2018 Nominee Watch – November 30th

Last week we had a bevy of new films hitting theaters and this week there is a precipitous drop off. Only one film is seeing a wide release and there is a much shorter list of limited releases than normal, including at least one single day limited engagement.

Don't worry, more Oscar contenders are hitting theaters next month as we enter the final stretch for consideration for this year's awards.

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The Possession of Hannah Grace
In this weekend's lone wide release, we follow Megan Reed who is fresh out of rehab and takes a job working the graveyard shift at the local morgue.  She encounters the title character as a cadaver who was apparently killed while her family was attempting to perform an exorcism on her.

Horror has never been my thing and I'm usually pretty skeeved out by things like morgues and dead bodies, so there is little chance I will be seeing this film. That said, I'm sure this new twist on the sub-sub genre of exorcism horror will entice a few fans to the theaters.

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This is one of those films that proves the rule of The Academy not taking much to horror films. It comes across as very low budget, with no substantial effort in making any Oscar worthy performances. It's meant to scare the pants off you and I'm sure it will do just that. But don't expect it to scare anyone at The Academy into voting for it.

Limited Releases

• Anna and the Apocalypse – A Christmas zombie apocalypse movie musical.
• Bathtubs Over Broadway – Documentary film about the secret world of "industrial musicals."
• Blood Brother – Two men reunite after one spends years in prison and the other becomes a police office.
• Dead in a Week: or Your Money Back – A young writer hires an assassin to kill him but has a change of heart after someone offers to publish his book and he finds a girl he begins to fall in love with.
• DriverX – A family man and father can't find a job to support his family and takes to the streets as an Uber style driver to make ends meet.
• Ghostbox Cowboy – An entrepreneur from Texas invests millions in the Chinese technology industry.
• Head Full of Honey – Nick Nolte stars as an aging man dealing with Alzheimer's and the loss of his wife who takes a trip with his granddaughter.
• Mirai no Mirai – Japanese animated film about a young boy who meets family members by traveling through time. Submitted for consideration for Best Animated Feature.
• Never Look Away – Period drama about an artist facing down memories of living under the Nazis during WWII.
• People's Republic of Desire – Documentary look at the boom in online streaming expanding in China. Submitted for consideration for Best Documentary Feature.​

• Sicilian Ghost Story – A young woman explores a mystery of a missing boy.
• Tiger – A story of race and prejudice in America takes to the boxing ring where a Sikh man fights against rules he deems unjust in order to box as a professional.
• Unstoppable – A man with a very specific set of skills fights to find his kidnapped wife in this Korean version of Taken.
• Elliot: The Littlest Reindeer – A miniature horse fights for a place on Santa's team when Blitzen retires days before Christmas. (One day only-December 1st)
• Tyrel – A young black man deals with race and friendship during a all-white weekend party. (December 5th)
• Clara's Ghost – Comedy drama about a woman who sees a ghost in her house. (December 6th)