Awards Season
Oscar contenders, major performances, awards conversations and the films that define each season.
Explore 174 articles in the original Oscar Contenders collection, from individual film criticism to nominations, predictions and post-ceremony analysis.
From the Awards Archive
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Nomadland: Perspectives from the road
Few casual moviegoers will find Chloé Zhao’s latest directorial effort to be their absolute favorite film of the year, but even fewer can reasonably argue that…
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The United States vs. Billie Holiday: Melody a bit off-key
Directorial control over the course of a film can make or break the quality of a feature film. A strong hand at the wheel may lead…
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Judas and the Black Messiah: Revolution in the streets
Chicago in the late 1960s was a boiling pot of water bubbling over with racial and political tension on a near daily basis, making it ripe…
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Promising Young Woman: The sweetest revenge
Once a year, a film comes along that cuts so deeply against the grain that its ingenuity and craftsmanship push movies forward for years to come.…
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One Night In Miami: Four men, one room, millions changed
This review is based on an advance screening of “One Night in Miami” through this critic’s membership as a voter for the annual Film Independent Spirit…
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Soul: Once more, with feeling
Everyone assumes animated films made by Disney – or their Pixar Studios brand – are intended for younger audiences. The colors are bright, the plotlines are…
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Wonder Woman 1984: Blast from the past
Filmmakers transcend genre by making sure their voice remains at the forefront, regardless of whatever limitations might be artificially imposed. This is especially true in the…
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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: And all that jazz
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the latest awards contending prestige drama from Netflix, will likely forever be known for the final performance of the late actor Chadwick…
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Mank: Citizen Mankiewicz
Though it’s expressed as a work of fiction, film scholars commonly understand the 1941 cinema classic Citizen Kane to be an unofficial biopic of newspaper magnate…
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Hillbilly Elegy: In search of Oscar gold
Hillbilly Elegy has everything awards season voters seem to want in a best picture contender. It’s a film with A-list actors giving showy performances in an…
The original Oscar Contenders category archive remains available at its longstanding URL.
