Mladen

1 hour ago, Annara Snow said:

Lots of reunions of people who were together in different movies amd shows - or in one case, two young women both starring in new  Disney versions of popular fairytales who got a lot of racist hate for being cast.

Personal favorite is SHAME reunion of Mulligan and Fassbender. One of the gravest sins of Academy in 2010s was not nominating both of them in their respective categories for that masterpiece.

A lot of interesting pairings. Naturally, Barbenheimer couldn't have been avoided. Also interested in Bening and Moore. As always, will watch all

Couple of omissions, but I suppose KOTF crowd will do THR Roundtables. 

***

In other news, MAY DECEMBER is finally available on Netflix. The first reactions are considerably more positive than the first Cannes reviews from May. Netflix has the usual Oscar bait in MAESTRO, but I wouldn't be surprised if MAY DECEMBER becomes their greatest hit of the Oscar season. Whoever is in charge, I do hope they won't make the same mistake like last year betting on the wrong horse. Portman and Moore know how to properly campaign and Melton could easily become the strong contender to challenge big names in his category. 

Variety's Actors on Actors 2023/2024 Lineup:

Margot Robbie (“Barbie”) & Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”)

Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”) & Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”)

Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”) & Anne Hathaway (“Eileen”)

Halle Bailey (“The Little Mermaid”, “The Color Purple”) & Rachel Zegler (“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”)

Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) & Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”)

Colman Domingo (“Rustin,” “The Color Purple”) & Jacob Elordi (“Priscilla,” “Saltburn”)

Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”) & Michael Fassbender (“The Killer”)

Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”) & Taraji P. Henson (“The Color Purple”)

Greta Lee (“Past Lives”) & Andrew Scott (“All of Us Strangers”)

Annette Bening (“Nyad”) & Julianne Moore (“May December”)

Natalie Portman (“May December”) & Paul Mescal (“All of Us Strangers”)

Alden Ehrenreich (“Fair Play,” “Oppenheimer”) & Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”)

New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Awards

59 minutes ago, Annara Snow said:

She should not have submitted for the Supporting Actress category because her role is not supporting. She is one of the leads. Actresses playing her sisters and mother would be supporting.

The truth is she could have campaigned in Supporting Actress category. Having watched the movie, I can see the arguments for both ways. That said, I am glad she decided on campaigning in Lead.

Sadly that is how it works these days. We have seen a lot of category frauds in the last years. I suppose the worst was 2016 with Alicia Vikander and Rooney Mara having to campaign in Supporting. Mara even objected back then, but sadly, that is how this circus works. Lately, more and more actresses are willing to campaign their co-lead roles in Lead category. Michelle Williams did it last year for THE FABELMANS, Carey Mulligan and Lily Gladstone this year. I support that and I agree with you. Supporting Actor/Actress Oscar is not some consolation prize.

For me, it is just linguistic thing, but I suppose you are right. No, televised awards always have separated Lead from Supporting performances. Movie festivals for example don't. But mostly Lead Actor/Actress win, although not necessarily. Cate Blanchett has won Volpi Cup at Venice for "I'm Not There" and that was Supporting Actress category at the Oscars. 

And, yeah... I have edited the opening post. When I'm wrong, I'm wrong

@Annara Snow, if I remember correctly, we come from the same neck of the woods (unless you moved) so I am pretty much around that number too. That said, I expect this list to change, like always.

Honestly, OPPENHEIMER is the movie of the year and I can see AMPAS going in that direction. Pair it with Best Director for Nolan, couple of tech nominations and perhaps Murphy and RDJ in acting categories and there is a winning package. 

That said, Scorsese made such a beautiful movie and we'll see how Academy reacts to it. They do like to nominate him, but when it comes to winning, not so much. I mean, THE IRISHMAN went 0 out of 10. 

In acting categories, Emma Stone is "leading the pack" in Best Actress category. She hasn't won Volpi Cup in Venice, but POOR THINGS won bigger award so that is what ultimately counts (just like we understand that Sandra Huller has better chance of being nominated for Cannes' awarded ANATOMY OF A FALL than Merve Dizdar who won Best Actress at Cannes). That said, Stone is already a winner and if we have learned anything from Blanchett v Yeoh last year, it is that it can be used incessantly against you during campaign months. So the big question for Stone will be whether Academy is ready to give Stone her second Oscar. 

