Best Picture - How many and which ones?

Though the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes don't share voters, La La Land's sweep at the latter -- winning the most prizes, literally ever, at the Globes-- suggests the kind of overall crowd-pleasing and respectability strength that means the Best Picture Oscar is already won. The only suspense is how many other statues will be keeping it company on Hollywood's High Holy Night in February. But the race for nominations, which we've always maintained is the most exciting part each year anyway, is still relatively heated. So the Best Picture Oscar chart has been updated (more charts to follow over the next couple of days). But in short yours truly in punditry believe that the race currently breaks down like so

Tier 1 - The Locks... La La Land, Moonlight, and Manchester by the Sea
Tier 2 - If There Were Still Only 5.... Arrival and Hell or High Water?
Tier 3 - Probably Also In (So That Makes 8)... Lion, Hidden Figures, Hacksaw Ridge
Tier 4 - It Depends on How Many Nominees? Nocturnal Animals or Fences
Tier 4.5 - Unless I'm Wrong In Which Case Loving, Jackie, or Sully

Assuming La La Land, Manchester and Moonlight are competing for the win... how would you rank the other Best Pic hopefuls?

That's ten pictures right there which means I have less faith in the rest though there are other films making noise like Silence (albeit a quiet kind of 'Jesuit priests in Japan but its Scorsese' noise) and Deadpool. I know I know... the PGA nomination... but I frankly can't imagine the latter as a BP nominee and my reasoning is this: it's the kind of picture you'd vote for if you're like "burn this whole place down! Oscars are silly and too elitist" -- there are surely some voters like that but in a year with so many richly loved movies I can't imagine this feeling is the dominant one. Also if the high budget superhero universal acclaim of The Dark Knight and the High Budget but similar to Deadpool (In Snark and Success) Charm of Guardians of the Galaxy couldn't do it why would the comparatively lowbudget and lowbrow Ryan Reynolds comedy be able to? And if it were to be nominated wouldn't that be like spitting in Marvel Studios' face? (Yeah, yeah, we know you've worked hard at consistent quality for a decade with barely any nominations to show for it even in tech categories, but whatever)

YOUR TURN. How many nominees do you think we'll get this year and which film is in the so-close but it's not going to happen position?

The Oscar Week: Denzel, Adam, and Issey

 In this weekly feature from Murtada we follow Oscar contender appearances and interviews.

This week was quiet for Oscar buzz. Most of the stars are in hibernation, since the big push comes next week when Oscar balloting opens. Still best actor hopefuls Adam Driver and Denzel Washington and one possible Supporting Actor dark horse were out promoting their late releases.

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AFI & AARP - which films are showing up on every top ten list?

Another couple of days, another couple of lists. After the jump the AFI and the AARP lists and a couple notes about which films are coasting through precursor season without a care in the world. Consensus: a powerful tool if you can grab it...

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With Six You Get Linkroll

Towleroad Florence Henderson, "Mrs Brady" herself, dies at 82
Letterboxd "movies where jessica chastain gets fed up with the useless men around her so she decides to save the world herself"
EW Martin Scorsese's Silence to get world premiere at The Vatican
Medium "a letter to Tom Ford from a fat moviegoer" regarding Nocturnal Animals
Coco Hits NY finds Moana distractingly relevant to the current political situation
Elle Magazine all the different women who've played Jackie Kennedy (amazing, really)
The New Yorker the evolution of Pedro Almodóvar

oops that was seven links 

Exit Video
Doctor Strange as 8 bit game

They only do this for action and genre flicks since they're a natural fit but wouldn't it be satirical fun to do it for an unexpected non-teen boy favorite like say... Carol or The Hours?

Yes No Maybe So: "Silence"

Each and every year I pray that we will have ample time to CONSIDER each Oscar nominee. But one film always wants to emerge so late in the game that the world (i.e. Oscar fanatics, critics, list-makers, and awards voters) will be rushed to judgment.

I pray but I'm lost. Am I just praying to silence?"

It worked out well for the late arrivals last year (The Force Awakens and The Revenant which between them nabbed 17 Oscar nominations and 3 wins) so will it be as successful for Rogue One and Silence this year which we believe will be the last two movies to screen and which will dutifully fill the exact same slots of Star Wars Movie and Brutal All Male Historical Epic.

The Silence trailer is here so we may now finally judge for ourselves based on 2 minutes and 13 seconds instead of all of the rumors. The Trailer and our Yes No Maybe So™ breakdown after the jump...

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