Why Babylon Flopped at the Oscars

Margot Robbie has certainly had a crazy adventurous career in the last decade on the cusp of her first giant hit in a long while Greta gerwig's Barbie Robbie has had lots of UPS in her career The Wolf of Wall Street Once Upon a Time in Hollywood two Oscar nominations and plenty of downs too The Legend of Tarzan goodbye Christopher Robin the barely seen terminal from 2018 but I would argue no time in Margot Robbie's career was more of a down and disappointing than in the closing months of 2022 when she had not just one but two gigantic Motion Picture disasters of the highest order the first arrived in October Amsterdam co-starring Christian Bale and John David Washington David O Russell's first film in seven years that was meant to be a critical darling and a big Awards player going into early 2023 but oh my god did this movie Crash and Burn destroyed by the critics and ignored by audiences with a budget of 80 million dollars and remember that's before marketing caused Amsterdam brought in only 15 million dollars at the United States box office and a little over 30 million worldwide I finally caught up with it a few months later on what was then HBO Max and to be perfectly honest I barely made it to the end of the movie Amsterdam was a long dull painstakingly unfunny misfire that stunned me in its awfulness I still don't know how you can possibly bring together an ensemble cast that incredible that talented and have them wasted on a meaningless Enterprise like that now I haven't seen the sun yet and with it being easily accessible on Netflix I might get around to it but in a way I feel like 2022's biggest Oscar Fiasco might just be Amsterdam it's got a cast full of Oscar winners and nominees David O Russell had an amazing run in the early 2010s with oscar-winning films like the fighter and Silver Linings Playbook and based on the trailer Amsterdam looked like it was going to be a winner but it just doesn't work at all at least Empire of life light which I made my first Oscar Fiasco video about back in May is somewhat interesting throughout its hit and miss narrative Olivia Coleman delivers a fine performance in Roger Deacon cinematography is Top Notch as always I could recommend some things about Sam Mendez latest but I can't recommend anything about Amsterdam it is one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time and it was definitely a big letdown for Margot Robbie who's been impressing in so many movies since 2013 The Wolf of Wall Street her breakthrough I Tonya which earned Robbie her first Oscar nomination bombshell which brought her Oscar nomination number two and her turns as Harley Quinn are adored by many even if some of those movies aren't the greatest Amsterdam was one of the actresses low points to be sure but all was not lost just two months later we were getting what we thought was the Redemption movie The Big epic December release from an oscar-winning director that was going to put Margot Robbie back in critics and audiences good graces that was going to be a major Awards player that had a very good shot at giving Robbie her third Academy Award nomination you should win if you played every possible role you could have played in this film because there's drugs involved so there's like there's like the Mania kind of side there's the emotional side the dreamer side for most of 2022 I assume that Babylon was easily going to get into best actress for Robbie as well as best director best picture maybe some other acting categories too with its amazing cast celebrated director end of December release and Classic Hollywood storyline Damien chazelle's Babylon was quite simply a film that couldn't miss sure it had a big price tag to come with it and it skipped the film festival circuit basically the last major 2022 release to be seen by anyone but Babylon was going to be a big Oscar player that every other movie was going to have to contend with however although it didn't Crash and Burn quite as hard as Amsterdam Babylon was absolutely a big fat Oscar Fiasco of 2022 a film that had so many lofty expectations but then came up short in almost every way like Amsterdam it was a colossal bomb at the box office making about 15 million dollars in the United States on a 110 million dollar budget the film came up rotten on Rotten Tomatoes with 350 reviews and even though the three-hour epic got into lots of categories of the Golden Globe Awards and Critics Choice Awards it barely made a dent at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and on Oscar nominations morning all hope was lost the movie only getting three technical nominations nothing for picture director nothing for Margot Robbie so the big question is why what the hell happened with Babylon my name is Brian Rowe this is the awards Contender and in today's video we're talking everything that went wrong with Damien chazelle's Epic film about Classic Hollywood and why it's one of the biggest Oscar fiascos in recent Years first let's start at the Project's beginning Babylon was announced in July 2019 as chazelle's follow-up film the first man on another film that came in under industry expectations during award season although did win the Academy Award for best visual effects originally Emma Stone the lead of chazelle's La La Land from 2016 that one of the Best Actress Oscar was in talks to Star as Nelly Leroy but at some point she dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and Margot Robbie replaced Her filming was initially supposed to begin in the summer of 2020 but was postponed due to covid and thus the film commenced production in July 2021 wrapping the following October for most of 2022 anticipation kept growing for Babylon the first trailer that dropped in September promising an epic Wild Ride many compared the trailer's atmosphere to The Wolf of Wall Street and The Great Gatsby and the impressive list of actors including Robbie Brad Pitt Gene Smart Diego calva and so many others made the excitement over this film even more robust Babylon for a while there came off as the film to beat for