The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released its list of official nominations for the 98th annual Oscars ceremony. Here is what students at LSU had to say about the nominees.
The awards season is coming to a close with the premier ceremony, the Academy Awards. Other large-scale ceremonies such as the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Golden Globes have already roused discussion online. Film fans everywhere are happy, sad or confused about the wins and snubs.
There is no surprise here. The nominations show the Academy whittling down any eligible movie to find the cream of the crop. Because art is so subjective, there will naturally be a lot of conversations and arguments. With 50 unique films and shorts nominated, along with the hundreds of others that were not, there are bound to be some snubs.
LSU has strong ties within the film and television industry, with a large creative program and a history of movies being filmed on campus. All things considered, the students here are as varied and unique as the films themselves. So how do some of these students feel about the nominations?
To start off, there was a strong consensus on some of the films. Many students mentioned three films they loved in particular: “Sinners,” “One Battle After Another” and “Marty Supreme.” And yet not everyone could agree on those either.
Garrett Wainright of the LSU Agribusiness Club claimed that “Sinners” did not deserve its newfound status as the most nominated film in Oscars history, despite liking the film as well.
“It got an excessive amount. That’s not the movie I would have picked to set the record,” said Wainright.
LSU Improv Club president Ricardo Mendoza was one to give a lot more praise to certain nominees. He is quite happy to see the attention drawn to the Brazilian film “The Secret Agent” and its four nominations.
“Wagner Moura – he’s coming for your chops, Timmy,” Mendoza said. “I love Timothée Chalamet, and I actually did love ‘Marty Supreme,’ but Wagner Moura’s going to beat you, Timmy.”
The whole discussion was not surrounding just the movies that were nominated, however. Many students had some very strong opinions on the movies that got snubbed.
People wished that everything from “Wicked: For Good” to “Predator: Badlands” should have been nominated for Best Picture. LSU film and television freshman Kendall Duncan believes the live-action remake of “How to Train Your Dragon” should have gotten a nod for visual effects.
“The dragons in the live-action ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ were way better than ‘The Lost Bus.’” said Duncan.
Even then, she acknowledged that it made sense that it was not considered for Best Picture due to its status as a remake. Duncan did echo a popular take about “F1” being in the running for Best Picture, an opinion shared by film and television sophomore DJ Flood.
“It was a fun movie, but a little too stupid to be Best Picture,” Flood said.
The 98th Oscars ceremony will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 15 at 6 p.m. CT. You can also stream it on ABC.com or the ABC app.
