Tag: Independent Spirit Awards

Oscar Predictions: Peter Hujar’s Day

Critics are liking the hang for Peter Hujar’s Day out of Sundance, the latest feature from indie auteur Ira Sachs. The two-hander casts Ben Whishaw in the title role of the real-life photographer known for his work in the 1970s and 80s. Rebecca Hall is his writer friend.

Originally meant to be a short film, it still is definitionally at a brisk 76 minutes. This is Sachs’s follow-up to his acclaimed 2023 Passages, which collected four Independent Spirit Awards including Best Film and Mr. Whishaw in Supporting Actor.

Known to many moviegoers as Q from Daniel Craig’s 007 run (or the voice of Paddington), Whishaw is getting lots of Park City praise for his lead role. The pic itself stands at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and 85 on Metacritic. Like Passages, I’d say this is more Indie Spirit friendly than Oscar. The eventual distributor might be wise to campaign in that space. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Omaha

Omaha is not centered around the play calls of legendary quarterback Peyton Manning. Instead this Sundance premiere is a road trip drama anchored by John Magaro’s performance. He plays a father taking his kids (Molly Belle Wright and Wyatt Solis) cross country in a directorial debut from Cole Webley.

Reviews are complimentary thus far with particular attention paid to Magaro. Despite receiving acclaim in pics like First Cow, Past Lives, and September 5, he’s yet to have his Oscar bait role. A distributor would really need to work some magic for Omaha to be that project. Maybe some Indie Spirit attention is likelier. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Backspot

Some critics are showing their enthusiasm for Backspot, out in limited release this weekend. The cheerleading drama marks the directorial debut for D.W. Waterson, known for the Toronto based web series That’s My DJ. Devery Jacobs (currently on FX’s heralded show Reservation Dogs) and Kudakwashe Rutendo headline with Evan Rachel Wood, Noa DiBerto, Thomas Antony Olajide, Oluniké Adeliyi, Wendy Crewson, and Shannyn Sossamon in support.

After hitting the Toronto Film Festival back in September, buzz was decent and now it sports an 84% RT score. A lot of the chatter is focused on Jacobs. The Academy won’t bite, but perhaps the Indie Spirits is a possibility for her. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: The People’s Joker

Batman’s most notable nemesis certainly has an Oscar history. Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s 2008 sequel The Dark Knight won him a posthumous Supporting Actor statue. Eleven years later, Joaquin Phoenix took the lead Actor prize as the title character in the Todd Phillips treatment of the demented clown. The other famous cinematic Jokers are also Academy recipients: Jack Nicholson (three times for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Endearment, As Good as It Gets) and Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club).

No, Vera Drew is not going to follow suit. However, The People’s Joker is drawing raves from many critics. A parody of superhero pics and an exploration of transgender issues, this Joker has had a fascinating and bumpy ride to the silver screen. Unveiled at the Toronto Film Festival in 2022, the film was shelved due to trademark and character rights complications.

A year and a half later, Drew’s crowd-funded concoction is out in limited fashion domestically. She stars, directs, and cowrites with a supporting cast of unknowns and familiar faces. They include Lynn Downey, Kane Distler, David Liebe Hart, Phil Braun, Maria Bamford, Christian Calloway, Tim Heidecker, Scott Aukerman, Bob Odenkirk, and Robert Wuhl (who was reporter Alexander Knox in Tim Burton’s first Batman).

Reviews are praising the filmmaker’s use of the 21st century’s preeminent genre to document her own transformation. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 96%. This doesn’t seem like something the Academy would honor, but the Indie Spirits could be another story and perhaps even DGA could put Drew in their First-Time Director race. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Problemista

The 2024 edition of South by Southwest recently concluded, but Problemista from Julio Torres premiered at the fest last year. Distributor A24 has at last put it into theaters this month. The quirky pic is written and directed by and stars Torres, a former SNL scribe who also co-created the HBO series Los Espookys. His directorial debut features Tilda Swinton, RZA, Greta Lee, Catalina Saavedra, James Scully, and Isabella Rossellini.

Reviews are mostly complimentary for the black comedy with an 89% RT score and particular kudos for the script and Swinton’s work. The reaction isn’t strong enough for this to have any Oscar viability. Maybe the Indie Spirit Awards will give Torres a nod in the First Screenplay competition. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Late Night with the Devil

South by Southwest is happening now and giving us some potential awards players (keep an eye out for my imminent Civil War post for example). It was at last year’s SXSW that festival goers were first exposed to Late Night with the Devil. Australian brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes direct the 1970s set found footage horror flick with David Dastmalchian as a talk show host showcasing some demonic guests. Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss, and Fayssal Bazzi costar.

