Best Picture Nominees: Dune

 


On February 8 the Academy Award nominations were announced and 10 films were nominated for Best Picture. On March 27, the winners will be announced. Between now and then, I'll be looking at each of the nominees and considering their chances.

Dune
Starring: Timothee Chalomet, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, and Jason Momoa
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Total Nominations: 10
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Original Score
About: Dune is a technical masterpiece based on a famous and famously difficult to adapt novel. It was a film once before, helmed by David Lynch, who opted to tell the whole story in a single film. This film is the first half of the novel, with a second film coming in the next few years. It boasts a solid cast and comes from a great director in Villeneuve. It was a highly anticipated film and it drew great fan interest. I thought it was a technical masterpiece but I wasn't as taken with the characters or the script. Maybe that's to be expected. In looking at the nominations it drew, it seems that was something of a consensus. It earned a Best Picture nomination and 10 total nominations, dominating the technical categories, but it didn't garner a nomination for any performers, and Villenueve was left off as well. That is a blow to its Best Picture chances, though I wouldn't rule it out entirely. Still, I think Dune has it's best shot at hardware in the technical categories. I suspect Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyle, Sound, and Visual Effects are all possibilities. Cinematography feels possible, too. I think it's a long shot that it wins for Screenplay or Picture, and I'm not sold on it capturing score, either. At the end of the day, I suspect Dune will win a number of awards, just likely not the top of the box options.
Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing images and suggestive material.
Verdict: Three stars out of five
Where to Find It: Now playing in Theaters and on VOD.

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