Los Angeles, Venice, Toronto, New York, London. In just half a month, Lan Li's figure has been running back and forth over the Atlantic Ocean, and the continuous long-distance flight has officially opened the curtain of the 2014 awards season, but obviously, there are more important things to deal with for Lan Li than the awards season.

As the Blue Rites continue to cross the Atlantic, the Venice and Toronto film festivals have come to an end, followed by the Telluride Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, the London Film Festival, and so on, and the excitement of another awards season is already rolling in eagerly – of course, although the awards are not the most important, they are still worth watching, as these works are likely to be the first seeds of the awards season.

The first is the Venice Film Festival.

The Swedish film "The Silent Branches" won the Golden Lion, and the Indonesian documentary "Silent Image" won the Grand Jury Prize, and the latter became the top prize of the critic's Fipresci Award.

However, it was a slight surprise that after the success of Venice, "Silent Image" was unable to find a distributor, which also prevented the work from being released in North America, unfortunately missing the deadline for the 87th Oscars, and was successfully released the following year, was archived in the 2015 awards season, and finally won the nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the 88th Academy Awards.

The details about the "Silent Image" are later tidbits, and the side also proves one thing again: Venice's ability to sell films is still weak after all, not to mention Cannes, and even compared with Berlin, it also seems weak, which also means that Venice's situation is even more difficult than imagined.

The eyes are back in Venice, and the awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay and other awards have also found their respective winners, and the most popular actor and actress awards are a little unexpected, and the Italian-American co-produced production of the work "Hungry Heart" selected by Italy won the two trophies for Best Actor and Best Actress.

The famous Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher won the Venice Actress trophy for the third time, and this is the first time she has reached the top of the main competition, which can be described as an important breakthrough.

American actor Adam Derliver defeated favourite Jake Gyllenhaal to take the Best Actor trophy – he previously performed "Drunken Country Balk" with Lan Li, and later rose to the top of the mainstream hit cast cast for his role as the villain of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens".

This is also seen as "yet another" endorsement of homegrown films by the Venice Film Festival, otherwise, Jake Gyllenhaal's odds of winning should be higher.

The horizon unit, which was originally almost unnoticed, also attracted a lot of attention this year because of the existence of Lan Li, and finally several excellent works emerged-

The two works "God Knows" and "Shib", which are also in the Horizon section, both fought their way out, the former topped the Tokyo Film Festival two months later, winning the Grand Prix and Best Director trophies, and the latter landed in the North American market the following year after going around and around, and was well received, entering the year-end awards season in one fell swoop, and finally ranked among the top five nominees for Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, which is almost the same as the development trajectory of "Silent Image".

This also illustrates a problem, leaving aside the awards season and the Oscars for the time being, Venice can also find excellent works, in the vast film soil of the world, Cannes cannot be all at once, Berlin and Venice as the world's top film festivals, still have a strong attraction, excellent works still exist; the question is, how should Venice be positioned, and how should the main competition unit choose works? This is the core focus.

Outside of "God Knows" and "Hib", "Burst Drummer" is undoubtedly the best and hottest entry in this year's Horizon unit, and finally managed to win the top award in the Horizon unit, and after all, he still didn't go home empty-handed.

Then came the Toronto Film Festival.

Among the People's Choice Awards, Weinstein Pictures' biographical film "The Simulation Game" became the biggest winner, topping Toronto with a lot of acclaim - becoming the first work of the People's Choice Awards, which also added the most important weight to the film's Oscar journey, and at the same time, the actor Benedict Cumberbatch also became the top seed for the Oscar in one fell swoop.

The heavy-handed Weinstein brothers once again grasped the lifeblood of the awards season and won the first battle.

Theodore-Melfi, an unsung independent director by film who has been in the industry for more than a decade, made his directorial debut "St. Vincent" to critical acclaim and made a name for himself at the Toronto Film Festival.

The film gathered a series of big-name actors such as Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy, Naomi Watts, etc., which shows Tealdo's excellent connections in the industry, and finally won the second place in the Toronto People's Choice Award, and it has also become an important seed player in this year's awards season, just like "Juno" and "Little Sunshine Beauty" of the year, such light comedies can always find a market, depending on how it works next.