Devil is finally slated for stateside distribution on March 22nd with a Shudder streaming bow on April 19th. Many reviews are raves and it sports a 100% RT score. Dastmalchian, a memorable character who you may recognize from Prisoners, The Suicide Squad, Dune, and Oppenheimer, is being praised for this rare lead role.

That said, this is not the kind of material that awards voters notice… at least at the big dance. Perhaps the Indie Spirit Awards will be more attuned to its scare tactics. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscars: The Case of Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers

As we do every year on this here blog, Oscar nominations lead to my Case Of series. What are they? Glad you asked. These are 35 posts covering the nominees for Picture, Director, and the four acting contests. For each one, I give you the case for the movie/director/actor winning and the case against it with a verdict tidying it up. It’s like a trial, but no one goes to prison.

It began with the ten BP contenders and now it alternates alphabetically between the hopefuls in the five other big races. Today we arrive at our fifth performer in Best Supporting Actress and that’s Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers . Let’s get to it!

Previous Oscar Acting Nominations:

None

The Case for Da’Vine Joy Randolph:

It’s significant. After capturing the attention of many critics and moviegoers in 2019’s Dolemite Is My Name, Randolph has had a sterling precursor season by sweeping at the Globes, SAG, BAFTA, and Critics Choice. Heck, she even picked up the Indie Spirit Award for good measure in Alexander Payne’s acclaimed dramedy.

The Case Against Da’Vine Joy Randolph:

I’m struggling to come up with one. Randolph has won everywhere she needs to and no other rival emerged as a threat. I suppose if Oppenheimer greatly exceeds expectations, Emily Blunt could benefit from it. However, that hasn’t played out anywhere including BAFTA (where some suspected she could be a surprise recipient).

The Verdict:

Randolph will be holding an Oscar in the building come March 10th.

My Case Of posts will continue with Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things…


Oscar Predictions: A Thousand and One

A Thousand and One is slated for release on March 31st after its unveiling at Sundance in January. The 90s set NYC drama from filmmaker A.V. Rockwell casts Teyana Taylor as a mom who kidnaps her son from foster care. Costars include Will Catlett, Josiah Cross, Aven Courtney, and Aaron Kingsley Adetola.

Thousand won a grand jury prize at the Park City fest and the Rotten Tomatoes score is 100% thus far. Taylor, a musical protege of Kanye West who recently appeared in Coming 2 America, is getting kudos for her work. While all critical reaction is positive – I’m not sure it is effusive enough to make this a major awards player.

If Focus Features really concentrates on it, you never know. My guess is this could get attention at the Indie Spirits Awards and not elsewhere. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Joyland

Despite submitting 10 pictures for consideration (including eight from 2013-20), the nation of Pakistan has yet to receive a nomination in the International Feature Film Oscar race. Could that change with Joyland?

The directorial debut of Saim Sadiq, the family drama won the Jury Prize when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. It also picked up a nod for Best International Film at the Independent Spirit Awards earlier this week. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 100%.

We have plenty of potential heavy hitters in IFF for 2022 including likely frontrunners All Quiet on the Western Front and Decision to Leave. Pakistan has a non-existent track record of making the eventual cut, but Joyland might be its most promising contender so far. I haven’t listed it in my top five (or even top 10 yet), but I wouldn’t completely discount its viability. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Watch: Bergman Island

Mia Hansen-Love (Father of My Children, Things to Come) seems to have fashioned another pleasing concoction in her native country at the Cannes Film Festival. Bergman Island casts Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth, Mia Wasikowska, and Anders Danielsen Lie in the tale of filmmakers looking for inspiration in a Swedish locale where legendary director Ingmar Bergman conjured some of his noted works.

Island releases in France this week with IFC Films having picked up domestic distribution. While critical reaction has been quite strong, some reviews leave me thinking this isn’t something that will transcend to the Oscar stage (even though it is worth noting that the Academy loves material related to their own industry).

A Best Original Screenplay nod isn’t completely outside the realm of possibility, but my hunch is that Bergman Island could find itself in the mix at the Independent Spirit Awards and not on the Academy stage. My Oscar Watch posts will continue…