Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It’s a great movie, everyone should check it out. But other del Toro films are often… overworked, I guess that’s the word. The Shape of Water was a cool idea at some point, but I still can’t believe he made a movie about a lady who bangs a fish-man. Del Toro’s latest is Nightmare Alley, which (again) sounds interesting on paper: del Toro forgoing magic realism to expose actual “magic,” and magical acts. It stars Bradley Cooper in the lead role, plus a supporting cast of Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe and more. The reviews have not been overwhelmingly positive. And the film is barely picking up any awards nominations, which means Bradley Cooper has to wait yet another year to provide some Oscar-bait to the Academy. The NY Post’s entertainment columnist was kind of mean about how B-Coop is gonna be snubbed again this year:
Somewhere in Bradley Cooper’s $13.5 million West Village townhouse is a sad drawer full of crumpled-up acceptance speeches that he’s never gotten to deliver. Despite a mountain of acclaim, Cooper, 47, has not yet had the opportunity to “thank the academy” or the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which sort of put on the 2022 Golden Globe Awards on Sunday. The talented actor is turning into one of awards seasons’ biggest perpetual losers.
Over his career, he’s been nominated for three Globes for acting (“Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle,” “A Star Is Born”) and one for directing “A Star Is Born.” Lost ’em all. At the Oscars, he’s snagged four acting nods (“Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle,” “American Sniper, “A Star Is Born”) and one for the adapted screenplay of “A Star Is Born.” Nada. And his personal failure has infected his projects, too. None of the nominated best picture contenders he’s been a part of (“American Sniper,” “A Star Is Born,” “Joker”) took home the top Oscar or Globe.
Even worse, this year the Globes — which, despite their controversies, have become a decent prognosticator for the Oscars — snubbed Cooper entirely. Perhaps it’s because the guy can be a jackass in interviews, or that his golden boy image was obliterated during press for “A Star Is Born,” when he grew a beard and cranked up his Hollywood pretentiousness to Joaquin Phoenix-on-David Letterman levels. But he is undeniably very talented.
Most expected he’d manage to make it into at least one Globes category this year for one of his two widely adored performances: as the leading man in Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley” and a short but memorable supporting turn as Jon Peters in “Licorice Pizza,” which was nominated for a slew of other prizes.
The Academy/industry does this from time to time: they gatekeep an actor who wants it too much. There’s an expectation that actors have to play the game and play along with their Oscar campaign, but they can’t WANT it too much or be too thirsty for attention and accolades. In that sense, I feel sorry for B-Coop, because there’s nothing wrong with wanting your peers to tell you that you’re doing a great job. That being said, I kind of agree with his peers that he hasn’t turned in any performance which is particularly Oscar-worthy? A Star is Born was particularly grating, because he was directing HIMSELF in what he thought would be an Oscar-bait performance. But whatever, his time will come, just as it came for Leo DiCaprio. Just not this year, probably.
PS… He did get a SAG nomination for supporting in Licorice Pizza, so maybe it is his year??
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Instar.
What *sshole move did he pull in an interview? I’ve never heard of him being mean before.
I haven’t seen a lot of his interviews but I do remember some LG interviews where she was describing how he was as a director/costar on ASiB. She was telling stories as though how he behaved was as good thing, meanwhile the behavior she was describing was 100% negging jackhole. Stuff like the first time she was on set he refused to speak to her, he’d only speak one of his character’s lines … no matter what she said or did he just kept saying the thing, over and over again, until eventually she broke down in tears.
And he wiped off her makeup without her permission
Like maybe if you’re simply an a-hole actor playing a role, you can get away with that stuff, but being the producer, director, co-star who actually *CHOSE* the inexperienced actress you’re doing the scene with, it is not okay to be weird in a way that undermines your employee/coworker at work and persist until it brings them to tears.
Allegedly he was horrible to his first wife Jennifer Esposito she wrote a book never named him. But most assume it’s about him. I think he dumped Renee Z and ghosted her also. He just seems cold. I do hope he is a good Dad.
He is among those who benefitted from the Weinstein machinery and never said a word! I am surprised by how many knew and no one said a word for years while the abuse continues!
Leo is a much much better actor than Bradley is but I am sure at some point, he will win one
Leo has deserved that Oscar he finally won since Gilbert Grape. BCoop is no Leo. Every time I see Leo in something, like Don’t Look Up, I am reminded how great of an actor he is. I just forget because his off screen behavior is irritating at best.
Agreed. I like Cooper but Leo is an amazing actor and has been for decades. He deserved it before he got it. I wouldn’t mind Cooper winning one but if he doesn’t, it doesn’t feel like he’s been snubbed?
He might score a Supporting nomination for Licorice Pizza but he won’t win. That category has heavy competition this year.
Back in his Alias days, no one would ever have imagined that this man would be nominated multiple times for an Academy Award. I am not even a fan of his but he has far exceeded many people’s expectations for his career, even if he never wins.
He was never thought of as “hot” until The Hangover that gave him is career.
He is great in supporting roles, even in Wedding Crashers
He is great in that! Hilarious but also shows dramatic chops.
Good.
