Summertime Blandness
Already, the summer of 2024 held some pleasant surprises for the industry. Blake Lively’s film It Ends with Us, marred by some aftermath controversy, grossed $326 million at the box office. Both Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2 cleared a billion dollars worldwide, with the latter becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all-time.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is hovering around $330 million, though I found the movie to be overstuffed and too long. On the other end, Kevin Costner’s partially self-financed epic western Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 and the remake of The Crow both bombed. The Hollywood box office took a hit, partially due to the lingering effects of the labor strikes of 2023, and finished down 10.3% overall.
The summer may have produced some hits, and contenders for technical awards, but the true Oscar magic (and bait) will debut at the Festivals and in fall.
Festival Season Shakedown
The crispness of the morning air is starting to take over earlier and earlier each passing day. Pumpkin beer, lattes, cookies, bath bombs, and chic babywear are abundant on every store shelf. American and more close to my heart world football are in full swing. We are officially in the fall season!
For film lovers, this is the best time of the year to hit the theaters. Studios have worked their way from Cannes to Venice to Telluride to Toronto and beyond, screening their title contenders for the circuit. Some films will stay in the spotlight, others will burn out, and as always we’ll get the late push from the award campaigns all the way to the Academy Awards on March 2nd.
Anora took the Palme d’or at Cannes this year, with Emilia Pérez winning the Grand Jury prize in late May. Over at Telluride, French filmmaker Jacques Audiard took home the Silver Medallion for Emilia Pérez. At T.I.F.F. over in Toronto Anora was second runner up for the People’s Choice award with Emilia Pérez taking first runner up and Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck taking home top prize. Finally in Venice, Spanish writer/director Pedro Almodóvar took home The Golden Lion for The Room Next Door.
I’ve been living in a bunker writing a research piece for UNCC on the use of animation in the Social Studies classroom, but emerged to a wonderful set of Oscar-worthy films ready to hit the theaters.
Today, we’ll take a look at ten that will be moving the needle come awards season. I have not seen any at this point so we’ll be looking at trailers and Hollywood buzz from the film festival season to get a better sense of the field. For each film you’ll see the attached trailer as well as the “Oscar Meter” (a one to five trophy scale) to potential categories each could receive before the nominations are announced on January 17th, 2025.
Several of these films are in the works to be shown at The Independent Picture House. Without further ado, let’s take a list at Matt at the Movies 2024 fall watch list.
Matt at the Movies’ Oscar Watch List
Honorable Mentions: Megalopolis (9/27), The Piano Lesson (11/8), Nightbitch (12/6), Nosferatu (12/25), Den of Thieves 2 (1/10), I’m Still Here (1/15), Hard Truths (1/31), Mickey 17 (1/31), Queer (TBD), and many more international features to be covered later this year.
September 27 - The Wild Robot
Spill the Tea
The film is an adaptation of the 2016 Wild Robot book series by Peter Brown, and DreamWorks has high hopes it can deliver big at the box office. It follows an intelligent robot named Roz (voiced by Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o), who crash lands on a small island in an alternative earth setting.
As Roz experiences the animals, ecosystems, and beauty of this new planet, it takes on a role as guardian to the various wildlife it lives with. Roz also begins to see that its programming may be limited and it must push further to make its new world a better place. Along the way, a young gosling hatches and imprints itself to Roz who must teach it to fly before the flock migrates off for the season. When Roz is found by the robots, the machine must make a choice to stay with its new life protecting its new friends or face the consequences and possible destruction from its former community.
If you know anything about my writing, I don’t spend much time on animation even though I respect it as a wonderful craft. This film not only caught my eye, but made me feel like a kid again watching the trailer. The CGI animation looks spectacular and showcases the beauty of our world. Its message of belonging and companionship brought a tear to my eyes. This should be an amazing viewing experience and could even be the frontrunner for Best Animated Feature with an outside chance of being nominated for Best Picture as well.
MatM Score - 8.5/10
Have seen. Excellent visuals and a heartwarming story.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆🏆🏆
A possibility for Best Animated Film, Best Original Score, and possibly Best Picture.
