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Tag: oscars 2024

  • Oscar nominees for films from ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ to documentary shorts gather for luncheon

    Oscar nominees for films from ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ to documentary shorts gather for luncheon

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    BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The casts of ” Barbie ” and ” Oppenheimer ” gathered Monday at the annual Academy Award nominees luncheon alongside dozens of less famous and first-time Oscar hopefuls for handshakes, hugs, a huge group picture and instructions on nailing an acceptance speech.

    This image shows the Oscars Nominees Luncheon Class Photo from Feb. 12, 2024 in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Richard Harbaugh A.M.P.A.S.

    The event at the Beverly Hilton is a warm, feel-good affair where nominees in categories like best animated short get to rub shoulders and share tables with acting nominees like Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

    Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, whose snubs for best director and best actress, respectively, for “Barbie” caused a major stir, both showed up for the nominations they did get, and were all smiles.

    Gerwig, nominated for adapted screenplay, was surrounded by selfie-seekers as soon as she entered the banquet hall while Robbie, up for best picture as a “Barbie” producer, beamed nearby as she hugged and chatted with a woman who got one of the best actress spots, Sandra Hüller of “Anatomy of a Fall.”

    The centerpiece of the event is a class photo of the entire group of nominees. Nearly all of them usually attend, both as part of the Oscars experience and as part of their unspoken campaigns for votes.

    Margot Robbie, left, and Diane Warren attend the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Margot Robbie, left, and Diane Warren attend the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Photo by Danny Moloshok/Invision/AP

    Gerwig and Robbie got some of the loudest cheers of the afternoon when their names were called during the class picture roll call that feels like a school commencement and is perhaps the day’s most egalitarian tradition. The names are read and nominees called up to risers in an order that seems to make no accounting for fame.

    In one typical trio, Carey Mulligan, best actress nominee for “Maestro,” was summoned to the risers between David Hemingson, who was nominated for writing his first film, “The Holdovers,” and James Price, nominated for production design on “Poor Things.”

    Martin Scorsese, 81, nominated this year for best director on “Killers of the Flower Moon,” may have gotten the loudest ovation of the day when he was called up. He sat between the favorites in the actress category, Da’Vine Joy Randolph of “The Holdovers” and Lily Gladstone from his film. Both towered over the shorter Scorsese. “Oppenheimer” director Christopher Nolan reached across Gladstone to shake his hand as he sat down.

    Gerwig got a happy greeting from “Barbie” best supporting actor nominee Ryan Gosling, who kissed each of her cheeks.

    The luncheon dress code is daytime casual. For Gosling that meant a lilac suit with matching shirt, for Robbie a light pink beaded business suit with a bared midriff. Colman Domingo brought in a bit of evening with a tailed black jacket, black shirt with a plunging neckline and white slacks.

    The first attempts at the photo didn’t go well. When they finally got a few that worked, Robert Downey Jr., supporting actor nominee for “Oppenheimer,” who had been shouting joke instructions to the group of several hundred, leapt up, pumped a fist and shouted “yeah!” then turned and began applauding his fellow nominees.

    Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone arrive at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone arrive at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

    Most major nominees including Cillian Murphy, a favorite for best actor for “Oppenheimer,” and Bradley Cooper, one of his category competitors, spent the hours before and after lunch making the rounds of media outlets whose reporters are set up in cabanas around the Beverly Hilton pool.

    Cooper was headed toward the pool when he ran into Messi, the dog with a key role in “Anatomy of a Fall.” Cooper knelt down and gave the border collie a long, thorough petting.

    The nominees sat for a vegetarian meal of king oyster mushrooms and wild mushroom risotto while Academy President Janet Yang gave her annual remarks.

    She used last year’s luncheon to address what she called the Academy’s “inadequate” response to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the previous year’s ceremony.

    Her remarks this year had a much lighter tone, and dealt with more mundane matters more akin to a freshman orientation, like the timing of the Oscars ceremony.

    “In case any of you have been in a nominations haze, we are starting an hour earlier this year,” she said.

    Sterling K. Brown arrives at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Sterling K. Brown arrives at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

    When she saw surprise around the room she said, “Ooh, some people didn’t know! I’m glad I reminded you!”

    She drew groans when she added that the Oscars come on the first day of daylight saving time.

    She also delivered the president’s annual instructions on victory speeches, mostly urging winners to be brief and stick to the 45-second limit but also “speak from the heart,” “feel the moment” and “add a bit of humor.”

    She then played a montage of past speeches that met the ideals, with clips from Jamie Lee Curtis, Brad Pitt and Ke Huy Quan.

    It ended with the academy’s Platonic ideal of a speech played in its entirety: Javier Bardem’s 2008 acceptance of best supporting actor for “No Country for Old Men.” Total time: 37 seconds.

    March 10 is Oscar Sunday! Watch the 2024 Oscars live on ABC.

    Red carpet coverage starts at 1 p.m. ET 10 a.m. PT with “Countdown to Oscars: On The Red Carpet Live.” At 4 p.m. ET 1 p.m. PT, live coverage continues with “On The Red Carpet at the Oscars,” hosted by George Pennacchio with Roshumba Williams, Leslie Lopez and Rachel Brown.

    Watch all the action on the red carpet live on ABC, streaming live on OnTheRedCarpet.com and on the On the Red Carpet Facebook and YouTube pages.

    The 96th Oscars, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, begins at 7 p.m. ET 4 p.m. PT, an hour earlier than past years.

    The Oscars are followed by an all-new episode of “Abbott Elementary.”

    Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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    AP

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  • Stars to celebrate nominations at annual Oscars Nominees Luncheon

    Stars to celebrate nominations at annual Oscars Nominees Luncheon

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    LOS ANGELES — The annual Academy Award nominees luncheon on Monday is a chance for this year’s Oscar hopefuls to come together for photos, hugs and congratulations.

    The luncheon is a warm, feel-good, egalitarian affair where little-known first-time nominees in categories like best animated short get to rub shoulders and share tables with acting nominees like Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone.

    The centerpiece of the event in Beverly Hills, California, is a class photo of the entire group of nominees. Nearly all of them usually attend, both as part of the Oscars experience and as part of their unspoken campaigns for votes.

    Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone arrive at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

    Before the luncheon proper began, nominees including Cillian Murphy, a favorite for best actor for “Oppenheimer,” a favorite for best supporting actress for “The Holdovers,” made the rounds of media outlets whose reporters are set up in cabanas around the Beverly Hilton pool.

    Steven Spielberg, nominated for best picture as a producer of “Maestro,” chatted with a small group on the patio.

    Less famous nominees packed into the ballroom and posed for group pictures.

    They’ll later be seated for a vegetarian menu of king oyster mushrooms and wild mushroom risotto.

    The event is also a chance for the leadership of the Academy, including President Janet Yang to give speeches and address their prominent members in person.

    Sterling K. Brown arrives at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Sterling K. Brown arrives at the 96th Academy Awards Oscar nominees luncheon on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

    Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

    She used last year’s luncheon to address what she called the Academy’s “inadequate” response to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the previous year’s ceremony.

    The leaders may address some serious issues this year, but it’s likely to have a lighter tone.

    This year’s invited guests include director Christopher Nolan and stars Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt of ” Oppenheimer,” the most nominated film with 13 nominations and the favorite in many key categories.

    Other top nominees include “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Poor Things.”

    And while ” Barbie ” director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie were snubbed in their main categories, both will be among the invitees – Gerwig as an original screenplay nominee, Robbie as a producer of a best picture nominee.

    March 10 is Oscar Sunday! Watch the 2024 Oscars live on ABC.

    Red carpet coverage starts at 1 p.m. ET 10 a.m. PT with “Countdown to Oscars: On The Red Carpet Live.” At 4 p.m. ET 1 p.m. PT, live coverage continues with “On The Red Carpet at the Oscars,” hosted by George Pennacchio with Roshumba Williams, Leslie Lopez and Rachel Brown.

    Watch all the action on the red carpet live on ABC, streaming live on OnTheRedCarpet.com and on the On the Red Carpet Facebook and YouTube pages.

    The 96th Oscars, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, begins at 7 p.m. ET 4 p.m. PT, an hour earlier than past years.

    The Oscars are followed by an all-new episode of “Abbott Elementary.”

    Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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    AP

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  • Sterling K. Brown Predicts He’ll Lose the Oscar to Robert Downey Jr.: “He’s Incredibly Deserving”

    Sterling K. Brown Predicts He’ll Lose the Oscar to Robert Downey Jr.: “He’s Incredibly Deserving”

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    Sterling K. Brown said he isn’t expecting to take home an Oscar this year, but he’s “totally fine” with it.

    The actor, who is up for best supporting actor for his role in American Fiction, recently joked during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, “There’s no losing yet — it’ll happen in its own due time.”

    Brown proceeded to say that “Colman [Domingo] will probably win,” adding, “I know that I’m not going to win.” Domingo was also a guest on the BBC show, as well as scored a best leading actor Oscar nomination for Rustin.

    Though Graham Norton and the other guests pushed back, telling Brown that he still has a good chance at winning, the This Is Us actor admitted he’s “totally fine” if he doesn’t take home the trophy.

    “Robert Downey Jr. is going to win, and he’s incredibly deserving,” Brown said of the Oppenheimer star and his fellow nominee. “He’s an incredible actor. You should give him love. And the fact that I get a chance to be nominated along with him and Mr. [Robert] De Niro and Ryan Gosling and [Mark] Ruffalo, I’m just happy to be in the room.”

    Norton went on to tease Brown on his perspective should he end up winning the Academy Award. “On the night, this will all be very humble,” the host quipped. “’I can’t believe I won!’”

    Brown told The Hollywood Reporter last month that he thought the Cord Jefferson-directed movie, adapted from Percival Everett’s 2001 novel Erasure, “was one of the best scripts I’d ever read.”

