With Oscar nomination voting beginning on Jan. 12, it’s not hard to figure out who the favorites are in most categories. (Here’s one rundown.) But for voters who want to look beyond the obvious picks — which should really mean all voters — TheWrap’s awards team would like to suggest a handful of our favorites that deserve a look before casting your ballots.
There are plenty of other deserving candidates out there, too, but here are 14 of our picks.
Emma Thompson, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” (Searchlight Pictures)
As a widowed teacher seeking fulfillment of a different sort in her retirement years, Thompson deflects any possibility of cliché with her inimitable dexterity as she gives a performance for the ages—supple and moving, easily stacked up next to her many acclaimed roles of the last 30 years. Just because she’s one of the...
There are plenty of other deserving candidates out there, too, but here are 14 of our picks.
Emma Thompson, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” (Searchlight Pictures)
As a widowed teacher seeking fulfillment of a different sort in her retirement years, Thompson deflects any possibility of cliché with her inimitable dexterity as she gives a performance for the ages—supple and moving, easily stacked up next to her many acclaimed roles of the last 30 years. Just because she’s one of the...
- 1/9/2023
- by TheWrap Staff
- The Wrap
Already a massive hit in India, where it is the fifth-highest grossing film of 2022, “Gangubai Kathiawadi” is director-cowriter Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s rendering of a real-life tale of an Indian activist born into brothel culture who went on to become a notable social crusader known as Gangubai Kothewali (among other names). The film, cowritten with Utkarshini Vashishtha, is a panoramic look at a most unusual life, told in long takes and epic form.
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How ‘Descendant’ Searched for a Slave Ship and a Community’s History
Bhansali revealed some of his process in conversation with Awards Reporter Joe McGovern during a virtual screening of the film as part of TheWrap’s 2022-2023 Awards Season Screening Series.
“When I called [Hussain Zaidi, author of “Mafia Queens of Mumbai” on which this film is partly based] and said I want to buy the rights, he was shocked,” Bhansali said. “He said,...
Also Read:
How ‘Descendant’ Searched for a Slave Ship and a Community’s History
Bhansali revealed some of his process in conversation with Awards Reporter Joe McGovern during a virtual screening of the film as part of TheWrap’s 2022-2023 Awards Season Screening Series.
“When I called [Hussain Zaidi, author of “Mafia Queens of Mumbai” on which this film is partly based] and said I want to buy the rights, he was shocked,” Bhansali said. “He said,...
- 12/8/2022
- by Jason Clark
- The Wrap
The scars of war last long after the guns stop firing, and Serbian filmmaker Dušan Milić shows just how long in his new film “Darkling,” Serbia’s entry into the Best International Film Oscar race. It was showcased this month as part of TheWrap’s Screening Series.
Set in Kosovo in 1999, “Darkling” follows a family living in the region after the conclusion of the bloody war between Yugoslavia and Albanian rebels. NATO-led forces known as the Kfor now occupy the region and keep the peace, but only during the day.
At night, a young girl named Milica barricades the doors and windows of her house with her mother and grandfather, fearful of the dangers that they believe lurk outside their home even as the Kfor soldiers dismiss it as their imagination. Whether or not it is real is unclear, but the trauma of the war has left deep emotional...
Set in Kosovo in 1999, “Darkling” follows a family living in the region after the conclusion of the bloody war between Yugoslavia and Albanian rebels. NATO-led forces known as the Kfor now occupy the region and keep the peace, but only during the day.
At night, a young girl named Milica barricades the doors and windows of her house with her mother and grandfather, fearful of the dangers that they believe lurk outside their home even as the Kfor soldiers dismiss it as their imagination. Whether or not it is real is unclear, but the trauma of the war has left deep emotional...
- 12/6/2022
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons, who plays William Frawley in “Being the Ricardos,” faced challenges researching Frawley since he died back in 1966. Frawley rose to prominence in the 1950s as Fred Mertz on “I Love Lucy.”
“I didn’t have any conversations with anybody who actually knew Bill,” Simmons told Joe McGovern as part of TheWrap’s Screening Series. “At first it was frustrating for me, doing my research, trying to find anything about Bill off camera, trying to find any footage of him outside of ‘I Love Lucy’ or obviously his film roles.”
Unable to find individuals who directly knew Frawley, Simmons decided to base his performance on published information, which he found liberating.
“At the end of the day, I found that to be a little bit freeing in a way because all the information I was able to get about Bill was from other people’s perspective,...
“I didn’t have any conversations with anybody who actually knew Bill,” Simmons told Joe McGovern as part of TheWrap’s Screening Series. “At first it was frustrating for me, doing my research, trying to find anything about Bill off camera, trying to find any footage of him outside of ‘I Love Lucy’ or obviously his film roles.”
Unable to find individuals who directly knew Frawley, Simmons decided to base his performance on published information, which he found liberating.
