At the beginning of the year, I set a goal for myself to go full completist on potential contenders for next year's Animated Feature Oscar race. I've tried several times to finish the whole list, but I've invariably missed some titles that had limited runs or which weren't even screened in Los Angeles at all, … Continue reading DownStream – June Toons
By most measures, this year's Oscar Blitz has been smoother than usual. I've kept ahead of schedule on the videos, I don't find myself scrambling for things to write each night, and since I don't have a gig at the moment, I'm not stressing myself out pulling double (or triple) duty. However, there was one … Continue reading DownStream – TUDUM! Part Four – More Animation (and an Apology)
In Netflix's never-ending quest to destroy the theatrical film model once and for all, they put forward a lot of movies in hopes of garnering some Academy hardware. In addition to the two International Feature submissions they put their marketing heft behind (Chile's In Her Place and the massively overblown exercise in missing the point … Continue reading DownStream – TUDUM! Part Three – Narrative Features
As we get closer to nominations and the full Oscar Blitz, the quest to clear out as many potential contenders as possible continues unabated. If you look on Netflix's FYC page (you can google it, I'm not giving them extra traffic), you'll notice five animated features that they've put their marketing weight behind. One of … Continue reading DownStream – TUDUM! Part Two: Some Animation
With two weeks left to go until the Oscar Blitz begins, a good chunk of time will be spent doing my utmost to cram in as much cinematic content as possible. Just like last year, Netflix has pulled out all the proverbial stops in order to bribe Academy voters into giving the streamer as much … Continue reading DownStream – TUDUM! Part One: Documentary
The early rounds of Awards Season are well underway, with the ultimate prize being the Oscars. If you've read this blog with any regularity, you know that the competition for International Feature is almost always intense and difficult to track, as there's no formal requirement that the submitted films ever screen in the United States. … Continue reading DownStream – First Foreign Forays
We are in the 11th hour. By the time most of you read this, the Academy will have announced the nominees for the 96th Oscars. As I'm writing, we're but nine or so away, and while I obsess over this, I have no intention of getting up before dawn to see the live reveal. I … Continue reading DownStream – The Big Red N-velope, Part Four: The Main Event
We're but a few more days away from this year's Oscar nominations, and as such, it's time to continue our marathon through Netflix's "For Your Consideration" campaign (click here for Part One and Part Two of this mini-series). I have to admit this marketing strategy doesn't make all that much sense to me, as the … Continue reading DownStream – The Big Red N-velope, Part Three: The Undercard
With less than a week until Oscar nominations are announced, it's time to continue the look back at the deluge of films that Netflix is promoting in hopes of Academy honors. Part One of this series dealt with two films that made it to the Documentary Feature shortlist. Tonight, we deal with Animated Feature. As … Continue reading DownStream – The Big Red N-velope, Part Two: Animation
We're just over a week away from nominations for the 96th Academy Awards, and as usual, I've been going into overdrive to clear as many potential candidates as possible. As such, I have a huge backlog of reviews to get through between now and then, including the final two theatrical releases I saw in calendar … Continue reading DownStream – Early Blitz Hopefuls
I Actually Paid To See This 