NBR flies off into the sunset with "Top Gun Maverick"

by Nathaniel R

TOP GUN MAVERICK

The National Board of Review has spoken. They've named the year's biggest box office hit Top Gun Maverick the very best film of 2022. They also loved two other presumed Best Picture certainties: The Fablemans and The Banshees of Inisherin giving both multiple prizes. The NBR also made an effort to boost the profiles of four subtitled films hoping for kudos this awards season: Germany's All Quiet on the Western Front, Argentina's Argentina 1985, India's RRR, and Belgium's Close. The enduring organization didn't love all the Oscar hopefuls though.  Among the high profile complete shutouts: Babylon, Pinocchio, Triangle of Sadness, Elvis, Tár, and The Whale. Full list of winners and comments follow...

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Almost There: Claire Foy in "First Man"

by Cláudio Alves

For a film to get two nominations in the Best Supporting Actress category isn't especially rare. Several titles vie for that double spot this year, though Women Talking appears to be most likely to succeed. Jessie Buckley was nominated for The Lost Daughter last season and feels poised to nab a second consecutive honor, while Claire Foy has the other juiciest role. Moreover, this isn't the first time the British actress made famous by The Crown has been a significant player in the Oscar race. Early in the 2018 awards season, she appeared to be a near-lock for her work in Damien Chazelle's First Man, wherein the actress played a variation on AMPAS' favorite stock character – the stalwart wife to "a great man" of history. 

As Women Talking is gracing theaters with a new buzzy Foy performance and Chazelle's First Man follow-up Babylon is almost upon us, let's look at her work in the Neil Armstrong biopic…

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144 Films Eligible for Best Documentary Feature for the 95th Oscars

by Nathaniel R

The Academy has revealed the list of Eligible films for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. There are 144 in total. Next week the Academy will vote in the preliminary round which will narrow down the titles to 15 (announced on December 21st, 2022) from which they'll choose 5 nominees (announced January 24th, 2023). In other words this month is the last hurrah (Oscar-wise) for 90% of the contenders. After the jump the full list, where you can see the films, and our reviews if we've done them...

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27 Films Eligible for Best Animated Feature for the 95th Oscars

by Nathaniel R

APOLLO 10 1/2: A SPACE AGE CHILDHOOD

Better late the never the Academy has finally released the names of the eligible lists in their three specialty movie categories (Best International Feature, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Animated Feature). We've already discussed the Best International Feature lists which we've known for some time, so let's talk animation.

There will be 5 nominees this year (as per usual since the threshold to make that happen is so low). Read on for the list of eligible titles and where you can watch the films. Half of the films are easily accessible right now...

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Another quiet weekend in theaters with only one major new wide release

By Nathaniel R

The situation didn't improve at the box office post-Thanksgiving without much in the way of new films for people to see. That said, in the absence of competition Violent Night performed above expectations, thanks to the "Violent" in the title and its memorable marketing hook 'Santa Claus goes to war with criminal intruders in a rich family's home'.

Weekend Box Office (actuals) Dec 2nd-4th 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
VIOLENT NIGHT	THE FABELMANS
1 BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER $17.5 (cum. $393.6)	1 ★ THE FABELMANS $1.2 (cum. $5.5) 638 screens

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