If, from a cinematic point of view, the summer of 2023 will undoubtedly be remembered as the summer BarbenheimerSeptember is traditionally festival season, with Telluride, Venice and Toronto virtually the perfect showcase for many of the world’s most promising films. ‘vintage, some of which are destined to make up the lion’s share ofAmerican awards season. If already in the spring the Cannes Film Festival showed some of the “highlights” of 2023, then others are being added to the list of potential films. 2024 Oscars favoritesthanks to excellent reviews from critics and festival audiences.
And although some long-awaited works did not receive wide recognition from the festival audience (this is the case of the great return of two absolute masters: Ferrari Michael Mann and Murderer David Fincher) or was received with bewilderment or coldness (see Saltburn, Emerald Fennell’s divisive second feature), otherwise you can legitimately expect a front-row seat to next awards season. Therefore, below we will try to offer you an initial overview Oscar race 2024 with a list ten films worth paying attention tolisted in order of release…
1. Past lives
After an undeniable triumph Everything everywhere and at onceThis year, A24 will bet on a work that has captivated critics since its presentation at the Sundance Film Festival: Past Lives, the debut feature film from Korean director Celine Song. History returns parallel lives of two childhood friends, Na-young (Greta Lee) and Hae-sung (Teo Yoo) describe changes in their relationship over the course of more than twenty years based on their paths in life. Distributed in the US from June 2nd and a minor success in the American arthouse with a million viewers, Past Lives will be brought to Italy by Lucky Red and has an excellent chance of receiving important nominations for the next Oscar.
2. Barbie
Moving on to a completely different type of movie, it’s almost impossible to think that the Academy could ignore an event of Barbie’s magnitude. Almost one and a half billion dollars in global revenue Since July 20, a series of records broken with impressive speed and the ability to provoke thought and debate far beyond the audience of moviegoers, Greta Gerwig’s comedy has left its mark an undeniable mark on the collective imagination, thanks also to the inspiration of Margot Robbie, who perfectly played the role of a doll “locked” in the stereotypes created for her, and the formidable Ryan Gosling. With such popularity, Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s film, distributed by Warner Bros., could score at least a half-dozen nominations (as our in-depth analysis of its odds already shows). Barbie at the Oscars ceremony).
Barbie, editorial opinion
3. Oppenheimer
The other “half” of Barbenheimer, released simultaneously with Barbie almost all over the world (and on August 23 in Italy), this film causedalmost unanimous enthusiasm of critics and public and which has attracted more than eighty million moviegoers to date. It goes without saying that Oppenheimer himself will be the winning horse that Universal Pictures will be betting big on during awards season: the historical drama, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, about the history of the Manhattan Project and the creation of the atomic bomb, is what almost everyone agrees with. imposing myself one of my favorite films of recent years. Given these premises, it is very likely that Oppenheimer will present itself at the 2024 Oscars as a big favorite and will receive a good dozen nominations, starting with Nolan’s direction and Cillian Murphy’s magnetic performance in the harrowing role of the “destroyer of worlds” J. Robert Oppenheimer.
4. Anatomy of the gutter
Given the growing attention paid in recent yearsawards season An American from non-English-language films, it is reasonable to assume that in this sense he should not be underestimated. Anatomy of the gutter (“anatomy of a fall”), legal thriller that triumphed at the last Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d’Or. French director Justine Trieu’s film “Anatomy of a Gutter” is built around the mystery of the death of Sandra’s husband, played by Sandra Hüller, a German writer accused of murder. After Triet’s work has already registered six hundred thousand viewers at home, it will be released on October 13 in the United States (while in Italy it will be distributed by Teodora) and, in addition to becoming a favorite work representing France at the Academy Awards for the best international film, it could have been nominated in other prestigious categories, from director to Sandra Hüller as best actress.
