Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Streep earns 21st Academy Award nomination for "The Post"

Whew. As the nominations were unfolding, I was getting pretty nervous about a snub with how things were shaping up for the The Post. Thankfully, Meryl's named was announced in the Lead Actress category and she received her 21st Oscar nomination for her performance as Katharine Graham. The only other nomination the film received was Best Picture.

To be honest, I'm not super surprised by the total tally for the film. I think it's a wonderful movie and should've been recognized in additional categories, but this was a very strong year for quality films and The Post was late out of the gate. And they'll be able to use the Best Actress and Best Picture nominations as a marketing tool to boost the box office over the coming weeks.

Ultimately, it ended up being the consensus five in the Best Actress category, as Meryl was joined by the following four women:

Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water)
Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)
Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)

Couple of small surprises in the acting categories: Denzel Washington getting in Best Actor over James Franco, Three Billboards getting two for Supporting Actor (meaning none for Call Me by Your Name) and Leslie Manville getting in over Holly Hunter in Supporting Actress.

Perhaps the most interesting snub of the morning, however, is that of director Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards). After its strong showings at the Globes and SAGs, it had sort of established itself as the Best Picture frontrunner.  The film received a lot of love in other categories, but it's pretty rare that a film that ends of winning Best Picture is absent in the Best Director category. I believe Argo was the last time that happened (maybe only time?).  Happy for Greta Gerwig, as she was nommed in both director and original screenplay.

The full list of nominees can be seen here, and the awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, March 4.  It's a little later this year due to coverage of the Olympics.

Congrats, Meryl!


6 comments:

  1. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- Jamie
    Now.... I want to hear what Meryl’s next project is!

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  2. I became very nervous when the Post did not get the best score nod, and started to fear a shutout. But knowing that they announce the nominees alphabetically, I was relieved when they announced Hawkins first for best actress. Chastain, Dench and Bening (distant long shot) were the only ones who may have taken Meryl's place and they would have been announced before Hawkins so I knew Streep was in. Michelle Williams could have been announced last, but her film was just as late breaking as Meryl's and she was getting none of Christopher Plummer's buzz. Holly Hunter was robbed in supporting. I am glad Manville got in, but Octavia Spencer is becoming a knee-jerk nominee for turning in subdued versions of her (deserved) winning role in The Help. BTW, I think Driving Miss Daisy won best picture without a directing nomination.

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    1. I too wondered about Michelle Williams sneaking in at the end with the "W" last name, but thankfully we have the consensus five.

      I sort of agree about Octavia Spencer. Love her and the film, but nothing particularly special about her performance I thought.

      Darkest Hour and Phantom Thread with very strong showings.

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    2. Wings, Driving Miss Daisy and Argo are the only films to win BP w/our a Director nomination. Seems Shape of Water is now the best bet for the BP Oscar. I'd like to see Lady Bird snatch it.

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  3. Meryl won't win, but she keeps being celebrated as the greatest living actress, and she will overcome this dark times of accusations and bad press by doing what she has always done best: to act, to represent other lives as if it was the last time she would do it, as if she and the character had been always the same person.

    So happy to see that she got the 21st nomination and looking forward to any news on the following projects, which I'm sure will be remarkable and perfect.

    Hugo

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  4. Streep joins Big Little Lies Season 2!- Jamie

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