As of June 30, we’re halfway through 2022—and for the year of Academy Award eligibility. There are dozens of possibilities to come and many familiar elements – plenty of resumes, a reliance on fall film festivals, a heavy dose of streamers – but this could be an unusual year.
In the first six months of the year, A24’s “Everything Everywhere At The Same Time” and Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” seem likely. They could have been long Oscar shots a decade ago (very bold and a summery sequel, respectively), but both have to be good because voter tastes change.
Also worth noting this year: The list of directors has become much more comprehensive, in terms of gender and ethnicity, than it has been in the past.
While the upcoming crop of past winners like James Cameron, Damien Chazelle, Alejandro Iñarritu, Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg, there are newer ones, including Chinone Choco, Andrew Dominic, Sebastian Lelio, Sarah Polly, and Gina Prince-Bethwood, to name a few.
At the Oscars on March 27, The Slap grabbed all the attention, so much so that many overlooked the fact that the winning picture was a radical: “CODA” is about a deaf family, by a writer and director, from Apple TV+, a streaming service. . Plus multiple nominations for “Drive My Car,” for example, show voters thinking outside the box.
these years sundance The set included “Cha Cha Real Smooth” (director, Cooper Raiff, starring Dakota Johnson), which won the Audience Award and was awarded Apple TV +, the same career path as “CODA”. It also featured Park City’s “Living” (Sony Pictures Classics), directed by Oliver Hermanus, starring Bill Nighy; “A Love Song” (Bleeker Street), Max Walker Silverman, with Dale Dickey, Wes Studi; and “Nani” (Amazon), Nikiato Juso, with Anna Diop.
Berlin: “Both Sides of the Blade” (IFC Films), Claire Denis, Juliette Binoche; and “The Outfit” (focus), Graham Moore, Mark Rylance.
It was: “Armageddon Time” (focus), James Gray, Jessica Chastain; “Korsage” (IFC Films), Maria Kreutzer, Vicky Krebs in historical fact-based drama; “Future Crimes” (Neon), David Cronenberg, Viggo Mortensen; “Elvis” (Warner Brothers), Baz Luhrmann, Austin Butler; “Good Morning” (SPC), Mia Hansen-Love, Léa Seydoux; “Back to Seoul” (SPC), Davey Cho, Ji Min Park; “The Silent Twins” (focus), Angnieszka Smoczynska, Letitia Wright; “Three Thousand Years of Longing” (MGM/FilmNation), George Miller, Idris Elba; The Palme d’Or winner “The Triangle of Sorrow” (Neon) Robin Ostlund, Woody Harrelson.
They’re all glory prospects, as are Becs’ generally released January-June: “Everything Everywhere” directed by Daniels and starring Best Actress Michelle Yeoh; “Top Gun: Maverick”, directed by Joseph Kosinski; “Hustle” (Netflix), Jeremiah Zagar, with Adam Sandler; “Batman” (WB), Matt Reeves; and “Northman” (focus), Robert Eggers.
There were also gems worthy of finding a wider audience in the next few months, including the biopic “Benediction” (Roadside Attractions) by Terence Davies; Fact-Based Comedy “The Phantom of the Open” (SPC), Craig Roberts, Mark Rylance; and “The Unbearable Weight of Huge Talent” (Lionsgate), directed by Tom Gormican with Nicolas Cage convincingly playing Nic Cage.
In addition to those 23 titles, more than 40 upcoming movies look delicious. Some will turn into next year, there will be some last minute additions, and many will fall by the wayside.
This list is designed to help Oscar strategists figure out what’s going to happen: the title is accompanied by the distributor, the director, and one or two stars. The names mentioned are not Oscar predictions, they are to elicit readers’ memories, as are the occasional descriptions. Documentaries and animated films will come in later columns.
July
“No” (Universal), Jordan Peele, Daniel Kaluuya; “Where the Crawl Sings” (Sony/3000 Pics), Olivia Newman, Daisy Edgar Jones.