5. Flower Moon Killers
And again, from the Cannes Film Festival, where it was shown out of competition, comes another film that was greeted unanimously: naturally, since a giant of this caliber Martin Scorsesewhich four years later Irishman returns to the stage with an ambitious transposition of the novel Red Earth Assassins, written by David Grann and set in the 1920s in Osage County, a land in which enormous interests were concentrated after the discovery of vast oil deposits. Another powerful mural celebrating America’s bloody history, Killers of the Flower Moon. Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone lead a rich cast which includes Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow and Brendan Fraser, among others. Produced by Apple TV+, Killers of the Flower Moon debuts theatrically in the United States on October 20 (and the day before in Italy, on Channel 01 Distribution) and, thanks to excellent reviews, has booked itself a place of honor in awards season.
Killers of the Flower Moon review: Scorsese’s banality of evil
6. Leftovers
A great darling of the Academy, at least since Sidewaysdirector and screenwriter Alexander Payne seems to have achieved another great jobat least judging by the reaction at the Telluride Film Festival: the film in question Leftovers, a drama centered on the relationship between Paul Hanham (Paul Giamatti), a rude and less than charismatic teacher, and Angus (Dominic Sessa), a student with a rebellious streak who will be forced to spend the Christmas holidays with his professor. “The Leftovers” hits U.S. theaters on October 27 and is likely to be distributor Focus Features’ flagship entry at this year’s Oscars, with ample chance to compete in the major categories.
7. Master
An extremely promising project is already on paper, instead “Maestro” promises to be Netflix’s Flagship Game for the Upcoming Awards Season, also following the praise it received at the Venice Film Festival. Second try as director Bradley Cooper Coming five years after the huge success of A Star Is Born, the film stars the American star as legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. Carey Mulligan alongside him as his wife Felicia Montealegre. Given the Academy’s passion for biographical works and stories related to the world of show business, Owner will undoubtedly attract significant attention between now and the next few months; Cooper’s film will be released in theaters on November 22 and will be available on Netflix on December 20.
8. Poor creatures!
If the Golden Lion has brought a lot of Oscar luck lately, Shape of water, Rome, Joker AND Country of Nomads, the same should happen with Poor Folks!, which on September 9 was named best film at the Venice Film Festival, where it was greeted by a veritable plebiscite. Five years later Most lovelyGreek director Yorgos Lanthimos brings to the screen the book by Alasdair Gray from a script by Tony McNamara, signing a work with science-fiction contours in which the emancipation journey in Victorian England of the main character Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) is brought back to life through scientific research. experiment staged in the ferocious tones of grotesque comedy. Released on December 8th in the US by Searchlight Pictures and January 25th in Italy by Walt Disney. Poor creatures! preparing to win recognition, with Emma Stone is up for an Oscar for Best Actress.
Poor creatures!, review: Monstrous femininity in the dark, Barbie’s answer
9. Area of interest
British director Jonathan Glaser is not a director exactly in tune with the Academy’s canonical tastes, and he often finds it difficult to gain the interest of the general public: evidence of this is the mixed reception of his two previous films: Birth and “Under the Skin.” However, ten years after the controversial sci-fi drama Glaser received critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival. thanks to “Zone of Interest”, awarded the Grand Jury Prize. A transposition of the novel by Martin Amis (who died four months ago), Glazer’s film is dedicated to Holocaust tragedy adopt a very special point of view: that of Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel), commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller). It will be released in the US on December 8th by A24 (and in Italy by I Wonder Pictures). Area of interest Will it be able to go beyond festivals?
10. Purple color
And now we come to the tenth title in our review, and the only one that has not yet been presented to the press: The Color Purple, an adaptation of the stage musical by Brenda Russell, in turn based on the novel of the same name by Alice Walker. Nearly four decades after Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed 1985 adaptation of the book, this new version Color purpledirector Blitz Bazavule, will introduce audiences to the story of Celie (Fantasia Barrino, in her film debut), an African-American girl subjected to hardship and abuse in an early twentieth-century Georgian village. The cast includes Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo and Aunjanue Ellis. musical drama Bazawule will be distributed in the US on December 25 by Warner Bros, and if it could withstand difficult comparisons with Spielberg’s film, it would be almost a given to find it among the Oscar contenders in many categories.