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“They gave Emilia Pérez nominations to normalize AI in art” “They gave Emilia Pérez nominations because she gets surgery in Tel Aviv” I honestly don’t think it’s some grand conspiracy I really just think that the Academy has a lot of members who are profoundly out of touch who saw the words “trans” and “Mexican” and convinced themselves that they’re Doing An Activism against Trump by nominating it. I really think it is just that simple and stupid.

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Quick Oscar Reviews: Emilia Pérez

The Good:

Zoe Saldaña is really good here.

So is Adriana Paz.

The Okay:

The first twenty minutes are fine.

Karla Sofía Gascón is also fine throughout.

When removed from the context of the movie (and only in the recording) “El Mal” is a good song.

The Bad:

The script is just absolutely awful.

Let me go into further depth on that one: the pacing is all over the place. There is no consistent tone; it can’t decide if it wants to be a campy musical, a Serious Social Issue movie, a heartwarming tale of redemption, or a gritty crime drama. All of the character’s personalities and “arcs” are told and not shown to the audience. The dialogue is weird and not in an intentional way. There is no real plot.

The trans representation would have been groundbreaking in like…2005. Now it’s just weirdly regressive and treats Emilia as a symbol, not a person.

I am not Mexican (and I encourage whoever’s reading this to seek out Mexican perspectives on this film) but even I can tell that a former cartel boss becoming essentially a saint simply because she transitions is strange to say the least.

On that note, even I could tell that the Spanish was bad.

Selena Gomez’s performance is not good. It’s a shame because I really think she’s good in Only Murders In The Building, but this role was just not meant for her.

None of the other musical numbers are good.

La Vaginoplastia.

Final Summary: An awful, regressive movie in almost every conceivable way that the Academy has decided is their progressive pick of the year.

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I'm sorry if you aren't talking about academy award nominee Monica Barbaro then I don't want any part of the conversation

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Just listened through all the nominated songs…

…Anyway never forget what they took from us

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Also shout out to Monica Barbaro I was not expecting a nomination but she was fantastic in A Complete Unknown and it’s 150% deserved.

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I did not have "I'm Still Here" nominated for Best Picture in my bingo card

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ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE JEREMY STRONG

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Did not realize there was that much love for The Wild Robot

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What We’ve Learned From The Golden Globes About The Oscar Race

#1 - The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez are the frontrunners in this race.

As the clear winners in their respective genres at the Golden Globes, I would not be surprised to see the ultimate Best Picture battle come down to these two. I think these wins have definitely established a sense of security for the Oscar campaigners behind them.

#2 - The Substance is a legitimate contender.

Who was expecting Demi Moore to win? Not me! This surprise win, combined with the fact that the film itself just seems to be racking up more and more nominations at every awards show, has established The Substance as a legitimate Oscars contender.

#3 - Anora does not have the love I thought it did.

Something that really surprised me at the ceremony on Sunday was the fact that Anora was completely shut out of any wins. I don’t know if this was just a blip or if the film is losing steam, but either way, the film’s campaign marketing team is probably trying to figure out how to best switch course.

#4 - Wicked has love - I’m just not sure it’ll be enough.

Wicked won exactly one award at the Golden Globes, which is the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award. While that was a great moment for them, that award seems to be the film industry’s marker of “we really loved this movie but we’re not going to give it any ‘real’ awards.” My current prediction for Wicked is a lot of Oscar nominations and absolutely zero Oscar wins.

#5 - Conclave is solid, even if it’s not a complete frontrunner.

This is probably the most solid and steady contender this year. While it hasn’t really had the high highs of some other films, that means that it also hasn’t had the low lows of these other films, and has instead been (somewhat) quietly chugging along, continuously picking up awards. It won Best Screenplay on Sunday (a feat I would not be surprised to see repeated at the Oscars) and it seems to continuing along at that great pace - if not picking up steam.

#6 - Flow has the upper hand in the Animated Feature race

There have seemed to be two real contenders in the Animated Feature race this year: Flow and The Wild Robot. With the former’s win, it seems to be signaling that this is what the industry is preferring - and I’m sure the latter’s team is racing to campaign harder.

#7 - Kieran Culkin seems destined for an Oscar win

The acting categories have been very contentious this year (which is great and fun) with the exception of Best Supporting Actor, which has continuously gone to Kieran Culkin for his role in A Real Pain. Winning at the Globes seemed to just solidify that his name is already being engraved on that statuette.

#8 - Fernanda Torres threw a wrench into the Best Actress race

Before the Globes, if you’d asked me to pick who I thought was going to be on the Best Actress lineup getting released in just over a week, Fernanda Torres would not have been on there. But once again, a surprise win has established her as a serious competitor.

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The red carpet interviewers are actually good this year, I’m pleasantly surprised.

