On the surface, last weekend’s two-day, three-show sweep for “Anora” appeared an unlikely surge for a film that had been losing momentum as an Oscar favorite.
In reality, though, what happened is probably less of a case of “Anora” rallying than it is a simple matter of Oscar watchers learning more about what voters have probably been thinking all along.
The lesson began on Friday evening at about 6:55 p.m. With one award left to go at the Critics Choice Awards, “Anora” seemed to be about fourth or fifth on the list of likely Best Picture winners. It had gone 0-for-5 at the Golden Globes in early January and had gone 0-for-6 with Critics Choice voters going into the final award of the night – and not only had “Wicked” director Jon M.