Sandra Bullock’s “Our Brand is Crisis,” a drama about US political strategists scheming to re-elect an unpopular Bolivian president, has just been added to the awards season calendar with a release date of October 30.
This Bullock news helps clarify the picture for what this fall and winter’s award race might look like for best actress. While keep in mind we’ve only seen a fraction of these films, there are plenty of powerhouse favorites in the running. In addition to Bullock, there’s last year’s winner Julianne Moore for “Freeheld”, 2014 Oscar winner Cate Blanchett for “Carol” and “Truth”, 2013 winner Jennifer Lawrence for “Joy”, and 2012 winner Meryl Streep for in “Ricki and the Flash.”
Streep is also in the running for supporting for “Suffragette,” even if she’s only in a couple of scenes in the latter. (Hey, Anne Hathaway nabbed a trophy for fifteen minutes of singing and Judi Dench won for a regal 8 minutes.) 2013 nominee Naomi Watts and 1995 winner Susan Sarandon star in the transgender drama “About Ray” (formerly named “3 Generations”) along with Elle Fanning. (We know the Weinstein Co will do a campaign)
And let’s not forget a couple of dark-horse candidates in perennial nominees Helen Mirren “Woman in Gold” (another Weinstein movie) and Jessica Chastain (“Crimson Peak”). Other potential candidates could be Lily Tomlin “Grandma” and Blythe Danner “I’ll See You in My Dreams”.
On the younger-generation front, we might expect nods for Carey Mulligan (“Suffragette” or “Far from the Madding Crowd”), Alicia Vikander (“Ex Machina” or hopefully “Testament of Youth”) and longshots Mia Wasikowska (“Crimson Peak”) and Saoirse Ronan for “Brooklyn”.
All these options are great news because last year the consensus was that it was a pretty lacking year for actresses. What’s striking about this potential lineup of nominees is how strong the race appears to be. Most female A-listers over 40 will be in play this season. But it would be great if it always weren’t the same names and let’s be frank, in contrast with this year’s Emmy nods, this awards season looks snow white.
So today, as we begin our ongoing look at the awards season (and we are thinking about all the awards shows at this time), who do you think will get honored, and which other performances do you predict will get recognition?
[via Variety]
