MTFB Oscar Update: Makeup-Hair, Costumes and More / SAG Awards and TFF #51 / Film Independent Spirit Awards and TFF #51 / Misericordia Trailer

 MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: MAKEUP/HAIR, COSTUMES AND MORE

We're in the stretch run now.  Oscar Night is down to less than week from today.  In today's post I update these categories: Makeup/Hair, Costumes, Sound and Visual Effects.  I last posted predictions for these categories on Feb. 10th.  TFF #51 films are in Bold.  Their previous predicted position is indicated to the right in parentheses.

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) The Substance (1)

2) Wicked (2)

3) Emilia Perez (3)

4) Nosferatu (5)

5) A Different Man (4)

BEST SOUND DESIGN

1) Dune Part Two (3)

2) Wicked (2)

3) A Complete Unknown (1)

4) Emilia Perez (4)

5) The Wild Robot (5)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1) Wicked (1)

2) Nosferatu (3)

3) Conclave (2)

4) A Complete Unknown (4)

5) Gladiator II (5)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Dune Part Two (1)

2) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2)

3) Wicked (3)

4) Better Man (4)

5) Alien: Romulus (5)

Comment: I have no TFF #51 films to win in any of these four categories.  The real battle among these four is Sound Design which appears to be a down to the wire race between Dune 2 and Wicked.  I also wouldn't be shocked if A Complete unknown sneaks on Oscar night.

Based on my latest predictions in the feature categories, here's what MTFB predicts will happen on Sunday night:

Five TFF #51 win nine Oscars

Anora: Best Picture, Direction and Original Screenplay.

Conclave: Adapted Screenplay and Editing.

Emilia Perez: Supporting Actress and Song.

A Real Pain: Supporting Actor.

No Other Land: Documentary.

The rest:

The Brutalist: Actor, Cinematography and Score.

The Substance: Actress, Makeup/Hair.

Wicked: Production Design and Costumes.

Dune Part Two: Sound and Visual Effects.

I'm Still Here: International Feature.

Animated: The Wild Robot.

MTFB is saying it'll be a "spread the wealth" night with no film winning more than three Oscars.  BUT...FINAL MTFB predictions are coming on Thursday.

SAG AWARDS AND TFF #51

It was a good night at the SAG Awards for TFF #51 films.  Telluride films won three of the six film categories.  Zoe Saldana won Supporting Actress for Emilia Perez while Kieran Culkin won Supporting Actor for A Real Pain and Conclave win the big prize being named Best Cast.

Other awards were won by Demi Moore (Best Actress/The Substance ) and Timothee Chalamet (Best Actor/A Complete Unknown).  The Fall Guy won  for Best Stunt Cast.

Moore and Chalamet's wins could portend Oscar wins next week and the Conclave win suggests that Anora's anointing is not a foregone conclusion.  The SAG Best Cast award has about a 50% record of going on to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS AND TFF #51

The Spirit Awards were announced on Saturday and five TFF films were winners of seven of the categories with Anora having a big night winning three awards.  Here are the TFF #51 results:

Anora: Best Feature, Direction and Lead Performance (Madison).

A Real Pain: Best Supporting Performance (Culkin) and Screenplay.

Nickel Boys: Best Cinematography.

No Other Land: Best Documentary.

The complete list of winners is linked here from Film Independent.

MISERICORDIA TRAILER

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MTFB Oscar Update: Lead Acting and More / New York Film Critics and TFF / Independent Spirit Awards and TFF / National Board of Review and TFF / Gotham Awards and TFF /

 MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: LEAD ACTING AND MORE

I'm updating the Lead Acting categories today and adding three other categories going forward: Cinematography, Editing and Production Design.  The acting categories were last updated on Nov. 21st.  An actor's previous position is indicated in (parentheses).  TFF #51 films are in Bold. 

BEST ACTRESS

1) Mikey Madison/Anora (1)

2) Angelina Jolie/Maria (2)

3) Karla Sofia Gascon/Emilia Perez (3)

4) Saoirse Ronan/The Outrun (5)

5) Marianne Jean-Baptiste/Hard Truths (-)

Others: Nicole Kidman/Babygirl, Demi Moore/The Substance and Cynthia Erivo/Wicked.

