2016 Awards Season

[SallyAlbright]

I know it's ridiculously early to start a thread, but since reviews are coming out of the Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals this week, I thought it might be fun to discuss some of the "buzz" and the films and performances that are generating awards talk. 

 

Some of the films considered early contenders:

 

The Danish Girl (directed by Tom Hooper, starring Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw and Amber Heard)

Review: http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/the-danish-girl-film-review-eddie-redmayne-1201586696/

 

Suffragette (directed by Sarah Gavron, starring Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, Helena Bonham Carter, and Anne-Marie Duff)

Review: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/suffragette-telluride-review-820723

 

Black Mass (directed by Scott Cooper, starring Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Kevin Bacon and Adam Scott)

Review: http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/black-mass-review-johnny-depp-whitey-bulger-1201570428/

 

Spotlight (directed by Tom McCarthy, starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, and Stanley Tucci)

Review: http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/spotlight-review-michael-keaton-tom-mccarthy-venice-film-festival-1201580933/

 

Beasts of No Nation (directed by Cary Fukunaga, starring Idris Elba and Abraham Attah)

Review: http://variety.com/2015/film/markets-festivals/beasts-of-no-nation-review-venice-film-festival-1201582527/

 

Everest (directed by Baltasar Kormákur, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, and Sam Worthington)

Review: http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/everest-review-venice-film-festival-1201581706/

 

Brooklyn (directed by John Crowley, starring Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, and Domhnall Gleeson)

Review: http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/sundance-film-review-saoirse-ronan-in-brooklyn-1201419559/

 

Carol (directed by Todd Haynes, starring Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara and Kyle Chandler)

Review: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/carol/review/796213

 

Macbeth (directed by Justin Kurzel, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard)

Review: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/macbeth-2015/review/797690

 

Room (directed by Lenny Abrahamson, starring Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay)

Review: http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/telluride-film-review-brie-larson-in-room-1201584736/

 

Sicario (directed by Denis Villeneuve, starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio Del Toro)

Review: http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/sicario-film-review-cannes-1201494744/

 

Legend (directed by Brian Helgeland, starring Tom Hardy, Taron Egerton and Emily Browning)

Review: http://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/legend-review-tom-hardy-1201554085/

 

Other possibilities yet to be reviewed: The Revenant, By The Sea, In The Heart of the Sea, The Martian, Freeheld, Bridge of Spies, Our Brand is Crisis, Secret in Their Eyes, Joy, Snowden, The Walk, Steve Jobs, Trumbo, Truth, The Program, The Hateful Eight, Concussion, The Light Between Oceans, I Saw The Light, Youth

Edited September 5, 2015 by SallyAlbright

[Dejana]

I love awards season, even if it can be as much about narratives and campaigning than the work itself. Without awards prestige and box office to chase after, a good number of these movies either wouldn't be made or would have their budgets severely scaled back (causing some of them not to be greenlit at all). Some would say that wouldn't be such a bad thing, but if every other YA series and board/video game gets to be greenlit and mapped out as an aspiring cinematic universe, why can't "serious" movies have their time in the sun? I used to take Oscars very seriously, but stopped caring so much after getting way too invested in who won and what lost. Now, I just see the awards race as a big publicity whirl with great pomp and circumstance and fashion, and if a well-made movie or talented person I like walks off with a trophy at the end, great.

 

I was all for the expanded Best Picture field (I don't even want to hear about how limiting BP to five nominees denotes the true crème de la crème of filmmaking, after the Slumdog Millionaire-Benjamin Button-Frost/Nixon-Milk-Reader lineup) but preferred when it was a straight Top 10 rather than the flexible range of films that muster up at least 5% of the number one votes. The rules now keep out a lot of more populist movies that made the Best Picture lineup for 2009 and 2010*, that voters would consider among the best of the year, but wouldn't give a number one vote. In any given year, even when it was just five films, it was never the case that all of the nominated movies truly had a shot at winning. So, if there are going to be filler noms anyway, why not an animated film or sci-fi blockbuster instead of Chocolat or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close?

