MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SCREENPLAYS AND MORE

Before we get to this post's Oscar nomination predictions, The Academy last night extended the nomination voting window by two days and moved the announcement of nominees to Sunday, January 19th due to the L.A. fires.  Now, onto the predictions which seem sort of a small consideration in light of what's going on in Southern California.

Here are updated nomination predictions for the Screenplay categories as well as for Best Costume Design, Makeup/Hair and Visual Effects. These categories were last predicted on Dec. 26th.  A film's previous rank appears to the right in parentheses. TFF #51 films are in Bold.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Conclave (1)

2) Emilia Perez (2)

3) Sing Sing (3)

4) Nickel Boys (4)

5) Dune Part Two (5)

Others: A Complete Unknown, Wicked and The Room Next Door.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Anora (1)

2) The Brutalist (2)

3) A Real Pain (3)

4) The Substance (4)

5) September 5 (5)

Others: Hard Truths, All We Imagine as Light and The Seed of the Sacred Fig.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1) Wicked (1)

2) Dune Part Two (2)

3) Gladiator II (4)

4) Maria (3)

5) Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (5)

Others: Nosferatu, Conclave and Blitz.

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) The Substance (1)

2) Wicked (2)

3) Dune Part Two (3)

4) Nosferatu (4)

5) A Different Man (5)

Others: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Emilia Perez, The Apprentice.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

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 GOLDEN GLOBE WINNERS AND TFF

The Golden Globe Awards for Film and Television were handed out last night and here are your winners with TFF films/performers in Bold.

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Following is the complete list of Nominees for the 82nd Annual Golden Globes®:

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
THE BRUTALIST (A24)
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (Searchlight Pictures)
CONCLAVE (Focus Features)
DUNE: PART TWO (Warner Bros. Pictures)
NICKEL BOYS (Orion Pictures / Amazon MGM Studios)
SEPTEMBER 5 (Paramount Pictures)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
ANORA (NEON)
CHALLENGERS (Amazon MGM Studios)
EMILIA PÉREZ (Netflix)
A REAL PAIN (Searchlight Pictures)
THE SUBSTANCE (MUBI)
WICKED (Universal Pictures)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED
FLOW (Sideshow / Janus Films)
INSIDE OUT 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
MEMOIR OF A SNAIL (IFC Films)
MOANA 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL (Netflix)
THE WILD ROBOT (Universal Pictures)

CINEMATIC AND BOX OFFICE ACHIEVEMENT
ALIEN: ROMULUS (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (Warner Bros. Pictures)
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
GLADIATOR II (Paramount Pictures)
INSIDE OUT 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
TWISTERS (Universal Pictures)
WICKED (Universal Pictures)
THE WILD ROBOT (Universal Pictures)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT (Sideshow / Janus Films) – USA / FRANCE / INDIA
EMILIA PÉREZ (Netflix) – FRANCE
THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE (MUBI) – POLAND / SWEDEN / DENMARK
I’M STILL HERE (Sony Pictures Classics) – BRAZIL
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG (NEON) – USA / GERMANY
VERMIGLIO (Sideshow / Janus Films) – ITALY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
PAMELA ANDERSON (THE LAST SHOWGIRL)
ANGELINA JOLIE (MARIA)
NICOLE KIDMAN (BABYGIRL)
TILDA SWINTON (THE ROOM NEXT DOOR)
FERNANDA TORRES (I’M STILL HERE)
KATE WINSLET (LEE)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
ADRIEN BRODY (THE BRUTALIST)
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET (A COMPLETE UNKNOWN)
DANIEL CRAIG (QUEER)
COLMAN DOMINGO (SING SING)
RALPH FIENNES (CONCLAVE)
SEBASTIAN STAN (THE APPRENTICE)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
AMY ADAMS (NIGHTBITCH)
CYNTHIA ERIVO (WICKED)
KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN (EMILIA PÉREZ)
MIKEY MADISON (ANORA)
DEMI MOORE (THE SUBSTANCE)
ZENDAYA (CHALLENGERS)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
JESSE EISENBERG (A REAL PAIN)
HUGH GRANT (HERETIC)
GABRIEL LABELLE (SATURDAY NIGHT)
JESSE PLEMONS (KINDS OF KINDNESS)
GLEN POWELL (HIT MAN)
SEBASTIAN STAN (A DIFFERENT MAN)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE
SELENA GOMEZ (EMILIA PÉREZ)
ARIANA GRANDE (WICKED)
FELICITY JONES (THE BRUTALIST)
MARGARET QUALLEY (THE SUBSTANCE)
ISABELLA ROSSELLINI (CONCLAVE)
ZOE SALDAÑA (EMILIA PÉREZ)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE
YURA BORISOV (ANORA)
KIERAN CULKIN (A REAL PAIN)
EDWARD NORTON (A COMPLETE UNKNOWN)
GUY PEARCE (THE BRUTALIST)
JEREMY STRONG (THE APPRENTICE)
DENZEL WASHINGTON (GLADIA

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SUPPORTING ACTING AND MORE

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A Different Man Wins Best Feature and No Other Land Wins Best Documentary Feature

All We Imagine As Light Wins Best International Feature and His Three Daughters Wins Best Screenplay 

Performance Awards go to Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, and Brandon Wilson

Winners of Sixth Annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase Announced

 The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced today the winners of the 34th edition of The Gothams at a ceremony held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

The winner for Best Feature was A Different Man. 

