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Moonlight, written and directed by Barry Jenkins and the first film produced (not just distributed) by A24.

Werewolf by Night wrote:Moonlight, written and directed by Barry Jenkins and the first film produced (not just distributed) by A24.

I hope this is as stunning as the trailer.

This went over huge at TIFF, and is getting great reviews

Moonlight is pretty phenomenal, very much in the vein of "in the mood for love" in style and tone but I found it far more moving and affecting (the latter has put me to sleep at times). The performances are stellar across the board, especially mahershala Ali, and the cinematography is just really beautiful. A really special beautiful film, best of the year so far.

I imagine this will get six or seven oscar nominations and be a major presence this awards season.

movielocke wrote:Moonlight is pretty phenomenal, very much in the vein of "in the mood for love" in style and tone but I found it far more moving and affecting (the latter has put me to sleep at times). The performances are stellar across the board, especially mahershala Ali, and the cinematography is just really beautiful. A really special beautiful film, best of the year so far.

I imagine this will get six or seven oscar nominations and be a major presence this awards season.

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Unless this goes the Carol route and is well loved by critics, gets some nominations yet fails to get nominated for best director and picture and ends winning nothing. I haven't seen this yet, but considering the Academy's constant disregard for LGBT themed films I'm not holding for much. Carol was one of the finest films last year, but I do hope Moonlight get recognized (and I sure do hope it screen anywhere near me)

dda1996a wrote:

movielocke wrote:Moonlight is pretty phenomenal, very much in the vein of "in the mood for love" in style and tone but I found it far more moving and affecting (the latter has put me to sleep at times). The performances are stellar across the board, especially mahershala Ali, and the cinematography is just really beautiful. A really special beautiful film, best of the year so far.

I imagine this will get six or seven oscar nominations and be a major presence this awards season.

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Unless this goes the Carol route and is well loved by critics, gets some nominations yet fails to get nominated for best director and picture and ends winning nothing. I haven't seen this yet, but considering the Academy's constant disregard for LGBT themed films I'm not holding for much. Carol was one of the finest films last year, but I do hope Moonlight get recognized (and I sure do hope it screen anywhere near me)

yeah but it's better film and more relevant than Carol. I liked carol it's my number ten or eleven from last year, the Sirk worship is significantly irritating, but whatever, it's far better than any Sirk film, I think this will get a more boyhood or brokeback reception at the oscars. The slow pace means it won't win anything, but I think it'll get a heap of nominations.

movielocke wrote:whatever, it's far better than any Sirk film

Does anyone know if this is getting a wide release in the next few weeks? It's been kind of hard to tell - it's playing at the Philadelphia Film Festival but I've got a scheduling conflict, and I really want to see it on the big screen. I see that A24 has learned how to do a slow rollout, finally, but I'm hoping this won't be limited to NY/LA

Moonlight is listed on the "Coming Soon" page for the Denver area on the Landmark Theaters site. Coupled with the fact that there's a press screening here in a week or so, I'd say yes, it'll likely be opening in places other than NY/LA within a month.

Ah, also the Philadelphia area Landmark site! Excellent. Appreciate the info. This looks magnificent, I hope it can live up to my suddenly sky high expectations since seeing the trailer.

It's playing in San Francisco starting next Thursday so it should be rolled out relatively quickly.

It'll be playing the local art house theatre here in Baltimore starting November 4th

Yes, this is just getting the regular "limited release" pattern of NY/LA, then DC/Philly/Austin/etc., then a little wider each week. Though I do wonder if A24 has a plan in place for a wider release before Awards Season really gets going (considering there are now an absolutely ridiculous amount of Christmas limited/January wide releases scheduled and that Room made less money in its whole domestic run with its January wide release than something I've never even heard of like When the Bough Breaks made in its opening weekend a few weeks ago). I *hope* that last year's butchering of Carol's expansion resulting in it getting no awards attention means that studios won't try and literally have things just play NY/LA until January for a few years.

Luckily it's getting started early enough that this is a much better scenario than getting a wide release and then disappearing in 1-2 weeks when it doesn't do well enough for multiplexes to commit to it sticking around, like A24's pattern has been thusfar. I never appreciated what a slow rollout can accomplish for a film before I saw how badly A24 and Broad Green were bungling this stuff in the last few years

I think the best indication this might go wide before then is that A24's other bigger title this awards season, 20th Century Women, is one of the aforementioned Christmas releases and they certainly wouldn't want that to have to compete with this.

I hope I'm wrong but I don't see this getting many nominations. Maybe screenplay (would it be considered original or adapted?) and a supporting actor nod for Mahershala Ali.

chiendent wrote:I hope I'm wrong but I don't see this getting many nominations. Maybe screenplay (would it be considered original or adapted?) and a supporting actor nod for Mahershala Ali.

Ali is the odds-on favorite to win, and I think the film will do quite well in other nominations. It's two birds for the Oscars in its subject matter

I think, to go back to my comparison above, Carol's total failure to register in a big way has left a lot of people wary about this one's chances and so people are underplaying it until they know how it plays to Academy audiences which could still be a while off yet. I certainly think Supporting Actor/Actress should be certainties to be nominated at this point, if nothing else.

With Portman or Stone, Affleck, and Williams odds-on favorites to win their categories, Ali is also the most likely winner by virtue that the Academy will absolutely award an acting prize to at least one person of color to head off Oscars So White criticism, and by all accounts Ali's win would be totally earned in any year on its own merits

Hopefully by February, if the film is as strong as the buzz around it indicates, its quality won't be seen as such a post-script to some sort of implication of giving it a racial hand-out, and instead as the leading reason why it's getting recognized. Ah, to live in such a world.

movielocke wrote:Moonlight is pretty phenomenal, very much in the vein of "in the mood for love" in style and tone but I found it far more moving and affecting (the latter has put me to sleep at times).

I saw Moonlight at TIFF (read: a long time ago!) so maybe I'm forgetting it's 'style and tone' but I can't recall anything that would make me think of In the Mood for Love (except perhaps with regards to the forbidden love aspect). I'm curious about this, if you have the energy to expand.

lise wrote:

movielocke wrote:Moonlight is pretty phenomenal, very much in the vein of "in the mood for love" in style and tone but I found it far more moving and affecting (the latter has put me to sleep at times).

I saw Moonlight at TIFF (read: a long time ago!) so maybe I'm forgetting it's 'style and tone' but I can't recall anything that would make me think of In the Mood for Love (except perhaps with regards to the forbidden love aspect). I'm curious about this, if you have the energy to expand.

well it's been over ten years since I last saw in the mood for love, but it is three things:

1) the pacing overall,

2)the tendency to play emotions nonverbally and spending a lot of time looking; on gazes and gazing,

3)the beach scene in the second act and the diner scene in the third act because they are mostly one on one scenes of two people full of subdued intensity.

domino harvey wrote:With Portman or Stone, Affleck, and Williams odds-on favorites to win their categories, Ali is also the most likely winner by virtue that the Academy will absolutely award an acting prize to at least one person of color to head off Oscars So White criticism, and by all accounts Ali's win would be totally earned in any year on its own merits

I had no idea that Ali is the favorite to win this year! His is such a dominant charismatic performance I'm glad he's being rightfully singled out.

I would say this is very likely for a best director nomination and best screenplay as most likely other categories, both of those followed closely in likelihood by Naomi Harris for supporting actress and best picture. Slightly longer shot for cinematography and editing, the editors don't often go for meditative dramas, but if the film catches fire that'd be the coattails nomination.

That is a great, great review. Scott is a real treasure in a film criticism world muddled by an increasing number of redundantly mediocre voices.