As he got to filming his new movie A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg realized that he and his co-star, Kieran Culkin, didn’t exactly work the same way. Eisenberg was embarking on his second feature as a director, and the first in which he would also act; Culkin was playing his first role since wrapping a four-season run on HBO’s Succession, fresh off that creative high. Eisenberg had spent months working on a shot list for their expansive Poland shoot with cinematographer Michal Dymek (EO). He’d exactingly planned out each scene’s marks and blocking. A lot of that ended up scrapped. “Kieran is an unusual actor—he works really, really well as a spontaneous performer,” Eisenberg says.
“On Succession we’d do the whole scene maybe seven or eight times, and then that was it. This was set-up 12 and take 40-something. I’m like, ‘What is this?’” Culkin adds with a laugh. “I felt like I was just making a fuss of nothing. He put me in the left seat and I’m like, ‘Why’d you choose that for me?’ I was just being obnoxious.’”
Listening to Culkin and Eisenberg helps explain their exceptionally prickly chemistry in A Real Pain, which premieres at Sundance on Saturday. The pair give some of their most nuanced, funny screen performances to date as cousins at very different stages in their lives who travel to Poland together to honor the memory of their late grandmother. They join a sightseeing tour that allows them to bicker and reminisce on the road—with an audience of fellow tourists in tow—while they face their own intergenerational trauma, visiting Auschwitz and later their grandmother’s home.
The script’s origins are threefold: a short story Eisenberg had published and was trying to adapt about two guys drifting apart during a vacation to Mongolia; a play he wrote that followed his own impactful visit to Poland; and an online ad he came across that seemed to bring everything together: “Auschwitz Tours with Lunch.”
Eisenberg at the Majdanek concentration camp, taken by his wife, Anna Strout, during their trip to Poland.
“It’s just the strange irony of being an upper-middle-class suburban American Jew traveling to Auschwitz and still needing to have some of the creature comforts that you have come to expect whilst traveling,” Eisenberg says. “I thought, that’s such a fascinating, ironic, dramatic and also profound juxtaposition between trying to explore the horrors of your family history while also being able to sit first class on a train car and stay at the Radisson.”
This is the tricky tonal balance Eisenberg strikes throughout A Real Pain, even as production went to and shot at sites of profound horror. “My main goal was to make an unsanctimonious movie set against the backdrop of the Holocaust,” Eisenberg says. “I don’t like the self-aggrandizing tone of these stories about sensitive subjects—it turns me off creatively, not because I think they’re doing anything wrong. It just is not my taste.” So we have Eisenberg’s David, living a yuppie life in New York City, butting heads with Culkin’s Benji, a kind of drifter who masks immense grief with his wit. Their dynamic rings true, and smartly anchors the film’s larger questions about suffering, guilt, and luxury.
Much of those deeper emotional components came from Eisenberg’s own experience in Poland, reckoning with his family and cultural history. The film could shoot in the country thanks to the work of producer Ali Herting, whose connection to the team behind The Zone of Interest brought them to the Polish company Extreme Emotions. “The house that my family fled in 1938—we actually had cameras inside it for this lovely shot of the two main characters departing this little town,” Eisenberg says.
Then there’s the matter of the tour experience, discomfitingly familiar to anyone who’s traveled abroad in this kind of regimented, temporary social circle. Jennifer Gray plays one of the people sightseeing with Benji and David, while The White Lotus’s Will Sharpe plays their tour guide. “You’re experiencing these big things on a personal level, and then also sharing this kind of odd social dynamic with new people who are outsiders,” Eisenberg says. Sharpe actually went a little method in playing a guide, learning the ins and outs of the locations his character was presenting. “There’s a lot of improvising on his part and people asking him questions—and he would actually have the answer to it, which was very impressive,” Culkin says. “It did feel like we were on a tour.”
It wasn’t just the fact that the Emmys were delayed from their assumed 2023 date, or that a behemoth like Succession was eligible for the last time: the 2024 Emmys had an air of inevitability around them, crowning many of the winners we saw coming in our predictions, and whom it was impossible to imagine losing.
Yes, Succession won big, with a best drama series win in addition to three acting trophies (the first ever for Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook) and awards for writing and directing. The Bear enjoyed a nearly identical sweep, eligible for the first time at the Emmys and taking home two awards for creator Christopher Storer in addition to best comedy series and three acting trophies. And though Beef had to share some of the glory with fellow limited series winners Black Bird (for supporting actor Paul Walter Hauser) and Dahmer: Monster – The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (for supporting actress winner Niecy Nash-Betts), the Netflix series won for writing, directing, and its stars Ali Wong and Steven Yeun in addition to the best limited series prize. As has become a trend in recent years at the Emmys, three shows took the lions share of the prizes.
But at the Emmys there’s always room for something new — even when that something new is an Emmy win for music legend Elton John that makes him an official EGOT winner. This year’s Emmy nominations made room for a wide range of contenders, from the buzzy dramas that prompted week-by-week speculation to the surprise hit comedy that made a star out of one unassuming California man. See the full list of winners below, and for all the biggest moments of the night, revisit our live blog.
One of the most exclusive clubs in all of entertainment is the EGOT — an acronym that signifies that someone has won each of the four top prizes in four different art forms: The Emmy for television work, the Grammy for musical work, the Oscar for film work, and the Tony for theater work. And with a win at tonight’s Emmys, Elton John became the latest person to assemble an EGOT — and only the 19th person in history.
John won an Emmy tonight for Best Variety Special (Live) for his live Disney+ concert film Elton John: Farewell From Dodger Stadium. he previously won five Grammy Awards, starting with one in 1987 for the song “That’s What Friends Are For.” He earned his first Oscar in 1995, when “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from The Lion King won Best Original Song.
Five years later, John won the Tony for Best Original Score for the musical Aida. And, finally, he completed his EGOT with Farewell From Dodger Stadium.
(In between, John won four more Grammy Awards, a Grammy Legend Award, and a second Oscar for Original Song, for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from the biopic of his life, Rocketman.)
At 76 years old, John is the second oldest artist in history to complete an EGOT; the oldest was John Gielgud, who finished his at the age of 87 when he won his Emmy for his performance in Summer’s Lease. (The youngest EGOT winner is Robert Lopez, who won an EGOT in the span of ten years by the time he was 39, thanks in large part to his work on films like Frozen and shows like The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q.)
Other notable EGOT winners include Whoopi Goldberg, Rita Moreno, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mike Nichols, and Mel Brooks.
Although it was originally broadcast live, you can still watch Elton John: Farewell From Dodger Stadium on Disney+.
Host Chelsea Handler was among those responsible for bringing Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie to the stage at Sunday night’s Critics ChoiceAwards to accept the best comedy movie award for Barbie in an unplanned moment.
The award was announced early in the night as a roundup of several categories before a commercial break, with the camera cutting briefly to the Barbie table, where Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera (who was honored with the SeeHer Award) and others cheered the news. While the film won a total of six awards, only one of those categories (best song for “I’m Just Ken”) was presented onstage with the winners able to give an acceptance speech.
