Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 2:20PM by Nathaniel R
This awards season keeps throwing us unpleasant curveballs. First Bohemian Rhapsody took the top prize at the Globes and now, the Director's Guild of America has decided to up and agree with the Globes exactly on the Best Director list.
Their nominations and statistical hand-wringing after the jump...
Friday, December 14, 2018 at 11:01AM by Nathaniel R
On Monday the 87 movie wide official list of Academy Award Foreign Film submissions will be whittled down to 9 titles. It's a merciless cull -- why aren't their 15 finalists as in Documentary? -- and even more ignominious is the knowledge that less that 50% of those that are deemed finalists will be discarded at the last second before they can taste victory. At least with a 10 wide list, just one more title, it would be kinder, giving you a 50/50 chance. That would feel like a toss of the die and thus more whimsical than unkind in the long run.
But nevertheless, until that fateful cull on Monday, all the competitors in the huge foreign film category can feel excited about their prospects. Here's a last look behind the scenes at the field. We've previously watched the trailers, broke the list down by genre, and discussed the female directors, first time filmmakers, and international hunks.
Today we conclude the general field coverage with the 11 directors who ought to be the most familiar with the game at this point...
Saturday, November 17, 2018 at 10:00PM An abridged version of this interview was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad
Ofir Raul GrazierThe Oscars are coming and with them, renewed attention for some of the year’s most memorable films. One of this past summer’s sleeper hits was The Cakemaker, an LGBT drama that’s just been released on DVD / Blu-Ray. The tiny but prolific distributor Strand Releasing, who have released many gay favorites, have been in business for almost 30 years now and, if you don’t adjust for inflation, The Cakemaker quietly turned into their biggest box office hit ever this summer. The drama about a grieving gay German man who seeks out the widow of his lover (who was unaware of her husband’s affair) earned nearly a million at arthouse box offices across the U.S!
After winning Best Picture at the Ophir Awards in Israel, it became the country's submission for Oscar’s Best Foreign Language Film category. We recently caught up with its director Ofir Raul Grazier. Our interview follows, edited for clarity and length.
NATHANIEL: The Cakemaker is your feature debut. Was that terrifying for you or totally natural on set?
OFIR RAUL GRAIZER: It was a bit scary, of course, because the amount of responsibility is huge. The producers, the crew, the actors -- I was thinking about all of that more than the film itself. But once the camera was rolling it felt quite natural. I love to do this. This is my passion. I managed to enjoy shooting. Everything between the shots was a nightmare [Laughs]...
Tuesday, October 23, 2018 at 9:22AM 
Barry Jenkins was in Rome Sunday to promote If Beale Street Could Talk. Was he...
...so overwhelmed with the adulation that he passed out on the red carpet?
...just really jet-lagged?
...super chill about his glamorous life as an auteur?
... Other ______ (write in votes accepted in the comments)
Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 4:00PM by Nathaniel R
Ryan Gosling and Claire Foy are a dream together in "First Man"
Festival season is a relentless sprint. NYFF screenings are already underway and Middleburg is right after that so herewith a few quick notes on two TIFF movies whose directors are coming off of their most successful film yet two years ago and an Oscar year where they competed against each other quite famously though both left with Oscars (Barry Jenkins for writing Moonlight and Damien Chazelle for directing La La Land). I personally loved both of those movies but I think Barry Jenkins won the first round and Damien Chazelle takes the second . I realize they're not actually competing with each other. They're friends. Prizes for everyone! Yay for talent. We just like talking awards. It's a sickness. Okay, quick takes here we go...
