Analysis: Tales of reinvention abound in Oscars race

F. Scott Fitzgerald, who said there are no second acts in American lives, might have felt differently had he seen this year's Oscar race.

In mid-November, there is much solidifying, scrapping and self-promotion to come (not to mention a few potential awards heavyweights). But most of the expected contenders have by now been seen and there's a definite theme: Reinvention is the season's most sought-after attribute.

One after another, potential contenders have trotted out new iterations of themselves: Lady Gaga, the actor; Alfonso Cuaron, the re-made filmmaker; Melissa McCarthy, dramatic actress; Peter Farrelly, a million miles from "Dumb and Dumber."

This image released by Twentieth Century Fox shows Gwilym Lee, from left, Rami Malek and Joe Mazzello in a scene from "Bohemian Rhapsody." (Alex BaileyTwentieth Century Fox via AP)

Metamorphoses, like that of Rami Malek's prosthetic-toothed, full-bodied performance as Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody" (an expected best actor nominee), are always a staple of awards season. But this year, transformation is more than a costume change. It's an abiding ethos.

Coming between the fall festivals and the onset of critics' awards, November is when Oscar campaigns hope to get enough traction to land on — or ascend — the short lists that proliferate ahead of the litany of ceremonies to come.

So far, much of the field breaks down between an old dichotomy: crowd-pleasers and show-stoppers, and intimate art-house indies. Among the former are Bradley Cooper's box-office smash "A Star Is Born"; Peter Farrelly's soon-to-debut charmer "Green Book," with Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen; and Ryan Coogler's superhero sensation "Black Panther."

This image released by Netflix shows a scene from the film "Roma," by filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron. (Netflix via AP)

All of them are studio films. And each reminds Hollywood it can still do something it may have thought it no longer could: make an old-fashioned romance; craft a poignant, uplifting comic drama; create an urgent and meaningful comic book film.

Like many of this year's nominees, Hollywood, itself, is in flux. The film industry is becoming more digital (Disney and Warner Bros. are prepping Netflix-like streaming services) and it's shrinking (Disney is acquiring Fox; more consolidation is expected). Hollywood is searching for a second act, too.

That pressure is due, in part, to new viewing habits and deep-pocketed innovators like Netflix, which this year has its most lauded Oscar contender yet: Cuaron's "Roma," a deeply personal black-and-white film that the Mexican director has said made him reinvent himself as a filmmaker. "Roma" won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and it's expected to return Cuaron (who won best director for his last film, 2013's "Gravity") to the category, alongside Cooper, whose "A Star Is Born" launches the 43-year-old actor as director.

This image released by Disney and Marvel Studios' shows Chadwick Boseman in a scene from "Black Panther." (Marvel StudiosDisney via AP)

Partly to appease Oscar voters, Netflix has for the first time granted a theatrical window for a handful of films (including "Roma" and the Coen brothers' "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"). The gesture has an underlying message to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members: Netflix and theaters can coexist (at least if an Oscar is at stake).

There are plenty of contenders predicated not on reinvention, but on doing what they do best. There is Spike Lee's incendiary "BlacKkKlansman," a prize-winner at the Cannes Film Festival. Yorgos Lanthimos' savage period romp "The Favourite" could land noms for all three of its leads: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. (The latter two are expected to go as supporting actresses.) Two years after "Moonlight" won best picture, Barry Jenkins is back with an equally lyrical and eloquent film, the James Baldwin adaptation "If Beale Street Could Talk." And lauded performances by the likes of Robert Redford (his maybe-swansong in "The Old Man & the Gun") and Richard E. Grant (alongside McCarthy in "Can You Ever Forgive Me?") are brilliant because they capture the performers in their sweet spot.

There are plenty more in the mix, too, like Steve McQueen's just-opening "Widows"; Damien Chazelle's "First Man," with Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong; and "Eighth Grade," the tender coming-of-age drama from Bo Burnham.

This image released by Fox Searchlight Films shows Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, right, in a scene from the film "The Favourite." (Atsushi NishijimaFox Searchlight Films via AP)

The 28-year-old Burnham boasts one of the year's most extreme accounts of reinvention. He was an internet-fueled stand-up comedian when, two years ago, he gave up the stage and grew disenchanted with social media. "Eighth Grade," starring 15-year-old Elsie Fisher, is about a shy girl who overcomes Instagram-amplified anxieties.

