Cinema and Popcorn

 

BEST PICTURE While I am quite optimistic and confident about the 8 first contenders, I am not so sure about the #9 and #10 seats. Neon is having an amazing year with Sentimental Value , It Was Just an Accident and The Secret Agent doing great with the awards bodies, but so it's No Other Choice . Can the distributor get 4 (!!!!) films in the final Best Picture nominees shortlist? If not, I consider No Other Choice as the most fragile of the bunch in the awards conversation. The final spot: I always bet on a blockbuster, but this year's reception of blockbuster has been kinda... lackluster actually. I had Wicked: For Good , but the second part is considerably less acclaimed than the first movie and even audiences recognize the songs are not as epic and the narrative is not as interesting... Can it get enough #1 votes? My guess is "not". Then I considered Avatar: Fire and Ash , which was received with underwhelming reviews, but it is still way too early to get the aud...

BEST PICTURE BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Leonardo DiCaprio  is a true movie star and the enthusiastic reception of Paul Thomas Anderson is earning him a ton of rave reviews while the movie seems to be a pretty solid contender in virtually every category at the Oscars.  Timothée Chalamet seems to have landed the a charismatic movie star role in MARTY SUPREME while  Danial Day-Lewis  is acting (and Oscar royalty) and he looks marvelous in ANEMONE trailer.  Jeremy Allen White is fresh from THE BEAR TV series glory and his performance as Bruce Springsteen has already earned him raves (and the AMPAS can't resist a musician's biopic). Last spot goes to Wagner Moura who carries THE SECRET AGENT/O AGENTE SECRETO like the movie star he proves to be - it's a great performance in a great film that will (almost for sure) represent Brazil for Best International Film and with a huge potential to pop in Best Original Screenplay, Director and maybe Picture if Neon decides t...