DC Film Society: Adam's Rib January 2025

The David Lynch Oscars

David Lynch died on January 15, 2025, eight days before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the Oscar nominations. The iconoclastic director, who mastered the art of the surreal and the dreamlike, would likely appreciate the strange dichotomy of honoring the best of the film world while the real world is falling apart. Lives and livelihoods are threatened, while institutions we hold sacred seem to be crumbling. Reality has become a living nightmare right near Hollywood, as the wildfires devastated much of the Los Angeles area. Lynch was reportedly evacuated days before his death.

In a way, addressing who was nominated and who should have been feels ridiculous considering all that is happening in Los Angeles, America and the world. Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? No, but that’s OK. I’m reminded of when Kerry Collins, then the quarterback of the New York Giants, visited the Twin Tower remnants days after 9/11 to support those looking for survivors. One of the first responders told Collins that he had the QB on his fantasy football team. The chance to think about something fun gave a brief respite in all the pain and turmoil.

The Oscars offer all of us that care about film some sense of normalcy, a way to have some joy in these dark times. Some celebrities proposed canceling the ceremony this year, but that would be a mistake. No one would be helped, and the cancellation would just make the grim world a little grimmer. Jobs would be lost at a time when Hollywood can ill afford it. The Academy, by all accounts, will use the ceremony in part to raise money for the wildfire victims.

So on to the nominations. The Academy got more right than wrong, and wisely continued to look beyond the U.S. for the excellence the film world had to offer. As always, the Oscars featured some egregious snubs, and some nods that were less deserving. With that, I hand out some grades:

BEST PICTURE
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked

Grade: B
Credit the voters for remembering Dune: Part Two, even though it came out early last year. Like all the great sequels, the film expands on the themes of the original while pushing the story in new directions and deepening the characters. On the other end of the spectrum, Nickel Boys did not hit most theaters until this January. Despite the questionable release strategy, the Academy recognized this touching and poignant film, which focuses on the feelings and sensations of African-American teenagers in the Jim Crow south.

While I admire the scope and ambition of The Brutalist, the film itself falls short. It strives to be an epic statement on the immigrant experience and the power of art. During the first half The Brutalist meets these goals thanks to stunning visuals and a powerful performance by Adrien Brody. But it falls apart in the second half, with a crime that makes no sense other than to further drive home a point that doesn’t need it. Even worse is an epilogue that shortchanges much of the story that came before. September 5, a gripping look at a critical day in TV journalism, would be a better choice. So would Sing Sing, a moving and inventive story of how the theatrical arts can uplift those even at the lowest rung of society.

DIRECTOR
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown

Grade: B+
Sean Baker received four Oscar nominations total, and is one of a handful of directors that can accurately be called an auteur. As he did with Tangerine, The Florida Project and Red Rocket, Baker examines the lives of sex workers in the underbelly of the American dream. His stripped-down documentary style of shooting gives his films an immediacy, a feeling that some versions of these people exist somewhere. Thankfully Baker did not have to “go Hollywood” to garner the recognition he deserved. Coralie Fargeat also had a singular vision, giving The Substance a bold style that enhanced its story, along with getting career-best work from Demi Moore. I can’t wait to see what Baker and Fargeat do next.

ACTOR
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Grade: A-
Domingo now has back-to-back Best Actor nominations, after receiving one last year for Rustin. He goes to new places in Sing Sing, both captivating and heartbreaking. Ralph Fiennes turned in some of his most subtle but affecting work with Conclave. While Stan did an outstanding job capturing Donald Trump in The Apprentice, he was much more interesting in A Different Man. He could just coast with his Marvel role, but Stan never stops challenging himself.

ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

Grade: A
It’s a shame the Academy left out Marianne Jean-Baptiste for her brave, searing performance in Hard Truths, expressing pain in an unnerving way, but I can’t complain about any of the five selected. Torres could have easily overplayed the “strong woman standing tall against all odds” role, but instead she gave her portrayal intricacy and grace. How gratifying that Demi Moore staged a career comeback in a film decrying how hard it is for older actresses. She showed no vanity in playing a vain woman.

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Grade: B
“Succession” may be over, but Kendall and Roman Roy battle it out one last time with Strong and Culkin’s nominations. Culkin’s inclusion is category fraud, as he was just as much of a lead as Jesse Eisenberg. Guy Pearce gave the most overrated performance in the most overrated film. He played the wealthy tycoon as a pompous, snobbish jerk without any depth or complexity. Pearce might as well have been twirling his mustache. The Academy instead should have honored Clarence Maclin for his raw, deep and transcendent work in Sing Sing. Yes, he was playing a version of himself and retraced his own journey, but so what? If anything, he should get more credit for revisiting his trauma and triumph.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Grade: B
Oscar voters snubbed Danielle Deadwyler for two years in a row, ignoring her riveting performance in The Piano Lesson a year after doing the same for her compelling work in Till. Joan Chen’s quiet, layered portrayal of a long-suffering mother in Dìdi was the heart of the underrated coming of age story. Either Deadwyler or Chen are more deserving than Rossellini. She acquitted herself well in Conclave, but in an inconsequential barely-there role. Rossellini is film royalty, and deserved a nomination for the seminal Lynch film Blue Velvet many years ago, but this feels like a “She’s due” lifetime achievement nod.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi, Emilia Pérez
Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, and John “Divine G” Whitfield, Sing Sing
James Mangold and Jay Cocks, A Complete Unknown
RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys
Peter Straughan, Conclave

