WGA Prize Cuts; Critic Blasts AFI Top 10; Wiig Oscar Nomination Deadline

A column chronicling conversations and events on the rewards circuit.

This crazy season is starting to heat up.

The National Board of Review, usually the first in a “normal” season, has contented itself with raising the rear this time since the Oscars were moved so late to April 25, and so are the Indies. Spirit Awards which also offered its nominations this week. Titles like Nomadland, One Night In Miami, Sound off Metal, Da 5 Bloods and Threatening are all happy campers because most of these films scored multiple times during the critics’ list phase of Oscar season. Beware of experts who seek to predict the race based on these early precursors: many of these groups follow each other like sheep and generally prefer minimalist cinema, not necessarily the liking of those voters struggling in the industry itself- same, especially in different trades. And, in this extended season, we are now at a point where things can take a sharp turn.

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Next week we’ll hear from the Golden Globes and SAG, two metrics with track records much closer to what members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tend to choose. They will in turn be followed by the Critics Choice Association, which also has an enviable record of reflection, just like Oscar. However, with the pandemic still in effect and the way films are consumed by industry and audiences, all bets are on to predict how much previously announced island critics’ organizations and “committees” will influence Hollywood. more general public. groups based on big TV broadcast contracts like the Globes, SAG and Critics Choice Awards; their constituents are well aware of the possibility of putting forward nominees who might also have some appeal to viewers (I have to keep these networks happy, folks).

If by the end of the next 10 days or so we’re still talking about the same movies, lots of quiet little dramas that are guaranteed to make your average Joe Popcorn’s eyes sparkle, then expect trouble in River City. First cow The Oscars are unlikely to be gold rated, if you know what I mean.

ARMOND AGAINST AFI

The American Film Institute also sounded this week by releasing its prestigious AFI Best Films of the Year list which featured many of the same titles critics have warmed to so far, an incredibly diverse list that included no less than half featuring predominantly black actors. You might think with all the talk about the lack of diversity in Hollywood award rituals that that would be good news, and it was in most circles a sign of ‘it’s about time’.

But instead of clapping on the sidelines and looking more like a far-right Republican congressman carrying guns on Capitol Hill, the contrarian Armond White, an African-American film critic, managed to rampage incredibly all 10 AFI selections and called the entire list “awakened”. Here’s how he, writing for the curator National review, Put the:

“Da 5 Bloods is scattered and unpleasant. Judas and the Black Messiah: makes a 2021 Systemic Racism Legend film that AFI was eager to promote. Ma Rainey’s black background: ill-informed and sinister. Mank: cruel, false and superficial. Threatening: severe and banal. Nomadland: social alienation without interest. One night in Miami: too artificial false story. Soul: numbing cultural indoctrination for children. Sound of metal: dark but sappy. Chicago 7 trial: anti-American nostalgia. “Oh, and” Honorable mention: the unforgettable Hamilton. “

Ouch, Ouch Armond. What rock has this “critic” crawled from? In case you’re the type to take this guy seriously, consider his favorites on his best of the decade list include Zach Snyder. Steel man and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a 2018 film by Nicolas Cage titled Mom and dad, and Michael Bay’s Pain and gain. Contrarian, indeed.

MANK’S RAINBOW CONNECTION

One of those movies that made it to the AFI Top 10 (a movie I loved, Armond) was by David Fincher Mank, which tells the story of the creation of the 1941 masterpiece Citizen Kane not through the eyes of its genius director Orson Welles, but rather of its relatively unknown screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. Before finally gaining respect and sharing Kane The only Oscar for Best Screenplay, Mankiewicz was a diligent (and drinking) writer of many scripts since the Talkies began in the mid-1920s, including Dinner at eight. He also did a lot of uncredited work (and like Mank shows hardly even got credit for Kane), and the main one of these films was a film that lived in eternity called The Wizard of Oz.

