The Best Production Design Oscar Race

By Cláudio Alves

Will a Tarantino movie finally be nominated for Best Production Design?

Let's take a look at the Best Production Design Oscar race. While period pieces and fantasy extravaganzas dominate the costuming category, production designers are more open to other styles, too, like sci-fi, contemporary excellence, and even superhero movies. That said, at least in regards to the films that have already opened, the major contenders are roughly the same as with the Best Costume Design Oscar race. 

THOSE WE'VE ALREADY SEEN

Rick Heinrichs designed Dumbo's spectacular sets.

Rick Heinrichs won an Oscar for a previous collaboration with Tim Burton (Sleepy Hollow) and his designs for Dumbo are quite good, like nightmare visions of an Art Deco Disneyland. I’m less enchanted with Gemma Jackson’s pseudo-Arabian designs, but it would be foolish to count Aladdin out of the race...

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TIFF Jury of One - Chris Feil

Chris here, giving my own quick rundown of TIFF! Overall, I was able to see 33 films in total, including some under-the-radar thrills and more Midnight Madness films than ever before. As ever, closing out the festival is always quite bittersweet - but I'll have a little pick me up sharing what I loved most (and a few misses). Climb in my fur, and recap TIFF with me...

Best Film: Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Best Director: Marielle Heller, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

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TIFF Jury of One - Nathaniel R

by Nathaniel R

We've given TIFF two days to settle and it's time to pass out awards (they're invisible but real to us) as we are prone to do and because we must move on --though we have two reviews in progress so they'll pop up soon and we'll be sure to return to some of these films soon as they emerge in movie theaters. Herewith personal favourite things from the 29 films devoured at TIFF. I got sick during the last few days so as medicinal comfort I'm allowing myself ties (gasp!) and lots and lots of categories. Ready? Here we go.

Best Film: Parasite (second runner up for the People's Choice prize)
Best Director: Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
 

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Silly irreverent "JoJo Rabbit" wins TIFF's People's Choice Award. Is Oscar next?

by Nathaniel R

The Grolsch People's Choice Awards at TIFF has always been a strong omen for good Oscar fortunes.  Last year Green Book was a surprise winner (it wasn't even on most Best Picture prediction charts before the screenings started, it's sudden popularity in the Oscar race came via festival debut with little pre-release buzz). This year's winner is less of a shock to the Oscar system (TFE has at least been predicting it in multiple categories since the April Foolish predictions). The winner for 2019 is Taiki Waititi's "anti-hate satire" JoJo Rabbit about a young boy and his imaginary friend "Adolf Hitler".  Noah Baumbach's moving and surprisingly funny Marriage Story and Bong Joon-Ho's brilliant Parasite, which both played to packed satisfied houses, were the runners-up. Both of those pictures are also gunning for Best Picture citations come Oscar time, though obviously Parasite has a steeper hill to climb to get there given its subtitles as Oscar's hesitancy in embracing Asian cinema. Most of the people I spoke with in Canada were actually predicting that Parasite would take the win as TIFF had to keep adding screenings. But JoJo Rabbit it is...

Though the folks at Fox Searchlight are surely celebrating JoJo Rabbit's win the road to Oscar will be much more difficult...

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Best International Feature: Parasite, The Whistlers, and Denmark's Hopefuls...

by Nathaniel R

Park So-dam and Choi Woo-sik as con-artist siblings in Parasite (2019)

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2ND 2:00 PM: The titles competing at the 92nd annual Oscars for Best International Feature are coming at us fast and furious now. In the past few days the number has climbed to an "official" 26 submissions...with probably 60ish titles still to come. 

SOUTH KOREA
It was widely expected that South Korea would select Cannes Palme d'Or Winner Parasite to represent them but we've been surprised by the country's selection before (why oh why did they pass on The Handmaiden in its year - argh!). Thankfully they didn't surprise us this year. This is Bong Joon-ho's best movie ever, give or take the also-quite-brilliant but Oscar-shunned Mother (his only other film that was submitted by South Korea) so it would be sweet to see it actually compete for the gold.

Denmark's finalists, Romania's selection, and the official submission chart updates are after the jump...

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