I have watched ANATOMY OF A FALL and Sandra Huller is mesmerizing. As international actress, she will need the push from international bloc of Academy, and perhaps critics' push as well. The same can be said for Greta Lee, whose subdued performance is not the Academy's cup of tea.

Mulligan and Benning ride on overdue narrative, but I doubt that will be enough for win... That leaves us with Lily Gladstone, whose borderline supporting performance has gained enough passion to carry her into the Oscar season. Which of the Michelles (Yeoh or Williams) will she prove to be this season, remains to be seen. She had a locked Oscar in Best Supporting Actress, but she decided to fight for the main prize. I respect that (from both her and Mulligan) but we'll see how it plays out.

Sleeping giant in Best Actress category is Natalie Portman whose NETFLIX Todd Haynes movie, MAY DECEMBER may get her nominated.

When it comes to Best Actor, we have the clash of the giants with Di Caprio, Cooper and Murphy. Di Caprio comes from Cannes with amazing reviews and I doubt there are many against giving him second Oscar. Cooper will have overdue narrative, with 9 Oscar nominations,  0wins (4 in acting categories). Murphy is the face of one of the most successful stories of the year, he is a beloved TV face and an amazing actor so we'll see.

In Supporting categories, everything is open. Danielle Brooks got raves from screenings of THE COLOR PURPLE and I would be over the moon if she wins (I adored her in ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK). We can expect some big name to find its way to this category like Moore or Cruz, but I would adore if it would be Rosamund Pike for SALTBURN. As I hear, she delivered the goods with some epic one-liners. I watched that clip "Men are so lovely and dry"... GLORIOUS!

For gentlemen, RDJ and Gosling ride on the fame of Barbenheimer, but I wouldn't be surprised if neither wins, despite strong cases for winning. On the rise is Charles Melton and a lot of people who have seen MAY DECEMER want him nominated. Also, De Niro is never to be ignored as well as Ruffalo. 

Later today, when they finish announcing the winners, I will post the winners of NYFCC. 

Another year, another Film Awards Season... And once again, brought to you by none other

2023 was an incredibly difficult year for industry. We have faced two guild strikes - screenwriters and actors, both ending in the past few months, but not without disrupting the industry for a while. This has also affected the beginning of fall season, when the most of Oscar contenders are being released. This year, award season begins in New York on November, 30th when New York Film Critics Circuit will award their favorite movies and ending in March, 10 with Academy Awards. This year had a great range of rather interesting movies from Barbenheimer phenomenon to Martin Scorsese and Yorgos Lanthimos' newest flicks.  Per usual, the award season will give us clues at which movies will become true contenders for most coveted movie award - Oscar. 

This year, the award season will look like this and these will be the award shows that I will post about here:

And now - a little bit about contenders. The Oscar buzz has been strong for some movies and we will see how things will play out. Here is the list of 10 most likely Oscar winners in major categories per Gold Derby website (their current standings, likely to change to a degree in the next three months)

That's all folks! Hope to enjoy this season with some great cinema and nice conversation... As always, it is a pleasure 

9 hours ago, IlyaP said:

Tentative, though? So it's not 100% official?

It is official. The strike ends.

And so it ends... SAG AFTRA announced that they have reached agreement with AMPTP, The strike ends on Thursday and the details of the new contract will be known on Friday.

This was the longest actors' strike in history of Hollywood, lasting 118 days.

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/sag-aftra-tentative-deal-historic-strike-1235771894/

1 hour ago, Arakasi said:

Iirc in season one when he met Min I think they hinted at the 3 women thing. So I don’t think they’re changing that.

Yes, but those three women don't necessarily have to be Elayne, Min and Aviendha. TV Rand is much more connected to both Lanfear and Egwene than book version. And Min's vision could easily be transformed into something else. 

49 minutes ago, Poobah said:

I also don't think they'd have spent so much time foregrounding Alanna's poly group if it wasn't going to be used.

