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 Actress / Full Trailer for Your (Bee Gees) Broken Heart / Nomadland Odds and Ends / Never Gonna Snow Again Picked Up by Kino Lorber / Berlin Looming

OSCAR UPDATE: BEST ACTRESS

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

UPDATE: BEST ACTRESS

1) Frances McDormand/Nomdaland (2)

2) Vanessa Kirby/Pieces of a Woman (3)

3) Viola Davis/Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1)

4) Carey Mulligan/Promising Young Woman (5)

5) Sophia Loren/The Life Ahead (9)

6) Kate Winslet/Ammonite (7)

7) Michelle Pfeiffer/French Exit (8)

8) Andra Day/The People (10)

9) Amy Adams/Hillbilly Elegy (6)

10) Meryl Streep/The Prom (-)

Others: Elizabeth Moss/Invisible Woman, Sienna Miller/ Wander Darkly

Hot: Vanessa Kirby, Sophia Loren, Andra Day, Meryl Streep

Not: Michelle Pfeiffer, Amy Adams

Notes:  Currently the top three candidates are bunched very tightly and are all looking like locks.  The rest of the filed for the final two nominations is also tightly bunched but way, way back of McDormand, Kirby and Davis.

FULL TRAILER FOR YOUR (BEE GEES) BROKEN HEART

HBO Max dropped a new full length trailer for the Frank Marshall documentary The Bee Gees: How Do You Mend a Broken Heart this past weekend.  This follows up a teaser that I had here back on Nov. 2nd.

Here's the look at the new 2 1/2 minute trailer from YouTube:

NOMADLAND ODDS AND ENDS

Chloe Zhao's Nomadland won a big honor this week within the craft of cinematography at the EnergaCamerimage Film Festival Golden Frog Award as well as FIPRESCI Jury Prize honors.  The fest honors the best in international cinematography each year.  Joker won the Golden Frog last year.

I have linked coverage of the full scope of the awards from Variety here.

Meanwhile, Tom Bruggemann, writing for Indiewire, had an interesting article up this week about how Searchlight has taken something of a traditionalist approach (if such a thing is even imaginable in the age of Covid-19) to the Awards campaign for Nomadland.

The film is thought to be strong contender for nominations for Picture, Director (Zhao), Actress (McDormand), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography and Film Editing with outside shots for Supporting Actress (Swankie) and Supporting Actor (Stratharin).

Here's Bruggemann's article.

NEVER GONNA SNOW AGAIN PICKED UP BY KINO LORBER

Polish feature, Never Gonna Snow Again, a selection for what would have been TFF #47 as well as Poland's submission for consideration for Best International Feature, has been acquired for North American distribution by Kino Lorber.

The film was a Venice premiere where it won the Premio Fondazione Fai Persona Lavoro Ambiente Award.  It was also screened as a pert of the BFI London Film Festival among others.

Never Gonna Snow Again was directed by Małgorzata Szumowska and co-directed by Michał Englert.  It is described by IMDb:

"Zhenia, a Russian-speaking immigrant from the East works as a masseur in Poland and becomes a guru-like figure in a wealthy gated community where his clients live."

I have linked the announcement of acquisition news here from Screen Daily.

BERLIN LOOMING

Organizers of the Berlin Film Festival have announced plans for a stripped down but still physical version of the fest.  Deadline reports that the festival is currently dated for Feb. 11-21, 2021.

From the Andreas Wideman/Deadline article:

"A festival spokesperson told us: “The Berlinale still plans to take place as a physical event in February. Press screenings and public screenings will take place, as always, in the cinemas, but access will be possible only with pre-booked tickets for allocated seats."

Berlin often is the premiere festival for a couple of films that ultimately become choices for Telluride.

The complete Deadline article is linked here.

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Oscar 2020 First Attempt-Best Actor / Looks at The Way I See It and The Truffle Hunters /The Bee Gees Go to HBO

OSCAR 2020 FIRST ATTEMPT-BEST ACTOR

MTFB continues its first pass at predicting Oscar nominees for 2020-21 in various major categories.  Today we're looking at Best Actor with, as always, a focus on those performances that were a part of the list of 29 films that TFF released that would have been screened as a part of TFF #47.  Performers designated with *** are in films that may not be released prior to the Feb, 28, 2021 Oscar eligibility deadline.   TFF#47 performers are in Bold:

1) Anthony Hopkins/The Father

2) Gary Oldman/Mank

3) Tom Hanks/News of the World***

4) Delroy Lindo/Da 5 Bloods

5) Bill Murray/On the Rocks

6) Daniel Kaluuya/Judas and the Black Messiah***

7) Joaquin Phoenix/C'mon C'mon***

8) Ben Affleck/The Way Back

9) Matt Damon/Stillwater***

10) Michael Fassbender/Next Goal Wins***

LOOKS AT THE WAY I SEE IT AND THE TRUFFLE HUNTERS

This week we got new footage from two TFF #47 documentaries.  Initially, we were treated to the a first clip from Dawn Porter's The Way I See It which focuses on Pete Souza who spent time as the Chief Official White House photographer for Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.

Here's that clip from YouTube:

If you have trouble viewing this video, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evHHCHocAqQ

Also, ahead of its play at the Zurich film festival, we have a new clip from Greg Kersahe and Michael Dweck's The Truffle Hunters.  Also from YouTube:

As with the above clip, if you have trouble viewing here's the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS1AWDp7ftE

THE BEE GEES GO TO HBO

We got word this week that Frank Marshall's documentary focusing on The Brothers Gibb has been acquired by HBO.  The Bees Gees: How Do You Mend a Broken Heart was announced as an official TFF #47 selection back at the end of July and now mxdwn.com reports that HBO Documentary Films now has plans to screen the doc on this fall on HBO Max and their flagship platform.

The mxdwn.com article form Sept. 26th is linked here.

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