    “It was able to make fun of an industry and also challenge it to say there are ways in which you could be better,” he said of American Fiction. “You are narrow in terms of Black life that you are willing to portray for mass consumption. I’m going to tell you that, and at the same time, I’m going to give you an idea of other stories that would be viable for mass consumption.”

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    Carly Thomas

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  • Why Maestro Became the Oscar Villain (and Oppenheimer Didn’t)

    Why Maestro Became the Oscar Villain (and Oppenheimer Didn’t)

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    Bradley Cooper is Leonard Bernstein.
    Photo: Netflix

    This article originally appeared in Gold Rush, a subscriber-only newsletter about the perpetual Hollywood awards race.

    Want proof that we did indeed go through a post-2020 vibe shift? A bunch of people on the internet are rooting against a big, starry Oscar movie — for reasons that have nothing to do with the film’s assumed politics.

    For years, I have tracked the annual arrival of each season’s Oscar villain, the contender that inspires a panicked “God, no!” among awards enthusiasts. The Academy may pretend that the Oscars is purely about celebrating the very best in the craft, but we know better. This is a competition, and as such, deciding who you’ll root against is almost as much fun as deciding who you’ll root for.

    I came of age as a pundit during the Trump presidency, which heightened the stakes of the villain conversation. For right-thinking people of the era, the success of films like La La Land, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Green Book was proof not just that awards voters didn’t share their tastes, but of something rotten in the country itself. I don’t want to suggest that we’re in a less polarized moment now or that people have developed healthier attitudes about art. (Last week’s Barbie kerfuffle should disabuse us of that notion.) But I do think it’s a positive development that the 2024 Oscar villain is a throwback to the seasons of yore, when people rooted against a title on purely aesthetic grounds. This year, one unlucky film became the Oscar villain simply because it was boring, basic, and a little pretentious. That’s right — I’m talking about Maestro.

    Though I’ve made it my job to follow these things, I confess I did not see the Maestro backlash coming. I caught up with the Leonard Bernstein biopic a week after it played the New York Film Festival in October, and while it wasn’t my favorite of this year’s awards crop, I admired the formal inventiveness, the commitment to period mannerisms, and Bradley Cooper’s evident love of flirting onscreen. It seemed to me like a fairly standard Oscar movie, which is precisely what everybody else hates about it.

    The thing Maestro detractors often say is that they have no idea why the film was made, except to win awards. My answer to this is that Maestro is about a straight woman and a gay man who fall for each other, and instead of using each other for clout the way they would today, decide to get married. It’s about how going into a relationship with your eyes fully open is still no defense against getting hurt. To me, that’s as valid a subject for a movie as any. Sounds swell, my friends say, but absolutely none of that has been communicated to the general public. To those who haven’t seen it, Maestro is a movie about how Cooper spent untold amounts of time and money transforming himself into a very important conductor, in a movie about how this conductor was very important. (The private life of Leonard Bernstein is, as Cousin Greg might say, not IP many of them are familiar with.) And thanks to Netflix’s characteristic largesse, the film has also become impossible to ignore. Drive past a billboard, take the subway, browse the internet, and there’s Cooper, baton blazing.

    Few of those who have seen the film have rallied to its defense. I’ve heard grumbles from older members of the Hollywood Establishment that Maestro sidelines Bernstein’s art and activism, the very things that made him important. In The New Yorker, Richard Brody said that the film “leaves out the good stuff.” And Cooper’s allusive direction has bugged even those less invested in the tale. As one redditor put it, the film’s attempt to swerve around biopic clichés left it feeling as if it had been assembled “entirely from deleted scenes and outtakes.” Consensus is that the film is technically marvelous but cold, as if Cooper spent such time studying Bernstein’s tics that he lost sight of the man’s soul.

    Above all, the thing that seems to be bugging people about Maestro is Cooper himself. Not since Anne Hathaway has an Oscar contender lost so much goodwill simply by campaigning so hard. Now, Cooper has not been alone on the awards trail. Cillian Murphy is not sitting at home in monkish penury. Paul Giamatti has not taken a vow of silence in honor of Thespis. But Cooper has accidentally violated one of the cardinal rules of campaigning: Show you want it, but don’t be desperate. Thus even standard celebrity behavior has been filtered through an unflattering lens. Fans side-eyed his extremely public romance with Gigi Hadid, saw shade toward Murphy in his Variety “Actors on Actors” interview, and passed around blind items hinting at diva behavior behind the scenes. Through strange awards-season alchemy, the combination of Maestro and Cooper’s star persona has made the public recoil from both.

    For while Maestro has been dinged for not revealing much about Bernstein, I suspect in its naked stretch for greatness it is a little too revealing about Cooper. At the risk of psychoanalyzing a stranger, it’s worth digging into his teacher’s-pet intensity, the quality many observers find so off-putting.

    Like Taylor Swift, another try-hard frequently seen at NFL games this season, Cooper hails from the upper-middle-class suburbs of Philadelphia — a world I can speak to, because it’s the world I come from too. (Both of my siblings attended the same private high school as Cooper.) This is an environment where the dream of meritocracy still holds sway, where a smart kid from a well-off family could believe that if he studied hard enough his dreams were indeed within his grasp. Cooper was exposed to the work of Bernstein as a child; as a young adult he matriculated at Georgetown, rowed crew, studied abroad in France. Mare of Easttown this was not.

    Yet although he had high-culture ambitions, even studying at the famed Actors Studio, Cooper’s early-Hollywood forays came at the other end of the industry. His first regular gig was playing a beta on Alias. His first big movie role was as a douchebag in Wedding Crashers. The film that made him a star was The Hangover. By the time Cooper was able to open a movie, his A-list peers — guys like Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, and Joaquin Phoenix — had been famous for over a decade. By the time The Hangover: Part II hit theaters, that trio had racked up six Oscar nominations between them. Is it any wonder that when Cooper was finally granted access to the world of prestige cinema he would be desperate to prove he belonged?

    The New York Times’ Kyle Buchanan noted that, on both of his big Oscar plays, Cooper has run a director campaign, not an actor campaign. Rather than trying to dazzle with charisma in the manner of Giamatti or Colman Domingo, his narrative highlights his diligent preparation, his intense focus. This has earned him the approval of elders like Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, though, so far, not the directors’ branch. I heard rumors about Cooper being a bit of a pill on the Star Is Born campaign, and if he goes home empty-handed yet again, we may hear similar stories this year.

    The irony here is that, for all Cooper’s strenuous efforts, Maestro has managed to become the season’s official villain without ever being a legitimate threat. The film hasn’t won many precursors, and though the Academy nominated it in seven categories, including Best Picture, it’s considered a long shot in most of them. (The one exception is Makeup & Hairstyling, where makeup maestro Kazu Hiro is favored to win his third trophy.) What makes this even funnier is that the film that is dominating all comers this season is Oppenheimer — another warts-and-all biopic of a Great Man from the 20th century, which also features a jumbled timeline and black-and-white cinematography, and whose director is likewise often accused of taking himself too seriously. By all rights, Oppenheimer should have become the season’s biggest villain. Why didn’t it?

    First and foremost is Barbenheimer. Though I’ve heard whispers that Team Oppenheimer were not the biggest fans of the meme, which they felt trivialized the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there’s no doubt the summer phenomenon inoculated Christopher Nolan’s film from an Oscar-villain backlash. It helped make Oppenheimer a hit, giving it the feel of a winner from day one. By treating the films as a linked pair, the meme also undercut the budding gender essentialism around them; just as Barbie became for the boys, so too did Oppenheimer become for the girls, gays, and theys. And crucially, the craze added an element of fun around what is, let’s face it, a fairly gray and dour film. The internet could not pretend that Oppenheimer was being shoved down their necks, because they’d already claimed it as their own.

    This all could change if Oppenheimer keeps winning absolutely everything. (In the wake of Barbie’s snubs, I’m starting to notice uncharitable readings of Nolan’s quotes, an important leading indicator.) Of course, there’s no reason either Oppenheimer or Maestro had to wind up this year’s Oscar villain. But the fact that the latter did and the former did not tells us something: Intellectual pretension is acceptable in our awards vehicles; emotional pretension far less so.



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    Nate Jones

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  • Isabelle Thomas, Filmmaker and Wife of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Producer Bradley Thomas, Dies at 39

    Isabelle Thomas, Filmmaker and Wife of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Producer Bradley Thomas, Dies at 39

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    Isabelle Thomas, British documentary filmmaker and the wife of Oscar-nominated Killers of the Flower Moon producer Bradley Thomas, was found dead at a Los Angeles hotel this week, medical records show. Thomas was 39.

    Isabelle Thomas died by suicide and was discovered with “multiple traumatic injuries” at a local hotel, according to online records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. Citing law enforcement sources, TMZ reported this week that on Monday, Thomas had lept from a high-up floor at the Hotel Angeleno; the 17-floor Westwood hotel is notable for the balconies that wrap around the building on each floor.

    Police sources reportedly indicated that she was discovered dead at the scene when first responders arrived.

    “Isabelle was the light of our lives,” said the family in a statement to the L.A. Times. “She was courageous and took all life’s opportunities without fear, showering love and kindness on her friends, family, and children along the way. Her projects were as diverse as her passions, reflecting a curiosity about people and our culture that inspired everyone lucky enough to spend time with her. We remember her as a soulmate, beautiful daughter, sister, devoted mother and wife.”

    The British producer, also known as “Izzy,” is from the Cotswolds in the U.K and resided in California with her husband and their two children. According to her website, she graduated from Oxford University and went on to advise on projects for international entertainment companies, private family offices, global membership spaces, start-ups, the UN and The World Bank. 

