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Associated Press

The stranglehold that autumn prestige films have on Oscar season just might be wilting in the summer sun.
Christopher Nolan’s second world war epic Dunkirk hits cinemas this week, but the overflowing reviews have already made it abundantly clear: it’s a major Oscar contender and a best-picture front-runner – even in July.
Film review: Dunkirk – Christopher Nolan’s second world war thriller is a stunning cinematic achievement
And Dunkirk, which analysts expect to debut this weekend with US$60 million-plus in North American ticket sales, might not be the only box-office hit to crash this year’s awards season. The zeitgeist-grabbing sensations Get Out and Wonder Woman could also be players come Academy Awards time.


It is, of course, exceptionally early to handicap the Oscars. And it’s far from uncommon for early breakouts to recede once the autumn film festivals start firing out heavily anticipated releases from Hollywood’s most acclaimed directors. Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson and Alexander Payne are just some of those waiting in the wings this year.
But any influx from the rest of the calendar year would be a welcome change of pace for an awards season that has in recent years become ever more a September-December affair. Last year, August’s Hell or High Water was the earliest best-picture nominee.
Aside from spreading out what are potentially some of the year’s best movies, any awards love for the likes of Dunkirk, Get Out or Wonder Woman would give the Oscars something it has often lacked in recent years: major release crowd-pleasers.
“It’s not really a factor for us, the awards thing,” says Emma Thomas, producer of Dunkirk. “This film we primarily thought of as an entertainment. For us, we make films for audiences. My feeling is always: if your film works and people engage with it, anything that comes later is a huge bonus.”
Dunkirk may bear the look and seriousness of an Oscar season film, right down to the wool coats. But shot in 70mm IMAX, it also has much of the visceral spectacle of a summer movie. Thomas and Nolan have also previously had success July. It’s when they released Inception (which earned eight Oscar nods and won four awards) and The Dark Knight.

That the latter film, released in 2008, was overlooked for Academy Awards was seen as a major motivation for the expansion of the best-picture category a year later from five nominees to up to 10.
Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan on casting Harry Styles, selling a British story in the US, and the challenges of filming it
“We’ve had very good luck in July in the past and we like this date. It’s an accessible movie,” said Thomas of Dunkirk. “When you put movies at the end of the year, you’re sort of saying something about it. You’re almost limiting it, in a way, and we don’t want to limit the film.”

The Oscars haven’t been without crowd-pleasers. La La Land made more than US$440 million globally. Hidden Figures charmed North American audiences to US$230 million. The year before, the May-released Mad Max: Fury Road crashed the Academy Awards with 10 nominations and six wins.
Dunkirk may be a similar force in craft categories. Its ensemble nature may leave less room for acting attention, though recent Oscar-winner Mark Rylance is a standout. More notably, Nolan seems likely to finally land his – some would say overdue – first directing nomination.
He has already earned the praise of fellow filmmakers like Rian Johnson (who called the film “an all timer”) and Jon Favreau (“believe the hype”).

Other summer movies might also shake up the Oscars. The acclaimed romantic comedy The Big Sick has the backing of Amazon, which last year similarly acquired Manchester by the Sea at the Sundance Film Festival and made it an Oscar heavyweight. The War for the Planet of the Apes even has some buzz, including pleas for considering Andy Serkis’ motion-capture performance as the ape Caesar. Such an honour, while unlikely, would be a game-changer in an increasingly digitised movie world.
Jordan Peele’s horror sensation Get Out (US$252 million worldwide after opening in late February) could well be the first horror film nominated for best picture since 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs. At the least, Peele should be a likely nominee for best screenplay.
Wonder Woman ‘not a feminist hero’, says movie’s female director Patty Jenkins
Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman has been an even bigger box-office dynamo and earned nearly as good reviews as Get Out. Whereas Peele’s film was received as landmark film for its fusion of genre with a satirical critique of race in America, Wonder Woman set a new record for top-grossing film by a woman director. Jenkins and star Gal Gadot could well be in the hunt. The unlikely awards run last season of Deadpool suggested voters may be open to awarding a superhero film.

A campaign for Jenkins, who directed the Oscar-winning Monster, would be closely watched since only four women have ever been nominated for best director. Kathryn Bigelow, the sole winner of the four, also has a film upcoming: her ambitious Detroit riots drama Detroit, out August 4 in the US.


