The hours following the Oscar nominations may occasionally feel like a nap. As the season draws to a close, there can be a noteworthy omission that warrants discussion for a few days, but after a while, things calm down and people start acting appropriately.
It hasn’t been this way.
Due in large part to the uproar surrounding previous tweets posted by Karla Sofía Gascón, one of the “Emilia Pérez” stars, the past two weeks in particular have been among the most turbulent in recent memory. In an attempt to defend herself, the initially stubborn actress went rogue, keeping her controversy in the news during many pivotal voting times. A movie that had 13 Oscar nominations and was at the top of the pack has now been hampered.
“Anora’s” hopes for the awards season seemed to peter out as the year got underway. When the Critics Choice Awards, where “Anora” planned to earn a fresh win, were rescheduled from January 12 to February 7 due to the wildfires in Los Angeles, the comedy directed by Sean Baker went winless at the Golden Globes on January 5 and that failure-to-launch sensation persisted for the following few weeks.
How a weekend can change things. At the postponed Critics Choice presentation on Friday, “Anora” won best picture. The next evening, it won top awards at separate shows hosted by the Producers Guild of America and the Directors Guild of America. Even though it was released five years ago, any film that wins both of those guilds must be regarded as the front-runner for best picture.
During my mid-December survey of the best-picture field, I discovered that “Anora” was the title that kept coming up whenever I asked voters and industry insiders what their favorite movies of the year were. Both “Emilia Pérez” and that film had formed solid alliances with a wide range of voters. Now that the latter has been injured, “Anora” is in the lead.
