- THE LIGHT OF MOONLIGHT
Moonlight, one of the biggest contenders for the upcoming Oscar nominations morning (and, according to some, for some big wins for the big Oscar night). A movie about black people, about being a black man and what's expected from him. A beautiful movie made by black. Featuring winning acting turns from all the members of the ensemble cast, Moonlight worked as a breakthrough vehicle for Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, André Holland and Janelle Monáe (all them with promising careers ahead) and it was also a stage for career-best-performances from Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris, both considered locks in the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress Oscar races. I guess I'm losing my time by saying Moonlight cast has been collecting almost every award for Best Acting Ensemble...
Plus, do you know if Barry Jenkins gets an Oscar nomination for Best Director, he will be on the run to become the first African American to win in that category... interesting!
- FENCES IS SURROUNDED BY BIG TALENTS
It was considered one of the Best Picture favorites, but Fences has been losing traction as a contender for Academy Awards top category war... No matter what, it remains one of the strongest contender for Best Adapted Screenplay - thanks to August Wilson's screenplay based on his own play - and one of the front-runners for Best Actor (Denzel Washington, mesmerizing in the best role and performance of his glorious career, topping Malcom-X) and Best Supporting Actress (Viola Davis, delivering a performance of a lifetime and one of the finest performances of the 21st century, so far).
Of course, I can't forget the less showy works featured in Fences: from Broadway's big name Stephen Henderson (Tony Award winner for the Broadway adaptation of Fences back in 2010) to Russell Hornsby, Saniyya Sidney, Mykelti Williamson and the promising Jovan Adepo, who delivers an amazing breakthrough performance in this one (also his film debut).
- RUTH NEGGA, THE LOVING ACTRESS
If you follow Cinema and Popcorn, you know what I think about Ruth Negga's performance in Jeff Nichols' Loving and in case you don't: one of the very best performances of the year, Ruth Negga is a star! With a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama and a Critics' Choice Award nomination for Best Actress, Negga is definitely in the run for an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, competing alongside great names like Meryl Streep and Annette Bening for that famous 5th spot in the Best Actress nominees shortlist. With or without Oscar nomination, this actress born in Ethiopia and raised in Ireland deserved to me mentioned in Meryl Streep's glorious Cecil B. DeMille Award acceptance speech and got the honour to compete between some of the greatest names in the film industry. With or without Oscar, I feel Negga as winner!
- HIDDEN FIGURES MESMERIZING BLACK TRIO AND PHARRELL WILLIAMS
One of the most anticipated movies of the year, Hidden Figures is composed by an all-star cast and some major names in the behind the cameras team. The movie's current success is huge, making more money these days than the installment of the Star Wars franchise, Rogue One, and most of this success is due to its amazing leading trio of black actresses: Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe, who top a cast that managed to get award recognition from some of the biggest precursor awards (SAG Award nomination for Best Ensemble Cast and Critics' Choice Award nomination for Best Acting Ensemble) and don't forget the crazy buzz around the movie for Best Picture! All this glory is shared with Pharrell Williams, the musician turned movie producer. Hidden Figures promises to keep at the top of the box-office, which only builds Oscar traction.
Both Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe are considered two of the favorite to be part of the final Best Supporting Actress nominees shortlist, with Spencer leading the predictions against Monáe due to a better precursor award season, but Monáe still has chances thanks to better reviews, breakthrough year factor and the fact of being part of another Best Picture player, Moonlight. Taraji P. Henson could easily get an Oscar nod for Best Actress if this year's Best Actress race wasn't so atypically strong! Pharrell might score a double Oscar nod: Best Picture and Best Original Score (sharing the last one with a music giant Hans Zimmer) - I must search if he can become the first film producer who also got a Best Score nod...
- DEV PATEL AND THE SEARCH FOR A GOLDEN SEAT
After leading the Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and being discovered as a charming movie leading actor by Danny Boyle, the former Skins TV series actor Dev Patel is building a nice reputation as a serious actor. In 2016, he starred Lion, alongside Nicole Kidman and Rooney Mara and, guess what, this man managed to carry the whole picture during his screen time. While he's benefiting from a huge category fraud by being placed as a supporting actor when he's the lead of the movie (alongside the young and tremendous Sunny Pawar), no one can deny how effecting and magnetic he's in Lion and you can actually compare how much he has matured as an actor since Slumdog Millionaire. With Golden Globe, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award and SAG Award nods, an Oscar nomination seems likely to happen.
- STEVIE WONDER HAS SOME "FAITH" IN SING
- ASGHAR FAHARDI, THE SALESMAN
One of the most acclaimed movies at 2016 edition of Cannes Film Festival, taking home the festival's prizes for Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Shahab Hosseini), Asghar Fahardi is back to his game with The Salesman, his rendition of Arthur Miller's play Death of a Salesman - the Iranian submission to Academy Award for Best Foreign Picture, which stills in competition for a spot between the 5 finalists. After his Academy Award winner masterpiece A Separation and the less successful The Past, Fahardi is back to awards glory with The Salesman.
From the most awarded foreign films of the year (Golden Globe winner Elle, Things to Come, The Handmaiden, Toni Erdmann, The Salesman, Neruda and A Man Called Ove), only Toni Erdmann, A Man Called Ove and The Salesman made the 9 finalists in the run for a nomination for the Academy Award of Best Foreign Picture. The Salesman took home some major prizes and it was nominated from almost every big precursos awards organizations. Asghar Fahardi has a nice shot to add a second Oscar nominated movie to his resume.
HONORABLE MENTIONS FOR NON-WHITE EXCELLENCE IN HOLLYWOOD IN 2016
- Mira Nair, Lupita Nyong'O and David Oyelowo - Queen of Katwe
- Royalty Hightower - The Fits
- Park Chan-wook and Kim Min-hee - The Handmaiden
- Pablo Larraín and Gael García Bernal - Neruda
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