2016 Venice Film Festival: Denis Villeneuve and Amy Adams' Arrival Lands

A few mixed, B-esque reviews don't seem to be stopping an otherwise positive reaction to Denis Villeneuve and Amy Adams' latest Arrival. It looks like Arrival is a smart sci-fi thriller with great effects, and particularly a great performance from Amy Adams. She has had so many damn Oscar nominations with no wins, it is beyond ridiculous. Then there is Villeneuve, who saw his last two films, Prisoners and Sicario, get technical awards, but not the top ones. Can this dynamic duo breakthrough into top categories? The answer is: of course. This is the type of film that has actually done well with the Academy in recent years. The big question mark is Passengers. Can the two compete and both get big nods? Of course a lot depends on how the latter turns out, but recent history has suggested that the Academy is now open to a more genre diverse set of nominees, and Arrival could benefit from this move.