 

As for this year, I'm interested in seeing what happens with Beasts of No Nation. Will Abraham Attah be frauded into a Supporting Actor nomination? Will crotchety AMPAS traditionalists hold the Netflix association against it? Will the people who demand screeners before they vote be happy that the movie is available for them to see at home, or decide that streaming doesn't make them feel exclusive enough and hold it against the movie? I guess we'll have to wait for the annual "anonymous Oscar voter" articles to find out.

 

*Though the major ceremonies are held in the winter, I think of awards seasons in terms of the year of film that's being honored rather than the year the awards are handed out.

Edited September 6, 2015 by Dejana

[SallyAlbright]

http://variety.com/2015/film/in-contention/with-steve-jobs-fassbender-shoots-to-the-top-of-this-years-best-actor-oscar-race-1201587050/

 

 

 

With ‘Steve Jobs,’ Fassbender Shoots to the Top of This Year’s Best Actor Oscar Race

 

Aaron Sorkin provides the words but Michael Fassbender turns them into music.

TELLURIDE, Colo. — The truth is I half anticipated Michael Fassbender to be a weak link of Danny Boyle’s “Steve Jobs,” which world premiered as a “work in progress” here Saturday night. Something about the repressed accent in the trailer and the curious casting call in the first place, maybe. Whatever the case, let’s just say the “Shame” and “12 Years a Slave” star crushes the role of the eponymous tortured genius and then some in a film that takes bold strides within a well-worn genre and is sure to take off throughout the season…if the character doesn’t put viewers off, that is.

Because that can sometimes be a hurdle. Jobs is very unlikable throughout. It’s the borderline thesis of the film: “It takes a**holes to invent the future.” But that’s what’s so compelling about the picture in this conception. It’s not a greatest hits biopic. It’s a character study interested in how Jobs grows within a 14-year span (the launch of the Macintosh in 1984 through the launch of the iMac in 1998), focusing on his innovations at Apple, his eventual release from the company, his relationship with a daughter he wouldn’t claim for years, his triumphant return to the Apple fold and his volatile rapport with co-workers and colleagues.                                                                                                                  

 Some are already calling it “Birdman” by way of Aaron Sorkin, and there’s a lot of that in there. The gifted scribe’s rat-tat-tat delivery on the page must have yielded a script full of white space, because it’s wall-to-wall dialogue. Like another film at the fest dependent on talking-head drama, Tom McCarthy’s “Spotlight,” it falls on the editor (Elliot Graham) to keep things moving, and indeed, the choice of structuring the film with a series of near-vignettes helps this immensely. But Sorkin has done a marvelous job of picking the right moments of this particular span of time and conveying them with smart and casual ease.                                                                                                                                        

  But back to Fassbender: he completely owns the screen for the film’s 125-minute running time. Co-stars Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Jeff Daniels, Michael Stuhlbarg, Katherine Waterston and John Ortiz, among others, provide lots of color. And Winslet and Rogen in particular fill in crucial interpersonal shading for Jobs the character. But Fassbender is possessed here, and therefore a no-brainer best actor Oscar contender who just shot to the top of that list alongside gentlemen like Eddie Redmayne (“The Danish Girl”) and Johnny Depp (“Black Mass”) this year.                    

So call it a contender. “Steve Jobs” just made perhaps the biggest splash of the 42nd Telluride Film Festival so far. And count on Universal hoping that five-year streak of best picture screenings here in the San Juans extends to six.

Edited September 7, 2015 by SallyAlbright

[AshleyN]

I'm kind of happy to see Fassbender getting raves for Steve Jobs, if only because I saw some people trying to dismiss him when the trailer came out just because he doesn't look like Jobs, which seems pretty stupid to me. I'm also really looking forward to seeing him in Macbeth, which seems like a role that he was born to play.

 

As for the movie itself, it's getting great reviews so far, but I've also seen it described as Sorkin at his Sorkinest, so I expect it to have some pretty vocal detractors given how divisive he's become in recent years.

 

On another note, reading all the great reviews Carey Mulligan is getting for Suffragette, I wonder if she'll be helped by the fact that a lot of the potential Best Actress candidates have already won Oscars?

[Rick Kitchen]

Is Marion Cotillard going to be able to suppress her French accent in Macbeth?

