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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Chadwick Boseman Oscar Chart Switcheroo

I got my time comin' to me.

You've surely heard that Chadwick Boseman's people have made the (correct) decision to place him in the Best Actor category for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Less category fraud makes the world a better place. And usually campaigns err on the side of fraud to make things easier for the big stars, so we couldn't applaud them more for it. While it's true that this considered a "featured" role on Broadway, so was Ma Rainey herself (so clearly Broadway sometimes has its own issues with "categories") and they're the two obvious big characters of the show. So we've updated both the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor chart as a result. We still think the late beloved actor is likely to win (though it's so early, we must remind) only now that posthumous honor will be in the correct category. People who've seen the film think he's special in it. 

Chadwick Boseman will almost certainly win the Oscar for Best Actor, now that Netflix has officially decided to campaign him as a lead performer for MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM. He’s so good in his final film performance that it feels undeniable.

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) October 21, 2020

Yes No Maybe So: News of the World

by Nathaniel R

Suddenly we're feeling quite prophetic in expecting News of the World to receive a multitude of Oscar nominations. Universal has finally given us more than just a film still and the western drama looks exciting and robust. Check out the trailer and Yes No Maybe So after the jump...

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Middleburg Highlights: "Minari" and 'Coffee & Contenders'

by Nathaniel R

I had the pleasure of serving once again on Middleburg Film Festival's Oscar-discussion panel this past Friday. Jazz Tangcay, Clayton Davis, and I chose the name "Coffee & Contenders" because when we launched  the event last year it was first thing in the morning in a cozy room designed specifically for group gatherings at the Salamander Resort and Spa in Middleburg Virginia. You grabbed your complimentary coffee and pastries on the way in. This year we were completely virtual and on Zoom but the title was still literal. Coffees in hand we discussed the race.

The race is a mess of possibility without much clarity. It's not that there aren't contenders or reason to celebrate film (see Juan Carlos' recent rant). It's that we're in uncharted territory given the pandemic and suddenly virtual nature of movies and campaigning; Publicists and awards strategists have their work cut out for them! 

But let's talk about the winning film...

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Middleburg Festival 2020 - Virtual This Weekend!

by Nathaniel R

Just a heads up that the Middleburg International Film Festival, that we cover each year right here, has gone mostly virtual this year. The festival is later this week (Thurs, Oct 15th - Sunday, Oct 18th). Despite the unfortunate circumstances of movies in this bizarre year, they've somehow gathered their usual crop of buzzy Oscar contenders and possible breakout indies. You can see the full list here -- any films in particular you'd like us to cover?  You may recall that last year we did a "Coffee and Contenders" Oscar panel with Clayton Davis and Jazz Tangcay (who both work for Variety now). We're repeating that again this year since it was a success last time. This year it will be on Zoom due to, well, you know... but we're still excited.

The panel is this coming Friday at 9:00 AM EST. It will be available for free if any of you reading would like to tune in (ignore the "not available in your country" notice. They are in the process of fixing that)