Oscar Update: The Big Eight and The Shorts / The Critics Choice Awards / A Buffet of Truffles / Latest Gurus of Gold

 OSACR UPDATE: THE BIG EIGHT AND THE SHORTS

Here I am updating Oscar nomination predictions with a week left until the nominees are announced.  As usual, you'll see the last position of the film/performer in parentheses and when the category was last predicted.  TFF films are in Bold.

BEST PICTURE (last predicted Mar. 1st)

1) Nomadland (2)

2) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

3) Minari (3)

4) Promising Young Woman (5)

5) Mank (4)

6) One Night in Miami (6)

7) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (7)

8) News of the World (9)

9) Sound of Metal (8)

10) The Father (-)

Other Possibles: Da 5 Bloods, Judas and the Black Messiah

BEST DIRECTOR (Last predicted Feb. 22)

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland (1)

2) David Fincher/Mank (2)

3) Emerald Fennell/Promising Young Woman (3)

4) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (4)

5) Lee Isaac Chung/Minari (5)

6) Regina King/One Night in Miami (6)

7) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods (7)

8) Paul Greengrass/News of the World (9)

9) Florian Zeller/The Father (8)

10) Shaka King/Judas and the Black Messiah (-)

Other Possibles: Darius Marder/Sound of Metal, George C. Wolfe/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

BEST ACTRESS (Last predicted on Feb. 11th)

1) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman (1)

2) Frances McDormand/Nomadland (2)

3) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (3)

4) Andra Day/The united States vs. Billie Holiday (6)

5) Vanessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman (4)

6) Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead (7)

7) Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy (9)

8) Zendaya/Malcolm and Marie (5)

9) Sidney Flanigan/Never Rarely Sometimes Always (8)

10) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit (-)

Other Possibles: Meryl Streep/The Prom, Nichole Behaire/Miss Juneteenth

BEST ACTOR (Last predicted Feb. 11th)

1) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

2) Anthony Hopkins/The Father (2)

3) Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal (3)

4) Gary Oldman/Mank (5)

5) Steven Yeun/Minari (6)

6) Delroy Lindo/Da 5Bloods (4)

7) Tahar Rahim/The Mauritanian (10)

8) Tom Hanks/News of the World (8)

9) Ben Affleck/The Way Back (7)

10) Mads Mikkelsen/Another Round (-)

Other Possibles: Kingsley Ben-Adir/One Night in Miami, John David Washington/Malcolm and Marie

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (Last predicted Feb. 18th)

1) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy (1)

2) Yuh-jung Youn/Minari (2)

3) Olivia Colman/The Father (3)

4) Maria Bakalova/Borat Subsequent Movie Film (5)

5) Amanda Seyfried/Mank (4)

6) Jodie Foster/The Mauritanian (8)

7) Helena Zengel/News of the World (7)

8) Ellen Burstyn/Pieces of a Woman (6)

9) Dominique Fishback/Judas and the Black Messiah (9)

10) Saoirse Ronan/Ammonite (-)

Other Possibles: Olivia Cooke/Sound of Metal, Talia Ryder/Never rarely Sometimes Always

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (Last predicted Feb. 18th)

1) Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah (1)

2) Sacha Baron Cohen/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2)

3) Leslie Odom, Jr./One Night in Miami (3)

4) Chadwick Boseman/Da 5 Bloods (4)

5) Paul Raci/Sound of Metal (4)

6) Jared Leto/The Little Things (8)

7) David Strathairn/Nomadland (7)

8) Bill Murray/On the Rocks (6)

9) Stanley Tucci/Supernova (-)

10) Bo Burnham/Promising Young Woman (-)

Other Possibles: Frank Langella/The Trail of the Chicago 7, Mark Rylance/The Trial of the Chicago7, Glynn Turman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (Last predicted Feb. 18th)

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Promising Young Woman (2)

3) Minari (3)

4) Mank (4)

5) Sound of  Metal (5)

6) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (7)

7) Judas and the Black Messiah (8)

8) Soul (9)

9) Da 5 Bloods (6)

10) Palm Springs (10)

Other Possibles: On the Rocks, The 40 Year Old Version

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (Last predicted Feb. 18th)

1) Nomadland (1)

2) One Night in Miami (2)

3) The Father (4)

4) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (3)

5) News of the World (6)

6) First Cow (5)

7) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (8)

8) The White Tiger (-)

9) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (7)

10) Emma (9)

Other Possibles: The Mauritanian, Pieces of a Woman

BEST ANIMATED SHORT (First prediction)

1) If Anything Happens I Love You

2) Out

3) Burrow

4) Kapaemahu

5) The Snail and the Whale

6) Opera

7) To Gerard

8) Genius Loci

9) Yes-People

10) Traces

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT (First prediction)

1) A Love Song for Latasha

2) Hysterical Girl 

3) A Concerto Is a Conversation

4) Colette 

5) What would Sophia Loren Do?

6) Hunger Ward

7) Abortion Helpline

8) Speed Cubers

9) Do Not Split

10) Call Center Blues

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT (First prediction)

1) The Human Voice

2) Two Distant Strangers

3) The Letter Room

4) Feeling Through

5) Da Yie

6) The Present

7) White Eye

8) The Kicksled

9) The van

10) Bittu

THE CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

The Critics Choice Awards were held last night.  TFF films were nominated for a dozen of them.

Nomadland (6): Best Picture, Director, Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing

The Father (4): Best Actor, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay and Editing

First Cow (2): Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography

Nomadland was the evening's big winner with four awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography.  The Father and First Cow did not secure any trophy from the occasion.

Acting winners were: Carey Mulligan-Best Actress/Promising Young Woman, Chadwick Boseman-Best Actor/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Maria Bakalova/Supporting Actress/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Daniel Kaluuya-Supporting Actor/Judas and the Black Messiah, Alan Kim/Young Actor/Minari and The Trial of the Chicago 7 won for Best Ensemble.

The BFCA spread the wealth with only four films winning more than one of the prizes: Nomandlan-4, Ma Rainey's-3, Promising Young Woman-2 and Minari-2.

Complete coverage is here from Indiewire.

A  BUFFET OF TRUFFLES

As Oscar nomination voting is ongoing, TFF #47 documentary selection, The Truffle Hunters continues to have a high profile.  There were three separate interviews posted this week that I came across with the film's directors Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw.

The film is definitely in Oscar contention for Best Feature Documentary (and maybe ought to also be in the conversation for cinematography).  Fully eight of Gold Derby's 24 experts are currently predicting it to be nominated.

I have linked all three of the interviews with Dweck and Kershaw below:

From National Public Radio

From Salon.com

From MoveableFeast.com 

LATEST GURUS FOCUSES ON THE BIG EIGHT

The latest Gurus of Gold forecast focuses on the Big Eight categories. Picture, Director, the the acting and Screenplay categories.  in an interesting twist, we were asked to name just the top two contenders in all but the Best Picture category.  

Take a look at the new charts. They were posted on Friday.  As you may note, my latest Best Picture forecast from above has Nomadland back in the lead.  The race between it and Chicago 7 is tight and fluid.  Enough so that in the space of 72 hours, my prediction has changed.

Here's the link to the latest from we Gurus.