The winner for Best International Feature was All We Imagine as Light.

The winner for Best Documentary Feature was presented to No Other Land.

The winner for Best Director was RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys.

The winner for Best Screenplay was Azazel Jacobs for His Three Daughters.

The winner for Breakthrough Director Gotham was Vera Drew for The People’s Joker.

The winner for Outstanding Lead Performance was Colman Domingo in Sing Sing.

The winner for Outstanding Supporting Performance was Clarence Maclin in Sing Sing.

The winner for Breakthrough Performer was Brandon Wilson in Nickel Boys.

The Gothams provide early recognition and media attention for outstanding and groundbreaking storytellers, including writers, directors, producers and actors. Nominees were selected by independent committees of film critics, journalists, festival programmers, and film curators. Separate independent juries independent of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors, and other film industry professionals determined the final recipients of The Gothams.

The Gothams Tributes, the organization's highest honors celebrating outstanding achievement in film, were also presented at the ceremony. The Tributes recognize the industry's most accomplished creators and performers whose work has made an indelible impact on both the art form and popular culture. 

Zendaya received the Spotlight Tribute for her magnetic performance as Tashi Donaldson in the Luca Guadagnino-directed film Challengers. Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold received the Visionary Tribute for their groundbreaking collaboration on A Complete Unknown, the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic. Angelina Jolie received the Performer Tribute for her rendition of the legendary opera singer Maria Callas in Pablo Larrain’s upcoming film Maria. Franklin Leonard and his company, the Black List, the platform dedicated to nurturing written storytelling and empowering writers to maximize their professional potential, received The Gotham Anniversary Tribute. Denis Villeneuve received The Gotham Director Tribute for his remarkable world-building and storytelling prowess in Dune: Part Two. The talented cast of The Piano Lesson, which includes Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, Corey Hawkins, and Erykah Badu, received the Ensemble Tribute for their captivating chemistry and artistry. 

The Gotham also announced the winners of its sixth annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase Ethan Herisse and KiKi Layne. The five winning filmmakers were Nicole Chi (Los Mosquitos, The University of Texas at Austin), a Costa Rican-Chinese writer, director, and producer; Re

IFFI 2024, 17: Exposure, partial and full

Continuing and concluding my experiences of watching films at IFFI 2024, and walking out usually, after 30-40 minutes.

MEETING WITH POL POT France, Cambodia (Kampuchea), Taiwan, Qatar, Turkey 

Three persons credited with the Screenplay, one of them being the author of the book, When the War was over: Cambodia and the, Khmer Rouge Revolution, by Elizabeth Becker, which must have been the basis of the film. Directed by Rithy Panh.

It was nothing like I had expected from the tile and the synopsis. Well into the film, there was only talk-talk and drive-drive, and no Meeting with Pol Pot. Unable to hold on any longer for a glimpse of the Cambodian dictator, I parted company with the auditorium and took a break.

Naturally, no rating.

DRY SEASON Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia Screenwriter and director: Bohdan Slamà

This film was the Closing Film, and used three languages: Czech, Slovak and English.

About two families, one a small farmer and the other a local agri-business overlord, whom the farmer hates. The feelings are mutual. The film became a Romeo and Juliet story about the son of the overlord returning from studying abroad and renewing his love for the daughter of the small farmer. The girl constantly tries to push the boy into a conflict with his father over his unscrupulous methods of exploiting farmers. This happens every few minutes, and I got bored at the repetitive nature of the film, which moved at a snail’s pace. Exit.

MOON Austria Screenplay and direction: Kurdwin Ayub

Another film in which three or more languages are used. Here they are German, English and Arabic.

Set in Jordan, it narrates the tale of a former martial arts practitioner from Austria, Sarah, who is hired to train three sisters of one family in her area of expertise. But the sport does not interest the three girls, so why has she been hired? Indeed, why? The question rebounded and rebounded in my mind as I left the auditorium about 25 minutes into its 92 minutes’ duration. Rating? Not possible.

ALGIERS Algeria, Tunisia, France, Canada Screenplay not credited Directed by Chakib (pronounced Shakib, a Muslim name) Taleb Bendiab.

Using Arabic and French, this was one of the better films screened at the festival, and one which I could sit through till the end. A psychiatrist and a Police Inspector investigate the kidnapping of a young girl. At 92 minutes, it held my attention. Bendiab is one of the writers on the British spy series, Go Dark.

Rating: ** ½

FOTOGENICO France Screenplay not credited Directed by Marcia Romano and Benoît Sabatier

A girl dies in Marseilles. Her father arrives in the city and tries to locate persons she knew or hung out with. In the process, he discovers that she was part of a girl band and had cut a disc with them. He decides to bring the band together, as some kind of tribute to his daughter.

The man and his performance are weird, and the film, though only 94 minutes long, failed to interest me. Rating is out of question.

PUSHER 1996 Restored Classics Denmark Screenplay not credited Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

Drugs, drug barons and drug dealers form the thrust of the story. A heroin deal turns sour and the Pusher is indebted to the Balkan drug baron, Milo. This is no restored ‘classic’, from my perspective. A narrow and limited panorama made things dull, although the subject was drug-related. The film had possibilities, but its hazy, jerky, handheld camera and slow narration forced me to leave after I had seen about two-thirds of the film. I will hazard a

Rating:

 MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: LEAD ACTING AND MORE

 

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