India and Iceland choose their Oscar horses, but not the ones you'd think

by Nathaniel R

India and Iceland have selected their Oscar submissions choosing Last Film Show and Beautiful Beings respectively. Neither title was the highest profile option. India had a much-loved crossover hit in the US this year with RRR (now streaming on Netflix) which brought Bollywood spectacle and ridiculous (in a fun way) action exuberance to the big screen. It grossed nearly $12 million in the US which is more than some English language Oscar winning pictures recenty! India's last nomination was way back in 2001 with Lagaan which, like RRR, was a very mainstream epic with musical numbers...

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The Nordic Council Film Prize Nominees

by Nathaniel R

The news just keeps coming for prestigious cinematic honors outside the US. Swiftly on the heels of the EFA longlist and Norway's Amanda Awards, the Nordic Council Film Prize has announced its five nominees for 2022...

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The European Film Awards Longlist

by Nathaniel R

This year's European Film Awards ceremony (which moves locales each season) will take place in Rekyjavik, Iceland on December 10th. Though nominations won't be announced until November 8th, we now know 30 of the titles that are being considered for those nominations (another dozen are usually added to the list before voting though). On the following list you'll see a couple of 2021 Oscar titles but that's because the EFA's calendar runs summer to summer and is less concerned with release dates than with world premieres (which is smart given that so many different countries are involved); films which had their first official screenings between June 1st, 2021 and May 31st, 2022 qualify. The EFA Awards are always interesting because they are fairly unpredictable and have no concerns with being an Oscar bellwether though some of the titles vying for prizes each year end up as Oscar submissions from their respective countries.

The list is after the jump (links go to reviews or coverage if we've done any)...

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Best International Film: Brazil's "Private Desert", Iceland's "Lamb" and more...

Since I last piped up on the Best International Feature Film race at the upcoming Oscars, Italy released their finalist lists, and the following five countries have also picked their ponies:

BRAZIL
They're sending Aly Muritiba's Private Desert about a suspended policeman who is looking to meet his internet love. She's vanished but he finds a man who offers to connect the would-be lovers. It premiered at Venice...

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Box Office: 007 Money and 2021's Highest Grossers

All you need to know about this very strange ecosystem shift in moviegoing is that an Icelandic language film (Lamb) made the overall top 10 despite having a per screen average of just $1,715. These are odd times we're living in when only blockbusters are making bank and even those aren't operating at close to full strength. There used to be 25-30 movies in wide release at any given time but there were literally only 8 in release this weekend here in the US. One wonders how the economics will all play in the future decade since streaming isn't as profitable as the traditional theatrical market and films have always been budgeted for pre-COVID realities. Will we see production values decrease in the next decade as Hollywood starts trying to make things on the cheap or just much higher subscription prices for streaming services?  What did you see this past week/weekend? More notes are after the jump.

Weekend Box Office October 8th-10th 🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = recommended
WIDE RELEASE	PLATFORM TITLES
No Time To Die	Lamb
1 NO TIME TO DIE 🔺  $56 Deborah's Review	1 LAMB 🔺 $1.0 in 583 theaters Cannes Capsule
2  VENOM LET THERE BE CARNAGE  $32 (cum. $141.6)	2 THE JESUS MUSIC [DOC] $150K in 270 theaters (cum. $857k)...

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