If cinema and politics have anything in common it’s the process of narrowing the vast field of potential winners/leaders down to a chosen few. Each of these two processes, however, carries the potential of being contaminated at some point along the road by money, arm-twisting, and media campaigns, but in this regard Washington has Hollywood outbeat by a longshot.
For cinephiles the fall and early winter is prime season to enjoy the annual treasure trove of Oscar frontrunners which are released near the end of the year in order to stay fresh in the memory of Academy voters. And the best barometers for the uncompromised truth of which films and actors we need to be watching out for are, of course, your own favorite critic(s). Mine happens to be the team at The Playlist, and back in May Kevin Jagernauth had written an impressive review of director Jacques Audiard‘s latest film Rust And Bone starring Marion Cotillard (you can read it in full by visiting The Playlist). In all honesty I had forgotten about this film since reading the review back in May, but was reminded of it when The Lady’s Kat Brown posted her own brand new review of the film earlier this morning (you can read it in full by visiting The Lady). Two stellar publications giving their thumbs up? Sounds like a serious winner to me, folks.
I’M WARNING YOU THOUGH: there are plenty of plot details and spoilers in each of the two reviews above, so it’s up to you how much you want to read/know before you see Rust And Bone when it opens in limited release in North America on November 23, 2012. Rust And Bone was nominated for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, and it took home the top prize of Best Film at this year’s BFI London Film Festival. For more on the top prospects for this year’s Oscar season be sure to visit Oscar Tea Leaves on FEELguide.
