Chart Feedback & Mystery Movies
Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 2:33PM ICYMI over the weekend, I finally unveiled the first round of Oscar charts and pontificating and naturally Best Actress generated the most commentary from you though I readily admit I expected a little more discussion than we got on Screenplay (wah-wah). But maybe that's because I find that topic inherently interesting.
When I'm working on reviews or charts or any topic that involves opinion-making (*cough*) I tend to avoid reading other people on the same topic until I'm finished. Naturally this approach has drawbacks because I forget things. For instance, Sasha Stone recently talked up Best Actress and threw out some names that aren't on my chart (like Diane Keaton in And So It Goes...) and Kris, Guy, and Gregory at In Contention also talked up '20 movies that aren't on your radar' and my biggest miss there from the Oscar charts is surely the civil rights drama Selma from Ava DuVernay which stars the formidable young actor David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. I loved their last collaboration Middle of Nowhere and I'd be thrilled if this film was a) as good and b) made a bigger dent come awards time. Tom Wilkinson co-stars as President Lyndon B Johnson. If that film is finished in time it could rock the boat in more than a few categories.
The next chart updates will hit on June 22nd so we have a few weeks to mull over the field.
One movie that I can't stop thinking about is Alan Rickman's A Little Chaos. I expect this curiousity is due to the very vague info that's floating about. We know that Alan Rickman is directing and plays King Louis XIV. We know that Kate Winslet is the lead as a landscaper trying to design a fountain for the King. We know that the talented as he is hunky Matthias Schoenearts (who must have cloned himself he's in so many movies now) is Kate's love insterest. But not much else though it wrapped filming last year. It's an odd premise that sounds comedic but most vague reports list it as a drama or a romance. But the cast is marvelous. The film also features character actors like Stanley Tucci, Helen McRory, Jennifer Ehle and Emma Thompson's mom Phyllida Law.
Which under the radar movie are you most curious about?
Reader Comments (14)
Kate is always worth vesting an actressexual love for,glad your hopeful..
Random awards fact about Rickman: He's one of only eight actors to have been nominated for four BAFTA's and never an Oscar. Only Mia Farrow and Dirk Bogarde have more without a nomination.
Nathaniel I just heard that after 2yrs Nick Cassavetes 'Yellow' has finally gotten a release date Aug 9!! You think it has a shot at a best picture Oscar nomination??
Mia Wasikowska knocked my socks off in Jane Eyre. What a performance. Since then I've been waiting for her next big knockout performance. Could Madame Bovary be it?
It also has two actors who have been on the verge for a while without breaking out yet - Logan Marshall Green and Ezra Miller. And two - Ifans and Giamatti - that I'm not a fan of. They are fussy. So who know but I'm intrigued.
David-I would doubt it. Occasionally directors pop up out of nowhere to get a nomination after making genre or unnoticed films (Kathryn Bigelow and John Lee Hancock come to mind), but it's very rare. Usually they're consistently favorites of the critics that strike it up or are in the Oscar hunt from the get-go. Nothing in his filmography says that he could get this nomination.
Paul Giamatti is such an underrated actor (Sideways; Win Win) --- He should
Have an Gold Statue by now...
This A Little Chaos sounds like that kind of late afterglow nominations, like Mirren in The Last Station, or Binoche in Chocolat. I fell this 90's Miramax vibe, around 4 nominations...
Winslet hasn't given a truly extraordinary performance in a while. I'm doubtful 'A Little Chaos' will change that. :/
Was looking at the best actor chart. Does the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman not even get a look in for 'A Most Wanted Man'? Surely he's at least a distant possibility? Maybe I'm wrong.
Tim -- i just think posthumous nods are *really* hard to get and the reviews for those final pictures at sundance weren't all that great.
I love Rickman and would follow him anywhere, so whatever this movie turns out to be, I will watch it. Luckily it sounds very intriguing. Winslet and Schoenaerts are extra bonus.
I'm excited to see A Little Chaos, even though it's pretty vague. Winslet is wonderful in everything. Schoenaerts has shown great potential.
Winslet has made some excellent post-Oscar choices by working with Todd Haynes, Steven Soderbergh, and Roman Polanski. Great performances in all three projects. 2013 was definitely her slump year (I mean what actor with a long career doesn't have one?), but I blame Jason Reitman. He had a great track record up until Labor Day; who wouldn't want to work with him? Anyway, she's certainly wasting no time getting back to basics. Don't know much about A Little Chaos, but Triple Nine and The Dressmaker sound fascinating. She recently said in an interview that her career is back on, or something to that effect. Perhaps her slump year was a result of a lack in focus.
Just saw trailer for Pride. Have to think Imelda Staunton will at least be in the Oscar conversation.
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