Actress Chart Updates: Kate Winslet is Buzzing
Saturday, July 29, 2017 at 1:30PM Wonder Wheel continues to gather quite a lot of pre-release hype. It's opening quite late for a Woody Allen picture on December 1st. If you look at the history of his releases they've been summer counter-programming for a very long time now. Midnight in Paris (2011) and Blue Jasmine (2013) have been his biggest Oscar and commercial successes since the 1990s and they both opened in the summer. You have to go all the way back to Match Point (2005) to find a successful December release for the annual Woody Allens and that one came up short of expectations on Oscar nomination morning (1 nomination) despite a lot of pre-release critical buzz.
But Amazon Studios, who plan to distribute Wonder Wheel themselves (a first for them), seem to have an eye on Oscar. Perhaps they've bought into the common (and very wrong) belief that you have to be a December release to catch Oscar's eye? Good luck to them and we hope the movie is as good as we're hearing!
Consider this high praise from Kent Jones who selected the movie to close the New York Film Festival in October:
I’m not quite sure what I expected when I sat down to watch Wonder Wheel, but when the lights came up I was speechless. There are elements in the film that will certainly be familiar to anyone who knows Woody Allen’s work, but here he holds them up to a completely new light. I mean that literally and figuratively, because Allen and Vittorio Storaro use light and color in a way that is stunning in and of itself but also integral to the mounting emotional power of the film. And at the center of it all is Kate Winslet’s absolutely remarkable performance—precious few actors are that talented, or fearless.
Now, it's important to note that Kent Jones is the Festival Director and thus has an obligation to promote his festival but still... wouldn't it be wondrous to see Kate rise again after the delicious hint of her full throttle starpower returning via The Dressmaker last year?
UPDATED OSCAR CHARTS
Best Actress - Kate, Emma, and Meryl on the rise
Best Supporting Actress - Holly Hunter securely up top... for now
Foreign Film Chart 1 - Afghanistan to Ethiopia speculation
Reader Comments (105)
Can Margot Robbie surprise in I, TONYA?
Infamous incident, deglam + fat suit = transformation.
It will play festival so maybe.
You ALL know that we have PREFERENTIAL BALLOTS in ALL nominations now, right? New rules.
So... No one is locked.
Well, there are hardly notable roles for women in Spielberg movies. That's why The Paper sounds at least (on paper) very promising. It's also the first female lead role for an actress over 60/near 70. From the script it also sounds more like a subdued role for Meryl, another thing a lot of People wanted her to play again.
Maybe that's why it goes a bit under my skin.... Sorry. *sigh*
As for a win I'd like of Course to see Annette Bening or Glenn Close to win, finally. And Bening might have a Still Alice -Moment at TIFF this year. We'll see.
"People are already losing it and it's not even August yet!"
With all of the high-profile roles for favorite actresses this year, and Meryl and Lawrence in what look to be major contenders, this year promises be completely insane.
Glenn, there was a dry spell between The Colour Purple's three ladies and Sally Field in Lincoln with Spielberg, because there weren't many good female roles to be nominated. That isn't the case with The Papers. The film would have to explode into bits in December for Streep to not be nominated. The Globe nod is a lock and she will campaign.