    Isabelle married Bradley Thomas, a producer of major films for decades, in 2018. The couple was spotted at red carpet events around town while his career flourished as a producer on Clint Eastwood’s The Mule in 2018 and 2022’s Palme d’Or-winning satire Triangle of Sadness. The two were photographed together as recently as Jan. 13 at the 2024 BAFTA Tea Party at The Maybourne Beverly Hills.

    Isabelle Thomas’ death comes as her husband is in the height of award season as he promotes Killers, which, alongside fellow producers Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, is up for the 2024 Oscars best picture trophy.

    Bradley Thomas’ producing career began with the Farrelly brothers’ hit 1994 comedy Dumb and Dumber and has not lost momentum over 30 years. He produced several of the duo’s subsequent comedies, including There’s Something About Mary and Shallow Hal, then later teamed up with legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott for All the Money in the World and Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund as EP on the biting satires that followed his debut, Force Majure.

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    Jackie Strause

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  • Yorgos Lanthimos on ‘Poor Things,’ His Friendship with Emma Stone, Unleashing Mark Ruffalo and Why He Doesn’t Like Labels

    Yorgos Lanthimos on ‘Poor Things,’ His Friendship with Emma Stone, Unleashing Mark Ruffalo and Why He Doesn’t Like Labels

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    His friendship with Emma Stone, unleashing new sides of Mark Ruffalo and Colin Farrell, his next film and the limitations of language. Those were just some of the topics that Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos discussed during an onstage interview organized by the British Film Institute (BFI) in London on Wednesday evening.

    “I don’t really think of themes themselves,” Lanthimos shared when asked by an audience member what topics and themes he was planning to take on in future movies. “It is more about coming up with the stories and the structures and sensing that there’s something there that I’m interested in.” He also said that it was only “after that that you realize what it is about for yourself [since] for other people it could be about another thing. So it’s hard to say what the themes are.”

    The filmmaker said he and his collaborators are “interested in humans and just going in deeper into those kinds of societal structures and behaviors and relationships.”

    He then mentioned his latest project, which is entitled Kinds of Kindness and features Stone, Jesse Plemons, Margaret Qualley and Willem Dafoe, among others. “We’ve just shot this film … which is three different stories,” the director said, calling it “a contemporary film.” He added: “It’s three different stories, and we’re finishing the edit right now, and I still can’t tell you exactly what it is about. But I also wouldn’t want to tell you what I thought the stories are about because it just makes it so small. I try not to even think about it during the process, because I’m afraid that it will make my choices more narrow.”

    The filmmaker behind such acclaimed movies as Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Favourite also discussed his body of work and creative process during the appearance at the British capital’s Southbank Centre. The event, under the title “Yorgos Lanthimos in Conversation,” drew a big crowd, including Stone, who sat in the front row.

    Their black-comedy sci-fi fantasy Poor Things recently earned 11 nominations each for both the BAFTA Film Awards and the Oscars.

    Asked about his continuing creative partnership with Stone, Lanthimos told the audience: “The funny thing is, which I tell her, but she doesn’t believe me, I thought of her for The Lobster as well.” Stone was heard laughing when he said that, drawing appreciative laughs from the audience as well. “She has this wonderful speech impediment, it feels like a lisp,” he continued. “And in the world of The Lobster that would be very critical, a very particular characteristic. So she could be the lisping woman.”

    How did Stone end up playing Bella Baxter in Poor Things? “We got to know each other really well, even before making The Favourite, because we started discussing it a couple of years before, and it took some time to get made. So we became friends during that time,” Lanthimos explained. “Then when we actually had the working experience, it just was obvious that we got along and we like working together.”

    So he mentioned other projects to the star, “and she immediately jumped on Poor Things as soon as she heard the story. … And the rest is history.”

    Asked about how he showed new sides of Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things, Lanthimos said the credit for the acting work should go to his stars and their creativity. But he did share that Ruffalo had some doubts initially, which the director managed to address.

    “Well, I just set him free, he was ready to go,” the Greek director said, calling Ruffalo “a brilliant actor.”

    “He was a little bit reluctant, I guess, because he hasn’t done anything like that,” he recalled. “Now that I know him better, I think in general he always thinks he’s not good for it.” But then Ruffalo got excited and “completely embraced” his role, Lanthimos recalled. “He came in strong when we started rehearsing. We had two or three weeks of rehearsal. He was the guy who was already there. And we had so much fun during rehearsals.”

    Asked about his reaction to the broad appeal Poor Things has enjoyed, Lanthimos said: “I have been surprised.”

    The filmmaker on Wednesday also lauded other stars he has worked with. Discussing Colin Farrell and his work in The Lobster, Lanthimos said: “He was looking to do different things,” such as In Bruges. ”His comedic sense and, in general, his presence I thought was very strong. And I guess the thing with casting with me is, first of all, I want to try and find people that I want to work with, no matter if they fit the character exactly. That’s why he had to gain so much weight. But it’s mostly about people that I want to work with, meeting them and seeing if we get along.” Concluded the director: “It’s important to find the people that actually have this connection with your work and with you as a person.”

    Farrell, of course, also appeared in The Killing of a Sacred Deer, along with Nicole Kidman and then-new discovery Barry Keoghan. Calling him “incredible,” Lanthimos recalled: “We saw hundreds of American kids” for his role. “It was clear immediately that he was so special.”

    Having a veteran like Kidman on set also helped. “Nicole is extremely generous,” Lanthimos said in singing her praises. “That helps a lot.”

    Overall, Lanthimos said he sees his work with actors as making sure “to give them space … (so) they can try stuff and they are safe.”

    One of the things the director has gotten a reputation for is his unusual approach to his prep work and sets. “I come up with games for the actors to get to know each other and feel comfortable to make a fool of themselves and make the process light and fun,” the Greek filmmaker explained. “We shouldn’t be taking things too seriously. We are making movies.”

    What games does he make his stars play? ”It’s a lot of physical stuff,” he shared, mentioning dancing and “silly walks” as examples, along with “raising the volume of your voice as you speak in a totally nonsensical way.”

    So what does Lanthimos make of people describing his films as absurdist? “It’s always not the most pleasant thing to just be boxed into one thing,” he shared. “I guess there is some kind of absurdity in the films, but I hope they’re more complex than that.”

    The BFI event’s description itself also lauded the filmmaker for “his exquisitely crafted, wild absurdist tales and darkly comic explorations of the human condition.”

    Lanthimos understands such labels. “I understand why people have the need to describe it a certain way or make sense of it by using language,” he told the audience. “But the thing is, the trouble is language is not always sufficient for any kind of work of art.”

    Emma Stone with Ramy Youssef (left) in Poor Things

    Courtesy of Telluride Film Festival/ Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures.

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    Georg Szalai

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  • Oscars 2024 Nominations: Documentary To Kill a Tiger on violence against women in India gets a nod at the Academy

    Oscars 2024 Nominations: Documentary To Kill a Tiger on violence against women in India gets a nod at the Academy

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    To Kill a Tiger, a riveting Canadian documentary crafted by Nisha Pahuja, has made its majestic roar at the Oscars by securing a nomination in the Best Documentary Feature Film category of the 96th Academy Awards. With the backdrop set in Jharkhand, India, this sobering story revolves around a family relentlessly seeking justice for their 13-year-old daughter, a victim of a brutal rape crime by three men. The cinematic narration delves deep into the societal and legal obstacles faced by the affected family, shining a spotlight on the culturally embedded issues that turn a blind eye to violence against women. Also Read – Oscars 2024 Nominees: Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone and others nominated; Barbie, Oppenheimer dominate the list

    BollywoodLife brings to you all the latest entertainment news updates. Join us on WhatsApp. Also Read – Oscars 2024: Leonardo DiCaprio out of the race for Best Actor for Killers Of The Flower Moon? Fans pin hope on his next big project

    To Kill a Tiger won hearts

    The documentary first aired its social dilemma to the audience at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022, cinching the title of Best Canadian Film. It further racked up laurels such as the Inspiring Voices and Perspectives award at the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival and two Canadian Screen Awards for Best Feature Length Documentary and Best Editing in a Documentary. Praise for To Kill a Tiger echoed from critics at Stir, CityNews, and Northern Stars, while comedian and producer Mindy Kaling hailed it as a “triumph” to be witnessed by all. Also Read – Dunki at Oscars 2024: Shah Rukh Khan, Rajkumar Hirani planning to submit the film for main categories?

    Amongst the group of 15 movies that progressed in the Documentary Feature Film category out of the eligible 167 films at the Oscars, To Kill a Tiger marks its presence. Joining the list are other engaging narratives like American Symphony, Apolonia, Beyond Utopia, Bobi Wine: The People’s President, Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy, and more remarkable documentaries.

    About Oscars 2024

    The Oscars 2024 red carpet will unroll on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California as the 96th Academy Awards unfurls. Telecasted live on ABC and universally across 200+ territories, the event will have comedian Jimmy Kimmel as the host for the fourth time. The production chair occupied by Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan and directorial reins held by Hamish Hamilton. As actors Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid reveal the nominees in various categories such as Best Picture and Best Actress on January 23, 2024, “To Kill A Tiger” is set to compete with awaited cinema pieces like Killers of the Flower Moon, and Barbie.

    The societal mirror that To Kill a Tiger is, highlights the deep-seated issue of sexual violence against women, prevalent not just in India but globally. Beyond being a mere film, it’s a call for change and a manifesto challenging the rampant social evil. Lauded, celebrated, and a potential history-maker at the Oscars; To Kill a Tiger is indeed a movie with a mission.

    Stay tuned to BollywoodLife for the latest scoops and updates from Bollywood, Hollywood, South, TV and Web-Series.
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  • Feinberg Forecast: Scott’s First Oscar Projections Post Golden Globes and SAG and DGA Awards Nominations

    Feinberg Forecast: Scott’s First Oscar Projections Post Golden Globes and SAG and DGA Awards Nominations

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    PLEASE NOTE: This forecast, assembled by Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter’s executive editor of awards coverage, reflects Scott’s best attempt to predict the behavior of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, not his personal preferences. He arrives at these projections by drawing upon conversations with voters and other industry insiders, analysis of marketing and awards campaigns, results of awards ceremonies that precede the Oscars, and the history of the Oscars itself. There will be regular updates to reflect new developments.