“At the end of the day, I found that to be a little bit freeing in a way because all the information I was able to get about Bill was from other people’s perspective,...
- 1/29/2022
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Silja Hauksdóttir, the director and one of the writers of “Agnes Joy,” says she opened the film with a graphic vomiting scene to capture the “raw” relationship between its characters.
The film, Iceland’s entry into the Academy Awards International Film category, explores the explosive relationship of daughter Agnes (Donna Cruz) and her mother Rannveig (Katla Þorgeirsdóttir) as Agnes seeks independence from her frustrated, dissatisfied mother’s controlling ways. Their world is upended still more when a seductive new neighbor moves into town.
“Raw” was how TheWrap’s Joe McGovern described the movie’s first scene, in which hungover teenage daughter Agnes (Donna Cruz) is shown vomiting in a bathroom, only to be broken in on by her outraged mother. Rannveig is more concerned about whether Agnes will be still able to perform on the violin than her daughter’s plight. When McGovern asked Hauksdóttir about the creative choice, she agreed with his assessment.
The film, Iceland’s entry into the Academy Awards International Film category, explores the explosive relationship of daughter Agnes (Donna Cruz) and her mother Rannveig (Katla Þorgeirsdóttir) as Agnes seeks independence from her frustrated, dissatisfied mother’s controlling ways. Their world is upended still more when a seductive new neighbor moves into town.
“Raw” was how TheWrap’s Joe McGovern described the movie’s first scene, in which hungover teenage daughter Agnes (Donna Cruz) is shown vomiting in a bathroom, only to be broken in on by her outraged mother. Rannveig is more concerned about whether Agnes will be still able to perform on the violin than her daughter’s plight. When McGovern asked Hauksdóttir about the creative choice, she agreed with his assessment.
- 2/2/2021
- by Diane Haithman
- The Wrap
John Legend and ‘With Drawn Arms’ Filmmakers on the Inclusion of Late Congressman John Lewis (Video)
The new documentary “With Drawn Arms” chronicles the story of U.S. track and field athlete Tommie Smith, who, along with teammate John Carlos, raised his fist on the podium at the 1968 Olympics as a symbol of Black power. Quite movingly, the first voice the audience hears in the documentary is the late Congressman John Lewis, who describes where he was on that historic day.
Speaking to TheWrap’s Joe McGovern, executive producer John Legend described why Lewis’ inclusion in the doc was so poignant.
“Whenever I think about John Lewis, I think about all that he’s been through, all that he’s seen in this country,” Legend said. “The fact he was beaten and injured marching on Edmund Pettus Bridge so that we can all have voting rights, the fact that he lived to see the first Black president and serve in Congress under the first Black president,...
Speaking to TheWrap’s Joe McGovern, executive producer John Legend described why Lewis’ inclusion in the doc was so poignant.
“Whenever I think about John Lewis, I think about all that he’s been through, all that he’s seen in this country,” Legend said. “The fact he was beaten and injured marching on Edmund Pettus Bridge so that we can all have voting rights, the fact that he lived to see the first Black president and serve in Congress under the first Black president,...
- 1/28/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Malgorzata Szumowska and Michal Englert, director and co-director of “Never Gonna Snow Again,” Poland’s Academy Awards entry for Best International Feature Film, said a very strange process of negotiation led them to cast “Stranger Things” actor Alec Utgoff in the lead role.
Recounting the story to TheWrap’s Joe McGovern, Szumowska said she first became aware of Utgoff, who came to the cast of Netflix’ horror-mystery series “Stranger Things” in the series’ third season as Russian scientist Dr. Alexei, through her son
“(He said) Mom, you have to watch ‘Stranger Things’ and wait for the Alexei character,” Szumowska said. “I started to watch and I said: ‘Yes, that’s the guy, oh my God!'”
Although her son brought Utgoff to Szumowska’s attention, he was also convinced she had no shot of coaxing the star of a successful TV series to play Zenia, an enigmatic masseur who travels...
Recounting the story to TheWrap’s Joe McGovern, Szumowska said she first became aware of Utgoff, who came to the cast of Netflix’ horror-mystery series “Stranger Things” in the series’ third season as Russian scientist Dr. Alexei, through her son
“(He said) Mom, you have to watch ‘Stranger Things’ and wait for the Alexei character,” Szumowska said. “I started to watch and I said: ‘Yes, that’s the guy, oh my God!'”
Although her son brought Utgoff to Szumowska’s attention, he was also convinced she had no shot of coaxing the star of a successful TV series to play Zenia, an enigmatic masseur who travels...
- 1/27/2021
- by Diane Haithman
- The Wrap
In many parts of the world, you would never need to explain that Tove Jansson was the creator of the lovable hippo-like creatures named the Moomins. In Jansson’s native Finland and neighboring Sweden, she is as well-known as Walt Disney and her characters as beloved as Mickey Mouse. And her influence extends well beyond the borders of her home country, with the Moomins universe exists in nearly 50 languages and as many cultures.
