PicoBlog

The announcement of the 2024 Oscar nominations launched a million tweets about Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig’s snubs, and not nearly enough about Zac Efron’s. His performance as Kevin Von Erich in The Iron Claw was one of the most moving of the year in my opinion, and showed such a depth to his talent. 

In general I’m sad to see the lack of love for The Iron Claw this awards season - what a haunting movie! The Von Erich story is insane and incredible but the acting from all four of the brothers made it. The love and the loss of someone who is a part of you was so beautifully portrayed by all of them throughout the movie, but especially by Efron. How could you hear him say the heartbreaking sentence “I used to be a brother” after watching him repeatedly toss his ham-like body onto the brothers he loved so much and not think he deserved a nomination at the very least??? Did you miss the scene where he was line dancing??

All this to say, the headline is misinformation and I don’t know how to get Zac Efron the Best Actor Oscar. If anyone has any ideas I am very interested in hearing them - we’re in the final hours and we need our best and brightest minds on this issue. Zac Efron is the Best Actor Of My Heart, and actually, he has been since 17 Again, or Hairspray, or arguably even High School Musical 2.

There are a couple of other snubs I’m stuck on: Greta Lee in the Best Actress category and “Camp Isn’t Home” from Theater Camp in the Best Original Song category. Those kids didn’t sing their asses off for the Academy to ignore them! I also would’ve loved a Best Director nom for Celine Song for Past Lives - this was one of the most beautiful movies of the year and it just oozed yearning in a way that stuck with me for weeks after watching. 

Ultimately though, I really am happy for whoever wins this year. I thought about waiting to write this until after the Oscars to talk about the winners - but the winners aren’t the important part! I think the fact that so much excellent work came out during a year of two Hollywood strikes is something to celebrate for everyone involved. 

That being said, there are a few wins I would really love to see: Lily Gladstone for Best Leading Actress, Poor Things for Best Film, Poor Things for Best Costumes (sorry Barbie but those ruffles got me!). For Best Supporting Actress I would love to see Danielle Brooks win, but I know Da’Vine Joy Randolph is the fan favorite and I would be happy to see her get it as well - both were scene stealers in their respective movies. And for the sake of being a hater there’s a loss I’d really like to see as well: I do not want I’m Just Ken to win Best Original song. What does that say about us if it does? Surely we’re better than I’m Just Ken, I hate to think of a world where we’re not. I would love to hear the little gay kids from Theater Camp discuss the I’m Just Ken nomination, I bet they have something devastating to say about it. 

Theater Camp is one of many movies I loved this year that went mostly unrecognized in award season. In a season so full of memorable moments, the existing categories just don’t capture all of them! Here are some new awards I came up with to fill the gaps. Congrats to the winners:

There were a couple of common themes in the nominated movies this season that I really enjoyed. The first was newcomers absolutely carrying opposite industry legends: Lily Gladstone, Dominic Sessa, and Andrew Barth Freedman all impressed me so much this year and I’m excited to see them in the future. 

Also, of course, girlhood and womanhood and the navigation of each were everywhere. It was the year of the girl and that was certainly true in film - obviously Barbie’s pink tinted summer was a big part of that, but it’s not the only one. Girlhood is a spectrum and this year it ranged from Barbie pink to The Color Purple, from graphic sex in Poor Things to graphic violence in Bottoms. We contain multitudes!! 

This was such a great year to go to the movies - this was the year that superhero movies flopped and a biopic about the creator of the atomic bomb crushed the box office. The past year made me really remember how magical and special it felt to go to the movies as a kid. I still feel that magic at the theaters - the ritual of sneaking a snack in but getting fresh popcorn, of watching trailers and letting the experience hang over you on the walk home. I saw almost all the big movies this year and I enjoyed almost everything that I saw - what an absolute treat. The last time I saw this many new things in one season was when MoviePass was $10 a month for basically unlimited movies (I saw The Greatest Showman in theaters twice just for the scene of Zac Efron and Hugh Jackman dancing on the bar - if Zac Efron has no fans I’m dead) and I’m excited to be back. We really do come to this place for magic.

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