BEST ACTOR

1) Ralph Fiennes/Conclave (1)

2) Adrien Brody/The Brutalist (2)

3) Timothee Chalamet/A Complete Unknown (4)

4) Colman Domingo/Sing Sing (3)

5) Daniel Craig/Queer (5)

Others: Paul Mescal/Gladiator II, Sebastian Stan/The Apprentice and Jesse Eisenberg/ A Real Pain.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Dune Part Two

2) The Brutalist

3) Maria

4) Nosferatu

5) Gladiator II

Others: Conclave, Emilia Perez and Nickel Boys.

BEST EDITING

1) The Brutalist

2) Anora

3) Emilia Perez

4) Dune Part Two

5) Conclave

Others: Gladiator II, September 5 and Wicked.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Dune Part Two

2) Wicked

3) Gladiator II

4) The Brutalist

5) Blitz

Others: Conclave, Nosferatu and A Complete Unknown.

NEW YORK CRITICS AND TFF

TFF films had a good day Tuesday with a number awards from The New York Film Critics Circle.

Best Director: RaMell Ross/Nickel Boys

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin/A Real Pain

Best Screenplay: Sean Baker/Anora

Best International Feature: All We Imagine as Light

Best Cinematography: Nickel Boys

Best Non-Fiction Film: No Other Land

Best First Film: Janet Planet (TFF #50)

The Brutalist was named Best Film of 2024.

The complete list of winners is here from the NYFCC website.

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS NOMINATIONS AND TFF

Fully nine TFF films received at least Independent Spirit Award nomination yesterday.  The nine films totaled 20 nominations collectively led by Anora's five.  Here's the breakdown by film:

Anora (5): Best Feature, Direction, Performance (Madison), Supporting Performance (Burisov) and another Supporting Performance (Karagulian).

The Apprentice (3): Best Direction, Editing.

Janet Planet (from TFF #50) (3): Best First Feature, First Screenplay and Cinematography.

Nickel Boys (2): Best Feature and Cinematography.

A Real Pain (2): Best Screenplay and Supporting Performance (Culkin).

The Piano Lesson (2): Best First Feature and Supporting Performance (Deadwyler).

September 5 (1): Best Editing.

No Other Land (1): Best Documentary.

All We Imagine as Light (1); Best International Feature.

Here's the complete list of all nominees from FilmIndependent.org

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW AND TFF

The National Board of Review released its annual list of best films from the year yesterday. TFF films fared well. from their various categories:

Top Ten Films included Anora, Conclave and A Real Pain.

Top Five international Films included: All We Imagine as Light and Santosh.

Top Five Documentaries included: Will and Harper.

Top Ten Independent Films included: Bird.

Among acting awards Conclave was named Best Ensemble.  Kieran Culkin was named Best Supporting Actor for A Real Pain and Mikey Madison was named Breakthrough Performance for Anora.

Other Special Awards for TFF films included anming The Seed of the Sacred Fig as Best International Film and NBR' Freedom of Expression Award went to No Other Land.

Wicked was named Best Film and its director, Jon M. Chu was named Best Director.

The full list of NBR awards for 2024 can be accessed here from their website.

GOTHAM AWARDS AND TFF

The Gotham Awards were presented Monday and here's a look at what TFF films were winners:

Best Director: RaMell Ross/Nickel Boys

Best International Feature: All We Imagine as Light

Best Documentary Feature: No Other Land

Breakthrough Performer: Brandon Wilson/Nickel Boys

Among Gotham Tributes were:

Performer Tribute to Angelina Jolie for Maria.

Complete Results are here from Variety.

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National Board of Review Announces Film Superlatives / Independent Spirit Nominees Announced / MTFB Oscar Update: Best Picture and Direction (Plus First Predix for International and Documentary Features) / New Trailer and One Sheet for The Zone of Interest / International Trailer for All of Us Strangers / Interviews and Profiles: Giamatti, Bening, Keoghan and More

NBR ANNOUNCES FILM SUPERLATIVES

The National Board of Review announced its choices for film excellence for the year yesterday.  TFF films that made a mark in these categories:

The Holdovers: Paul Giamatti/Best Actor, Da'Vine Joy Randolph/Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay.

Poor Things: Mark Ruffalo/Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay.

Anatomy of a Fall: Best International Feature.

From the 10 Best Films list: The Holdovers and Poor Things.