    * * *

    Best Picture

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Universal)
    2. Barbie (Warner Bros.)
    3. Poor Things (Searchlight)
    4. Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple)
    5. American Fiction (Amazon/MGM)
    6. The Holdovers (Focus)
    7. Past Lives (A24)
    8. Anatomy of a Fall (Neon)
    9. Maestro (Netflix)
    10. The Zone of Interest (A24)

    Major Threats
    11. Society of the Snow (Netflix)
    12. The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)
    13. May December (Netflix)
    14. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony)
    15. Rustin (Netflix)

    Possibilities
    16. Saltburn (Amazon/MGM)
    17. Air (Amazon/MGM)
    18. Origin (Neon)
    19. Ferrari (Neon)

    Best Director

    Frontrunners
    1. Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
    2. Greta Gerwig (Barbie) — podcast
    3. Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    4. Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
    5. Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

    Major Threats
    6. Alexander Payne (The Holdovers)
    7. Celine Song (Past Lives)
    8. Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
    9. Cord Jefferson (American Fiction)
    10. Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)
    11. Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron)

    Possibilities
    12. Todd Haynes (May December) — podcast
    13. Emerald Fennell (Saltburn) — podcast
    14. J.A. Bayona (Society of the Snow)
    15. Blitz Bazawule (The Color Purple)
    16. Ava DuVernay (Origin) — podcast
    17. Michael Mann (Ferrari)

    Best Actor

    Frontrunners
    1. Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) — podcast
    2. Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
    3. Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
    4. Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
    5. Colman Domingo (Rustin)

    Major Threats
    6. Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    7. Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers)
    8. Barry Keoghan (Saltburn)

    Possibilities
    9. Matt Damon (Air)
    10. Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario) — podcast
    11. Franz Rogowski (Passages)

    Best Actress

    Frontrunners
    1. Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    2. Emma Stone (Poor Things) — podcast
    3. Margot Robbie (Barbie) — podcast
    4. Carey Mulligan (Maestro) — podcast
    5. Annette Bening (Nyad)

    Major Threats
    6. Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
    7. Greta Lee (Past Lives)
    8. Natalie Portman (May December) — podcast
    9. Helen Mirren (Golda) — podcast

    Possibilities
    10. Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves)
    11. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Origin) — podcast
    12. Fantasia Barrino (The Color Purple)
    13. Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)

    Best Supporting Actor

    Frontrunners
    1. Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
    2. Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
    3. Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon) — podcast
    4. Willem Dafoe (Poor Things) — podcast
    5. Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

    Major Threats
    6. Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction) — podcast
    7. Charles Melton (May December)
    8. Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers)

    Possibilities
    9. Glenn Howerton (BlackBerry)
    10. Jesse Plemons (Killers of the Flower Moon) — podcast
    11. Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers)

    Best Supporting Actress

    Frontrunners
    1. Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
    2. Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple) — podcast
    3. Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) — podcast
    4. Jodie Foster (Nyad) — podcast
    5. Julianne Moore (May December) — podcast

    Major Threats
    6. Penélope Cruz (Ferrari) — podcast
    7. Rosamund Pike (Saltburn) — podcast
    8. America Ferrera (Barbie)
    9. Sandra Hüller (The Zone of Interest)

    Possibilities
    10. Erika Alexander (American Fiction)
    11. Taraji P. Henson (The Color Purple) — podcast
    12. Claire Foy (All of Us Strangers) — podcast
    13. Viola Davis (Air)

    Best Adapted Screenplay

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
    2. Barbie (Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig) — podcast (Gerwig)
    3. Poor Things (Tony McNamara)
    4. Killers of the Flower Moon (Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese)
    5. American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)

    Major Threats
    6. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
    7. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Dave Callaham, Phil Lord & Chris Miller)
    8. Society of the Snow (J.A. Bayona, Nicolás Casariego, Jaime Marques & Bernat Vilaplana)

    Possibilities
    9. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
    10. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Kelly Fremon Craig)
    11. Origin (Ava DuVernay)

    Best Original Screenplay

    Frontrunners
    1. Past Lives (Celine Song)
    2. The Holdovers (David Hemingson)
    3. Anatomy of a Fall (Arthur Harari & Justine Triet)
    4. Maestro (Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer)
    5. May December (Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik)

    Major Threats
    6. Saltburn (Emerald Fennell)
    7. Air (Alex Convery)

    Possibilities
    8. Rustin (Dustin Lance Black & Julian Breece)
    9. Asteroid City (Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola)

    Best International Feature

    Frontrunners
    1. The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)
    2. Society of the Snow (Spain)
    3. The Taste of Things (France)
    4. Four Daughters (Tunisia)
    5. The Teacher’s Lounge (Germany)

    Major Threats
    6. Perfect Days (Japan)
    7. 20 Days in Mariupol (Ukraine)

    Can’t Yet Call
    Godland (Iceland)
    Totem (Mexico)
    Io Capitano (Italy)
    Fallen Leaves (Finland)
    The Promised Land (Denmark)
    The Mother of All Lies (Morocco)
    Amerikatsi (Armenia)
    The Monk and the Gun (Bhutan)

    Best Documentary Feature

    Frontrunners
    1. American Symphony (Netflix)
    2. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple) — podcast (Davis Guggenheim)
    3. Beyond Utopia (Roadside)
    4. Stamped from the Beginning (Netflix) — podcast (Roger Ross Williams)
    5. 20 Days in Mariupol (PBS)

    Major Threats
    6. The Eternal Memory (MTV)
    7. Bobi Wine: The People’s President (Nat Geo)
    8. Four Daughters (Kino Lorber)
    9. To Kill a Tiger (still seeking U.S. distribution)
    10. Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy (Kino Lorber/Zeitgeist)

    Can’t Yet Call
    32 Sounds (Abramorama)
    Apolonia, Apolonia (still seeking U.S. distribution)
    Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project     (HBO)
    In the Rearview (Film Movement)
    A Still Small Voice (Abramorama)

    Best Animated Feature

    Frontrunners
    1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony)
    2. The Boy and the Heron (GKIDS)
    3. Elemental (Pixar) — podcast (Pete Docter)
    4. Nimona (Netflix)
    5. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination)

    Major Threats
    6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount)
    7. Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (Netflix)
    8. Leo (Netflix)
    9. Wish (Disney)
    10. They Shot the Piano Player (Sony Classics)

    Can’t Yet Call
    Amazing Maurice (Viva)
    Deep Sea (Viva)
    Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibbertia (GKIDS)
    The First Slam Dunk (GKIDS)
    Migration (Illumination)
    Robot Dreams (Neon)
    Stopmotion (IFC)
    Suzume (Toho)
    Trolls Band Together (DreamWorks)

    Best Cinematography

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Hoyte van Hoytema)
    2. Killers of the Flower Moon (Rodrigo Prieto)
    3. Poor Things (Robbie Ryan)
    4. The Zone of Interest (Lukasz Zal)
    5. Maestro (Matthew Libatique)

    Major Threats
    6. Barbie (Rodrigo Prieto)
    7. Saltburn (Linus Sandgren)
    8. The Color Purple (Dan Laustsen)
    9. Society of the Snow (Pedro Luque)
    10. Ferrari (Erik Messerschmidt)
    11. Napoleon (Dariusz Wolski)

    Possibilities
    12. Past Lives (Shabier Kirchner)
    13. May December (Christopher Blauvelt)
    14. The Taste of Things (Jonathan Ricquebourg)
    15. The Holdovers (Eigil Byrid)
    16. Air (Robert Richardson)
    17. The Killer (Erik Messerschmidt)

    Best Costume Design

    Frontrunners
    1. Barbie (Jacqueline Durran)
    2. Poor Things (Holly Waddington)
    3. Killers of the Flower Moon (Jacqueline West)
    4. The Color Purple (Francine Jamison-Tanchuck)
    5. Wonka (Lindy Hemming)

    Major Threats
    6. Napoleon (David Crossman & Janty Yates)
    7. Maestro (Mark Bridges)
    8. The Little Mermaid (Colleen Atwood)
    9. Oppenheimer (Ellen Mirojnick)
    10. Priscilla (Stacey Battat)

    Possibilities
    11. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Ann Roth)
    12. Ferrari (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
    13. Asteroid City (Milena Canonero)
    14. Saltburn (Sophie Canale)
    17. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Trish Summerville)

    Best Film Editing

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Jennifer Lame)
    2. Poor Things (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
    3. Barbie (Nick Houy)
    4. Killers of the Flower Moon (Thelma Schoonmaker)
    5. The Holdovers (Kevin Tent)

    Major Threats
    6. Maestro (Michelle Tesoro)
    7. Ferrari (Pietro Scalia)
    8. The Killer (Kirk Baxter)
    9. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Michael Andrews)
    10. Past Lives (Keith Fraase)

    Possibilities
    11. Air (William Goldenberg)
    12. American Fiction (Hilda Rasula)
    13. The Zone of Interest (Paul Watts)
    14. Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One (Eddie Hamilton)
    15. The Color Purple (Jon Poll)

    Best Makeup & Hairstyling

    Frontrunners
    1. Maestro (Kay Georgiou, Sian Grigg, Kazu Hiro & Lori McCoy-Bell)
    2. Poor Things (Mark Couler, Nadia Stacey & Josh Weston)
    3. Killers of the Flower Moon (Kay Georgiou & Thomas Nellen)
    4. Golda (Suzi Battersby, Ashra Kelly-Blue & Karen Hartley Thomas)
    5. Society of the Snow (Ana López-Puigcerver, Belén López-Puigcerver, David Martí & Montse Ribé)