Later in the show, Handler surprised attendees and viewers — and the Barbie folks — by rectifying that.
“Earlier tonight, Barbie was awarded best comedy, but it wasn’t onstage, so I’m gonna go rogue because I feel like Greta and Margot deserve the opportunity to make an acceptance speech,” Handler said toward the end of the show, with about 30 minutes left in the three-hour ceremony. “So ladies, would you mind coming up here and accepting the award for best comedy?”
Gerwig and Robbie appeared surprised at the move and unaware that it was happening.
“Oh, this is so unexpected,” Robbie told the crowd from the stage. “You know, when everyone’s like, ‘Oh, this is so unexpected,’ this is actually unexpected. This was not a part of the show, but we’re very grateful nonetheless.”
Gerwig added, “Thank you so much for letting this happen. We were just very excited in our chairs, and it’s very nice to be up here.”
Before Handler brought Gerwig and Robbie onstage, James Mangold also made a reference to the fact that the best comedy award winners were not allowed to come onstage. While introducing the career achievement award winner, Harrison Ford, the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director noted as an aside: “Why don’t they get to come onstage for comedies?” before continuing his speech.
A source close to the show told The Hollywood Reporter that Handler, along with her writers and the show producers, made the call during a commercial break to bring the Barbie duo up onstage. Because the show was running ahead of schedule, they made the decision collectively to bring them up onstage rather than add another bit or joke.
Barbie also won best original screenplay for Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, best production design for Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, best costume design for Jacqueline Durran and best hair and makeup.
Burnsville, MN –Mackin, a leading provider of print and digital fiction and nonfiction books for PK-12, is pleased to announce it is a multiyear honoree and winner of its eighth Platinum Award in LibraryWorks’ tenth annual Modern Library Awards (MLAs). The MLAs were created to recognize the top products and services in the library industry.
Products and services were submitted in the fall of 2023 using a simple application, and then were posted on a private site with an enhanced description and attendant materials. These products were batched into small groups and sent to the LibraryWorks database of more than 80,000 librarians in public, K-12, academic, and special libraries. Only customers with experience with these products/services in their facilities were permitted to judge the entries resulting in a truly unbiased score.
Each judge scored the product from 1-10 on a series of questions regarding functionality, value, customer service, etc. MackinVIA received a remarkable score of 9.598, resulting in their eighth Platinum Award from this prestigious organization. “Since its inception over a decade ago, MackinVIA has made great progress becoming the preferred digital content management system in schools around the world, and has continued its technological growth to remain one of the world’s top choices. As a company, Mackin has always been known for their ingenuity and superior customer service. It’s no surprise that these motivating forces helped MackinVIA to be recognized and validated again,” remarked Troy Mikell, Director of Marketing and Communications at Mackin.
MackinVIA is a free digital content management system that provides more than 9 million students around the world with access to over 3 million eBook titles, read-alongs, audiobooks, databases, and video resources. Jenny Newman, publisher and MLA program manager, said, “It’s easy to understand how MackinVIA scored so well. They’ve been continually breaking barriers and have consistently remained at the forefront of the industry since their company entered the market 40 years ago.”
About Mackin:
For 40 years, Mackin has provided library and classroom materials for grades PK-12. Known the world over for exemplary service and a stringent attention to detail, Mackin has access to more than 18,000 publishers and a collection of over 3.5 million printed titles. Additionally, Mackin features a robust selection of more than 3 million eBook titles, readalongs, audiobooks, databases, and video resources available through their free, state-of-theart digital content management system, MackinVIA. For more information, visit www.mackin.com or call 800-245-9540.
About LibraryWorks:
LibraryWorks helps library administrators make informed decisions about library technology, automation and software, collection development and management, facilities and furnishings, staffing, purchasing, and other areas that drive effective strategic planning and day-to-day operations. Our family of resources can enable you to identify best practices, monitor trends, evaluate new products and services, apply for grants and funding, post or find a job, and even enjoy some library humor.
About the Modern Library Awards Program:
The Modern Library Awards (MLAs) is a review program designed to recognize elite products and services in the market, which can help library management personnel enhance the quality of experience for the library user, and increase the performance of their library systems.
eSchool Media staff cover education technology in all its aspects–from legislation and litigation, to best practices, to lessons learned and new products. First published in March of 1998 as a monthly print and digital newspaper, eSchool Media provides the news and information necessary to help K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology and innovation to transform schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals.
The Oscar winner gives another exceptionally complex performance in Todd Haynes’s Netflix melodrama, one that required a lot of preparation—and a willingness to take big risks.
Originally scheduled for Sept. 18, the 75th Emmys Awards wiggled their way into this year’s awards season after the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes put Hollywood on pause.
But the best television of 2023 will finally get its time to shine on Monday, when the Emmys air live from the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles at 5 p.m. EST.
Who’s Hosting And Where To Watch
Anthony Anderson is taking on hosting duties as the Emmys are broadcast live on Fox. The awards will be available on Hulu the following day.
Fashion fans can catch E!’s official red carpet show starting at 6 p.m. EST.
The best television of 2023 will finally get its time to shine on Monday, when the Emmys air live from the Peacock Theater in Downtown Los Angeles at 5 p.m. EST.
Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images
Who’s Nominated
Monday’s Emmys might give TV fans a minor dose of nostalgia. The 75th annual television awards considered programming that aired between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, and announced its nominees last July.
“Succession” swept up 27 nominations with its final season, making the HBO drama the most-nominated series at this Emmys. HBO’s “The Last of Us” and “The White Lotus” also got major recognition, snagging 23 and 24 nominations apiece.
Television’s Biggest Night
The fanfare of the 75th annual Primetime Emmys comes at a tricky time for the television industry.
Months of strike-related production delays drastically reduced the number of shows networks have in the pipeline, leaving the 2024 release calendar more sparse than usual.
Meanwhile, streaming services are trying to contend with stagnant subscription numbers and major mergers like HBO Max’s partnership with Discovery+ and Disney+’s takeover of Hulu.
See all the nominees for the 75th annual Primetime Emmys here:
Preparations for the 75th Emmy Awards were in full swing over the weekend, ahead of Monday’s show.
