The Oscar-winning director Ang Lee has a knack for adapting acclaimed books using innovative new technology, but what worked for him with Life of Pi hasn’t translated here. Most critics at the New York Film Festival premiere found Billy Lynn’s high 120-FPS frame rate to be enormously distracting, and reviews of the postwar drama were mixed. Will Lee continue to push the high-frame-rate version, or will he now course-correct with a more conventional 24-FPS look?

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Moonlight

The expanded Best Picture field often makes room for at least one little movie that could, and this poetic story about a gay black man’s coming of age feels like it could be the one voters root for. As long as A24 can get it in front of enough people, Moonlight has a strong shot: The art is undeniable, and the story’s thoughtful probing of identity gives it real weight. It matters, and that matters to the Academy.