2019 Nominee Watch – January 4th

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the very first Nominee Watch of 2019. We have officially passed the point of no return for films to receive nominations for the Academy Awards that will be handed out in late February so we're starting a new crop of posts about films that just might receive nominations for NEXT YEAR'S awards.

Unfortunately, there is not much to offer from an Oscar perspective this weekend. I suggest taking this opportunity to catch up on the potential Oscar nominees from 2018 you may have missed. You can see the current short lists for several categories along with viewing options for many of the films.

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Escape Room
We start the year off with a little horror film that features the most realistic escape room with the caveat that you have to "find the clues, or die."

As this week's only new wide release, it's easy to see why they waited until after the Christmas rush to get this into theaters. There are no big names in this film, it's not part of any major franchise (yet), and after the more thought provoking films and action pieces we've seen recently, this one is more apt to get you on the edge of your seat.

The premise here seems simple enough, a group of people are trapped together in an escape room, but they don't realize the "game" has started until it's too late.

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While some people might shudder to think of being intentionally trapped in a room with strangers, this escape room aims to take things to a new level and was designed with the specific group of people in the film in mind.

If you've been reading my posts for any time, you know that horror does not do well at the Oscars and this is no exception. It might be a slightly fresher take on the Saw films of a decade ago, and I fear there will be a long line of sequels here as well.

Limited Releases

• Genesis 2.0 – Documentary about the search for mammoth tusks in an effort to bring the mammoth back to life. (January 2nd)
• American Hangman – Donald Sutherland stars as a judge who is kidnapped by a psychopath and is put on trial live on the internet.
• Being Rose – A woman sets out on a road trip to reclaim her youth.
• Communion – A young girl helps her family care for her autistic brother as he readies for his first communion.
• Great Great Great – A woman deals with her parents who are getting a divorce but still living together while her own marriage struggle.
• The Nun – A young novice in eighteenth century France tries to decide if she should take her vows to become a nun. (Note: this is NOT the horror film of the same name that was released last year.
• Rust Creek – A young woman is attacked by locals when her car breaks down and is saved by an unlikely hero.
• State Like Sleep – A woman struggles to remember what happened when her famous actor husband was mysteriously killed.
• Take Point – Border relations between North and South Korea take center stage in this action film about trying to take out a high profile leader.
• The Vanishing – Gerard Butler stars in this film about a man and his friends who travel to a remote island to find a hidden treasure.
• Mojin: The Worm Valley – Chinese film about a group of explorers searching ancient shrines and temples only to find incredible creatures.
• Modest Heroes – A pair of freshwater crab brothers go on an adventure to find their family in this Japanese Anime film. (January 10th)