Ray Richmond: The nomination trends are taking shape – and ‘Barbie’ is for real
Awards Season Barbie is already proving to be a dominant force in the market.
Who could have imagined it was possible that a movie about a Mattel doll come to life would become not only the box office juggernaut of 2024 but also a growing awards magnet? We live in unpredictable times indeed, boys and girls. But now that “Barbie” has hauled in more than $1.4 billion worldwide and topped both the Golden Globes movie nominations with nine and now the Critics Choice Movie Awards (announced Wednesday morning) with a record-breaking 18, the film is more than just trending – it’s overachieving on a grand scale.
Or maybe we should call it just plain old achieving.
Should we have seen this coming? Maybe. Greta Gerwig’s comedic masterpiece is perhaps the one movie of 2023 that everyone is united on in love and admiration. It was wildly creative, hilarious, beautiful to look at, flawlessly performed, a treat for the the eyes and ears. Everyone from moviegoers to finicky critics fell under its spell. And it makes perfect sense that awards voters would now be joining that parade. It’s more than a safe bet to land an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. It’s a slam dunk.
The Critics Choice Association evidently saw the mere nine bids bestowed on “Barbie” by the Globes and saw fit to double it on Wednesday. It received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Gerwig), Best Original Screenplay (Gerwig and Noah Baumbach) and acting nominations for Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, young Ariana Greenblatt and for Best Acting Ensemble. That’s not to mention its cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto), production design (Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer), costume design (Jacqueline Duran), editing (Nick Houy) and hair and makeup. And, and there were also bids for three of its original songs, same as at the Golden Globes.
In short, it’s long past time that we stop seeing “Barbie: as a quirky anomaly and start giving the film its due as a would-be awards season phenomenon. It could well score double-digit Oscar nominations and will have racked up plenty of Globe and Critics Choice triumphs before the Academy Awards voting period ends on January 16, 2024. That may well help influence things by itself.
It’s cool to live in a time when a film like “Barbie” can cut a swath through all the demographics and entertain both innocent little kids and aging feminists. Any kind of dominant Oscar performance still has to be seen as unlikely – I’m not yet giving it a realistic shot at Best Picture over, say, “Oppenheimer,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro” or “Poor Things” – but at the same time I’m starting to think that anything is possible with this crazy flick.
In the non-“Barbie” universe, meanwhile, there isn’t all that much that’s been surprising thus far either to me or to Gold Derby voters. The frontrunners in the early awards races have proven pretty much as predicted. Lots of “Oppenheimer,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Poor Things,” “Past Lives,” “May December” and “American Fiction.” If anything has gone against conventional wisdom, it’s probably the underperformance of “The Color Purple” and its cast. For instance, of the “Purple” ensemble, only Danielle Brooks made the Critics Choice list while Fantasia Barrino, Colman Domingo and Taraji P. Henson were passed over – though the movie itself earned a Best Picture bid and it also received one for Best Acting Ensemble.
I was also pleased that the Critics Choice folks tossed so much love at “The Holdovers,” including for all three of its performers (Paul Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Dominic Sessa) as well as for Best Picture, for director Alexander Payne and for screenwriter David Hemingson. It’s a terrific little movie that’s more than worthy of the attention.
I also saw “Maestro” this week for the second time, and it was even better on repeat viewing. The performance of Carey Mulligan in particular is a revelation. Too bad she’s in awards competition the same year as Lily Gladstone for “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Emma Stone for “Poor Things.” Gladstone in particular appears to be on the ascent, though a quick check of the calendar confirms we’re still nearly three months and many awards ceremonies removed from the Oscars. Ergo, much can still change.
But let’s conclude on a “Barbie” note, since pink is at least for the moment starting to look like the new gold. Maybe it’ll peak on the nominations lost and leave the trophy winning to others, but I don’t think so, because there’s somethin’ happenin’ here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. Yet.
PREDICT the 2024 Oscar nominees through January 23
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