AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Hollywood made history this morning. In 98 years of Academy Awards, only three films had ever received 14 nominations - "La La Land," "Titanic" and "All About Eve." And now, leaping ahead of all of those films with an unprecedented 16 nominations this morning is Ryan Coogler's supernatural thriller "Sinners."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SINNERS")
MILES CATON: (As Sammie, singing) Will somebody take me...
CHANG: The story of power, prejudice and the blues in the aftermath of slavery.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SINNERS")
SAUL WILLIAMS: (As Jedidiah Moore) You keep dancing with the devil, one day he's going to follow you home.
CHANG: Joining "Sinners" in the best picture category are "One Battle After Another," a comic tale of social resistance that got 13 nominations.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER")
LEONARDO DICAPRIO: (As Bob) Viva la revolution.
CHANG: Also, three films with nine nominations each - "Marty Supreme," "Frankenstein" and "Sentimental Value." There are five other films in this category, and NPR film critic Bob Mondello has seen all of them and joins us now. Hi, Bob.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: Hey. Good to be here.
CHANG: Good to have you. OK let's start with those 10 best picture nominees. We listed five. Tell us more about those choices.
MONDELLO: Well, they're all originals, not sequels or franchises, and they fall into two very neat groups - character studies and films about social issues. The social issues pack is led by "Sinners" and "One Battle After Another." Those two are both from Warner Bros., the studio that Netflix and Paramount are fighting over.
CHANG: Right.
MONDELLO: They're big-budget big swings that don't get made much anymore. Also fueled by politics are the Brazilian film "The Secret Agent," set during that country's 1970s dictatorship, and "Bugonia," a social satire about conspiracy theorists who kidnap a big pharma exec, convinced she's a space alien.
CHANG: Like, what (laughter)?
MONDELLO: Very odd picture, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
CHANG: OK, what about the other films, which were more like character studies, right? Like movies such as "Marty Supreme," which came with so much hype before it was released.
MONDELLO: This is true.
CHANG: Yeah.
MONDELLO: "Marty Supreme" is about a 1950s ping-pong hustler played by Timothee Chalamet. "Frankenstein," Guillermo del Toro's sensual take on the sensitive monster classic. Also, "Sentimental Value," a family drama about two daughters and their neglectful filmmaking father. That's from Norway. "Hamnet," about the death of Shakespeare's son, a mother's grief and history's most famous play. "Train Dreams," the story of a lumberjack set in the Pacific Northwest in the age of steam locomotives. And "F1," about Formula One race car drivers played by Brad Pitt and Damson Idris.
CHANG: Were there any nominations that surprised even you, Bob?
MONDELLO: Well, "F1's" nomination for best picture surprised me, I have to say.
CHANG: Same (laughter).
MONDELLO: But no, I'm always a little skeptical of the idea of snubs. There are five slots for every category - but best picture with 10 - and there are lots of terrific artists working in movies. So you do the math - something's going to get left out. That said, I imagine the folks involved in "Wicked: For Good" are feeling left out of this party.
CHANG: Yeah.
MONDELLO: Last year, the first "Wicked" got 10 nominations, including one for best picture. This one got none.
CHANG: Yeah. I mean, the silence was deafening.
MONDELLO: Yes. There were some pleasant surprises, though. Kate Hudson for best actress in "Song Sung Blue." She's easily the best thing about that movie. Ditto Delroy Lindo in "Sinners." He's always great, and he's kind of a linchpin to the plot there. And as I say, the folks who made "F1" have to be pleasantly surprised.
CHANG: Brad Pitt does it again. OK, so there is a new category this year - best casting. Let's talk about that category.
MONDELLO: Well, I know what it ought to be about. Casting can make or break a movie. And some films make a huge virtue of thinking outside the box. The French film "Sirat," set at a rave concert in the Sahara, was cast almost entirely with nonactors, and it's riveting, but it wasn't nominated. The nominees are all front-runners for best picture. No argument there. It makes sense that the best films of the year would be the best-cast films. But from an Oscar-viewing standpoint, it doesn't seem like a very thrilling way to start a new category.
CHANG: Yeah, I agree. That was NPR's Bob Mondello. Thank you so much, Bob.
MONDELLO: It's always a pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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