Cinema and Popcorn

The  Best Supporting Actor race seems strangely predictable at this point, which makes me doubt my own predictions. It's seems like a category made for estabilished white actors who feel overdue for a (first) win, with the exception of maybe Robert De Niro ( Killers of the Flower Moon ). Robert Downey Jr. feels like the frontrunner to me thanks to Oppenheimer 's global success both critically and the fact he's a hugely popular actor going back to great movies now that his MCU duties are done. The performance sure is showy enough and the fact he plays a charismatic political shark gives him a hand full of "Oscar clips", perfect for campaigning purposes. Next, I think Downey Jr.'s MCU scene partner Mark Ruffalo has estabilished himself as one of the early frontrunners for his performance in the Golden Lion-winning Poor Things - it's said to be a high wire comedic performance and let's not forget Ruffalo has already been nominated three times in this cat...

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE The most open Oscar races of the year seem to be the supporting acting ones. The category placement of Michelle Williams as a lead for The Fabelmans opened a huge gap in the Best Supporting Actress predictions and... God!... How exciting it really is! Sarah Polley's Women Talking has been collecting rave reviews since the day it first hit fall film festival circuit, with both Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley receiving some of the best reviews of their careers and the movie's MVPs status. Since Foy got THAT ATROCIOUS SNUB for First Man (2018) despite being in a career's sweet spot thanks to the acclaim (and popularity and awards love) of The Crown TV series, then an Academy Award nomination would not only be a recognition for her performance, but also an apology from the AMPAS. As for Jessie Buckley, she can benefit from some career hit: an impressive breakthrough performance in Beast (2017), followed by an Oscar worthy (but snubed) turn ...

Best Supporting Actor is not anyone's game. At this point of the race (after the Golden Globes wins, the guilds noms and the BAFTA noms), it's clear Brad Pitt is the front runner for his charming performance in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - not only he's as magnetic as he always is, but his award buzz for the performance itself is elevated by the movie's crazy Best Picture buzz and it is expected to get recognition all over the board coming Oscar nominations morning. The other reason why Pitt seems such a lock for a nomination (and a win, since he has been sweeping almost every award) it's because Joe Pesci and Al Pacino are splitting votes for their performances in The Irishman , for sure. Pesci is more restrained as a mob boss, yet he's an haunting presence in the movie and he was singled out by critics as the MVP, winning a hand full of critics prizes. As for Pacino, not many critics considered him The Irishman 's MVP, but h...

Funny that a movie no one was really talking about took home the top prize of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2018 - Peter Farrely's Green Book . While the movie draws some initial comparisons to Driving Miss Daisy , it seems it goes a bit deeper. The story of a friendship between a white chauffeur and a black jazz music star, according to reviews the movie pays respect to both leads' social backgrounds without sacrifing its feel-good vibe. Yeah! A feel-good movie won TIFF (maybe the very first since Slumdog Millionaire ). And guess what? I added Green Book in my Oscar nominees predictions charts at the GoldDerby last Friday! Lucky me! And now, Green Book enters the race for the Academy Award for Best Picture: since 2008,only 1 of the TIFF winners (2011's Where Do We Go Now? ) was not Best Picture nominated, with Slumdog Millionaire (2008), The King's Speech (2010) and 12 Years a Slave (2012) taking home the Oscar for Best Picture at the end of t...