Another year, and another Golden Globes ceremony in the bag. The big winner tonight was “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” which took Best Picture — Drama, Best Actress,  Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay.

The quartet of wins for the Fox Searchlight was somewhat of a surprise, given that during much of the awards season run-up, the love for the film seemed to be somewhat cool for the guilds.

Continue reading 2018 Golden Globes Winners: ‘Three Billboards’ Wins Best Picture at The Playlist.

[Updated Feb. 4]

Winner Prediction:
1. “A Fantastic Woman” (Chile)
2. “The Square” (Sweden)
3. “Loveless” (Russia)
4. “The Insult” (Lebanon)
5. “On Body and Soul” (Hungary)

Current predictions:

Best Picture
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Director
Original Screenplay
Adapted Screenplay
Editing
Cinematography
Production Design
Original Score
Best Song
Costumes
Sound Mixing
Sound Editing
Documentary
Foreign Language Film
Animated Feature Film
Makeup and Hairstyling
Visual Effects

Continue reading 2018 Best Foreign Language Film Oscars Predictions at The Playlist.

Just like that, it’s December, end of year lists are being curated (if not already posted) and the Sundance Film Festival has released their lineup for the upcoming fest which will subsequently, technically, begin chatter for the 2018 Oscars.

There’s a lot going on at the end of the year and that’s not even when we account the personal stresses that come along with the holiday season. December is pretty light for the first two weeks with only really three films posed to make any sort of splash and then the latest in the “Star Wars” saga enters the race and obliterates its competition.

Continue reading 13 Movies To Watch In December at The Playlist.

There’s been a very low, but noticeable simmer of awards season talk surrounding “In The Fade.” The latest from director Fatih Akin features Diane Kruger in the lead role, and by all accounts, she gives a ferocious turn in a drama that’s eerily timely.

Co-starring Denis Moschitto, Numan Acar and Johannes Krisch, the story follows a woman who becomes widowed after her husband and son are killed in a bombing plotted by a young, neo-Nazi couple.

Continue reading ‘In The Fade’ Trailer: Diane Kruger Wants Justice at The Playlist.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced that a record 92 countries submitted entries for Foreign Language Film category consideration this year. Notable first time participants include Haiti, Honduras, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Senegal and Syria.

After Trump’s announcement of a Muslim Ban last January steered the Academy into voting for Iran’s “The Salesman” over Germany’s “Toni Erdmann,” this year’s FLF race is considered a wide open race with no true frontrunner as of yet.

Continue reading Record 92 Countries Submit Foreign Language Film Entries for 90th Oscars at The Playlist.

The last thing I probably want to do is admit how long I’ve been filing this particular column and while I’ve missed a few years here and there this is actually the third outlet I’ve done it for. Making predictions for the Oscars in August can be very dumb in some respects, but sometimes truths are revealed months ahead of time. Predicting “Grand Budapest Hotel” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” were going to be Best Picture nominees in August were spot on (cough, most other pundits didn’t).

Continue reading Oscars In August: ‘Dunkirk,’ Pasek & Paul, Denzel Washington And Eight Other Early Predictions at The Playlist.

The 70th Cannes Film Festival has come and gone, but its films will live on as the march toward awards season begins. 2017 has already delivered one true Oscar player in Luca Guadagnino‘s Sundance breakthrough “Call Me By Your Name” and now Cannes has a chance to add to the coffers of potential contenders. (And, yes, there is the question of Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” potentially earning a Best Picture nod, but at this point, I’m not sure it’s more than an Original Screenplay contender, although I reserve the right to change that opinion when we get to September.)

Last year’s surprise awards season player from la Croisette turned out to be “Hell or High Water.” What film or films will keep Cannes’ Oscar streak going this time around? 

Continue reading Are Robert Pattinson, Diane Kruger And ‘The Florida Project’ Cannes’ Stealth Oscar Contenders? at The Playlist.

Ten days of cinephile heaven have wrapped for another year as the red carpet was rolled out for one last time at the Cannes Film Festival for the awards ceremony.

READ MORE: The 20 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2017 Cannes Film Festival

Ruben Östlund‘s “The Square” walked away the big winner, the unexpected recipient of the Palme d’Or. Continuing his tremendous run at Cannes, Andrey Zvyagintsev (who previously won Best Screenplay and a Special Jury Prize from Un Certain Regard) took home the Jury Prize for “Loveless.” The hotly buzzed “12o Beats Per Minute” landed the Grand Prix, though many expected it to take the Palme. 

Continue reading Cannes 2017 Awards: Ruben Östlund’s ‘The Square’ Wins Palme d’Or, Joaquin Phoenix Takes Best Actor at The Playlist.

Shedding the excruciating profundities that turned him into a critical target after 2014’s “The Cut,” Fatih Akin has returned to the more intimate narratives that made two of his earlier (and greatest) films, “Head-On” and “The Edge Of Heaven,” stand out. “In The Fade” tackles Akin’s most personal theme — immigration and cultural identity of Turks and Muslims in Germany — in much more orderly and subtle fashion, and at the very least, we can say that it’s a big step in the right direction towards a surefire dramatic comeback.

Continue reading Fatih Akin’s ‘In The Fade’ Starring Diane Kruger A Lacklustre Courtroom Drama [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

The Cannes Film Festival has been more secretive than usual this year, with Thierry Fremaux and co. deciding not to announce the opening film in advance, as is usually tradition. Instead, the full lineup has just dropped all at once, and it looks like a very strong year.

READ MORE: Nicole Kidman, Oscars, Netflix And Other Quick Thoughts On The Initial Cannes 2017 Line-Up

Despite some speculation that Netflix would be shut out, the streaming service has Noah Baumbach‘s “The Meyerowitz Stories” and Bong Joon-Ho‘s “Okja” headed to the south of France.

Continue reading Sofia Coppola, Todd Haynes, Michael Haneke, Bong-Joon Ho & ‘Twin Peaks’ Lead 2017 Cannes Film Festival Line Up at The Playlist.

There’s now less than a month until Christmas, and after a start last week with our look at the Best Posters and Best Trailers of the year, this week commences in earnest our annual smorgasbord of movie love that is our annual Playlist year-end features marathon. We’ll be looking at the best and worst of films, performances, sequences, cinematography, soundtracks and more across the next few weeks, which will serve as a reminder that 2016 was a pretty strong year at the movies.

Continue reading The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2017 at The Playlist.