As The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced their nominees for their 33rd Annual Gotham Awards, this year’s awards season has officially begun. Here are the most anticipated movies among this year’s competitors.
Barbenheimer (Barbie: Warner Bros.; Oppenheimer: Universal)
It’s impossible to talk about this season without mentioning THE big cinema event of the year. Barbie and Oppenheimer will no doubt be the leading films of the season.
Although considered by many to be less subtle than Gerwig’s previous work, Barbie took the world by storm. Among other box office records, it is the highest-grossing film directed by a solely by a woman. It will be hard for the Academy to ignore what Gerwig has achieved, especially considering that amongst the 74 winners of the Academy Award for Best Director, only three are female. It is too early to say anything for sure. Still, I hope that Gerwig will be the fourth.
Oppenheimer, on the other hand, is a biographical film about the struggle of a genius. It is the kind of film that the Academy likes to award. It is directed by Christopher Nolan, who is considered by many to be one of the most influential working directors still yet to win an Oscar. Oppenheimer could be the film that brings him the little golden man. Plus, it could bring Robert Downey Jr. his first Academy Award for his supporting performance.
Maestro (Netflix) and Priscilla (A24)
Similar to Oppenheimer, both Maestro and Priscilla are also biographies; however, they considered to be different from the traditional Oscar bait ones.
Five years after A Star Is Born, Bradley Cooper brings his newest work about the struggle of a queer white male genius to Venice. Last time, the actor-director didn’t win any awards for his debut, which was originally considered to be the frontrunner for Best Picture. It’s hard to say whether the Academy will love this film, but Maestro is the strongest Netflix film of the season so far. Therefore, it shouldn’t have much trouble scoring tons of nominations.
This February, Elvis won the BAFTA for Best Actor and was one of the frontrunners for the same award – in addition to a plethora of technical categories – at the Oscars in March. This season Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla tells the same story but from a different perspective. Cailee Spaeny won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at Venice and, over the last seven years, five winners of this award went on to be nominated by the Academy. Accordingly, it would be unwise to ignore Spaeny for the Best Actress race.
Past Lives (A24)
After the big Everything Everywhere All at Once win for Asians and Asian Americans last year, A24 brings another touching Asian immigrant story for this season. Past Lives was screened at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival and received a five-star review from The Student. Considered by many as the greatest debut in years, Past Lives could land nominations in Actress, Score, Screenplay, and Directing.
Poor Things (Searchlight)
Five years after The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone went back to Venice with Poor Things, their newest collaboration. After its Golden Lion win, it is among the frontrunners for Best Picture. Additionally, Emma Stone should never be counted out of the race for Best Actress.
The Zone of Interest (A24)
It has been ten years since Jonathan Glazer’s last film Under the Skin. The Zone of Interest is a timely story about Jews, genocide and evil. It won the Grand Prix at Cannes and is considered by many as the best of the year. It is also the UK’s submission for Best International Feature and could become the first British film to win that award.
Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple)
It is a new Scorsese!
All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
The new Andrew Haigh has received one of the best reviews this year. With the help of Searchlight (and one Paul Mescal), it could bring Andrew his first Oscar nod.
American Fiction (Amazon)
It is this year’s winner of the People’s Choice Award at Toronto. Historically, the winners will perform pretty well at the Oscar night. That said, comedies often have a tough time. It remains to be seen if American Fiction can buck the trend.
The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)
No one has seen this film yet, but it’s based on the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical of the same name. It’s hard to say whether it will be as successful as the Spielberg film but it’s something to watch out for.
Anatomy of a Fall (NEON)
After last year’s surprise Best Directing and Best Picture nomination for Triangle of Sadness, this year’s Palme d’Or winning film could prove a surprise performer this season. Although, France decided not to select it as its submission for the international feature category, given its screentime being shared between the French and English Language.
Evil Does Not Exist (Sideshow and Janus Films)
Hamaguchi’s last film, Drive My Car, was nominated for Best Picture, Directing, Screenplay and won the Best International Feature. Although it missed this year’s Japanese submission for Best International Feature, it can still be considered for Oscar in other categories this year. It will all depend on when it will be released in the US. In the long history of Oscar, there was one occasion where a film was nominated in other categories prior to its Best Foreign Language Film nomination. Marriage Italian Style received a Best Actress nomination in 1965, a year before its 1966 nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
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