VALERIE MACON via Getty Images
Outstanding Drama Series
“House of the Dragon”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jeff Bridges, “The Old Man”
Brian Cox, “Succession”
Kieran Culkin, “Succession”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us”
Jeremy Strong, “Succession”
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Sharon Horgan, “Bad Sisters”
Melanie Lynskey, “Yellowjackets”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”
Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”
Sarah Snook, “Succession”
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
F. Murray Abraham, “The White Lotus”
Nicholas Braun, “Succession”
Michael Imperioli, “The White Lotus”
Theo James, “The White Lotus”
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”
Alan Ruck, “Succession”
Will Sharpe, “The White Lotus”
Alexander Skarsgård, “Succession”
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Coolidge, “The White Lotus”
Elizabeth Debicki, “The Crown”
Meghann Fahy, “The White Lotus”
Sabrina Impacciatore, “The White Lotus”
Aubrey Plaza, “The White Lotus”
Rhea Seehorn, “Better Call Saul”
J. Smith-Cameron, “Succession”
Simona Tabasco, “The White Lotus”
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Murray Bartlett, “The Last of Us”
James Cromwell, “Succession”
Lamar Johnson, “The Last of Us”
Arian Moayed, “Succession”
Nick Offerman, “The Last of Us”
Keivonn Montreal Woodard, “The Last of Us”
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Hiam Abbass, “Succession”
Cherry Jones, “Succession”
Melanie Lynskey, “The Last of Us”
Storm Reid, “The Last of Us”
Anna Torv, “The Last of Us”
Harriet Walter, “Succession”
Outstanding Comedy Series
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
“Only Murders in the Building”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Jason Segel, “Shrinking”
Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, “Dead to Me”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
Natasha Lyonne, “Poker Face”
Jenna Ortega, “Wednesday”
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Carrigan, “Barry”
Phil Dunster, Ted Lasso”
Brett Goldstein, “Ted Lasso”
James Marsden, “Jury Duty”
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
Tyler James Williams, “Abbott Elementary”
Henry Winkler, “Barry”
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”
Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”
Juno Temple, “Ted Lasso”
Hannah Waddingham, “Ted Lasso”
Jessica Williams, “Shrinking”
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Jon Bernthal, “The Bear”
Luke Kirby, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Nathan Lane, “Only Murders in the Building”
Pedro Pascal, “Saturday Night Live”
Oliver Platt, “The Bear”
Sam Richardson, “Ted Lasso”
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Becky Ann Baker, “Ted Lasso”
Quinta Brunson, “Saturday Night Live”
Taraji P. Henson, “Abbott Elementary”
Judith Light, “Poker Face”
Sarah Niles, “Ted Lasso”
Harriet Walter, “Ted Lasso”
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”
“Daisy Jones & The Six”
“Fleishman Is in Trouble”
Outstanding Television Movie
“Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas”
“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Taron Egerton, “Black Bird”
Kumail Nanjiani, “Welcome to Chippendale’s”
Evan Peters, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”
Daniel Radcliffe, “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”
Michael Shannon, “George and Tammy”
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Lizzy Caplan, Fleishman Is in Trouble”
Jessica Chastain, “George & Tammy”
Dominique Fishback, “Swarm”
Kathryn Hahn, “Tiny Beautiful Things”
Riley Keough, “Daisy Jones & The Six”
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Murray Bartlett, “Welcome to Chippendales”
Paul Walter Hauser, “Black Bird”
Richard Jenkins, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”
Ray Liotta, “Black Bird”
Jesse Plemons, “Love and Death”
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Annaleigh Ashford, “Welcome to Chippendale’s”
Claire Danes, “Fleishman Is in Trouble”
Juliette Lewis, “Welcome to Chippendale’s”
Camila Morrone, “Daisy Jones and the Six”
Niecy Nash-Betts, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”
Merritt Wever, “Tiny Beautiful Things”
Outstanding Animated Program
“Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal”
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance
Julie Andrews, “Queen Charlotte”
Alex Borstein, “Family Guy”
Mel Brooks, “History of the World, Part II”
Maya Rudolph, “Big Mouth”
Wanda Sykes, “Crank Yankers”
Ali Wong, “Tuca & Bertie”
Outstanding Narrator
Mahershala Ali, “Chimp Empire”
Angela Bassett, “Good Night Oppy”
Morgan Freeman, “Our Universe”
Barack Obama, “Working: What We Do All Day”
Pedro Pascal, “Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World”
Outstanding Variety Talk Series
“The Daily Show With Trevor Noah”
“Late Night With Seth Meyers”
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”
“The Problem With Jon Stewart”
Outstanding Scripted Variety Series
“A Black Lady Sketch Show”
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver”
“Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Variety Special (Live)
“The Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Starring Rihanna”
“Chris Rock: Selective Outrage”
“Elton John Live: Farewell From Dodger Stadium”
“75th Annual Tony Awards”
Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)
″Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter”
“John Mulaney: Baby J”
“Lizzo: Live in Concert”
“Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music & Laughter”
“Trevor Noah: I Wish You Would”
“Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer”
Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special
“The Light We Carry: Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey”
“My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman and Volodymyr Zelenskyy”
“Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy”
“Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi”
“United Shades of America With W. Kamau Bell”
Outstanding Structured Reality Program
“Diners, Drive-Ins And Dives”
Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Outstanding Competition Program
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness, “Queer Eye”
Nicole Byer, “Nailed It!”
Padma Lakshmi, “Top Chef”
Amy Poehler & Maya Rudolph, “Baking It”
RuPaul, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Special
“Being Mary Tyler Moore”
“My Transparent Life”
“Pamela, A Love Story”
“Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie”
Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Series
“Secrets of the Elephants”
“The U.S. and The Holocaust”
Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking
“The Accused: Damned or Devoted?”
Outstanding Short Form Comedy, Drama or Variety Series
“Awkwafina Is Hangin’ With Grandma”
“Better Call Saul Filmmaker Training”
“Carpool Karaoke: The Series”
“I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson”
“Only Murders in the Building: One Killer Question”
Outstanding Actor in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Kevin Hart, “Die Hart 2: Die Harter”
Tim Robinson, “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson”
Ben Schartz, “Die Hart 2: Die Harter”
Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series
Nathalie Emmanuel, “Die Hart 2: Die Harter”
Jasmine Guy, “Chronicles of Jessica Wu”
Paula Pell, “Die Hart 2: Die Harter”
Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction Or Reality Series
“House of the Dragon: Inside the Episode”
“The Last of Us: Inside the Episode”
“Saturday Night Live Presents: Behind the Sketch”
“Succession: Controlling the Narrative”
“The White Lotus: Unpacking the Episode”
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German filmmaker Wim Wenders still remembers the epiphany he had when viewing the experimental concert film U2 3D at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival. It was one of the earliest live-action digital 3D productions — Avatar was still two years away from its defining 2009 release — but at that screening he saw 3D’s potential to convey space and depth, so he used it for his next project, a documentary about dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch. “3D is about perception of space, and that’s what I needed most in order to be in Pina’s kingdom,” says the director. With stunning re-creations of her choreography, Pina was released in 2011 and became the first digital 3D feature documentary to earn an Oscar nomination.
More than a decade later, stereoscopic 3D has had its ups and downs in terms of public perception, but Wenders continues to believe that this format delivers an important dimension to his art form. “You are more involved as a spectator,” says the director of films such as Buena Vista Social Club and Paris, Texas. “You’re more involved emotionally.
Director Wim Wenders
Kristy Sparow/Getty Images
“It’s a great medium for documentaries,” adds Wenders, whose latest doc is the 3D production Anselm, which allows audiences to experience the works of German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer. “Mostly what you do in a documentary is try to take your audience to a certain place or have them follow a character and you enter somebody else’s world. There’s nothing better for that than 3D.”