August
“Catherine Cold Birdie” (Amazon), Lena Dunham, with Bella Ramsay and Andrew Scott; “Tar” (focus), Cate Blanchett in Todd Field’s first film as director since 2006, “Little Children”; “Thirteen Lives” (Amazon/MGM), Ron Howard, with Colin Farrell, Joel Edgerton, about saving a Thai soccer team in a cave.
September
“Blonde” (Netflix) Andrew Dominic’s first novel since “Killing Them Softly” (2012), with Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe; “Don’t Worry Baby” (WB), Olivia Wilde, with Harry Styles, Florence Pugh; “See How They Run” (Scout), Tom George, Cyrus Ronan, Sam Rockwell; “The Woman King” (TriStar) Jenna Prince-Bythewood, with Viola Davis, based on true events in the kingdom of Dahomey.
October
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Scout), Martin McDonagh, Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson; “Dedication” (Sony/Columbia) J.D. Dillard, Glenn Powell, Serenda Swann, a fact-based tale of Korean War pilots; “Until” (MGM’s Orion) Chinonye Chukwu, with Danielle Deadwyler as Emmett Till’s mother, and Whoopi Goldberg as his grandmother; “White Bird: A Wonder Story” (Lionsgate), Mark Forster, Gillian Anderson, Helen Mirren.
November
“Amsterdam” (Disney/Twentieth Century Studios), David O. Russell, Christian Bale, Margot Robbie; “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Disney/Marvel), Ryan Coogler; “Bones and All” (MGM/UA), Luca Guadagnino, with Timothee Chalamet, Taylor Russell, Mark Rylance; “The Fabelmans” (Universal), Steven Spielberg, Michelle Williams; “Golda” (Bleaker Street), Guy Native, with Helen Mirren as Golda Meir; “The List” (Scout), Mark Melaud, Ralph Fiennes; “My Policeman” (Amazon), Michael Grandig, Harry Styles, Emma Corin; “She’s Happy” (Universal) Maria Schrader, with Zoe Kazan on the New York Times investigation story about Harvey Weinstein.
Dec
“Avatar: The Way of Water” (Disney/Twentieth Century Studios), James Cameron, follow-up to the 2009 phenomenon; “Babylon” (Paramount), Damien Chazelle, with Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie; “I Want To Dance With Someone” (TriStar), Cassie Lemons, with Naomi Aki as Whitney Houston; “A Man Called Otto” (Sony/Columbia), Mark Forster, Tom Hanks, Swedish film remake of 2015; “Women Talking” (MGM’s Orion), Sarah Polley’s first feature film in 11 years, with cast including Jesse Buckley, Claire Foy and Rooney Mara.
To be announced
undated films include “Bardo” (Netflix) and Alejandro G Inarritu; “Chevalier” (Searchlight), Stephen Williams, with Kelvin Harrison Jr. in biography of 18th-century Creole composer Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges; “Empire of Light” (Scout) Sam Mendes, Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, in a love story set in the 80s; “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix), Rian Johnson’s sequel to the 2019 song, again starring Daniel Craig; “The Good Nurse” (Netflix), Tobias Lindholm, Jessica Chastain, with Eddie Redmayne as real killer Charles Cullen; “Pinocchio from Guillermo del Toro’s” (Netflix), the animated version of the classic maestro; “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” (Netflix), Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, starring Emma Corin; “The Lost King” (BBC Films), Stephen Frears meets writer/star Steve Coogan on the true story of a historian’s search for Richard III’s remains; “The Pale Blue Eye” (Netflix), Scott Cooper, Christian Bale; “Shirley” (Netflix), directed by John Ridley Regina King as politician Shirley Chisholm; “The Son” (Sony Classics), Florian Zeller, Hugh Jackman is not a sequel to the Oscar-winning movie “The Father”, but rather an accompanying piece; “White Noise” (Netflix), Noah Baumbach, with Greta Gerwig, Adam Driver; “Whale” (A24), Darren Aronofsky, Brendan Fraser; and “The Wonder” (Netflix), Sebastian Lelio, Florence Pugh.
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