Below a few other TN contributors talk about other Oscar Favorites they saw and films you should check out to make sure you are ready for the telecast on Sunday!
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Rami Malek – Lead Actor, Bohemian Rhapsody
Most people know Rami Malek from Mr Robot, in which he plays the lead, Eliot Alderson, in this incredible (and scary!) tv show. We here at That’s Normal (and Letters to Twilight before that), like to think of Rami as Benjamin the Egyptian vampire from Breaking Dawn. Yup, are you remembering him now?! He could influence the elements and clearly he influenced us all into loving him. Rami’s turn as the legendary Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody is no different, he is fantastic, charismatic, and makes us really into spandex leotards and buck teeth… just like Freddie. The above mini doc on the journey Rami took to play Freddie is a fantastic look at the nuance and reverence that went into bringing this part to life. I’ll never forget seeing this movie in the theaters, during the final Live Aid sequence, there was a woman on our row who loudly (and correctly) did all the Radio Ga Ga clapping parts… after the movie let out, the people I was with all agreed that the movie had made them cry, whether male or female. And I thought, wow, he’s really got it, Freddie and Queen had such an impact on people that they’re moved to openly cry or rhythmically clap in public in a movie theater.
Here’s to Oscar gold for Rami! Well done!
– Nikki
The Favourite – Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, Cinematography, Film Editing, Production Design, Costume Design
This film has been nominated for 9 awards. The acting is fantastic and Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz will make you laugh at this historical drama. Olivia Colman has won our hearts and loved working with Emma and Rachel her bitches see her golden globes speech here if you don’t know what I’m talking about. The show is about Queen Anne who ruled Great Britain in the early 1700’s and everyone of her children and her husband died before she did. The film covers the last few years of her life and two women vying for favor and attention from the Queen. While on my favourite British talk show Graham Norton Olivia spoke of a particular scene and how Emma had to prepare for it. Watch that fun clip here.
– Emily A.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – Best Animated Feature Film
I’m ashamed we didn’t give this movie any love yet. I am NOT a superhero movie person at all. I could care less about Marvel or Thor or Loki or Captain Planet or whoever it is – I could watch those movies, but it also wouldn’t affect my life at all if I didn’t…and I haven’t. I haven’t seen any of the other Spiderman films – I think Toby McGuire is weird, and I also don’t understand why they remade the series only like 10 years after making it the first time.
All this is to say, I should have no reason to see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. But I dragged my boyfriend, not the other way around (feminism!), to the theater (he didn’t even realize it was an animated movie) and I LOVED IT! From the first beats of the catchiest song in the world, Sunflower by Swae Lee and Post Malone, to the end credits where I found out that voice I had been trying to place the whole movie was, in fact, Nick Cage, I was all in. I’m kind of obsessed with this movie. It was cute, diverse, engaging, and just plain fun. Bonus: Nick Miller himself plays one of the spidermen. Yes, I know his name is Jake Johnson but he will always be Nick Miller to me, even as Spiderman.
I mean. c’mon. Have you seen a cuter pic?
I haven’t seen any of the other nominees in this category, but Spider-Man has got to be the winner. The competition is two sequels and two movies I’ve barely heard of. Pathetic! I’m only kidding, but Spider-Man is a different type of animated movie. It uses so many styles of animation flawlessly. It has the feeling of a drawn-on-paper comic book, while at the same time being something completely new and special. If you haven’t seen it yet, do yourself a favor and hit up your closest theater. You’ll have so much fun. And don’t blame me when Sunflower gets stuck in your head…
-Emily L
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Black Panther – Best Picture, Best Original Music Score, Best Sound Mixing, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound Editing
We loved Black Panther when it came out last year, and not because we’re Marvel fans but because you didn’t need to be a Marvel fan to love Black Panther, and that’s just one of the many reasons it deserves to be nominated and win it’s Oscar categories. From the killer cast of Chadwick Boseman, Micheal B Jordan, Nupita Nyongo, Sterling K Brown, Daniel Kaluuya, Danai Gurira, Leticia Wright, Martin Freeman, and Angela Bassett to name just a few of the super people who bring Black Panther to life. They should all win an award… or at least Best Picture.
– Nikki
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A Star Is Born – Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing
You didn’t think we’d let an Oscars post go by without mentioning A Star Is Born and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper and Sam Elliot and Shangela and Willam and that guy who plays Gaga’s friend and and and aaaaaaannndddd… I could go on.
Ok clearly, some of us around here at TN think A Star Is Born was great and clearly deserves to win at least some of the awards they’re nominated for, but I think we’re mostly just hoping that Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper will duet (like they did in Vegas) the entire ASIB soundtrack during the live telecast. I mean, there’s no host, so why not??!!? It’s what we’d all rather see than a bunch of blathering Hollywood folks. JK. I love self-important awards show! Come on Sunday!
– Nikki
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