Dune: Part 2 (c) Warner Bros Pictures
The fall film season is revving to go with the start of the four major film festivals (Toronto, Venice, Telluride and New York) in quick succession. Many films will be touted for Oscars with maybe half falling by the wayside after they are finally screened and deemed just ok. Some have already opened at Sundance and Cannes and have great buzz for the fall but haven’t yet opened widely, like Sean Baker’s call-girl-turned-wife film Anora, Francis Ford Coppola’s personal pet project Megalopolis, Kieran Culkin’s award-touted performance in Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain and Jacques Audiard’s musical drama Emilia Perez starring Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez. The fall festivals have films by big names, too, like Pedro Almódvar, Paul Schrader, Mike Leigh and a second film by Luca Guadagnino. Portentously, there are not many films directed by women or people of color in the conversation right now.
But before the onslaught of these new films, let’s give a shout out to the ones that came out in the first eight months of 2024. Odds are against them to get the same attention for award consideration but usually one of two from that part of the calendar make it through (remember: Everything Everywhere All at Once opened in March the year it dominated the Oscars). Let’s take a look at who I think should still be in the conversation come December.
Enjoy.
The Interested Bystander's Oscars Reminder ListPre-September
Challengers (c) Amazon MGM Studios
Best Picture
Challengers
Dìdi
Dune: Part Two
Inside Out 2
Wicked Little Letters
Monkey Man (c) Universal Pictures
Best Director
Luca Guadanino - Challengers
Rich Peppiatt - Kneecap
Dav Patel – Monkey Man
Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two
Sean Wang - Dìdi
Fancy Dance (c) Apple TV+
Best Actress
Lily Gladstone – Fancy Dance
Regina King – Shirley
Julianne Nicholson – Janet Planet
Daisy Ridley – Young Woman and the Sea
Zendaya - Challengers
Sing Sing (c) A24
Best Actor
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Josh O’Connor – Challengers
Jesse Plemons – Kinds of Kindness
Dev Patel – Monkey Man
Glen Powell – Hit Man
Dìdi (c) Focus Features
Best Supporting Actress
Hong Chau – The Instigators
Joan Chen - Dìdi
Dolly DeLeon - Ghostlight
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Tuesday
Tilda Swinton – Problemista
Longlegs (c) NEON
Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem – Dune: Part 2
Nicholas Cage – Longlegs
Fred Hechinger - Thelma
Mike Faist – Challengers
Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin – Sing Sing
Wicked Little Letters (c) Sony Pictures Classics
Best Original Screenplay
Challengers
Dìdi
Ghostlight
Kinds of Kindness
Wicked Little Letters
Inside Out 2 (c) Disney Pixar
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Bikeriders
Dune: Part Two
Inside Out 2
Sing Sing
Widow Clicquot
Fly Me to the Moon (c) Apple TV+
Best Score
John Debney – Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
Michael Giacchino – IF
Daniel Pemberton – Fly Me to the Moon
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - Challengers
Hans Zimmer – Dune: Part Two
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