Toronto firms up the chances for several Oscar contenders
Welcome to the Gold Standard, the newsletter from the Los Angeles Times that helps guide you through the ins and outs of the awards season leading up to the Oscars.
I’m Glenn Whipp, The Times’ awards columnist and your newsletter host. I’ve spent the last few days covering the Toronto International Film Festival, watching an abundance of great movies and finding myself in serious need of a handkerchief. Filmmakers told stories that were deep, intimate and personal. You’ll be hearing a lot about some of them in the next few months, and I hope you find the time to see them.
Times film critic Justin Chang wrote a beautiful essay on “Moonlight,” a breathtaking, intimate coming-of-age story from indie filmmaker Barry Jenkins. It’s a movie that touches you to the core in its art and truth, and one I suspect will inspire a great deal of passion among awards voters.
Amy Adams had two movies playing in Toronto — the sci-fi drama “Arrival” and Tom Ford’s dark, nasty thriller “Nocturnal Animals.” Both films open in theaters in November. Could this be the year Adams, a five-time Oscar nominee, wins an Academy Award? I look at her Oscar history here. (I argue that she should have already won — twice.)
I also spoke with the great French actress Isabelle Huppert. She has never been nominated for an Oscar. That could change this year as she has two exceptional films in contention — “Elle” and “Things to Come.”
Elsewhere in Toronto, Times film writer Steven Zeitchik was as prolific as ever covering the “Birth of a Nation” non-news conference and the impressive presentation of scenes from the upcoming historical drama “Hidden Figures,” among other stories.
Our Mark Olsen was all over the indie scene. I love this interview he did with Christopher Guest, whose new movie, “Mascots,” premiered at Toronto. (Do not call it a mockumentary.)
And Amy Kaufman ran The Times video interviews. You can watch her talk with “La La Land” actor Ryan Gosling here as well as read Times staffer Rebecca Keegan’s feature on this deeply romantic musical set in Los Angeles. Times photographer Jay L. Clendenin’s studio gallery can be seen here.
And, if that’s not enough, here’s one handy link for all of The Times’ reporting from Toronto.
Emmys arrive on Sunday
Yes, Oscar season has started in earnest, but television’s big night is Sunday. You can refresh your memory on the nominations with our complete list of nominees and watch interviews with Emmy contenders and your favorite TV stars -- and on Emmy night, you can follow The Times’ complete coverage, all of that here.
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