Emma and Jesse: Campaigns and conspiracies

Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest, Bugonia, opens in limited release this weekend and wide the following. It’s Yorgos and it’s Emma which means that there’s some expectation that this film and its performances will contend for Oscars. But also, it’s Yorgos and it’s Emma which means that this film will be polarising. Some people will ride hard for it and others won’t care for it, and it’ll be interesting to see if the Academy responds in a year when so many auteur directors are in the mix, from Ryan Coogler to Guillermo Del Toro to Josh Safdie to Joachim Trier and, of course, Paul Thomas Anderson. Oh and Noah Baumbach too. And Lynne Ramsay with Die, My Love, if she can finally get some recognition. 

Right now, Bugonia looks like it’s not among the frontrunners, at least according to the experts, for Best Picture. Jesse Plemons is probably sitting in 6-10 on the Best Actor possibilities list and since Emma is a two-time winner, she has the best shot at a nomination at the moment, but even she isn’t considered a frontrunner here as there are at least four actresses who are getting much more buzz. While it’s not likely that Emma will win another one so soon after her last, the interest here is in whether or not she’s nominated because she’s currently at five nominations at the age of 36. For context, Meryl Streep had six by the time she was 40 and would go on to receive the most nominations with 21, currently. I’m not saying Emma is ever going to get there, but she’s definitely on pace to put up a number. Like if the Academy has already given her two wins, clearly she’s one of their favourites. And Meryl was picking up those nominations with more and more frequency as she got older. 

Bugonia premiered in NYC last night. In the film, Jesse plays a conspiracy theorist who kidnaps Emma, a CEO, because he and his partner think she’s an alien. So conspiracy theories came up on the red carpet. Apparently this is Jesse’s latest: 

@varietymagazine

At the “Bugonia” NYC premiere, stars Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons shared their favorite conspiracy theory: birds aren’t real. “I mean, I believe birds are real,” Stone explained. “But it is interesting walking around New York now with so many birds and thinking, ‘What if all of pigeons — right here, right now — were little drones?’” #bugonia #emmastone #jesseplemons #movies #yorgoslanthimos

♬ original sound - Variety

I don’t know how seriously to take this but I do know that birds bring up weird feelings in people. Obviously birds are not not real – and anyone who knows anything will tell that crows are extremely real, extremely intelligent, and also vindictive if you give them a reason to hate you. Nothing about crows is fantasy or artificial. 

Emma, as usual, was wearing Louis Vuitton last night. It’s not all that exciting but I don’t hate it on her, I just wish she’d worn it the way it was sent down the runway – with white full coverage underwear: 

The dress of the night, though, belongs to Alicia Silverstone, OMG. I love a bloused gown moment and this is so pretty and chic, the minute I saw her I felt like it was a swing for her, a great swing. Alicia’s been working with Wayman + Micah. They styled her as recently as two weeks ago and it wouldn’t be surprising if this is their work.