He certainly found that to be true when it came to exposing audiences to his friend Kiefer’s path from his native Germany to his current home in France and, in doing so, giving the audience a way to experience his textured works. “Anselm has a body of work that has no comparison to anything else,” says Wenders, remembering the first time he saw Kiefer’s studio. “On my own, walking around it, there was so much there and it was so overwhelming. [With 3D], I could take people into his universe and turn his art into an experience.”
The medium also allowed Wenders to display the textures and layers of Kiefer’s work. “Some of his paintings have a crust of 10 inches, and wood or all sorts of things protruding,” he explains.
Production technology has evolved over the past decade, and this time around, Wenders and DP Franz Lustig filmed the movie in native 3D and at 6K resolution using a rig with Sony’s Venice cameras and its lightweight Rialto extension system, which effectively detaches the sensor from the camera body, enabling filmmakers to be more nimble. (Those cameras also were used on Avatar: The Way of Water.)
Remembering the first time he showed the finished doc to Kiefer, Wenders admits he was a little nervous. “Surprising him was the only thing he demanded [of] me. He never saw a script, never came to visit me in the editing room,” the director recalls. “He did say, ‘You surprised me.’ ”
This story first appeared in a January standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
The actor was introduced by his Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny director, James Mangold, who called Ford a “hypergiant.”
“The largest stars in the known universe are called variable hyper giants. Hyper giants are about 1700 times larger than our sun. A hyper giant is so big that 5 billion of our suns can be contained within it, and they’re so weighty that they pull other heavenly bodies toward them. Of course, Harrison Ford is a star. However, I submit tonight that he is a variable hypergiant. A star so big, he contains multitudes. A star so unique, he attracts other stars. A star so bright, he has warmed each of our lives in this room in this audience and likely on this planet.”
Mangold then went into Ford’s filmography, from American Graffiti to Blade Runner to Working Girl to Air Force One to The Fugitive and more.
“I spit out that incredible enviable list of films and performances without even mentioning Star Wars,” Mangold continued. “He was in five of them playing the charming Han Solo, who shaped all of our young lives as boys, at least, if not as women as well. Or the five Indiana Jones films in which he portrayed the beloved titular character, an archaeologist who pulls together the contradictory notions of a fussy, moralistic, snake-phobic bookworm and a dashing adventurer with old school integrity.”
Ford — who received a standing ovation as he took the stage, while the camera panned to his wife, Calista Flockhart, who was teary-eyed — thanked the crowd as they continued to applaud before noting, “Come on. I only have three minutes,” which earned some laughter. He kept his comments short but was visibly moved by the honor.
“First of all, I’m really happy to be here tonight to see what our business is turning into and all of the talented people who are getting opportunities that probably would not have existed in my early part of my career. I’m very happy about that,” he said.
“I’m here because of a combination of luck and the work of wonderful directors, writers, filmmakers,” continued Ford, getting emotional. “I feel enormously lucky. I’m happy for this for this honor and I appreciate it very much.
“I wanna thank my lovely wife … who supports me when I need a lot of support — and I need a lot of support,” he added. “I’m grateful to all the fine actors, I see many of them here tonight that I worked with, and I’m deeply happy to have had the opportunities that I’ve had, and I’m grateful. Thank you. I won’t take any more of your time. Thank you.”
With nearly 600 members, the Critics Choice Association (CCA) is the largest group of entertainment journalists in the U.S. and Canada. But before you roll your eyes at a televised awards ceremony based in the judgement of a bunch of schlubby scribes, know this: The Critics Choice Awards is historically the most accurate predictor of Academy Award nominations, which makes its assessments of cinematic and television achievement of particular note to those who follow splashier races like the Oscars and tomorrow night’s Emmy Awards.
Nominations were announced in December, and voting ended Friday for this year’s awards, which will be announced on January 14, 2024. The awards ceremony will air live for viewers in the Eastern time zone from 7-10 p.m. on the CW, but will be tape delayed most other places. One exception is Los Angeles, where local CW affiliate KTLA-5 will broadcast live from Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar; the station will also air red carpet arrivals starting at 2 p.m. PT.
In addition to host Chelsea Handler, who returns for her second year in the role, folks on that carpet include Harrison Ford, who’ll be presented with this year’s Career Achievement Award by director James Mangold. Margot Robbie will also be on stage to present America Ferrera with the gender equity-focused SeeHer Award; other presenters include Angela Bassett, Daniel Levy, Natasha Lyonne, and Oprah Winfrey.
Even before the awards began, the CCA named some of the nights winners from the red carpet. The Holdovers‘ Dominic Sessa was named the year’s Best Young Actor/Actress, Quiz Lady was named 2024’s Best Movie Made for Television, and Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse took home the Best Animated Feature award.
Below, find a complete list of Critics Choice Awards 2024 nominations with their winners in bold; it will be updated throughout the evening. We also have coverage of the red carpet’s best fashion and looks.
Film Awards
Best Picture
American Fiction Barbie The Color Purple The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Maestro Oppenheimer Past Lives Poor Things Saltburn
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Maestro Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon Colman Domingo, Rustin Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Best Actress
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall Greta Lee, Past Lives Carey Mulligan, Maestro Margot Robbie, Barbie Emma Stone, Poor Things
Best Supporting Actor
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer Ryan Gosling, Barbie Charles Melton, May December Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple America Ferrera, Barbie Jodie Foster, Nyad Julianne Moore, May December Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Best Young Actor/Actress
WINNER: Dominic Sessa,The Holdovers
Abby Ryder Fortson, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Ariana Greenblatt, Barbie Calah Lane, Wonka Milo Machado Graner, Anatomy of a Fall Madeleine Yuna Voyles, The Creator
Best Acting Ensemble
Air Barbie The Color Purple The Holdovers Killers of the Flower Moon Oppenheimer
Best Director
Bradley Cooper, Maestro Greta Gerwig, Barbie Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer Alexander Payne, The Holdovers Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Adapted Screenplay
Kelly Fremon Craig, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Andrew Haigh, All of Us Strangers Cord Jefferson, American Fiction Tony McNamara, Poor Things Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Original Screenplay
Samy Burch, May December Alex Convery, Air Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Maestro Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie David Hemingson, The Holdovers Celine Song, Past Lives
Best Cinematography
Matthew Libatique, Maestro Rodrigo Prieto, Barbie Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon Robbie Ryan, Poor Things Linus Sandgren, Saltburn Hoyte van Hoytema, Oppenheimer
Best Production Design
Suzie Davies and Charlotte Dirickx, Saltburn Ruth De Jong and Claire Kaufman, Oppenheimer Jack Fisk and Adam Willis, Killers of the Flower Moon Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Barbie James Price, Shona Heath, and Szusza Mihalek, Poor Things Adam Stockhausen and Kris Moran, Asteroid City
Best Editing
William Goldenberg, Air Nick Houy, Barbie Jennifer Lame, Oppenheimer Yorgos Mavropsaridis, Poor Things Thelma Schoonmaker, Killers of the Flower Moon Michelle Tesoro, Maestro
Best Costume Design
Jacqueline Durran, Barbie Lindy Hemming, Wonka Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, The Color Purple Holly Waddington, Poor Things Jacqueline West, Killers of the Flower Moon Janty Yates and David Crossman, Napoleon
Best Hair and Makeup
Barbie The Color Purple Maestro Oppenheimer Poor Things Priscilla
Best Visual Effects
The Creator Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One Oppenheimer Poor Things Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best Comedy
American Fiction Barbie Bottoms The Holdovers No Hard Feelings Poor Things
The stars turned out for their tea on Saturday at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts’ buzzy annual event, which this year was packed with Oscar and Emmy hopefuls alike sipping beverages and swapping award season stories.
