Oscar Nominations: The Oscar nominations have been released this past week with some notable snubs. For me, the biggest snub remains Sairose Ronan for The Outrun. It seems not enough people saw it. But the lack of nomination for the performance especially given the next review from Anora is a head scratcher. I was also surprised with Denis Villeneuve not being acknowledged for Dune Part 2 which was better than the first film. Edward Berger also was not nominated for Best Director either for Conclave. Kate Winslet was not nominated for Lee. I have to admit that I am pleased that Pam Anderson, Nicole Kidman, and Selena Gomez were not nominated. Overall I see 2024 as a thin year for quality movies. The long listing of Best Picture nominees of which I have seen eight of the ten nominees, for me, truly only has two or three legitimate contenders. Those would include Conclave (my personal favourite), The Brutalist and Dune Part 2. In years to come the movie most people will come back to watch multiple times likely with be Dune Part 2. We’ll see if this is another year where a more artsy film like Bird Man, or The Artist wins over the more compelling and entertaining film.
Anora: I watched this movie this past weekend. It has received six Oscar nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Director, screenplay and editing. One would think that this would be excellent entertainment. In short, I don’t see it.
As a story it is a tale set in NYC about a young female exotic dancer from Brooklyn, played by Mickey Madison, who one night meets up with an equally young Russian male customer. She is requested by the club manager to meet this guy because she speaks Russian. She meets the young man, named Ivan, and his buddy and turns on the charm. He likes her and manages to spend time and money with her and hopes to see her some more. She meets Ivan away from the club and they do what adults do.
The young people party, have fun and head to Vegas. On a whim, Ivan proposes to her. They head to a chapel and get married. For Anora (she calls herself Ani) the wedding is her ticket to a life of leisure with no money worries, and at her age the money is the primary factor for being interested. This is a transaction. So it seems. The news of the Ivan’s wedding is not welcome to his oligarch father and mother. The parents are back in Russia, but they have an older Armenian man overseeing the young man in NYC. He didn’t know about the trip to Vegas. Like Ivan’s Mom he is furious and see Ivan being married to a “prostitute” as a very bad thing for the reputation of the family. The Armenian overseer sends his men to talk to Ivan and confirm the news about the marriage back at his house in NYC. It doesn’t go well. Ivan has been watched by this overseer for most of his life. Apparently he has been a handful. He manages to elude the henchmen and the overseer and they need to find him in NYC. Good luck. In the end there are some funny situational moments, but this is really a simple story. There is plenty of nudity. None of the acting struck me as particularly effective. Anora was perhaps the best. The nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Yurily Borisov, is particularly surprising as he doesn’t say anything for the first half of the movie. He is present with Anora but not interacting much. He is the muscle on the team, along with the overseer’s bearded brother. Only later does he have much to contribute. There is a great deal of yelling. A lot of profanity. Not a lot happens. An eventful long weekend for Ivan ends fairly predictably as the spoiled, entitled man has his parents fix what he has created. It’s not the first time and most certainly won’t be the last.
The ending can be interpreted in different ways. I think Anora’s final reaction stems from her finally feeling some real feelings, with no ulterior motives or transaction in the balance. Maybe it was the reaction from the culmination of a series of dramatic events? When the movie ended my reaction was “is that it?” It is hard to compare a movie like this or The Substance with a movie like Conclave or The Brutalist. The former are over-the-top and tongue in cheek while the others are more dramatic and seriously told. I cannot recommend this movie despite all the award nominations.
Mondays With Robbie 