He never should have been casted in the Tyrone Power role. That role required a special something to pull off and Bradley does and did not have it.
And I thought he shared a Oscar with Gaga for best song?
That Oscar wasn’t for the performance, it was for the song itself and was Gaga and Blakemore ( I had to look up the co writer).
agree Tiffany!
I hope people go watch the original with power, I love that movie
Tyrone Power was just back from WWII–and his performance in NA shows it. Just like Jimmy Stewart, whose post-war acting was miles more wrenching. Hard to match those real-life ordeals.
Uh huh, tell it to Glenn Close.
That’s what I was thinking. What about Toni Collette?
Also, tbh, what about Viola Davis’s gorgeous Emmy speech about how women of color don’t even get the opportunities to showcase themselves the way this dude has? What about Danielle Brooks who killed it in the last season of OITNB? Or Wunmi Mosaku who is transcendent in Lovecraft Country and His House? Where are their Oscar vehicles? Mmhm but yeah let’s sit through more of his passion projects.
Exactly.
And Annette Benning! She has the bad luck to do her best work in years where someone is off the charts good.
In the future, Amy Adams and Jessica Chastain are going to be up there on the Nominations to Awards ratio too.
He will always be that dude from The Hangover to me
I just remember him playing a douche bro in Wedding Crashers and have side-eyed him ever since.
This is ridiculous to me. Expecting that every role should result in an award nomination is ludicrous. Spike Lee won his FIRST Oscar like 3 years ago…and it was for adapted screenplay, not even directing. Glen Close and Samuel L Jackson don’t have Oscars either, so B Coop needs to chill.
Thank you. It’s not a “snub” if it’s not good. On a separate note – I find him creepy and feel like he’s hiding something. I don’t buy the narrative around his 1st divorce or his relationship with Irina.
TW, that’s exactly what he is. If you pay attention to him, you’ll find he is trying hard to emulate Ben Affleck. When Affleck wore a beard during the Argo campaign season and subsequently won BP, he started to wear a beard too during ASIB campaign. When Affleck was spotted out and about with his children during the campaign season, he did that too later on in ASIB. When Affleck talked about the seismic business change of the industry recently with Matt Damon re the streaming impact, he talked it later too in a podcast. When Affleck reconciled with JLo, he reconciled with his ex-girlfriend later on. His awards wikipedia page is even a version like Affleck’s.
And there is a cinematic evidence: in the summer of 2020, he was caught being seen with Jennifer Garner on a beach. He played a character in this year’s Nightmare Alley where he was shown trying to appeal to a couple in a carnival circus. The husband is a drunk; but he and his wife loved each other. He then stole the couple’s craft and proceeded to move upwards in high society to con these rich people. And we all know Affleck’s drinking history and he and his ex-wife’s drama.
thank you. his thirsty ass should sit down and drink some water. He plays similar roles all the time. He needs to make himself vulnerable and seems to have way too big an ego to do so.
Cooper is no Leo but the first sentence of that article is too snide by half. I need reviews and commentary on actors and films to be honest, maybe cheeky, but not mean-spirited unless it’s truly deserved, which I don’t think it is here. But then I don’t know Cooper.
I have never gotten his appeal the sleaze just oozes off him – like others have said he’s not the great actor he thinks he is, Leo is FAR superior to him.
Agreed Digital Unicorn. There is something creepy and unsettling about him and it is not his “great acting.” I will never forget how he allowed the director of American Hustle, David O. Russell, to bully daily (according to my memory) abusing verbally Amy Adam’s until she dissolved into tears. Christian Bale finally had to step in to say stop. He also got paid significantly more than A.A. it came out from e-mails. Maybe that was in the Sony Hack e-mails unsure. Skeevy jmo.
As far as del Toro goes, yeah, he seems to be getting lost in the set design a bit lately. The latter is doing most of the work, but the scripts curiously aren’t carrying enough of the emotional weight–or don’t quite add up. Nightmare Alley is a great book, but weirdly enough this version isn’t as grim and wrenching as it should be–especially considering it isn’t under the same restrictions as the 40’s version.
His best role is as a CGI mutant raccoon. He should just embrace that!
@Dr Mrs M Hahahahaha! COTD!
To me, American Sniper was hard to top. He was not Bradley Cooper playing Chris Kyle, he WAS Chris Kyle. Granted,it was not an Oscar type movie, but it was by far his best work. His Oscar role hasn’t come yet; he needs to stop being a d!ck about it and be patient.
How was he a d!ck about it?
When the two Belfast boys were exluded from the SAG nomination for best supporting actor and instead both Ben Affleck and him were nominated (Affleck had already been nominated in Golden Globes), it means these Affleck and Cooper will be carried to Oscar night. Whether one of they will win is another matter. And yes, Cooper was backed by Pitt and Leo camp to compete again Affleck. Cooper’s role in Licorice Pizza was once supposed to belong to Leo, but he left it for him whilst he was still shooting Nightmare Alley.
And yes Affleck is beefing with Pitt and Leo for quite sometime now.
I’ve never heard anything about a feud between Affleck, Pitt and DiCaprio. Where are you getting this from?