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Oscar Update: Supporting and Screenplays / Writers Guild Nominations Announced / Touring Nomadland

 OSCAR UPDATE: SUPPORTING AND SCREENPLAYS

Here's my latest take on Oscar nomination predictions for the Supporting Acting and Screenplay categories.  My last predictions for the Supporting Acting categories was on Feb. 1st and for Screenplays, it was  on Feb. 4th.  The previous position for a performer of film is indicated in parentheses.  TFF films are in Bold.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy (6)

2) Youn Yuh-jung/Minari (3)

3) Olivia Colman/The Father (2)

4) Amanda Seyfried/Mank (1)

5) Maria Bakalova/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (5)

6) Ellen Burstyn/Pieces of a Woman (4)

7) Helena Zengel/News of the World (10)

8) Jodie Foster/The Mauritanian (8)

9) Dominique Fishback/Judas and the Black Messiah (7)

10) Olivia Cooke/Sound of Metal (-)

Other Possible: Saoirse Ronan/Ammonite

Hot: Glenn Close, Helena Zengel, Olivia Cooke

Not: Amanda Seyfried, Dominique Fishback, Saoirse Ronan

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah (1)

2) Sacha Baron Cohen/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2)

3) Leslie Odom, Jr./One Night in Miami (3)

4) Chadwick Boseman/Da 5 Bloods (4)

5) Paul Raci/Sound of Metal (5)

6) Bill Murray/On the Rocks (6)

7) David Strathairn/Nomadland (7)

8) Jared Leto/The Little Things (-)

9) Mark Rylance/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (8)

10) Glynn Turman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (9)

Other Possibles: Stanley Tucci/Supernova, Eddie Redmayne/The Trial of the Chicago 7

Hot: Jared Leto

Not: Stanley Tucci

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Nomadland (1)

2) One Night in Miami (2)

3) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (3)

4) The Father (4)

5) First Cow (5)

6) News of the World (6)

7) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (7)

8) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (8)

9) Emma (9)

10) Pieces of a Woman (10)

Other Possibles: The White Tiger, The Mauritanian

No Hots and Nots...a really stable category at the moment.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Promising Young Woman (2)

3) Minari (3)

4) Mank (4)

5) Sound of Metal (8)

6) Da 5 Bloods (5)

7) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (7)

8) Judas and the Black Messiah (9)

9) Soul (6)

10) Palm Springs (10)

Other Possibles: Malcolm and Marie, On the Rocks

Hot: Sound of Metal

Not: Soul

WRITERS GUILD NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

The Writers Guild of America announced their nominees for scripting excellence in film in three categories on Tuesday.  As always, there are some omissions that are considered possible/probable nominees that were ineligible for consideration (see note below).  The only TFF film that made the list was All In: The Fight for Democracy in the Documentary script category.

Nominees are as follows;

Adapted Screenplay:

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (#8 in my predictions above)

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (#3)

News of the World (#6)

One Night in Miami (#2)

The White Tiger (I've listed as an "Other Possible")

Both The Father, Pieces of a Woman and Nomadland were ineligible under WGA guidelines.

Original Screenplay:

Judas and The Black Messiah (#8)

Palm Springs  (#10)

Promising Young Woman (#2)

Sound of Metal (#5)

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (#1)

Ineligible Original Screenplays included: Mank and Minari.

Documentary Screenplays:

All In: The Fight for Democracy

The Dissident

Herb Alpert Is...

Red Penguins

Totally Under Control

Gold Derby has a rundown of ineligible screenplays here.

TOURING NOMADLAND 

Lots of new stuff  about Nomaldand as it nears its release date tomorrow.  

First, a new profile from Vulture on director/writer and more Chloe Zhao.  That's linked here.

SlashFilm also looks at Zhao and reports that she has become the most awarded single film maker of any award season (and there's still a ways to go!).  That analysis is linked here.

And Time digs in on the real people and stories as well as the book by Jessica Bruder that formed the basis for the film.  That article can be accessed here.

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Oscar Update-New Categories: International Feature, Documentary, Cinematography, Film Editing / NYFCC and More / Kershaw Talks Truffles

    OSCAR UPDATE: NEW CATEGORIES!

