November It's a Wrap

November wrapped so quickly with such excited via the NYFCC Awards and Oscar chart revamping that we didn't even realize that December has just begin. Here are two handfuls of highlights from the month that was in case you missed 'em:

• Get Out Party Kaluuya and Peele chat favorite moviegoing experiences
• 25 Youngest Actors Ever Oscar Nominated Marlon, Heath, Monty, Mickey and more. Timothée will be 3rd youngest if he pulls it off
• Call Me With Kindess the controversy over sex scenes in Call Me By Your Name
• Yes No Maybe So: Avengers Infinity War so many heroes. so much running and punching
• The Furniture takes a spooky train back to Bram Stoker's Dracula for its 25th
• Honorary Beauty gazing at the legendary stars at this year's Governor's Awards
• Best of 1972 and 1956 just for fun!
• Soundtracking Frances Ha since Greta Gerwig is all the rage again
• Smackdown 1944: Gaslight, Dragon Seed, and Since You Went Away
• FYC Tiffany Haddish inspired hilarity in Girls Trip
• Specificity and Universality on Coco and Call Me By Your Name

COMING IN DECEMBER: More year end hoopla, top ten lists. Interviews with Octavia Spencer, Lois Smith, Greta Gerwig, Jamie Bell, James Ivory, and more...

The 2017 Animated Contenders: "The Big Bad Fox"

by Tim Brayton

If you've been following the Best Animated Feature Oscar for the past few years, perhaps you remember the 2013 nominee Ernest & Celestine, a gentle and generous children's movie from France, about the adventures of a bear and a mouse becoming best friends while on the run from the law. This year, two of that film's producers and one of its directors are back in the hunt with The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales, an anthology of stories about the inhabitants of a rural farmyard in France.

The film took a roundabout path to theaters. Based on comic books by Benjamin Renner – the Ernest & Celestine director, back to help usher his material to the screen, with co-director Patrick Imbert and co-writer Jean Regnaud – the three stories were initially intended to be episodes in a TV series. Somewhere along the way, they got promoted to feature film status, with the help of a framework narrative presenting the stories as plays put on by an enthusiastic, barely-competent theater troupe of farm animals.

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The Oscar Week: Greta, Jake, and Timothée

Murtada is back with his weekly Oscars feature for a new season, following Oscar contenders and examining how their many interviews and appearances impact their chances.

Gerwig at the Gotham Awards

Are you ready for another season of Oscar campaign shenanigans? Frankly I wasn’t. In the year in which Hollywood revealed its ugly hidden true self of rampant sexual harassment, maybe they shouldn’t spend so much time patting themselves on the back. Cancel the Oscars, I cried to one in particular.

But then Greta Gerwig took me out of my dark despair...

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All the Plummer in the World

Chris here. While we've been waiting for reactions on the big late year arrivals and potential Oscar players The Post and Phantom Thread, don't forget that we have another film yet to be seen: Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World. Though admittedly what we're anticipating here is if the film will arrive on time at all or not.

The film famously went back into reshoots last month to replace Kevin Spacey after several sexual assault revelations came to light regarding the actor. Scott had originally wanted Christopher Plummer for the role of J. Paul Getty, and now he's getting his wish - and sans the unfortunate looking makeup that shrowded Spacey. But by all reports, Scott will achieve the difficult casting overhaul and the film will open on schedule on December 22.

Which means all eyes will be mostly on Plummer as Getty and the potential for him to be a last-minute player in the Best Supporting Actor race. By the looks of the first footage, Plummer is a more chilling and formiddable presence than the glimpses we saw from Spacey. From the new trailer, what do you think of Plummer's chances?

Sundance Primer: The 2018 Dramatic Competition Lineup

It's a wonderful week for diversity! In the festival world, at least. The American and International Dramatic Competition lineup for the 2018 Sundance Film Festival was announced and it includes narratives representing people of all kinds from all over the world. This year's lineup also features exciting film directorial debuts from familiar (Idris Elba! Paul Dano!) and new visionaries.

In the past, major films like Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and this year's awards darling Call Me By Your Name premiered under this category. Check out this year's contenders to gauge who critics and audiences will still be talking about months after the festival's run.

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