This will be sensitive issue, as the Aes Sedai-Warder bond is so beautifully depicted with Moiraine and Lan, and Alanna's bonding with Rand was... well, in lack of better words, r**e (I may be wrong with analogy, it's been 10 years since I read the books, but I do distinctly remember how uncomfortable that was).

I am not sure they will do polyamorous relationship centered around the heterosexual male. I understand we have double standards, but between two already connected women to Rand - Egwene and Lanfear, we are adding three more... A bit too much.

16 minutes ago, IFR said:

It's hard to say how they'll approach it in the show. I doubt they'll go for the poly relationship as it is in the books. It has been foreshadowed by Min that Rand is with three beautiful women, but that could mean anything. Lanfear is a beautiful woman. It could be someone else, too.

Or it could be the same women as in the book, but a different dynamic. Maybe Elayne and Rand are together, but Elayne is also with Aviendha. Maybe Aviendha and Rand is a thing, but she is also interested in Elayne and Perrin. Etc.

Even though Alanna is in what is portrayed as a positive dynamic with two men, I think it's likely the show will make an effort to depict Rand as being kind of a selfish pig for going outside of monogamy, if I have any proper sense of the showrunner's approach to things so far. Unless Rand becomes bisexual and makes advances to Mat or some other male, in which case it probably will take a more positive spin.

I agree with this. 

I thought that perhaps the inclusion of Elayne on Tower may be indicative of them going different route. I sincerely doubt Lanfear will go any time soon (Natasha O'Keeffe was one of the best parts of the second season). It would make even more sense for her to direct her jealousy toward a female character that is in love with Rand, and not Moiraine. Plus, Natasha and Ceara (Elayne) are aesthetically very different women, with different energies, so it could nicely work...

Yeah, Alanna's dynamic is positive, so they may play on it with different participants or different dynaics. I never liked it in the books, even though I somewhat understood what Jordan was doing. The bigger issue I have is that of three actresses, only Ceara leaves stronger impact that could warrant her appearance in seasons to come. Honestly, if MIn wouldn't appear anymore, I wouldn't mind. Aviendha is also someone I could live without. Interestingly, all three book characters are high on my favorites list, but on TV, neither Min nor Aviendha did anything for me. 

I need to ask about this - what are the chances of condensing Rand's harem from the books into one woman - most likely, Elayne? The inclusion of Elayne at the tower, prominence of actress during press tour, makes me believe that it is more likely to keep just Elayne as romantic interest, especially due to the popularity of Lanfear and the fact Rand and Egwene are still semi-connected? I honestly have no idea what they'll do with Min, as her story completely failed IMO, and as for Aviendha she could be the window to Aiel world and culture.

Just a thought. Wanted to know if anyone had given it any thought.

1. The Bear Season 2
2. Silo Season 1
3. Andor Season 1
4. Good Omens Season 2
5. The Diplomat
6. Marvelous Mrs Maisel Season 5
7. Ted Lasso Season 3
8. Abbott Elementary Season 2
9. Foundation Season 2
10. The Wheel of Time Season 2
11. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
12. Shadow and Bone Season 2

3 minutes ago, Ser Rodrigo Belmonte II said:

Also 3 hour runtime limits showings even further, not to mention the smaller marketing and production budgets in creating buzz…I’m pretty sure this must be his most profitable movie ever ,despite ranking lower than the dark knight flicks in revenue and adjusting for inflation. Good for him, hope he continues with Universal and tells Zaslav to fuck off in trying to woo him back 

Of all his box office successes, OPPENHEIMER has the lowest budget. INCEPTION had $160M, INTERSTELLAR $165M and BATMAN movies are circa $200M. OPPENHEIMER practically rode on Barbieheimer marketing. WB spent some $150M in marketing of BARBIE and obviously it helped OPPENHEIMER too. One day, someone will do the analysis of what happened this July and it will be interesting to see how this synergy helped both movies.

6 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Not so much when you account for ticket price inflation. But yeah, still pretty amazing, especially when you consider that the films you mention both benefitted from a pg-13 rating. 

