Tag: Sundance Film Festival

Oscar Predictions: You Hurt My Feelings

Director Nicole Holofcener reunites with her Enough Said star Julia Louis-Dreyfus for You Hurt My Feelings, which has screened at Sundance. The comedy is drawing satisfactory notices in Utah with a 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating. Look for distributor A24 to mount an awards campaign as the year rolls along.

Enough Said was able to nab Louis-Dreyfus a Golden Globe Best Actress nod in Musical/Comedy and that could certainly occur again. She stands the best chance among costars that include Tobias Menzies, David Cross, Amber Tamblyn, Michaela Watkins, Arian Moayed, and Owen Teague.

Holofcener is already an Academy nominee for cowriting the adapted screenplay for 2018’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? I wouldn’t count on a second writing mention. While critics are being kind, this has the feel of a Globe Predictions post with its lead’s chances. My Oscar Predictions posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Cat Person

After starring in last year’s Oscar winning Best Picture CODA, Emilia Jones is back onscreen in two features playing at the Sundance Film Festival. One is Fairyland which I’ll get to in my prediction posts shortly. The other is thriller Cat Person from director Susanna Fogel (who cowrote 2019’s acclaimed coming-of-age dramedy Booksmart).

Based on a short story that generated lots of attention after it was published in The New Yorker, Jones plays a college student in a dangerous online romance with an older man (Nicholas Braun from Succession). Costars include Geraldine Viswanathan, Hope Davis, Michael Gandolfini, Liza Koshy, and Isabella Rossellini.

Early reviews are of the mixed variety with a current 75% rating based on the small sampling via Rotten Tomatoes. This could generate some buzz with audiences after a distributor picks it up and that should occur imminently. I doubt it will follow suit with awards chatter. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Eileen

Eileen is director William Oldroyd’s sophomore feature after his well-reviewed 2016 rendering of Lady Macbeth with Florence Pugh. This psychological thriller/romance set in the 1960s is based on Ottessa Moshfegh’s 2015 novel and has premiered at Sundance. Thomasin McKenzie and Anne Hathaway headline with a supporting cast including Shea Whigham, Owen Teague, and Marin Ireland.

It is already clear this project will generate lots of attention. A number of early takes are raves with some claiming career best work from McKenzie and Hathaway. Ireland is also being singled out as a scene stealer. There’s said to be a twist in the proceedings that has divided critics and may do the same with audiences.

At Sundance, plenty of pics are looking for distribution and Eileen (with comparisons to Carol and Hitchcock) should easily be snatched up. If an awards campaign is in the cards, we’ll see if the trio of actresses can materialize in the convo or if Adapted Screenplay is feasible. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions – Little Richard: I Am Everything

A flashy rock founder is profiled in Little Richard: I Am Everything which premiered at Sundance over the weekend. The documentary comes from Lisa Cortes, who directed the acclaimed All In: The Fight for Democracy. Her follow-up chronicles its subject’s fight for recognition.

With a handful of reviews in, they are positive across the board. Magnolia Pictures has already picked up distribution rights and an April release is planned. Just as I mentioned with Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, celeb focused docs often get ignored by the Academy. I believe Still has the potential to have staying power in awards season. Everything will need a campaign as spirited as Little Richard to get its own recognition. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Cassandro

Director Roger Ross Williams is no stranger to the Academy. His short film Music by Prudence was 2009’s recipient for Documentary Short Subject (making him the first African-American director to win an Oscar). The 2016 feature length doc Life, Animated was a contender in that race.

At Sundance, Williams is branching outside of the doc genre for Cassandro, which explores a real life subject. Gael Garcia Bernal is the title character – an openly gay Mexican wrestler who attained huge stardom. With a smattering of reviews in, the Rotten Tomatoes score is 100%.

With earlier acclaimed roles in The Motorcycle Diaries, Bad Education, and Babel, Bernal has yet to find his awards showcase role. He might get it here if distributor Amazon launches a serious campaign. The same can be said for Jonathan Majors and Magazine Dreams, which was my previous predictions write-up coming from Utah’s festival. Needless to say it’s early, but we already have potential hopefuls for next year’s Actor derby.

