I’ve now seen most but not all of the Best Picture nominees, and although most deserve to be on there, I’m perplexed by American Fiction being nominated but not Nyad or Saltburn. Obviously the judges are influenced by factors other than just artistic merit.
I assume both AF and Barbie got the nod because of their presumed “social relevance”, but there were lots of superior movies last year both in terms of creative skill and in terms of pure entertainment. ISTM that writers, directors, cinematographers, and performers applying their creative skills to entertain us is the basic purpose of movies; to the extent that they evoke emotions that resonate with us, that’s part of the “entertainment” aspect.
I’m reminded of the apocryphal story sometimes attributed to Samuel Goldwyn – but also to others – that “if I want to send a message I’ll use Western Union”. This is one version of it:
“Mr. Goldwyn,” [a scriptwriter] said, “this is a wonderful opportunity to point out labor’s battle against capitalism. You have a chance here to bring a great message to the people.”
Goldwyn looked at him. “Messages, messages,” he said. “From Western Union you get messages. From me you get pictures.”