Toronto just announced [Variety] what will likely be part of what shapes the upcoming Oscar race. There are quite a few female names in the lineup, whether or not any of those films go on to be among the small pile that makes it through to Best Picture – we will just have to wait and see. Debra Granik has set the bar high with Leave No Trace, which remains among the best films this year.
GALAS 2018
“Beautiful Boy,” Felix van Groeningen, USA
“Galveston,” Mélanie Laurent, USA
“Everybody Knows,” Asghar Farhadi, Spain/France/Italy
“First Man,” Damien Chazelle, USA
“The Hate U Give,” George Tillman,Jr.,USA
“Hidden Man,” Jiang Wen, China
“High Life,” Claire Denis, Germany/France/Poland/United Kingdom
“Husband Material,” Anurag Kashyap, India
“The Kindergarten Teacher,” Sara Colangelo, USA
“The Land of Steady Habits,” Nicole Holofcener, USA
“Life Itself,” Dan Fogelman, USA
“The Public,” Emilio Estevez, USA
“Red Joan,” Sir Trevor Nunn, United Kingdom
“A Star is Born,” Bradley Cooper, USA
“Shadow,” Zhang Yimou, China
“What They Had,” Elizabeth Chomko, USA
“Widows,” Steve McQueen, United Kingdom/USA

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2018
“Ben is Back,” Peter Hedges, USA
“Burning,” Lee Chang-dong, South Korea
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Marielle Heller, USA
“Capernaum,” Nadine Labaki, Lebanon
“Cold War,” Paweł Pawlikowski, Poland/UnitedKingdom/France
“Colette,” Wash Westmoreland, United Kingdom
“Dogman,” Matteo Garrone, Italy/France
“The Front Runner,” Jason Reitman, USA
“Giant Little Ones,” Kwith Behrman, Canada
“Girls of the Sun (Les filles du soleil),” Eva Husson, France
“Hotel Mumbai,” Anthony Maras, Australia
“The Hummingbird Project,” Kim Nguyen, Canada
“Maya,” Mia Hansen-Løve, France
“Manto,” Nandita Das, India
“Monsters and Men,” Reinaldo Marcus Green, USA
“Mouthpiece,” Patricia Rozema, Canada
“Non-Fiction,” Olivier Assayas, France
“Old Man & the Gun,” David Lowery, USA
“Papi Chulo,” John Butler, Ireland
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón, Mexico/USA
”Shoplifters,” Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan
“The Sisters Brothers,” Jacques Audiard, USA/France/Romania/Spain
“Sunset,” László Nemes, Hungary/France
“Through Black Spruce,” Don McKellar, Canada
“The Weekend,” Stella Meghie, USA
“Where Hands Touch,” Amma Asante, United Kingdom
“White Boy Rick,” Yann Demange, USA
“Wildlife,” Paul Dano, USA
2 French directors Melanie Laurent and Claire Denis. Hated Let the Sunshine In myself.
Plus my favourite french director: Mia Hansen-Love. Totally thrilled to see “Maya”. (besides, I didn´t like Let the Sunshine in either)
On a completely different note. Gary Oldman confirmed for Woman in the Window with Adams (possibly Julianne Moore). And can we shriek with the news of Fosse/Verdon limited series with Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams and Lin Manuel Miranda?!
Among the period films that are about and expected to take the festival route, COLETTE’s trailer is what impresses me the most.
It’s hard not to be excited about the potential around Burning, Cold War, Maya, Sunset, Shoplifters, High Life, and Roma, plus new films from Assayas, Lowery, Holofcener, Heller, and Yimou.
This must mean the studio is confident in A Star is Born, and eager to get the oscar buzz going. It has enough star power to open wide without festival cred so *fingers crossed* that it’s as amazing as people have indicated.
Honestly, Widows and A Star is Born are the two early hyped up Oscar potentials I’m looking forward to the most…
First Man will probably be fine.
Several things:
1) The Favourite is our NYFF opener
2) The trailers for Peterloo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhSv5-frnxk&app=desktop&persist_app=1
And Mid-90s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Rx6-GaSIE&app=desktop
3) If we’re expecting our best picture winners to go to Telluride, at the moment the options seem to be:
Shoplifters
The Favourite
Cold War
Roma
Dogman(released in 2019)Can You Ever Forgive Me?
First Man
The Old Man and the Gun
White Boy Rick
The Front Runner
4) I thought I’d share some random rumors I’ve read:
-If Beale Street Could Talk could be pushed to next year (Richard Lawson claims so) and is supposedly not an awards player (supposedly too difficult for Oscar consideration)
-Mary Queen of Scots might play Venice
The Favourite is missing as well. Maybe it’ll get added. Lobster and Sacred Deer played TIFF.
Yes, I’m hoping Lanthimos gets added later. It would be strange for him to miss after three films screened at TIFF, but The Favourite is also (likely) screening at Venice, Telluride, and NYFF, so it would make for a busy festival season.
I’m intrigued that Backseat, Boy Erased, Mary Queen of Scots, and On the Basis of Sex haven’t landed anywhere yet. Sign of things to come?
Ditto “Destroyer”
You guys still haven’t posted the trailer for Colette by the way.
or Boy Erased
A Star is Born has the best trailer I have seen in a long time.
No Domino; Radegund; The Mule. Awards season is in dire straits.
The Mule isn’t in post-production yet, per IMDB
I am the last person who thought he would be stoked for A Star Is Born. Yet, here I am.
Surprised not to see Boy Erased. Maybe it’ll get added. Also interesting – Widows, If Beale Street Could Talk and Beautiful Boy are world premieres.
Still have Venice, Telluride, NY, maybe it isn’t that good.
First man, widows, beautiful boy and a star is born are locks for best picture now.
No such thing as a lock in July
Blue Jasmine came out in the summer. Blanchett was a lock for a nomination. Looked like a winner. But always a very slim chance another could match her. Thomasin McKenzie is worthy of a nomination, but could be another 8-10 in contention
We were discussing best picture, but you make a good point. You know what I mean, though. There are a long list of “surefires” that went nowhere: Monuments Men and Unbroken to name just two.
I think in the end Widows misses. Just a hunch.