International Contenders: Costa Rica, Greece, Malaysia, etc

Since the last "roundup" updated we've had 8 more countries join the next Oscar race for Best International Feature Film bringing the total list to 34 (the list usually reaches around 90 though we suspect less this year due to COVID-19). They are...

• COSTA RICA - Land of Ashes
• GREECE - Apples
• MALAYSIA - Roh/Soul
• THE NETHERLANDS - Bulado (previously featured)
• PERU - Song Without a Name
• SPAIN - The Endless Trench (finalists previously discussed) 
• SWEDEN - Charter (previously featured)
• VENEZUELA - Once Upon a Time in Venezuela  

You can read more about the films at those Oscar chart links. So far there is a very noticeable lack of famous auteurs with a lot of debut films in the mix so who knows what Oscar might select!

Pt 1 - Sizing up Netflix's contenders in all 23 Oscar categories

by Juan Carlos Ojano

It is already November and the pandemic rages on.  With moviegoing risky or unavailable movielovers have turned to streamers for their film consumption. The Academy has even acknowledged this shift in how we consume films by allowing films to qualify for the Oscars even if they only went streaming.  While the past few years have seen the rise of streaming wars (Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV+, and Disney+, etcetera), nobody has been able to match the sheer quantity of content that Netflix has been producing or acquiring. Netflix could well dominate this awards season. But by how much?

Important Caveat: Do note that Netflix has not announced the entirety of its slate through February 28, 2021, the final day of eligibility for this Oscars; pieces are still moving and more films will probably show up. With that, here are Netflix’s contenders in all 23 Oscar categories...

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First time directors dominate AACTA nominations

by Travis Cragg

Rising stars Eliza Scanlen (Sharp Objects) and George Mackay (1917) headline the AACTA frontrunners "Babyteeth" and "True History of the Kelly Gang"

COVID hasn’t delayed ALL the awards… The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts will have two ceremonies  one remote, the other with reduced capacity, on the 27th and 30th of this month. Not that AACTA gets much press. The nominations were announced a week ago to little fanfare but we'll share them here because we value Australian cinema.  The family cancer dramedy Babyteeth (which is current streaming on Hulu)leads the nominations for 2020, receiving nods in 12 out of a possible 13 categories (only missing out on Costume Design). Often in AACTA when a film is this dominant, it proceeds with a sweep (e.g. Somersault) or near-sweep (The Great Gatsby) of the awards on the night. Despite the possibility of a Babyteeth sweep, it certainly does have competition. Full nominations and a few comments after the jump...

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25th Anniversary: "Home for the Holidays"

by Mark Brinkherhoff

In high school, I managed to hoodwink my journalism advisor into letting me review movies for our semi-regular school paper. In some cases, these were movies my parents certainly did not approve of (Se7en, Showgirls, etc.); in other cases, there were movies I would have seen anyway but was able to write off as a “class expense.” Home for the Holidays, Jodie Foster’s sophomore directorial effort, fell into the latter camp.  

Arriving on a post-Oscar blitz of new films starring Holly Hunter (e.g. Copycat, Crash—no, not that one), Home for the Holidays got lost in the shuffle of both 1995’s crop of holiday fare and its stars own filmography...

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"The New Classics" - in case you missed any

We're already in withdrawal. Tuesday are when we normally get a new episode of Michael Cusamano's insightful and engaging series "The New Classics," which focuses on top-notch 21st century films by dissecting a single defining scene. But season 2 just ended last week so no new episode today. But if you missed any of his great great articles, please catch up. We're just assuming you might need cinematic healing / distraction tonight and tomorrow given all the anxiety and stress of waiting for election results.

Season 1 of The New Classics (22 episodes)

Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) | Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) | Sexy Beast (2001) | Master and Commander (2003) | Shattered Glass (2003) | Before Sunset (2004) | Collateral (2004) | Eastern Promises (2007) | Michael Clayton (2007) | No Country For Old Men (2007) | Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)  | The Hurt Locker (2009) | Inglourious Basterds (2009) | In the Loop (2009) | I Am Love (2010) | Meek's Cutoff (2010) | A Separation (2011) | Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) | It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012) | Blue Ruin (2014) | 20th Century Women (2016) | The Florida Project (2017)

Season 2 of The New Classics (22 episodes) 

Wonder Boys (2000) | Amélie (2001) | Gosford Park (2001) | Capote (2005) | The Descent (2005) | Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) | The New World (2005) | Bridesmaids (2011) | Drive (2011) | Oslo August 31 (2011) | Lincoln (2012) | The Master (2012) | Frances Ha (2013) | Wolf of Wall Street (2013) | The Babadook (2014) | Nightcrawler (2014) | Two Days One Night (2014) | It Follows (2015) | The Handmaiden (2016) | Moonlight (2016) | The Witch (2016) | First Reformed (2018)

I will be begging Michael for a third season in 2021 since he hasnt yet written up the two towers of 2015, Carol and Mad Max Fury Road, nor has he graced us with any picks from the film years of 2002 or 2006, respectively.