TIFF Update: ‘La La Land’ Wins Audience Award

The Toronto International Film Festival wrapped up this Sunday, and, to the surprise of no one, Damien Chazelle’s La La Land took home the Audience Choice Award. With this announcement, I have never been more confident that my early prediction has weight, and La La Land will ride this vital award’s merit to box office success and, more importantly, the Oscar.

The first runner up for the prize was Lion, the Weinstein Company’s newest Oscar contender. This was where last year’s Oscar winner Spotlight ended up, so Lion may be in a good position come January. Meanwhile, the second runner up was Disney’s Queen of Katwe, which doesn’t seem like an Oscar contender, but should be a box office smash.

Meanwhile, the Midnight Madness Award went to Ben Wheatley’s comical action-thriller Free Fire, which should end up being a piece of mindless bliss during the terrible January-April months. And the Platform Prize, a juried award for artsier films, went to Pablo Larraín’s Jackie, which is starting to prove itself as a potential Oscar breakout.

These results have already had an effect on my Oscar predictions, which I will be updating soon. I’ll be writing about that soon, but until then you can enjoy the news that we have so many great films coming in the next four months.

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