All Oscar Charts Revised!

by Nathaniel R

It never fails to be alarming but right about this time every year in early October, suddenly EVERYONE who is involved with the business of film awardage is abruptly working overtime after six months of hibernation. What's more, even film events that have nothing to do with the impending Oscar race, also land in October like New Fest (a festival we've truly longed to indulge in but have never been able to due to simultaneous NYFF/Middleburg). We only wish we could figure out some way to join everyone else in hibernation from March through September each year and still have an audience left in October so we'd be better rested. (Maybe less frequent posting in those months or a substack to fill in gaps? Subscribe plz.)

Next week, for instance, is insanity. There are Oscar related screenings and events in Los Angeles, NYFF events / premieres in New York, New Fest events in New York, and the Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia with our annual Oscar panel plus celebrity honorees attending like Stephanie Hsu, Noah Baumbach, and many more as a stop on their Oscar campaign trails. The jampacked schedule continues like this (though names and places and celebrities in attendance change) basically through the close of Oscar voting early next year. No time to breathe (that's okay) or write (not okay!). This is not a complaint so much as a "whew. here we go again". Until we get to full cateogry articles, see the updated charts!

EVERY OSCAR CHART  Prediction Index | Picture | Director | Actress | Actor | Supporting Actress | Supporting Actor | International Feature |  Screenplays | Visual Charts | Music Charts | Animated Feature |  Charts of International Submissions

NYFF: Kelly Reichardt continues her perfect track record doing absolutely no wrong with the subtle marvel of 'Showing Up'

by Jason Adams

The worlds that writer-director Kelly Reichardt grants us access to with her movies are special places. Even if they’re filled with terrors, as they very often are – her wonderful 2013 eco-thriller Night Moves is not as out of place as it might initially seen – they’re all so delicately spun you might find yourself not breathing lest the spell be broken. The grace on display in her work is meditative, plaintive, lovely even in the most dire of straits. They are quite simply always one of my favorite places to visit. 

And her latest titled Showing Up, which reunites Reichardt with actress Michelle Williams for the first time since 2016’s Certain Women, is another wondrous, delicate world – one I know I’ll be returning to time after time, year after year, to soak in, to absorb whatever wonders and mysteries I can from someone whose view of existence I’m thankful for receiving every single damn time...

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Doc Corner: The female rockers of 'Nothing Compares' and 'Sirens'

By Glenn Dunks

Showtime's Sinéad O'Connor documentary, Nothing Compares, much like the artist herself, is at its best when it is prickly and confronting the hard truths of the world. It is less interesting when conforming to now well-worn standards of this sub-genre, distilling information like a Wikipedia profile. The Irish singer, known for a shaved head and distinctively accented vocals, has had a hard life of struggle and sorrow amid mega-selling hit singles and critically acclaimed albums. In short, she's perfect fodder for a documentary. Director Kathryn Ferguson and editor Mick Mahon find their strongest rhythms when observing the singer’s career through the prism of her homeland and the pull-and-tug of Catholicism, which lingers over her music like a haunting spectre...

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NYFF: The Human Body tenderized in 'De Humani Corporis Fabrica'

by Jason Adams

Do you ever find yourself zoning out to one of those surgery shows they sometimes have on basic cable? Titles like Botched or Plastic Surgery: Before and After where they stick their reality-show cameras into people’s literal guts and poke around? Yeah me neither. A lurid dramatization like the series Nip/Tuck I could handle, but the real stuff’s always been a bridge too far. But then I’ve always had that line drawn in the sand when it came to Horror Movies as well – I’ll watch all sorts of gruesomeness as long as I know it’s fake but you’d have to tie me down to get me to watch one of those Faces of Death videos. 

So why then did I find myself so lulled into hypnotic contemplation by directors Véréna Paravel and Lucien Castaing-Taylor’s surreal-ish surgery documentary De Humani Corporis Fabrica (meaning “Of the Structure of the Human Body” and named after the legendary 1555 anatomical texts) at the New York Film Festival this week?

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What did you see over the weekend?

By Ben Miller

Unsurprisingly, horror films released in October rule the box office.  Smile was able to snag the top spot behind a viral marketing campaign and a better-than-average critical recepiton (77% on Rotten Tomatoes).  Unfortunately, the big story of the box office week was the failure of Bros.  The Billy Eichner-starring film earned less than $5 million despite an A CinemaScore and critical praise (91% on RT).  Plenty of people on Twitter have their opinions on the failure, but maybe we should let the film continue it's run before deeming it a failure.  Regardless of the opening weekend, this doesn't bode well for the viability of LGBTQ+ studio content going forward.

Weekend Box Office  September 30th-October 2nd 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended links if we've written about it
WIDE (OVER 800 SCREENS)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
SMILE	PONNIYIN SELVAN

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