[Shannon L.]

The movies look great and I want to see many of them, but they're so serious.  I like years where there are some lighthearted movies thrown in to the mix.  Having said that, I like the trailer for The 33.   I looked (briefly) for early talk about that one and don't see anything yet. 

[SallyAlbright]

The movies look great and I want to see many of them, but they're so serious.  I like years where there are some lighthearted movies thrown in to the mix.  Having said that, I like the trailer for The 33.   I looked (briefly) for early talk about that one and don't see anything yet. 

I knew I'd forgotten something! I really liked the trailer for The 33, too. I hope it's as good as it looks. 

[blixie]

 

I saw some people trying to dismiss him when the trailer came out just because he doesn't look like Jobs,

 

It was his inability to sound American that bothered me, it's not like he's playing random dude who might have been Irish and it just wasn't mentioned, Steve Jobs is a real person, and h ain't Irish, and yet I heard a strong Irish lilt throughout the trailer. I'm sure he crushes the rest of the role, but it takes me completely out of who he's supposed to be.

 

 

Is Marion Cotillard going to be able to suppress her French accent in Macbeth?

 

No the director chose to allow all the actors to  use whatever accent they brought to the part, this bothers me less because I just consider it a reworking of MacBeth, like Scotland, PA. 

[DollEyes]

 I've seen the trailers for Steve Jobs and Michael Fassbender's accent didn't bother me a bit because I was too impressed by his performance to care.  Even on his worst day, Fassy's still way better in the role than Ashton Kutcher. If, as director Danny Boyle said that their goal re the film was "to [make] a portrait of Jobs, not a photograph," then I say mission accomplished.

 

  Another person who I think is a potential Oscar nominee is Jason Mitchell for his performance as Eazy-E in Straight Outta Compton. Even more impressive is that it's his film debut.

Edited September 8, 2015 by DollEyes

[yourstruly]

 

Another person who I think is a potential Oscar nominee is Jason Mitchell for his performance as Eazy-E in Straight Outta Compton. Even more impressive is that it's his film debut.

YES. He was *wonderful* as Eazy-E (anyone who thinks this is a joke, see the movie) and all the reviews have singled him out for praise. I hope that the success of the movie means he will be looked at at the end of the year. He also has a great story-New Orleans native who fell into drug dealing, lost everything in Katrina, came back to New Orleans and worked as a dishwasher in restaurants, took acting classes at night and worked his way into the field. If they nominate him, that would be a great call.

 

http://www.nola.com/movies/index.ssf/2015/08/jason_mitchell_straight_outta_compton.html

[SallyAlbright]

Well, we can take Oliver Stone's "Snowden" out of the running this year.

 

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/joseph-gordon-levitt-snowden-christmas-release-pulled-1201593149/

[Rick Kitchen]

Are we really supposed to think a Will Ferrell movie will get Oscar consideration?

[JBC344]

Are we really supposed to think a Will Ferrell movie will get Oscar consideration?

I think the Will Ferrell reference was just to illustrate how many offerings there were for Christmas Day movie watching.  This particular Will Ferrell movie (Daddy's Home) will not be an Oscar contender but I wouldn't of minded if Will was nominated for "Stranger Than Fiction" or "Everything Must Go".

[Skyline]

Freeheld is down for the count. Reviews are toxic. Steve Carell is receiving the worst reviews of his career.

[AshleyN]

So it looks like Cate Blanchett's raves for Truth might be on par with her raves for Carol. I know that it was only two years ago that she swept the critics awards for Blue Jasmine, but given that they sometime take multiple performances into account when voting for winners, could she do it again? And if so could she actually get that third Oscar so soon?

 

Either way, it looks like she's in that stage of her career where she can do no wrong, and nomination wise the only question is which movie she gets in for. Hell, even with Cinderella (which made a boatload of money) didn't most of the reviews single her out as the highlight?

[JBC344]

Well if she doesn't get recognized this year I can see her going for the 3rd Oscar when she plays Lucille Ball two years from now.  Still a short time between Oscars but if anyone can pull it off I think she could.

