Dear Gossips,
The American Film Institute (AFI) released its Top 10 of 2017 yesterday. We’ll discuss some of the entries through the day but in this space I want to once again spotlight The Big Sick, co-written by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V Gordon and, by alphabetical order, the first title to be named.
The AFI isn’t always the best predictor of Oscar but it’s a good way to stay in the conversation. And for months and months, Kumail and Emily have been working hard to stay in the conversation. (Here they are earlier this week in San Francisco at SFFILM’s 60th anniversary event.) They had to work hard to stay in the conversation as The Big Sick was released in the summer and it’s a romantic comedy and it’s a romantic comedy with a man of colour in the lead role, not typically what the Academy takes seriously during award season.
So it’s in good shape as we get closer to Monday. Monday is when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announces the Golden Globe nominations and, at this point, it would be considered a snub indeed if The Big Sick was not counted among the five nominees for Best Motion Picture Comedy/Musical. Kumail actually has a shot at a Best Actor Comedy/Musical nomination too, which feels good – a Pakistani-American man getting an acting nomination for playing a romantic lead, right? As Kumail said back in June when he was promoting the film around its release:
"I feel way more defined by my ethnicity now. If there's an ethnicity that is maligned and attacked and demonized ... I'm with you. I stand with you. Because it's unavoidable that people are seeing me a certain way, I kind of want to own it. I feel more Pakistani than I have in the last 10 years."
The Big Sick is now available for home viewing. If you haven’t already, and you’re staying home this weekend, getting caught up on the movies and the TV shows you’ve missed, I highly recommend. It’s a wonderful film. And it’s actually perfect for this time of year.
Have a great weekend!
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
