International Oscar Race Pt 2: Movie Stars, genres, and stats

by Nathaniel R

We aim to maintain our title of 'the site that gives you the most when it comes to Oscar's Best International Feature Film race.' Nevertheless, even if we aren't that anymore with all the corporate sites and the indies now covering the race, at least we were influential in popularizing the coverage! That's a legacy we're proud of.

Speaking of popular. How many of the films have stars that movie-savvy folks will recognize? Let's look at the international stars with fanbases outside their home countries (and other areas of trivia interest) after the jump...

Submissions with internationally-familiar stars

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Mad for Mads: 10 reasons to love Mads Mikkelsen

by Cláudio Alves

Denmark's latest Oscar submission, Another Round, is now available to watch on VOD. The feature stars a cadre of stupendous Danish thespians, led by Mads Mikkelsen, one of the country's biggest names internationally. From his beginnings as a supporting player in indie flicks to mainstream gigs as portentous villains, the actor made fans of many a cinephile and charmed even more unsuspecting moviegoers. To celebrate the release of his latest project, I decided to take a look at the career and life of Mikkelsen, enumerating 10 reasons why I love the actor…

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EFA Winners: "Another Round" Sweeps

by Nathaniel R

The European Film Awards were held yesterday, mostly virtually, with Denmark's Another Round winning all four of its nominations (Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay). Mads Mikkelsen headlines as a depressed high school teacher who decides to experiment with binge-drinking with three of his closest teacher friends. The funny sad beautifully executed film has a star turn at its center that we hope Oscar will consider in the crowded Best Actor race. We already presumed it a major threat at the Oscars for Best International Feature Film and this should all but erase any doubts that it will be nominated. It will be available to rent online starting December 18th in the US. At the EFA site you can see all the acceptance speeches. Here's the complete list of winners for the 33rd Annual European Film Awards and a couple of more comments...

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Will Mads Mikkelsen have another Oscar hit?

by Nathaniel R

Mads Mikkelsen stars in "Another Round"

Denmark is currently Oscar's favourite country in the Best International Feature category. Yes, we know they're not the "all time" favourite country, so don't @ us. But in the past 10 years (2010-2019) they've been nominated 50% of the time, with two additional finalists. Deep involvement in 70% of the Oscar conversations in a decade is a pretty great track record. How long can they keep it up? We won't know if they'll nab another nomination this season until a few months from now but Denmark just announced their finalists. On November 17th, they'll choose their submission between the following films: 

• Another Round by Thomas Vinterberg 
• A Perfectly Normal Family by Malou Reymann
• Shorta by Anders Ølholm and Frederik Louis Hviid. 

If Denmark wants to bet based on past success they'll go with Another Round.  It just won the top prize at the London Film Festival. Plus, international star Mads Mikkelsen has headlined three Oscar-nominated films from his home country previously....

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The many faces of Hannibal Lecter

by Cláudio Alves

1991's The Silence of the Lambs won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, thus becoming the only horror movie to ever conquer that much-coveted prize. Still, overall, the film seems to owe more to the crime thriller, the police procedural and investigative manhunt than it does to the horror genre. However, one element plunges it right into the depths of cinematic nightmares. It's a character so malevolent that it often feels larger than life, like a primordial evil closer to the divine than to the human. We're talking about the monster that tops the AFI's greatest movie villains list, the role that earned Anthony Hopkins his Oscar and made us never look at Fava beans the same way ever again – Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter…

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