From the 5 Best International Features list (all five played Telluride): La Chimaera, Fallen Leaves, The Teachers' Lounge, Totem and The Zone of Interest.

From the 10 Best Independent Films list: All of Us Strangers.

From the 5 Best Documentaries list: The Pigeon Tunnel.

Killers of the Flower Moon was named Best Film of the Year with Martin Scorsese named Best Director.

The complete NBR list is here.

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Seven Telluride Films garnered 11 Independent Spirit Award nominations.  Those nominees were announced last Tuesday morning.

The T-ride titles earning nominations were:

The Holdovers (4): Best Supporting Performance: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Breakthrough Performance: Dominic Sessa, Screenplay and Cinematography.

All of Us Strangers (3): Best Feature, Direction and Lead Performance: Andrew Scott.

And four TFF films were nominated for Best International Feature: Anatomy of a Fall, The Zone of Interest, Godland and Totem.

May December, Past Lives and American Fiction tied for the highest total of five nominations.

The complete listing of nominees is linked here from Film Independent's website.

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE AND DIRECTION PLUS FIRST PREDIX FOR INTERNATIONAL FEATURE AND DOC FEATURE

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST PICTURE AND DIRECTION

Here's MTFB's  Oscar Update.  Today I'm updating the Best Picture and Direction categories.  The last prediction for these two categories were posted on Nov. 23rd.  In addition, I am including my first guesses at nominees for Best Documentary and Best International Feature.  As usual TFF #50 films are in Bold.  A film's previous position on the MTFB Oscar chart is listed in parentheses.

BEST PICTURE

1) Oppenheimer (1)

2) Barbie (3)

3) American Fiction (6)

4) Killers of the Flower Moon (2)

5) Poor Things (4)

6) The Holdovers (5)

7) Maestro (7)

8) Past Lives (9)

9) The Color Purple (8)

10) The Zone of Interest (10)

Alternates:  Anatomy of a Fall, May December and Air.

BEST DIRECTION

1) Christopher Nolan/Oppenheimer (1)

2) Martin Scorsese/Killer of the Flower Moon (2)

3) Greta Gerwig/Barbie (3)

4) Yorgos Lanthimos/Poor Things (4)

5) Bradley Cooper/Maestro (-)

Alternates: Cord Jefferson/American Fiction, Jonathan Glazer/The Zone of Interest and Alexander Payne/The Holdovers

BEST DOCUMENTARY 

1) American Symphony

2) 20 Days in Mariupol

3) Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

4) Beyond Utopia

5) Four Daughters

Alternates: Kokomo City, Silver Dollar Road and Anselm.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) The Zone of Interest

2) The Taste of Things

3) The Teachers' Lounge

4) Perfect Days

5) Society of the Snow

Alternates: Fallen Leaves, Shayda, 20 Days in Mariupol

 NEW TRAILER AND ONE SHEET FOR THE ZONE OF INTEREST

A24 has released a new trailer and one sheet for Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest.  Here's the trailer via YouTube:

And the new one sheet:

INTERNATIONAL TRAILER FOR ALL OF US STRANGERS

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES: GIAMATTI, BENING, KEOGAHN AND MORE

Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers from AP News.

Annette Bening for Nyad from Gold Derby.

Barry Keoghan for Saltburn from Gold Derby.

Jacob Elordi for Saltburn from The Hollywood Reporter.

Writer/Director Emerald Fennell for Saltburn from The Hollywood Reporter.

Juliette Binoche for The taste of Things from The Hollywood Reporter.

Costumer Holly Waddington for Poor Things from The Playlist and Gold Derby.

Sandra Huller for Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest from The Film Stage.

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MTFB Oscar Update: International, Animated, Doc and More / Writer's Guild and Independent Spirits / Visitations: Blanchett and Slate

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE

We're staring down the last six days before the Oscars on Sunday night.  The last of the Guilds have spoken as well as the Independent Spirit Awards.  Oscar voting ends tomorrow.  It's almost time people.