Frontrunners Jeffrey Wright and Paul Giamatti mingled with cast members from Ted Lasso and Succession, while The Color Purple’s Danielle Brooks marked yet another run-in with her “award season friends,” Abbott Elementary’s Quinta Brunson and The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri.
“Every time we see each other, we grab hands and hug,” Brooks told Vanity Fair about her new pals, who she sees at every event. “I am trying to meditate, drink my water, but the sleep has left this station,” she added, saying that her brain has been buzzing since she started doing promotion for Purple. “You’re always on the high, thinking about all of the cool experiences that you’re having, so you’re reflecting. And then you’re thinking about the next day, going to things like the BAFTA tea party. Your brain just doesn’t shut off.”
One of the event’s most in-demand stars, for both catch-up conversation and photos, was Saltburn’s Rosamund Pike, who joked that she might be disappointing her well-wishers.
“I think they want to talk to [my character] Elspeth, or are waiting for me to drop a cutting remark and then they’re disappointed,” Pike said with a laugh, adding that she’s been thrilled with the response to the film and her character. “Elspeth was just so wonderful to play. She got to drape herself over everything. She’s aiming to look relaxed, but everything is studied. Nothing is really relaxed. I didn’t want [filming Saltburn] to end. We all became very, very close and still communicate on our WhatsApp chat.”
Pike later spent time chatting with Giamatti, while Succession’s Brian Cox and J. Smith-Cameron held court nearby. Loki’s Tom Hiddleston and wife Zawe Ashton had a sweet catchup with The Crown’s Elizabeth Debicki, who starred with Hiddleston in The Night Manager. In addition to the actors, several directors and showrunners mingled throughout the event, like American Fiction’s Cord Jefferson, Fargo’s Noah Hawley, Past Lives’ Celine Song, and Flamin’ Hot’s Eva Longoria.
Longoria and Song are also recent friends after running into each other at multiple events.
“We just gravitated toward each other,” Longoria recalled. “And we both are first-time feature directors, so it was this similar journey.”
Song added that she’s enjoyed observing one of her film’s main themes while connecting with other filmmakers and creatives this year.
“In our movie there’s a concept called ‘inyeon,’ and I feel like that’s a very real thing,” she said. “It’s like, well, it was a part of me going around all these things and then meeting all people and I’m like, I’m seeing them over and over again in the same room, connecting.”
Song shared that she received a memorable endorsement from fellow director Steven Spielberg at the AFI luncheon on Friday, who asked to take a photo with her and revealed repeat viewings of her film: “He says he saw it three times! I can’t believe it.”
The BAFTA tea party is the last official event held ahead of that group’s nominations announcement on Jan. 18—a key momentum indicator given the British Academy’s considerable overlap with the Oscars’ voting body. After the release of their longlist last week, Barbie, Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon received the most mentions, plus 11 for Saltburn. The BAFTA awards ceremony takes place February 18 in London.
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Fresh off of winning three Golden Globes, the cast and creators of The Bear were front and center at the annual FX and Vanity Fair Emmy party. The event, held Saturday night, celebrated the network’s nominees and acclaimed shows ahead of Monday’s 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony—a show that was originally scheduled for last fall, but postponed due to the actors and writers strikes. The Bear is heading to television’s biggest night with 13 nominations, including outstanding comedy series, writing, directing, and numerous acting nods for its first season.
Jeremy Allen White arrived at the celebration, held at the historic Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood, with his mother, Eloise, a former theater actor. “It’s really nice and it’s the best” to share all of his success with his mom, White said. She traveled from New York to LA to be with her son for his very first Emmys.
“My folks were both actors when they were young. I’ve been at this for a long time, since I was 14 years old, and they have always supported me,” he continued. “That’s a crazy thing, to support your kid when he’s 14 and says ‘I want to be an actor.’ But, they’ve supported me ever since, and it feels really special to have her here tonight and go through all of this with me.”
White is the favorite to win the Emmy for lead actor in a comedy series. As Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, a Michelin-starred chef forced to return home following the unexpected death of his brother, White delivers an intense portrayal of grief, family trauma, and the extreme challenges of running a restaurant.
“I’m so lucky to play Carmy. He’s a character that I admire. I admire his focus, his work ethic, his determination,” said White, who collected his second Golden Globe for best comedy actor last week. “Those are all things I feel like I can have more space for in my own life.”
Newly minted Golden Globe winner Ayo Edebiri made a grand entrance at the cocktail party dressed in a chic, voluminous pink gown. Immediately upon her arrival, she was greeted by Bob Odenkirk, who guest starred as Uncle Lee in the explosive Christmas episode that was featured in the second season of The Bear. Odenkirk, nominated for lead actor in a drama series for Better Call Saul, wished Edebiri good luck. She’s set to attend her first Emmy ceremony, competing in the supporting actress in a comedy series category for her turn as sous chef Sydney Adamu.
“I’m just going to try my best to chill out. It’s all been a bit of a whirlwind, so I’m just going to try to chill as much as I can,” said Edebiri about her preparation for the Emmys on Monday. “For me, chilling out, I just do nothing—I just sort of sit. It’s the chill out vibe these days. Zone out and meditate.”
Edebiri is thrilled that her work on The Bear is being recognized. She enjoys playing a character that audiences can see themselves in—even if our families aren’t quite as dysfunctional or our workplaces are not as chaotic as those on the show. “She has a tricky and stressful time at work. It’s a very relatable feeling, and I think that’s why everybody can relate to her. We’ve all been in that situation. I have for sure,” said Edebiri. “I like that she’s complicated and she’s flawed. As an actor that’s just fun. You get to play in those spaces. No one wants to play anybody who’s perfect.”
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The majority of The Bear’s acclaimed ensemble cast, including Ebon Moss-Bachrach—nominated for supporting actor as Cousin Richie—Liza Colón-Zayas, Edwin Lee Gibson, Gillian Jacobs, Lionel Boyce, Oliver Platt—nominated for guest actor for playing Uncle Jimmy—Matty Matheson, Ricky Staffieri, and Abby Elliott, who earned a nomination at the Golden Globes for portraying Carmy’s sensible sister Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto, were spotted socializing at the soirée. “I really love the group of people that I’m with. They are unbelievably talented,” said Elliott. “You feel like you have to rise to the occasion when you’re with them because they set the bar so high.”
