SEEMS THE JOKER’S ON US
Comedies are good for a laugh, but seriously: Why not an Oscar nod?
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T first glance, Monday’s 2020 Oscar nominations look like a populist revolution. The movie with the most nominations, “Joker,” has made more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office — the first Best Picture nominee to achieve that feat since 2009’s “Avatar.” Several other Best Picture nominees have made more than $100 million (“Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood,” “Ford v Ferrari,” “Parasite” and “Little Women”), or are far along the road to doing so (“1917”). Two other nominees are popular Netflix titles (“The Irishman” and “Marriage Story”), and the final contender, “Jojo Rabbit,”bit,” has raked iin just $30 million less than Taylor SSwift’s “Cats.” PowerPow to the people! Or isi it? BecauBecause there is stilstill somsometthing average folks adore that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sneers at, views with utter contempt, believes to be as artful as Guy Fieri’s donkey sauce: comedy.
Just look at Monday’s notable Oscar snubs and you’ll see a unifying funny factor: Eddie Murphy in “Dolemite Is My Name,” Adam Sandler in “Uncut Gems” (below right) and Awkwafina in “The Farewell.” None of those lauded performances was nominated. Strange, because they’re all coming off of other big accolades.
Sandler was named best actor by the National Board of Review, Murphy was nominated for a Golden Globe and won a handful of prizes from critics’ groups, and Awkwafina won best actress in a comedy at the Globes. But ohmygosh, Charlize Theron (up for Best Actress in “Bombshell”) sounds soooo much like Megyn Kelly!
The Oscars, which favor impersonations, snot-tears and Meryl Streep, is a Sahara for humor.
The funniest nominated films are “Little Women,” which includes an n infant death, and “Jojo Rabbit,” which is about the Nazis. Slightly silly y “Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood” features a massacre and the Manson family. The two actually laugh-out-loud films of 2019, “Booksmart” and “Knives Out,” were clever r and universally acclaimed, but had not a single hipster Hitler or real-life serial killer. Maybe next year, guys!
The competition was fierce this year, and some of the serious fare was snubbed too.
Without a doubt, the most highprofile blackball was for Jennifer Lopez, who played a veteran stripper in the dramedy “Hustlers.” Losing the Golden Globe a week ago to Laura Dern (“Marriage Story”) might have tempered J.Lo’s expectations, but she no doubt assumed she’d at least be nominated here — for her most successful acting role in decades.
Other actors are also feeling the sting. The highly praised cast of “Parasite” was not among the South Korean movie’s six nods, including Best Picture, and Robert De Niro failed to secure a Best Actor nod for “The Irishman.”
Disney, meanwhile, has ventured into the unknown, with its huge hit “Frozen 2” being left off the Best Animated Feature roster. The first “Frozen” won that award in 2014. And while Greta Gerwig got Best Adapted Screenplay and Picture nods for “Little Women,” she didn’t make the cut for Best Director.
Like the Oscars, none of these folks are laughing.