Jansson lived from 1914 to 2001, her fascinating life spanning almost the entirely of the 20th century. But the new biopic “Tove” (her name is pronounced Tu-vey) focuses on a 10-year period, beginning as World War II was drawing to a close in 1945. The film, the fifth feature by Finish director Zaida Bergroth, depicts Jansson’s romantic relationships with men and women, and the unexpected personal and creative endeavors that led to her ultimate success as an artist.
Classically...
Jansson lived from 1914 to 2001, her fascinating life spanning almost the entirely of the 20th century. But the new biopic “Tove” (her name is pronounced Tu-vey) focuses on a 10-year period, beginning as World War II was drawing to a close in 1945. The film, the fifth feature by Finish director Zaida Bergroth, depicts Jansson’s romantic relationships with men and women, and the unexpected personal and creative endeavors that led to her ultimate success as an artist.
Classically...
- 1/22/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Milcho Manchevski is a New York-based filmmaker from North Macedonia, who has made several films about motherhood and its impact on women. His latest film, “Willow,” takes that theme and tells it through the eyes of a shared experience of sacrifice that spans centuries.
“Willow” is a triptych of three stories, each about 30 minutes in length, which ripple subtly into each other. It’s a format of storytelling that Manchevski has favored during his career, especially in his acclaimed 1994 drama “Before the Rain,” which won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival and earned an Oscar nomination. “Willow” is North Macedonia’s official selection for the 2020 Academy Awards.
The filmmaker was asked about his preference for three-act structure during an interview as part of TheWrap’s Awards & International Screening Series. “I guess it goes back to my film school days in Illinois and [learning] avant garde cinema and structuralism and even conceptualism,...
“Willow” is a triptych of three stories, each about 30 minutes in length, which ripple subtly into each other. It’s a format of storytelling that Manchevski has favored during his career, especially in his acclaimed 1994 drama “Before the Rain,” which won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival and earned an Oscar nomination. “Willow” is North Macedonia’s official selection for the 2020 Academy Awards.
The filmmaker was asked about his preference for three-act structure during an interview as part of TheWrap’s Awards & International Screening Series. “I guess it goes back to my film school days in Illinois and [learning] avant garde cinema and structuralism and even conceptualism,...
- 1/19/2021
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Bosnian-born director Jasmila Zbanic, who survived the 1995 war in Sarajevo, wanted to make a film that exposes the bureaucracy of war from a female lens. Zbanic’s film, “Quo Vadis Aida,” centers on Aida, a translator for the United Nations in the small town of Srebrenica. When the Bosnian Serb army takes over the community, her family is among the thousands of citizens looking for shelter in the Un camp.
“My idea was that I wanted to show this film through a female perspective, and I wanted to show (Aida) as somebody who is between two worlds — she’s a Un interpreter, so she works for the Un and knows more than other Bosnians and other people in the camp but, on the other hand, she doesn’t have the same privilege like foreigners, like people who are in the Un,” Zbanic tells TheWrap’s Joe McGovern.
“I wanted to show this bureaucracy of war,...
“My idea was that I wanted to show this film through a female perspective, and I wanted to show (Aida) as somebody who is between two worlds — she’s a Un interpreter, so she works for the Un and knows more than other Bosnians and other people in the camp but, on the other hand, she doesn’t have the same privilege like foreigners, like people who are in the Un,” Zbanic tells TheWrap’s Joe McGovern.
“I wanted to show this bureaucracy of war,...
- 1/17/2021
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
20th Century Fox released their new action/thriller movie, "Kingsman: The Secret Service," into theaters this weekend, and all the top,major movie critics have submitted their reviews to reveal that they were mixed on it, overall, with a 59 total score out of a possible 100 across 35 reviews at the Metacritic.com site. The film stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Caine, Colin Firth and Taron Egerton. We've provided blurbs from a couple of the critics,below. Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times, gave it a great 88 score, stating: "Firth is brilliant. He’s playing a veteran super spy in a very violent but very silly movie, but even when Harry is explaining why there’s a dead stuffed dog in his bathroom, Firth gives a disciplined, serious performance." James Rocchi over at the TheWrap, gave it an 80 score. He stated: "Kingsman: The Secret Service is a startlingly enjoyable and well-made action...
