I know you all got sick and tired of me talking about awards. But straight after the Oscars happen, award pundits rev up their early predictions. So here's a general list of every movie that has general awards buzz. It's not every movie, but it's a lot of the bigger ones.

I'll link a trailer if there is one (or if there is footage), and I'll put the director and what it's about briefly.

Armageddon Time dir. James Grey (autobiographical drama)

Asteroid City dir. Wes Anderson (romantic dramedy ensemble)

Avatar 2 dir. James Cameron

Babylon dir. Damien Chazelle (Hollywood transitioning from silent to sound loosely based on Hollywood Babylon)

The Banshees of Insherin dir. Martin McDonaugh (Irish friends break up)

Bardo (or False Chronicle of Handful of Truths) dir. Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu (Mexican history recreated)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever dir. Ryan Coogler

Blonde dir. Andrew Dominik (Marilyn Monroe dark and twisted biopic)

Bones and All dir. Luca Guadagnino (coming of age romance horror)

Broker dir. Hirokazu Koreeda (family road drama)

Canterbury Glass dir. David O. Russell (period piece comedy)

Cha Cha Real Smooth dir. Cooper Raiff (coming-of-age)

Decision to Leave dir. Park Chan-wook (neo-noir)

Disappointment Blvd dir. Ari Aster

Don't Worry Darling dir. Olivia Wilde (social thriller)

Elvis dir. Baz Luhrmann (Elvis biopic)

Emancipation dir. Antoine Fuqua (slave drama)

Empire of Light dir. Sam Mendes (romantic-drama period piece)

Everything Everywhere All At Once dir. Daniels (action-comedy multiverse of madness)

The Fabelmans dir. Steven Spielberg (autobiographical drama)

The Greatest Beer Run Ever dir. Peter Farrrelly (Vietnam war drama)

The Holdovers dir Alexander Payne (dramedy)

I Wanna Dance With Somebody dir. Kasi Lemmons (Whitney Houston biopic)

The Killer dir. David Fincher (based on the graphic novel)

Killers of the Flower Moon dir. Martin Scorsese (western)

Knives Out 2 dir. Rian Johnson

Next Goal Wins dir. Taika Waititi (sports dramedy)

Nope dir. Jordan Peele (aliens invade)

The Northman dir. Robert Eggers

Poor Things dir. Yorgos Lanthimos (woman changes brains with a baby)

Rustin dir. George C. Wolfe (Bayard Rustin biopic)

She Said dir. Maria Schrader (journalists who uncovered the Weinstein story)

The Son dir. Florian Zeller (based on his play)

Thirteen Lives dir. Ron Howard (based on the rescue mission in Thailand)

Three Thousand Years of Longing dir. George Miller

Till dir. Chinonye Chukwu (seeking justice for Emmett Till)

TÁR dir. Todd Field (German pianist)

The Whale dir. Darren Aronofsky (based on the play, 400 pound man struggles to connect with his daughter)

White Noise dir. Noah Baumbach (based on the novel, college professor existential crisis)

The Woman King dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood (historical epic)

Women Talking dir. Sarah Polley (based on the novel)

You People dir. Kenya Barris (dramedy)

I recently made a post saying what movies I currently am predicting to get Oscar nominations and someone commented that they use awards as a way to watch more interesting movies. So I thought I would make a list for you guys of all the movies that currently have (or had) buzz. Maybe you’ll want to check some of these out, maybe you’ll be introduced to some movies you haven’t even heard of from the past year.

I will be giving two lists. The first is for movies that still do have buzz, and the second is for movies who’s buzz died off at some point in the year. In the first list I put parentheticals for films who have more specific buzz, and left solely the titles for films that have buzz for a lot of categories. I’ve also linked the trailer to each film.

Just a little fyi, this list is from movies that released March 2021 - December 2021. This past Oscar season had the deadline extend to February 2021.