After several weeks of posting and updating the topline Oscar categories (Picture, Director, Acting and Writing), here's my first stab at additional categories beyond those eight.  As always, TFF films are in Bold.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) Another Round

2) Quo Vadis Aida

3) Collective

4) I'm No Longer Here

5) The Night of Kings

6) The Two of Us

7) Dear Comrades

8) A Sun

9) My Little Sister

10) Charlatan

Other Possibles: Sun Children, This Is a Burial Not a Resurrection, Notturno

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Stacey Abrams from All In: The Fight for Democracy

1) Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution

2) Dick Johnson Is Dead

3) Collective

4) Boys State

5) Time

6) All In: The Fight for Democracy

7) Welcome to Chechnya

8) The Truffle Hunters

9) John Lewis: Good Trouble

10) The Dissident

Other Possibles: The Way I See It, MLK/FBI, Totally Under Control, The Social Dilemma

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Mank

2) Nomadland

3) News of the World

4) Tenet

5) Judas and the Black Messiah

6) Minari

7) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

8) Da 5 Bloods

9) The Trial of the Chicago 7

10) First Cow

Other Possibles: One Night in Miami, Midnight Sky, I'm Thinking of Ending Things

FILM EDITING

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7

2) Nomadland

3) Mank

4) News of the World

5) Tenet

6) The Father

7) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

8) One Night in Miami

9) Da 5 Bloods

10) Judas and the Black Messiah

Other Possibles: Minari, Sound of Metal

NYFCC AND MORE

The New York Film Critics Circle awarded their superlatives for film in 2020 last night.  The NYFCC announcement kicks off a week that will see a number of major film awards announcements including the American Film Institute, the National Board of Review and The Independent Spirit nominations among others.

From the NYFCC, TFF winners:

Best Picture: First Cow

Best Director: Chloe Zhao/Nomadland

KERSHAW TALKS TRUFFLES

The Truffle Hunters has come on like gangbusters as we have moved through the end of 2020 into the beginning of 2021 as a serious threat in the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature.  The TFF #47 selection from Sony Pictures Classics sits in my first pass at predicting the nominees for that category just outside the possible nominees at #8 (in an incredibly competitive category).  Meanwhile Variety's Clayton Davis has the film at #3 and Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter has it at #5.

In light of all of that, Gold Derby featured an interview with co-director Gregory Kershaw this week.

You can take a look at that using this link.

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Oscar Updates: Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay / Online Film Critics Announce Nominations

OSCAR UPDATES: SUPPORTING ACTRESS, SUPPORTING ACTOR, ADAPTED SCREENPLAY, ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

 I'm continuing what I began last Monday with an acceleration of updating Oscar nomination predictions as we move closer to the announcement on Feb. 28th.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Supporting Actress updated since I last posted this category on  Dec. 31st.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Amanda Seyfried/Mank (1)

2) Youn Yuh-jung/Minari (3)

3) Olivia Colman/The Father (2)

4) Maria Bakalova/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (6)

5) Ellen Burstyn/Pieces of a Woman (4)

6) Glenn Close/Hillbilly Elegy (5)

7) Jodie Foster/The Mauritanian (9)

8) Helena Zengel/News of the World (7)

9) Saoirse Ronan/Ammonite (8)

10) Candace Bergen/Let Them Talk (10)

Other Possibles: Dominique Fischback/Judas and the Black Messiah, Julianne Moore/The Glorias

Hot: Youn Yuh-jung/Minari, Maria Bakalova/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Jodie Foster/The Mauritanian

Hey think about: Valerie Mahaffrey/French Exit, Swankie/Nomadland

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Supporting Actor updated since I last posted this category on  Jan. 4th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah (3)

2) Leslie Odom, Jr./One Night in Miami (2)

3) Sacha Baron Cohen/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

4) Chadwick Boseman/Da 5 Bloods (4)

5) Paul Raci/Sound of Metal (6)

6) Bill Murray/On the Rocks (5)

7) Stanley Tucci/Supernova (7)

8) Mark Rylance/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (8)

9) David Stratharin/Nomadland (9)

10) Charles Turman/Mank (10)

