Category: Precursors

For years now, the Spirit Awards have almost looked like a preliminary ballot for the Academy Awards with a large swath of Oscar contenders in tow. This year, however, the list seems to be more in line with the lists of old where some categories have nary an Oscar contender in them and some with…

As expected, Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite dominated the awards taking five awards. While it was up for several more and it didn’t win in expected places like Cinematography, Editing, and Screenplay, there’s no question the film was a huge success. Award Tallies (5) Parasite (2) E.X.I.T, Swing Kids The Awards

There isn’t much to say about these selections except that they don’t seem like the kinds of choice the Academy would make, but stranger things have happened. Award Tallies (2) The Biggest Little Farm The Awards

The Grammys have never been able to lay claim to being Oscar harbingers thanks to their much earlier eligibility period that overlaps the Oscars eligibility period by three months. However, this year’s slate is even less indicative of the potential for the Oscars. First, toss everything in Compilation Soundtrack and Music Film as they have…

Of the seven nominations, two are titles that have received consistent buzz for Oscar consideration: Apollo 11 and One Child Nation. Three are titles that have received some small buzz: American Factory, The Cave and Honeyland. The remaining two, Advocate and For Sama haven’t been mentioned much at all. There are several documentaries that aren’t…

The big surprise of these nominations is the triple nomination for Bombshell, a film that never seemed like the kind of film to earn nominations from this group. The Irishman is also surprising considering the de-aging technology used on that film, which will likely make it Oscar-ineligible. Rocketman is certainly no surprise and Joker also…

While the People’s Choice Awards have never been the bastions of taste, they have always had a popular streak. That popularity was reserved for the biggest movies of the year; however, over the years, the organization seems to be attracting fewer and fewer mainstream audience voters and more and more younger voters. While Avengers: Endgame…

Ever since the Broadcast Film Critics Association split their documentary awards off from their main awards ceremony, they’ve been able to recognize far more documentaries than previously. This gives us a broad idea of which documentaries are in contention for the Oscars and a lot of selections that aren’t. Titles like They Shall Not Grow…

One of the foremost awards in Europe, the European Film Awards are not a precursor we’ve covered previously as their influence was minimal. However, in order to expand to cover more types of industry awards, we’re presenting a wider variety of group nominations. The European Film Awards have different eligibility requirements, which explains why 2018…

A group that I had not been familiar with before this year appears to be a very broad-ranging group that covers lots of ground and gives little hint as to what Oscar might consider. Award Tallies (3) Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2) Abominable, The Biggest Little Farm, The Black Godfather, Frozen II,…

Considered South Korea’s pre-eminent film awards, the Blue Dragon Awards haven’t often been big players in the Oscar sweepstakes, but Parasite is this year and that could bolster its chances with this group. Of course, the film’s 12 nominations are probably enough for that. Nominations Tallies (12) Parasite (8) E.X.I.T, Extreme Job, Swing Kids (7)…

Before most of the year-end releases have been seen, the Gotham Awards announce nominations and even awards, suggesting that the Oscar race has begun, but being too early to be reflective. The Favourite was the only of their Best Picture nominees last year to make the final list. Films like The Farewell, Marriage Story, and…

There aren’t a lot of films that qualify for these awards and it seems like the vast majority of the nominations went to just four films: The Nightingale, Hotel Mumbai, The King, and Judy & Punch. While these fils are eligible for Oscar consideration, to date only The King seems to be in the race…