At the box office, the final quarter of 2022 is key, and the stage for potential Oscar contenders like director Martin McDonagh’s black comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin“(premiered October 21); Steven Spielberg’s coming-of-age autobiography”The Fabelmans“; the drama of Sarah Polley “Women Talking” (December 2); and filmmaker Sam Mendes’ romantic ode, “Empire of Light” (December 9).
And to the above we must add what streaming contributes to the competition. The author cinema thought for the awards season appears in the last quarter of the year on platforms. It is part of the plan “for the prestige” of the different services on demand, but it also brings in viewers.
In that lot is “Emancipation”, from Apple, which has already been screened in Washington DC at an event of black legislative and educational organizations. Early reactions were positive, including Donna Brazile of the Democratic National Committee, who wrote in a tweet: “Powerful image that highlights how black people fought for freedom.”
Apple won the Oscar for Best Picture this year with “CODA,” and has other cards up for grabs, too: “Cha Cha Real Smooth” from writer/director Cooper Raiff; “Causeway” with Jennifer Lawrence; “Raymond & Ray” with Ewan McGregor; and “The Greatest Beer Run Ever” with Zac Efron. And he plans to follow that path next year with two movie masters, Martin Scorsese with “Killers of the Flower Moon,” and Ridley Scott with “Napoleon“.
But Antoine Fuqa, the same one that gave Denzel Washington his long-awaited statuette as leading actor for “Training Day” (2001), is Apple’s big card to go for a major award this season. But it’s unclear how aggressively Apple will campaign for a movie featuring Willy Smith, let alone in a crowded Best Actor race: brendan fraser (“The Whale“), Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) and Hugh Jackman (“The Son”), none of whom slapped the host of the industry’s biggest event.
In “The Whale” of Darren AronofskyFraser (the star of “The Mummy”) gives an amazing performance: there was a standing ovation for the film in Venice, and he is the favorite so far. And among the women, Michelle Yeoh stands out with “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. But there may be surprises with Keke Palmer and her performance in “Nope,” depending on the resources Universal puts behind the Jordan Peele-directed film: She may be up for best supporting actress following the strategy of Emily Blunt, who won a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2019 for “A Quiet Place.”
Y Tom Hanks (who had back-to-back wins for “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump” in 1993 and 1994), would go on to win Best Supporting Actor for his Colonel Tom Parker of “Elvis,” and his leading role in “A Man Called Otto,” a reversal of the Swedish film nominated in 2015.
Among the directors, Todd Field leads with “Tár”, and Rian Johnson would join with “Glass Onion” (sequel to “Knives Out”), which debuted to acclaim and is Netflix’s card to attract awards, along with “White noise” by Noah Baumbach, celebrated at the Venice and New York Film Festivals. A list to which names could be added, but it already outlines a good year for auteur cinema, which is gaining strength again.
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