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My Golden Globes Film Predictions

The Golden Globes are tomorrow, and with them we can start to get an idea of what’s getting nominated (and winning) at the Oscars. So, without further ado, here are my predictions for the film awards.

Best Film - Drama: This category is about 50% almost guaranteed Best Picture nominees (The Brutalist, Conclave and Dune Part II) and 50% films that are still fighting for a spot (A Complete Unknown, Nickel Boys and September 5). While A Complete Unknown is drifting into the “almost guaranteed” category, I still feel like the voters will go with one of the more guaranteed picks, and of those picks, I feel the most confident in The Brutalist.

Best Actress - Drama: Like (almost) all the acting categories this year, the Best Actress category is pretty contentious - there’s maybe two guaranteed picks, neither of which are competing in this category. Of the 12 actresses nominated at the Globes, only five will be nominated at the Oscars, so I’m trying to think along the lines of “who will be nominated?” There are two (maybe three) actresses in this category that I think have strong chances, and of those two, I’m feeling the most comfortable with Pamela Anderson for The Last Showgirl.

Best Actor - Drama: In terms of nominations, this is probably the least contentious acting category (barring Stan I wouldn’t be surprised if this category is the Best Actor lineup), but in terms of who’s winning….oof. My mind is really at war between Brody and Chalamet, and I think I’m going to go with Adrien Brody for The Brutalist.

Best Film - Comedy/Musical: I honestly believe that 5 out of 6 of the films nominated here will be nominated for Best Picture, which makes the job of predicting what’s going to win here that much harder. There’s probably three real competitors when it comes down to it, and I think at the end of the day I’m going to go with Anora.

Best Actress - Comedy/Musical: See above for my comments on the Best Actress race this year. There are a few competitors here, but I think I’m going to go with Mikey Madison for Anora (and to be clear, she is one of the two that I think are guaranteed).

Best Actor - Comedy/Musical: Also see above for what I said about the Best Actor lineup this year. With all my love and respect towards the actors in this category, I think they will all be Globes-only nominees this year, which means this is purely according to Globe voter tastes. For some reason, I’m really feeling Sebastian Stan in A Different Man.

Best Supporting Actress: Due to not being split by genre, this category is made somewhat easier by only being one person larger than the Oscar lineup. The question of which of these six won’t make it in (or if someone else entirely will sneak in) is what’s making this category contentious. I do think there are two spots that are guaranteed, though, and of those two I’m feeling confident in Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez.

Best Supporting Actor: Once again, see above for my comments about the supporting acting races. This one is different because, unlike the rest of the categories, there has been a frontrunner this whole time: my prediction of Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain.

Best Director: This is yet another category with no clear frontrunner, and another category which is only one person bigger than the Oscars. For now, I’m gonna go with Brady Corbet for The Brutalist.

Best Screenplay: See above for everything I’ve said about no clear frontrunner. This is also an interesting category because this is a category that expands, rather than condenses, at the Oscars (split between Adapted and Original Screenplay) so this is only a sample of the screenplays that will be nominated. Of all the scripts and screenwriters, the one that is calling to me the most is Peter Straughan for Conclave - which would be a sign of it winning for Adapted Screenplay, still leaving Original Screenplay up in the air.

Best Animated Feature: To me this category really feels like a tossup between The Wild Robot and Flow, and ultimately I am more optimistic about The Wild Robot’s chances.

Best Non-English Film: This is yet again another category where this’ll likely shape up to be the Oscar nominees (excluding All We Imagine As Light, which was not submitted by any country for consideration). Due to its nominations elsewhere, I’m going to go with Emilia Pérez.

Best Score: This is another category where one of the nominees has already been excluded from Oscar consideration (Dune Part II) (though that doesn’t exclude it from winning here). Ultimately, though, I’m going to go with Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross for Challengers.

Best Song: The Academy seems to be doing a lot of musical exclusion this year, as one of the nominees here, “Forbidden Road” from Better Man, has also been excluded from consideration. The winner here is probably going to be one of the songs from Emilia Pérez, and of those I’ll follow Gold Derby and go with El Mal.

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement: Since it’s nominated elsewhere (and since it hasn’t won anything else in my predictions) I’m going to go with Wicked.

Final Tally:

Emilia Pérez: 3

The Brutalist: 3

Anora: 2

A Different Man: 1

A Real Pain: 1

Challengers: 1

Conclave: 1

The Last Showgirl: 1

The Wild Robot: 1

Wicked: 1

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I love the fact that there’s no clear Best Picture frontrunner this year, it makes the Oscar race so much more interesting.

