Note: Deadline presents the 44th episode of its video series Take Two, in which Pete Hammond and Todd McCarthy tackle the artistry of films just opening in theaters every weekend. Each has reviewed and written about the craft for decades and built a remarkable breadth of knowledge of films past and present. What we hoped for when we asked them to do this was a concise, mature and thoughtful conversation comparable to what we saw from Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.
Getty Images
Now that anticipation for the Oscar nominations for the 95th annual Academy Awards are in the rear-view mirror, Deadline’s we put a critical eye on what was good, and not so good about this year’s class. With a mix of films refreshingly spanning the box office tallies — from $2 billion (Avatar: The Way off Water) to $27,000 (To Leslie) and all points in between — the nominations seem to be “everywhere all at once” — something for everyone indeed. And speaking of Everything Everywhere All at Once, can that film now be considered the solid frontrunner with its leading 11 nominations and much momentum, or are there major challengers and challenges ahead for A24’s little engine that could?
The Fabelmans started the season in front, got stalled a bit, and now seems to be on the comeback trail. Is Steven Spielberg headed for a third Best Director statuette? What film out there could upset the apple cart here and take over the race in the end? We offer a few ideas, and talk about that remarkable grassroots campaign that brought Andrea Riseborough (for that aforementioned film that grossed $27,000) all the way to the Dolby Theatre come March. Does she have another upset in the offing?
Click the link above to watch our conversation.
Hammond has been Deadline’s Awards Columnist for the past decade, covering what now seemingly is the year-round Oscar and Emmy seasons. He is also Deadline’s Chief Film Critic, having previously reviewed films for MovieLine, Boxoffice magazine, Backstage, Hollywood.com and Maxim, as well as Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide, for which he was a contributing editor. In addition to writing, Hammond also hosts KCET Cinema Series and the station’s weekly series Must See Movies.
McCarthy is a veteran trade publication film critic, columnist and reporter who has also written several acclaimed books and documentary films. He served two stints on the staffs of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and extensively covered film festivals internationally for both publications. His film Visions of Light: The Art of Cinematography won the best documentary prizes from the New York Film Critics and National Society of Film Critics associations, and he won an Emmy for writing the documentary Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer. He also directed the documentaries Man of Cinema: Pierre Rissient and Forever Hollywood.