As these films are sometimes unknown to the general public, I have included links to each of the trailers, as well as some reviews from my friend Bonjour Tristesse. For those who want to learn more about the foreign film race, I also recommend Dzong2’s blog and Movie-On.
1. Asghar Farhadi for A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin) (Iran) (Predicted Winner) (previous rank 1) (Trailer) (Bonjour Tristesse’s Review)
2. Agnieszka Holland for In Darkness (W. Ciemnoscki) (Poland) (previous rank 2) (Trailer) (Bonjour Tristesse's Review)
3. Philippe Falardeau for Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) (previous rank 4) (Trailer) (Bonjour Tristesse's Review)
4. Joseph Cedar for Footnote (Hearat Shulayim) (Israel) (previous rank 5) (Trailer) (Bonjour Tristesse's Review) (Another of my most loyal commenters has also posted a review HERE. It's in Hebrew but check it out if your computer translates.)
5. Michael R. Roskam for Bullhead (Rundskop) (Belgium) (previous rank 6) (Trailer) (Bonjour Tristesse’s Review)
As always, check the Tracker Pages in the upper right hand corner of this blog for the most updated predictions in all categories!
To see how I am doing in each race, check out my Track Record Page.
See Foreign Language predictions for other years HERE.
See predictions for other categories at the 84th Oscars HERE.
Switch to another year: 84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th
From all of the rumors and buzz surrounding the reception A Separation received from the Academy, I have a feeling In Darkness is going to win this one. A Separation may have received an Original Screenplay nomination as well, but the last foreign language nominee to receive another nomination elsewhere was The White Ribbon and it lost the Foreign Language Film category. Then again that film had a clear competitor in A Prophet which may have caused a split vote. So who knows with this one.
ReplyDeleteI've heard similar things, but wasn't sure whether those were from nomination screenings or win screenings. Either way seems a bit odd to me, but with the sub-groups of the Academy that get a chance at this, one never knows.
DeleteI was supposed to see Monsieur Lazhar today but urgent business came up and I couldn't make it to the cinema. Hopefully I can get to it in the next couple of days.
ReplyDeleteYou're one of the few folks that I follow who has seen any of them, so you're way ahead of me! I'm thinking my next two films will be Albert Nobbs and A Separation, but haven't chosen the order yet, and it could all change if A Better Life shows up in a limited release. Also have about 4 films that I still need to review. They sneak up on me much too quickly!
DeleteFrom where i'm standing (well, sitting) it seems that "Footnote" supposed to be much higher on the list. "A Seperation" is of-course, the front runner, but "Footnote" got almost as much critical acclaim as him. I think that if the unthinkable happens, and Iran will lose that category (A nomination in the Screenplay catagory never secures a win, as prooven by "Pan's Labirynth" and "Amelie"), than it will or Israel or Poland (They have a film about the Holocoas after all).
ReplyDeleteby the way, if you want, you can put a link to my "Footnote" review in ther:
http://www.tapuz.co.il/blog/net/viewentry.aspx?EntryId=2110221
Thanks for the link. I've added it above!
DeleteYou may be right that Footnote should be number 3 behind In Darkness. The trailer that I posted for it is a new one (to me), and I liked it better than the first one I saw, giving a real sense of the father-son dynamics.
I would think A Separation has this locked down. Sadly, I haven't seen any of those movies. It's almost a tradition for me, to wait until after the Oscar to check them out ah!
ReplyDeleteThe good (or bad) thing about waiting until after is that you already know the results, so you know for sure that you've got a winner. Ha!
DeleteAhah yea indeed. But I'm sure most of those movies are at least good. Last year, both Incendies and Animal Kingdom were exceptional!
DeleteDo I lose all credibility if I admit that I still haven't seen either of those? Or do I get a pass since my experiment didn't officially start until this year? :)
DeleteThey're both on my list though.
My problem is that you can't find these films anywhere. It's ridiculous and impossible to predict without seeing the films.
ReplyDeleteI agree Sam. I wish there was a way to require local theaters to play quality films.
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