The New Yorker:

In a time of crisis, the Academy is offering a bulwark of humane consensus, though its blind spots remain.

By Richard Brody

With the announcement of this year’s Oscar nominations, the members of the Academy have, in effect, responded to the natural and political disasters of the moment in the name of solidarity. A remarkable consensus has crystallized among a small number of movies that, in one way or another—whether with bold artistry or conventional methods, realistic stories or fantasies—embody, display, or at least appear to celebrate the liberal values of pluralism, equality, and resistance to the arrogance of power, be it political or economic. This time around, the Oscars are circling the wagons.

The degree of apparent consensus is extraordinary, as seen in the ten Best Picture nominees, the subjects they address, and their concentration of nominations throughout: six nominations for “Anora,” about the oppressive footprint of Russian oligarchs; ten for “The Brutalist,” a Holocaust survivor’s confrontation with a predatory American tycoon; eight for “A Complete Unknown,” a bio-pic about an icon of generational revolt; eight for “Conclave,” in which a coalition unites behind a progressive to resist a narrow-minded reactionary; five for “Dune: Part Two,” about sand (and a revolt against tyranny); thirteen for “Emilia Pérez,” the story of a trans woman and of the cis woman who enables her transition; three for “I’m Still Here,” a drama of resistance to a rightist military dictatorship; two for “Nickel Boys” (the year’s actual best movie), based on the true story of a murderous segregated Florida reform school; five for “The Substance,” about the ageist exclusions that women endure, especially in Hollywood; and ten for “Wicked,” a story of racism and oppressive, illegitimate authority.

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