Instagram Goodies: Marlon, Natalie, Faye, Dancer in the Dark

Just some yummies spotted on Instagram we thought you might enjoy...

Marlon Brando wardrobe reference for "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962).

A photo posted by The Academy (@theacademy) on Nov 25, 2016 at 12:48pm PST

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Acting Chart Updates. Four Questions

Next week everything either begins to change or starts solidifying as the precursors begin. Woohoo, it's awards season! So ALL the Oscar charts were updated this week with the biggest gains this time going to Hell or High Water which wasn't just a momentary pleasure in the summer but a film people are still talking about - witness the Gotham and Spirit acting nods for Jeff Bridges and Ben Foster respectively.

have we been overestimating Michelle Williams in Manchester by the Sea? If she slips from the shortlist, who rises up?

BEST ACTRESS & BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
These categories are looking the most settled with 5 women in each chugging along smoothly toward the precursor glory. In fact apart from Oscar looking toward its default darlings (Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, who both did very fine work this year) it looks like Emma, Annette, Ruth, Isabelle, and Natalie all have reason to be hopeful. The same is true in Supporting Actress where five women (Viola, Naomie, Nicole, Michelle, Greta) have much more heat than others but they'll still have to fend off surging adorables like Molly Shannon in Other People and Octavia Spencer in Hidden Figures. 

Q1: If Meryl or Amy place in the leading shortlist, which one of them and who gets the boot?
Q2: If voters promote Viola Davis to lead (where she totally belongs given that Fences is essentially a family/marital drama) who benefits in supporting and who suffers in lead? Imagine the chaos!

How many nods can Hell or High Water manage? We're predicting 5 at the moment.

BEST ACTOR & BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
These two categories are much more volatile because the men haven't generated half as much conversation this year.

Q3: Might we see BOTH Jeff Bridges and Ben Foster in supporting for Hell or High Water since people love that film so much?  A dual nod in Best Supporting Actor hasn't happened since Bugsy in 1991?
Q4: Do you expect something like 2011 when underdogs like Demian Bichir and Gary Oldman rose up to take nominations that people initially assumed would go to Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Fassbender? And if so are Tom Hanks and Ryan Gosling pushed out and for whom?

ALL OSCAR CHARTS ARE UPDATED HERE

Interview: Director Boo Junfeng on Why He Focused on Empathy in Singaporean Oscar Submission 'Apprentice'

Jose here. Boo Junfeng’s harrowing drama Apprentice focuses on the fascination a young prison officer (Firdaus Rahman) develops with the Chief Executioner (Wan Hanafi Su) who becomes his mentor. Besides the unique professional bond they share, there’s also a secret about their past that lingers over their relationship. This is only Junfeng’s second feature film, and he displays the storytelling confidence of veterans. Despite the film dealing with capital punishment it’s not a film about this, but rather a complex character study which invites us to wonder why so many people make choices we wouldn’t do in a million years. The film which Nathaniel reviewed at TIFF, is Singapore’s official Oscar submission, so I spoke to Junfeng about creating the characters, casting the actors and why it’s important we watch films about dislikable characters.

Read the interview after the jump.

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Nathaniel Gives Thanks !

Since it's Thanksgiving weekend and your presumably still digesting all that pie, let's stay reflective about gratitude, cinematic and otherwise. You've already heard from positivity-spreading volunteers among our team (Manuel, Jose, Daniel, Murtada, and Chris) so now it's my turn. I shall try very hard to come up with a few new things for which to be thankful since they stole so many of my items! 

Here are 16 things I am deeply grateful for in defiance of how awful 2016 was trying to be to all of us...

- The way Meryl Streep's eyes dart around desperately for validation during her wobbly notes in Florence Foster Jenkins. Girl, I feel you. Same.

- Brave endings that really land through force of vision and artistry from The Fits to The Witch through The Lobster and La La Land

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Say What! On the "Mary Magdelene" Set

Garth Davis's Lion arrives in theatres today, but he'll be reuniting with supporting player Rooney Mara in short order for next year's Mary Magdalene. That intriguing project is one of many coming next year from the actress, including a just announced secret film shot with her Aint Them Bodies Saints director David Lowery last summer and maybe Terrence Malick's Weightless. However, we've now seen some set photos of Davis's film with Mara and Joaquin Phoenix's Jesus getting all biblical:

What could Mara be saying to Phoenix? Caption This in the comments!