The columnist for the Hollywood Reporter Awards so far this week sorts through the heaps of awards (AFI, NBR, Spirit, USC Scripter Awards).
It’s only Tuesday, but this week has already announced a flurry of awards – the AFI’s top 10 films, the Spirit Awards nominations, the National Board of Review Awards winners and the USC Scripter Awards nominations – which individually may not much influence on Oscar race, but it can be collective, especially in this year in which the members of the film academy feel disconnected from each other and the usual ‘chatter’.
It is not that there is much overlap between the membership of the Academy and the AFI selection committee, the committees for the nomination of the Spirit Awards or the less than a dozen NBR members who are authorized to vote on behalf of the others. There certainly are not.
It is that most Academy members are stuck at home wondering which of the overwhelming number of movies in Academy Screening Room, the only streaming program for the Academy, is actually worth prioritizing. (215 are currently live; more are being added regularly.) Usually, interactions with other voters – “word of mouth” – help make these decisions. But this year, of course, that is not happening.
Up to this point in the season, there have only been a handful of films that do not have brains – the word has reached everyonefor example the searchlights Nomadland and Netflix’s The Chicago 7 Trial is a must-see. But in addition, you will be amazed at how academic members were across the board.
Some told me that they immediately watched the first movies uploaded to the Academy Screening Room, even though they had never heard of it, like IFCs Baba-tande and Swallow. Others have particularly focused on their viewing responsibilities for specific committees, such as international functions or documentary programs. And still others chose to go and watch movies completely until the field wins, and instead got lost The Queen’s Gambit, Your Honor, the Tiger Woods documentary articles or a number of other things currently available on TV.
So how are the announcements changing this week? They concentrate a little heat around certain titles, and not around others.
There is no doubt that more academy members will look into it. Spike Leesay Da 5 bloods, a film without well-known names in its cast – except for late Chadwick Boseman, which appears in what is essentially a cameo – which fell back in June now that it landed on the AFI’s top 10 list (one of Netflix’s unprecedented four titles topping the list is the other Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Mank and Trial) and was awarded by NBR as best film and best director.
Two low-budget art house titles are no longer just anecdotes popular but actually highly praised for their invitations: Amazon’s Sound of Metal and A24s Minari. Both reached the AFI’s top 10 above Universal’s News from the world, although AFI generally attracts large studio rates.
Minari also won the Spirit Awards with names for best film, director and screenplay (Lee Isaac Chung), lead actor (Steven Yeun) and byrol (both Yeri Han and Youn Yuh-jung); and NBR, who won Best Supporting Actor (Youn) and Best Original Screenplay (Chung) and ended up in the top 10 list. Meanwhile, it Sound of Metal won best actor (Riz Ahmed) and best supporting actor (Paul Raci) from NBR, which also included it in its top-10, while the Spirit Awards nominated Ahmed and Raci in their respective acting categories, and Darius Marder for the best first function.
There is no doubt that more voters will now prioritize Channing Godfrey Peoples‘ Miss Juneteenth, a small indie from a company called Vertical Entertainment, as its star, Nicole Beharie, won her Best Actress Gotham Award Nomadlandsay Frances McDormand with a nomination for Best Actress Spirit Award, which along with two Spirit Award names for Peoples (Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay) and one for Alexis Chikaeze (best supporting actor). Peoples also won the NBR’s best directorial debut award, while the film achieved a place on the top 10 indies list.
Focus’ Never Rarely Sometimes Always missed the AFI top 10, but was a major player in the Spirit Awards names – best feature, director and screenplay (Eliza Hittman), actress (Sidney Flanigan), city player (Talia Ryder), cinematography and editing – and received NBR love in the form of a Best Breakthrough Award (Flanigan) and a place on the top 10 Indian list, all on the heels of the New York Film Critics Circle Award for best actress (Flanigan)) and screenplay (Hittman).
Others that get traction include A24s First cow, who added the Best Award from the Spirit Award Award (plus names for best director Kelly Reichardt a best player Orion Lee) in the same week in which it won the Best New York Film Critics Circle Award, and also received a Scripter nomination; Pixar’s Soul, the first animated film since 2016 Soetopie to make AFI’s top 10; and the list goes on.
Conversely, it was a hit-and-miss week for Focus. Promising young woman, which was probably the film most expected to make AFI’s top 10 list that did not, and also missed a best performance of the Spirit Award nomination which was seen as a gym. That said, it has received a number of other major Spirit Award names, including Best Actress for Carey Mulligan and best director and best screenplay for Emerald Fennell. And it made it to the top 10 of the NBR, which also selected Mulligan as best actress.
The show was even darker for Netflix’s The Midnight Sky (only acknowledged with a mention on NBR’s top 10) and Hulu’s Palm springs (no AFI mention, no NBR recognition and only a best first screenplay of the Spirit Award for Andy Siara). And that was even the worst of all for Warners Tenet and The way back, Sony Classics’ The father, Netflix’s Malcolm & Marie, Amazon’s Borat subsequent Moviefilm, Apple TV +’s Cherry, Hulu’s The United States vs. Billie Holiday, which has been completely overlooked.
The upside for them, if not me? Many more announcements are just around the corner.