Skandies: #16 (Patreon)

Picture: Paddington 2 (55/5)
Director: Abbas Kiarostami, 24 Frames (54/5)
Actress: Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born (57/8)
Actor: Jason Bateman, Game Night (57/7)
S. Actor: Steve Buscemi, Lean On Pete (54/6)
S. Actress: Molly Parker, Madeline's Madeline (42/6)
Screenplay: Valeska Grisebach, Western (46/5)
Scene: "Rock Around the Clock," Cold War (40/3)

[Couldn't remember what was distinctive about this scene, and I still don't really get it after watching it again (admittedly out of context this time—might be the sudden incursion of rock and roll energy). But then I also never understood people's passion for the "This Time Tomorrow" dance in Regular Lovers.]

HISTORY:

Happy to see Kiarostami get one last posthumous nod, especially for such an unorthodox work—one that challenges our very notion of what "directing" entails. He previously placed 15th for Taste of Cherry (1998), 8th for The Wind Will Carry Us (2000), 4th for Certified Copy (2011), and 13th for Like Someone in Love (2013).

Bateman landed at #14 three years ago for The Gift. (He should have won.) I'm gonna hold off on Buscemi since—spoiler alert—we'll be seeing him again. Gaga is new, and so, to my surprise (given her prominence ca. 1996–2000), is Parker. 

Grisebach's only previous Skandie-eligible film was Longing, ignored in all categories save for a lonely, token 5-point vote in Director. Be My Star had many fans among the AVB, but was never released in the U.S. (probably because it's barely an hour long).

For those who are wondering, not only did Paddington fail to place in Best Picture three years ago, it failed to receive even a single vote. The two films seemed pretty similar to me, quality-wise. Lotta befuddlement for me this year.