Cinema and Popcorn

In the previous posts, it was all about the sound categories. Today it's all about the "visual" categories: editing, cinematography, production design, costume design, makeup & hair and visual effects. Epic productions fare well in these races (usually), but there's no way to deny a spot to smaller or even international productions with widespread critical acclaim. Big players in these fields usually translate to Best Picture love (like Dune , most recently, for example), but this year feels a bit overcrowded with big quality productions - Avatar: The Way of Water , Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , Babylon , Elvis ,  Top Gun: Maverick , The Fabelmans and The Batman . Still, I feel Netflix's All Quiet On the Western Front might have a nice show here: war movies tend to do good in these categories and since Netflix lost its biggest Oscar horses due to less enthusiastic buzz-killing (non-enthusiastic) critical receptions for Bardo , White Noise and Blonde , I ...

We (re)start with the sound categories: Best Original Score, Best Original Song and Best Sound. These fields are often associated with bigger productions and (in Best Original Song, specially) animated features. So, there's no surprise to predict Top Gun: Maverick as the top contender in two categories: the box-office smash hit features the best sound work of the year so far, with exquisite editing and mixing of all the sounds in the action flick. Plus, it also features the super balad " Hold My Hand " by Lady Gaga , who seems to be determined to become a two-times Oscar winner. But there are also other big names here: John Williams is back scoring another Spielberg flick ( The Fabelmans ) and reviews praise his work (as always); Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connor (both fresh from their Oscar win for " No Time to Die " song) are back with two tunes for Pixar's Turning Red ; Taylor Swift wrote and sang " Carolina " for Where the Crawdads Sin...

When I started publishing my Academy Awards 2023 nominees predictions, I must confess I was stopped by a huge amount of professional work and I wasn't fast enough so I could publish it before going on vacation. The thing is: Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Telluride Film Festival happened meanwhile, shaping (and changing) the awards prospects of a big couple movies. And things keep changing! Soon we will have the first reactions and reviews for some releases set for New York Film Festival, which starts screenings today, and then there will be Middleburg Film Festival as well (and BFI London Film Festival starts on October 5 for 2 weeks of screening). So, it's time to recap the big winners of each major film festival until now, hoping it can give us some clarity besides the box-office numbers: SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL GRAND JURY PRIZES U.S. Dramatic Competition – Nanny (Nikyatu Jusu) U.S. Documentary Competition – The Exiles (Ben Klein and Violet Col...

DECISION TO LEAVE Park Chan-wook sets a hugely intriguing (and romantic) crime puzzle that's both entertaining and absorving. Stylish yet it never sacrifices its narrative maze that comes full circle once you enter the third act - here, you can see a director in full control of his craft and directorial signature. Amazing editing work from Kim Sang-bum and  Jo Yeong-wook 's score is emotionally ressonant . Tang Wei is magnetic - she casts a spell since the first time you see her on-screen - while  Park Hae-il makes for an engaging and sympathetic hero (yet a flawed man). Decision to Leave elevates the romantic whodunit genre and sets the bar really high in the international filmmaking field. Still, it is not Park Chan-wook's masterpiece: that title still belongs to the beautiful (and thrilling) The Handmaiden (2016), but Decision to Leaves ranks right after that one. One of the best films you will see all year! RATING: 9 / 10 TOP GUN: MAVERICK A sequel to 1986's c...