It's making a stronger than expected critical showing, and popped up on the AFI list out of nowhere. I know I know there are lots of films like this every year that don't produce much, but still, we can dream.

I guess a sort of similar case would be The Savages, although that didn't come so late in the game/was slightly bigger, but it did produce an OS (expected) and Actress (considered a possibility early on but not really expected) nom.

Wendy and Lucy's possibilities would be in the same categories (assuming its original screenplay), which are both very, very crowded at the moment, especially Actress which seems to have more "indie" possibilities than the Academy knows what to do with.

It's unlikely to get anything, but at least it's something to sort of watch. I guess it will depend a lot on release strategy/campaigning.

At the moment:
RT: 86% 7.4
MC: 80 (only 1 100)
AFI Top 10
#11 on Critics Top 10 (Ahead of Frost/Nixon, Doubt, RR)

It might do well on the passion though. Female director/screenplay is a hot combo to reward in the screenplays cats and dog people love movies about dogs! (okay, I'm trying here)

...so it has no chance anywhere? Right

This thread failed on itself. Oh well, I'll post it anyways.

I'm not feeling it, particularly since even I can never remember A) That it exists, or B)What the hell it is.

Pretty much no chance. Too late.

No, there's just too much competition in the "really great film that 11 people have seen" category.

You see, snack, The Savages had two major things: Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. A previous winner and a previous two-time nominee and an actress who is generally seen as underrated and by now kinda overdue.

Also Wendy and Lucy is WAAAY too small. I think if enough people had seen it, it would have had a chance. But that didn't happen.

fine fine, but the AFI inclusion is still really odd for a film apparently no one has seen. Hmm.

Who knows why the AFI does what it does? Certainly not the AFI.

http://www.afi.com/tvevents/afiawards08/jury08.aspx

As long as one of these guys saw it and could convince others to vote, it's not that odd.

damn you and your ability to look things up!

Leonard Maltin's the chairman? That explains everything.

he does a really fantastic Movie Minute.

From what I hear, he can't even go a whole minute.

Wait...what?

Viagra can only do so much.

I would love for it to make it in somewhere (mostly a Best Actress nomination for Williams). It has been getting mentions in places. In the recent EW of the Best/Worst of 2008 Williams' performance was mentioned for best, and it made Lisa's top 10 list for the year.

Unfortunately it seems to be a little too late. Had it been by a bit bigger studio and seen by more people it would have had more of a chance. However, a DVD screener was recently released which could help things. I'm downloading it now. I can't wait to see the film and it will never open here. I'm sure it's one of the year's best.

It made two of the three Top 10 lists from New York Times critics: http://www.awardsdaily.com/?p=5129#comments

It also made Newsweek's David Ansen's top 10 list: http://www.awardsdaily.com/?p=5137#comments

There are films like this every year.

People stop associating Oscar with "the best films of the year". Oscar is about "sorta being the best films of the year with caviots"

The performance by Michelle Williams is likely better than any Best Actress nominee this year, but she's getting no attention for it.

It's really a shame that so few Academy members will have seen this in time. From the reaction it's getting I believe this definitely could have gotten at least an Oscar nomination for Williams. I wish it had come out sooner, and I wish it had had a bit bigger studio backing it.

All Academy members better watch their screener of this one A.S.A.P. I know it's unlikely but I really wish Michelle could score an Oscar nomination.

She could have I'm sure.

I doubt anyone gave a stronger performance this year.

Her performance is certainly my favorite female performance of the year, and my favorite performance of the year period, at least at this point. Everyone should at least download this movie.

Michelle Williams was fabulous so I'm crossing my fingers for a BA nod.

While a good film, I failed to see the insane praise it is getting... also Williams was good, but will easily be overlooked. Though I wouldn't be upset if she were nominated.

It depends on the person watching it. Some will find it more affective than others. This film is right up my alley. I love small character studies and am a big animal lover. Plus, I'm already a big Michelle Williams fan. I just found it to be really genuine and powerful and not at all pretentious. It's a small film with a simple plot but it really packs a punch, at least for me it did. I loved so much about it. This is how you make an indie film. I'm glad others have connected with it the same way I did, and I'd rather see gems like this getting attention over big budget Hollywood movies. There's certainly an outside chance, however slim, that Michelle could get an Oscar nomination. It's extremely unlikely, but this seems to have gained a passionate following and those who see it all seem to agree that her wonderful, understated turn is one of the year's best.

All I want from the damn Oscars this year is for Michelle to get a Best Actress nomination. Using the passion rating system that they do to decide the nominees there is actually a slight possibility. I have a feeling a lot of the people who have actually seen the film will put her performance in one of the top two spots in the Best Actress category, which could mean more than if a bunch of academy members were to put, say, Angelina Jolie for Changeling in the fifth spot. I believe Michelle in the first spot would be five points, but Angelina in the fifth slot would be just 1, is that correct? So this could really work in our favor (well, in the favor of the camp rooting for her to get nominated, which I’m a part of ), and suddenly the chances of her getting nominated don’t seem as grim. If her name is called on the morning of the Academy Award nominations I swear I’ll scream like a girl. It will make my entire year! If she’s not, I’ll probably be depressed for the rest of the day . Oscar nominations always bring surprises, some good and some bad, and the only surprise I care about is her getting nominated. And her performance has a lot of passionate followers, so I wouldn’t completely count her out yet.

New York Times critics just posted their best lists and Wendy & Lucy showed up a few times. Both A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis put it for Best Director and Best Actress. All of these mentions are encouraging.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/movies/a...n/04oscars.html

i think only Michelle deserves a nomination of some kind.

the movie itself is borderline average.

I disagree with that, but only really have a need for her to be nominated.