All Oscar Charts have been updated!

All the Oscar charts are updated four days before the Spirit Award nominations are announced and about two weeks before the biggies (Globes and SAG) potentially throw everything into disarray by playing favourites and telling other films to get lost. We're now worried we're underestimating multiple films since lately the Oscar voters have been geting lazy and giving 10+ nominations to multiple films... and we don't have any film doing that kind of numbers this year. We might be overestimating Mank and underestimating Da 5 Bloods. Some films still feel like they could either settle for disappointing 1 or 2 nods or become formidable contenders like, say, Promising Young Woman, First Cow, and Minari.

INDEX | PICTURE | DIRECTOR
ACTRESS | ACTOR | SUPP' ACTRESS | SUPP' ACTOR | 
SCREENPLAYS | VISUAL | SOUND | 
ANIMATED & DOCUMENTARY | INTERNATIONAL FEATURE 

Oscar Charts - All acting categories two weeks before Globe & SAG nods

by Nathaniel R

Zendaya smiling because the camera is absolutely besotted with her.

As strange as it is to note, it's still worth reiterating that Academy voters don't begin to fill out their nomination ballots for another five and a half weeks (!!!) A lot of things can change in that long of a stretch of time. Films and performances can move in or out of favor in two weeks time, let alone five!  But here is where our crystal ball is right now...

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Where are we at in the Oscar race? Screenplays, Directors, Pictures

by Nathaniel R

Looking at the calendar this morning on this blessed Inauguration Day, we realized with great alarm that the SAG, Globe, and Critics Choice nominations are just two weeks away so it's time to update all the Oscar charts again...

BEST PICTURE
What if we only get 7 nominees this year?

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Interview: Kingsley Ben-Adir on playing Malcolm X in "One Night in Miami"

by Murtada Elfadl

Kingsley Ben-Adir is having a breakthrough year. In fact that’s the award he won at the Gothams on the same day I talked to him over zoom. He acknowledges that his performance in Regina King’s One Night in Miami is one that brought him more attention than any previous role. You may remember him as Zoë Kravitz’s ex- boyfriend in the short-lived Hulu series High Fidelity or from the Netflix series The OA. But it’s his performance as Malcolm X that’s being talked about this season for a possible best actor nomination at the Oscars.

One Night in Miami, adapted by Kemp Powers from his play, imagines a historic night in which four Black icons Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) before he changed his name to Muhammed Ali, Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.),  Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and Malcom X (Ben-Adir), come together in a Miami motel room in 1964 and debate their roles as leaders and celebrities at that moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Malcolm X is the one who set up the meeting and the one who has an agenda that becomes apparent as the night goes on. He’s at the center of the film giving Ben-Adir a marvelous opportunity to showcase his talent.

[The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.]

Murtada Elfadl: This film lives and dies by the interplay between the four actors. Can you talk about your relationship on set with Aldis, Leslie and Eli? There is passion to the performances and I think you're feeding off of each other. 

KINGSLEY BEN-ADIR: I think Regina very carefully hand-picked each of us. I chemistry tested with Leslie before I was cast...

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The Oscar for International Feature has temporary rule changes!

This just in, courtesy of Scott Feinberg at The Hollywood Reporter, the rules are changing for this specific Oscar year in terms of the Best International Feature Race. While members are still required to watch a certain number of the nominees in order to vote in the first round as in past years, this year that number is 12, anyone in the Academy can do it which is a change from past years where you had to be part of specific volunteer committees. The concerning part is that the Executive Committee aren't doing their three film "save" this year. Usually they choose 3 of the 10 finalists. We know that process has drastically improved the quality of the nominees; the proof is in the pudding and the nominated shortlists have been delicious ever since. This year instead of the Executive Committee save, they're merely expanding the finalist list so the top 15 vote getting films will advance to the finals (yes, we'll update the prediction chart tomorrow to reflect this) from which the 5 nominees will be chosen.

The Executive Committee is expected to return to their "save" duties next year. Though judging on THR's intel it sounds like the change from 10 to 15 finalists will be permanent so how many of those the EC will be able to pick for 2021/2022 ... who knows?  

Interesting or scary? A little of both. We love the idea of 15 finalists (that's how many documentary gets and we like symmetry) but no executive committee worries us. What do you make of this decision? Sound off in the comments. And make sure to check out our plentiful coverage on this race including the Oscar submission charts, the list of where to see the films, looks at the directors who made them, and note the familiar actors who are starring in them. More reviews and a few interviews are coming soon.