    Major Threats
    6. Oppenheimer (Luisa Abel, Jason Hamer, Jaime Leigh McIntosh & Ahou Mofid)
    7. Ferrari (Elisabetta Arlotti, Nicolas Iles, Feredrico Martellacci & Leonardo Signoretti)
    8. Napoleon (Jana Carboni & Francesco Pegoretti)
    9. Beau Is Afraid (Félix Larivière & Colin Penman)
    10. The Last Voyage of the Demeter (TBD)

    Best Original Score

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Ludwig Göransson)
    2. Killers of the Flower Moon (Robbie Robertson)
    3. Poor Things (Jerskin Fendrix)
    4. Barbie (Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt)
    5. The Zone of Interest (Mica Levi)

    Major Threats
    6. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Daniel Pemberton)
    7. The Holdovers (Mark Orton)
    8. Elemental (Thomas Newman)
    9. American Fiction (Laura Karpman)
    10. Society of the Snow (Michael Giacchino)

    Possibilities
    11. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (John Williams)
    12. American Symphony (Jon Batiste)
    13. The Boy and the Heron (Joe Hisaishi)
    14. The Color Purple (Kris Bowers)
    15. Saltburn (Anthony Willis)

    Best Original Song

    Frontrunners
    1. “What Was I Made For?” (Barbie), Billie Eilish & Finneas — podcasts (1 and 2)
    2. “I’m Just Ken” (Barbie), Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt — podcast (Ronson)
    3. “Road to Freedom” (Rustin), Lenny Kravitz — podcast
    4. “It Never Went Away” (American Symphony), Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson
    5. “The Fire Inside” (Flamin’ Hot), Diane Warren — podcast

    Major Threats
    6. “Dance the Night” (Barbie), Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt — podcasts (Lipa & Ronson)
    7. “High Life” (Flora and Son), John Carney & Gary Clark
    8. “Meet in the Middle” from Flora and Son, John Carney, Gary Clark & Eve Hewson
    9. “Keep It Movin’” (The Color Purple), Denisia Andrews, Halle Bailey, Brittany Coney & Morten Ristorp
    10. “Can’t Catch Me Now” (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), Dan Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo — podcast (Rodrigo)

    Possibilities
    11. “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon, Scott George
    12. “Quiet Eyes” (Past Lives), Zach Dawes & Sharon Von Etten
    13. “Am I Dreaming” (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), Michael Dean, Peter Lee Johnson, Rakim Mayers, Landon Wayne & Leland Wayne
    14. “Superpower (I)” (The Color Purple), Terius Gesteelde-Diamant
    15. “Dear Alien (Who Art in Heaven)” from Asteroid City, Wes Anderson & Jarvis Cocker

    Best Production Design

    Frontrunners
    1. Barbie (Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer)
    2. Oppenheimer (Ruth De Jong & Claire Kaufman)
    3. Killers of the Flower Moon (Jack Fish & Adam Willis)
    4. Poor Things (Shona Heath, James Price & Szusza Mihalek)
    5. Maestro (Rena DeAngelo & Kevin Thompson)

    Major Threats
    6. Saltburn (Suzie Davis & Charlotte Diricks)
    7. Asteroid City (Kris Moran & Adam Stockhausen)
    8. Wonka (Nathan Crowley & Lee Sandales)
    9. The Color Purple (Paul D. Austerberry & Larry Dias)
    10. Napoleon (Elli Griff & Arthur Max)
    11. Society of the Snow (Alain Bainée & Angela Nahum)

    Possibilites
    12. The Zone of Interest (Joanna Kus, Chris Oddy & Katarzyna Sikora)
    13. Ferrari (Maria Djurkovic & Sophie Phillips)
    14. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Patrick O’Keefe)
    15. Priscilla (Patricia Cuccia & Tamara Deverell)
    16. Air (François Audouy & Jan Pascale)
    17. May December (Sam Lisenco & Jess Royal)

    Best Sound

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Willie Burton, Richard King, Kevin O’Connell & Gary A. Rizzo)
    2. Maestro (Richard King, Steve Morrow, Tom Ozanich, Jason Ruder & Dean Zupancic)
    3. Ferrari (Tony Lamberti, Lee Orloff, Andy Nelson & Bernard Weiser)
    4. Killers of the Flower Moon (John Pritchett, Philip Stockton & Mark Ulano)
    5. Barbie (Dan Kenyon, Ai-Ling Lee, Kevin O’Connell & Nina Rice)

    Major Threats
    6. The Zone of Interest (Johnnie Burn)
    7. Napoleon (Stephane Bucher, James Harrison, Paul Massey, William Miller & Oliver Tarney)
    8. The Killer (Ren Klyce, Drew Kunin, Jeremy Molod & Stephen Urata)
    9. The Creator (Erik Aadahl, Tom Ozanich, Ethan Van Der Ryn, Ian Voigt & Dean Zupancic)
    10. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One (Chris Burdon, James H. Mather & Chris Munro)

    Best Visual Effects

    Frontrunners
    1. Poor Things
    2. Society of the Snow
    3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    4. The Creator
    5. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One

    Major Threats
    6. Napoleon
    7. Godzilla: Minus One
    8. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
    9. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
    10. Rebel Moon: Part One — A Child of Fire

    Best Animated Short

    Can’t Yet Call
    27     (ARTE Mediathek)
    Boom
    Eeva (Miyu)
    Humo (Smoke)
    I’m Hip
    A Kind of Testament
    Koerkorter (Dog Apartment)
    Letter to a Pig     (Miyu)
    Ninety-Five Senses
    Once Upon a Studio     (Disney)
    Our Uniform
    Pachyderme
    Pete     (The Criterion Channel)
    War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
    Wild Summon

    Best Documentary Short

    Frontrunners
    1. The ABCs of Book Banning (MTV) — podcast (Sheila Nevins)
    2. Camp Courage (Netflix)
    3. Deciding Vote (The New Yorker)
    4. The Barber of Little Rock (The New Yorker)
    5. Last Song from Kabul (MTV)

    Major Threats
    The Last Repair Shop     (L.A. Times/Searchlight)
    Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó     (Hulu)

    Can’t Yet Call
    Bear
    Between Earth & Sky     (POV)
    Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games
    How We Get Free
    If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis
    Island in Between
    Oasis     (New York Times Op-Docs)
    Wings of Dust     (still seeking U.S. distribution)

    Best Live-Action Short

    Frontrunners
    1. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Netflix)
    2. Strange Way of Life (Sony Classics) — podcast (Pedro Almodóvar)
    3. The After (Netflix) — podcast (David Oyelowo)

    Can’t Yet Call
    The Anne Frank Gift Shop     (Reboot)
    An Avocado Pit
    Bienvenidos a Los Angeles
    Dead Cat
    Good Boy
    Invincible
    Invisible Border
    Knight of Fortune     (The New Yorker)
    The One Note Man
    Red, White and Blue
    The Shepherd     (Disney)
    Yellow

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    Scott Feinberg

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  • ‘May December’ Star Charles Melton on How ‘Riverdale’ Prepared Him for His Emotionally Complex Big-Screen Role

    ‘May December’ Star Charles Melton on How ‘Riverdale’ Prepared Him for His Emotionally Complex Big-Screen Role

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    Charles Melton is explaining how his six-year, almost 100-episode Riverdale run prepared him for his critically acclaimed supporting performance in Todd Haynes’ May December, for which the actor is gaining serious Oscar buzz.

    “Ten months out of the year, 22 episodes, eight to 10 days to film one episode … That’s a lot of work in a short amount of time, and it really took everybody on set to come together to execute this process,” Melton tells THR. “That experience alone, and working with nearly 100 directors on that show, really gave me this confidence and this foundation — as, like, my acting school in a way — to really be able to come to a set like Todd Haynes’ and just completely let go.”

    The director, however, had never seen Riverdale, so Melton was an unfamiliar face to him when the actor auditioned for the role of Joe, a suburban dad who, when he was just 13 years old, became sexually involved with a married mother of three, Gracie (Julianne Moore). The scandalous romance rattled the pair’s close-knit community, but Joe and Gracie got married and had three children of their own.

    Once he received the script, Melton started his “journey into the research of who Joe was,” says the actor, who discovered a process for preparation along the way. In pulling together his audition, he self-taped for six hours — a hefty time commitment, he acknowledges.

    “I have to completely exhaust myself and give every fiber of my being, just so I could look back and be like, ‘OK, I gave everything I’ve got there, and there’s nothing else I would’ve done differently,’ ” says Melton. It got him through the door: Haynes sent him back notes. He self-taped again (for another six hours), which led to a chemistry read with Moore.

    “I really felt like that six-week process was the best experience in my career, because I really learned how I wanted to work and how deep I wanted to go when it came to preparing to play characters like this, which was invigorating,” says Melton. “I felt so much comfort and safety and excitement of going really deep into the psychology of who this man was and really transformed into this physicality of how he navigated his own story.”

    Melton gained 40 pounds for the role, although he and Haynes never discussed a certain way Joe was supposed to look. Melton calls it a “natural [and] external expression of the internal work I was doing with Joe. When you look at the facts, this is a suburban dad who’s 36 with three kids, a loving marriage, and has a job,” Melton explains. “Like, where does he really find time for his own vanity to really even look at himself?”

    The actor ate a lot of Five Guys, pizza and ice cream alongside his best friend, Kelvin Harrison Jr., who was prepping to play Martin Luther King Jr. in Disney+’s Genius: MLK/X. “We were inspiring each other, watching a bunch of films, talking about our characters and eating well,” he says.

    There was no rehearsal time before the 23-day shoot, so Melton didn’t practice his scenes with Natalie Portman, who in the film plays an actress portraying Gracie in a movie about her life. He often had dinners with Portman, Moore and Haynes, however, where they got to know each other on a “human level.”

