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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The Golden Globes, often referred to as “Hollywood’s Party of the Year®,” is the largest awards show in the world to celebrate the best of both film and television. Emmy®-nominated comedian and actress Nikki Glaser hosted this year’s show, and multi-Emmy Award®-winning producing duo Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment (WCE) served as executive producing showrunners for the 82nd Golden Globes. A Dick Clark Productions : the annual Golden Globes have been viewed in more than 185 countries and territories worldwide.

Best Motion Picture, Drama
“The Brutalist”
Nominees in this category: “The Brutalist”; “A Complete Unknown”; “Conclave”; “Dune: Part Two”; “Nickel Boys”; “September 5”
 

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
“Emilia Pérez”
Nominees in this category: “Anora”; “Challengers”; “Emilia Pérez”; “A Real Pain”; “The Substance”; “Wicked”

Best Motion Picture, Animated
“Flow”
Nominees in this category: “Flow”; “Inside Out 2”; “Memoir of a Snail”; ”Moana 2”; “The Wild Robot”; “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
“Wicked”
Nominees in this category: “Alien: Romulus”; “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”; “Deadpool & Wolverine”; “Gladiator II”; “Inside Out 2”; “Twisters”; “Wicked”; “The Wild Robot”

Best Motion Picture, Non-English Language
“Emilia Pérez”
Nominees in this category: “All We Imagine as Light”; “Emilia Pérez”; “The Girl With the Needle”; “I’m Still Here”; “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”; “Vermiglio”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”
Nominees in this category: 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 an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
Nominees in this category: 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 an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Demi Moore, “The Substance”
Nominees in this category: Amy Adams, “Nightbitch”; Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”; Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”; Mikey Madison, “Anora”; Demi Moore, “The Substance”; Zendaya, “Challengers”

 MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SUPPORTING ACTING AND MORE

I'm updating the Supporting Acting categories today as well as Original Score, Original Song And Sound. These categories were last updated on Dec. 9th.  An actor's/film's previous position is indicated in (parentheses).  TFF #51 films are in Bold. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Zoe Saldana/Emilia Perez (1)

2) Ariana Grande/Wicked (4)

3) Isabella Rossellini/Conclave (2)

4) Felicity Jones/The Brutalist (5)

5) Danielle Deadwyler/The Piano Lesson (3)

Others: Selena Gomez/Emilia Perez, Margaret Qualley/The Substance and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor/Nickel Boys.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Kieran Culkin/A Real Pain (1)

2) Guy Pearce/The Brutalist (3)

3) Denzel Washington/Gladiator II (2)

4) Yura Borisov/Anora (5)

5) Clarence Maclin/Sing Sing (4)

Others: Edward Norton/A Complete Unknown, Jeremy Strong/The Apprentice and Stanley Tucci/Conclave.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1) The Brutalist (2)

2) Conclave (1)

3) Emilia Perez (3)

4) The Wild Robot (4)

5) Challengers (-)

Others: The Room Next Door, Blitz and Wicked.

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

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Santa Barbara International Film Festival  presents the Jacques Audiard Film Retrospective January 10 - January 17, 2025 at the SBIFF Film Center with an In-Person Q&A on Friday, January 10 at the SBIFF Riviera Theatre following EMILIA PÉREZ

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is proud to present a career retrospective on Jacques Audiard, a celebrated French filmmaker and screenwriter known for his emotionally intense and stylistically distinctive films. Audiard made his directorial debut with REGARDE LES HOMMES TOMBER, which won a César Award for Best First Feature Film. He gained international acclaim with works like THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED, A PROPHET, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes, and DHEEPAN, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. His films often explore themes of identity, redemption, and human resilience, blending gritty realism with poetic sensibilities. Audiard remains one of the most influential figures in contemporary French cinema.

“Audiard is a master of cinema - combining genres in order to tell his complex yet compelling stories which always draw attention to important and urgent subjects like immigration and the disenfranchised.    As a filmmaker, he is generous, challenging, and humane, and he exemplifies the best of world cinema.   He is cinema!” stated Roger Durling, Executive Director of SBIFF.