Movies that still have buzz:
Being the Ricardos
Belfast
Belle (animated feature)
CODA (Picture, Adapted Screenplay)
Cruella (Costumes, Hair & Makeup, and Original Song)
Cyrano
C’mon C’mon (Picture, Original Screenplay, Lead Actor, Cinematography)
Don’t Look Up
Dune
Encanto (animated feature)
Flee (documentary, animated feature, international film)
House of Gucci
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Luca (animated feature)
Mass (supporting actress)
Nightmare Alley
No Time To Die (original song, sound, VFX, cinematography)
Parallel Mothers (Lead Actress, International Feature)
Passing (supporting actress)
Raya and the Last Dragon (animated feature)
Red Rocket (Lead Actor)
Respect (Lead Actress)
Spencer (Picture, Lead Actress, Original Score, Costumes)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Lead Actress, Hair & Makeup).
The French Dispatch (original score, cinematography, hair & makeup)
The Hand of God (international feature, Director, Original Screenplay)
The Harder They Fall (original song)
The Last Duel
The Lost Daughter (Picture, Lead Actress, Adapted Screenplay)
The Mitchell’s vs the Machines (animated feature)
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Tick... Tick... Boom!
West Side Story

Movies that used to have buzz:

A Journal for Jordan
Blue Bayou
Bruised
Cry Macho
Dear Evan Hansen
Eternals
In The Heights
Last Night in Soho
Stillwater
Swan Song
The Card Counter
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
The Green Knight
The Humans
The Many Saints of Newark
The Tender Bar
Zola

Yeah, so I know there's about a week and a half left in Black History Month (which is in February here, for the non-US and I believe Canada folks who didn't know), and this rec list is therefore super late, but I've been watching some movies that were historically significant in terms of breaking racial barriers at mainstream award shows like the Oscars and in film production at large, were pioneers in getting films from African nations famous and acclaimed worldwide, or just generally covered racial issues of their times in significant or compelling ways, and thought I'd post the watchlist here in case anyone was interested. So I guess either binge all these in the coming week and a half, keep this as a guide for next year, watch any of the ones that interest you past February, or save it for October, which is when I understand Black History Month takes place in the UK.

• Within Our Gates (1920) - The first movie by an African American director to have a still surviving print.
• Eleven P.M. (1928) - A silent era film led by a mostly black cast and directed by enigmatic little known African American director Richard Maurice. An absolutely bizarre surrealist melodrama.
• Cry, The Beloved Country (1951) - This film examining the effects of apartheid in South Africa actually filmed almost entirely in segregated South Africa, possibly making it the first major film to do so.
• The Defiant Ones (1958) - Sidney Poitier was the first black man to be nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars for his role in this film. Details the story of two escaped convicts, a white man and a black man, becoming friends, with more nuance and layering than its premise and time period might suggest.
• One Potato, Two Potato (1964) - One of the first, and possibly the first, films to deal with interracial marriage in a serious manner. Predates Guess Who's Coming to Dinner by 3 years.
• Nothing But a Man (1964) - Realistic depiction of life in a racist society, consisting of a constant soul-crushing barrage of minor aggressions instead of huge explosions of hate. Selected for preservation in the Library of Congress and considered to be an important example of neorealism.
• Black Girl (1966) - One of the first African films by an African filmmaker to receive international attention and acclaim. Shows the lasting damage and effects of colonialism both in the colonized country and the lives of those displaced as a result of it.
• In the Heat of the Night (1967) - Tackled racial tensions in the South in the midst of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) - One of the few films of the time depicting interracial marriage in a positive light and a serious way. Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
• Black Panthers (1968) - Documents a small but significant moment in the history of the fight against racism in the US, the Free Huey movement championed by the Black Panthers.
• Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971) - Considered an important film in the history of African American cinema, and credited as one of the pioneers of the blaxploitation genre.
• She's Gotta Have It (1986) - The debut film of famed director Spike Lee, an ahead of its time depiction of polyamory and female independence, it showed Brooklyn's black community in a light that drew media attention and focus to its artists and musicians following its release.
• Daughters of the Dust (1991) - The first by an African American woman to gain a general theatrical release (in 1991!). Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
• Malcolm X (1992) - A biopic of civil rights leader Malcolm X, also directed by Spike Lee. Selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
• Girlhood (2014) - The film discusses and challenges conceptions of race, gender and class; Sciamma's goal was to capture the stories of black teenagers, characters she claims are generally underdeveloped in French films.
• Moonlight (2016) - Barry Jenkins' meditation on black sense of masculinity and the struggles of LGBT members in the contemporary American black community became the first film with an all-black cast to win Best Picture at the Oscars.
• Get Out (2017) - With this film exploring the exploitative horror of the modern white liberal brand of racism, Jordan Peele became the first black writer to win the Best Original Screenplay category at the Oscars, as well as the first to earn a Best Director nomination and a Best Picture nomination for a debut film.
• The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) - A film that explores the gentrification of San Francisco and the struggles in personal identity that arise from it.