Here are the next to last predictions for the categories of International Feature, Animated Feature, Documentary Feature,  Original Score, Original Song and Makeup/Hair.  Final predictions for all 23 categories will go up here on Sunday morning.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1) All Quiet on the Western Front (1)

2) Argentina 1985 (2)

3) Close (3)

4) EO (4)

5) The Quiet Girl (5)

ANIMANTED FEATURE

1) GDT's Pinocchio (1)

2) Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2)

3) Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (3)

4) Turning Red (4)

5) The Sea Beast (5)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) Navalny (2)

2) Fire of Love (1)

3) All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (3)

4) All That Breathes (4)

5) The House of Splinters (5)

PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Elvis (1)

2) Babylon (2)

3) All Quiet on the Western Front (3)

4) Avatar: The Way of Water (4)

5) The Fabelmans (5)

COSTUME DESIGN

1) Elvis (1)

2) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2)

3) Babylon (3)

4) Everything Everywhere All at Once (4)

5) Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (5)

MAKEUP/HAIR

1) Elvis (1)

2) The Whale (2)

3) All Quiet on the Western Front (4)

4) The Batman (3)

5) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (5)

WRITER'S GUILD

Sarah Polley won Best Adapted Screenplay at the WGA as well as the USC Scripter Award (which focuses exclusively on Adapted screenplays) this past weekend.  That's a good indicator that the TFF #49 film is in prime position to pick up that Oscar on Sunday.  There had been a sense that All Quiet on the Western Front might have the inside track to the Oscar.  That sentiment seems quelled now with this weekend's double win for Polley.

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

TFF #49 was represented in the list of Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday by wins for:

Best Documentary: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Best Cinemtography: TAR

Robert Altman Award: Women Talking

Best First Feature: Aftersun

Everything Everywhere All at Once was the big winner of the evening with wins for Best Feature, Direction, Actress (Yeoh), Supporting Actor (Quan), Breakthrough Performance (Hsu), Screenplay and Editing.

Complete winners are linked here at the Spirit's website.

VISITATIONS

TAR: Cate Blanchett with Variety.

MARCEL THE SHELL: Jenny Slate with Indiewire.

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MTFB Oscar Take: Supporting Update / Independent Spirit Nominees Announced / Visitations: Reznor, Foy and More

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: SUPPORTING UPDATE

I am updating predictions in the categories of Best  Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor.  These were last predicted on Nov. 10th.  Past ranking is to the right of the performer in parentheses.  Performances from TFF #49 are in Bold.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Jesse Buckley/Women Talking (1)

2) Kerry Condon/The Banshees of Inisherin (2)

3) Clare Foy/Women Talking (3)

4) Carey Mulligan/She Said (5)

5) Jamie Lee Curtis/Everything Everywhere All at Once (New)

6) Hong Chau/The Whale (4)

7) Angela Bassett/Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (New)

Out: Nina Hoss/TAR and Dolly DeLeon/Triangle of Sadness

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Brendan Gleeson/The Banshees of Inisherin (1)

2) Ke Huy Quan/Everything Everywhere All at Once (2)

3) Judd Hirsch/The Fabelmans (3)

4) Paul Dano/The Fabelmans (5)

5) Ben Whishaw/Women Talking (4)

6) Barry Keoghan/The Banshees of Inisherin (6)

7) Eddie Redmayne/The Good Nurse (New)

Out: Anthony Hopkins/Armageddon Time

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Film Independent announced the nominees for the 29th Independent Spirit Awards on Tuesday.  This year's ceremony is currently scheduled for Mar. 4, 2023.  Telluride Films nabbed 20 nominations overall with Sarah Polley's Women Talking named the winner of the Robert Altman Award which goes to the director, casting directors and the ensemble cast.

Nominations Breakdown:

TAR (7): Best Feature, Direction (Field), Lead Performance (Blanchett), Supporting Performance (Hoss), Screenplay, Cinematography and Editing.

Aftersun (5): Best First Feature, Lead Performance (Mescal), Breakthrough Performance (Corio), Cinematography and Editing.

Women Talking (3): Best Feature, Direction and Screenplay plus the above mentioned Robert Altman Award.

Bones and All (3): Best Feature, Lead Performance (Russell), Supporting Performance (Rylance).

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (1): Best Documentary

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (1): Best Editing.  Marcel was a selection of TFF #48.

Everything, Everywhere All at Once lead the pack with a total of 8 nominations including Best Feature.  I sort of regard it as Telluride-adjacent because of the special screening of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Michelle Yeoh's presence at TFF #49.

The complete list of Indy Spirit nominees is here from the Film Independent website.

