LOCK HER PHONE UP!
CURRENTLY BEGGING EVERYONE TO GET A GRIP!
As many of you know I grew up in a TV house, and it made me the woman that I am today (talks over tv shows/movies naming every actor and all of their projects, past lovers, major contributions to culture and of course all of the horrible things that they’ve done.) This also meant that me and my family were CLOCKED IN for award season! We would order food from our favorite places or get snacks (always chips and dip for me) and I even remember one year my mom had the idea for us to dress up for the Oscars as we watched from our living room. Grammys, Globes, Emmys, BET Awards, VMAs, NAACP Image Awards, SAG, etc had me and my family in front of the tv like;
In recent years though I, like many others have pondered if we put too much weight on these awards and these corrupt institutions. I’ve said more than once “oh I’ll just see the highlights on social media the next day” just to end up googling how to watch [insert awards show here] live and frantically getting a trial of YoutubeTV or something just in time to cringe through the opening monologue/musical number/bullying of audience members etc. After a year though that truly felt like “cinema was back!” it seems like everyone has something to say about this year’s Oscar nominations which came out earlier this week. Including me… #CamilleBarbie
Currently Watching: Oscars edition
The Color Purple
If there was an Oscar category for press tours and promotion then The Color Purple along with that other movie that everyone needs to get a grip about would certainly have been nominated! The Color Purple press tour had everything from Fantasia’s fashion, Halle’s pregnancy rumors, Taraji’s revelations about being a Black woman in the film industry, and just a whole bunch of extremely talented, good looking Black folks dropping new gems everyday. All of these things combined with the fact that I was going to be seeing FANTASIA; MY American Idol, MY Lifetime Movie star, MY Queen of Tributes, and MY CELIE reprise this iconic role had me HYPE.
What worked best about this film for me was hands down Danielle Brooks and her performance as Sofia, which is where me and Academy seem to agree as her nomination is the only one for the entire film. Where we disagree however is on Fantasia who yes, I am partial to, but who I genuinely think did a really wonderful job in a really tough role. I would have loved to see her get a Best Actress nomination, but understand why she didn’t; I mean when you have the main character singing her big song and having her big moment quite literally in the dark…it doesn’t really feel like you’re propping her up to receive accolades! This was just one of the film’s many missed opportunities in my opinion.
Prediction: I have not watched the Holdovers yet, but it’s really looking like it’s going to be Da’vine Joy Randolph winning that supporting Actress Oscar. As a fan of her work I’m rooting for her!
Recommendation: If you’ve only seen Danielle Brooks in Orange is the New Black or The Color Purple I urge you to get into her performance as Beatrice in the 2019 Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing
Poor Things
Poor Things has 11 nominations, second only to Oppenheimer a movie you’ll never see referenced again in this newsletter after this sentence. I was able to go see it days before nominations were announced and 1. really enjoyed it, and 2. was shocked by how well it’s been received considering how we live in a world where people LOVE to not only engage in, but to start downright absurd discourse about anything even slightly taboo: See any and all Saltburn discourse. (besides mine of course)
The only negative comment I’ve come across is someone on Twitter saying that they were uncomfortable with the theme of the film being “Baby woman finds liberation through sex” which I actually think is more of a reflection of how that twitter user views sex than anything else. To me it felt like the theme was that we’re all born liberated and it’s societal attitudes towards women and sex, and social constructs like gender and politeness that causes us to suppress our everything, including our desire to feel pleasure. I think that all 11 nominations are truly earned and my only gripe is that I would have loved to see a nomination for Ramy Yusef who was believable, grounded, and a great anchor for this zany film.
Predictions: Emma Stone will win, Costume design WILL AND SHOULD win, a win for either direction or cinematography (not both)
Recommendation: we need to put pressure on Bob Iger to GET THE SHACKLES OFF MARK RUFFALO’S FEET SO HE CAN DANCE ! At around the 7:52 mark of this really fun installment of Vanity Fair’s ‘Breaking Down The Scenes’ series, Ruffalo talks about the experience of being a part of a big “franchise” and you can see in his eyes that he, just like all of us with good taste is begging to be free from the Marvel universe.
Barbie
You wouldn’t know it by the way that people are acting but Barbie racked up 8 OSCAR NOMINATIONS! Including an awesome nom for Margot as a Producer on the film which is REALLY COOL AND IMPRESSIVE?? As someone whose seen the movie a few times now and LIKED IT A LOT, I have to speak up and say that anyone who genuinely thinks this film was snubbed in any way needs to seriously get a grip, get a clue, and get out more.
If you really believe that Ryan Gosling being nominated and not Margot is “what the film was about” then I fear you’re so far gone that no amount of logic and reason will appeal to you. Is America Ferrera not a woman? Is Billie Eillish not a woman? Do people not realize that actors of color are actually snubbed every year (including this one!!!)??? Have we already forgotten movements like #OscarsSoWhite to the point where we’re really losing our minds over the fact that two white women who ARE NOMINATED for Oscars aren’t nominated for MORE Oscars?
To be honest this is another situation like The Color Purple where the “star” of the movie wasn’t really positioned to be the true star. I loved Margot in the film and think that her performance was great, but that film relied so much on all of the other Barbies and Kens for SO many of its best moments which is a part of why the film is so fun and was such a huge hit. Did we really all just spend a year saying “Hi Barbie” to each other just to get upset that THEE Barbie didn’t get nominated (she literally did) I thought the point is that we could all be Barbie and that Barbie could be anyone? In this case America Ferrera gets to be Actor Barbie, and Margot gets to be Producer Barbie, and Greta gets to continue to be Oscar Winner Barbie. and that’s okay!!!!
As for #HillaryBarbie…Lock. Her. PHONE. Up.
Actual Snubs
Currently Listening
Ariana Grande L.M.H.C. Strikes again! My good good cancer sis released another incredibly powerful song for all of us pretty and powerful girlies who are protected, sexy, discerning with their time, whose faces are sitting and don’t need no disguise!!! A perfect pop song from a proper pop star!
Currently Camille
I’m moving slow, taking my time, doing my yoga, and making bigger plans for this newsletter because it’s truly my favorite thing that I do, so like, subscribe, comment, and share if you want to keep up with all things Currently Camille. Thanks for reading!