With the protection of anonymity, this year’s Oscar voters went scorched earth in their critiques of the ceremony’s front-runners.
“Are we allowed to finally talk about why One Battle After Another is a bad movie, or are we still just pretending it’s not the most problematic movie for the Black community since maybe Green Book?” an anonymous voter told Variety on Thursday.
The voter, who Variety described as “American, artisans branch, under 65, Black,” had another scathing review of the Paul Thomas Anderson film.
“People are too scared to say what they think in Hollywood. That includes journalists and critics. It’s easier to come down on an underdog than say, ‘Dear Mr. Anderson, your movie is not great.’ All because he made Boogie Nights?” they said, marking Sinners down for 12 wins on their ballot.
Voters were completely divided on the two-horse race for Best Picture. No matter which wins, Warner Bros. Pictures will take home a golden statue, having distributed both films.
“I didn’t think Sinners was great. It felt long and repetitive,” one voter in the “International, craft branch, over 65, white” category said, despite the film’s record 16 Oscar nominations.
“Paul Thomas Anderson is the only filmmaker who made a movie I’ll remember 15 to 20 years from now. Everything else is lifeless,” they continued, giving the filmmaker 8 wins on their ballot.
“I watched One Battle After Another twice. The first time, I admired it. The second time, I had the time of my life,” they concluded.
These are just two of the 10,136 active voters in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who decide the fate of Oscar hopefuls.
A few fellow voters used the interviews as an opportunity to take pop shots at some of the other nominees, especially Brad Pitt’s blockbuster racing movie.
“Did F1 make any sense?” lamented an international voter who voted it second-to-last on their ballot.
“When F1 makes the Best Picture lineup, it’s a rough year for movies,” declared another voter, who did give the film a win for Best Editing. “The weakest film we’ve had in the entertainment business in a long time.”
Other Hollywood trade publications got in on the fun, too.
“I put Frankenstein at number 10 because I haven’t seen it, which is unfair,“ an anonymous female voter told The Hollywood Reporter.
This year, Oscar voters were required to watch every film in a category through the Academy’s digital site before they were allowed to vote.
The unnamed voter, who broke down her entire ballot in a lengthy interview on Thursday, dogpiled on the F1 hate.
"F1 was not for me—I watched about 45 minutes of it, and I didn’t need to watch more," she said.
“While I’m a fan of One Battle After Another, Teyana Taylor’s character was tough for me to swallow," she added.
Before she finished, she took one final shot at Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein.
“Even though I haven’t seen Frankenstein, I feel like I know enough from the marketing to know that its costumes are not the sort of thing that would grab me," she said.
Oscar hopefuls will have to wait until March 15 to see who claims the golden statues. Conan O’Brien will host the ceremony for the second time on ABC.
