'Fruitvale Station' is, as expected, generating huge Oscars buzz.
The Weinstein Company's hard-hitting drama Fruitvale Station starring The Wire's Michael B. Jordan has seen its odds slashed to just 14/1 to win Best Picture at the Oscars in 2014. After slew of positive reviews and a box office taking of almost $54,000 per screen on a limited release, Ryan Coogler's retelling of the shooting of Oscar Grant on New Year's Day in creating massive buzz.
The movie won the prestigious Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, with Sundance jury member Tom Rothman telling Coogler, "This will not be the last time you guys walk to a podium," according to the Los Angeles Times.
It's likely that Fruitvale Station will collect more honors as the year goes on, though can it maintain the momentum until next February and peep its head above Oscar bait movies The Wolf of Wall Street, August: Osage County, The Monuments Men, Captain Phillips and American Hustle? That's not to mention the likes of Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis, Gravity, 12 Years A Slave, The Counselor, Out Of The Furnace, Fox Catcher and the excellent Before Midnight. It's a huge ask and one that this writer believes may well be out of reach.
It should clean up at the smaller independent movie awards, though in terms of the Golden Globes and Oscars it may go the same way as 2012 hopeful Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Watch the Fruitvale Station trailer:
For now, Harvey Weinstein will do his utmost to ensure Fruitvale Station has every chance of being in the mixer next January and February. He shelled out $2 million for the gritty flick and clearly, he's not want to throw away his cash.
See all our pictures from the Fruitvale Station photocall at the Cannes Film Festival.
Ryan Coogler, Director of Fruitvale Station At Cannes
Melonie Diaz, At Cannes Film Festival
Octavia Spencer [L], Michael B. Jordan, Ryan Coogler and Melonie Diaz [R], The Cast of Fruitvale At The Cannes Film Festival
Wakanda is one of Africa's biggest nations, it's still a third world country but it's...
While this film is basically Rocky VII, it's also much more than that, and perhaps...
The world of professional boxing is one that often doesn't end well even though Rocky...
Until the special effects take over in the final act, this is an unusually gritty,...
Adonis Johnson Creed is the son of legendary boxer Apollo Creed, who died fighting in...
After years of work and millions of dollars in funding, Dr. Storm has come up...
A teleportation experiment malfunctions, leaving four young scientists undoubtable irrecoverably changed. With the steady manifestation...
With his debut feature, writer-director Ryan Coogler recreates a real-life event with remarkable artistry. Even...
Even a strongly likeable cast can't breathe life into this ill-conceived film, which poses as...
If there's no clear cut message between two people who like other, nobody knows where...
Oscar Grant is a 22-year-old living in the San Francisco Bay Area who hasn't lived...
In the height of World War II, the American Army have devised an experimental training...