International Contenders: Sudan's First Submission, North Macedonia's Follow Up

We now have a total of 53 submissions for Oscar's Best International Feature competition with 7 additional countries like Bangladesh, Belarus, Colombia, Denmark, France, Italy, and Uruguay scheduled to announce their submissions within the next week. This year we might see a record number of African films submitted. For instance, we're getting our first submission from Sudan, You Will Die at 20, about a 19 year old who a village holy man had predicted at birth would die at 20. North Macedonia, which was nominated last year for Honeyland, has submitted a drama about three women struggling to control their own fates around pregnancy and motherhood called Willow.

Here are the new submissions since our last overview roundup!

• Israel - Asia (Israel's Oscar stats)
• Lithuania - Nova Lithuania
• Mexico - I'm No Longer Here (other finalists / Ariel Award Winner)
• Montenegro - Breasts
• North Macedonia - Willow 
• Norway - Hope (Norway's Oscar stats)
• Portugal - Listen (other finalists)
• Russia - Dear Comrades! (Russia's Oscar stats)
• South Africa - Toorbos 
• Sudan - You Will Die at 20 

WHERE TO SEE THE MOVIES?
If you want to get a jump on some of the submissions 8 of the 52 titles are currently streaming.  Netflix has five of them: Austria's What We Wanted, Mexico's I'm No Longer Here, Spain's The Endless Trench, Taiwan's A Sun, and Turkey's Miracle in Cell No 7. You can also stream Guatemala's La Llorona on Amazon,  Indonesia's Impetigore is on Shudder or Roku, and South Korea's Man Standing Next on Amazon, YouTube, or iTunes. You can follow the list as it grows at our Oscar charts or on our Letterboxd list. 

Critics Choice Documentary Awards 2020

It's the fifth year since the Critics Choice Awards spun off their documentary honors until a whole sidebar awards. I personally abstain from these as I don't see enough documentaries. Our doc corner guru Glenn Dunks would be an ideal voter, though. If he wrote about these winning films, there's a link. The big winners were Dick Johnson is Dead with the two top wins and an additional honor and My Octopus Teacher with two wins as well. The full list of wins is after the jump...

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Gay Best Friend: Patti in "Under the Tuscan Sun"

by Christopher James

Under the Tuscan Sun has/is currently getting me through COVID. Any day I feel crushed by the looming threat of the virus, I make like Diane Lane and escape to Tuscany to worry about plumbing and wall sconces. Yes, Under the Tuscan Sun is peak “white Mom movie,” but it’s also perfect comfort food. Most of this could be laid at the feet of Diane Lane, who was going through a mid-career renaissance in 2003, fresh off her Oscar nomination for Unfaithful. She makes Frances’ quest for reinvention liberating, warm and even a bit silly. Who doesn’t need a bit of silliness in their lives? 

Still, Frances would’ve never ended up in Tuscany without the help of her gay best friend, Patti (Sandra Oh)...

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Review: Sarah Paulson in Hulu’s "Run"

By Abe Friedtanzer

Is there any project that wouldn’t be able to write in a great part for Sarah Paulson? The Emmy-winning actress is a frequent Ryan Murphy collaborator, most recently working with him in the title role of Netflix’s Ratched, which finds a role almost tailor-made for her as a passionate nurse with subversive aims and a formidable will to achieve them. She was also very memorable as one of the few fictional characters in Mrs. America, a stoic supporter of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly who undergoes a fascinating transformation over the course of the limited series. Now, she’s back on streaming in the Hulu movie Run, a tense thriller not to be confused with HBO’s recent dark comedy effort.

Paulson stars as Diane, a woman who is devastated to learn upon giving birth that her daughter is afflicted with a number of conditions that will make her life very difficult...

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Podcast: Hillbilly Elegy, The Life Ahead, and Gotham nominations

with Nathaniel R & Murtada Elfadl

We're back !

Index (60 minutes)
00:01 Gotham Award Nominations. There is lots to discuss including First Cow, The Assistant, Nicole Beharie, Riz Ahmed, and longshots in Oscar races
28:00 Sophia Loren's star vehicle The Life Ahead
35:10 Ron Howard's Hillbilly Elegy. Amy Adams stars. We still think Glenn Close as "Mamaw" has a good shot at a nomination despite the rough reviews
54:30 Randomness to wrap up + Nathaniel finally saw Mulan 

Related Reading:
• Complete Gotham nominations
• Murtada's review of Miss Juneteenth
• Jason's review of First Cow
• Time interview
• Claudio's review of The Life Ahead

You can listen to the podcast here at the bottom of the post or download from iTunes. Continue the conversations in the comments, won't you? 

Hillbilly, Gothams, Life Ahead