9 days until Oscar. This year's 9-time nominees

by Nathaniel R

9 time Academy Award nominee Ren Klyce at work

While the 93rd Annual Academy Awards are largely a very exciting 'fresh voices!' kind of competition, all Oscar years barring the very first couple (haha) have some regular nominees show up. In the absence of a Streep or a Williams this year the only people in the double digits are songwriter Diane Warren and a couple of sound guys (more on sound in a minute). But we wanted to highlight count three men with 9 nominations today. Only one of them, has previously won. They are...

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Links: Bette's bunny theory, Martin & Lewis all wet, and a follow up to "The Father"

• /Film Florian Zeller has already lined up the cast for his follow up to The Father. It's called The Son, also based on one of his stage plays, and will star Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern as ex-spouses dealing with a troubled kid. No word yet on who will be playing the step-mom or the kid
• Cinea If you've been missing Cláudio, here's an essay he just wrote on Jennifer Jones and David O. Selznick for a Flemish film culture site. (It's in English so happy reading!)  
• /Film Trailer to Barry Jenkins upcoming Amazon series Underground Railroad
• MNPP They made a Funko Pop of John Waters?! On a related note The Film Experience will be doing a week long celebration of John Waters starting Sunday. Stay tuned! 

Carey Mulligan, Billy Magnussen, Mariel Hemingway, another Let the Right One In adaptation, and more after the jump...

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93rd Academy Awards: A contrarian take on the Best Director field

Editor's note. The Supporting Actress Smackdown is running late and will arrive tomorrow. Apologies! Meanwhile we continue our rundown of Oscar categories with Best Director.

by Elisa Giudici

Five directors. One European filmmaker. one Asian-American director. One woman of color. Another woman nominated for her directorial debut. One old sport named David Fincher. This year's director ballot does not lack variety! Ten days from the Oscar night and this competition is nearly over. All of these movies are clearly personal achievements, but will any prove a cornerstone in the career of its director? Every nominated director is at a different stage of their life and career, each movie a fascinating chrysalis. Every nomination here is like a gentle pat on the shoulder, a "this movie was really good, we are really curious to see what you will do next time!" kind of nomination.

From least likely to win to the one who will probably take the Oscar home, let's investigate a little...

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Would you rather?

We've had an entirely uneventful but weirdly stressful week so we're gazing at beautiful celebrities again on Instagram. So. Would you rather...

• sunbathe with Iko Uwais?
• plan a Disney trip with Annaleigh Ashford?
• hug it out with Taylour Paige and doggie?
• study fierce geometry with Billy Porter?
• swing in a hammock with Billy Eichner?
• embrace nature with Katee Sackhoff?
• relax in the pool with John Boyega?
• ride a pony with Channing Tatum?
• go to a Mets game with Awkwafina?
• finish your vaccinations with Carrie Preston?
• go surfing in nothing but body paint with Eiza González?
• stop traffic with Sebastian Stan?

Pictures are after the jump to help you decide.

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Doc Corner: 'Wojnarowicz: F*** You F*ggot F**ker'

by Glenn Dunks

I briefly mentioned Chris McKim’s artist bio-doc Wojnarowicz: F*** You F*ggot F**ker (their grammar, not mine) earlier this year as one of the best unreleased documentaries that I saw in 2020. Voila, here we are, and this incredibly vibrant film is now out in the world. Big, boldly stylized and defiantly queer; it’s a documentary about an artist that, for once, feels truly in sync with its subject’s style. “I’m not gay as in ‘I love you’, I’m queer as in fuck off!” If it was one of last year’s best unreleased films, so now it is one of this year’s best films. I love it.

And perhaps part of what makes McKim’s film so interesting from the very start is that David Wojnarowicz is not an artist whose work and life has been excessively covered in film. (Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, as brilliant as they were, could probably stand to sit the next few years out if you know what I mean)

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