Who will be nominated for Costume Design?

by Nathaniel R

Shirley Kurata's costumes for "Jobu Tupaki" in EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE are great chaotic fun

Let's tackle each Oscar category while there's still wiggle room for all contenders! Last season Best Costume Design was sewn up (sorry!) unusually early in the year when Jenny Beavan's garbage dress unfurled midway through Cruella (2021) in the summer movie season. From then on it was everyone versus Cruella and Beavan came out on top for the third time in her delicious career. The costumes of 2022 haven't really had one showstopping gown to end everyone else's Oscar dreams so it's anyone's guess at this point.

Let's discuss 8 films we think are major threats for those 5 nomination slots and why. It seems natural to start with two films where fashion is a co-lead of sorts...

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All Oscar Charts Revised!

by Nathaniel R

It never fails to be alarming but right about this time every year in early October, suddenly EVERYONE who is involved with the business of film awardage is abruptly working overtime after six months of hibernation. What's more, even film events that have nothing to do with the impending Oscar race, also land in October like New Fest (a festival we've truly longed to indulge in but have never been able to due to simultaneous NYFF/Middleburg). We only wish we could figure out some way to join everyone else in hibernation from March through September each year and still have an audience left in October so we'd be better rested. (Maybe less frequent posting in those months or a substack to fill in gaps? Subscribe plz.)

Next week, for instance, is insanity. There are Oscar related screenings and events in Los Angeles, NYFF events / premieres in New York, New Fest events in New York, and the Middleburg Film Festival in Virginia with our annual Oscar panel plus celebrity honorees attending like Stephanie Hsu, Noah Baumbach, and many more as a stop on their Oscar campaign trails. The jampacked schedule continues like this (though names and places and celebrities in attendance change) basically through the close of Oscar voting early next year. No time to breathe (that's okay) or write (not okay!). This is not a complaint so much as a "whew. here we go again". Until we get to full cateogry articles, see the updated charts!

EVERY OSCAR CHART  Prediction Index | Picture | Director | Actress | Actor | Supporting Actress | Supporting Actor | International Feature |  Screenplays | Visual Charts | Music Charts | Animated Feature |  Charts of International Submissions

Podcast Guesting: On 'Bros' and Fantasy Oscar Drafts

by Nathaniel R

I recently had the pleasure of guesting on two podcasts. The first was the annual fantasy draft episode of Oscar Wild wherein various pundits/Oscar fans chose our horses for the Oscar season. You'll recognize a lot of the lovely voices. It was fun which was expected but also extremely tense which was a surprise -- I drew the shortest straw so I was the last to choose a contender but the draft was in a snake order so thankfully it all sort of evened out. The episode was recorded BEFORE the festival premieres so some of the choices are already ouchies given the mixed/negative reception of a few of the films. I'm pretty happy about betting on Top Gun Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and Elvis among others. The rest, we shall see. 

Then this weekend in a change of pace I was the guest for a bonus episode of Hallmarkies, a podcast about romantic comedies with a focus on Hallmark movies. Since frequent Hallmark leading man Luke Macfarlane is the romantic co-lead of Billy Eichner's Bros, it was a natural topic for them to hit.

I really really loved Bros (even more than Baby Clyde did) and, though I wish I'd been a bit more eloquent in singing its praises, I hope you enjoy both the movie and this podcast. If you haven't seen the movie yet, I would suggest waiting until you do to listen to this since we talk about the plot in full and you'll want to save the surprises and great laugh lines for the moviegoing experience! 

Best Supporting Actress is wide open!

by Nathaniel R

Image © A24

While we can be reasonably certain who the major players are in Best Actress and Best Actor (both charts updated), can we really know about Supporting Actress yet? With Michelle Williams having vacated the Supporting Actress race it feels truly like anyone's Oscar to grab this coming March. But do we really even know who is competing? No, we do not! The shortlist also feels wide open with no locks as of yet. So here is where we are right now and where we might be heading...

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Best Actress Predictions and that Michelle Williams kerfuffle

by Nathaniel R

As you have undoubtedly heard by now, Michelle Williams has opted for a Lead Actress campaign for Steven Spielberg's memoir film The Fablemans. This shocked both the armchair and professional pundit community a good percentage of whom had already handed her the Best Supporting Actress statue a week ago. This despite it being a full six months until Oscar night (March 12th) with other movies yet to screen when everyone decided to call it.

Some people are angry because they feel the role is clearly supporting but most seem angry because they thought they had it all figured out already. But opinions vary (like they always do) about what constitutes a leading role versus a supporting one. Consider...

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