the best picture Academy Award so what are the main reasons why Babylon looked to have Oscar written all over it here here are five of them the first and most important reason in my mind was it's being an epic three hour film about Classic Hollywood subject matter is extremely important when it comes to award-friendly movies and this one just looked to have everything going for it a three-hour running time showed in a way the film's importance to Awards bodies and its story about old Hollywood in silent film in the early days of the talkies seemed like it would be catnip to Academy members look at the artists from 2011 which won best director and best picture at the Oscars look at Damien chazelle's own la la land which won best actress and best director and kind of best picture Hollywood so often likes to Pat itself on the back and Babylon look to be that film for 2022. the second reason was its Prime release date that would keep it fresh in Academy voters Minds yes every year we get at least two or three Oscar bait movies released in December that go on to be ignored at the Academy Awards remember welcome to marwin released in December 2018 or how about downsizing from December 2017. hell even last December You could argue the Whitney Houston biopic could have been an Oscar player but that came up short babylon's Christmas weekend release looked to show confidence that it could do very well at the Academy Awards because otherwise why not bring Babylon out the previous summer or late September or early November why wait until the end of December if there was nothing to show for it it being the last major film of the season to have screenings appeared to signify the Studio's hopes for a movie that would play like gangbusters for critics and award voters in those crucial few weeks where big things start happening the third reason was director Damien chazelle sure you could argue first man brought him down a peg since that movie underperformed at the box office and only got into a few technical categories at the Oscars but I think any talented young director is allowed to have at least one of his movies knock it into best picture at the Academy Awards his 2014 breakthrough Whiplash my favorite film of that year was a sensation out of Sundance and blazed its way to five Oscar nominations including best picture and best adapted screenplay and it won three Oscars best film editing best sound mixing and best supporting actor for JK Simmons and then chazelle's La La Land two years later did even better the musical immediately beloved out of the film festival circuit and eventually earning a gargantuan 14 Oscar nominations which still holds the record with All About Eve and Titanic for most Academy Award nods ever the film of course won best actress for Emma Stone and chazelle became the youngest person in history at age 32 to take the best director prize although first man was a soft disappointment giselle's track record was strong and six years since La La Land he appeared primed for a major Oscar comeback with Babylon the fourth reason was its cast particularly Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt headlining the movie Robbie earned her first Oscar nomination in 2018 then her second in 2020 it seemed like a third nod was in the cards for 2023 her star status Always On The Rise despite a few missteps in her career here and there there had been so much press about how hard she worked on Babylon how she threw herself into the role of Nelly how this was the most difficult and exhausting character she had ever portrayed I gave it everything yeah everything there was no thing I didn't try because I felt too embarrassed in the moment there was no place I didn't like push to or whatever and it's such a nice feeling to be like ah I did I gave it everything I gave it there's no regret there's no regrets there's no what ifs in my head which is so nice things look good for the longest time that Robbie would get into best actress at the Oscars and Brad Pitt looked like a strong possibility too for best supporting actor given that he had won the Oscar in 2020 for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood he was no stranger to the Academy Awards nominated for 12 Monkeys The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Moneyball and winning a producing Oscar for 12 Years a Slave and the fifth reason Babylon looked like it would be an Oscar FrontRunner was its immediate positive impact on award season showing up in lots of categories at both the Golden Globe Awards and the Critics Choice Awards this was not the case of a movie that showed no interest from award voters right out of the gate it got in pretty much everywhere it needed to at those first precursor ceremonies and if the Oscar buzz it kept on growing Babylon would have looked like a Surefire Contender at March's academy awards ceremony now I would even throw in a six reason which I want to make perfectly clear I believe Babylon is an excellent film this is no Empire of Light which I found fairly dull and lackluster and it's definitely no Amsterdam which is a slog of a movie that's really hard to get through Babylon just barely missed my top 10 list of 2022 the hit and miss final hour my only big criticism of the film for about two hours Babylon is a rip roaring good time that left me positively gleeful in the theater it's not a movie for everyone a few friends of mine hated it with a passion and I kind of understand where they're coming from but I found it to be a beautiful Ode to old Hollywood with excellent performances and a handful of powerful scenes I will never forget like Nelly trying and struggling to say her lines and hit her Mark in just the right way and Jean Smart's Eleanor St John getting deal with Brad Pitt's Jack Conrad about his cinematic Legacy be grateful your time today is through but you'll spend a time a day with angels and ghosts it's a massively imperfect movie to be sure but there's a lot to love in Babylon and I had a great time watching it sadly however when it came to the Oscars this was a fiasco of the highest order