Cassandro could also contend for the memorable costumes that Bernal dons in the ring. Bottom line: this is worth keeping tabs on as the 2023 awards season is in its infancy. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Magazine Dreams

Jonathan Majors is about to have a high profile first quarter of 2023 and it begins at Sundance this weekend. The Lovecraft Country and Devotion star (who first captured the attention of reviewers in 2019’s The Last Black Man in San Francisco) will appear as the villainous Kang the Conquerer in February’s MCU sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Just two weeks later in early March, he will square off against Michael B. Jordan in Creed III.

At Sundance, audiences are getting their first look at him in Magazine Dreams. The sophomore effort from writer/director Elijah Bynum, Majors is a disturbed bodybuilder with roided out rage. Costars include Haley Bennett, Taylour Paige, Mike O’Hearn, Harrison Page, and Harriet Sansom Harris.

Early reaction is mostly positive though they’re not across the board raves. The praise for Majors exceeds that of the picture. Critics are applauding the lead’s commitment to the challenging role. With supporting roles in the aforementioned likely blockbusters, look for a distributor to snatch Magazine up quickly. Don’t be surprised if they issue a major campaign for Best Actor. Majors could be a factor a year down the road. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions – Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

I am in the process of finalizing my Oscar Predictions for the 95th Academy Awards which will be revealed Tuesday (my forecast is arriving on the blog either tomorrow or Sunday). Yet it’s already time to pontificate about the 96th since the Sundance Film Festival is underway in Park City, Utah.

Sundance is a known launching pad for documentaries that eventually contend for Academy glory. For the Doc competition in 2021, 3 of the 5 nominees were unveiled at the fest: winner Summer of Soul, Flee, and Writing with Fire.

One of the higher profile debuts is Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, which recounts the actor’s skyrocketing career in the 80s and his Parkinson’s diagnosis. It comes from David Guggenheim. An Inconvenient Truth, his 2006 collaboration with Al Gore, was a Doc Feature recipient. 2010’s Waiting for “Superman” was a buzzy hit and 2015’s He Named Me Malala was shortlisted for Oscar but didn’t make the final quintet. Fun fact: the filmmaker is married to Elisabeth Shue, who costarred with his subject in the Back to the Future sequels. Fox, it should be noted, is scheduled to receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at this year’s ceremony.

Apple TV has distribution rights to Still. Early reviews are quite positive and it’s likely the streamer will mount a campaign. That said, a lot of docs focused on celebs garner plenty of ink and don’t end up becoming major players on the awards circuit. It’s too early to predict the future with this one. Time will tell if it’s still viable months down the road. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Klondike

Ukraine has submitted 14 pictures for consideration in the International Feature Film competition at the Oscars since 1997. None have ended up making the final five in the race. Maryna Er Gorbach’s Klondike hopes to change that dynamic.

The war drama is set in 2014 and centers on the nation’s conflict with Russia. Obviously that subject matter is more prevalent than ever. Today’s headlines could contribute to Klondike being a high profile selection to join the quintet of IFF nominees.

It’s important to note that its inclusion wouldn’t just be a nod to current events. Gorbach’s fourth overall feature debuted at Sundance where she won the prize in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. At the Berlin Film Festival, it came in second for the audience award. The Rotten Tomatoes meter is 95%. I’ve had Klondike ranked 8th for the past couple of weeks in my possibilities, but it could rise if voters turn their focus to it a couple of months from now. Perhaps the 15th time will be the charm. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: Last Flight Home

After receiving encouraging word-of-mouth earlier this year at Sundance, Ondi Timoner’s documentary Last Flight Home lands in limited release tomorrow. Focusing on end of life issues involving her own father, Home holds an 87% Rotten Tomatoes rating. MTV Documentary Films acquired the rights in February with eyes on an awards qualifying campaign.

Timoner is a longtime vet of the genre who’s made such acclaimed titles as Dig! (2004) and We Live in Public (2009). This would be her first opportunity for Academy attention. I’ve had Flight both in and out of my top five over the past several weeks. At the moment, I have it in 8th place and we’ll see how it rises or falls in subsequent frames. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions: All That Breathes

After winning the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary competition at Sundance, All That Breathes has been winding its way through the fest circuit including Cannes and New York. The environmental doc from Shaunak Sen holds a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating. It’s slated for an eventual HBO Max streaming bow after a limited and awards qualifying theatrical run before year’s end.

As I’ve opined about many times on this blog, predicting Documentary Feature is often the trickiest category to nail down. Breathes certainly has the prerequisites to make the quintet, but that often doesn’t matter. Bottom line: this is certainly one that should be in the conversation. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…