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Michael Cieply: Looking For A Viewer-Powered, Dog Days Oscar Hopeful
As often as not, the Dog Days of summer have delivered an audience-powered Oscar contender. But this year, not so much.
In one way or another, BlacKKKlansman, Dunkirk, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and Inception fit a Dog Day mold that was set by Saving Private Ryan back in 1998, and followed by pictures as varied as Inglourious Basterds and Little Miss Sunshine in the years that followed. Before the Covid lockdowns, this July-August pocket was a real thing, populated by well-attended, eventual Best Picture nominees, and plenty of interesting near-misses— The Butler, Blue Jasmine, Straight Outta Compton, and Eat Pray Love come to mind. Even audience pictures like Joker: Folie à Deux and Gladiator II will debut in a closely managed Oscar context, with promoters, handicappers and the massed media weighing in well before the average Joe has pre-paid online for a ( wow!)
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