I'd love to hear any feedback on the list or if you're gonna watch anything from it, and suggestions for any movies to add to it, especially between the 20s and 50s and the 90s and 00s, since those are especially massive gaps in my knowledge.

Quick intro: My personal problem with Reddit's movie sub is with its narrow perspective on films. I know it might sound elitist, but I just found most of the discussions to be circlejerks or full of references/memes done to death. The anti-theater Netflix-can-do-no-wrong attitude is confusing at best (considering the overwhelming love for Nolan/PTA/Taratino who are championing the analog film experience). /r/truefilm is full of insightful writing but it's not exactly a welcoming place for newbie cinephiles who got into films via MCU, Star Wars, or other blockbuster franchises. Don't get me wrong, I visit both subs everyday, but I kind of wish there's a balance: A place where you can have both casual discussions about high-brow cinema AND in-depth essays about comedy with dick jokes.

Hence why I am writing this while ~movies is still fresh (hopefully I am adding something of value and not come off too rambly). Now of course I could just start a post asking for foreign film recommendations, but I just don't find those post to go anywhere, they usually just end up with people listing out films without any thought or explanation. Cinema is about your personal experience in relations to what you see on screen, and I think we are doing ourselves a disservice if we watch something and just shrug it off as "it's great you should watch it" or "it sucks". So putting money where my mouth is, here are some recommendations for non-english films. Sorry for the long set-up, but I hope this encourages a dialogue, even if you disagree with the above or my recommendations.

ANYWAY. I settled on 6 because I didn't want it to a Top-5 list and 4 seems too short. 6 just feels right. Cannes just ended and I feel like it's a good time to start talking about the directors of this year's festival as their newest films will be available in the near future. So in no particular order, here are six quality films from the directors of this year's Cannes:

1. "Mountains May Depart" (2015) - Jia Zhangke
   An ambitious piece of work that spans 25 years with an intro that goes for about an hour before the title card. Even if you don't like the film, the confidence of Jia Zhangke is in full display here.
2. "Secret Sunshine" (2007) - Lee Chang-dong
   If Lars Von Trier films aren't realistic enough for you, here's a good one to kickstart your misery. After I finished watching it for the first time, I had to go for a walk and ended up wandering the city for 3 hours. It affected me in such a meaningful way. Surprising funny, if you can see the irony in it.
3. "Ida" (2013) - Pawel Pawlikowski
   The cinematography! The framing in this movie is incredible, as if Ida is having a silent ever-going conversation with God. Not to mention the beautiful black and white!
4. "A Separation" (2011) - Asghar Farhadi
   It was my first Farhadi film, and I quickly went on a hunt for all other Farhadi films right after. The writing grips you and really puts you in the place of all the characters. I could recommendation any other of his films, but to me, A Separation is perfect writing and a must-watch for any screenwriters.
5. "Nobody Knows" (2004) - Hirokazu Kore-eda
   Heartbreaking. You know how the characters will end up (spoiler: not a good place) but you can't look away. I'm glad Kore-eda won Palme d'Or. Can't wait for his new one!
6. "Vivre sa vie" (1962) - Jean-Luc Godard
   The only film pre-2000 on my list, but it's a film that feels quite modern. I've always felt that "Vivre sa vie" should be everyone's first Godard film instead of, say, "Breathless". It's the most coherent and it's a easy watch. It's a good starter movie before you take a deep dive into Godard's filmography (his work ranges from groundbreaking to borderline unwatchable IMO).