State of the Race: So about those BAFTA longlists...

by Cláudio Alves

Is I SWEAR this year's little British film that could? Maybe.

The Oscar nominations are ever closer, so it’s time to start finalizing those predictions. And since this year, BAFTA will reveal their lineups after AMPAS, pundits everywhere must make do with the British Academy’s longlists. In the past, they’ve been a good indicator of what the industry’s feeling, and how it differs from the critics who’ve been dominating the awards conversations so far in the season. As expected, One Battle After Another has the most mentions, at 16, closely followed by Hamnet and Sinners with 14 each, Marty Supreme at 13, and both Bugonia and Frankenstein with 12. Still, what’s most surprising and enticing is how BAFTA can go its own way and zig when we expect a zag. Consider their love for Nuremberg, and such local success stories as I Swear and The Ballad of Wallis Island…

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The Golden Globe Nominations are here!

by Eric Blume

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER leads the pack with nine Globe nominations. | © Warner Bros.

The 83rd Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning, and, despite a few clunkers, I'm going to give a HOT TAKE and say that, overall, these nominations are pretty fantastic. It'll be interesting to see how Oscar voters screw them up! But then, I'll go out on a limb with another HOT TAKE and say that, often, the Globes do better than Oscar wins for Brokeback Mountain, The Social Network, The Power of the Dog, Colin Ferrell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, etc. Let's take a look category by category...

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Critics Choice Voters All Infected By "Sinners"

by Nathaniel R

SINNERS

As a voting member, despite my votes rarely being reflected in nominations, it is my duty to share the annual Critics Choice Award Nominations. As is increasingly the case in modern awards voting, hardly a problem unique to the CCAs, there is far less spread the wealth than there use to be. I believe this is an unintended consequence of expanded Best Picture lists which theoretically narrow voters ideas about a) what they should watch and b) what they should vote for without "wasting" their precious few ballot spots. This year FOUR pictures had double digit nominations with Ryan Coogler's genre hopping vampire picture Sinners scoring 17 (gulp) nominations, just one shy of Barbie's all time record (18). One Battle After Another was in second place with 14 nominations. 

Anyway let's get to the nominations, some commentary, and a few Oscar punditry notes, too.... 

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Oscar Volleys: Best Picture could be more multicultural than ever before!

The Oscar Volleys are back! Tonight, it's time for Eric Blume, Eurocheese and Nick Taylor to discuss the Best Picture race...

HAMNET, Chloé Zhao | © Focus Features

ERIC: Hi gentlemen, I'm looking forward to our three-way... to talk about the ten possible Best Picture nominees. We're just starting to get some clarity on early predictions, so we might as well add our own two cents regarding the big race. Do you both agree that the two absolute lockshere are One Battle After Another and Hamnet? It's fun that they are two very different films that generate very different feelings, OBAA being sort of the "head" movie and Hamnet being the "heart" movie? That's an oversimplification, of course, but I don't think it's untrue…

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Massive Awards Roundup: "Movies for Grown-Ups", EFA, BIFA, Astra

by Nathaniel R

Image of the nominees for BIFA's "INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM", all but one of which are also up for the top prize at EFA

The Thanksgiving holidays are typically the busiest screening times for awards voters who aren't Academy members. Many of the big mainstream groups as well as the regional critics awards will be cramming movies in before their December announcements. (Academy voters can of course wait for the Christmas break to catch up before their ballots are due) Naturally then some groups vote yet earlier than Thanksgiving because so many love to be "first" and December is all-announcements-all-the-time. So here are four groups that announced in November: BIFA, EFA, AARP, and HCA. Given their different purviews (British Films, European Films, mostly American Films with a focus on film artists of a certain age, mostly American films with a focus on Oscar buzz) there's not a ton of overlap across all four. But the two buzziest International Oscar contenders Sentimental Value and It Was Just An Accident  were honored by all four groups even if it was just a single nomination from BIFA for both).

Let's start with the 50+ set before moving to Europe and back to Hollywood...

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