[vb68]

I hope Truth and Spotlight don't cancel each other out.  Both sound fantastic.

 

I'm also happy to see Topher Grace get solid reviews for Truth.  I doubt he gets a nomination, but he's really building a solid character actor career.

Edited September 15, 2015 by vb68

[Rick Kitchen]

Topher Grace is a great villain in American Ultra.

[JBC344]

I hope Truth and Spotlight don't cancel each other out.  Both sound fantastic.

 

I'm also happy to see Topher Grace get solid reviews for Truth.  I doubt he gets a nomination, but he's really building a solid character actor career.

I'm curious, why would Truth and Spotlight cancel each other out?  Do you mean by having two "true stories" competing for best picture?

[raezen]

I'm curious, why would Truth and Spotlight cancel each other out? Do you mean by having two "true stories" competing for best picture?

I had thought that would have happened with The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game last Oscars but I clearly didn't know a thing.

Edited September 16, 2015 by raezen

[AshleyN]

I'm curious, why would Truth and Spotlight cancel each other out?  Do you mean by having two "true stories" competing for best picture?

Well, they're also both about journalism. But as raezen pointed out, that didn't seem to hurt either of the British genius movies last year.

[vb68]

 

Well, they're also both about journalism.

 

 

Yes, that's what I meant.  I've already seen people saying that is a possibility on various blogs. They have also both drawn some comparisons to All The President's Men.

Edited September 16, 2015 by vb68

[Dejana]

Room wins big:

 

This year’s Toronto International Film Festival is coming to a close, and the festival’s top prize, the People’s Choice Award, has gone to Room.

 

Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, Room stars 8-year-old Jacob Tremblay as a small child whose entire world is the room where he lives with his mother (Brie Larson). Since premiering at Telluride and screening in Toronto, the adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s best-selling novel has earned rave reviews and sparked Oscar buzz. In the past, the People’s Choice award has gone to future Oscar Best Picture winners like 12 Years A Slave, The King’s Speech, and Slumdog Millionaire.

 

Other recent TIFF People's Choice winners include The Imitation Game, Silver Linings Playbook and Precious. A24 is such a small, new studio that awards watchers wondered if one of its movies could contend with those from the more established players. A TIFF win doesn't mean a guaranteed Best Actress or Best Picture nomination, but it tends to show that a movie will appeal to the fall/winter prestige film audience.

Edited September 20, 2015 by Dejana

[Rick Kitchen]

I really don't think I can sit through Room, it sounds really devastating.

[AshleyN]

Yeah, I don't know how Room will do in Best Picture, but Brie Larson has to be a legitimate threat in Best Actress now, perhaps even for the win.

 

On another note, I've been reading some reviews for The Danish Girl, and while I was expecting the response to the film to be mixed, I'm a little surprised that the reviews for Eddie Redmayne personally are quite mixed as well. From what I've seen there are some who loved it, but many responses that were more tepid, and even a few outright pans. There also seems to be a fair number of people claiming that Alicia Vikander outshines him. I'd say he's probably still a pretty safe bet to be nominated, but I'd be surprised if he actually pulled off the back to back wins now, especially when you have someone like Fassbender getting raves for a playing a famous real life figure (the Academy's favourite thing), or Leo starring in the reigning Best Picture/Director winner's follow-up film.

Edited September 21, 2015 by AshleyN

[Rick Kitchen]

The Church of Scientology is actively working to make sure that Oscar voters don't vote for Alex Gibney's Going Clear.

[Shannon L.]

I'm guessing that Crimson Peak will get a lot of technical nominations.  It's a beautiful movie and not just for the costumes alone*. 

 

*I've been vocal about being annoyed by non-period pieces not getting recognized (or only centuries old period pieces only getting nominated as opposed to something set in, for example, the 70s), but that doesn't mean I disagree with the nominations and this one was a costume designer's dream.

[vb68]

I'm now convinced that Truth won't win any major awards and maybe doesn't even have very good odds for nominations outside of a slim chance they nominate Blanchett for this over Carol.  But still it's quite interesting how it polarizes journalists, including film reviewers. 

