2024 Awards season and the Oscars

[Chris Knipp]

The Oscar nominee list again, with the winners highlighted

BEST PICTURE
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked

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

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

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

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

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

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jay Cocks and James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Peter Straughan, Conclave
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys
Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, Sing Sing

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, and Alex David, September 5
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
Wicked - Paul Tazewell

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance
Wicked

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Daniel Blumberg, The Brutalist
Volker Bertelmann, Conclave
John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, Wicked
Clément Ducol and Camille, Emilia Pérez
Kris Bowers, The Wild Robot

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“El Mal,” Emilia Pérez
“The Journey,” The Six Triple Eight
“Like a Bird,” Sing Sing
“Mi Camino,” Emilia Pérez
“Never Too Late,” Elton John: Never Too Late

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Death by Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
I’m Still Here, Brazil
The Girl With the Needle, Denmark
Emilia Pérez, France
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Germany
Flow, Latvia

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked

BEST EDITING
Sean Baker, Anora
Dávid Jancsó, The Brutalist
Nick Emerson, Conclave
Juliette Welfling, Emilia Pérez
Myron Kerstein, Wicked

BEST SOUND
A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two
Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Pérez
Edward Lachman, Maria
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu

It was nice to see Ed Lachman, in a wheelchair now due to MS, coming for his best Cinematograhy nom for MARIA, though it didn't have a chance agsinst THE BRUTALIST.

It was great that NO OTHER LAND brought attention to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and Israel's brutal destruction of its neighbors through the win of NO OTHER LAND for Best Documentary Feature, and the two direcotrs, one Palestinian and one Israeli, expressed their common ideals.

Paul Tazewell who won for WICKED was the first African American man to win an Oscar for Best Costume Design, and WICKED must have been a formidable task. It was moving to watch the Best Supporting Actress nominees get their praise before the award and see how Isabella Rossellini glowed with the recognition. I await details from the Oscar Expert twins, but it doesn't look like there were any real surprises. Ir was ANORA against THE BRUTALIST all the way. Brady Corbet didn't take home a Best Diirector Oscar; it was a sweep for Sean Baker, his year.

I wish Mark Eydelshteyn had gotten a nom given the Russian oligarch's son's centrality to ANORA, but at least he got to share the glory won by the movie. Zoe Saldaña swejpt away the audience with the evening's most passionate acceptance speech, even mentioning her Italian husband's beautiful hair, which indeed was much in evidence. But he's no boy toy, but an accomplished producer, though he does hyphenate his name: Marco Perego-Saldaña.

Take a look at the Red Carpet footage: there were some truly spectacular and beautiful outfits as well as some truly weird ones. Timothée Chalamet in a butter yellow suit was no surprise. I was glad he had a shirt on this time. The men could be a bit more conservative and not try to compete with the women for gaudiness. They can never win.

[Chris Knipp]

See The Oscar Expert's video review of ANORA from Cannes, which nails it. He predictred all that it got. NOte also how highly he speaks of Mark Edelshteyn, who I think was the one aspect of the film the Oscars overlooked, who is really so essential to the film, as Cole Jaeger, AKA The Oscar Expert, recognized.


MARK EDELSHTEIN AND MIKEY MADISON IN ANORA

[Chris Knipp]

JEWISHNESS AT THE 2025 OSCARS

You could say sex workers shone at this year's Oscars most of all, but JERUSALEM POST notes with reason "Jewish narratives shine at the Oscars with 'A Real Pain' and 'The Brutalist' as Gal Gadot takes the stage with Rachel Zegler" and this is true too. JERUSALEM POST'S headline for the article is "'No Other Land' wins Best Documentary Oscar, director calls for hostages release." . JERUSALEM POST and other Jewish publications (the FORWARD) point out that Mikey Madison, who's full name is Mikaela Madison Rosberg, is Jewish (on both sides). But she is not Jewish in the film. In fact she has said her "Jewish" curly hair was a problem in shooting ANORA, since she had to straighten it.

They don't mention that Mark Eydelshteyn, who plays Ivan, the Russian oligarch's son who runs off and marries Ani in ANORA, is also Jewis. And Timothée Chalamet, who was nominated for Best Actor for his performance as Bob Dylan (who is Jewish) in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, has a French father - and a Jewish mother.