The boisterous party also attracted the FX network’s most buzzed-about stars, from Fargo’s Jon Hamm and Jeff Bridges, nominated for lead actor in a drama series for The Old Man, to TV veterans like Ed O’Neill—he stars in Clipped, the upcoming limited series about the downfall of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling—and Danny DeVito from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, one of the longest-running shows on television. Other guests in attendance included Jennifer Jason Leigh and her Fargo costar Richa Moorjani,Charlie Day, and three-time Emmy winner Claire Danes, nominated once again for her supporting role in the divorce drama Fleishman is in Trouble.
The opening synthesizer lines of the song “Flashdance… What a Feeling” offer a sense of promise — something big is about to happen. And the tune, performed by actress and singer Irene Cara for the soundtrack of 1983’s Flashdance, delivered, becoming a hit single and winning the Oscar for best original song in 1984. In fact, it was the only award that the film won, though the drama was also nominated for cinematography, editing and again in the original song category, for another synth-pop hit, “Maniac.”
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer enlisted composer and producer Giorgio Moroder, with whom he had worked on the 1980 film American Gigolo, to write the music for Flashdance, about an aspiring ballet dancer, played by Jennifer Beals, who works by day as a welder and by night as a cabaret performer. Moroder, an electronic music pioneer who had won an Academy Award for his score for 1978’s Midnight Express, brought on Keith Forsey and Cara to write the lyrics for “What a Feeling.” The song was released in March 1983 as a single before Flashdance’s April debut, and would spend six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (The film went on to become a surprise box office hit, grossing $92.9 million domestically, making it the third-highest-earning film of the year.)
A year later, Cara took the stage at the 56th Academy Awards, singing “What a Feeling” and dancing alongside 46 New York City student dancers. Later that evening, Beals and Matthew Broderick presented Cara and Forsey with the award for best original song (Moroder did not attend). In her acceptance speech, Cara said, “It’s so wonderful to be receiving this most precious honor from Jennifer Beals, whose performance in the film made it that much more special for us.” Cara also thanked Alan Parker, who had directed her in Fame, in which she played aspiring star Coco Hernandez and for which she had also performed the theme song, “Fame,” the winner of the best original song Oscar in 1981.
This story first appeared in a January standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
There’s a reason why the AFI Awards draw pretty much every A-lister on its annual honor roll: The intimate private luncheon, which took place this year at the Four Seasons, is the most celebratory occasion on the long, windy Oscars circuit, with 10 films and TV shows apiece all named winners—and no losers in sight. This is especially useful—maybe, even ironic—when the event falls in the thick of Oscar nominations voting and campaigning is at its most intense. So everyone in attendance is a winner, yes—and also working very hard to make the final cut with the Academy.
Entrances started before noon on a chilly, sunny Friday in Beverly Hills, and pretty quickly you could play mix and match with different honorees catching up. I walked in to find May December’s Natalie Portman posing with the Reservation Dogs cast just before the red carpet. Beef’s Steven Yeun approvingly exclaimed at The Last of Us’s Pedro Pascal in another striking wardrobe choice. Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr. was among the first to make his way into the ballroom, where he moved toward the front of the stage with American Fiction’s Erika Alexander.
I caught up with Maestro’s Carey Mulligan at one point as the crowd started filling out, and she quipped, “This is a great place to get a job.” And indeed, think of a writer or director in the running for Emmys and Oscars right now, and they were probably within a quarter-mile radius. Some powerful executives, too. Disney chief Bob Iger was busy making the rounds, pulling aside The Bear’s Ayo Edebiri and Abbott Elementary’s Quinta Brunson for a chat, and later introducing himself at Reservation Dogs’ table.
Ayo Edebiri and Bradley Cooper.
Michael Kovac/Getty Images
The luncheon’s hour-plus of mingling precedes a program in which each of the 20 honored programs is recognized individually, with words of commendation and a selected clip. After the last of the crowd filed in (a rushing group that included Leonardo DiCaprio) TV went first, front loaded (for alphabetical reasons) with comedies that played great in the room, especially Jury Duty, the freshman breakout going into Monday’s Emmys as an underdog hopeful. Succession appropriately capped this part of the ceremony, with the best scene from its series finale reminding that it’ll likely get a wide farewell embrace from the Television Academy in a few days.
Given the star wattage in the room—in the minutes before we got going, there was Emma Stone with Charles Melton; Mulligan with Jennifer Aniston; Greta Gerwig with Steven Spielberg;Ramy Youssef with Ali Wong; and Jeremy Allen White hugging Celine Song—here was also a great chance for a last bit of subtle campaigning. What a brilliant stroke for Barbie, for instance, to play America Ferrera’s entire famed monologue before a crowd of voters; that clip got the biggest applause of the day, and she’s vying for a spot in the supporting actress five. AFI tends to match Oscar rather closely, and of its 10, those most on the outside for best picture, May December and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, were very well-represented inside, and met enthusiastic reactions.
Steven Spielberg, Julianne Moore, and Carey Mulligan.
We know it sounds crazy, but the 2024 Emmys, airing on FOX on January 15, are the first opportunity the FX series The Bear had had to win any Emmy Awards. A surprise success when it premiered in June of 2022, the series created by Christopher Storer earned Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and SAG Awards for star Jeremy Allen White in early 2023. But thanks to the quirks of Emmy eligibility, it wasn’t even nominated for TVs highest honor until July of 2023, after it second season had premiered. And when the Emmys were delayed to January during the SAG-AFTRA strike, it meant that nearly a year and a half would transpire between The Bear’s premiere and its Emmy moment.
But hey, look: we made it! And with The Bear having won four Emmys already — for casting, sound mixing and editing, and picture editing — it’s heading into Monday’s ceremony with incredible momentum behind it. During the Golden Globes last Sunday, White won his second award in a row, while co-star Ayo Edebiri won a matching statuette for best actress in a comedy. It’s extremely likely White will repeat at the Emmys — he’s already won every other major award for his performance — but Edebiri will be competing in best supporting actress in a comedy series, since her season one role was a little smaller than it was in season two. She’s nominated this year against last year’s winner, Sheryl Lee Ralph,and the previous year’s winner, Hannah Waddingham, but we expect she’ll have no trouble joining White in the winners room.
And unlike at the Golden Globes — where supporting actors across all of television are in the same category, but Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen remained unstoppable — there ought to be a third acting winner from The Bear at the 2024 Emmys, too. Ebon Moss-Bachrach is nominated against his own formidable competition, including the Barry duo of Henry Winkler and Anthony Carrigan and the Ted Lasso duo of Phil Dunster and reigning champ Brett Goldstein. But Cousin Richie is an unforgettable part of the Bear experience, and voters could be forgiven for thinking of Moss-Bachrach’s standout season two episode “Forks” even if they’re technically voting for season one.
