OCTOBER 26, 2016
What, Oscars again? Yes! Because the 2017 Oscar race doesn’t start until I say it has started. And, ladies and gentlemen, it has started. Big time.
Actually, the Oscar season began last January at Sundance where Nate Parker’s slave-rebellion saga “The Birth of a Nation” was first screened to rave reviews and a record distribution price. It was immediately deemed the Oscar front-runner until the summer, when it was revealed that Parker was accused of rape during his time as a student at Penn State. He was acquitted, but it was later learned that the victim committed suicide in 2012. Since rape is a key dramatic point in “The Birth of a Nation,” the news took the glow off the movie and that, plus indifferent box office, has basically removed “The Birth of a Nation” from serious Oscar contention. So the race has now opened up.
Since Sundance, we have seen the results of a number of important film festivals — Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York — and barring a late-minute entry (and there are a few of those lurking around), here are the ten films that I feel would be most worthy of your attention when they open in your city. You may not have heard of most of them now. But you will. Hang on, and here we go…
“20th Century Women” (A24) (opening December 25) — Writer/director Mike Mills, who last led Christopher Plummer to a much-deserved Oscar win for “Beginners,” is back with this saga of a late-in-life divorcee (Annette Bening) in 1979 Santa Barbara, having to cope with her skateboarding son Jamie (Lucas Jade Zumann), who is a handful. So she enlists help from two friends (Greta Gerwig and Elle Fanning) in handling her son and in the process, they become an extended family. The film itself was very favorably received at the New York Film Festival, but Oscar speculation was of course focused on Bening, a 4-time Oscar nominee without a win (having lost twice to Hillary Swank). The consensus from New York is that Bening is definitely in the mix for Best Actress, and “20th Century Women” may be a formidable contender in the Best Picture race as well.
“Arrival” (Paramount) (opening November 11) — If Bening is overdue for an Oscar victory, Amy Adams is way overdue, since, if she is nominated for “Arrival,” it will be her sixth Oscar nomination without a win. In the sci-film by Denis Villeneuve (an extraordinary new director who’s on the brink of stardom), Adams plays a brilliant linguist who is brought in to communicate with aliens, who have landed on Earth in giant pods. Receiving terrific reviews after its premiere in Venice, the movie appears poised for a strong late-autumn run, which can only help the film for a Best Picture bid, Villeneuve for a Best Director nod and especially Adams, who is said to give such an emotionally deep performance that it may finally bring her the big prize.
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” (Sony) (opening November 11) — In his last film “Life of Pi,” director Ang Lee kicked the artistic use of 3D up to the next level and won an Oscar for it. His latest film, based on the novel by Ben Fountain, focuses on a 19 year-old Army specialist in Iraq, who, with his comrades, survives a highly-publicized firefight and is brought back to the States to be part of a nationwide tour celebrating them all as heroes. However, it’s not the plot that is exciting movie fans about “Billy Lynn” — it’s the film’s promised technology. Not to get too geeky, but “Billy Lynn” promises yet another advance in 3D technology, and Lee has shot the film at 120 frames-per-second, 5 times faster than the 24 frames-per-second of a normal movie, a speed that Lee promises will produce a more immersive experience. We’ll see on November 11.
“Fences” (Paramount) (opening December 25) — The film version of one of the greatest plays by one of America’s greatest playwrights, August Wilson, follows a lower-middle class African-American family in Pittsburgh having to cope with the changing state of race relations as their children must face some of the lack of opportunity that they themselves faced years before. The play first premiered on Broadway in 1987 and won Tony Awards for its stars James Earl Jones and Mary Alice as the parents. “Fences” was revived in 2010 and again earned Tony Awards for its stars, Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. Both stars return for the film version, directed by Washington in this third directorial effort. And if Washington’s film even comes close to the power of the stage version, “Fences” should be a formidable player indeed.
