Hollywood’s biggest night is often jokingly referred to as “the gay Super Bowl.” For the 90th Academy Awards, there are many queer reasons — including LGBT nominees — for tuning in to the March 4 telecast.
Let’s start at the top. Three of the Best Picture nominees — “Call Me By Your Name,” “The Shape of Water” and “Lady Bird” – feature gay male characters in lead or supporting roles, and a fourth, “The Post,” features out actress Sarah Paulson.
While it would be well-deserved for “Call Me By Your Name,” a devastating romantic drama between two young men, to take the top prize — and become the second gay-themed film in a row (after “Moonlight” last year) to win a Best Picture Oscar — the prognosticators are predicting “The Shape of Water,” director Guillermo del Toro’s splendid romantic fantasy about a mute woman (Best Actress nominee Sally Hawkins) and a sea creature, will go home with the gold.
“The Shape of Water” has 13 nominations, the most of any nominated film this year. One of those nominations is a Best Supporting Actor nod for Richard Jenkins, who plays the gay character, Giles, in the film. Jenkins is a long shot in the category, but his sly turn in the film is award-worthy. Acting Oscars usually go to the actors who over-emote, which is why subtle performances, like Jenkins’, tend to only get nominated but not win.
Case in point: In the Best Actor race, Gary Oldman’s scenery-chewing performance as Winston Churchill in “The Darkest Hour” is expected to defeat the star-making turn by Timothée Chalamet as gay teen Elio in “Call Me By Your Name.” There is an ardent faction of Chalamet supporters hoping and lobbying for an upset — some of them may even be Oscar voters — but “Call Me By Your Name” is likely only going to win in one of the four categories for which it was nominated.
Alas, out gay filmmaker Luca Guadagnino was snubbed for Best Director, and supporting actors Armie Hammer and Michael Stuhlbarg also were skipped for nominations, much to the disappointment of fans.
“Call Me By Your Name” is predicted to take home the trophy for Best Adapted Screenplay. Out gay filmmaker James Ivory will likely get his first Oscar for his magnificent work turning André Aciman’s novel into a screenplay. Ivory was nominated three times for directing — in 1987 for “A Room with a View,” in 1993 for “Howards End” and in 1994 for “The Remains of the Day.” He made all of these films with his late partner, producer Ismail Merchant.
Ivory’s competition in the Best Adapted Screenplay category includes out writer/director Dee Rees for “Mudbound.” Rees, who shares the nomination with Virgil Williams, is the first African-American woman, queer or otherwise, ever nominated in this category. The pair’s screenplay was derived from Hillary Jordan’s novel about the friendship between two World War II veterans — one African American (Jason Mitchell) and one white (Garret Hedlund) — in Mississippi. This outstanding film should have also been nominated in the categories for Best Picture and Best Director.
“Mudbound” received three other Oscar nominations, all historic. One was for Rachel Morrison in the category of Best Achievement in Cinematography. The out lesbian is the first woman to be nominated in that category. The film’s other two historic nods were for Mary J. Blige, a double nominee as Best Supporting Actress and Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song) for “Mighty River.” She shares the nomination with Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson. Blige is the first performer to ever be nominated for both an acting and a music Oscar in the same year.
“Call Me By Your Name” was also nominated in the Best Song category for Sufjan Stevens’ melodic tune “Mystery of Love.” However, many viewers might wonder why Stevens’ more emotionally powerful song from the film, “Visions of Gideon,” which plays over the end credits, was not nominated.
The Best Song Oscar is anticipated to go to “Remember Me” from the Disney/Pixar film “Coco” (which is also predicted to take home the Best Animated Feature prize), but there has been a groundswell of support for another contender in this category: “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman.” Benj Pasek and his straight partner, Justin Paul, wrote this infectious song about personal freedom and expression. The pair won last year’s Best Song Oscar for “City of Stars” from “La La Land.”
And speaking of singers and Oscars, Cher, who won an Academy Award for “Moonstruck” back in 1988, has a film in competition this year. It is the Best Documentary Short Subject nominee, “Edith+Eddie,” which she executive-produced. This poignant and heartbreaking story recounts the relationship between 95-year-old Eddie and 96-year-old Edith, an interracial couple that is forced apart by one of her daughters. An affecting story about elder abuse, “Edith+Eddie” is a frontrunner in this category.
The Best Documentary Feature award is projected to go to Agnès Varda, her daughter Rosalie Varda and street artist JR for their film “Faces/Places.” Varda, who was married to bisexual filmmaker Jacques Demy, is, at 89, the oldest competitive Oscar nominee ever, beating out 89-year-old Ivory by exactly eight days. Varda will also receive an honorary Oscar at this year’s ceremony.
Another landmark nomination is also in the Best Documentary Feature category. African-American Yance Ford is the first trans filmmaker to ever be Oscar-nominated. He was recognized for his unflinching film “Strong Island.” An extremely powerful and personal story, Ford’s documentary traces the 1992 murder of his brother and the racism his family encountered before, during and after the crime. While “Strong Island” has won numerous prizes on the festival circuit, it will most likely have to settle with just being nominated at the Oscars.
A transgender film that is anticipated to take home an Oscar this year is Chilean filmmaker Sebastián Lelio’s “A Fantastic Woman,” which has been nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It stars trans actress Daniela Vega as Marina, a trans woman who suffers mental, emotional and physical abuse after her male partner’s sudden death. Vega’s remarkable performance, which conveys Marina’s dignity in the face of intolerance, launched a campaign for her to make history as the first trans nominee in the Best Actress category. However, she failed to land a spot in the final five.
Lastly, out gay Oscar-winner Bill Condon — he won a Best Adapted Screenplay trophy in 1999 for “Gods and Monsters,” based on Christopher Bram’s novel — may not be competing for an award this year, but the film he directed, “Beauty and the Beast,” is up for two Oscars: Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. It may be hard for “Beauty” to beat the favorites in those categories — “Phantom Thread” and “The Shape of Water” — but, as the saying goes, “It’s an honor just to be nominated.”
The 90th Academy Awards will be telecast on ABC at 8 p.m. Sunday.