Will "Best Supporting Actress" prove the most volatile category this year?

by Nathaniel R

Kerry Condon is brilliant in "Banshees of Inisherin". Oscar nomination forthcoming

Early December has a way of suddenly narrowing down Oscar nomination dreams but until we get there, the year's most volatile acting category feels like Best Supporting Actress. From the plethora of films with multiple options (Women Talking, The Woman King, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Glass Onion, Tár, She Said) to stand-outs in films with male leads (The Banshees of Inisherin, Armageddon Time, Triangle of Sadness, The Whale, The Inspection) and one key still-to-screen performance (Jean Smart in Babylon), there are a lot of valid choices for Academy members. And that isn't even all of the options if they're feeling freethinking and adventurous this season (rare but one can always dream).

At this point we're predicting...

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AFI Fest: “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me” shows the star up close

by Eurochees

This year’s AFI Fest opened with a spotlight on pop star Selena Gomez under the direction of Alek Keshishian, who famously brought us Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991). The film kicks off promoting Gomez’s music and telling the audience her backstory, walking us through a career she began at 7 years old on the show Barney & Friends. She has been consistently working since that time, turning 30 this past summer. We learn about the physical toll lupus took on her, an emotionally exhausting period which led her to a breakdown stemming from her bipolar disease. Her decision to go public with her diagnosis ties into her statement later in the film that she is driven by her focus on what to do next when facing hurdles... 

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Chart Updates: Best Animated & Documentary Features

by Nathaniel R

"All the Beauty and the Bloodshed" won Venice, but nothing is ever locked for the Documentary nominations as they pass over many frontrunners.

Happy weekend, Oscar fantastics. Figured it was time to finally put up the Documentary Feature chart now that we know several of the potential biggies. How do we suddenly know them given that documentaries arrive each and every week with little indication of whether they'll be Emmy or Oscar fodder? The answer is three key buzz-boosting factors...

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Review: 'Soft & Quiet' is anything but

by Matt St Clair

Soft & Quiet, the feature directorial debut from Beth de Araújo (a newly minted Gotham Award nominee), is the most anxiety-inducing experience you’ll have watching a movie this year. Taking place over the course of one stressful afternoon, this depiction of a group of like-minded women involved in a harrowing chain of events is bound to leave viewers squirming in various ways. 

When the women first meet up, it seems like a casual get-together. But, as they’re taking out refreshments, group leader Emily (Stefanie Estes) unwraps her pie with a swastika carved in the middle. It's a sudden revelation that this gathering is a meeting for their group called the Daughters for Aryan Unity...

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It's 'Armageddon Time' (...and other new releases)

by Nathaniel R

Jaylin Webb and Banks Repata in ARMAGEDDON TIME

Though Hollywood blockbuster lovers are waiting until a week from today for their holiday movie season to kick off with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever the rest of us have plenty to enjoy in theaters right now since "Prestige Movie Season" began a few weeks back. If you haven't caught up with The Banshees of Inisherin, TÁR, Till, Triangle of Sadness, and The Woman King yet, this is the weekend to do it since everything (well, maybe not Banshees) will lose screens to the Wakandans on November 11th. Tick tock tick tock. Get to the movies!

There's other even newer stuff this weekend, too...

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