‘Logan’ Is The First Academy Screener In The Mail As The Oscar Race Turns The Corner

It doesn’t usually affect the Oscar race much, but the first screener has been officially sent to Academy members and it’s James Mangold’s “Logan.”

The final “X-Men” film with Hugh Jackman playing the popular Marvel character for the last time earned a massive $616 million worldwide (substantially more than its predecessors “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” or “The Wolverine”) and found critical kudos signified by a 77 grade on Metacritic and a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. Mangold’s R-rated thriller centered on the last days of the self-healing mutant was slightly overhyped, but featured impressive performances by both Jackman and Patrick Stewart who also stepped into Professor Xavier’s chair for the final time (maybe). 20th Century Fox believes they have a chance at a Supporting Actor nod for Stewart, but are placing their Best Actor bets on Jackman with his Christmas release, “The Greatest Showman.” 

READ MORE: There Are No Frontrunners Yet, So Here’s Some Unsolicited Oscar Advice For Hollywood

Look for a podcast interview with Stewart over the next few weeks on The Playlist.

Outside of the reactions from Venice, Telluride and TIFF, it’s worth noting some of the other awards season announcements that have broke over the past few days.

Nicole Kidman and Edward Lachman will receive tributes at the 2017 Gotham Awards in November.  The annual indie gala will salute Kidman who has delivered accomplished performances this year in Sofia Coppola’s “The Beguiled” and Yorgis Lanthimos’ “Killing of a Sacred Deer.”  She’s also a nominee as both an actress and producer for “Big Little Lies” at the Emmy Awards this Sunday.  Lachman was just honored with the Telluride Film Festival’s Silver Medallion earlier this month.  The legendary cinematographer is potential Best Cinematography nominee for Todd Haynes’ “Wonderstruck.”

Amy Adams doesn’t have any horse in this year’s awards race (at least not that we know of), but she’ll be honored with the 31st American Cinematheque Award at the Los Angeles based organization’s annual fundraising gala on Nov. 10th.  Previous honorees include Ridley Scott, Matthew McConaughey, Matt Damon, Nicole Kidman, Eddie Murphy, Bette Midler, Julia Roberts, George Clooney and the aforementioned Kidman.

For more on the current state of the Oscar race check out my Unsolicited Advice feature.