a movie that should have gotten eight or more nominations honestly at least two or three in the top eight categories but only came up in the end with three in technical categories I do think the two big things that hurt Babylon the most were its mixed reviews from critics never a good sign for a giant Oscar hopeful released during Christmas week and especially it flopping hard at the Nationwide box office some mixed reviews of film can overcome to get into the Oscars however it's very hard I would argue for a movie to do well at the Oscars with both mixed reviews and a lousy Financial return Babylon didn't have to make 500 million dollars but making a touch over 3 million opening weekend was an immediate death sentence in my eyes audiences rejecting the movie so hard so fast asked it was going to be near impossible to overcome you might have had some hope with its five Golden Globe nominations including best supporting actor for Brad Pitt best actor in a musical or comedy for Diego calva best actress in a musical or comedy for Margot Robbie and best Motion Picture musical or comedy it didn't get into Best Director or best screenplay but Babylon did very well at the Globes although keep in mind the nominations were announced on December 13th 10 days before Babylon even opened in theaters and at critic's Choice those nominations announced a day later on December 14th Babylon did even better Nine nods total including best actress for Robbie best director for Giselle and best picture now if Babylon opens and bombs in theaters in say November not sure the film gets all those Golden Globe and Critics Choice nods it seems stupid I know but especially these days box office means a lot when it comes to year-end awards for films again it doesn't have to be a blockbuster but flopping hard when the movie caught a lot to make and Market your luck all but runs out and you basically wave goodbye to substantial Award nominations but here's the thing no matter how good a show is there are some things movies could do that TV just can't for example a TV show can't lose a hundred million dollars foreign is the gang from Babylon here they know at the end of December I was worried about babylon's Oscar prospects after it underperformed at the box office but I did and still do think it is a terrific movie very messy to be sure but terrific nonetheless I thought well maybe this will be a case for box office and mixed reviews might be overlooked and it could still get into best picture and best actress for Robbie along with some technical nominations it did win a Golden Globe Best original score for Justin hurwitz so well deserved but then Babylon slammed against a wall when it only received one sag award nomination best Ensemble not nothing that's worse but Diego calva Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt all missing at sag showed that the tides were turning toward other 2022 releases and outside of a freaking Miracle it looked like Babylon no longer had any prospects at Oscar nominations in the top categories bafta looked to confirm this Babylon only getting three technical nominations there and then finally I on Oscar nominations morning pretty much all of us expected a lousy turnout for Babylon and we were all right three nominations total the three that were kind of expected best costume design best production design and best original score a sad Trio of acknowledgments for a film that for the longest time was expected to get into best picture best director and best actress if not many other top categories my adoration for Babylon made me do the unthinkable in the weeks leading up to the 95th Academy Awards I predicted it to win both best production design and best original score I just thought Babylon was the most deserving candidate in those two categories and I thought it could pull off a double Victory despite it missing out in other major places despite it underperforming in a myriad of ways well All Quiet on the Western Front ended up winning the Oscars for both production design and original score and black panther wakanda forever took costume design I learned an important lesson on March 12 2023 be very wary in predicting the underdog All Quiet on the Western Front was a critical darling that got nominations up the Wazoo nine total and its steam only kept growing after the German film's extraordinary showing at bafta of course Babylon wasn't going to win anything at the Oscars why did I think it could well you know sometimes the Heart Wants What It Wants and in the case of Babylon I wanted this joyful imperfect very entertaining film to win an Oscar for something original score I still believe should have been babylon's I mean come on now but here we are a few months on Margot Robbie's latest movie Barbie is putting Babylon in the rear view mirror as the actress connects with critics and audiences in a major way for the first time in a long while but no matter how big of an Oscar Fiasco Babylon might be I don't want to forget this movie it's the kind of giant epic passion project funded by a major Studio not based on any IP e that is becoming increasingly rare these days Babylon is not a film to push to the side or to scoff at I believe this is the kind of film we should embrace because it's colossal failure means we're going to get fewer films like it in the future and that is a bad thing not a good thing I understand why it came up short at the Oscars but this time that doesn't mean it's a bad film Babylon is an Oscar Fiasco to be sure but it's one Fiasco I'll be happy to return to time and time again in the years to come thanks so much for watching if you enjoyed this video don't forget to like And subscribe let me know in the comments below what are your thoughts on Damien chazelle's Babylon did you love it like it did you hate it and how many Oscar nominations did you want it to receive we'll see you next time at the awards contender

Channel: The Awards Contender

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Length: 18min 13sec (1093 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 18 2023