The Film Experience

As promised we're updating the Oscar charts more often. With the first avalanche of awardage the ground is shifting, if not quite seismically. It's been a very good week for three things in particular: Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea, and Isabelle Huppert ... and even a good week for, um, Hacksaw Ridge. And you'll see a new lock or two on a few of the charts.

Awards season giveth and awards season taketh away...

It's been not-so-good a week for Fences (not hip enough for critics? pshaw, it's wonderful) and definitely not a pleasant one for Pablo Larraín's potent Jackie. We had assumed its very obvious quality would diffuse its hostility and chilliness making it more palatable to conservative awards voters (in much the same way that Moonlight's spectacular execution is making it accessible to people that might not otherwise be all like "hey gimme that black queer film, now!". We may have been wrong in Jackie's case as awards groups haven't really embraced it. There also seems to be a bit of unexpected resistance out there to the beautifully cathartic adoption drama Lion. That's harder to fathom as its so easy to love in addition to being finely made.

Some of the craft categories feel especially quiet / foggy at the moment (like all the aural categories for example or hair & makeup) but soon we'll have official eligibility lists for scores and songs and more bake-offs in the craft categories which will focus people's attentions.

P.S. ABOUT CRITICS AWARDS
It's The Film Experience's policy to not cover all the regional awards (especially not when they do nominations before their wins... hmmm. you really think you're worthy of more press releases than the NYFCC and LAFCA and NSFC?!?). It was once fun but now it's too ridiculous with nearly 40 organizations (and new ones each year) and many of them not altogether professional entities. So we'll stick to groups with history before the late 90s OR groups which were needed (like the African American Critics) or whatnot. This is meant as no offense to any city or group -- I'm sure most of them have a great critic or three within them but we had to draw the line somewhere!

Groups We Cover

New York Film Critics Circle (1935)
National Society of Film Critics (1966)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association (1975)
The Holy Trinity. When people talk about someone winning the critics triple or the trinity or what not - as people think Huppert will -- it's these three organizations they're talking about. It's difficult to win all three!
Kansas City Film Critics Circle (1966)
Boston Society of Film Critics (1980)
London Film Critics Circle (1980)
Chicago Film Critics Association (1988)
Dallas-Ft Worth Film Critics Association (1990)
Southeastern Film Critics Association (1992)
Broadcast Film Critics Association (1995)
San Diego Film Critics Society (1996)
Toronto Film Critics Association (1997)
Online Film Critics Society (1997)
African American Film Critics Association (2003)
Women Film Critics Circle (2004)
Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (2009)