Guillermo Del Toro Dedicates Oscar Nods To Young Latino Filmmakers

Though it didn’t have the kind of commercial success that “Get Out” or “Dunkirk” enjoyed (the title must have made it very hard to market), its tough to imagine the film not appealing even to audiences who don’t pay attention to Oscar favorites. The wait is over.

In terms of diversity, this year’s best film candidates include a female coming-of-age story, a gay romance, another with a black primary character and a fantasy about tolerance depicting romance between a woman and an amphibian. With plots ranging from a mute woman falling in love with an experimental mutant to a mother desperate for justice after her daughter’s disappearance, the nominees have a diverse array of plotlines and emotional tenacities. If you recall previous year, there were some people like Brie Larson who stood there and did not applaud his victory.

The Academy Award nominees for this year were announced Tuesday morning and I could probably county on one hand the number of movies that were nominated in the big categories that were shown either here or Weyburn. Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) and Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.) were nominated for best actor; Mary J. Blige (Mudbound) and Octavia Spencer (The Shape of Water) were nominated for best supporting actress. It also looks good for Guillermo Del Toro as best director. I want to thank the Academy and my professional colleagues for their kind disposition towards “The Shape of Water“.

Netflix has only had a nomination in the Best Documentary category till now but looks like the popular streaming service went all in this time with its World War II era epic Mudbound.

At present, Irish writer/director Martin McDonagh’s ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ is currentlythe even money market favourite to win Best Picture.

The nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences followed years of campaigning for equal pay and better opportunities behind the camera, a movement that has been boosted by women breaking their silence in recent months over sexual abuse and harassment in the entertainment industry. While superhero movies are never a lock for Oscar nods, quite a few viewers were disappointed by the complete lack of attention, even in the technical categories. Brad Bird’s “The Incredibles” by Pixar was nominated for a writing award, but that was an original story and not taken from comic book source material. Jordan Peele’s film debut, the film has been described as a “social thriller” for its horrific portrayal of United States race relations. And though the Academy has historically treated genre fiction with genteel contempt-anything with a whiff of sci-fi tends to get the bulk of its nominations in the “Special Effects” categories, if it’s recognized at all-this year sees the nomination of not one, but two genre pictures, both by directors of color.

Already screening at the Grand is “Darkest Hour“, which stars nominated actor Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill and also received nominations for cinematography, costume design, makeup and hairstyling and production design. Also, though her chances might be slim, Margot Robbie’s performance in “I, Tonya” should not be overlooked. Timothee Chalamet, 22, star of “Call Me by Your Name“, is the youngest male actor nominated since Mickey Rooney, 19, for “Babes in Arms” in 1939.

For best supporting actress Mazrimas likes Allison Janney for her acting in “I, Tonya“, saying her role was a cut above.

Check out the full list of Oscar nominees here.

Guillermo Del Toro film trailed by Dunkirk, Three Billboards, Phantom Thread; Greta Gerwig, Kumail Nanjiani, Jordan Peele make Oscar debut with nominations in Best Picture, Original Screenplay categories.

The British cinematographer, whose first nomination came way back in 1995 for The Shawshank Redemption, now has his 14th nomination for his work on Blade Runner 2049. However, Meryl Streep’s seemingly evergreen nomination is always welcomed in my book as she gave a wonderful and subtle performance in the film.