With all those acting wins, a best comedy series win ought to come close behind, and we’re also feeling bullish on the show’s chances in the writing and directing categories, both of which are likely to favor series creator Storer. Yes, that makes for a virtual sweep in the comedy categories, save in best actress, where The Bear is not nominated. But given how many people have spent the last year saying “Yes, Chef!” and learning to make their own giardiniera, it ought to be a well-earned series of victories.
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In 2019, the same year that Succession competed for the Emmys for the first time, its network sibling Game of Thrones received a slightly unexpected final embrace from the Television Academy for its last season—unexpected, if only because the final run of HBO’s fantasy was so widely panned. Yet Thrones proved too big to fail, winning awards for outstanding drama series, acting, directing, and a slew of technical achievements. As the Emmys put a stamp on the end of a defining era in TV, a new one dawned. Succession won just one trophy in 2019, for creator Jesse Armstrong’s season-finale script—but from there, it would go on to dominate.
But Succession’s road to its final Emmy moment has not been entirely smooth. A pandemic and an actors strike (not to mention an unwieldy corporate merger) helped delay the Shakespearean family drama’s Hollywood swan song to this Monday, when the Television Academy is poised to deliver a total sweep, barring any major surprises. Armstrong decided to end the show a bit earlier than most dramas of its popularity and acclaim, at season four; accordingly, perhaps, by all accounts it is going out on a high, having already won the equivalent Golden Globe and surely picking up many industry guild prizes later this winter. Here is one cultural phenomenon that did not overstay its welcome.
Succession was nominated for more 2024 Emmys than any other program, with a staggering total of 27. Nipping at its heels was another HBO freshman now positioned to define the landscape going forward—The Last of Us, up for 24 awards. Already, the postapocalyptic drama dominated last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys. It’s doing to Succession what Succession did to Thrones: continuing an extraordinary network legacy, even amid existential industry threats.
The big question this year is not whether Succession will win for its goodbye run, but exactly who will win for its goodbye. Sarah Snook, nominated twice in supporting, appears to be an overwhelming front-runner for her first shot in lead actress, and should walk away with some Emmy gold before all is said and done. The supporting-actor race has come down to a past winner in Matthew MacFadyen, who arguably had his best season yet as he somehow wound up in the big chair by series’ end, and Alexander Skarsgård, a past winner for a different show (Big Little Lies) whose gleefully antagonistic turn imbued the show with fresh energy. Over in supporting actress, J. Smith-Cameron can’t even be counted out if Succession runs the table, though that may be a place for another network-mate, The White Lotus, to pick up an award for its scene-stealer Jennifer Coolidge.
And then there’s the matter of best actor. Fully half of the Emmys’ six nominees in the category belong to Succession, with Jeremy Strong a previous winner, Brian Cox a two-time nominee, and Kieran Culkin a newbie to the field, having previously competed—like Snook—in supporting. Also like Snook, Culkin’s billing upgrade may just take him all the way, as Roman’s emotionally tortured arc in the final scene allowed Culkin to run away with many of the most celebrated episodes. Due to the Emmys’ winner-take-all, unranked voting system, there’s also a small chance that The Last of Us pulls off a grand upset here, with Pedro Pascal sneaking around three Roys who split votes, and kick-starting a new phase. How poetic would that be?
There is less (read: no) chance of that happening in the top category, where Succession will meet a fond farewell and reign, one last time, as the king of dramatic television. It’s been a remarkable run against remarkable tumult, appropriate for a show so steeped in an era of cynical chaos. But of course, this won’t be all for Armstrong and the Roys. They’ll still have to go to the SAG Awards next month. Succession may be over, but awards season never stops.
After a strike-induced delay that pushed the whole ceremony from September 2023 to January, the Emmys are finally here, and our printable Emmys ballot 2024 is here to guide you. Even if you’re tweeting through the whole ceremony or streaming live on TikTok, it’s helpful to have this printed ballot handy to keep track of all the winners as the night goes on. Need a cheat sheet? Our team’s Emmy winner predictions have you covered. And if you prefer to stay digital, our interactive online ballot is right here for you, too.
Thanks to this years’s odd (and exhausting) awards show schedule, we’ve already seen a lot of this year’s contenders win at the Golden Globes just days ago — and we’re expecting a lot of repeat winners at the January 15 ceremony, airing live starting at 8 p.m. Eastern on FOX. Succession is getting its final chance at the awards, for the blistering final season that wrapped up in May, and it’s in the hunt for its third best drama series as well as first-time acting trophies for Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin. On the comedy side, on the other hand, we’re expecting a newcomer to reign supreme. The Bearhad a huge night at the Golden Globes, and it’s actually up for its first time at the Emmys, with its first season that aired way back in June 2022 eligible at this Monday‘s awards. (We told you this schedule was weird). And while Beef premiered nearly a full year after The Bear’s first season, it’s the newcomer we’re expecting to dominate in the limited series category.
At the Golden Globes on January 7, the team behind Beef took the stage three different times, sweeping the limited-series categories at the show. Not only did the Netflix revenge series win for best limited series, but Ali Wong and Steven Yeun both won in their respective acting categories.
We’re expecting the series, which first hit Netflix in April, to have just as good of a night at the Emmys, coming into the show with 13 nominations (it already won three awards at the Creative Arts Emmys for editing, contemporary costumes, and casting).
Since it premiered nine months ago, it might be worth a refresher. Created by Lee Sung Jin (who wrote the show based on a real-life road rage incident), Beef stars Yeun as Danny Cho, a handyman who gets into a road rage altercation with a well-off woman named Amy Lau, played by Wong. As the 10-episode series goes along, Danny and Amy’s acts of vengeance against each other continue to escalate. The series is a pressure cooker of rage, exploring two protagonists whose inner turmoil manifests in twisted and sometimes violent ways. Lee told Vanity Fair, “I really wanted to explore two people who have just a lot of things that they haven’t dealt with, and they keep repressing it and pushing it inside—and how does that come out?”
Yeun and Wong both serve as executive producers on the show, and were involved before the scripts were completed. Yeun drew on some of his own background, including his time as a part of the Korean church, to flesh out his character, Danny. For Yeun, playing Danny was an exploration of a lot of human nature, beyond his identity as an Asian American. “For me, I felt like we were playing with aspects of ourselves, not explicitly Ali and me, but more as human beings,” he told Vanity Fair. “Who are we and what are we on a daily basis? Are we just like a performance every day or are we being honest and truthful about how we feel, and how we feel wronged or how we feel unsupported by society or reality?”
Wong, known for her successful stand-up career, and Yeun, whose film work has included an Oscar nomination for Minari, both deliver unexpected performances that made them fast front-runners for awards early on. But the supporting cast is also stellar, and several actors earned nominations including Joseph Lee and Young Mazino in the supporting-actor category and Maria Bello in the supporting-actress category.
