There aren’t usually this many Asians at Oscar events. Because there aren’t usually all-Asian casts in Hollywood. Crazy Rich Asians came out in August. It’s one of the most successful movies of the year. It does actually have an outside shot at a couple of nominations, including Best Picture. So, yes, the CRA cast, led by Constance Wu and Michelle Yeoh, is part of the campaign circuit, keeping the CRA momentum going, now that the film is available on DVD and on demand. 

Let’s focus for a moment on Constance – remember a couple of years ago, Constance criticized the Academy for Casey Affleck and criticized the industry for The Great Wall, the movie starring Matt Damon? And now look, she’s at an Academy event, with a film that is vying for Academy Award recognition, and where Matt Damon was also in attendance. She took a risk back then by speaking up and speaking out. She has talked about how she lost opportunities because of it, how certain power people did not appreciate her willingness to call it the way she saw it. In the end, though, well, Constance is OK. More than OK. Constance has accumulated her own power. And now she’s at the party too. We can all take something away from that lesson, non? Something? 

As for Crazy Rich Asians and possible nominations…

Sarah and I wrote earlier about Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy and how First Man has steadily lost momentum through the season. Ryan may have fallen down to fifth spot for a Best Actor nomination. Sarah thinks that Claire might still get in there in the Supporting Actress category because of The Crown – the Academy wouldn’t necessarily be voting for her in First Man but for her in First Man AND as Queen Elizabeth. I agree. But I also think she might be the most vulnerable to a strong challenge. 

Michelle Yeoh is making a case. It’s in the supporting categories where the Oscars have in the past recognized comedies, romances – a few examples of this would be Whoopi Goldberg in Ghost, Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda, Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny. If they’re looking at Claire Foy with The Crown in mind, the Academy could also be considering Michelle Yeoh with HER ENTIRE CAREER in mind. God I would love to hear her name called on nomination day.