October 11 - Saturday Night
Spill the Tea
Saturday Night is a unique biographical film, supposedly documenting the ninety minutes that preceded the first airing of Saturday Night Live on October 11th, 1975.
Lorne Michaels is played by a younger than real life Gabriel LaBelle, who made a name for himself in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans as well as the delightful indie film Snack Shack from this year. We see the chaos as Michaels works his young but eccentric comedy troupe, the writing staff, and NBC executives who seem hell bent on seeing this new venture of live television fail before it even begins.
With the amount of ego in the room between Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, and probably Chevy Chase again (to name a few), Michaels must walk an impossible tightrope to get the show on air without a hitch. From reports, it seems Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby, Bottoms) is magnificent as Rosie Shuster who was a SNL writer married to Michaels in the 70’s.
While director Jason Reitman has had hits and misses over his career, a star-studded cast of young Hollywood actors this should make this a fun romp - especially for any longtime fans of Saturday Night Live.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆
Contender for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay
October 18 - Anora (Red-band Trailer)
Spill the Tea
This film has been a lightning bolt across the industry and festival circuit the past few months. Mike Baker wrote, directed, and edited this film about a young Uzbek-American sex worker who is hired then marries (for reasons of deportation as much as love) a Russian oligarch's son in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of New York City.
As Ani and Vanya tie the knot, the walls start to come down from Vanya’s powerful Russian parents who want the marriage annulled. The trailer features gratuitous drug usage, language, sex, and violence that as Variety magazine says, “Makes Pretty Woman look like a Disney movie.” Mikey Madison, who made her major debut in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, delivers an incredible performance as the titular character. Expect to hear a lot about this film in the coming months.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Possibility for Best Picture, Director, Actress, and Original Screenplay awards.
October 25 - Conclave
Spill the Tea
German director Edward Berger has made his follow up to the 2023 Oscar-winning best international feature film All Quiet on the Western Front with an adaptation of a 2016 Robert Harris novel. Conclave stars the always-excellent Ralph Fiennes as he plays Cardinal Lawrence, who is put in charge of running the Conclave to select the next Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. But will there be white smoke by the end?
Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, and John Lithgow round out the cast of this dramatic, conspiracy-centered drama that seemingly gets more rotten as every layer is peel away. Cardinal Lawrence must unearth secrets to solve mysteries surrounding the papacy. If he fails, the church and its billion-plus membership will be rocked by scandal. A religious political drama during an election year feels like a nice way to give myself a heart attack over election tampering before November 5th.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆🏆🏆
A possibility for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Adapted Screenplay, and both Supporting Actor categories.
November 1 - Blitz (Apple TV+ Limited Release)
Spill the Tea
Oscar-winning British writer/director Steve McQueen has mainly stuck to the small screen since his last major release Widows in 2018, but 6 years later he’s back with Blitz. This original story starring Saoirse Ronan places us directly in the action of London during the WWII German bombing blitzes. Ronan’s character Rita sends her nine year old son George off to the countryside for his own safety.
George is stubborn and runs away to be with his mother and grandfather. Amongst the chaos of war, George becomes lost . He must survive the onslaught of danger as his mother works to locate him.
McQueen choosing to set the film in his native city during one of its most harrowing time periods of its storied history is no easy feat to pull off. He seems to have written a unique story despite taking a dip a genre where we’ve seen it all before. Apple trusts him enough to give the film a large budget and its own short theater run before it hits their streamer on November 22nd.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆🏆
A possibility for Best Picture, Director, Actress, and Original Screenplay.
November 1 - Emilia Pérez (Netflix Limited Release)
Spill the Tea
Normally when I read the word “musical” in any sort of film context, my eye twitches. I love musicals on stage and respect the craft that goes into adapting them for the big screen, but it’s just not for me (looking at you, Joker: Folie à Deux). Watching this trailer and reading about the film may send me on a new path as French writer/director Jacques Audiard based his opera libretto on the 2018 novel Écoute.