Lee plays Amy’s artist husband, George, a sympathetic character who gets swept up in Amy’s drama. “You can’t really judge your character. If you’re stepping into somebody’s shoes, you have to legitimately see things from their point of view,” Lee, who is also an artist in real life, told Vanity Fair. “George is very much in love with his work, but, at the same time, the thing that I connect with him is, like many artists, he also has insecurity over his work.”
Mazino, who plays Danny’s younger brother, Paul, went to a Korean nightclub and gaming cafes to study up for his Beef character. “Paul is definitely somebody I understand,” he told Vanity Fair. “I understand his head space and the kind of mentality where you feel like the world is against you and you’re in this bubble.”
Mazino, who is likely to win in the supporting-actor category and told Vanity Fair he’s now only looking for the “really, really good stuff” for his upcoming projects, has already booked his next big role, in the next season of The Last of Us.
But the big question is after the show’s success will there be more Beef in the future? For a while, it seemed unclear if Beef, which also has two directing nominations going into Monday night, would compete in the limited-series category or perhaps land in comedy or drama series. Lee had previously stated he imagined a three-season arc for the show. But when Vanity Fair asked Yeun about the plans moving forward, he seemed more sure he wouldn’t be returning to Danny’s story. “I think from the very get, the way we pitched this was as an anthology limited series,” he said. “So we did want to close that loop at the end.”
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According to Seth Rogen, the punchline that deflates a climactic scene near the end of TMNT: Mutant Mayhem was improvised in a recording booth by Ice Cube, who was told to imagine what a giant mutant built of animals might say while stomping around Manhattan. It’s not the kind of thing any actor might easily conjure on their own—and for a long time in the film’s development, the mutant was only supposed to roar, not talk. But at some point, Rogen says, “We were like, ‘What if it’s this big monster, but it still sounds like Ice Cube?’”
That kind of story development—what if this crazy thing happened?—becomes a major part of Mutant Mayhem lore when you talk to Rogen and Jeff Rowe, the film’s director, who guided the movie through one story revision after another on its way to becoming one of 2023’s most pleasant surprises. A Ninja Turtles project with a big emphasis on the “teenage” part, it’s got the sweet awkwardness of Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Superbad, which they reference often when talking about Mutant Mayhem. But it’s also an inventively, endlessly funny action film, culminating in a kaiju battle in the streets of New York that makes time for character development for all four turtles; a heroic news broadcast for their pal April O’Neill; and a group of New Yorkers banding together in what Rogen freely calls their “Spider-Man 2 moment.” Here’s how they made it happen.
They Have a Goal, Just Not the Right Goal
Throughout Mutant Mayhem, our teenage heroes Leo, Donnie, Raph, and Mikey have just wanted to be accepted by human society. They’ve determined that bringing down the villainous Superfly (Ice Cube) and his own family of mutants is the way to do it. But their efforts only create a big, scarier version of Superfly who then rampages through New York City. As the film’s action climax begins, the turtles are marching into Manhattan with a weapon they think can solve the whole thing and get humans to accept them at last. At the same time, their adoptive father Splinter (Jackie Chan) has realized he has to let his kids march into danger—but hasn’t yet come around to stop fearing humans. Everyone, it turns out, still has something to learn.
“It’s something I’m always reaching for, and I actually think we did it well in that moment—the audience feels as though you’re giving them the answer, but it’s actually an incomplete answer,” says Rogen. When this approach works well, he says, the audience gets the thrill of an even better solution being revealed right alongside the characters. “There’s high standards for animated movies these days,” Rogen says. “There was a very conscious effort to have the third act continue to deliver this kind of emotional catharsis. It’s nice, I think, for the audience to go on that journey too.”
They Had a Monster, Just Not the Right Monster
Like many animated movies, Mutant Mayhem’s story transformed dramatically throughout its production. They got far along in the process with a big third-act monster who was not Superfly at all: At one point, the foe was created by Shredder, the iconic Turtles villain who now only appears in a brief hint at the end of the film. Though the story part of it wasn’t working, the animation had begun. As Rowe puts it, “We had already started building it, and it was a big, expensive, complicated asset…. And then at some point, Seth was like, ‘Wouldn’t it make more sense—instead of Superfly creating a monster, he just becomes the monster?’”
The result, Rowe says, was a 48-hour dash to turn the pre-existing monster—a jumble of animals that formed a vaguely Godzilla-esque shape—into something that conceivably could have once been the mutant insect Superfly. “It was like, ‘Can we put fly wings and fly eyes on this giant whale monster?’” Rowe remembers. “When we did that, the story clicked into place. But if we hadn’t already sunk a lot of time and energy into that asset, we may have had a different ending to the film.”
Five years after his Oscar hosting dreams imploded,Kevin Hart is declaring any future as emcee of Hollywood’s biggest night dead. “Kill the idea of it,” the comic said when asked about the possibility on Thursday’s episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “There is no upside at this point” to hosting, he added.
Hart explained his refusal further in a recent interview with Sky News. “Those gigs aren’t good gigs for comics,” he stated plainly. “It’s no shot to the Oscars, no shot to the Globes or anything else. Those just aren’t comedy-friendly environments anymore. I think they got it right one year where it was like just a bunch of personalities acting as the hosts, and that’s a nice thing,” Hart added, in possible reference to the 2022 Academy Awards, which were hosted by Regina Hall,Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes. “It’s a collaborative thing. Different people get to be responsible for act one, act two, act three. But you know, the days of it being a room for a comic— those days are done.”
Hart, who has previously hosted the BET Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards and the MTV Movie Awards, went on to praise the stand-up comedians who have “cracked the code” on hosting such events: “the Chris Rocks of the world, the Billy Crystals of the world, the girls we’ve had, like Tina Fey,Amy Poehler,Ricky Gervais,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that understand that, if you’re not an industry comic, meaning a comic that has the relationships of all, then those rooms are very cold. So, me doing it is, of course, at an advantage because I know the room and [am] familiar with so many. But for others, it’s not the same.”
Hart’s words were inspired in part by Jo Koy’s disastrous turn as first-time Golden Globes host, which led some to wonder if we should scrap the telecast’s hosts altogether. “It’s an industry room where the expectation is one of consequence. Everybody’s on edge about ‘what are you going to say about me,’ so it’s not one that’s attached to immediate laughter,” he told Andy Cohen, joining the likes of fellow comic Steve Martin in supporting Koy. “If I’m Jo, I don’t let it get to me. Let it slide off of your back.”
Hart was announced to host the 2019 Oscars but stepped down from the gig only days later after some of his old homophobic jokes and tweets resurfaced. Hart did not immediately apologize for the jokes. “I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists,” he tweeted in December 2018. “I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.”
The Oscars went hostless the year of Hart’s controversial departure. Jimmy Kimmel, meanwhile, has been tapped to host the 2024 Oscars, his fourth time in a role that doesn’t hold the same shine for Hart. “It’s not the gig that it was of old,” he told Sky News. “It’s too much pressure on the idea of a comic and what’s jokes and not jokes. So, it’s tough.”