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2025 Golden Globes Nominations (For Film)

Best Film - Drama

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune Part II

Nickel Boys

September 5

Best Film - Musical or Comedy

Anora

Challengers

Emilia Pérez

A Real Pain

The Substance

Wicked

Best Female Actor In A Film - 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 Male Actor In A Film - 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 Female Actor In A Film - Musical or Comedy

Amy Adams, Nightbitch

Cynthia Erivo, Wicked

Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez

Mikey Madison, Anora

Demi Moore, The Substance

Zendaya, Challengers

Best Male Actor In A Film - 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 Film - Animated

Flow

Inside Out 2

Memoir of a Snail

Moana 2

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

The Wild Robot

Best Film - non-English Language

All We Imagine As Light

Emilia Pérez

The Girl With The Needle

I'm Still Here

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Vermiglio

Best Female Actor In A Supporting Role In A Film

Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez

Ariana Grande, Wicked

Felicity Jones, The Brutalist

Margaret Qualley, The Substance

Isabella Rossellini, Conclave

Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Best Male Actor In A Supporting Role In A Film

Yura Borisov, Anora

Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce, The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Denzel Washington, Gladiator II

Best Director - Film

Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez

Sean Baker, Anora

Edward Berger, Conclave

Brady Corbet, The Brutalist

Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine As Light

Best Screenplay - Film

Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez

Sean Baker, Anora

Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist

Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain

Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

Peter Straughan, Conclave

Best Original Score - Film

Volker Bertelmann, Conclave

Daniel Blumberg, The Brutalist

Kris Bowers, The Wild Robot

Camille & Clément Ducol, Emilia Pérez

Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Challengers

Hans Zimmer, Dune Part II

Best Original Song - Film

"Beautiful That Way", The Last Showgirl

"Compress/Repress", Challengers

"El Mal", Emilia Perez

"Forbidden Road", Better Man

"Kiss The Sky", The Wild Robot

"Mi Camino", Emilia Pérez

Cinematic and Box Office Achivement

Alien: Romulus

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Deadpool & Wolverine

Gladiator II

Inside Out 2

Twisters

Wicked

The Wild Robot

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Introducing Me

Hello everyone! I figured I should probably have a pinned post for this blog, so I'll introduce myself a bit below.

⭐ The Academy Awards are a major special interest of mine, and I absolutely love following them from January-March (aka when I'll be most active here).

⭐ I don't take them overly seriously; obviously I massively enjoy them, and I will get very invested in my favorites winning, but at the end of the day it's all for fun.

⭐ This blog will be used for predictions (nominations and winners), as well as my personal opinions - I will be attempting, for the third time, to watch all of the films nominated.

⭐ While I may occasionally discuss other major awards here (the Emmys, the Grammys, etc.) this will be primarily for the Oscars and all immediately related events.

⭐ I'm currently rooting for Dune Part II to win Best Picture.

⭐ I am active on GoldDerby and Vulture's Movie Fantasy League (I am much better at the former than the latter)

⭐ My favorite movies are 1917, Babylon, Booksmart, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Florida Project, The Godfather Parts I and II, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Holdovers, Inglourious Basterds, Knives Out, Lady Bird, Last Night In Soho, Murder on the Orient Express, Oldboy, Parasite, GDT's Pinocchio, The Power of the Dog, Psycho, The Shining, Skyfall, The Social Network, The Starling Girl and Stoker

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Gotham Awards 2024 Nominations

Best Feature

Anora

Babygirl

Challengers

A Different Man

Nickel Boys

Best International Feature

All We Imagine As Light

Green Border

Hard Truths

Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

Vermiglio

Best Documentary Feature

Dahomey

Intercepted

No Other Land

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

Sugarcane

Union

Best Director

Payal Kapadia (All We Imagine As Light)

Sean Baker (Anora)

Guan Hu (Black Dog)

Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow)

RaMell Ross (Nickel Boys)

Best Screenplay

Nathan Silver & C. Mason Wells (Between The Temples)

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Evil Does Not Exist)

Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping (Femme)

Azazel Jacobs (His Three Daughters)

Annie Baker (Janet Planet)

Breakthrough Director

Shuchi Talati (Girls Will Be Girls)

India Donaldson (Good One)

Alessandra Lacorazza (In the Summers)

Vera Drew (The People's Joker)

Mahdi Fleifel (To a Land Unknown)

Outstanding Lead Performance

Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl)

Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)

Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)

Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths)

Nicole Kidman (Babygirl)

Keith Kupferer (Ghostlight)

Mikey Madison (Anora)

Demi Moore (The Substance)

Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun)

Justice Smith (I Saw the TV Glow)

Outstanding Supporting Performance

Yura Borisov (Anora)

Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)

Danielle Deadwyler (The Piano Lesson)

Brigette Lundy-Paine (I Saw the TV Glow)

Natasha Lyonne (His Three Daughters)

Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing)

Katy O'Brien (Love Lies Bleeding)

Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)

Adam Pearson (A Different Man)

Brian Tyree Henry (The Fire Inside)

Breakthrough Performer

Lily Collias (Good One)

Ryan Destiny (The Fire Inside)

Maisy Stella (My Old Ass)

Izaac Wang (Dìdi)

Brandon Wilson (Nickel Boys)