The story follows a female cartel leader who hires an uninspired lawyer to fake her death so she may live a fuller “real” life. They cross paths with two other women including Selena Gomez’s Jessi who are also trying to find their own version of happiness. The set design, musical numbers, and refreshing take on what a musical can be have me excited to give these types of adaptations a new look. After a short theatrical run (most likely for Oscar nomination purposes) it will hit Netflix on November 13th.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
A contender for Best Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay (recently switched from Original Screenplay) Score, and Original Song.
November 1 - A Real Pain (limited release)
Spill the Tea
This dramedy features two cousins Benji (Kieran Culkin) and David (Jesse Eisenberg) who take a tour through Poland in remembrance of their Grandmother. Eisenberg wrote and directed this story, only his second full length film, under Emma Stone’s Fruit Tree production company.
Benji is a tour de force of personality compared to the more buttoned up David. This odd couple narrative features many hilarious but cringe-worthy scenes that will have you laughing as much as shielding your face from the awkward exchanges.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆
Possible nominations in the Supporting Actor and Original Screenplay categories.
November 22 - Gladiator II
Spill the Tea
How does one improve on a classic, Oscar-winning Best Picture? More action? Bigger stars? Sharks on the flooded Colosseum floor?
Ridley Scott returns over twenty years later to make his next (of many) epics about a former heir to the Roman Empire who must fight his way through the gladiator circuit in an attempt to bring glory back to a wayward Rome. One of my personal favorites Paul Mescal (Aftersun, All of Us Strangers) plays Lucius, who is forced into combat after his homeland is taken over by a tetrarchy of young emperors Caracalla and Geta.
With similar beats to the original film, Lucius falls under the wing of a former slave and power broker Macrinus, played to the nth degree of his familiar charm by Denzel Washington. Marcinus has his eyes set on the throne himself, and will use Lucius as a vehicle to establish power. Lucius’s main rival is general Marcus Acacius, played by Pedro Pascal, the man who took away his former life.
Historical inaccuracies aside, Gladiator II is setting up to be a major blockbuster that also vies for critical acclaim. This tale of revenge has great action sequences and uses the lore of the first film to showcase the final days of one of history's greatest empires.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆🏆
Possible nominee for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, and technical awards.
December 20 - The Room Next Door
Spill the Tea
Tilda Swinton (Martha) and Julianne Moore (Ingrid) star in Pedro Almodóvar’s first English film about a pair of old colleagues who drifted apart but find themselves brought back together as Martha is planning her own exit from cervical cancer. It is based on the 2020 novel What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez.
The trailer plays off as the definition of Oscar bait but critics have noted curiosity, strangeness, and heartfelt moments in the movie's theme of death. This may not be for everyone, but Almodóvar is a master storyteller and you're always in safe hands when he goes behind the camera.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆🏆
Strong possibility for Best Picture, Director, Actress, and Adapted Screenplay awards.
December 20 - The Brutalist
Spill the Tea
We don’t know a lot about what audiences think of this film as it’s currently running in a few select theaters on 70mm film. It also features an intermission over its 215 minute viewing. There isn’t even a trailer at this point, but it was picked up by A24 after the Venice Film Festival.
This epic focuses on Jewish architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) and his wife Erzsébet (Felicity Jones) as they flee Europe in 1947 after surviving the Holocaust to come to America. They meet a mysterious and wealthy industrialist, Harrison Lee Van Buren (played by Guy Pearce) who tasks László with building a grand monument that will help shape the landscape of his new home.
Director Brady Corbet creates a sweeping view on the creation of modern America through the eyes of immigrants who helped build it. It is a love story for a couple who has been through everything while still being threatened by forces who can take it all away. The film is drawing comparisons to other generational watermark films like Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. It appears this film will be atop of many critics’ and fans’ year-end lists when it comes out.
Matt at the Movies Oscar Meter: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Strong contender for Best Picture, Director, Actor, both Supporting Actor categories, and Original Screenplay.
So there you have it. Ten films that are sure to do some real damage at this year's Academy Awards. Great acting, inspiring filmmaking, and the possibility of a couple that may stand the test of time.
In the meantime, be sure to get out and support local theaters. It feels great to be back writing about critically acclaimed cinema again. See you next time at Matt at the Movies!