARBIE; to me winner will always be Billie Eilish if she’s on the list. She has won so many awards and deserves this one too. I love this song. I think it’s better than I’m Just Ken as we have two Barbie songs in this list. And yet WAHZHAZHE also won my heart with its originality and if they won for KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, for a different unique voice, it would be perfectly fair and I am sure Billie would applause on her feet as well with a smile.
BEST PICTURE
NOMINEES
AMERICAN FICTION - Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers
ANATOMY OF A FALL - Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers
BARBIE - David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers
THE HOLDOVERS - Mark Johnson, Producer
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers
MAESTRO - Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
OPPENHEIMER - Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers
PAST LIVES - David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers
POOR THINGS - Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers
THE ZONE OF INTEREST - James Wilson, Producer
Here we have the most crowded list, glad to see PAST LIVES made it to this list as well as many others. I have a sense, this award most likely will go to KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, however POOR THINGS deserves it for its uniqueness as well. I would still be fine hearing AMERICAN FICTION, THE HOLDOVERS, OPPENHEIMER winning this award but I believe their screenplays were stronger than the films themselves. And yes BARBIE my very first movie review in Salom is on this list as well! Of course it was a success I personally watched it 4 times! However it doesn’t stand as strong with other important matters. I think the most important humanity matter is addressed in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
NOMINEES
BARBIE - Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON - Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
NAPOLEON - Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Elli Griff
OPPENHEIMER - Production Design: Ruth De Jong; Set Decoration: Claire Kaufman
POOR THINGS - Production Design: James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek
The same goes for this category, I will vote for BARBIE. And as NAPOLEON by Ridley Scott got so little love and attention, it would be fair to give some love to this movie’s production design as well.
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
NOMINEES
LETTER TO A PIG - Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter
NINETY-FIVE SENSES - Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess
OUR UNIFORM - Yegane Moghaddam
PACHYDERME - Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius
WAR IS OVER! INSPIRED BY THE MUSIC OF JOHN & YOKO - Dave Mullins and Brad Booker
I am as curious as you are...
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
NOMINEES
THE AFTER - Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham
INVINCIBLE - Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron
KNIGHT OF FORTUNE - Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk
RED, WHITE AND BLUE - Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane
THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR - Wes Anderson and Steven Rales
Haven’t seen them just yet, I didn’t even know Wes Anderson had a live-action short film with a co-producer; surprised to see that.
SOUND
NOMINEES
THE CREATOR - Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
MAESTRO - Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE - Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
OPPENHEIMER - Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O'Connell
THE ZONE OF INTEREST - Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn
For sound... I am torn between MAESTRO, as it’s a movie about music, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE which had incredible sound, as well as OPPENHEIMER. I can’t tell which one would be best. I favor Mission Impossible...
VISUAL EFFECTS
NOMINEES
THE CREATOR - Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould
GODZILLA MINUS ONE - Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 - Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - DEAD RECKONING PART ONE - Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould
NAPOLEON - Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould
Let’s give some visual effects love to NAPOLEON more than a sequel of a popular movie... Although I’d say, yes their VFX were also great.
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES
AMERICAN FICTION - Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson
BARBIE - Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
OPPENHEIMER - Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan
POOR THINGS - Screenplay by Tony McNamara
THE ZONE OF INTEREST - Written by Jonathan Glazer
These screenplays were all so good they were a mix of drama and comedy. Some light and some dark; it’s very hard to pick one. AMERICAN FICTION definitely had original storytelling, I love the ending. BARBIE had great scenes and dialogue, it looked superficial at first but it was really deep and philosophical it also touched on very current matters. OPPENHEIMER was a great period piece. POOR THINGS, as I said over and over again, was very original and clever. One of my favorite movies this year... I have not seen THE ZONE OF INTEREST yet, so I am not going to comment on that one. I just can say all these films deserve to be on this list. Whoever wins, being a nominee here is an accomplishment in itself.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES
ANATOMY OF A FALL - Screenplay - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
THE HOLDOVERS - Written by David Hemingson
MAESTRO - Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer
MAY DECEMBER - Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik
PAST LIVES - Written by Celine Song
My personal favorite would be THE HOLDOVERS; as I was getting out of the movie I was praising the screenplay. It had great character arcs and dynamics, we see the obstacles and changes in characters. It makes you think, tear up and laugh. However, I heard PAST LIVES is a really excellent movie too. I will keep the other three with no comment. I would like to see THE HOLDOVERS win this category. Very well-written screenplay, great dialogues and characters as well as the storyline; although yes we have seen some similar movies before, it was still unique on its own.
I can’t wait to watch the Oscars this year and will write an aftermath review.
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