    Given the subject matter, Melton says his way to decompress after shooting was watching Abbott Elementary every day, as well as football on Sundays and the Japanese anime television series Demon Slayer. “That was part of my ritualistic comedown, and then I did acupuncture three times a week to really relax, because we carry emotions in our body. So keeping my body as calm and as relaxed as possible not only helped me, but helped what I would do when it came to allowing the technical work I did for Joe to really exist when I was on set.”

    Looking back, Melton was never intimidated by the subject matter or his character’s complexities. “There’s just something about repression and tragedy and loneliness that I’m attracted to in characters, and Joe had a complex mix of all those things,” he says. “In spite of whatever the subject matter was, just understanding this human without any sort of formulated opinion or judgment and complete empathy really allowed me to just go to places that I always hoped are possible with Todd, Julie and Natalie.” 

    This story first appeared in a December standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

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    Kimberly Nordyke

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  • Feinberg Forecast: Oscar Race Standings Post-Globe and Critics Choice Noms

    Feinberg Forecast: Oscar Race Standings Post-Globe and Critics Choice Noms

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    PLEASE NOTE: This forecast, assembled by Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter’s executive editor of awards coverage, reflects Scott’s best attempt to predict the behavior of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, not his personal preferences. He arrives at these projections by drawing upon conversations with voters and other industry insiders, analysis of marketing and awards campaigns, results of awards ceremonies that precede the Oscars and the history of the Oscars itself. There will be regular updates to reflect new developments.

    * * *

    Best Picture

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Universal)
    2. Barbie (Warner Bros.)
    3. Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple)
    4. Poor Things (Searchlight)
    5. American Fiction (Amazon/MGM)
    6. Maestro (Netflix)
    7. Past Lives (A24)
    8. The Holdovers (Focus)
    9. Anatomy of a Fall (Neon)
    10. The Zone of Interest (A24)

    Major Threats
    11. The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)
    12. Saltburn (Amazon/MGM)
    13. May December (Netflix)
    14. Air (Amazon/MGM)
    15. All of Us Strangers (Searchlight)
    16. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony)

    Possibilities
    17. Rustin (Netflix)
    18. The Iron Claw (A24)
    19. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Lionsgate)
    20. Origin (Neon)
    21. Ferrari (Neon)
    22. Priscilla (A24)

    Best Director

    Frontrunners
    1. Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
    2. Greta Gerwig (Barbie) — podcast
    3. Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    4. Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
    5. Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)

    Major Threats
    6. Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
    7. Celine Song (Past Lives)
    8. Alexander Payne (The Holdovers)
    9. Cord Jefferson (American Fiction)
    10. Todd Haynes (May December) — podcast
    11. Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)

    Possibilities
    12. Emerald Fennell (Saltburn)
    13. Blitz Bazawule (The Color Purple)
    14. Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers)
    15. Ava DuVernay (Origin)
    16. Michael Mann (Ferrari)
    17. Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron)

    Best Actor

    Frontrunners
    1. Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
    2. Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
    3. Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
    4. Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
    5. Colman Domingo (Rustin)

    Major Threats
    6. Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    7. Andrew Scott (All of Us Strangers)
    9. Barry Keoghan (Saltburn)
    10. Matt Damon (Air)
    11. Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario) — podcast

    Possibilities
    12. Franz Rogowski (Passages)
    13. Christian Friedel (The Zone of Interest)
    14. Adam Driver (Ferrari) — podcast
    15. Gael García Bernal (Cassandro)
    16. Michael Fassbender (The Killer)
    17. Kôji Yakusho (Perfect Days)

    Best Actress

    Frontrunners
    1. Emma Stone (Poor Things) — podcast
    2. Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
    3. Margot Robbie (Barbie) — podcast
    4. Carey Mulligan (Maestro) — podcast
    5. Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)

    Major Threats
    6. Greta Lee (Past Lives)
    7. Annette Bening (Nyad)
    8. Natalie Portman (May December) — podcast
    9. Fantasia Barrino (The Color Purple)
    10. Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)
    11. Helen Mirren (Golda) — podcast

    Possibilities
    12. Alma Pöysti (Fallen Leaves)
    13. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Origin) — podcast
    14. Eve Hewson (Flora and Son)
    15. Leonie Benesch (The Teacher’s Lounge)
    16. Trace Lysette (Monica)
    17. Thomasin McKenzie (Eileen) — podcast

    Best Supporting Actor

    Frontrunners
    1. Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
    2. Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
    3. Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
    4. Willem Dafoe (Poor Things) — podcast
    5. Charles Melton (May December)

    Major Threats
    6. Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon) — podcast
    7. Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction) — podcast
    8. Jesse Plemons (Killers of the Flower Moon) — podcast
    9. Paul Mescal (All of Us Strangers)
    10. Chris Messina (Air)

    Possibilities
    11. Glenn Howerton (BlackBerry)
    12. Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers)
    13. Ben Whishaw (Passages)
    14. John Magaro (Past Lives)
    15. Peter Sarsgaard (Memory)

    Best Supporting Actress

    Frontrunners
    1. Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
    2. Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
    3. Jodie Foster (Nyad) — podcast
    4. Julianne Moore (May December)
    5. Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer) — podcast

    Major Threats
    6. America Ferrera (Barbie)
    7. Rosamund Pike (Saltburn) — podcast
    8. Sandra Hüller (The Zone of Interest)
    9. Taraji P. Henson (The Color Purple) — podcast
    10. Erika Alexander (American Fiction)

    Possibilities
    11. Penélope Cruz (Ferrari) — podcast
    12. Viola Davis (Air)
    13. Claire Foy (All of Us Strangers) — podcast
    14. Juliette Binoche (The Taste of Things)
    15. Anne Hathaway (Eileen)
    16. Patricia Clarkson (Monica) — podcast

    Best Adapted Screenplay

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
    2. Poor Things (Tony McNamara)
    3. Killers of the Flower Moon (Eric Roth & Martin Scorsese)
    4. American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)
    5. All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)

    Major Threats
    6. The Zone of Interest (Jonathan Glazer)
    7. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Kelly Fremon Craig)
    8. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Dave Callaham, Phil Lord and Chris Miller)
    9. Priscilla (Sofia Coppola)

    Possibilities
    10. The Color Purple (Marcus Gardley)
    11. Dumb Money (Rebecca Angelo and Lauren Schuker Blum)
    12. Nyad (Julia Cox)
    13. Ferrari (Troy Kennedy Martin)

    Best Original Screenplay

    Frontrunners
    1. Barbie (Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig) — podcast (Gerwig)
    2. Past Lives (Celine Song)
    3. The Holdovers (David Hemingson)
    4. Anatomy of a Fall (Arthur Harari and Justine Triet)
    5. May December (Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik)

    Major Threats
    6. Maestro (Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer)
    7. Air (Alex Convery)
    8. Saltburn (Emerald Fennell)
    9. Origin (Ava DuVernay)

    Possibilities
    10. Rustin (Dustin Lance Black and Julian Breece)
    11. Fair Play (Chloe Domont)
    12. Dream Scenario (Kristoffer Borgli)
    13. Flora and Son (John Carney)
    14. Asteroid City (Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola)

    Best International Feature

    Frontrunners
    1. The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)
    2. The Taste of Things (France)
    3. Society of the Snow (Spain)
    4. Four Daughters (Tunisia)
    5. The Teacher’s Lounge (Germany)

    Major Threats
    6. Perfect Days (Japan)
    7. 20 Days in Mariupol (Ukraine)

    Can’t Yet Call
    Blaga’s Lessons (Bulgaria)
    Fallen Leaves (Finland)
    Shayda (Australia)
    Io Capitano (Italy)
    Godland (Iceland)
    The Promised Land (Denmark)
    In the Shadow of Beirut (Ireland)
    About Dry Grasses (Turkey)
    Thunder (Switzerland)
    The Mother of All Lies (Morocco)
    Brothers (Czech Republic)
    Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (Romania)
    Traces (Croatia)
    Voy! Voy! Voy! (Egypt)
    Sweet Dreams (Netherlands)

    Best Documentary Feature

    Frontrunners
    1. American Symphony (Netflix)
    2. Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie (Apple) — podcast (Davis Guggenheim)
    3. Beyond Utopia (Roadside)
    4. 20 Days in Mariupol (PBS)
    5. Kokomo City (Magnolia)

    Rest of the Shortlist
    6. Four Daughters (Kino Lorber)
    7. The Disappearance of Shere Hite (IFC)
    8. Bobi Wine: The People’s President (Nat Geo)
    9. The Eternal Memory (MTV)
    10. Stamped from the Beginning (Netflix) — podcast (Roger Ross Williams)
    11. The Deepest Breath (Netflix)
    12. The Mission (Nat Geo)
    13. Silver Dollar Road (Amazon)
    14. Anselm (Sideshow/Janus)
    15. Lakota Nation vs. United States (IFC)

    Possibilities
    16. The Pigeon Tunnel (Apple)
    17. Every Body (Focus)
    18. Occupied City (A24)
    19. To Kill a Tiger (still seeking U.S. distribution)
    20. King Coal (still seeking U.S. distribution)
    21. The League (Magnolia)
    22. Joan Baez: I Am a Noise (Magnolia)

    Can’t Yet Call
    32 Sounds (Abramorama)
    Black Ice (Lionsgate)
    A Compassionate Spy (Magnolia)
    Copa 71 (still seeking U.S. distribution)
    Defiant (still seeking U.S. distribution)
    Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Story (HBO)
    Hollywoodgate (still seeking U.S. distribution)
    In the Rearview (Film Movement)
    In the Shadow of Beirut (Cyprus Avenue)
    Judy Blume Forever (Amazon)
    Little Richard: I Am Everything (Magnolia)
    Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros (Zipporah)
    The Mother of All Lies (still seeking U.S. distribution)
    Orlando, My Political Biography (Sideshow/Janus)
    Periodical (MSNBC)
    Smoke Sauna Sisterhood (Greenwich)
    A Still Small Voice (Abramorama)
    Uncharitable (Abramorama)
    What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat & Tears? (Abramorama)
    While We Watched (PBS)
    Your Fat Friend (still seeking distribution)