VISITATIONS

Clare Foy, Ben Whihsaw and Sarah Polley on Women Talking from Deadline.com

Judith Ivey on Women Talking from Gold Derby

 

Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on Bones and All from The Playlist

Director Ryan White on Good Night Oppy from next Best Picture

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MTFB Oscar Take: Latest "Above the Line" Oscar Predictions / Film Independent Spirit Awards / Guild Awards: Art Directors and Editors / More Cannes Spec / Interviews and Profiles

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: LATEST "ABOVE THE LINE" OSCAR PREDICTIONS

BEST PICTURE

1) The Power of the Dog

2) Belfast

3) CODA

4) West Side Story

5) King Richard

6) Dune

7) Licorice Pizza

8) Don't Look Up

9) Drive My Car

10) Nightmare Alley

Comment: With its Best Cast SAG win CODA moved from #7 to #3.

BEST DIRECTION

1) Jane Campion/The Power of the Dog

2) Kenneth Branagh/Belfast

3) Steven Spielberg/West Side Story

4) Licorice Pizza/Paul Thomas Anderson

5) Ryusuke Hamaguchi/Drive My Car

BEST ACTRESS

1) Jessica Chastain/The Eyes of Tammy Faye

2) Kristen Stewart/Spencer

3) Nicole Kidman/Being the Ricardos

4) Olivia Colman/The Lost Daughter

5) Penelope Cruz/Parallel Mothers

Comment: SAG win moves Chastain to the top.

BEST ACTOR

1) Will Smith/King Richard

2) Benedict Cumberbatch/The Power of the Dog

3) Andrew Garfield/tick, tick...BOOM

4) Denzel Washington/The Tragedy of Macbeth

5) Javier Bardem/Being the Ricardos

1) BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Ariana DeBose/West Side Story

2) Kirsten Dunst/The Power of the Dog

3) Aunjanue Ellis/King Richard

4) Jesse Buckley/The Lost Daughter

5) Judi Dench/Belfast

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Troy Kotsur/CODA

2) Kodi Smit-McPhee/The Power of the Dog

3) Ciaran Hinds/Belfast

4) Jesse Plemons/The Power of the Dog

5) J.K. Simmons/Being the Ricardos

Comment: Kotsur's SAG win propels him past Smit-McPhee.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Belfast

2) Licorice Pizza

3) Don't Look Up

4) The Worst Person in the World

5) King Richard

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) The Power of the Dog

2) CODA

3) The Lost Daughter

4) Drive My Car

5) Dune

COW TRAILER

The header for this story is funny..."Cow Trailer".  Hahahahaha.  now then, Andrea Arnold's Cow has a trailer and here it is:

FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

The Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out on Sunday.  Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Lost Daughter had an exceptional evening winning Best Feature, Director and Screenplay.  TFF #48 selection Red Rocket was also recognized for Best Actor with Simon Rex winning that award.  The complete listing of all Spirit Awards winners is linked here from The Hollywood Reporter.

GUILD AWARDS: ART DIRECTORS, ACE: EDDIES

The Art Directors Guild named their winners for 2021 films this past weekend.  No TFF #48 films made their lists.  Film winners were Nightmare Alley, No Time to Die, Dune and Encanto.

Coverage from Variety.

The American Cinema Editors (ACE) named TFF #48 film King Richard edited by Pamela Martin as the Best edited dramatic feature film of 2021.  Other winners included: tick, tcik...BOOM, Summer of Soul and Encanto.

Coverage from Nest Best Picture.

MORE CANNES SPEC

What will be the 5-8 films that will debut at Cannes and then make their first  North American appearance at TFF #49?  Obviously we won't know until Thursday, Sept. 1st but that can't stop us from thinking and predicting and hoping.  Variety's Elsa Keslassy was up last Thursday with a Cannes speculation/prediction piece and so let's parse that for titles that might be candidates for The SHOW.

James Gray's Armageddon Time/Focus Features

Florian Zeller's The Son/SPC

George Miller's Three Thousand Years of Longing UA/MGM

David Cronenberg's Crimes of the Future/NEON

Kelly Reichardt's Showing Up/A24

The Dardennes Brothers' Tori and Lokita/TBD

Hirokazu Kore-eda's Baby, Box, Broker/TBD

Ali Abassi's Hamlet/TBD

Meanwhile, Wes Anderson's latest, Asteroid City, is reportedly foregoing Cannes for Venice.  After last year's TFF "Sneak" of The French Dispatch, perhaps Anderson books a second straight film at TFF and they make the Venice to Colorado trek that has become very popular over the past several years.  Last year The Power of the Dog, The Lost Daughter, Spencer and The Card Counter and other films made that journey.