Edited October 19, 2015 by vb68

[SallyAlbright]

Does anyone think Johnny Depp's recent comments about how he never wants to win an Oscar will hurt his chances? I don't know if those types of things matter, but it's interesting to think about. If I were a member of the Academy, it would probably make me less inclined to vote for him- at least if I were really torn between two or more performances. 

Yeah, I don't know how Room will do in Best Picture, but Brie Larson has to be a legitimate threat in Best Actress now, perhaps even for the win.

 

On another note, I've been reading some reviews for The Danish Girl, and while I was expecting the response to the film to be mixed, I'm a little surprised that the reviews for Eddie Redmayne personally are quite mixed as well. From what I've seen there are some who loved it, but many responses that were more tepid, and even a few outright pans. There also seems to be a fair number of people claiming that Alicia Vikander outshines him. I'd say he's probably still a pretty safe bet to be nominated, but I'd be surprised if he actually pulled off the back to back wins now, especially when you have someone like Fassbender getting raves for a playing a famous real life figure (the Academy's favourite thing), or Leo starring in the reigning Best Picture/Director winner's follow-up film.

I think she's probably the front runner at this point, I'm so happy for her. She's already started to take some projects that Jennifer Lawrence can't do due to scheduling, etc. I think she, Blanchett, Vikander, Mulligan and Ronan are good bets as of right now. 

[blixie]

I'd rather see Theron and Blunt in for Vikander and Mulligan.

[absnow54]

I've heard Vikander may compete in the supporting category. I'd also be shocked if Jennifer Lawrence didn't get a slot. The Academy loves both her and any actor in a DOR film, so I'd say she's a very good bet right now.

[Rick Kitchen]

I don't care how good Room may be, I won't see it.  I want to be entertained, not shattered.

[vb68]

 

I don't care how good Room may be, I won't see it.  I want to be entertained, not shattered.

 

 

I understand where you are coming from there.  I won't say I'll never see it, but I also can't say I'm looking forward to it at all.   

[raezen]

Lots of people felt the same way about Schindler's List.

[JBC344]

Or any other "real" movie that deals with our man made atrocities.

[vb68]

 

Lots of people felt the same way about Schindler's List.

 

Oh, I know.  Films like Schindler's List and 12 Years a Slave are so important and probably should be required viewing if such a thing were possible.  I think it's the smaller scale of Room with its confined space that makes me think it will be hard for me to watch.  I guess it's just a personal hangup.  I'll see it sometime over the season I'm sure as I  always try to catch all the Oscar nominated movies.

Edited October 21, 2015 by vb68

[Rick Kitchen]

Entertainment Weekly has come out with its preliminary predictions for nominations for Best Actress:

 

Sure Things:

Brie Larson, Room

Cate Blanchett, Carol

Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

 

Serious Threats:

Jennifer Lawrence, Joy

Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years (I have to admit that I've never heard of this film)

Carey Mulligan, Suffragette

Emily Blunt, Sicario

 

Potential Spoilers:

Sandra Bullock, Our Brand is Crisis (I think the fact that this film tanked means this isn't going to happen)

Blythe Danner, I'll See You in My Dreams

Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road (this is my "I hope so")

Lily Tomlin, Grandma (really?)

[JBC344]

I'll probably take all the "Sure Things" and add Charlize (one of my favorite performances) and Blythe.

[KatWay]

Brie Larson and Saoirse Ronan (who is very underrated) have been doing great work for years, I would love to see them recognised. Cate Blanchet is always good, obviously. 

 

Add my "how awesome would that be" for Charlize Theron as Furiosa. She was great in the role and that was a great role, period.

[blixie]

I love Jennifer Lawrence, but I really feel like nominating her is lazy, her movie hasn't been seen, and she is only in the mix because she's Jennifer Lawrence in DOR movie. Everyone else on the list, their movie and work has been seen and widely praised (htough I recently heard some reviews that think Blanchett in Carol is actually...mediocre), I have heard zilch about JL. The only way I want her there is if they go for six nominees, otherwise I want Blunt, Theron, Larson, Cate, and Ronan. 

[vb68]

 

I love Jennifer Lawrence, but I really feel like nominating her is lazy, her movie hasn't been seen, and she is only in the mix because she's Jennifer Lawrence in DOR movie.