    Best Animated Feature

    Frontrunners
    1. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony)
    2. The Boy and the Heron (GKIDS)
    3. Elemental (Pixar) — podcast (Pete Docter)
    4. Nimona (Netflix)
    5. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination)

    Major Threats
    6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount)
    7. Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (Netflix)
    8. Leo (Netflix)
    9. Wish (Disney)
    10. They Shot the Piano Player (Sony Classics)

    Can’t Yet Call
    Amazing Maurice (Viva)
    Deep Sea (Viva)
    Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibbertia (GKIDS)
    The First Slam Dunk (GKIDS)
    Migration (Illumination)
    Robot Dreams (Neon)
    Stopmotion (IFC)
    Suzume (Toho)
    Trolls Band Together (DreamWorks)

    Best Cinematography

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Hoyte van Hoytema)
    2. Killers of the Flower Moon (Rodrigo Prieto)
    3. Poor Things (Robbie Ryan)
    4. Barbie (Rodrigo Prieto)
    5. Maestro (Matthew Libatique)

    Major Threats
    6. Saltburn (Linus Sandgren)
    7. The Zone of Interest (Łukasz Żal)
    8. The Color Purple (Dan Laustsen)
    9. Society of the Snow (Pedro Luque)
    10. Ferrari (Erik Messerschmidt)
    11. Napoleon (Dariusz Wolski)
    12. Past Lives (Shabier Kirchner)

    Possibilities
    13. May December (Christopher Blauvelt)
    14. The Taste of Things (Jonathan Ricquebourg)
    15. The Holdovers (Eigil Byrid)
    16. All of Us Strangers (Jamie D. Ramsay)
    17. Air (Robert Richardson)
    18. The Killer (Erik Messerschmidt)
    19. El Conde (Ed Lachman)

    Best Costume Design

    Frontrunners
    1. Barbie (Jacqueline Durran)
    2. Poor Things (Holly Waddington)
    3. Killers of the Flower Moon (Jacqueline West)
    4. The Color Purple (Francine Jamison-Tanchuck)
    5. Wonka (Lindy Hemming)

    Major Threats
    6. Napoleon (David Crossman & Janty Yates)
    7. Priscilla (Stacey Battat)
    8. Maestro (Mark Bridges)
    9. Oppenheimer (Ellen Mirojnick)
    10. The Little Mermaid (Colleen Atwood)
    11. Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret (Ann Roth)

    Possibilities
    12. Ferrari (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
    13. Asteroid City (Milena Canonero)
    14. Saltburn (Sophie Canale)
    15. Rustin (Toni-Leslie James)
    16. Cassandro (María Estela Fernández)
    17. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Trish Summerville)

    Best Fim Editing

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Jennifer Lame)
    2. Killers of the Flower Moon (Thelma Schoonmaker)
    3. Poor Things (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
    4. Barbie (Nick Houy)
    5. Maestro (Michelle Tesoro)

    Major Threats
    6. Air (William Goldenberg)
    7. Ferrari (Pietro Scalia)
    8. American Fiction (Hilda Rasula)
    9. Past Lives (Keith Fraase)
    10. The Holdovers (Kevin Tent)
    11. The Zone of Interest (Paul Watts)

    Possibilities
    12. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Michael Andrews)
    13. Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One (Eddie Hamilton)
    14. The Color Purple (Jon Poll)
    15. The Killer (Kirk Baxter)
    16. May December (Affonso Gonçalves)
    17. Origin (Spencer Averick)

    Best Makeup & Hairstyling

    Frontrunners
    1. Maestro (Kay Georgiou, Sian Grigg, Kazu Hiro & Lori McCoy-Bell)
    2. Poor Things (Mark Couler, Nadia Stacey & Josh Weston)
    3. Barbie (Ivana Primorac)
    4. Priscilla (Cliona Furey & Jo-Ann MacNeil)
    5. Killers of the Flower Moon (Kay Georgiou & Thomas Nellen)

    Rest of Shortlist
    6. Oppenheimer (Luisa Abel, Jason Hamer, Jaime Leigh McIntosh & Ahou Mofid)
    7. The Color Purple (Lawrence Davis & Carol Rasheed)
    8. Golda (Karen Hartley Thomas)
    9. Nyad (Ana María Andrickson, Jandeira Avirón, Felicity Bowring, Corey Castellano, Vanessa Colombo, Daniel Curet, Julie Hewett, Ann-Maree Hurley, Maha Lessner)
    10. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Alexei Dmitriew & Cassie Russek)

    Possibilities
    11. Rustin (Melissa Forney & Beverly Jo Pryor)
    12. Ferrari (Marcelle Genovese, Marco Pompei, Aldo Signoretti & Scott Wheeler)
    13. The Little Mermaid (Camille Friend & Peter Smith King)
    14. The Society of the Snow (Ana López-Puigcerver, Belén López-Puigcerver, David Martí & Montse Ribé)
    15. The Iron Claw (Elle Favorule & Natalie Shea Rose)
    16. Wonka (David Darby, John Nolan & Ivana Primorac)
    17. Air (Luisa Abel & Carla Joi Farmer)
    18. The Creator (Francesca van der Feyst)
    19. Napoleon (Jana Carboni & Francesco Pegoretti)

    Best Original Score

    Frontrunners
    1. Killers of the Flower Moon (Robbie Robertson)
    2. Oppenheimer (Ludwig Göransson)
    3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Daniel Pemberton)
    4. Poor Things (Jerskin Fendrix)
    5. Barbie (Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt)

    Rest of Shortlist
    6. The Zone of Interest (Mica Levi)
    7. The Boy and the Heron (Joe Hisaishi)
    8. Elemental (Thomas Newman)
    9. American Fiction (Laura Karpman)
    10. Society of the Snow (Michael Giacchino)
    11. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (John Williams)
    12. The Killer (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)
    13. Origin (Kris Bowers)
    14. The Boys in the Boat (Alexandre Desplat)
    15. Nyad (Alexandre Desplat)

    Possibilities
    16. Past Lives (Christopher Bear & Daniel Rossen)
    17. Monster (Ryuichi Sakamoto)
    18. Saltburn (Anthony Willis)
    19. Wish (David Metzger)
    20. Ferrari (Daniel Pemberton)
    21. Rustin (Branford Marsalis)
    22. The Pigeon Tunnel (Philip Glass & Paul Leonard-Morgan) — podcast (Glass)
    24. A Haunting in Venice (Hildur Guðnadóttir)
    25. The Creator (Hans Zimmer) — podcast
    26. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Hans Zimmer) — podcast
    27. Napoleon (Martin Phipps)
    28. The Marvels (Laura Karpman)
    29. All of Us Strangers (Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch)
    30. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Brian Tyler)

    Best Original Song

    Frontrunners
    1. “What Was I Made For?” (Barbie), Billie Eilish & Finneas — podcast
    2. “I’m Just Ken” (Barbie), Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt — podcast (Ronson)
    3. “Road to Freedom” (Rustin), Lenny Kravitz — podcast
    4. “This Wish” (Wish), Julia Michaels & Benjamin Rice
    5. “Peaches” (The Super Mario Bros. Move), Jack Black, Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond & John Spiker

    Rest of Shortlist
    6. “It Never Went Away” (American Symphony), Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson
    7. “The Fire Inside” (Flamin’ Hot), Diane Warren — podcast
    8. “For the First Time” (The Little Mermaid), Alan Menken & Lin-Manuel Miranda — podcast (Miranda)
    9. “Keep It Movin’” (The Color Purple), Denisia Andrews, Halle Bailey, Brittany Coney & Morten Ristorp
    10. “Dance the Night” (Barbie), Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt — podcasts (Lipa & Ronson)
    11. “Addicted to Romance” (She Came to Me)
    12. “Can’t Catch Me Now” (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), Dan Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo — podcast (Rodrigo)
    13. “High Life” (Flora and Son), John Carney & Gary Clark
    14. “Better Place” (Trolls Band Together), Amy Allen, Karl Schuster & Justin Timberlake — podcast (Timberlake)
    15. “Camp Isn’t Home” (Theater Camp), Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman, Ben Platt & Mark Sonnenblick — podcast (Platt)

    Possibilities
    16. “Am I Dreaming” (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse), Michael Dean, Peter Lee Johnson, Rakim Mayers, Landon Wayne & Leland Wayne
    17. “Steal the Show” (Elemental), Ari Staprans “Lauv” Leff, Michael Matosic & Thomas Newman
    18. “I Am” (Origin), Te Kanapu Anasta, Michael Fatkin, Vince Harder & Stan Walker
    19. “A World of Your Own” (Wonka), Simon Farnabay, Neil Hannon & Paul King
    20. “Superpower (I)” (The Color Purple), Terius Gesteelde-Diamant
    21. “Out-Alpha the Alpha” (Dicks: The Musical), Megan Thee Stallion
    22. “The Scuttlebutt” (The Little Mermaid), Alan Menken & Lin-Manuel Miranda — podcast (Miranda)
    23. “Everything Is Gonna Be Alright” (Bobi Wine: The People’s President), Bobi Wine
    24. “Wounded Heart” (Silver Dollar Road), Ondara
    25. “Live That Way Forever” (The Iron Claw), Richard Reed & Laurel “Little Scream” Sprengelmeyer
    26. “All Love Is Love” (Dicks: The Musical), Aaron Jackson & Josh Sharp
    27. “Quiet Eyes” (Past Lives), Zach Dawes & Sharon Von Etten
    28. “Gonna Be You” (80 for Brady), Diane Warren — podcast