Other Possibles: Glynn Turman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Frank Langella/The Trial of the Chicago 7, Eddie Redmayne/The Trial of the Chicago 7, Yayha Abdul-Mateen II/The Trial of the Chicago 7

Hot: Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah

Not: Sacha Baron Cohen/The Trial of the Chicago 7

Hey think about: Arliss Howard/Mank, Will Patton/Minari

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Adapted Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Jan. 7th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Nomadland (1)

2) One Night in Miami (3)

3) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (4)

4) The Father (2)

5) News of the World (5)

6) First Cow (6) (TFF #46)

7) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (7)

8) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (8)

9) Pieces of a Woman (10)

10) The White Tiger (-)

Other Possibles: The Mauritanian, The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Hot: The White Tiger

Not: The Mauritanian

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Original Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Jan. 11th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Promising Young Woman (2)

3) Mank (3)

4) Minari (4)

5) Soul (5)

6) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (7)

7) Judas and the Black Messiah (6)

8) Da 5 Bloods (8)

9) Sound of Metal (9)

10) Palm Springs (10)

Other Possibles: Malcolm and Marie, On the Rocks, The 40 Year Old Version, Ammonite

Hot: Never Rarely Sometimes Always

Not: Judas and the Black Messiah

ONLINE FILM CRITICS ANNOUNCE NOMINATIONS

Earlier this week the Online Film Critics Society announced its nominees for film excellence in 2020.  Here's how TFF  films fared:

Nomadland: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (McDormand), Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography

First Cow (TFF #46): Best Picture, Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography

The Father: Best Actor (Hopkins), Supporting Actress (Colman)

The complete list from the OFCS is linked here from Awards Watch.

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Oscar Updates: Director, Actress, Actor

 OSCAR UPDATES: DRIECTOR, ACTRESS, ACTOR

In this post, I catch up on my latest predictions and, for the first time this Oscar season, I include more than one category in a post.  As we get closer to the announcement nominations, it's time to accelerate predictions to begin to include categories beyond the major eight (picture, director, actress, actor, Supporting actress, supporting actor, adapted and original screenplays).  This week's posts (today's and Thursday's) will update the major eight categories and then next week I'll begin to add in some of the others.

BEST DIRECTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Direction updated since I last posted this category on  Dec. 21st.  A director's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Chloe Zhao/Nomadland (1)

2) David Fincher/Mank (2)

3) Aaron Sorkin/The Trial of the Chicago 7 (3)

4) Regina King/One Night in Miami (5)

5) Lee Isaac Chung/Minari(4)

6) George C. Wolfe/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (6)

7) Paul Greengrass/News of the World (8)

8) Spike Lee/Da 5 Bloods (9)

9) Florian Zeller/The Father (7)

10) Shaka King/Judas and the Black Messiah (10)

Other Possibles: Emerald Fennell/Promising Young Woman, Darius Marder/Sound of Metal, Christopher Nolan/Tenet, Kelly Reichardt/First Cow (TFF #46)

Hot: Emerald Fennell/Promising Young Woman

Not: Florian Zeller/The Father

BEST ACTRESS

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actress updated since I last posted this category on  Dec. 24th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Frances McDormand/Nomadland (1)

2) Venessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman (2)

3) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (3)

4) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman (4)

5) Andra Day/The United States vs. Billie Holiday (5)

6) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit (7)

7) Sidney Flanigan/Never Rarely Sometimes Always (-)

8) Kate Winslet/Ammonite (9)

9) Meryl Streep/The Prom (6)

10) Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead (8)

Other Possibles: Zendaya/Malcolm and Marie, Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy, Meryl Streep/Let Them Talk, Nicole Behaire/Miss Juneteenth

Hot: Sidney Flanigan/Never Rarely Sometimes Always, 

Not: Meryl Streep/The Prom, Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead

BEST ACTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actor updated since I last posted this category on  Dec. 28th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

2) Anthony Hopkins/The Father (2)

3) Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal (3)

4) Delroy Londo/Da Five Bloods (4)

5) Steven Yeun/Minari (8)

6) Gary Oldman/Mank (5)

7) Tom Hanks/News of the World (6)

8) Kingsley Ben-Adir/One Night in Miami (7)

9) Ben Affleck/The Way Back (9)

10) LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah (10)

Other Posssibles: Colin Firth/Supernova, John David Washington/Malcom and Marie

Hot: Steven Yeun/Minari

Not: Gary Oldman/Mank

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Oscar Update: Best Original Screenplay / NSFC Names Winners / Feinberg on Docs and International Features

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Original Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Dec. 10th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Promising Young Woman (5)

3) Mank (2) 

4) Minari (3)

5) Soul (4)

6) Judas and the Black Messiah (6)

7) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (8)

8) Da 5 Bloods (7)

9) Sound of Metal (-)

10) Palm Springs (9)

Other Possibles: On the Rocks, the 40 Year old Version, Ammonite

Hot: Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal

Not: On the Rocks

Coming on Thursday...a new look at Best Picture.

NSFC NAMES WINNERS

The National Society of Film Critics met this past Saturday and decided on their superlatives for 2020.  TFF #47 selection Nomadland was the big winner as it grabbed four prizes including Best Picture.

Here's the list of winners or runners-up from TFF #47 OR TFF #46:

Best Picture: Winner: Nomadland, Runner-up: First Cow (TFF #46)

Best Direction: Winner: Chloe Zhao/Nomadland, 2nd Runner-up: Kelly Reichardt/First Cow (TFF #46)

Best Actress: Winner: Frances McDormand/Nomadland

Best Screenplay: Runner-up: Kelly Reichardt/First Cow (TFF #46)

Best Cinematography: Winner: Nomadland

Best Foreign Language Film: Runner-up: Beanpole (TFF #46)

Take a look at all of the winners and runners-up at Gold Derby using this link.

FEINBERG ON DOCS AND INTERNATIONAL FEATURES

The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg posted an article on Saturday focusing on the race for Oscar nominations in the Documentary Feature and International Feature categories.  Feinberg lists three TFF #47 films, one in both categories in the body of the article:

Docs:

All In: The Fight for Democracy

The Bee Gees: How Do You Men a Broken Heart

Notturno.

Feinberg also puts Notturno in the International Film category as well.

You can catch the rest of the article by clicking here.

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Oscar Update: Best Adapted Screenplay / Indiewire Lists: Top 50 of 2020 / Indiewire Listrs: Contenders for Best International Feature

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Adapted Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Dec. 7th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) Nomadland (1)

2) The Father (3)

3) One Night in Miami (2)

4) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (4)

5) News of the World (5)

6) First Cow (7)

7) I'm Thinking of Ending Things (6)

8) Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm (8)

9) The Mauritanian (-)

10) Pieces of a Woman (10)

Other Possibles: The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Midnight Sky, The White Tiger

Hot: The Mauritanian, First Cow

Not: Billie Holiday

I'll have a look at Original Screenplay on Monday.

INDIEWIRE LISTS: TOP 50 OF 2020

Indiewire posted its list of  the best 50 films of 2020 according to the 200+ critics they surveyed.  That story was posted on Jan. 5th.  Among the 50 films were five films from either TFF #46 or the TFF #47 list of films that would have played the fest.  Here's where those five films landed:

#27 Ammonite

#22 The Assistant

#6 Beanpole

#3 First Cow

#1 Nomadland

The complete listing of all 50 films is linked here.

INDIEWIRE LISTS: CONTENDERS FOR BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

Meanwhile, Indiewire's Anne Thompson published an updated selection of what she considers the frontrunners for the Best International Feature Oscar.  Among her frontrunners are three films that would have been screening in Telluride last Labor Day had the fest occurred. 

Thompson's list included:

Charlatan

Apples

Notturno.

