Oscar Watch: The Aeronauts

Flying into Telluride this weekend is the hot air balloon adventure The Aeronauts, which reunites The Theory of Everything costars Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne. The Amazon Studios production comes with high hopes (a reported $80 million budget) and early reviews suggest it’s fast paced and fun entertainment. Tom Harper directs. Earlier this year, he put out the indie country music drama Wild Rose with an acclaimed performance from Jessie Buckley.

Jones and Redmayne both nabbed Academy nods five years ago for Theory with the latter winning Best Actor. Since then, they’ve moved on to franchise material like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the Fantastic Beasts pics. Their reunion is highly unlikely to make them return nominees.

If The Aeronauts can factor in anywhere, perhaps it’s Visual Effects. Yet that could be a tall order considering competition that could include heavy hitters such as Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, and this December’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Production Design and Costume Design might be reachable as well. My Oscar Watch posts will continue…

Oscar Watch: Wild Rose

After premiering at the Toronto Film Festival last fall, Wild Rose was released stateside in limited fashion this weekend. The musical drama casts Jessie Buckley as an ex con and mother of two who aspires to be a country crooner. Tom Harper directs and costars include Julie Walters and Sophie Okonedo.

Reviews have been strong and the pic stands at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Special attention has especially been paid to Buckley, who is also among the cast of HBO’s huge miniseries hit Chernobyl.

Rose struggled to blossom at the box office this weekend on four screens. It’s doubtful it will post significant numbers in multiplexes. Yet there could be a sizable push for Buckley to nab a Best Actress nod (and maybe Nicole Taylor’s original screenplay). My Oscar Watch posts will continue…