Incidentally, "St. Victor" was produced and distributed by Weinstein Pictures itself, while "The Imitation Game" was produced by a small independent film company, with Weinstein Pictures buying the North American distribution rights and the Weinstein brothers once again going on a buying spree ahead of the awards season.

Then, the third place in the People's Choice Award was awarded to — or rather "Burst Drumman."

The controversial production still managed to fight its way through the cracks and won the hearts of many audiences, while Lan Li's performance once again received numerous accolades, largely continuing the momentum of the Sundance Film Festival at the beginning of the year, reinforcing the confidence that the film should have a place in the awards season.

But there is still uncertainty behind the joy.

"The Imitation Game" is the Oscar's favorite celebrity biographies, "Saint Vincent" is a light comedy that completes self-redemption in frustration like "Little Sunshine Beauty", and seems sad but actually conveys positive energy, and is also the darling of the awards season, while "Burst Drummer" is extreme and dark, and in addition to the artistic pursuit posture of not going crazy and not living, it also criticizes the mainstream lifestyle, which is undoubtedly not the fanatical style and type of the college judges.

From Sundance at the beginning of the year, to Venice not long ago, to Toronto, which has just ended, "Burst Drummer" has reaped praise after stubble, but the overall momentum has never exploded, and the influence of theme and style is always unclear, whether it can be completely lively during the awards season, or uncertain.

Even in Toronto, "Burst Drummer" only won the third place in the end - many industry insiders believe that this is the popularity of the Blue Rite ticket in play, after all, this is the People's Choice Award, the influence of the Blue Rite cannot be ignored, if it were not for the Blue Ceremony, then the third place should be the musical biographical film "Love and Mercy".

What's more, the Toronto Film Festival's weather vane is more concentrated in the People's Choice Awards, limited to the first place, and although the festival also lists the second and third places, the impact of the awards season is really minimal, which further adds uncertainty to the prospects of the awards season for the "Burst Drummer".

Either way, it's safe to assume that the name "Popping Drummer" has been seeded in the first cohort of the 2014 awards season, and the rest of the season is set to be lively.

It is worth mentioning that "Interstellar", which is still being released, has also been included in the scope of the awards season discussion, not the best picture but the best actor -

Isn't Lan Li's brilliant performance worthy of a name?

The "Chicago Sun" even mentioned early that Lan Li's two scenes in "Interstellar" can be called the best of the year, one scene is Cooper's farewell to Murphy and decides to go on a space mission, Lan Li's delicate and profound performance left a deep impression, and the other scene is the eyes of the end of the whole movie, which fully improves the quality of the film to a higher level, comparable to the last scene of "Love is Crazy" that year, and deserves a standing ovation.

Not only the Chicago Sun, but also authoritative magazines such as The New Yorker, The Hollywood Reporter and Empire have expressed similar views, and they all agree that although "Interstellar" is a commercial film, Lan Li's performance does deserve to be included in the top 10 of the year.

So, whether "Interstellar" is worthy of an Oscar nomination for the time being, but at least it should have a place in the awards season.

It's only the beginning of the awards season, and the seeded contestants haven't finished their debut, but the attention won by "Interstellar" has faintly ranked among the forefront, coupled with the reputation of "Burst Drummer", which also makes many film critics sigh that after the chaos and turmoil of the awards season at the beginning of the year, now Lanli has completely gained a foothold in the industry, and even further entered a higher field -

"Isn't Lan Li another Meryl Streep?"

Many people in the industry have muttered and sighed, it is not Tom Hanks, nor Marlon Brando, but Meryl Streep.

Because Meryl is one of the few actors who can take a place in the awards season with commercial films, and continue to break records.

Just after the turn of the millennium, commercial films such as "Queen Wears Prada", "Mamma Mia", "Love is Complicated", "Big Hope Hot Springs" and "Enchanted Black Forest" have all earned her a place in the awards season, and she can even reach the Oscar stage, be nominated and write history.

This ability is also one of the few in the whole Hollywood, when Meryl has such a reputation, as long as she starred in the works, her acting skills are guaranteed, and there will be no mistakes, which is why she is nicknamed "cancer", and now, Lan Li also faintly has such a momentum!