That’s where we come in! Not to glorify critics, who have their own blind spots and biases and, as anyone who’s spent time on Film Twitter knows, can be downright insufferable. But shining a light on great work that’s escaped wider notice is one of the more gratifying and, dare I say, useful parts of our job.
Oscar-worthiness is a barometer by which performances are judged, often for the wrong reasons. As soon as folks saw Damien Chazelle’sand caught Margot Robbie’s wired Jazz Age wild-child act, the whisper campaign began about how she had to be in the Oscar conversation.