I have been known to treat awards season for film like some people might treat the Super Bowl. I watch the matchups all year, lament when a movie I love isn’t nominated (more on that in a bit), and plan a massive party which may or may not involve dressing up as your favorite nominated performance. I love the utter chaos that was the Golden Globes. I love the more accurate nominations of the Gotham Awards and the BAFTA’s. But there’s just something about the Academy Awards that tops everything in my heart.

I feel like I need to distinguish my statement. I love the potential that the Academy has when it comes to rewarding the year’s best films. Does it always get it right? Absolutely not. Is it one of the reasons I got into movies? Yes, and that’s why I love it! It brings the spotlight to films that might not have received widely publicized attention. I know it’s brought so many great films into my life. That being said, every year when the nominations come out, Film Twitter loses their ever-loving mind. The nominations came out on February 8, and 11 days later, I am finally ready to discuss. Let’s dive into it, shall we?

The Best

• “Drive My Car” Receives Best Picture Nom
  • Full disclosure – I haven’t seen this film yet. That being said, I think the fact that a 3 hour Japanese movie is not pigeonholed in the “International Film” category is a indicator to me that the Academy is at least open to the idea of expanding their definition of what a “best picture” nomination could look like.
• K Stew as Di Spence!!!! Best Actress!!!!
  • I LOVED Kristen Stewart as Diana Spencer. I’ll talk more about it in the next section, but to me, the mark of a great performance is that I forget the actor isn’t the character, no matter how high profile the actor is. Kristen Stewart did exactly that for me. After getting shut out at a few award shows including the BAFTA’s, I was nervous she would be shut out of the Oscar’s. But I’m excited that she received her first nomination for this film!
• Andrew Garfield
  • Nothing brings me more joy than the sentence “two-time Academy Award nominated actor Andrew Garfield”…except maybe “Academy Award winner Andrew Garfield”. Plus, to me, he blew Benedict Cumberbatch out of the water.

Things I Could’ve Done Without

• “Don’t Look Up” in Best Picture.
  • Really? Of all the films that came out this year, you’re telling me a movie that I paused, thinking there was MAYBE twenty minutes left of only to discover I wasn’t even halfway through is considering one of the best movies????
• Lack of nominations for “Passing”
  • Perhaps I am biased, but “Passing” was one of the most tense, well-done films I saw this year. Months later, I am still haunted by Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga’s performances. And it was completely shut out of this year’s race. Wild.

• “Being the Ricardos” Acting Noms
  • Ugh. Look. I don’t mind Aaron Sorkin. That being said, the exact opposite of what I said about Kristen Stewart is true for this film. I kept thinking “Wow, Nicole Kidman is playing Lucille Ball and talking to Javier Bardem who is playing Desi Arnaz.” I just didn’t find the acting noms in the same league as the other nominees.

The ??????

• “Nightmare Alley” for Best Picture??????????????????
  • I was pleasantly blindsided by “Nightmare Alley” receiving a best picture nomination. I really enjoyed this movie, but I figured it was too under the radar for an Oscar nom. Nobody was talking about in terms of awards!! What a pleasant surprise for horror nerds like me.
• Tammy Faye Bakker!
  • I fucking loved “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”, specifically Jessica Chastain’s performance. It was probably my favorite lead actress performances of the year. She was nominated for a Globe, but largely shut out from other award shows so I definitely was not expecting her to be nominated.
• Jesse Plemmons in “The Power of the Dog” ?????
  • I still am recovering from how cute it is that Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemmons are married. The fact they were both nominated for “The Power of the Dog” in best supporting categories warms my heart. That being said, I don’t understand completely why Jesse was nominated. Don’t get me wrong, he was great, as always, but I felt like he had that one line read that was incredible. Other than that, I’m not sure why he was nominated. He seemed to float in and out of the movie. It’s not necessarily a negative thing, but it was surprising.

What I’m Excited For

• Best Supporting Actress Category
  • This category is the most exciting to me. I loved all of the performances. No matter who wins, I will be so excited for them.
• Regina Hall
  • I was raised on Scary Movie 1, 2, and 3. If I trust anyone to host this year’s Oscars, it’s her. Why you need the other two hosts, I’m not sure.

Check out the full list of nominations here. Let me know your thoughts about this year’s Oscars: @lanetalksmovies.