Here's that reporting from Jordan Ruimy's World of Reel.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Belfast writer/director Kenneth Branagh from Deadline's Oscar nominee series.

King Richard's Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis from Variety.

The Lost Daughter's writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal from Gold Derby.

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NBR, AFI, Spirit Noms and More / Oscar Updates: Animated Feature, Production Design, Score and Song / The Gurus are Back

 NBR, AFI, SPIRIT NOMS AND MORE

If you are a fan of Oscar precursors, you have to have been giddy with delight this week as a cascade of  high profile organizations revealed their choices for the best films of this pandemic marred year.  Herewith a breakdown of the major awards news of the week with emphasis, of course on films that were selected to play at the Telluride Film Festival.

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW

The NBR list named Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods as film of the year.  TFF #47's Nomadland was touted as having the Best Cinematography for the year.  Nomadland also was named as one of the top ten films of the year in addition to TFF #46's First Cow.  Other TFF #47 films making the NBR grade:

Apples on the list of five Best Foreign Language Films

All In: The Fight for Democracy and The Truffle Hunters on the list of five Best Documentaries 

The Climb (from TFF #46) as one of the 10 Best Independent Films

Missing from the NBR lists: The Father, Ammonite, The Assistant, Notturno, The Way I See It, MLK/FBI, Charlatan and Never Going to Snow Again.

Here's Deadline's coverage of the NBR lists.

AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE

The AFI list of the ten best films for 2020 included Chloe Zhao's Nomadland.  It was the only TFF film from either #47 or #46 to make the list.  

Nomadland joined Da 5 Bloods, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Soul and Sound of Metal as films honored by both NBR and AFI.

The complete AFI list is here from Next Best Picture.

SPIRIT NOMINATIONS

Then there were the nominations this week for the Independent Spirit awards. Never rarely Sometimes Always lead all films with seven total nominations.  TFF #47's Nomadland was well represented with five including Best Feature, Best Director (Zhao), Best Female Lead (McDormand) Best Cinematography and Best Editing.

TFF #46 films First Cow and The Assistant also landed Spirit nominations.

First Cow is nominated for Best Feature, Director (Reichardt) and Supporting Male (Lee)

The Assistant is nominated for Female Lead (Green), Best First Screenplay and Best Cinematography.

Indieiwire can be accessed here for the complete list of all Spirit nominees.

USC SCRIPTER

The USC Scripter nominees were also announced this week.  The award goes to the best adaptation of existing material into a screenplay.  The five nominees included: Nomadland (TFF #47) and First Cow (TFF #46).  Other nominees were One Night in Miami, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Bad Education.

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE

Telluride films that were lauded by the NYFCO on their top ten list included The Assistant, First Cow and Nomadland.  Also singled out for specific praise by the group were Nomadland's Chloe Zhao for Best Director.  Nomaldand was also heralded for Best Cinematography.

The Way I See It was named Best Documentary Feature.

The organization named Minari as Best Film of the Year.

The complete listing of all of the NYFCO awards is here from Variety.

OSCAR UPDATES: MORE FRESH PREDIX

Last Monday I began adding Oscar categories to my ongoing listing of Oscar nomination predictions.  Beyond the eight major categories that I have been tracking for months I added Documentary and International Features as well as Best Cinematography and Film Editing.

Today I'm going to add first time nomination predictions for Animated Feature, Production Design, Original Score and Original Song.   Here goes nothin'!

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1)Soul

2) Wolfwalkers

3) Over the Moon

4) Onward

5) A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

6) The Willoughbys

7) Trolls: World Tour

8) Earwig and the Witch

9) The Croods: A New Age

10) Demon Slayer

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Mank

2) Mulan

3) News of the World

4) Emma

5) The Personal History of David Copperfield

6) Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

7) Tenet

8) The Trial of the Chicago 7

9) Midnight Sky

10) One Night in Miami

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1) Soul

2) News of the World

3) Mank

4) Midnight Sky

5) Minari

6) Tenet

7) The Trial of the Chicago 7

8) Da 5 Bloods

9) The Little Things

10) One Night in Miami

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1) Speak Now/One Night in Miami

