Awards season has begun, the time of year when I become a happy student of Kyle Buchanan, a.k.a. The Projectionist. Kyle’s commentary and prognostications on the Oscars and other movie races keep me rapt and slightly on edge the way I imagine committed sports fans feel as the playoffs approach. This week is especially intense: On the heels of the Golden Globes last weekend, Oscar nominations will be announced this Thursday. (The ceremony is on March 15.)
I love reading about the races, who’s up and who’s down, whether Leo or Timothée or Michael B. is favored to win, how their speeches at one ceremony might set them up for a future nomination. But I’m also interested in Kyle’s life reporting on this stuff. In my imagination, his awards season is a whirl of parties and events, luncheons and red carpets, glitzy cavorting followed by feverish typing. He found time to talk to me in the brief intermission between the Globes and the Oscar noms, and, happily, he didn’t really dispel my fantasy.
Kyle’s been following most of the films with Oscar potential since late August, when he made his annual back-to-back trips to the Venice and Toronto film festivals. “By the end of those two weeks,” he said, “I will have seen all but a handful of the movies that are presumed to be Oscar contenders.”
At film festivals, he’ll see three or four movies a day while trying to attend some of the adjacent events. “While the parties are fun, you’re also going to the parties because you’re getting intel,” he said. What films have buzz? What’s the current state of Hollywood?
These festivals are big marketing opportunities for the movie industry. Kyle recalled that Lionsgate used to throw “orgiastic victory lap parties” for “The Hunger Games” each year at the Cannes Film Festival. “They would rent a gigantic chateau and outfit it to look like the Capitol,” he said, “and have people in absurd Elizabeth Banks wigs and cotton candy and chocolate fountains.”
As for things he’s watching for this week when the Academy announces its nominations, Kyle has his eye on the supporting actress category, for which there are many worthy contenders. Amy Madigan (“Weapons”) and Teyana Taylor (“One Battle After Another”) have each won big awards already for their performances. Will Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas from “Sentimental Value” get nominations? Perhaps multiple actresses from “Marty Supreme”? Then there’s Wunmi Mosaku from “Sinners,” and don’t count out Chase Infiniti (“One Battle After Another”): “Warner Brothers is campaigning her as a lead actress, but I think she’s going to get a lot of supporting votes,” Kyle said.
Kyle will be covering all the nomination action early on Thursday, which is also the first day of the Sundance Film Festival, “a true 10-car pileup on the freeway — to use a California metaphor — of things that require my attention,” he said. But he’s not complaining. Growing up, he said, the Oscars telecast “would offer me a portal into these worlds that I didn’t know anything about. It’s incredible to feel that I have gone through that portal.”
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China quietly mobilized thousands of fishing boats twice in recent weeks to form massive floating barriers at least 200 miles long — a show of Beijing’s power at sea, experts say. Last week, the formation was so dense that some approaching cargo ships had to zigzag through, ship-tracking data showed.
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CULTURE CALENDAR
📺 ⚔️ “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” (Sunday, HBO): Here’s another spinoff from the “Game of Thrones” universe, this one on a much smaller scale. The series follows Ser Duncan the Tall, an aspiring knight who goes by Dunk, and Egg, a wise 9-year-old who volunteers to be his squire. “The show, which marries a light comic tone with flashes of fierce violence and tragedy, quickly becomes as much about their relationship as Dunk’s travails,” writes Alex Marshall, who witnessed the show being filmed in Northern Ireland.
For more: Our critic gives it a good review, writing, “‘Game of Thrones’ could often be funny, but this is something else. It’s … fun?”
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Banana Crumb Muffins
The fragrant, almost caramel-like character of these easy banana crumb muffins, created for a baking contest at the 1997 Connecticut State Fair, comes from using bananas so overripe and speckly they’re nearly black. Ultra-moist on the inside, with a crunchy streusel topping, they’re a not-too-sweet treat that work perfectly as either breakfast or dessert.
The Hunt: After their children left for college, a couple wanted to trade their five-bedroom home in the suburbs of Helena, Mont., for something closer to downtown. What did they choose? Play our game.
What you get for $1 million: A midcentury-modern in Eugene, Ore., an 1884 farmhouse in McKinney, Texas, and an 1890 townhouse in Hudson, N.Y.
Create a cohesive feel for your home with a color palette inspired by a single item, like a favorite photo or lipstick.
LIVING
Vows: They became “vacation boyfriends” in Mexico. The rest is history.
Acting debut: This is how a travel writer became Timothée Chalamet’s pingpong nemesis in “Marty Supreme.”
Kitchen, kaput: Your favorite restaurant will close one day. What to do?
ADVICE FROM WIRECUTTER
The $5 workhorse you already have
You already know that a squirt of good dish soap and a great sponge can help scrub away a scorched pan’s crud or make stemware sparkle. But dish soap has uses far beyond the sink. I use a solution of dish soap and water to keep my induction cooktop pristine, wipe fingerprints off greasy cabinets and freshen grimy baseboards. Dish soap is also one of the best stain removers for mascara, lipstick and foundation — simply massage it into the stain before throwing the garment into the washing machine. We’ve found several other uses for this cleaning workhorse, but allow me to share my biggest “don’t”: Do not use dish soap in lieu of detergent in your dishwasher. If you do, prepare to mop up a whole lot of suds. — Andrea Barnes
GAME OF THE WEEK
Miami vs. Indiana, college football championship: It is so weird that Indiana is here. Not weird for this season, of course — the Hoosiers are No. 1, undefeated, favored by nine points in the title game. But it’s weird in the long run. Three years ago, Indiana was on a run of mediocre seasons, in keeping with its objectively mediocre history. College football is not a sport of plucky upstarts. The blue bloods recruit the best players; those players trample the little guys; the cycle continues.
Except Indiana broke the cycle. Head coach Curt Cignetti took over two years ago and sent the moribund program soaring. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy, has thrown more touchdowns (eight) than incompletions (five) in the playoffs. Indiana is one of the best teams in the country at scoring and at stopping opponents. They don’t turn the ball over. They don’t commit penalties. As Dan Lanning, Oregon’s head coach, said after Indiana thrashed his team in the semifinal: “There’s not a weakness in their game.”
Monday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
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