Usually, a highly relevant, socially conscious film from one of Hollywood’s most celebrated filmmakers would be plunged right into awards season. But the calculus was different for Detroit, the release of which was deliberately timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the riots. And she, like many others, doesn’t love the increased emphasis on Oscar season.
“It’s not why we make these films,” said Bigelow.

“The motivation behind the release has to do with the 50-year anniversary,” she said. “I think it’s important to honour that and the resiliency of the city of Detroit. Whatever happens along any other lines, I have no idea.”
Bigelow knows from experience. Her The Hurt Locker was a June release but went on to best Avatar at the Oscars. “To say that it was even a remote thought would be in inaccurate,” she said, laughing.


Dunkirk and Get Out stake early claim to Oscars, and could give fans some crowd-pleasing contenders to root for

Films released between September and December usually dominate the annual awards nominations, but this year some big summer releases are in with a chance

Kumail Nanjiani as Kumail and Zoe Kazan as Emily in "The Big Sick." MUST CREDIT: Sarah Shatz, Lionsgate

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. (DC Comics)

Leonardo Di Caprio stars in 'Inception', 2010 science fiction heist thriller film written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. [05JUL2015 REVIEW SUNDAY - FILM LEAD]

Allison Williams (left) and Daniel Kaluuya co-star in Jordan Peele’s twisted comedy horror Get Out.

In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment,Jeremy Renner is shown in a scene from, "The Hurt Locker." (AP Photo/Summit Entertainment) ** NO SALES **

British-American film director Christopher Nolan, director of Dunkirk, and the film’s producer, Emma Thomas. Fellow directors think it is time Nolan received a best-director nomination at next year’s Oscars. Photo: AFP

Film review: Dunkirk – Christopher Nolan’s second world war thriller is a stunning cinematic achievement

No war film you have ever seen comes close to what the director has created here - the action is mesmerising, the cinematography stunning in this epic story of survival amid the hideousness of the 1940 Battle of Dunkirk

Mark Rylance in Dunkirk.

Tom Hardy in Dunkirk.

Cillian Murphy (right) in Dunkirk.

Newcomer Fionn Whitehead in Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk (category: IIA).

Dunkirk director Christopher Nolan on casting Harry Styles, selling a British story in the US, and the challenges of filming it

Nolan knew it wouldn’t be easy to draw US film-goers to his new movie, especially since he cast no Americans, but was convinced this ‘phenomenal’ moment in British wartime history would have universal appeal

Fionn Whitehead in Dunkirk.

A scene from Dunkirk.

Director Christopher Nolan on the set of Dunkirk.

Tom Glynn-Carney (left) and Cillian Murphy in Dunkirk.

From left: Harry Styles, Aneurin Barnard and Fionn Whitehead in the film Dunkirk, written and directed by Christopher Nolan.

Film review: Wonder Woman – Gal Gadot rejuvenates DC superhero franchise with fun stand-alone movie

DC Comics geeks, rejoice - at last there’s a decent DC Extended Universe movie. Gadot comes alive as an Amazonian princess who helps defeat the Germans in first world war London, with plenty of humour along the way

Chris Pine and Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman.

Danny Huston and Elena Anaya in Wonder Woman.

Gal Gadot and Connie Nielsen in Wonder Woman.

Gal Gadot plays the titular superhero in Wonder Woman (category: IIA), which co-stars Chris Pine. Patty Jenkins directs

Film review: Get Out hits the mark with horror, race and satire

Plot satirises a genuine American problem: the racial and social divide that often has black people coming off worse. Its comedian director ratchets up the tension and shocks without resorting to cheap tricks

Allison Williams and Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out.

Bradley Whitford and Catherine Keener in Get Out.

Daniel Kaluuya (centre) in Get Out (category: IIB), directed by Jordan Peele. The film also stars Alison Williams.

Culture

Film & TV

Films released between September and December usually dominate the annual awards nominations, but this year some big summer releases are in with a chance


Dunkirk and Get Out stake early claim to Oscars, and could give fans some crowd-pleasing contenders to root for

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Films released between September and December usually dominate the annual awards nominations, but this year some big summer releases are in with a chance

Films released between September and December usually dominate the annual awards nominations, but this year some big summer releases are in with a chance