“Jackie” (Fox Searchlight) (opening December 2) — The English-language film debut of Chilean director Pablo Larraín (helmer of the great Oscar-nominated film “No”), “Jackie” takes a daring approach in its portrait of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (Natalie Portman). Instead of the familiar portrait of Jackie in full “Camelot”-mode, Larraín’s film follows her in the days immediately following the assassination, when she must balance her incredible private grief with the public grief that the world is anxious to see. All this while she prepares to pack up and leave the White House as the Johnsons are already measuring the drapes. Almost appearing out of nowhere, “Jackie” picked up superb reviews at this year’s Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, but it remains to be seen whether American audiences will warm to this decidedly different portrait of a beloved First Lady.
“La La Land” (Lionsgate) (opening December 9) — As his followup film to his Oscar-winning “Whiplash,” director Damien Chazelle returns to the world of music with a film that is so old-fashioned that it’s positively daring. “La La Land” is a straight-up unapologetic movie musical in the style of the old MGM classics, as a jazz musician (Ryan Gosling) and an actress (Emma Stone) both seek to pursue their artistic dreams in the demanding environs of Los Angeles, but together they find love instead. “La La Land” was screened at most major fall film festivals and was a sensation everywhere it played. Compared with the staccato drive of “Whiplash,” here Chazelle’s style is said to be lush and romantic, which sounds perfect for the material. Plus Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in a musical? How can you resist?
“Loving” (Focus) (opening November 4) — Usually there’s at least one fact-based film in the Oscar mix, and this year it’s “Loving,” director Jeff Nichols’ dramatization of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case which struck down all laws against interracial marriage. Instead of approaching it as strictly a court case, Nichols chooses to focus on the issue as a love story between Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Jeter (Ruth Negga), who meet, fall hopelessly in love and decide to marry even though they know that it is against the law. Their 1958 arrest, conviction and prison sentence simply for the crime of loving each other stirred the nation and led to one of the most significant legal precedents of the 20th Century. Nichols, an indie director most celebrated for his films “Take Shelter” (2011) and “Mud” (2012), steps up to the big leagues here, and from the standing ovation the film received at Cannes this spring, “Loving” looks to bring him there.
“Manchester by the Sea” (Roadside Attractions) (opening November 18) — Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan’s portrait of Lee, a Boston janitor (Casey Affleck) who returns to his seaside hometown after the death of his brother in order to become legal guardian to his nephew (Lucas Hedges). While at home at Manchester-by-the-Sea, Lee must also deal with his separated wife Randi (Michelle Williams), with whom he shares a family tragedy that has both bonded them together and pulled them apart. The film roared through festivals all year, including Sundance, Telluride, Toronto and New York, garnering acclaim all along the way, particularly for Lonergan’s writing and direction and for Affleck’s lead performance. This is a real Oscar contender.
“Moonlight” (A24) (opened October 21) — Having been released on Friday to near-unanimous critical acclaim and impressive box-office, “Moonlight,” the latest film by writer/director Barry Jenkins, follows the growth from childhood to adulthood by Chiron, a young man who must deal with the challenge of growing up young, black and gay in a tough Miami neighborhood. Unlike “Boyhood,” which followed the same actors for 12 years, Nichols has structured his film to cast three different actors to portray Chiron at three different stages of his life. After its sensational premiere at Telluride, followed by acclaimed screenings in Toronto and New York, “Moonlight” seems poised to become the out-of-nowhere success that brings a fresh take to the coming-of-age film and gives voice to African-American and LGBT stories that are so rarely told onscreen.
“Silence” (Paramount) (opening December 23) — The huge unknown in the race. Normally, one might think that the story of two Jesuit priests who travel to Japan and discover persecution of Christian missionaries at the hands of the Japanese would not necessarily be the stuff of holiday entertainment or of fevered Oscar campaigning. But “Silence” is the latest film from Martin Scorsese, so attention must be paid — not to mention a top-notch cast including Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver. The big question is whether “Silence” is going to be one of Scorsese’s cultural curiosities (like 1997’s “Kundun”) or whether it will be a secret holiday surprise similar to “The Wolf of Wall Street” in 2013. From all reports, no one has yet seen “Silence,” but if a new Scorsese movie is in the mix, you’ve got to place it among the 10 films you need to put on your Oscar radar.
