MTFB's Almost Final Oscar Winner Predictions / RIP Gene Hackman

MTFB'S ALMOST FINAL OSCAR WINNER PREDICTIONS

That's right.  "Almost Final".  I finally decided that I'll put up a "Final Final" on Sunday morning so as to have the freshest data for the nine or so categories that are tight.  More on them below.  That said, here are your latest MTFB predictions about who/what wins an Oscar on Sunday night in all 23 categories.  As always, TFF #51 films are in Bold.  A film's previous position is in parentheses to the right of each title.

BEST PICTURE

1) Anora (1)

2) Conclave (2)

3) The Brutalist (3)

4) A Complete Unknown (4)

5) Wicked (5)

6) Emilia Perez (6)

7) I'm Still Here (8)

8) The Substance (7)

9) Dune Part Two (9)

10) Nickel Boys (10)

BEST DIRECTION

1) Sean Baker/Anora (1)

2) Brady Corbet/The Brutalist (2)

3) James Mangold/A Complete Unknown (3)

4) Coralie Fargeat/The Substance (4)

5) Jacques Audiard/Emilia Perez (5)

BEST ACTRESS

1) Mikey Madison/Anora (3)

2) Demi Moore/The Substance (1)

3) Fernanda Torres/I'm Still Here (2)

4) Cynthia Erivo/Wicked (4)

5) Karla Sofia Gascon/Emilia Perez (5)

BEST ACTOR

1) Adrien Brody/The Brutalist (1)

2) Timothee Chalamet/A Complete Unknown (2)

3) Ralph Fiennes/Conclave (3)

4) Domingo Colman/Sing Sing (4)

5) Sebastian Stan/The Apprentice (5)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1) Zoe Saldana/Emilia Perez (1)

2) Arian Grande/Wicked (2)

3) Isabella Rossellini/Conclave (4)

4) Monica Barbaro/A Complete Unknown (3)

5) Felicity Jones/The Brutalist (5)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1) Kieran Culkin/A Real Pain (1)

2) Yura Borisov/Anora (3)

3) Edward Norton/A Complete Unknown (2)

4) Guy Pearce/The Brutalist (4)

5) Jeremy Strong/The Apprentice (5)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) Conclave (1)

2) Nickel Boys (3)

3) A Complete Unknown (2)

4) Emilia Perez (4)

5) Sing Sing (5)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Anora (1)

2) A Real Pain (3)

3) The Substance (2)

4) The Brutalist (4)

5) September 5 (5)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

1) Emilia Perez (2)

2) I'm Still Here (1)

3) The Seed of the Sacred Fig (3)

4) Flow (4)

5) The Girl with the Needle (5)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1) Porcelain War (2)

2) No Other Land (1)

3) Black Box Diaries (3)

4) Sugarcane (4)

5) Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat (5)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) The Wild Robot (1)

2) Flow (2)

3) Inside Out 2 (3)

4) Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (5)

5) Memoir of a Snail (4)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) The Brutalist (1)

2) Nosferatu (2)

3) Dune Part Two (3)

4) Maria (5)

5) Emilia Perez (4)

BEST EDITING

1) Conclave (1)

2) Anora (2)

3) Wicked (4)

4) Emilia Perez (5)

5) The Brutalist (3)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Wicked (1)

2) The Brutalist (2)

3) Nosferatu (3)

4) Conclave (5)

5) Dune Part Two (4)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1) The Brutalist (1)

2) Conclave (2)

3) The Wild Robot (3)

4) Emilia Perez (4)

5) Wicked (5)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1) El Mal/Emilia Perez (1)

2) The Journey/The Six Triple Eight (2)

3) Mi Camino/Emilia Perez (3)

4) Never Too Late/Never Too Late (4)

5) Like a Bird/Sing Sing (5)

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1) Wicked (1)

2) Nosferatu (2)

3) Conclave (3)

4) A Complete Unknown (4)

5) Gladiator II (5)

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) The Substance (1)

2) Wicked (2)

3) Emilia Perez (3)

4) Nosferatu (4)

5) A Different Man (5)

BEST SOUND DESIGN

1) Dune Part Two (1)

2) Wicked (2)

3) A Complete Unknown (3)

4) Emilia Perez (4)

5) The Wild Robot (5)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Dune Part Two (1)

2) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2)

3) Wicked (3)

4) Better Man (4)

5) Alien: Romulus (5)

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

1) Anuja

2) I Am Not a Robot

3) A Lien

4) The Man Who Would Not Remain Silent

5) The Last Ranger

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

1) Wander to Wonder

2) Beautiful Men

3) The Shadow of the Cypress Tree

4) Yuck!

