by Nathaniel R
Nebraska's most successful auteur son, 56 year old Alexander Payne is back with his seventh feature. Downsizing, his new satire about a man (Matt Damon) who joins a community that have shrunk themselves, premiered at Venice to the kind of reviews that seem startling until you remember all the reviews for all the other Payne directed movies. Raves are par for the course. He's won two Globes and two Oscars for his screenplays. His films have won an incredible 3 Best Picture prizes and he's also won four personal prizes from the normally spread-your-wealth folks at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association over the past 20 years.
The film opens in movie theaters on December 22nd and is expected to be both a box office hit and a major Oscar player. Could it finally be his year to win Best Picture?
How many of his films have you seen? The posters (and more about Oscar) are after the jump...
CITIZEN RUTH (1996) | ELECTION (1999) | ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002)
SIDEWAYS (2004) | PARIS JE T'AIME (segment "14e arrondissement"... he's behind the most beloved segment of this omnibus film, the one starring Margot Martindale as an American tourist learning French) | THE DESCENDANTS (2011)
NEBRASKA (2013) | DOWNSIZING (2017)
Like many critical darling auteurs Oscar was a bit behind the critics but eventually fell in love with increasing Oscar nominations as it went. Consider the momentum of these stats: Citizen Ruth (0/0), Election (1/0), About Schmidt (2/0), Sideways (5/1), The Descendants (5/1), Nebraska (6/0). So given that trajectory we should maybe expect Downsizing to get 7 nominations and 2 wins? Tee hee. (current Oscar predictions here) Not that Oscar stats are that mathematically predictable but you catch the drift. He has become an inarguable pet of AMPAS voters. His last three features have earned Best Picture nominations.
Curiously, I still think maybe his first two films are his best, give or take Sideways.
What are your expectations of Downsizing, not just Oscar but your own enthusiasms? And how would you rank Payne's filmography?