Oscar voting has officially begun in what’s the most compressed awards season in recent memory.
(Marriage Storyat the Gothams,The Irishmanwith NYFCC, etc.)
The movies fighting for those last few slots offer obvious strengths and weaknesses.
The reason for these last-minute surges?
Huge box office numbers certainly helped American Sniper.
And a rather intense wave of critical praise propelledPhantom Threadto a breakthrough no one saw coming.
This year,Little Womenis the best candidate for late-breaking success.
This, in spite of an aggressive marketing push from Sony and strong initial reviews.
Greta Gerwig not receiving a Globe nod for directing meant that the HFPA’s lineup was entirely male.
The filmsignificantly outperformed expectationsas a box-office hit, clearing $40 million domestically by New Year’s Day.
And the press from Sony hasn’t let up.
(Remember, they were the first group to obsess overBohemian Rhapsody.)
The sense of stalled, or slow, progress is palpable.
And soLittle Womenhas been thrust to the center of a larger issue.
But there’s power in a moment like this, too.
What will they have to say?