5) Magic Candles

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1) I Am Ready Warden

2) The Only Girl in the Orchestra

3) Instruments of a Beating Heart

4) Incident

5) Death by Numbers

Comments:  Your Oscar pool likely depends on 10 categories.  As always all three Shorts categories are up in the air. The Feature categories with some wiggle room:

Best Actress: Madison and Moore.

Best Actor: Brody and Chalamet.

Best Original Screenplay: Anora, A Real Pain and The Substance.

Best International Feature: Emilia Perez and I'm Still Here.

Best Documentary Feature: Porcelain War and No Other Land.

Best Editing: Conclave and Anora.

Best Sound Design: Dune Part Two, Wicked and A Complete Unknown

As of this morning here's how I am predicting Oscars for TFF #51 films:

Anora (4): Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay.

Emilia Perez (3): Best International Film, Best Supporting Actress and Best Song.

Conclave (2): Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing.

A Real Pain (1): Best Supporting Actor.

For a total of 10 Oscars. for TFF #51 films.

Best chances to pickup a "Surprise" win for TFF #51 films:

Conclave: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Score.

No Other Land: Best Documentary.

Anora: Best Supporting Actor and Best Editing.

Nickel Boys: Best Adapted Screenplay

A Real Pain: Best Original Screenplay.

Other non-TFF #51 feature winners that I'm predicting:

The Brutalist (3): Best Actor, Best Original Score and Best Cinematography.

Wicked (2): Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.

Dune Part Two (2): Best Sound Design and Best Visual Effects.

Porcelain War (1): Best Documentary.

The Substance (1): Best Makeup/Hair.

The Wild Robot (1): Best Animated Feature.

I'll have a "Final Final" posted sometime Sunday morning.

RIP GENE HACKMAN

One of the greats has left us.  Authorities in Santa Fe, NM reported overnight that Hackman was found dead in his home along with his wife and dog.  Santa Fe law enforcement say there was no sign of foul play.

In 1974, at the very first Telluride Film Festival, audiences got to see Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation which features one of Hackman's best performances.

Hackman won two Oscars in his career.  One in 1972 for Best Actor in The French Connection and a second in 1993 for Best Supporting Actor in Unforgiven.

Hackman was 95.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Winners Predictions-Cinematography and More / Bonus Update: Best Picture / SAG on Sunday / Trailer and Release for Thank You Very Much / Interviews and Profiles

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: WINNERS PREDICTIONS: CINEMATOGRAPHY AND MORE

Oscar voting is CLOSED!  The ballot deadline was Tuesday evening.  Now we wait...  

I'm updating five categories today that were last posted on Feb. 6th.  As always TFF #51 films are Bold and their previous position on the chart is to the right in parentheses.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) The Brutalist (1)

2) Nosferatu (3)

3) Dune Part Two (2)

4) Emilia Perez (5)

5) Maria (4)

BEST EDITING

1) Conclave (1)

2) Anora (2)

3) The Brutalist (3)

4) Wicked (5)

5) Emilia Perez (4)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Wicked (1)

2) The Brutalist (2)

3) Nosferatu (5)

4) Dune Part Two (3)

5) Conclave (4)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1) The Brutalist (1)

2) Conclave (2)

3) The Wild Robot (3)

4) Emilia Perez (4)

5) Wicked (5)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1) El Mal/Emilia Perez (1)

2) The Journey/The Six Triple Eight (2)

3) Mi Camino/Emilia Perez (3)

4) Never Too Late/Never Too Late (5)

5) Like a Bird/Sing Sing (4)

 Comment:  Currently I have TFF #51 films winning two of these five Oscars with Conclave taking Editing (though if Anora wins here that'll keep Editing in the TFF #51 family) and Emilia Perez taking Original Song.  The other "Best Chance" of a pickup is Conclave in Original Score.  At the moment I have Conclave winning Adapted Screenplay and Editing.  If it does upset The Brutalist for Score then maybe an upset is brewing in favor of Conclave over Anora for Best Picture.  

