Tag: Small Axe

The L.A. Critics Are In The Zone

Since 2009, every Best Film winner from the LA Film Critics Association has nabbed a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars with the exception of 2020’s Small Axe (which wasn’t eligible for Academy consideration). Five, including last year’s Everything Everything All at Once, went on to win. And this is why today’s announcement that Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest is the recipient of the big prize feels important. Zone is looked at as a coin toss for making the BP cut and victories like today help (I currently have it ranked 8th in the standings). The Holocaust drama also took Director and Music/Score and I have it receiving Oscar noms in both of those derbies as well.

The L.A. branch doesn’t differentiate between genders in their acting races and they name two winners in both lead and supporting. Sandra Hüller took a lead trophy for both Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest alongside Emma Stone for Poor Things. Both are expected to make plays in Best Actress at the Oscars (Hüller for Anatomy).

In Supporting, Rachel McAdams (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) were the selections. The latter is widely expected to be among the Supporting Actress quintet of hopefuls. The former seems to be rising and I placed her in fifth earlier today in my latest round of predictions.

All of Us Strangers is your SoCal Screenplay winner. It hopes to make the list in Original Screenplay at the Oscars, but competition is fierce.

Other prizes:

Cinematography: Poor Things

Editing: Anatomy of a Fall

Production Design: Barbie

Film Not in the English Language: Anatomy of a Fall

Documentary/Non-Fiction Film: Menus-Plaisirs: Les Troigros

Animation: The Boy and the Heron

Keep an eye on the blog for major precursor news as we move closer to Oscar nomination morning!

Oscar Predictions: Occupied City

Steve McQueen’s Occupied City, based on buzz out of Cannes, may not be the best documentary we’ll see in 2023. It certainly sounds like it’s the most documentary. Clocking in at about four and a half hours, it tells dual stories of Amsterdam from its Nazi occupation in WWII and its last few years during the pandemic.

A decade ago, the filmmaker’s 12 Years a Slave was crowned Best Picture (while McQueen himself lost the directorial race to Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity). His lone theatrical follow-up is 2018’s Widows. McQueen’s anthology series Small Axe from 2020 was critically heralded on the small screen and the historical drama Blitz with Saorise Ronan is on the way.

The plaudits for his body of work hasn’t fully extended to City. The Rotten Tomatoes meter early on is 67%. A common complaint is its length and stodginess. I don’t see this occupying one of the five spots in Documentary Feature a few months down the road. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Breaking

Blogger’s Note (08/23): This post has been updated from its original January 24th publication to reflect the title change from 892 to Breaking. 

Abi Damaris Corbin’s debut dramatic thriller 892 has premiered at Sundance and features a performance from John Boyega that’s already drawing critical kudos. The pic recounts the events surrounding Lance Corporal Brian Brown-Easley’s attempted robbery of a Marietta, GA bank in the summer of 2017. Costars include Nicole Beharie, Connie Britton, and Michael K. Williams in one of his final roles. It opens August 26th.

Boyega is, of course, best known as Finn from the most recent Star Wars trilogy. He recently nabbed a Golden Globe for Steve McQueen’s acclaimed TV anthology Small Axe. With 892, reviews are calling it some of his finest work. As far as Williams (who passed away in September 2021), perhaps there could be a push for a posthumous Supporting Actor nod.

Yet the notices themselves (81% on Rotten Tomatoes) don’t point to this being a major awards contender and it could be a struggle for Boyega or Williams to garner any momentum in next year’s Actor derby. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Nomadland Scores with the National Critics

Momentum continued today for Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland to be a major Oscar player with the announcement of the National Society of Film Critics awards. It took 4 categories today – Best Picture, Director, Actress (Frances McDormand) and Cinematography.

The conventional wisdom right now is that if the Academy goes with the critics darling, Nomadland could be on its way to a Best Picture victory in April. Of course, they don’t always do that. They did last year with Parasite. They didn’t the year before with Roma. 

The Society actually names their first and second runners-up in the races and it was First Cow and Never Rarely Sometimes Always taking those spots. Both certainly have chances for Academy attention in the big competition, but I’ve yet to put either in my picks. Cow‘s maker Kelly Reichardt was second runner-up for her direction while Steve McQueen was first runner-up for Small Axe (which is not eligible for Oscar consideration since it’s a TV project).

McDormand is almost sure to get one of the five actress slots at the Oscars, though a win is much more questionable in a crowded field. Runners-up from the critics were Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) and Sidney Flanagan for Never Rarely.

In Best Actor, Delroy Lindo picked up another prize for Da 5 Bloods with Chadwick Boseman in Rainey and Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal following. All three appear likely to make the final cut at the Oscars. Boseman was second runner-up in Supporting Actor for Bloods behind Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) and Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom). For Raci and Turman, they need as much critical love as possible to contend for Oscar.

Maria Bakalova picked up yet another reviewers award for her breakout role in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. I still question whether the Academy follows suit as comedic performers always have a tough time making the cut. Yet she’s certainly making her case. Runners-up were Amanda Seyfried (Mank) and Youn Yuh-jung (Minari).

The screenplay award went to Never Rarely Sometimes Always with First Cow and I’m Thinking of Ending Things in 2nd and 3rd. Best Foreign Language Film went to Romania’s Collective. 

Bottom line: Nomadland is having a fine run through the critics honors as it treks toward Oscar recognition.