Cinema and Popcorn

Wish you a Happy New Year!

As you know (or as “you should know” at least), Best Picture category is a special one: it’s all about the #1 votes of each member of the AMPAS! So, how does it affect the choosing of the nominees?  Well, people tend to go for movies they love rather for movies they “just” respect unless they recognize the movie they respect is undeniably good: and that’s why I have Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman in first place for a Best Picture nomination. It’s a movie some might not fall in love with, but it is a movie no one seems able to say “it’s bad” and it also benefits from the all-star names involved in the project: Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino or Joe Pesci… I know it is a Netflix movie, but I can’t picture a scenario where The Irishman is left out of Best Picture nominees shortlist.   The other movie I feel pretty confident about is Parasite – the international foreign language phenomenon, Bong Joon-ho’s latest movie is one of the most critically acclaimed movie i...

Christopher Nolan will be back next year with Tenet ! And... guess what? He's bringing fresh new talent John David Washington with him as the leading man of the movie. Looks absorving and intriguing to say the least!

As we know, there are some categories the Academy releases a shortlist after excluding some submissions or eligible contenders and this year is no exception. So, have a look at each category's finalists for your Oscar consideration: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE IMAGE 1 -  Honeyland From the 159 eligible films, the Academy released the shorltist of 15 that made the final step before the noms: Advocate American Factory The Apollo Apollo 11 Aquarela The Biggest Little Farm The Cave The Edge of Democracy For Sama The Great Hack Honeyland Knock Down the House Maiden Midnight Family One Child Nation BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM IMAGE 2 -  The Painted Bird There were 91 official submissions considered "eligible". The Academy has now released the 10 movies that made the final shortlist so members can now vote for the nominations: Czech Republic, The Painted Bird Estonia, Truth and Justice France, Les Misérables Hungary, Those Who Remaine...

The frontrunners are showing! Critics picks do say a lot about which movie is taking the lead of the awards race, since their picks are the early ones - which will influence the major industry awards' choices! Right now, it seems The Irishman is losing some heat, while Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is getting a boost and Parasite is taking the lead in the Best Picture race (besides being the obvious frontrunner for Best Foreign Language Film prizes). Little Women , a movie that was overlooked by a big couple of early awards organizations, is starting to show here and there and it even managed to win Boston - but it seems Best Supporting Actress ( Florence Pugh ), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design and Best Score are its best bets. Marriage Story is also getting some love and while it misses some Best Picture prizes it seems to be getting stronger in Best Actor ( Adam Driver ), Best Actress ( Scarlett Johansson ), Best Supporting Actress ( Laura Dern ) and Best Origi...

Love the music, the sequences look dope and... the energy!

I never try to predict SAG, because they're just unpredictable! The Scree Actors Guild has announced its nominations... and there are a few surprises! First of all, you must remember SAG usually ignores late releases like Little Women (which scored ZERO nominations here), but this year's Bombshell makes for the exception. In fact, the sexual harassment drama movie just got 4 (!!!) nominations: Female Actor in a Leading Role ( Charlize Theron ); 2 nominations for Female Actor in a Supporting Role ( Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie ); and even Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast nomination! Well, that's a lot of stuff for a movie critics have showed little interest besides Theron's performance. Unfortunately, The Farewell got completely snubed here: neither Awkafina or Zhao Shuzhen were able to get some recognition here in spite of their Oscar buzzy performances - a big problem for Zhao's Oscar hopes since she also missed a Golden Globe nomination this...