Cinema and Popcorn

Now it's time for Best Supporting Actress! Just let me point how hard it is to predict these categories, when there are a lot of contenders emerging from Fall film festivals these days. So, let's start: First, the eternal nominee Glenn Close , for her role as a strong-minded and stubborn grandmother in Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy . Those who read the novel say it is a juicy role up to the level of Close's talents, so it feels like a natural contender. I'm truly convinced she has a seat waiting for her in the Best Supporting Actress nominees lineup, although I've a hunch Hillbilly Elegy will underperform both critically and awards-wise - Ron Howards can flirt with both cinematic brilliance and cinematic blandness, but the performances in his movies are mostly above average, so... And huess who's back competing against Glenn Close? Olivia Colman , who plays the daughter of a man with dementia and suffers with his loss of memory and insight. In case you missed...

 After a kinda weak Best Actress race last year, 2020's race looks insane to me! On the top of my predictions: Viola Davis for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom ! She's starring another adaptation of an August Wilson play (the last being Fences , which earned her an Oscar back in 2016/17), but this time she'll be playing not an wife in crisis but Ma Rainey, the Mother of Blues. While not much is known about the project, it will be directed by Broadway veteran George C. Wolfe and early word on the project say Davis delivers an amazing performance - the hype is here and the buzz is strong at such an early stage! Up next: former Oscar darling Kate Winslet , who plays Mary Anning, a real-life self-taught palaeontologist who falls in love with another woman in Ammonite - it's a Francis Lee directed movie (the man who brought us God's Own Country ) and considering how great he is with actors PLUS Winslet's talents, I'm expecting nothing less than brilliant (and the ...

I'm one of those who believes in Da 5 Bloods Oscar chances... so, as you can see, I'm predicting a Best Director nomination for Spike Lee - not only has the AMPAS unlocked some love for him and his work recently ( BlacKkKlansman ), but I'm sure the movie will have a heavy awards campaign from Netflix. Don't get me wrong: I do think Lee deserves the nomination, since Da 5 Bloods is fueled by the energy Lee instilates in the movie (and it is more ambitious filmmaking than his Oscar nominated work in BlacKkKlansman 's). David Fincher also directs another big Oscar contender coming from the "Netflix factory" - Mank , the story about the many struggles to get the classic Citizen Kane made and released. Not a lot of news about this project until today (it got an official instagram page it seems), but given the talent involved and the way Fincher was able to balance style/narrative/acting in both his previous Best Director nominated works ( The Curious Case o...

Some new early reactions, new trailers and even some releases... I had to revise my Best Picture nominees predictions (1st ROUND), since these cinematic news changed my predictions in other categories and it wouldn't make sense with my previous Best Picture predicted nominees. So, let's get started: BEST PICTURE Just like I said in a previous post: movies who need Fall film festivals to get major buzz and get picked by a distributor are in trouble this year! That's why my picks lean toward productions that come from bigger studios, with top contender Minari being the exception. At this point, I think Netflix movies are a step ahead: Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods is an urgent movie for the #AllLivesMatter (and #BlackLivesMatter) times and it delivers a big emotional punch and social critique that feel more relevant than ever (and it got universal critical acclaim!); and David Fincher is back to Oscar race with a movie about the legal battle for Citizen Kane ... Ma...

So, I decided to stop the "Best of the Decade" posts for a while and I decided to take some time studying the upcoming productions (and some which have already been released) with some award potential. Of course, not every contender will be a Best Picture player and the COVID-19 outbreak might well affect the way audiences contact with Oscar hopefuls. What's going to happen to film festivals? Will there be generated some "Oscar talk" if audiences fail to generate box-office impressive enough in order to start a blockbuster's awards campaign? What about the streaming giants distribution strategies for Oscar qualifying purposes? A lot of question marks... But, hey, here are some Oscar-looking contenders for us to keep under the radar in the next months (in alphabetical order):