Thursday, January 23, 2025

Oscar Noms Reaction and Early Predix

Karla Sofia Gascon makes Oscar history
as the first openly trans nominee for
Emilia Perez.
Credit: Page 114/Why Not Productions/
Pathe Films/France 2 Cinema/Netflix
After two postponements due the Los Angeles wildfires, the 2025 Oscars nominations were finally announced on Jan. 23 by Bowen Yang of SNL and Wicked and actress-comedienne Rachel Sennott. Emilia Perez, the transgender-druglord musical, topped the list with 13 nominations including Best Picture, Best International Film (it's directed by a Frenchman, spoken mostly in Spanish), and Best Actress for Karla Sofia Gascon, the first openly transgender performer to receive an Oscar nod. Elliot Page was nominated as Ellen Page for Juno before he came out as transgender. Emilia Perez made Oscar history in another way by breaking the record for most nominations for a foreign language film (previously held by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Roma with 10 each) and coming in second for most nominations ever behind All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land which tie for the record with 14 each. I suspect Emilia Perez will win Best International Picture and Gascon will make a big speech as she did at the Golden Globes, advocating for trans rights and hopefully calling out Trump's hateful anti-trans agenda which seeks to obliterate the very idea that transgenderism even exists. Zoe Saldana of Perez is the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress, though there has been some criticism that she should be considered a Leading Actress and was placed in the Supporting category to increase her chances at an Oscar win.

The awards will be presented as planned on March 2, hosted by Conan O'Brien for the first time, and telecast on ABC. The annual nominees luncheon has been cancelled. Some including Stephen King have advocated for the award to be cancelled altogether due to the wildfires. Even the assassination of MLK and the COVID crisis did not result in an Oscar cancellation.



Marianne Jean-Baptiste of Hard Truths
was snubbed at the
Oscar noms despite winning the triple crown
of critics' awards.
Credit: Studio Canal

There were several snubs and notable omissions on the list including Marianne Jean-Baptiste who was passed over for Hard Truths, despite winning the triple crown of critics' awards from NY, LA and the National Society of Film Critics. I suspect that Fernanda Torres swiped her spot after an unexpected win at the Golden Globes for the Brazilian film I'm Still Here which also grabbed a surprise Best Picture nomination. The Best Actress category was particularly crowded this year. Oscar-bait performances by Nicole Kidman, simulating orgasms in Babygirl, and Angelina Jolie, simulating being an opera diva in Maria, were also passed over. I'm also pissed that Pamela Anderson was not nominated for a devastating performance in The Last Showgirl as was her co-star Jamie Lee Curtis. Demi Moore whose comeback and lots of make-up spelled a nom in The Substance, is likely the winner.

In the Best Actor category, National Board of Review winner and GG and SAG nominee Daniel Craig of Queer was shoved off the list by Sebastian Stan of The Apprentice. Stan won the GG for another film, Different Man. I suspect he made the Oscar cut because he's playing Donald Trump in a negative light and Hollywood wants to stick it to the Orange Dictator any way it can. Adrien Brody of The Brutalist which tied with Wicked for the most nominations at 10, is my prediction for the winner. Speaking of Wicked, I hope it wins for Best Costumes and Production Design. Few surprises in the Supporting Actor category except for the omission of previous two-time winner Denzel Washington for Gladiator 2. Kieran Culkin, this year's Da'Vine Joy Randolph, took almost every award going for A Real Pain, and is the front-runner.

Here is a complete list of this year's Oscar nominees. Updated predictions and thoughts on nominated films to follow:

Best Picture

Anora (Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers)
The Brutalist (Nominees to be determined)
A Complete Unknown (Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, Producers)
Conclave (Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, Producers)
Dune: Part Two (Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, Producers)
Emilia Pérez (Nominees to be determined)
I’m Still Here (Nominees to be determined)
Nickel Boys (Nominees to be determined)
The Substance (Nominees to be determined)
Wicked (Marc Platt, Producer)

Early Prediction: The Brutalist

Directing

Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown

Early Prediction: Brady Corbet, The Brutalist

Actor in a Leading Role

Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Early Prediction: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist

Actress in a Leading Role

Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

Early Prediction: Demi Moore, The Substance

Actor in a Supporting Role

Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Early Prediction: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Actress in a Supporting Role

Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Early prediction: Zoe Saldana, Emilia Perez

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

A Complete Unknown (Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks)
Conclave (Screenplay by Peter Straughan)
Emilia Pérez (Screenplay by Jacques Audiard; In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi)
Nickel Boys (Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes)
Sing Sing (Screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield)

Early Prediction: Emilia Perez

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Anora (Written by Sean Baker)
The Brutalist (Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold)
A Real Pain (Written by Jesse Eisenberg)
September 5 (Written by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; Co-Written by Alex David)
The Substance (Written by Coralie Fargeat)

Early Prediction: A Real Pain

Animated Feature Film

Flow (Nominees to be determined)
Inside Out 2 (Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen)
Memoir of a Snail (Adam Elliot and Liz Kearney)
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (Nominees to be determined)
The Wild Robot (Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann)

Early Prediction: Flow

Animated Short Film

Beautiful Men (Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande)
In the Shadow of the Cypress (Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi)
Magic Candies (Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio)
Wander to Wonder (Nina Gantz and Stienette Bosklopper)
Yuck! (Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet)

Haven't seen any, no predix yet.

Cinematography

The Brutalist (Lol Crawley)
Dune: Part Two (Greig Fraser)
Emilia Pérez (Paul Guilhaume)
Maria (Ed Lachman)
Nosferatu (Jarin Blaschke)

Early prediction: The Brutalist

Costume Design

A Complete Unknown (Arianne Phillips)
Conclave (Lisy Christl)
Gladiator II (Janty Yates and Dave Crossman)
Nosferatu (Linda Muir)
Wicked (Paul Tazewell)

Early Prediction: Wicked

Film Editing

Anora (Sean Baker)
The Brutalist (David Jancso)
Conclave (Nick Emerson)
Emilia Pérez (Juliette Welfling)
Wicked (Myron Kerstein)

Early prediction: Emilia Perez

Makeup and Hairstyling

A Different Man (Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado)
Emilia Pérez (Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini)
Nosferatu (David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne Stokes-Munton)
The Substance (Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli)
Wicked (Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth)

Early Prediction: The Substance

Live-Action Short Film

A Lien (Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz)
Anuja (Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai)
I’m Not a Robot (Victoria Warmerdam and Trent)
The Last Ranger (Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw)
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (Nebojša Slijepčević and Danijel Pek)

Have only seen one. No predix yet.

Music (Original Score)

The Brutalist (Daniel Blumberg)
Conclave (Volker Bertelmann)
Emilia Pérez (Clément Ducol and Camille)
Wicked (John Powell and Stephen Schwartz)
The Wild Robot (Kris Bowers)

Early prediction: Emilia Perez

Music (Original Song)

“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez (Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard)
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)
“Like a Bird” from Sing Sing (Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada)
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez (Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol)
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late (Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin)

Early prediction: El Mal from Emilia Perez

Documentary Feature Film

Black Box Diaries (Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari and Hanna Aqvilin)
No Other Land (Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham)
Porcelain War (Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev, Aniela Sidorska and Paula DuPre’ Pesmen)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat (Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius and Rémi Grellety)
Sugarcane (Nominees to be determined)

No predix yet.

Documentary Short Film

Death by Numbers (Kim A. Snyder and Janique L. Robillard)
I Am Ready, Warden 
(Smriti Mundhra and Maya Gnyp)
Incident
 (Bill Morrison and Jamie Kalven)
Instruments of a Beating Heart
 (Ema Ryan Yamazaki and Eric Nyari)
The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington)

No predix yet

International Feature Film

I’m Still Here (Brazil)
The Girl With the Needle (Denmark)
Emilia Pérez (France)
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany)
Flow (Latvia)

Early prediction: Emilia Perez

Production Design

The Brutalist (Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia)
Conclave (Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter)
Dune: Part Two (Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau)
Nosferatu (Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová)
Wicked (Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales)

Early prediction: Wicked

Sound

A Complete Unknown (Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco)
Dune: Part Two (Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill)
Emilia Pérez (Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta)
Wicked (Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis)
The Wild Robot (Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts)

Early prediction: Emilia Perez

Visual Effects

Alien: Romulus (Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan)
Better Man (Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs)
Dune: Part Two (Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke)
Wicked (Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David
Shirk and Paul Corbould)

Early prediction: Dune Part 2




No comments:

Post a Comment