Most notable of the still-unseen films is "Vice," the Dick Cheney biopic from Adam McKay, who several films ago charted the path from comedy to drama that Farrelly (he of the Farrelly brothers) is now steering. Christian Bale, who disappears under makeup and a 40 lb. weight gain as the former vice president, is, sight-unseen, believed to be a likely contender, so great is his reputation for transformation. Another of those "nearly unrecognizable" performances may follow suit: Nicole Kidman, mean and gaunt in the L.A. noir "Destroyer," if votes don't instead go her way for the gay conversation therapy drama "Boy Erased."

The academy members voting on those and other performances (Glenn Close! Timothee Chalamet! Yalitza Aparicio! Ethan Hawke! Regina King!) are perhaps the most fluctuating part of the whole season. Membership has been greatly expanded in recent years to diversify and internationalize the academy's ranks. After last year's all-time low ratings, the Oscar ceremony is being revamped by John Bailey, academy president. Though the academy withdrew its "popular film" category, it's shortening the broadcast and won't present all awards live.

At this year's Academy Awards, everyone's getting a makeover.

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Israel this week briefed Biden administration officials on a plan to evacuate Palestinian civilians ahead of a potential operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas militants, according to U.S. officials familiar with the talks.

The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity to speak about the sensitive exchange, said that the plan detailed by the Israelis did not change the U.S. administration’s view that moving forward with an operation in Rafah would put too many innocent Palestinian civilians at risk.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah despite warnings from President Joe Biden and other western officials that doing so would result in more civilian deaths and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.

The Biden administration has said there could be consequences for Israel should it move forward with the operation without a credible plan to safeguard civilians.

“Absent such a plan, we can’t support a major military operation going into Rafah because the damage it would do is beyond what’s acceptable,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Friday at the Sedona Forum, an event in Arizona hosted by the McCain Institute.

Some 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered in the southern Gaza city as the territory has been ravaged by the war that began on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.

The United Nations humanitarian aid agency on Friday said that hundreds of thousands of people would be “at imminent risk of death” if Israel moves forward with the Rafah assault. The border city is a critical entry point for humanitarian aid and is filled with displaced Palestinians, many in densely packed tent camps.

The officials added that the evacuation plan that the Israelis briefed was not finalized and both sides agreed to keep discussing the matter.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday that no “comprehensive” plan for a potential Rafah operation has been revealed by the Israelis to the White House. The operation, however, has been discussed during recent calls between Biden and Netanyahu as well as during recent virtual talks with top Israeli and U.S. national security officials.

“We want to make sure that those conversations continue because it is important to protect those Palestinian lives — those innocent lives,” Jean-Pierre said.

The revelation of Israel's continued push to carry out a Rafah operation came as CIA director William Burns arrived Friday in Egypt, where negotiators are trying to seal a cease-fire accord between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas is considering the latest proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release put forward by U.S., Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who are looking to avert the Rafah operation.

They have publicly pressed Hamas to accept the terms of the deal that would lead to an extended cease-fire and an exchange of Israeli hostages taken captive on Oct. 7 and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Hamas has said it will send a delegation to Cairo in the coming days for further discussions on the offer, though it has not specified when.

Israel, and its allies, have sought to increase pressure on Hamas on the hostage negotiation. Signaling that Israel continues to move forward with its planning for a Rafah operation could be a tactic to nudge the militants to finalize the deal.

Netanyahu said earlier this week that Israeli forces would enter Rafah, which Israel says is Hamas’ last stronghold, regardless of whether a truce-for-hostages deal is struck. His comments appeared to be meant to appease his nationalist governing partners, and it was not clear whether they would have any bearing on any emerging deal with Hamas.

Blinken visited the region, including Israel, this week and called the latest proposal “extraordinarily generous” and said “the time to act is now.”

In Arizona on Friday, Blinken repeated remarks he made earlier this week that "the only thing standing between the people of Gaza and a cease-fire is Hamas.”

The Chahine family prepares to bury two adults and five boys and girls under the age of 16 after an overnight Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, May 3, 2024. An Israeli strike on the city of Rafah on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip killed several people, including children, hospital officials said Friday. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

FILE - Palestinians line up for free food during the ongoing Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip in Rafah, Jan. 9, 2024. A top U.N. official said Friday, May 3, 2024, that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine" after more than six months of war between Israel and Hamas and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries to the Palestinian territory. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali, File)

Palestinians rescue a woman survived after the Israeli bombardment on a residential building of Abu Alenan family in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, early Saturday, May 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

President Joe Biden walks across the South Lawn of the White House as he talks with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Washington, after returning from a trip to North Carolina. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)