What would you do if we told you that the movie with the most Golden Globe nominations this year is currently streaming on Netflix and features a performance directed by A-list superstar Selena Gomez?
This description may make you wonder why you haven’t heard of this particular product.
But when you learn that “Emilia Pérez” is a French-produced Spanish-language musical about a drug cartel leader who undergoes gender-affirming surgery, you may no longer be confused about how it got there. slipped out of your sight.
To be clear, we’re convinced that this is an excellent movie that you should watch tonight (although maybe after the kids have gone to bed; it’s about the cartels, after all).
But it’s not hard to see why it struggled to find an audience in the U.S., despite premiering on America’s most popular (by far) streaming service.
To be fair, in this age of division and partisanship, it’s hard to imagine any The storyline will appeal to a wide range of Americans.
But some of this year’s most critically acclaimed movies have premises that sound like they were designed in a laboratory to appeal to the smallest possible sliver of the American population.
From “Conclave,” in which top Catholic officials gather to elect a new pope, to “Anora,” in which a Brooklyn sex worker falls for a Russian oligarch, these are films that definitely deserve our attention but seem destined to never find an audience. Outside the world of die-hard movie fans.
Yes, we would like to pause here and reiterate that our review is not about quality Movies nominated today.
What we saw was great and we are excited to check out the rest of the crop.
But these days, if a Midwestern, middle-class, otherwise middle-class American complained that Hollywood no longer makes movies for ordinary working-class people, it might be hard to argue with them.
Today our movie menus are often divided into two parts:
Theme park movies (comic book movies, children’s animation) and awards bait (many of today’s nominees). And there is little overlap between the two.
Now, it’s worth noting that over the years the awards bodies have other Cater to the masses by nominating forgettable superhero movies. It’s not easy to find a happy middle ground here.
The best and most memorable awards seasons occur when top-tier fare attracts broad audiences, and audiences continue to tune in to see the movies they saw in theaters (while the average American only goes to theaters a few times a year)
That’s what happened last year, when Oppenheimer dominated the Golden Globes and Oscars after winning both. billion dollar box office.
Not surprisingly, Oscar ratings climbed by millions of viewers as a result.
This is what the Academy hopes to see every year (cultivating this anticipation is one of the reasons the organization expanded the field of Best Picture nominees from five to 10).
In 2024, the best hope for this phenomenon is Wicked — but by several measures, the film lacks Oppenheimer’s populist appeal.
For one thing, Wicked‘s global box office haul, while impressive, was only about half of what Oppenheimer did.
While musicals may have broad appeal, they rarely break through with mainstream audiences the way Oppenheimer and its unlikely rival Barbie did last year.
This phenomenon is so rare that studio bosses may already be looking back at 2023 with tears in their eyes. In fact, we may never see this kind of consensus among critics and audiences again.
The problem isn’t that awards voters choose the films they think are the best, regardless of mass appeal. After all, that’s what they’re supposed to do.
Rather, the problem is that Hollywood has forgotten how to consistently make movies that win over with critics and audiences—movies that win statuettes. and box office revenue.
The Bappenheimer era was fun, but it was also a sad reminder that this kind of thing used to happen.
Now, we may never again have a year like this: “Forrest Gump” goes head-to-head with “Pulp Fiction” or a box-office juggernaut like “Dances with Wolves” eclipses a modern classic like “Goodfellas” .
Hollywood honchos should be working all night until they find a way to take back even Some The magic of those days.
In the meantime, they should continue to produce Both Emilia Perez and “Deadpool and Wolverine.” Both have a lot to offer their respective audiences.
But studios and awards voters shouldn’t be surprised as the Golden Globes and Oscars continue their gradual transformation from cultural phenomena into ultra-niche events for an increasingly niche but passionate audience.