The four other frontrunners she names include Another Round, I'm No Longer Here, Collective and My Little Sister.

Thompson's article can be found here.

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Oscar Update: Best Actor / Zhao on Nomadland / THR's 45 films from Oscar

 QSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTOR

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Actor updated since I last posted this category on  Nov. 26th.  A performer's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 performers are indicated in Bold.

1) Chadwick Boseman/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

2) Anthony Hopkins/The Father (2)

3) Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal (5)

4) Delroy Lindo/Da 5 Bloods (3)

5) Gary Oldman/Mank (4)

6) Tom Hanks/News of the World (6)

7) Kingsley Ben-Adir/One Night in Miami (8)

8) Steven Yeun/Minari (7)

9) Ben Affleck/The Way Back (9)

10) LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah (-)

Other possibles: Colin Firth/Supernova, Mads Mikkelson/Another Round

Hot: Riz Ahmed/Sound of Metal, LaKeith Stanfield/Judas and the Black Messiah

Not: George Clooney/The Midnight Sky

Nest post: Best Supporting Actress update.

ZHAO ON NOMADLAND

From Down Under comes this interview with writer/director (producer and editor) Chloe Zhao about Nomadland.  The film seems to be the front runner for Best Picture with Zhao also looking like a nominee (and perhaps favorite to win) for Best Director as well as Best Adapted Screenplay.  She could also snag a fourth nomination for editing the film.

The interview here is from the Australian website News.com.au and writer Wenlai Ma.

The link is here.

THR'S 45 FILMS FOR OSCAR

The Hollywood Reporter's Tyler Coates has put together a list of 45 films that are suggested as the most likely to be influential in this year's Oscar competition.  Four TFF films (from #46 and #47) are among the list.  They are:

Ammonite

The Father

Frist Cow (from TFF #46)

Nomadland

Missing from the list, which surprised me some was TFF #46's The Assistant

The complete list of films from THR are linked here.

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Oscar Update: Best Original Screenplay / TFF and Top Films of 2020 Lists: Associated Press / Cuaron with Zhao

 OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Here are my latest Oscar nomination predictions for Best Original Screenplay updated since I last posted this category on  Nov. 12th.  A screenplay's past position is indicated to the right in parentheses.  TFF #47 films are indicated in Bold.

1) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (1)

2) Mank (2)

3) Minari (3)

4) Soul (4)

5) Promising Young Woman (5)

6) Judas and the Black Messiah (6)

7) Da 5 Bloods (9)

8) Never Rarely Sometimes Always (8)

9) Palm Springs (7)

10) On the Rocks (-)

Other possibles: The 40 Year Version, Sound of Metal, Ammonite

Hot: Da 5 Bloods, On the Rocks

Not: Ammonite, Palm Springs

TFF AND TOP FILMS OF 2020 LISTS: ASSOCIATED PRESS

As we approach the end of 2020 (come on Jan. 1st!), more and more outlets are naming their "Best Of" film lists for the year.  Today's list is from the Associated Press and as is the custom jere, we ask the question: "Which Telluride Films made the list?"

Here's the answer to that question from both of AP's film writers' Top 10 lists:

Lindsey Bahr:

#1 Nomadland (TFF #47)

Jake Coyle:

#1 First Cow (TFF #46)

 His Honorable Mentions include Nomadland from what would have been TFF's lineup.

Here's the link to the complete article.

CUARON WITH ZHAO

Photo from Pat Martin/Interviewmagazine.com

Interviewmagazine.com has a scintillating interview pairing posted at their website.  The interview features Oscar winning director Alfonso Cuaron interviewing almost certain future Oscar nominee Chloe Zhao, the director of Nomadland.

Both participants have been to Telluride.  Zhao with The Rider and this year...via a Drive In presentation in Los Angeles, Nomadland.  Cuaron too has made The SHOW with Gravity and Roma.

I'm pleased to pass along the link to the interview that was posted Dec. 3rd.

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