Criterion Teases 2019

Chris here. One of the cinematic treasures of the new year is always the Criterion Collection's annual animated tease of what they have coming for us cinema hounds. And dare I say that this year's puzzle is as confounding as ever - or maybe, eek, I'm drawing a blank on some of the more rarified blind spots here. One film we can count on: John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch, already teased by the filmmaker last year. Might that be this drawing's owl and earthworm? Can you spot any other film's in the drawing?

Producers Guild Nominations

by Nathaniel R

The PGA have announced their nominations for 2018. True to form they've leaned into big hits and crowd pleasers rather than pure critical acclaim. It's important to note straightaway that in the modern era of the expanded Best Picture list the PGA list has never exactly matched the Oscar list though it has ONCE included all the nominees (plus an additional film since PGA has 10 where Oscar is on a 5-10 system that's so far only delivered 8 or 9 nominees each year). Last year the two lists were markedly different, though, with 4 of the 10 titles dropping off when the Oscar list was announced, and two different titles popping up in their place.

After the jump all of the PGA nominees this year (in multiple film and television categories) and to show you how important box office success is to the PGA, the number in parenthesis is where that film ranks (currently) on the list of 2018 box office grosses. We'll also discuss what this all means in terms of what could happen with Oscar...

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Our Golden Globe Predictions!

by Nathaniel R

Did you know that the Globes could have a greater impact on the Oscar nominations than usual? It's all in the calendar. See the morning after the Globes, Oscar nomination balloting finally  begins. The dates don't always line up that exactly, so the Globes will definitely be fresh in mind when AMPAS begins voting. This is neither good nor bad, or rather it isn't either of things... yet. Let us pray that the HFPA uses their powers for good this year.

Yours truly (Nathaniel) does not follow TV as closely as he does movies but the Globes can be all over the place anyway, so this is rather like throwing darts while doing Bird Box cosplay... but it's fun! Predictions are after the jump...

TELEVISION PREDICTIONS

Supporting Actor TV 

• Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method (S1)
• Kieran Culkin, Succession (S1)
• Edgar Ramirez, The Assassination of Gianni Versace
• Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal
• Henry Winkler, Barry (S1)

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GALECA Favours "The Favourite" as Nomination Leader

by Nathaniel R

The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Journalists have announced their official nominations for 2018. It's GALECA's 10th year as an organization making this an anniversary year. As ever, full disclosure on such things, a few of our contributors here at TFE are members of this organization with encompasses over 200 journalists from the UK, US, Australia, and Canada. The all time most-awarded films by GALECA were Carol (2015) and Moonlight (2016) so that's a good track record. The Favourite leads the movie nomination this year while Pose led the TV side.

Recently the Online Film Critics Society had a slate that also favored The Favourite but the Yorgos Lanthimos pitch-black comedy emerged with nothing when the actual winners were selected. It kinda makes you think. Could The Favourite also lead the Oscar nominations but lose everything? 

After the jump the full list of nominees with quick commentary...

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Review: Capernaum

Please welcome new contributor Abe Fried-Tanzer

Two years ago, despite over a dozen submissions since 1978, Lebanon hadn’t had a film nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Now, the small Middle Eastern country is looking at a likely second consecutive nomination. The Insult was a powerful portrait of two adult men divided by hate and behaving like children. Capernaum, equally compelling, spotlights the opposite: a child acting like an adult, seemingly far more capable of understanding the world for what it is than the actual grown-ups in his life.

The sensational description of this film’s plot focuses on its approximately twelve-year-old protagonist Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) suing his parents for giving birth to him. That summary may conjure up courtroom drama, but that’s far from the truth of the film which takes place on merciless streets. Instead, Capernaum provides a layered look at what it means to be responsible for another person...

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