Even f you adjust inflation, it still surpasses INTERSTELLAR, and is relatively close to INCEPTION (adjusted for inflation, it is below $1,2B). But, as you said, those were PG-13 movies, OPPENHEIMER is R-rated. Not to mention that cinema landscape has drastically changed post-COVID. 

1. The Bear Season 2
2. Silo Season 1
3. Andor Season 1
4. Good Omens Season 2
5. The Diplomat
6. Marvelous Mrs Maisel Season 5
7. Ted Lasso Season 3
8. Abbott Elementary Season 2
9. Foundation Season 2
10. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
11. Shadow and Bone Season 2

I didn't think it would be that low, but there it is. I waited the season finale to binge watch it. Lee Pace sells Day like no one else could and frankly remains one of only few reasons this show is watchable. It was much better than first season, although plot holes, deus ex machina and cheap, lazy tricks riddled this incredibly beautiful series. And by beautiful, I mean visually. I can't remember the series looking so rich in its visuals. ANDOR was gorgeous too, but this is, a whole new level of TV beauty. Sadly, the story is lacking. 

Moving on to ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING, S03 of HIS DARK MATERIALS (will rank it here) and THE LAST OF US. I am epically behind the schedule for this year's TV. 

ELSBETH, THE GILDED AGE and ASHOKA some time during October. I may be missing something, but I will remember

22 hours ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

"Nature's way of healing." 

I have to agree with Denis. I thought this film would be successful, but if you told me it would do Dr Strange MoM moneys, I'd have said you were nuts. 

I don't think anyone could have predicted OPPENHEIMER becoming such big success. I mean, it surpassed both INCEPTION and INTERSTELLAR, two movies that had such incredible popularity. I am very happy for Nolan. It is truly incredible achievement and I think many are happy because it proved people will come to the theatres for a good story. 

Having said that, here is another information. The distribution rights in America are for 100 days (henceforth, don't expect OPPENHEIMER on VOD anytime soon). Today (September, 21st) is is 62nd day of release. Meaning, OPPENHEIMER will stay in cinemas for another 38 days. I suppose they will soon end, and then leave couple of weeks for Oscar campaign. 

OPPENHEIMER currently at Box Office: $912M

Only second highest grossing drama film in history (behind TITANIC)

The highest grossing biopic of all time (surpassed BOHEMINA RHAPSODY which is at $910M)

The second highest grossing R-rated movie (behind JOKER)

This movie is a perfect mix of high profile critics darling and box office success that can do well at Oscars... We'll see.

Just few thoughts after S02E04

The biggest problem for me is that we don't understand the foundations of this new world in the series. We are 12 episodes in, and I doubt anyone would be able to answer the simplest of all questions whether it is "What is the Dragon?" or "What is Aes Sedai?" I understand the dislike for exposition and throwing bunch of details at the audience, but we live in post-Game-of-Thrones world. If we are asked to remember 50 characters because it adds the depth to the story, we will do so. 

I understand it is easier for Thrones because much of the plot relied on the real-life medieval dynastic wars, so those dynamics were easy to catch. Here, I doubt anyone can actually answer what Aes Sedai are supposed to be doing. Even what is easy to explain - like Cairhien and its politics, it is glossed over and we never get a true glimpse into how things are supposed to work. 

As for damane, what a failure! In my mind, damane were like Handmaids from "The Handmaid's Tale" - not aesthetically, but in a way that you get uncomfortable by seeing them. It's been a while since I read the books, but I remember Egwene's disgust and pain and horror from "The Great Hunt" and IIRC, it haunted her until her end. The damane here, there is nothing I feel when i see them. I can't tell whether they are faithful representation from the books, but I thought that our first meeting with them would give off more sinister vibe. 

Everything special about Wheel of Time books is gone from this adaptation. They get this or that right, but I just feel like the series has no narrative depth. And we are still at the stage when WoT is rather dynamic, easy to follow. And they just ignored it. Not even for the sake of "doing their own thing", but creating some sort of generic fantasy without the modicum of originality. 