- 2/14/2015
- by Chris
- OnTheFlix
Warner Bros. Pictures released their new action/sci-fi film, "Jupiter Ascending" into theaters this weekend, and the reviews are in from the major,top movie critics. It turns out that it was only able get a mixed reaction from them with an overall 40 score out of a possible 100 across 38 reviews at the Metacritic.com site. The film stars: Sean Bean, James D'Arcy, Tim Pigott-Smith, Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Douglas Booth, Doona Bae and Tuppence Middleton. We've provided blurbs from a few of the critics,below. Alonso Duralde from TheWrap, gave it a very nice 85 score, saying: "Who cares if the story is occasionally impenetrable or if some gags land with a thud when the thrills and the eye candy keep coming at such a breathless pace? Jupiter Ascending doesn’t break the new ground that the Wachowskis have managed in the past...but the film never slacks in its efforts to wow us.
- 2/7/2015
- by Chris
- OnTheFlix
Interstellar features Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Caine, but it's the rare Hollywood film where the director is the unquestioned star. This is a Christopher Nolan joint, from its epic scope, its tangled storytelling gymnastics, and its unrivaled insistence on Nsa-level control and pre-release secrecy. The director, who made his name with the backwards-running Memento, and burnished his reputation with the Dark Knight trilogy and the mind-bending Inception, goes all in with Interstellar, an ambitious tribute to the film that most inspired him: Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. In the near future, Earth is slowly starving and suffocating,...
- 11/7/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
This week marked the Broadway bows of actors Ewan McGregor and Maggie Gyllenhaal and one Gordon Sumner, but we all know him better as musician Sting (though, to be clear, this the composing debut of original music by Sting on Broadway; he actually appeared in a production of 3 Penny Opera on the boards 25 years ago). McGregor and Gyllenhaal are no strangers to the stage either, the former got raves for his smooth crooner in Guys and Dolls in the West End years back (why, oh why, didn't we get that one too?), and Gyllenhaal has been quietly doing the classics...
- 11/1/2014
- by Jason Clark
- EW.com - PopWatch
My first question about The Equalizer after seeing the trailer was, “Why even bother calling it The Equalizer?”
After all, it’s not as if The Equalizer—a 1980s CBS detective drama starring Edward Woodward as a Good Samaritan retired intelligence agent—was a brand that still lured audiences. Antoine Fuqua’s violent action movie with Denzel Washington exists in an entirely different universe, the brutal and vengeful cinematic neighborhood of Charles Bronson, Liam Neeson, and Washington himself. Call it The Equalizer or call it Man on Fire 2—this is a Denzel action film, first and last.
The film doesn...
After all, it’s not as if The Equalizer—a 1980s CBS detective drama starring Edward Woodward as a Good Samaritan retired intelligence agent—was a brand that still lured audiences. Antoine Fuqua’s violent action movie with Denzel Washington exists in an entirely different universe, the brutal and vengeful cinematic neighborhood of Charles Bronson, Liam Neeson, and Washington himself. Call it The Equalizer or call it Man on Fire 2—this is a Denzel action film, first and last.
The film doesn...
- 9/26/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
Denzel Washington is gearing up to show his box office might once more as The Equalizer debuts in 3,234 theaters, including IMAX and other premium large format screens, starting with early Thursday-night showings. The R-rated Columbia Pictures action thriller, which re-teams Washington with his Training Day director Antoine Fuqua, will easily win the weekend, beating out last week’s champ The Maze Runner and this week’s other new opener, the family-friendly The Boxtrolls.
Here’s how things might play out:
1. The Equalizer — $30 million
Denzel Washington plays a former black ops agent who’s attempting to lead a quiet life until...
Here’s how things might play out:
1. The Equalizer — $30 million
Denzel Washington plays a former black ops agent who’s attempting to lead a quiet life until...
- 9/26/2014
- by Lindsey Bahr
- EW - Inside Movies
With a lackluster collection of films opening wide in multiplexes this holiday weekend, it’s time to herald an indie gem. Love is Strange debuted at Sundance in January, and opened to the top per-screen average in select theaters last weekend. It expands slightly today, and critics seem to be near-unanimous that it’s worth seeking out.
Directed by Ira Sachs, the film tells the story of George (Alfred Molina) and Ben (John Lithgow), a gay New York City couple who officially tie the knot after 39 years together. But once their relationship is made legal, George is fired by the...
Directed by Ira Sachs, the film tells the story of George (Alfred Molina) and Ben (John Lithgow), a gay New York City couple who officially tie the knot after 39 years together. But once their relationship is made legal, George is fired by the...
- 8/29/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
It was a rough summer at the box office, with the industry trailing 2013’s record-breaking season by nearly 15 percent and selling the fewest tickets in more than 20 years. There were winners and losers, pleasant surprises and stinkers, but as the analysts push films in one column or the other, what to make of How to Train Your Dragon 2? It’s the year’s second-biggest animated hit (behind The Lego Movie) and a likely Oscar nominee for Best Animated Film. And yet DreamWorks Animation sequel, distributed by 20th Century Fox, is the rare critical success to gross $172 million and feel like a disappointment.
- 8/29/2014
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW - Inside Movies
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