That’s true but, as we head into the second half of 2017, what more perfect time to hold a midyear mini-Oscars, if only to recognize work that will deserve to be considered six months hence? The academy has largely washed its hands of the backloading problem, insisting it’s up to studios to realize that the calendar has 12 months. But they opened before summer, meaning that, by Oscar-time at least, they were nonstarters. Last year, the Colonial-era thriller “ The Witch,” the drone-era thriller “ Eye in the Sky” and erotic comedy-drama “ A Bigger Splash” became deserved art-house hits, each of them superbly crafted and featuring memorable performances from the likes of Helen Mirren, the late Alan Rickman, Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes. And it’s true: Every year, worthy movies that open in the late winter and spring are denied the box-office boost of their late-breaking brethren. The reason studios hold back the good stuff is that they’re afraid movies that appear early in the year will be long forgotten by the time academy members submit their nominations. The downside, as I noted, is a dramatically lopsided movie year, wherein filmgoers are starved for quality material at the multiplex until October, at which point keeping up with good movies is akin to drinking from a fire hose. The advantage of that business model has been the preservation of the kinds of movies that, in the absence of “earned awareness” award campaigns and Oscar prestige, Hollywood might not make anymore. ” (Robb Rosenfeld/A24)Įarlier this year, I wrote a column about awards season as a crucial, often profitable way to draw attention to smart, well-made films that cater to adult, non-comic-book-obsessed audiences. ![]() ![]() Debra Winger and Tracy Letts in “The Lovers.
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