Notes On The Season: Oscar In Overdrive, The Gender Bender Question, And Will Smith Makes The Scene Again

03.12.2022 - 04:27 / deadline.com

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit.

If you didn’t think the awards season was in full bloom by now, rest assured it is. With today’s particularly and predictably quirky New York Film Critics Circle winners, the Gotham Awards earlier this week, The Oscars basically confirming their 95th ceremony is striving to erase all last year’s mistakes, and the last of the potential contenders either sucking up all the oxygen out of their premieres – or preparing to (that’s YOU Avatar Way Of The Water) , there is no question that as we have hit December the town is in overdrive.

And none of this takes into account the endless numbers of screenings, Q&As, and star-driven receptions attached to them in order to attract voters. As I write this I have even just received my Critics Choice ballot which will be due back a week from today on Dec 9. But before that Critics Choice show on Sunday January 15 we have Monday night’s Critics Choice 5th Annual Celebration Of Black Cinema and Television at the Fairmont Century Plaza where a slew of contenders will be getting honored including Angela Bassett, Danielle Deadwyler, Jonathan Majors, Brian Tyree Henry and more.

This follows two other November Critics Choice events, the First Annual Celebration of Asian Pacific, and the Second Annual Celebration of Latino Cinema and Television shows at the same hotel where also just two weekends ago the Academy held their 13th Governors Awards which brought out what looked to me like a record number of Oscar hopefuls to schmooze during cocktail hour and dinner breaks with a wasps nest of AMPAS voters. That has been a side tradition of the Gov Awards that had reigned until the pandemic stopped campaigning as we knew it in