It’s a strange Oscar year.
There are fewer usual suspects: critically hailed festival breakouts of serious quality like Todd Field’s “Tar” (Focus Features), Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” (Universal), Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight), and Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” (United Artists Releasing).
These four films are likely to nab multiple nominations, including Best Picture.Other worthy festival films in the same category lurk on the cusp of inclusion, depending on how they fare with year-end critics groups.
These include Ruben Ostlund’s specialty hit, the Palme d’Or-winner “Triangle of Sadness” (Neon), Oliver Hermanus’ “Living” (Sony Pictures Classics), Lila Neugebauer’s “Causeway” (AppleTV+), Maria Schrader’s “She Said” (Universal), and Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light” (Searchlight).And with 10 slots, it only requires a few hundred votes for a popular contender to sneak in from the animation branch or Best International Feature Film (“Argentina 1985
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