Best International Feature: Vietnam, United Kingdom & Singapore's contenders

by Cláudio Alves

The Oscar shortlists are almost here. On December 16th, we'll finally know which are the 10 films that go forward in the race for the Best International Feature award. To whittle down the record-breaking number of 91 submissions into a sparse 10 won't be an easy feat and there are bound to be many snubs causing controversy and discussion among Oscar buffs. While we wait for that most anticipated date, I invite you to continue our adventure through those 91 submissions. This time around, we're focusing on films that are currently available on Netflix.

There's Vietnam's story of a vengeful mother in search of her kidnapped daughter; the UK's tale of human perseverance in Malawi; and Singapore's oneiric reveries about disappeared drivers and insomniac detectives…

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Once Upon a Time ... in more critics prizes!

by Nathaniel R

Pint sized big talent Julia Butters and Quentin Tarantino both won prizes recently for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

In the latest round up of critics prizes we have critics from the SouthEastern US, Las Vegas, Boston (online) and one of the two (or is it three now?) female critics organizations called "Women's Film Critic's Circle". Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Parasite pick up several more prizes as do Portrait of a Lady on Fire and... Harriet? 

Tomorrow one of the historically coolest and most discerning critics groups is naming their winners (Boston Society of Film Critics -- don't fail us!) but until that potentially exciting announcement here are the latest four associations to announce. The winners and a few comments are after the jump...

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Animated Feature Contenders: "This Magnificent Cake!"

by Tim

With no more new animated releases coming up for a while, this round-up is changing focus: we'll spend the next few weeks looking at some of the more noteworthy titles eligible for the Best Animated Feature Oscar this year. And "feature" barely feels like the right word to describe the 44-minute This Magnificent Cake!, but it just makes it according to the Academy's rules (which state that a feature is more than 40 minutes long).

So it might make it to "feature" on a technicality, but it's unquestionably noteworthy. This is the longest collaboration to date from Belgian directors Emma De Swaef & Marc James Roels, who have made a cottage industry over the last decade with some of the most distinctive-looking films in the world. Not a claim to make lightly, but it's hard to come up with any other way of putting it. The duo's characteristic style is to fashion puppets out of wool and other craft material, and then give them life through stop-motion animation; it's basically what you'd get if you were told to make a movie using only the things you could find in a fabric store...

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Carey Mulligan Hunts Bad Men

by Murtada Elfadl

When I recently listed five films premiering at January’s Sundance I’m most anticipating, Promising Young Woman didn’t make the cut. But then they went and released a most thrilling trailer. In lieu of YES NO MAYBE SO, since I’m 120% yes I will list 5 reasons to get excited about this movie...

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FYC: Jo Yeo-jeong

by Kyndall Cunningham

With every nerve-racking awards season, I find myself putting all my emotional stock into the Best Supporting Actress category. There are three main reasons for this: 1) actresses 2) ostensibly, it’s where all the scene-stealers are, and 3) it’s the only category I can count on a woman of color to win. Admittedly, post-Richard Jewell, I’m not nearly as excited about this category as I was, say, a month ago. But I still have faith that this will be the most interesting acting category this season with various wild cards and dark horses popping in and out until the Oscars nominations are announced in January. 

Media outlets have deemed The Farewell’s Zhao Shuzhen the favored dark horse this year, which is great! But I still believe that this category has room for another non-American actress despite the Oscars tendency to stay "local," as Bong Joon-ho would put it.

Jo Yeo-jeong. 

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