My favorite time of the year, Part II. The Hollywood Reporter has published their second Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot piece and thankfully, this one is not as bonkers and jingoistic as Ballot #1. (Sidenote: I honestly got the feeling that the actress in Ballot #1 was pretty old, for what it’s worth.) Ballot #2 is from a man in the Producers Guild. He’s very much a dude, and very much representative of what men in Hollywood think, I believe. He got his panties in a bunch at the very idea of Hustlers getting nominated for anything because it was about women drugging men, HOW DARE THEY. But he’s totally fine when the movies are about men committing acts of heinous violence within films that do not pass the Bechdel test, because of course. Because Hollywood! You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

He loved Yesterday: “My favorite film of the year didn’t even get a nomination — I’m embarrassed to admit it because a lot of people hated it, but it was Yesterday. That movie made me feel f–king great.”

Some shade for Little Women and Ford v. Ferrari: “Two movies that I really hated were Ford v Ferrari and Little Women. The director [of Ford, James Mangold] knows nothing about racing, and admitted as much at the Q&A after it screened at the Academy — you don’t have someone putting on their goggles once they’re already driving or staring longingly at the guy in the next car as he passes him! [The 1966 film] Grand Prix had class and style and knew what it was about. With Little Women, the timeline was ridiculous — I was really confused sometimes, and I know I’m not the only one. Thank God she [star Saoirse Ronan] cut her hair, because that at least gave me a bit of a reference point.”

He didn’t like Marriage Story either: “As for Marriage Story, I needed to care for the kid, and I didn’t. And I know that those two actors [Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson] poured their souls into those roles, but it’s getting harder and harder for me to care about entitled people’s marital relationships. It wouldn’t have been that hard to say, “I’ll stay in New York, you go to LA and work for a while,” stay married, hook-up when you can and be bicoastal”

Spoiler for Parasite, thoughts on 1917 & Joker: “I love Parasite — super-smart, brilliant director [Bong Joon Ho], the movie looks great and the whole look into class struggle was terrific — but once the murdering started happening they lost me. Joker was excellent, but it’s not a best picture. 1917 was great but gimmicky, and rang a little hollow for me in the same way that Dunkirk rang a little hollow for me.”

Why he voted for OUATIH for Best Picture: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood gave me real escape at a time when I wanted nothing more. I don’t jump up and down for [Quentin] Tarantino movies — the last movie of his that I liked before this one was [the 1997 film] Jackie Brown — but this movie made me feel good. We all have our ups and downs in this business — I’m not at the high-point of my career right now, so I could identify very much with the characters, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood gave me hope. And it leaves you thinking about what could have been in a better world: What would Sharon Tate’s life have been if this hadn’t happened? What would [Roman] Polanski’s life have been?! It puts tears in my eyes when I think about it.

He’s voting for Quentin Tarantino for Best Director: “1917 was more about the visuals than the direction [of Sam Mendes]. Joker was more about the acting than the direction [of Todd Phillips]. [The Irishman’s] Martin Scorsese has done this a lot, and often better. Listen, I’ve seen Casino, in its entirety, start to finish, 20 times — that movie makes you want to be a gangster; this one was depressing; I’m watching my wise-guy heroes for decades as old men. The Parasite guy [Bong Joon Ho] is so smart and talented. But this was an easy one: Quentin did a first-class job with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

He’s voting for Renee Zellweger for Best Actress: “I just didn’t mesh with Scarlett Johansson in Marriage Story at all — she has a great woe-is-me speech in the beginning of the third act, but the movie just didn’t do it for me. I love Saoirse [Ronan of Little Women], but the movie was just a nothing — I actually don’t want to use that phrase anymore because that’s a Trump phrase — it just didn’t do it for me….Cynthia [Erivo] was really, really good, but Harriet didn’t really have the guts that 12 Years a Slave had — it was like the glossy Disney version of what slavery was. Charlize [Theron, of Bombshell] was brilliant, as always. But Renee [Zellweger, of Judy] was transformational — she just really nailed it, and bravo for her: She’s worked really hard, she’s not a quitter and she’s had a lot of f–king haters after her ass, but she dominated with that role.

Why he’s voting for Brad Pitt: “I voted for [Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s] Brad Pitt because he nailed it — the buddy that everyone wants, who doesn’t have as good a life as you but who is there for you every fucking minute, that loyal friend who all of us want but most of us don’t have. I never had a man-crush on Brad Pitt, but after that movie? He’s so smooth and likable that I want nothing but the best for him.

He’s voting for Margot Robbie for Supporting: “Everyone is going on about the “snub” of J. Lo [Hustlers’ Jennifer Lopez] — f–k J.Lo. I’m allergic to that movie. It isn’t a movie about “empowering” women; it’s a movie about slipping a–hole men roofies and f–king jacking them. Roger Corman made better stripper films — they had some meaning. Florence Pugh was fine, but I didn’t like Little Women. [Marriage Story’s] Laura Dern is so lovable in real life, but she was so over the top compared to the rest of the movie that it just didn’t make sense. [Jojo Rabbit’s] Scarlett Johansson was good, but it wasn’t a command performance. [Richard Jewell’s] Kathy Bates just phoned in her performance, and it was still better than almost anybody else’s. But my choice is [Bombshell’s] Margot Robbie because I believed her character — sure I have a crush on her, but she is also so accessible as an actress. I truly felt for her after she [her character] had done the deed in the movie.

[From THR]

He’s also voting for Joaquin Phoenix for Best Actor, but he acknowledges that DiCaprio was great in OUATIH (I agree) and that Pain and Glory was the “the best thing” Antonio Banderas has ever done, which I also agree with. Don’t you love how MAD he was at the very idea of nominating Jennifer Lopez for… daring to play an unlikeable gangster character who happens to be a woman? He goes on and on about how much he loves Martin Scorsese’s gangster movies but he clutches his f-king pearls at the idea that a stripper could be a f–king criminal hustler. And while I enjoyed OUATIH so much more than I thought I would, I honestly don’t think it was, like, this big emotion-stirring film. But I get it, it was QT’s love letter to that era of Hollywood, before the party ended. Still, the fan-boying of Brad Pitt and Brad’s character… lord. Bros really love that sh-t, don’t they?

Photos courtesy of IMDB.