THEN...
One final honor for last year's best picture winner 12 Years a Slave (2013). We've heard talk of this before but it's official now: The National School Boards Association has partnered with the filmmakers and Peguin Books to make 12 Years a Slave and its study guide available to high schools across America. When I attended a Steve McQueen event last year in LA this dream was literally all that he wanted to talk about with the moderator despite the panel being called "On Directing" and his movie being an Oscar favorite.
The news was official a few days back
“I am thrilled that my dream of having 12 YEARS A SLAVE available to high school students is finally a reality. Solomon Northup’s powerful story needs to be shared and remembered for generations to come. This is a wonderful opportunity for our youth to learn about the past. I truly appreciate the efforts of Montel Williams, the National School Boards Association, New Regency, Penguin Books, and Fox Searchlight for making this happen,” said Steve McQueen, director of 12 YEARS A SLAVE.
Congratulations to all and to America, come to think of it, because if the utterly irrational reaction to the Obama era in some quarters has taught us anything it's that racism is a poison that isn't easily cured and destroys the brain first.
We're at war here."
- Anna Morales (Jessica Chastain) in "A Most Violent Year"
NOW...
None of 2014's Oscar hopefuls thus far have had the kind of seismic impact that Gravity and 12 Years a Slave were beginning to exhibit this time last year, which means that the race is wide open and the battle will be bloody and heated for attention. This is both exciting and dull simultaneously since anything might possibly happen but people need things to obsessively root for to stay interested and the films this year don't seem to be grabbing moviegoers en masse apart from, you know, the superhero blockbusters. The Oscar Charts are updated in every single category for your punditry pleasures!
Best Actress, which we should know better than to call "weak" in any given year, is suddenly heating up with Julianne & Reese looking more and more like battling locks for the statue and Jessica Chastain switching over there, too -- news from A24 -- from the previously assumed supporting position for A Most Violent Year.
INDEX | PICTURE | DIRECTOR | SCREENPLAYS
ACTRESS | ACTOR | SUPP. ACTRESS | SUPP. ACTOR
FOREIGN FILMS with SUBMISSION CHARTS
VISUALS | SOUND | ANIMATED FEATURES
Sound off in the comments. You know what to do.
THE NEXT THREE MONTHS...
While several key films have yet to nail down release dates here's what we're looking at for the final months of the year (links go to reviews if we've seen them).
October:
Reitman's Men Women and Children (1); Fincher's Gone Girl, The Good Lie and Venezuelan Oscar submission The Liberator (3); One Chance, The Judge, crowdpleasing Whiplash, Bill Murray seeks career honors in St. Vincent, Hilary Swank in You're Not You and Jeremy Renner in Kill the Messenger (10); Brad Pitt as "Wardaddy" in Fury, the buzzy Birdman, very colorful animated hopeful The Book of Life and Studio Ghibli's The Tale of Princess Kaguya (17); John Hawkes is Low Down and Sweden's Oscar submission Force Majeure (24); Jake Gyllenhaal and Rene Russo reportedly wow in Nightcrawler (31)
currently the nomination prediction leader
November:
Animated hopeful Big Hero 6, senior romantic comedy Elsa and Fred with Shirley Maclaine & Christopher Plummer, Oscars-for-acting-seeking marital bio Theory of Everything, Jon Stewart's Rosewater and Chris Nolan's Interstellar (7); Bennett Miller's wrestling triangle Foxcatcher and western The Homesman (14); People's Choice winner The Imitation Game (21)
December:
Israel's Zero Motivation (3); Reese Witherspoon goes Wild (5); P.T. Anderson's adaptation of Inherent Vice and Ridley Scott's oldschool whitewashed Exodus: Gods and Kings (12); Yet another Hobbit movie (17); Musical remake Annie, remake of The Gambler, and Mike Leigh's Mr Turner (19); Foreign Film Submissions Force Majeure from Sweden, Two Days One Night from Belgium, and Beloved Sisters from Germany all on Christmas Eve? Weirdness. They'll be ignored. sigh (24); Tim Burton's artist bio Big Eyes, the musical Into the Woods, Clint Eastwood's American Sniper, civil rights bio Selma and WW II drama Unbroken (Christmas); Russian Cannes hit Leviathan and J.C Chandor's A Most Violent Year (31)
Basically Waiting Until Early 2015 - but some will surely get a qualifying week run in LA:
Still Alice, Song of the Sea, Maps to the Stars, Mommy, Clouds of Sils Maria