So what was his contribution to this classic? He suggested that once Dorothy has traveled over the rainbow, the film should go from black and white to glorious technicolor. And that’s what he did. “He got away from that [project] saying, ‘That’s all I can find,’ ”director David Fincher said with a laugh. “It could be the biggest special effect in movie history.”

Fincher’s formidable film, which now consistently gives the credit this often uncredited writer deserves, is deceptively full of great special effects itself, something which, in a sane award chase this year, is lacking in many films by blockbuster style that generally dominate the visual effects. category, should be recognized. For starters, Charles Foster Kane’s lavish castle is largely the work of CGI wizards hiding behind their own curtain of movie magic. Also arriving from Netflix this week, a lavish coffee table book with one jaw-dropping scene after scene in glorious black and white. Netflix likes to send these kinds of related books to their competition, but with this one they have outdone themselves.

‘NOMADLAND’, ‘MANK’, ‘MINARI’ AWOL AT WGA AWARDS

Guilds are starting all of their voting processes for their own awards now, so soon we’ll be getting the industry to weigh in on the best of the year and as mentioned above get a clearer picture of where this is actually going. Oscar race. Today, as a long-time member of the Writers Guild, I secured the preliminary list of films eligible for the Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay categories and, even more than usual, a large number of films. , including top leaders, are not eligible for one reason or another.

Unlike other guilds, the WGA has strict requirements and the script must have been written under the WGA MBA or a good faith agreement with sister guilds in various countries. Among these Oscar nominees do not on the WGA ballot eligible scenarios this year are Minari, Mank (written by Fincher’s father, Jack, deceased 2003), Nomadland, the father, pieces of woman, ammonite, soul (and any other animated film), Emma, ​​The Personal Story of David Copperfield, Let Them All Speak and many others.

Also lacking in the restraint for the original screenplay are Herself, Supernova, The Climb, The Assistant, I Carry You With Me, Adieu Amor and Ordinary love. In the adapted scenario, those who also miss the cut are Hope Gap, Penguin Bloom, Martin Eden, radioactive and Good spirit. Meanwhile, Oscars campaigners have sent many of the aforementioned scripts to various voting groups anyway, as beyond WGA they’re still eligible for other contests, and that of course includes the Oscars which don’t. do not discriminate against films that do not comply with WGA agreements. or other conditions.

KRISTEN WIIG OPTS FOR OSCAR WITH “BOOBIES”

On the surface, Lionsgate’s next comedy Barb & Star go to Vista Del Mar (opening February 12) is not exactly yell Oscar, but those who are behind the new comedy starring Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo are dreaming of the golden statuette anyway, not necessarily for its script written by Wiig and Mumolo (although it is on the roster WGA Eligibility), who were previously nominated for Bridesmaids, but for the original song, the two stars wrote for the movie with Mark Jonathan Davis, aka Richard Cheese. It’s called “I Love Boobies” and contains all the variations of slang for a woman’s breast.

Whether that’s just a clever publicity hook to draw attention to the film, or a genuine offer for an Academy Award is an open question, but a source close to the action tells me, “Since it’s an awards season so unique, and we love the song, we roll the dice. I hear there’s actually another big musical number from the movie that they’re weighing for possible Oscar attention, but they better hurry as the list of finalists for Best Original Song will be released on February 9.

No matter what you think of the tongue-in-cheek look, it might be best to remind filmmakers that this wouldn’t be the first time something as scatalogical like this has landed on the Oscar scene. Does anyone remember the outcry when Seth MacFarlane hosted the show in 2013 and sang “We Saw Your Boobs”? It didn’t go too well judging by the outraged online reactions the next day, and this was in the pre- # MeToo era.

As for Barb and star itself, the film was originally slated for release in July, but now opens on Valentine’s Day weekend, though I’m not sure if “I Love Boobies” is meant to be a classic associated with the older. romantic vacations for years to come. An Oscar wouldn’t hurt – you go girls!