08 Dec AFI Top 10 is Released: The Best Picture Lineup Begins to Take Shape
Considering how early, the AFI awards occur in the season, their picks are ridiculously predictive. I personally think 7-8 films from the lineup below will be nominated (the misses being CODA and Tick, Tick…Boom).
Anyway, here are their picks.
AFI Movies of the Year
- “CODA” (Apple Original Films)
- “Don’t Look Up” (Netflix)
- “Dune” (Warner Bros.)
- “King Richard” (Warner Bros.)
- “Licorice Pizza” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
- “Nightmare Alley” (Searchlight Pictures)
- “The Power of the Dog” (Netflix)
- “Tick, Tick … Boom!” (Netflix)
- “The Tragedy of Macbeth” (Apple Original Films/A24)
- “West Side Story” (20th Century Studios)
AFI Television Programs of the Year
- “Hacks” (HBO Max)
- “Maid” (Netflix)
- “Mare of Easttown” (HBO)
- “Reservation Dogs” (FX)
- “Schmigadoon!” (Apple TV Plus)
- “Succession” (HBO)
- “Ted Lasso” (Apple TV Plus)
- “The Underground Railroad” (Prime Video)
- “WandaVision” (Disney Plus)
- “The White Lotus” (HBO)
AFI Special Award
- “Belfast” (Focus Features)
- “Squid Game” (Netflix)
- “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” (Searchlight Pictures)
The AFI Awards will take place on Jan. 7 in Los Angeles.
In past years, AFI has one of the best track records when it comes to predicting the Oscar nomination slate.
- 2021 – 6 of the 8 Oscar nominees received a nod from the AFI (Missed: Promising Young Woman and The Father)
- 2020 – 8 of 9 (Missed: Ford v Ferrari)
- 2019 – 6 of 8 (Missed: Vice and Bohemian Rhapsody)
- 2018 – 7 of 9 (Missed: Phantom Thread and Darkest Hour)
- 2017: 7 of 9 (Missed: Lion and Hidden Figures)
- 2016: 6 of 8 (Missed: The Revenant and Brooklyn)
(Note: The AFI Top 10 can only include American films but in 2020 and 2019, Parasite and Roma, respectively, won AFI Special Awards)
Here’s every film that did not make the AFI cut but received either a Golden Globe, SAG, Critics Choice, BAFTA, or National Board of Review nod on their way to becoming a Best Picture nominee.
- The Father – Nominated at BAFTA and at the Golden Globes
- Promising Young Woman – Nominated for Best Picture at Critics Choice. Also nominated by the Golden Globes, BAFTA, and the National Board of Review.
- Ford v Ferrari – Nominated for Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards and by the National Board of Review
- Vice – Nominated at both Golden Globes and Critics Choice
- Bohemian Rhapsody – Nominated at Golden Globes (won as well) and SAG
- Phantom Thread – Nominated by National Board of Review
- Darkest Hour – Nominated at BAFTA and at Critics Choice
- Lion – Nominated at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice
- Hidden Figures – Nominated at SAG (won as well) and picked by the NBR
- The Revenant – Nominated by Golden Globes (won as well), BAFTAs (won as well), and the Critics Choice Awards
- Brooklyn – Nominated at the Critics Choice Awards
So something like The Lost Daughter, which didn’t receive a NBR or AFI pick, will need a nod at at least one of these major awards bodies if it wants a chance at making it in to BP.