2) Seen/The Life Ahead

3) Rocket to the Moon/Over the Moon

4) Wear Your Crown/The Prom

5) Hear My Voice/The Trial of the Chicago 7

6) Husavik/Eurovision Song Contest

7) Wuhan Flu/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

8) Just Sing/Trolls World Tour

9) If Only You Could Save Me/Mank

10) Fight for You/Judas and the Black Messiah

THE GURUS ARE BACK

For the third straight year I've been invited to be a Guru of Gold for Movie City News.  The first posting of that cumulative Oscar prognostication group went up yesterday morning.  In addition to yours truly, the site includes such Oscar predicting luminaries as: 

Awards Daily's Sasha Stone

TCM's Dave Karger

The Playlist's Gregory Ellwood

Collider's Jeff Sneider

The Wrap's Steve Pond

The Film Experience's Nathaniel R

The Toronto Star's Pete Howell

Awards Daily's Good as Gold's Mark Johnson 

Black Film and TV's Wilson Morales

MCN's David Poland 

and Oscar experts Thelma Adams and Robyn Bahr

Looking at the first pass from the Gurus...I land in agreement with collective at the #1 spot in all five categories that are included: Best Picture, Director, Actress, Actor and Animated Feature.

Here's the link to the brand new Gurus.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

TWITTER @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

Oscar Predictions: Best Picture Updated First Picks for Visual and Sound / Oscar Nominations Totals for TFF #46 Films / Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced

OSCAR NOMINATION PREDICTIONS

UPDATED PEST PICTURE

Best Picture nominations predictions were last posted here on Nov. 18th.   As always, TFF #46 films are indicated in Bold.  The film or performers previous position in these predictions are indicated in parentheses.

1) Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (1)
2) The Irishman (2)
3) 1917 (7)
4) Parasite (3)
5) Marriage Story (4)
6) Jojo Rabbit (5)
7) The Two Popes (6)
8) Joker (10)
9) Ford v Ferrari (9)
10) The Farewell (-)

Other possibles: Bombshell, Little Women, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Now for first predictions for Visual Effects, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing:


VISUAL EFFECTS

1) The Lion King
2) Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker
3) Avengers: Endgame
4) The Irishman
5) Ad Astra
6) The Aeronauts

Other possibles: 1917, Cats, Captain Marvel, Gemini Man


SOUND EDITING

1) 1917
2) Ford v Ferrari
3) Star Wars; Rise of Skywalker
4) Ad Astra
5) Avengers: Endgame
6) Once Upon a Time...

Other possibles: Joker, The Irishman, Gemini Man


SOUND MIXING

1) 1917
2) Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker
3) Ford v Ferrari
4) Ad Astra
5) Once Upon a Time...
6) Rocketman

Other possibles: Avengers: Endgame, Judy, Cats


OSCAR NOMINATION TOTALS FOR TFF FILMS

Over the last couple of weeks, MTFB has predicted all 21 feature categories for Oscar nominations.  If I'm 100% correct, this is how TFF #46 films will fare on announcement morning-Jan. 13, 2020

Marriage Story is projected to have seven nominations: Picture, Director, Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay and Original Score

The Two Popes is projected to have five nominations: Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay and Production Design

Ford v Ferrari is projected to have five nominations: Picture, Film Editing, Original Score, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing

Parasite is predicted to have four nominations: Picture, Director, Film Editing and Cinematography

Judy is projected to have two nominations: Actress and Makeup/Hair

Pain and Glory a single nomination for Actor

A Hidden Life a single nomination for Cinematography


INDIE SPIRIT NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced this week and a few  TFF #46 films were in the mix.

Uncut Gems was one the bigger presences among the nominees as the film lead in total nominations (along with The Lighthouse) with five.  It was nominated for Best Feature, Direction, Actor (Sandler), Screenplay and Editing.

Marriage Story was also highly feted with nominations for Best Feature and Screenplay and the film will also receive The Robert Altman Award.

TFF #46 films with single nominations included:

A Hidden Life for Best Feature
Judy for Best Actress (Zellweger)
Waves for Best Supporting Actress (Russell)
and both Parasite and Portrait of a Lady on Fire for Best International Feature.

The complete list of Independent Spirit Award nominees can be found here from Variety



EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

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