 

I think the movie has to come out before we know that.  It's quite possible that her work is strong enough to warrant a nomination.  The advanced word is quite strong.  

[KatWay]

The trailer looked very bland to me, like any other DOR Oscarbait movie and I didn't see JLaw do anything we haven't already seen her do and better. And yes,it's lazy - this movie and JLaw have been mentioned as Oscar contenders for like two years now, long before anybody actually saw the thing. 

 

I am also annoyed that I'm supposed to buy Jennifer Lawrence as a mother of three children in her mid-thirties. She does not look thirty. Why doesn't DOR try to cast her in an age appropriate role for once? 

[blixie]

 

JLaw have been mentioned as Oscar contenders for like two years now, long before anybody actually saw the thing.

 

Right, and IF she's good enough, then of course give it to her, it's that she's just ASSUMED to be deserving sight on seen that bugs me, plus I'm generally suspicious of movies that tailor their release to Christmas day or later, it's like they are saying, we opened in December, GIVE US OUR OSCAR NOM. 

Edited November 6, 2015 by blixie

[vb68]

 

it's that she's just ASSUMED to be deserving sight on seen that bugs me,

 

 

I guess that really doesn't faze me because that usually happens with recent winners when they have new movies coming out.  It's just speculation.  I don't think that's anything  unique to Jennifer Lawrence.   I've heard about Cate Blanchett (and Rooney Mara) for months and months now in Carol.  Heck people were already saying Eddie Redmayne would be nominated again this year before he even won last year.

[blixie]

 

I don't think that's anything  unique to Jennifer Lawrence.

 

No one said it was unique, I said it was LAZY and I stand by that, I think Mulligan being the conversation is lazy too, that flim flopped hugely and I don't think Carey's performance is any thing special. 

Edited November 6, 2015 by blixie

[Ruby25]

I'm not sure Carey Mulligan will make it. I think Lily Tomlin may hold on, because she's a beloved veteran who hasn't been nominated since Nashville and it would be a recognition nod towards her career. Plus, the movie did well for an indie. I don't know if she's campaigning for it, but if she is, I think she will have a good shot.

[vb68]

 

I'm not sure Carey Mulligan will make it.

 

 

Yeah, I agree.  I think she has fallen off as that movie didn't go over like people were predicting. 

Edited November 7, 2015 by vb68

[SallyAlbright]

I have not yet seen Carol (can't wait), but after seeing Brooklyn and Room, I think the race has to be between Ronan and Larson as the front runners. I wish they could both win. Unless she pulls out some spectacular range that we haven't seen yet, (of course it's possible), I don't think Jennifer Lawrence in Joy will hold a candle to either of their performances this year. 

[AshleyN]

So does Steve Jobs flopping at the box office take Fassbender out of the running for Best Actor? And if so does the combination of that, the underwhelming response (so far at least) to The Danish Girl, and the weaker than usual field in general mean that the stars may be aligning for a Leo win?

 

I mean, who are the other contenders anyway? Given how big a hit The Martian became, Matt Damon probably has a decent shot at a nomination, but I'd be pretty surprised to see him win for it. Beyond that I've got no idea. It seems like this might be the rare year where Best Actress is more competitive than Best Actor.

 

In other news, a Charlize nomination for Mad Max would be the best thing to happen at the Oscars in ages, but I'd be pretty surprised if it actually happened. And while I haven't seen Brooklyn yet (I'm hoping it comes to my city eventually) it's nice to see Saiorse Ronan back in the conversation -- I've always thought she was so talented and from all accounts she's wonderful in this film.

Edited November 9, 2015 by AshleyN

[raezen]

Did Suffragette really flop? It was a limited release. Unless there's a set of numbers that I didn't see in the box office thread I thought it made the most of the limited releases that weekend. I didn't think there was any shame in doing well with a smaller market however if the reviews are more mixed then they expected that was different.

Meanwhile, Joy has been hyped since last January when I first heard about it, which was before the 2015 Oscars, actual filming of it or the rest of the casting. I'm not saying it won't be good but in cases like that, it kind of has to be amazing.