Audiard’s latest film, EMILIA PÉREZ, is yet another triumph. The film follows the story of EMILIA PÉREZ, a notorious Mexican cartel leader who undergoes gender affirming surgery to start living life as her most authentic self. Blending elements of crime, music, and comedy, the film has a bold and unconventional narrative. Starring Karla Sofia Gascón in the titular role, alongside Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldaña, EMILIA PÉREZ marks a significant departure from Audiard’s previous works, showcasing his versatility and willingness to explore new genres. The film’s vibrant mix of humor, suspense, and music is lauded as an innovative addition to Audiard's diverse filmography.

Among his most acclaimed works is THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED, a gripping drama about a man torn between violence and his dream of becoming a pianist, which won 8 César Awards, including Best Film and Best Director. A PROPHET, considered a masterpiece, chronicles the rise of a young Arab man in a brutal French prison, earning the Grand Prix at Cannes, 9 César Awards, and an Oscar nomination. DHEEPAN, a poignant tale of Sri Lankan refugees seeking asylum in France, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, further cementing Audiard’s legacy as one of cinema’s finest auteurs.

The retrospective which will take place January 10th - January 17th at the new SBIFF Film Center. It will feature:

• EMILIA PEREZ
• THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED
• RUST AND BONE
• A PROPHET
• PARIS, 13TH DISTRICT
• DHEEPAN
• THE SISTERS BROTHERS

Jacques Audiard in-person conversation on Friday, January 10 at the SBIFF Riviera Theatre following a screening of EMILIA PÉREZ.

Please come over to the Film Center to see this amazing retrospective celebrating Jacques Audiard’s work. 

For tickets and retrospective schedule, please visit

Conversations to include guests from films Babygirl, A Real Pain, Sing Sing, and Wicked;

Emilia Pérez and Maria to be presented by Women In Motion

The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) has announced the lineup for its Talking Pictures program, featuring in-depth discussions with actors being honored at the Palm Springs International Film Awards. This year’s program includes Babygirl with Nicole Kidman; Emilia Pérez with director Jacques Audiard as well as actors Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Edgar Ramírez; Maria with Angelina Jolie; A Real Pain with Jesse Eisenberg; Sing Sing with Colman Domingo; and Wicked with Cynthia Erivo , Ariana Grande, and John M. Chu. The Emilia Peréz and Maria Talking Pictures will be presented by Women In Motion, a Kering program to shine a light on women in arts and culture. The schedule is listed below along with attending guests.

Thursday, January 2

3:30 p.m.

A Real Pain at Annenberg Theater. Q&A following screening with actor, director, producer and screenwriter Jesse Eisenberg.

Mismatched cousins David (Jesse Eisenberg) and Benji (Kieran Culkin) reunite for a tour through Poland to honor their beloved grandmother. The adventure takes a turn when the odd-couple's old tensions resurface against the backdrop of their family history. Directed and written by Jesse Eisenberg, the film stars Eisenberg alongside Culkin with a cast rounded out by Will Sharpe, Jennifer Grey, Kurt Egyiawan, Liza Sadovy, and Daniel Oreskes.

Friday, January 3

10:00 a.m.

Sing Sing at Palm Springs Cultural Center (Camelot Theatres). Q&A following screening with actor Colman Domingo.

Divine G (Colman Domingo), imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men, including wary newcomer (Clarence Maclin), in this stirring true story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art, starring an unforgettable ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors. Directed by Greg Kwedar, Domingo also executive produced the film.

10:30 a.m.

Babygirl at Richards Center for the Arts at Palm Springs High School. Q&A following screening with actress Nicole Kidman and director Halina Reijn.

In Babygirl, Romy, played by Kidman, is a high-powered CEO who puts her career and family on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much younger intern. As a polished CEO, a mother and wife living in New York City, Romy lives in a world of careful control, tight scheduling, and an all-too-keen awareness of how she’s perceived at the heights of a male-dominated field. In her own long-term marriage, she has also never truly found pleasure with her sweet, caring, and artistically driven husband. As Romy attempts to hold together her gilded persona, she is quickly undone after she meets Samuel. The film also stars Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas, and Sophie Wilde.

11:00 a.m.

Maria at Annenberg Theater. Q&A following screening with actress Angelina Jolie. 

From director Pablo Larraín, Maria stars Academy Award winner Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas, one of the greatest opera singers of the 20th century. The film follows the American-Greek soprano as she retreats to Paris after a glamorous and tumultuous life in the public eye. Maria reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days as the diva reckons with her identity and life