    Best Production Design

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Ruth De Jong & Claire Kaufman)
    2. Barbie (Sarah Greenwood & Katie Spencer)
    3. Killers of the Flower Moon (Jack Fish & Adam Willis)
    4. Poor Things (Shona Heath, James Price & Szusza Mihalek)
    5. Maestro (Rena DeAngelo & Kevin Thompson)

    Major Threats
    6. Saltburn (Suzie Davis & Charlotte Diricks)
    7. Asteroid City (Kris Moran & Adam Stockhausen)
    8. Wonka (Nathan Crowley & Lee Sandales)
    9. The Color Purple (Paul D. Austerberry & Larry Dias)
    10. Napoleon (Elli Griff & Arthur Max)
    11. Ferrari (Maria Djurkovic & Sophie Phillips)
    12. Society of the Snow (Alain Bainée & Angela Nahum)

    Possibilites
    13. The Zone of Interest (Joanna Kus, Chris Oddy & Katarzyna Sikora)
    14. The Taste of Things (Toma Baqueni)
    15. Anatomy of a Fall (Cécile Deleu & Emmanuelle Duplay)
    16. Priscilla (Patricia Cuccia & Tamara Deverell)
    17. Air (François Audouy & Jan Pascale)
    18. May December (Sam Lisenco & Jess Royal)
    19. Origin (Ina Mayhew & Jacqueline Jacobson Scarfo)
    20. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Patrick O’Keefe)

    Best Sound

    Frontrunners
    1. Oppenheimer (Willie Burton, Richard King, Kevin O’Connell & Gary A. Rizzo)
    2. Maestro (Richard King, Steve Morrow, Tom Ozanich, Jason Ruder & Dean Zupancic)
    3. The Color Purple (Richard Bullock, Paul Massey, Steve Morrow, Julian Slater & Renee Tondelli)
    4. Barbie (Dan Kenyon, Ai-Ling Lee, Kevin O’Connell & Nina Rice)
    5. Ferrari (Tony Lamberti, Lee Orloff, Andy Nelson & Bernard Weiser)

    Rest of Shortlist
    6. Killers of the Flower Moon (John Pritchett, Philip Stockton & Mark Ulano)
    7. The Zone of Interest (Johnnie Burn)
    8. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Juan Peralta, Geoffrey G. Rubay & Michael Semanick)
    9. Poor Things (Johnnie Burn & Tamás Dévényi)
    10. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Erik Aadahl, Ron Bartlett, Anna Behlmer, Simon Pidrette & Ethan Van Der Ryn)

    Possibilities
    11. Napoleon (Stephane Bucher, James Harrison, Paul Massey, William Miller & Oliver Tarney)
    12. Wonka (Niv Adiri, Ben Barker, John Casali, Glenn Freemantle & Paul Massey)
    13. The Creator (Erik Aadahl, Tom Ozanich, Ethan Van Der Ryn, Ian Voigt & Dean Zupancic)
    14. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (David Acord, Christopher Boyes, Cheryl Nardi, Lee Orloff & Gary A. Rizzo)
    15. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One (Chris Burdon, James H. Mather & Chris Munro)
    16. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (David Giammarco, Paul Massey, Juan Peralta, Gary Rydstrom, Donald Sylvester & Stuart Wilson)
    17. Wish (David E. Fluhr & Shannon Mills)
    18. 32 Sounds (Mark A. Mangini)
    19. The Deepest Breath (Will Chapman, Greg Gettens & Chad Orororo)

    Best Visual Effects

    Frontrunners
    1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
    2. Poor Things
    3. The Creator
    4. Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One
    5. Society of the Snow

    Rest of Shortlist
    6. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
    7. Transformers: Rise of the Beats
    8. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
    9. Rebel Moon: Part One — A Child of Fire
    10. Wonka

    Possibilities
    11. The Marvels
    12. Napoleon
    13. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
    14. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quanumania
    15. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
    16. Barbie
    17. Killers of the Flower Moon
    18. Godzilla: Minus One
    19. The Boys in the Boat
    20. Nyad

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    Scott Feinberg

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  • Oscars: Jimmy Kimmel Back as 2024 Host

    Oscars: Jimmy Kimmel Back as 2024 Host

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    Jimmy Kimmel will return to the Oscar stage once again.

    The ABC late night host has signed on to host the 96th Academy Awards, marking his fourth time in the role. The appointment is hardly surprising, of course, as Kimmel has decades of live TV experience and a longstanding relationship with Disney.

    His announcement follows the mid-October news that the Academy set a producing team, a returning director and a first-time showrunner in Raj Kapoor, a live TV and go-to Las Vegas residency producer, who’s worked on the Academy Awards telecast for the last seven years. Kimmel’s wife and Jimmy Kimmel Live co-head writer Molly McNearney is also back as an executive producer for the telecast.

    Though there were rumblings about a potential Oscar date move during the darker days of Hollywood’s dual strikes, such a thing is no longer necessary and the town’s top talent is already back in full campaign mode. Many have been scrambling to make up for lost time. In fact, Kimmel’s ABC show is poised to benefit from the parade of A-listers hungry to promote this year’s Oscar hopefuls.

    Jimmy Kimmel Live! was off the air for the duration of the writers strike, though Kimmel himself maintained a presence through his popular “Strike Force Five” podcast with his fellow late night hosts. Proceeds from the latter went to the shows’ out-of-work staffs. Kimmel revealed on one of the episodes that he had been “very intent on retiring” prior to the strike, but he formally re-upped with Disney last year and his ABC show will continue through season 23.

    The 96th Oscars will air live on ABC, Sunday, March 10, 2024, from the Dolby Theatre.

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    Lacey Rose

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  • Next Year’s Oscars Already Have a Complex Relationship With Nostalgia

    Next Year’s Oscars Already Have a Complex Relationship With Nostalgia

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    As a collective group, Oscar voters are a decently nostalgic bunch—which is probably one of the most relatable things about them. We all have our own ways of longing for some aspect of the past. For awards voters, that might include a fondness for the films and filmmakers that remind them of the movies they’ve loved in the past. Best-picture Oscars have been won and lost on this appeal. It’s hard to imagine that the movie The Artist would have won best picture in 2012 without voters responding to its obvious nostalgia for silent films (somehow Damien Chazelle’s Babylon didn’t poke at those feelings!). Even a movie as strange as Guillermo del Toro’s fish romance, The Shape of Water, benefited greatly from its stylistic evocation of Old Hollywood.

    And while nostalgia doesn’t always work for an Oscar campaign—Steven Spielberg’s recent run of The Post, West Side Story, and The Fabelmans, all of them great movies with significant throwback appeal, couldn’t nab him another best-picture win—it’s usually present somewhere or another during awards season. The 2023–24 Oscar season is already displaying a rather particular relationship with nostalgia, a push-pull between what’s appealing about our past and what deserves to be dismantled.

    We can start, as almost everything will this Oscar season, with the summer’s twin blockbuster triumphs, neither of which has a simple relationship with nostalgia. Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s epic-size biopic about the man responsible for inventing the atomic bomb, takes direct aim at American righteousness in everything from our triumph over the Nazis in World War II to the morality of scientific progress. Meanwhile, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has a lot of ideas, about everything from patriarchy to the impossible expectations placed on women to Matchbox Twenty. None of those ideas involve leaning into the simple nostalgia of Barbie dolls.

    And yet the Barbenheimer phenomenon itself was nostalgic, a much-needed throwback to a time when the movies had something for everyone: men, women, girls, Nolan bros, Gerwig gays, history buffs, people who wear pink and sneak wine into the theater. The summer of Barbenheimer was a throwback to a time when people went out to the movies because it was the thing to do. Few things in modern-day Hollywood are more nostalgic than that.

    Illustration by Michelle Thompson.

    If Oppenheimer and Barbie do end up leading the way this awards season, as most insiders expect, they’ll be joined by a handful of movies looking to explore nostalgia in their own way.

    Few films are being more overt about their throwback appeal than Alexander Payne’s upcoming The Holdovers. The 1970-set film stars Paul Giamatti as a disgruntled teacher at a private boarding school for children of wealthy parents; Giamatti’s Paul Hunham is stuck staying behind during holiday break to look after students who can’t go home. The film’s trailer, with its faux-throwback Focus Features logo, Badfinger needle drop, and anachronistic voice-over narration, seems to be especially selling the movie on its Hal Ashby–esque nostalgic appeal. There’s also the fact that Payne and Giamatti are reuniting for the first time since 2004’s Sideways, a movie that has the gall to be nearly 20 years old.

    Sofia Coppola’s movies almost always seem to yearn for their own past, whether it’s the dreamy ’70s suburbia of The Virgin Suicides or a young girl’s time alone with her dad in Somewhere. (Perhaps there’s a bit less yearning for the antebellum amputations of The Beguiled.) With Priscilla, Coppola looks back at the early days of an American rock icon through the perspective of his young wife. Baz Luhrmann did the Elvis thing last year with a maximalist take on stardom, but Coppola’s film has the hazy color palette and eye for detail of a memoir (fitting, as it’s based on Priscilla Presley’s own memoir).

    If Barbie wasn’t quite the corporate brand nostalgia you were looking for, there was always Air. Ben Affleck’s film about the creation of the Air Jordan sneaker at Nike was a throwback in any number of ways. Remember the uncomplicated joy of watching Michael Jordan defy gravity on a basketball court? Remember when a pair of sneakers could give you a piece of Jordan’s legacy? Remember when Affleck and Matt Damon made Good Will Hunting and had their whole lives in front of them? The 1998 winners for best original screenplay have a fond place in the Oscars’ memory, and Oscar voters could indulge their own nostalgia for that pair of fresh-faced Boston-area kids by giving Air some attention.

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    Joe Reid

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