Grade: A-
Once again, the screenplay nomination serves as a consolation prize for films left out of the Best Picture race, with Sing Sing here and September 5 in Original. The Sing Sing team adapted the true-life stories of the formerly incarcerated men in the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program along with the plays the company performed. They left room for these men to bring their own experiences while crafting a story around them. I wish there was a spot for Vigil Williams and Malcolm Washington’s masterful job adapting August Wilson’s play for The Piano Lesson. Unfortunately, that film was shut out entirely, as Netflix put its Oscar eggs in the Emilia Pérez basket.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Sean Baker, Anora
Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David, September 5
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

Grade: B-
Binder, Fehlbaum and David wrote a taut, exciting thriller while also asking questions about journalism ethics that are still relevant now. Their nomination was even more of a consolation than Sing Sing, as this was the film’s only one. Paramount’s misguided release strategy had it first reaching most people a couple of weeks ago. While Oscar voters likely could have seen it earlier through special screenings, there was no buzz or momentum for September 5. I’ve already noted some of the ways The Brutalist garnered more acclaim than it deserves, but this nomination was the most puzzling as the screenplay desperately needed a rewrite. The epilogue alone should be disqualifying as it wraps up one of the film’s core struggles with one sentence and adds several other developments with no context at all.

Emilia Pérez led all films with 13 nominations, with its star Karla Sofía Gascón the first trans actor ever to be nominated. In prior years cis actors Felicity Huffman, Eddie Redmayne and Jared Leto got nominations but also criticism for playing trans characters. A Spanish-language musical with a trans protagonist, played by a trans actor, beats the odds, and has the same number of nominations as the juggernaut Oppenheimer had a year ago. This must be reason to celebrate, right? Not necessarily, as Emilia Pérez became arguably the most polarizing Best Picture candidate since Crash. The film industry loves it, with the Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA joining the Oscars in giving the film several nods. Earlier the Cannes Film Festival awarded Emilia Pérez the Jury Prize and a Best Actress award for its stars. I recently listened to the “The Big Picture” podcast’s interview with James Cameron. When host Sean Fennessey asked Cameron what the best film he saw lately was, Cameron immediately answered Emilia Pérez, adding that he saw the film three times. Critics’ reviews were mixed, although more positive than negative. But audience scores were very low for such an honored film as were ratings on Letterboxd and the Internet Movie Database.

Time reported that “discourse around Emilia Pérez lit up like a New Year’s Eve fireworks display. Praise for its handling of issues like gender confirmation surgery and Mexico’s missing persons crisis was met with equal fervor by viewers who said it mishandled those same issues.” GLAAD, formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, opined that “’Emilia Pérez’ is a step backward for trans representation.” The Los Angeles Times wrote that “The criticisms leveled at ‘Emilia Pérez’ include those for its depiction of Mexico and for lacking the involvement of Mexican crew and cast members.” Famed Mexican cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto asked “Why not hire a Mexican production designer, costume designer, or at least some consultants? Yes, they had dialogue coaches, but I was offended that such a story was portrayed in a way that felt so inauthentic.” Gascón’s recently uncovered tweets didn’t help either.

Between the lovers and the haters, I find myself somewhere in the middle. I am not trans nor am I Mexican, so I cannot weigh Emilia Pérez from that perspective. STOP HERE IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS. As a cinephile, I enjoyed how the film combined elements of a musical and a crime drama without strictly adhering to either of those genre’s tropes. Gascón and Zoe Saldaña both give incredible performances. I admire director Jacques Audiard’s creativity and ingenuity. That said, the film is not without its flaws. For example, a romantic subplot for Gascón’s character goes underdeveloped. It was not one of the year’s ten best films.

While I understand the criticisms, the Emilia Pérez character is never meant to be a representative for all trans people. Being trans is a major part of who she is, but its not the only part. She has done many monstrous things in her former life and is trying but, in the end, failing, to make amends. By the same token Emilia Pérez works as a fable, and is not trying to serve as an authentic representation of the Mexican people, culture, or drug wars. It’s similar to 2001’s Moulin Rouge, ostensibly set in France but with no French dialogue, French actors in significant roles, or any scenes shot in France. While Emilia Pérez doesn’t make it to the level of Moulin Rouge, both films create their own alternate reality. Both also turn dark, with Emilia Pérez growing into a Greek tragedy of someone whose attempt to save their family ends up losing it.

The Time article referred to the film’s “originality in the face of a stagnant film landscape cluttered with IP and sequels.” If nothing else, Emilia Pérez takes chances that most films don’t. To me it succeeded more often than not, but even if it falls short in certain areas, maybe the film’s success can lead to other films that more accurately cover the wide range of trans people and experiences. Maybe it can lead to theaters and streaming services showing more authentic films about the Mexican culture, Mexican people and Mexican struggles. Maybe it can lead to a genre fusion that I can’t even imagine now. If Emilia Pérez triggers even some of what I just wrote, then so much the better.

Adam Spector
February 1, 2025