My Award Nominations: Documentary

Documentary filmmaking continues to thrive in the digital age, in which tools and broadcast platforms have never been more accessible to storytellers and audiences alike. I don't envy the doc branch of the Academy, who are forced to screen growing numbers of submissions every year. If, like me, you've only got time for a few, you could do a lot worse than these five:

Alejandro G. Innaritu wins DGA for second straight year

When was the last time we had a season as disparate and fractured as this one?

The Big Short wins the PGA, Spotlight takes the SAG, and then last night
The Revenant's Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu swiped the Directors Guild of America's top prize for the second consecutive year. It seems as though we've arrived at the point where all bets are off for Predicting the Best Picture Oscar. Which of these three will prevail?

One Category at a Time: Documentary

The documentary branch of the Academy sure does like its music docs. They've nominated four of 'em in as many years, and the overall voting membership doesn't seem to be tired of them; Two of the last three champs in this category presented stories about musical artists, and all signs point to this year's winner continuing the trend.

Spotlight Shines Bright, but Oscar Frontrunner?

After stirring up a lot of talk at Telluride and TIFF in September, most markets finally got to set eyes on Tom McCarthy's Spotlight. Gripe as I may about sluggish release schedules, this one was worth the wait.

The journalistic docudrama about the Boston Globe's Pulitzer-winning investigation of pedophilia, corruption and complicity within the Catholic Church is dense, and in the best way. McCarthy and co-writer Josh Singer's screenplay packs a lot of content into a swift, focused procedural. It requires attention, and rewards attention.

Granted, talking heads aren't always easy to make jump off the screen, but the cast is greater than the sum of their considerable parts. This is marvelous group acting, with each performer carving out distinctive personalities for a roster of characters who could have become homogenized. The SAG Ensemble prize may be sewn up, and if pundits are to be believed, perhaps the Best Picture Oscar?...

I'm not so sure.