Oscar Watch: Jackie (2016)

After a slight hiatus from the big screen, Natalie Portman has returned with the biopic Jackie about First Lady Jackie Kennedy and depicts the events after her husband's assassination. Critics have been saying that this is her best performance since Black Swan which won her a Best Actress Oscar. Judging by this trailer, it looks like she could very well be in the hunt for another Oscar to keep the one she has company.

This trailer looks absolutely mesmerizing and I think it could nearly be a sure bet for a Cinematography nomination for Stephane Fontaine who was behind the lens of the underrated 2012 film Rust and Bone. I also love the harmonious score. After getting rather overlooked for Under The Skin, composer Mica Levi could find herself in the hunt for a Score nomination. So the film will likely be more than an inevitable Best Actress play for Natalie Portman and perhaps even make it in Best Picture. The film looks to rest entirely on her shoulders so to recognize the performance is to recognize the film as well. Lastly, there is director Pablo Larrain to watch out for because he's not only got this film coming out but Neruda which has just been selected to represent Chile for Best Foreign Language Film.

When I was watching the trailer, I did get vibes of the teaser for Carol which had a similar look and a similarly-styled score and coincidentally enough is a female-driven period piece. Even the scene of Jackie observing the huge crowd while she is sitting in the limousine provides shades of the scene in Carol where Therese is looking through the window while she's in the car with Carol and the camera just keeps lingering on her face. The plots on both films are very different but despite having a similar aesthetic, I'm still very ecstatic about this. I'm as excited about this as I was when I first saw the Carol teaser and when that came out, I was out of words about how beautiful it looked.

But what do you guys think? Do you think it looks like a legitimate Oscar contender and do you think it looks like a great film in general? Please be sure to write your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!