It may be the most-publicized Oscar loss in years – not because it was a huge surprise, but because it seemed to be in motion for weeks or even months leading up to the ceremony. Back in October, when Marty Supreme premiered at a secret New York Film Festival screening to rapturous reception, Timothée Chalamet seemed to rocket to Oscar front-runner status. The year so far hadn’t produced an obvious contender, and in fact one of the season’s potential heavy hitters, Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine had just bombed in theaters, seemingly scotching Dwayne Johnson’s chances of anything more than a nomination. (Even that did not come to pass.) It was weirdly fitting that Benny’s brother Josh would swoop in with a replacement: A different movie about an athlete with such a winning grindset that he literally cannot accept a loss, more an audacious, period-piece Uncut Gems of ping-pong than
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