73rd Venice International Film Festival Preview
We’re almost to the start of the fall movie season, which means it’s also time for the Oscar season to begin. Basically from September to October we have pure speculation as to what will be nominated. By November we have early front-runners, December sees the critics groups and regional awards come out alongside Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations. January sees BAFTA and Academy Award nominations and the award ceremonies for Golden Globes and SAG. We also have the guild awards through about mid-February. By then we also have the BAFTA ceremony, all leading up to Oscar night. But it all begins this Wednesday with the opening night of the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. Several future Best Picture winners premiere here, not limited to The Hurt Locker (2009) Birdman (2014), and Spotlight (2015). As well as future heavy-hitters we also see other future nominees and winners show up here. Some recent examples include The Wind Rises (2013), Philomena (2013), Gravity (2013), The Look of Silence (2015), The Boxtrolls (2014), and The Danish Girl (2015). So as you can see, to show here can get you some big momentum in the Oscar race. So we’re going to take a look at what’s coming up at this year’s festival.
The opening film this year is Damien Chazelle’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to Whiplash (2014), La La Land, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. John Legend, J.K Simmons, and Finn Whitrock are also featured in the cast, and the opening film is usually a heavy hitter. Birdman had this honor two years ago and Everest (2015) had it last year. So it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be an Oscar front-runner, but with the goodwill of Whiplash director Damien Chazelle should be an expected nominee for Best Director, whichever screenplay category the film ends up in, Gosling and Stone should both enjoy their second nomination, and technical nominations should be expected as well as Best Picture. The trailers have revealed the film to be not just a nice looking film but also a send up to classic Hollywood musicals, which should have Oscar voters salivating. It shows this Wednesday, August 31st.
Thursday, September 1st sees the first showings for The Light Between Oceans and Arrival. The former is the newest film from Derek Cianfrance, whose films have historically been overlooked at the Oscars, but with the newest offering from popular actors Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, and Rachel Weisz in the cast, there is potential for the film to be a big break-in for him. Arrival is the newest film from Denis Villeneuve, whose last couple of films, Prisoners (2013) and Sicario (2015) have been nominated in the past, and with headliners like Amy Adams Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, and Michael Stuhlbarg in the cast, it could also be a popular film with the Academy.
Amy Adams is back on Friday with Nocturnal Animals, and is joined by Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Isla Fisher, and Laura Linney. The director, Tom Ford, has had previous success with A Single Man (2009) and has been quiet since then. With a cast like this, though, I am eagerly awaiting what he has in store. Again the film opens Friday, September 2nd.
Saturday will be pretty quiet, but Sunday will pick up again with the bow of Mel Gibson’s newest film, Hacksaw Ridge. The film stars Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, Sam Worthington, and Vince Vaughn. Of course Gibson won an Oscar for Braveheart (1995) but since then he has been hit and miss, mainly from a mixture of average films and some personal problems. Since then, I listed him a few months ago as an actors who needs a comeback, and a film like this that could score big in the festival could be just the film he needs. Say what you will about Gibson, but the man has talent, and it’s a shame to see that talent not be utilized. Again the date for the screening is Sunday, September 4th.
The next week will mainly feature foreign films, and for now I’m not sure which of those films the individual countries will be touting for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, so for now I’ll be quiet on that front. However, we do have a documentary from Terrence Malick called Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey featuring Cate Blanchett. While I haven’t heard much about the subject matter, and that’s the way Malick likes it, with such a big name, it’s probably a good bet to be a nominee in the Best Documentary Feature category this year. It bows Wednesday, September 7th.
The final film we’ll mention is Antoine Fuqua’s remake of The Magnificent Seven. With a cast like Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, and Vincent D’Onofrio, just to name a few, it’s poised to be one of if not the biggest moneymaker of September, and with a premiere at such a prestigious event that can only help fuel the excitement for the film. I’m not sure just how many Oscar nominations the film will have, if any, but it’s certainly one that I want to see. Magnificent Seven will close the festival on Friday, September 9th.
So there you have it. I’m sure there will be some surprises, both pleasant and unpleasant, from the premieres, and I’ll be excitedly watching Rotten Tomatoes and Twitter to see just how strong or negative the reactions are over the next week and a half. I’ll have an early report next Wednesday, and it’ll be the first in a new series of weekly blog posts where we start the long road to the Oscars. Every week we’ll take a look at what is happening in the race, we’ll keep an eye on the festivals, and watch premieres. Critics groups and the early award shows will also be featured. I’m not sure if I will have a set schedule for what we discuss or how we’ll break everything down, but either way I’m sure it will be fun, a little stressful, and of course, competitive. Then again, that’s what the Oscars are all about.
