2018 Nominee Watch – August 10th

We seem to be hitting the busy part of the summer here in August after a number of sparse weeks in June and July. At the same time, we are starting to see some potential Oscar nominees hit theaters.

This week's wide releases may not show up at the Oscars, but Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman will surely secure at least a few nominations. After much buzz from the festival circuit, it finally arrives in limited release, but will likely be available in a theater near you.

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Blindspotting
This is actually a wide release expansion of a film I touched on a few weeks back. Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casel play friends in Oakland, California one of whom is almost done with his probation after finishing a prison term. It is clearly a statement on the current state of affairs in the country and how certain people feel like they are persecuted in their own neighborhoods.

If the name Daveed Diggs sounds familiar, you may recognize him from his most famous roles of Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the hit Broadway show Hamilton. Once you know that connection, it's hard to not hear the voice from the stage as you watch the trailer for this film.

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I heard an interview with Diggs and Casel on NPR a few weeks back and it was very illuminating. I personally don't have a full understanding of the sorts of things going on in a film like that, though I know they happen all across the country, every single day. Because of that, I think it's so important that films like this get made and I'm happy that it is coming to a wider audience this weekend.

Because of the important messages being expressed in this film, I think it may have a chance at the Oscars next year. There may be some strong acting performances that surprise people and find their way to nominations in a few months.

Dog Days
Chances are, if you're a dog lover, you're going to check this film out and you'll love it. I think it may be better when films with a large cast of animals are either animated (see The Secret Life of Pets) or have the animals talk (see Cats & Dogs) but I'm open to seeing what this might bring to the table.

There also seems to be too big a cast (of humans and dogs) in this film which may end up being ultimately confusing. I fear that viewers will not be able to truly relate to any one human/canine relationship because it will be jumping all over, trying desperately to connect the various story lines throughout.

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And let's not even get started about awards. Yes, the dogs will be cute. Yes, there will be some witty one-liners. But ultimately, this is a feel good summer movie that hits right smack in the "dog days of summer."  They're not trying to win any awards, just trying to capitalize on people looking for something fun to watch in an air conditioned movie theater for a few hours.

If that's what you want, then Dog Days is for you.

The Meg
What do you get when you cross Jaws with Godzilla? You get The Meg!

We're only a few weeks removed from The Discovery Channel's annual Shark Week celebration and have arrived at the latest man-eating shark movie. The history here goes back over 40 years, starting with Spielberg's Jaws in 1975. This was the shark movie genre for over 20 years as the shark came back for several sequels in the late 70s and into the 80s. 1999 brought us the next big shark movie with Deep Blue Sea and the genre has been filled with films ever since. The Meg follows on two of the most recent films, 2016's The Shallows and 2017's 47 Meters Down.

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Now, are any of these films great? The original Jaws was, in it's time, a great film and remains one of the most famous films in movie history. Many would say it's the shark film with the least amount of shark on screen.

Nowadays, shark films seem to overdo the shark aspect and this may never be more evident than with the introduction of the megalodon, the largest shark to ever live.

In terms of the Oscars, in my brief research, the only shark film to ever win an Oscar or even be nominated was the original Jaws. As evidenced by series like Sharknado, this genre doesn't get too much love from The Academy. Jason Statham films typically do not do well with The Academy either which leads me to believe this will be a summer blockbuster only, and not receive any nominations, except perhaps for visual effects. Even with the recent addition of the Oscar for Popular Film, I don't think this one will land in that category.

Slender Man
It's been a few weeks since we had a proper horror film opening in wide release, but this week that blows open again with Slender Man. With a tagline like "he gets in your head like a virus," there is sure to be some grotesque imagery in this film and the trailer supports that idea.

I had no idea what Slender Man was until I read up a bit online. It intrigues me that this film is based on something that was originally created and posted on the internet. It demonstrates the sort of connect social media world we live in when something posted in an online forum serves as the basis for a major feature film.

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As I've mentioned in the past, horror is not really a genre that appeals to me, but this film looks interesting enough to check out.

That said, horror typically does poorly with The Academy (Jordan Peele's 2017 film Get Out being the recent exception) so I do not foresee this film getting and buzz come Oscar time next year.

Limited Releases

• Along Came the Devil – Horror film in which a young girl unwittingly brings a demon to life.
• BlacKkKlansman – Biopic about Ron Stallworth, a black police officer who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado. Directed by Spike Lee (Malcom X, He Got Game) and starring John David Washington (Ballers) and Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Logan Lucky), this is a sure fire Oscar nominee.
• BUYBUST – Philippine action crime thriller where drug enforcement agents attempt to clear out the slums of Manila.
• Elizabeth Harvest – After marrying a rich scientist, a young woman is given everything she could ask for, as long as she stays out of one specific room in his home. Starring Abbey Lee (Mad Max: Fury Road), Ciarán Hinds, (The Woman in Black) and Carla Gugino (Watchmen, Sin City).
• Hope Springs Eternal – A high schooler with cancer is given a diagnosis of remission but decides not to tell anyone and enjoy the attention.
• The Island – Chinese film about a group of people stranded on an island and dealing with some who want to leave.
• Madeline's Madeline – Things get crazy for a theater director when one of her young stars takes her performance too seriously.
• The Nightingale – Period piece in which an Irish convict woman seeks revenge on a British officer through Tasmania.
• Skate Kitchen – Teen drama about a group of skateboarders in New York.​

• Summer of 84 – Crime drama featuring a group of teenage boys who suspect their police officer neighbor is actually a serial killer.
• What Still Remains – In a post-apocalyptic near future, a young girl is taken in as part of a commune of survivors, but things may not be as they seem.