Despite my undying love for Rosamund Pike and the interest for the book series, I am profoundly disappointed by this. And I am hardly a book purist, as I haven't been a purist when it came to ASOIAF, let alone WoT. I just hope it gets better.

52 minutes ago, Rhom said:

How is new Mat?

I liked him. I can' t say I miss the old Matt much even though he was superb in the role. I feel like the new Matt also has some playfulness in him that is characteristic for the book character we know.

I watched the first three episodes and while I am pleased, the fact that this show has no base, no foundation, is still irking me. It's like "the blind leading the blind" situation where we know nothing about how the their world function because most of time, the characters are clueless. I suppose they wanted to evade exposition or to add to the mystery, but I am not sold on it. 

One of the big problems for Hollywood execs is that they may have to pay workers abroad fairly too. Believe it or not.
 

And as for how little do the Writers' Guild actually demands, here is an estimation compared to the annual revenues of all major studios:

On 8/22/2023 at 3:00 AM, Gertrude said:

I don't think she's that good of an actress, sadly.

Oh, certainly. It was just the mental connection I had in my had. It works in sometimes strange ways 

Overall, I am not THAT against anything seen so far. Perhaps Lanfear, but she was always the most difficult to cast. I hoped for a bit more experienced actors, as I feel Amazon has the issue with that on both its fantasy series. But, it remains to be see how much of Rosamund Pike and Sophie Okonedo we'll get plus whether the youngsters are more comfortable in their roles. Overall, I love artistry of the show. It's a bit too much, but so was Jordan. Moiraine's costume is really beautiful, although the poster looks a bit weird due to perspective.

If I were casting director, I would have picked Sophie Turner for Elaine. And that is solely that I started reading Jordan's books when "Game of Thrones" began and somehow, in my mind, there was always a mental and visual link between Sansa and Elayne. But, it was always a pipe dream in terms of casting. That said, Ceara looks perfect for the role and I wish her all the luck.

I don't know how much people talked about music, but I love Lorne Balfe's music for the series. I am looking forward to listening more great music. Personal favorites: "Aes Sedai", "Al'Naito", "Reunited" and "Like a Raging Sun". And I have enjoyed the covers of "Weep for Manetheren" and "The Man Who Can't Forget". 

1 hour ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Is Good Omens Netflix for you? Odd, as its Amazon Prime over here and I'd have thought they'd be competitors rather than one having distribution rights overseas.

Sandman is Netflix here though?

Oh, you don't know about that particular joke? Here it is... 

In addition, Netflix swore they won't make more of it. And Gaiman made us promise we won't tell them

1. The Bear Season 2
2. Silo Season 1
3. Andor Season 1
4. Good Omens Season 2
5. The Diplomat
6. Marvelous Mrs Maisel Season 5
7. Ted Lasso Season 3
8. Abbott Elementary Season 2
9. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story
10. Shadow and Bone Season 2

One can't write enough about the chemistry of David Tennant and Michael Sheen. The ending was so beautiful, so emotional that I could barely hold myself. It was hilarious, it was devastating...  I mean, you want Neil Gaiman to give you something like this. He truly delivered. And yes, I am so glad Netflix didn't cancel it

Yes, Netflix and Amazon have been paying a lot of money into international productions. A lot of money would be a relevant term as most of those productions are considerably cheaper than US productions. However, La Casa del Papel, DARK or Squid Game showed us that they can make a hit. 

At this moment, I think Netflix is doing more than 20 series and movies in Turkey. There was a huge scandal with Disney+ and their cancellation of commissioned project "Ataturk" about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkish Republic, ordered for 100th anniversary of Republic. Someone in Turkey is hindering the project, simultaneously accusing Armenian and Greek lobby in States. It's a total clusterf**k. Needless to say, Disney+ really failed in Turkey. 

European, Asian, South American etc. production may feel some benefits of US strike, but most people don't pay Netflix for some obscure French, Brazilian or Turkish drama. Both Netflix and Amazon most watched projects are mostly US-produced (with several exceptions) 

Regardless of international content and pouring more and more money into internationally local markets, at the end of the day, people are still more interested in the likes of Stranger Things, Boys, Bridgerton or even Rings of Power.