DGA Nominees: Field, Kosinski, McDonagh, Spielberg, and The Daniels

by Nathaniel R

Todd Field and Cate Blanchett for "Tar". Photo by Matt Licari/Invision/AP

The Directors Guild of America released their nominations yesterday. In their main Oscar-correlative prize they hewed very close to what is seen as the "top five" for Oscar's Best Picture race. Historically speaking, in a counter-intuitive twist, the DGA nominations each year have a closer correlation to eventual Best Picture nominations than the Best Director shortlist. That was of course easier to notice before the new world of the "Expanded Best Picture" lineup of the past 14 years. The exception to this general principle of 'if it's up for the DGA it'll be up for Best Picture' certainty is the nomination for Todd Field for TÁR. While the film has a great shot at making the 10 wide Best Picture list, it's not generally considered one of the top five contenders and could theoretically be snubbed still, given that more than 10 films still seem plausible as contenders. As a result Field is looking very strong in Best Director as the Academy votes on their nominations this week...

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NYFCC loves "TÁR" and "Banshees of Inisherin"

by Nathaniel R

TÁR

The New York Film Critics Circle was founded way back in 1935 and they hold a lofty place in film history given their publishing-giant of a city and their own rich history of interesting choices. For their 88th awards TÁR and The Banshees of Inisherin emerged victorious with two wins each, though a few of the other wins were quite surprising...

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Lots of winners at a 'spread the wealth' kind of Gotham Awards

by Nathaniel R

Gay Joy! The "Fire Island" cast, in one of Gothams many tributes, were honored for their ensemble work

A24's Everything Everywhere All At Once triumphed at the Gotham Awards last night in NYC winning two prizes: Best Feature and Best Supporting Performance (Ke Huy Quan). Since the Gothams have very few categories, the nomination leaders Tár and Aftersun had to settle for one prize each. The big awards story of the night, punditry-wise if not at the actual event since she wasn't there, was Danielle Deadwyler taking Best Lead Performance for Till. That's a nice feather in her cap and when you're less famous than your competition, every bit of media attention helps. It's always been hard to win third Oscars so perhaps Best Actress will end up very competitive and not just a cakewalk for Blanchett?  Full list of winners plus a few quotes and notes after the jump...

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A24’s Paul Mescal Double: 'Aftersun' and 'God’s Creatures'

by Eurocheese

A24 has had a killer 2022 so far, and they’re not slowing down. The effusive love for Everything Everywhere All at Once has indeed been everywhere: tributes to all the actors (including Middleburg last week), Park Chan-wook adding his name to the list of celebrities declaring their love for the film, reports of Academy screenings going like gangbusters – the weird little blockbuster-that-could has done everything it can to stay front and center in the Oscar race. On top of that, there’s the critical success of several A24 films in their bread-and-butter category of horror/thriller (X, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Pearl) and a couple of gems that are enchanting discoveries for those that seek them out (After Yang, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On). What more could we ask of them? 

As it turns out, we can expect them to showcase the brilliant (not to mention gorgeous) Paul Mescal in two films that highlight his ability to be heartbreaking and ice cold in polar opposite performances...

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