Will Black Panther roar its way to next year's Oscars?

Every Monday, CBC Arts runs down the latest arts and culture news on State of the Arts, a live chat between our very own Amanda Parris and Peter Knegt.

For our latest edition, Amanda and Peter talk about the 10th anniversary of one of the greatest TV shows of all time, The Wire, weigh in on Janelle Monáe's new sonic salute to Prince (and perhaps a new anthem for bisexuality) "Make Me Feel" and wrap up awards season with a rundown of last night's Canadian Screen Awards and a look ahead to — yep — next year (sorry).

From Black Panther's chances to anticipation for new work from Steve McQueen, Alfonso Cuarón and Barry Jenkins, check out what Peter and Amanda are hoping for in the above video, or skip below to read a little summary of each of their picks.

Amanda's Picks

Black Panther
Director: Ryan Coogler
Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis
Release Date: It's currently screening pretty much everywhere.
Why? "Black Panther is currently dominating the world and I'm curious as to whether this global cultural phenomenon will be able to maintain momentum into awards season and infiltrate these hallowed halls in a way that no other superhero movie before it has done. The Dark Knight got close. Black Panther may be able to take it all the way."

Widows
Director: Steve McQueen
Cast: Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, André Holland, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, Daniel Kaluuya, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Carrie Coon, Brian Tyree Henry
Release Date: November 16th
Why? "Widows is just a super star combination of talent behind and in front of the camera. Whenever that happens, it's either a spectacular disappoint or a delicious success. In the hands of Steve McQueen, I'd put my money on the latter."

Sorry To Bother You
Director: Boots Riley
Cast: Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler, Omari Hardwick, Terry Crews, Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Danny Glover, Steven Yeun, Armie Hammer
Release Date: July 6th
Why? "This is another cast of fascinating characters combined with a recently released trailer that teases a brilliantly bananas film. It seems to promise something fresh and exciting, and in the year of revivals and remakes, I'm all for fresh and exciting."

Peter's picks: 

Boy Erased & Beautiful Boy
Directors: Joel Edgerton (Erased); Felix Van Groeningen (Beautiful)
Cast: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Joel Edgerton, Xavier Dolan, Cherry Jones, Troy Sivan (Erased); Steve Carell, Timothée Chalamet, Maura Tierney, Amy Ryan, Kaitlyn Dever, Andre Royo (Beautiful)
Release Dates: September 28th (Erased); October 12th (Beautiful)
Why? "I'm cheating here, but what else do you do when you equally anticipate two films with Boy in the title that are each adaptations of extraordinary memoirs (Erased about gay conversion therapy, Beautiful about meth addiction), each star one of the most talented young actors around and each are being released within a few weeks of each other? Bring on the battle of the Boys, and bring on the return of Lucas Hedges and Timothée Chalamet to awards season."

Roma
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Cast: Marina de Tavira, Daniela Demesa, Marco Graf, Yalitza Aparicio
Release Date: Fall TBD
Why? "We've been waiting for Cuarón's follow-up to 2015's Gravity (which won him a best director Oscar), and it seems this is the year that the wait will be over. The filmmaker is going back to his roots with his Spanish language follow-up, which chronicles a year in the life of a middle class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s. Cuarón hasn't worked on this small scale since 2001's magical Y Tu Mamá También, and I could not be more ready for it."

If Beale Street Could Talk
Director: Barry Jenkins
Cast: Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Teyonah Parris, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Brian Tyree Henry, Dave Franco, Diego Luna
Release Date: Fall TBD
Why? "Two years after Moonlight, Barry Jenkins is back, reassembling that film's remarkable team (James Laxton is back as a DP, Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders as editors) to adapt the legendary James Baldwin's 1974 novel about Tish and Fonny, a young couple in Harlem grappling with their lives after a racist cop falsely accuses Fonny of rape. Given the source material and the folks involved, it's hard to imagine this not being a major player come Oscar season 2019."

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