BONUS UPDATE: BEST PICTURE

I'm not actually due for an update of the Best Picture race until the 27th but thought I'd give it a quick looksee.

1) Anora (1)

2) Conclave (2)

3) The Brutalist (4)

4) A Complete Unknown (3)

5) Wicked (5)

6) Emilia Perez (6)

7) The Substance (7)

8) I'm Still Here (8)

9) Dune Part Two (9)

10) Nickel Boys (10)

Comment: The movement of note is bit of a boost for The Brutalist and a bit of a lag for A Complete Unknown.  Conclave seems best poised to upset Anora's strong hold on the top prize.  Did it's four BAFTA wins indicate something?  

SAG ON SUNDAY

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-Aftra) happen Sunday night at 8:00pm Eastern/5:00pm Pacific.  They're on Netflix.  There are six categories for film.  Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Cast and Stunt Cast.  All but Stunt Cast, perhaps, shine light on The Oscars.

Best Actress:  If Mikey Madison wins...that's another indicator that Anora has the BP Oscar sewn up.  If Demi Moore, once regarded as the frontrunner, grabs this trophy then Best Actress could be a nail-biter on Oscar night.

Best Actor:  Adrien Brody is looking strong and he needs a win to boost The Brutalist's chance at Best Picture.  Timothee Chalamet could win and that's essential for A Complete Unknown to have any shot at Best Picture.  A Ralph Fiennes win, while unlikely but not outside the realm of possibility, would be huge indicator that Conclave is upsetting Anora.

Best Supporting Actress: Despite all the controversy surrounding Emilia Perez, Zoe Saldana still looks strong for SAG and Oscar.  A Monica Barbaro upset combined with a Chalamet win for Actor might mean A Complete Unknown has slipped into the Best Picture top spot. 

Best Supporting Actor: At this point I think everyone has determined that Kieran Culkin (like Saldana) has this in the bag.  As with Chalamet and Barbaro, an Edward Norton win aids A Complete Unknown.

Best Cast: If any film other than Anora wins this there are real chances that the Oscar is going somewhere else.  It wouldn't doom Anora which has had such incredible precursor success that it remains the big favorite for Oscar night.  Wins for either Conclave or A Complete Unknown would make Oscar night very intriguing.

SAG Guesses: Madison, Brody, Saldana, Culkin, Anora.  Four of the five categories go to TFF #51 films.  Tune into Netflix on Sunday to find out.

The full list of SAG nominees is linked here.

TRAILER AND RELEASE FOR THANK YOU VERY MUCH

A number of outlets reported this week that Alex Braverman's Andy Kaufman documentary that screened as a part of TFF #50 has a release date of Marc. 28th.  Drafthouse also released a trailer for the doc.  Here that is via YouTube:

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Director Adam Eliot for Memoir of a Snail from The Film Stage.

Composer Volker Bertelmann for Conclave from The Contending.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Predicting Oscar Winners: Cinematography and More / Future TFF Selection? / Interviews and Profiles: Conclave

 MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: PREDICTING OSCAR WINNERS: CINEMATOGRAPHY AND MORE

As the Emilia Perez series of provocations and scandals seems to be winding down in intensity, we're starting to see some actual effects regarding what could happen on Oscar night.  Here are the first predictions for winners in Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Score and Song.  As usual, TFF films are in Bold.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) The Brutalist

2) Dune: Part Two

3) Nosferatu

4) Maria

5) Emilia Perez

BEST EDITING

1) Conclave

2) Anora

3) The Brutalist

4) Emilia Perez

5) Wicked

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Wicked

2) The Brutalist

3) Dune: Part Two

4) Conclave

5) Nosferatu

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1) The Brutalist

2) Conclave

3) The Wild Robot

4) Emilia Perez

5) Wicked

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1) El Mal/Emilia Perez

2) The Journey/The Six Triple Eight

3) Mi Camino/Emilia Perez

4) Like A Bird/Sing Sing

5) Never Too Late/Never Too Late

Comments:  Tightest category among these five is Editing where Conclave is barely in front of Anora and The Brutalist is close too.  If Conclave wins this and Adapted Screenplay...well...could be a good night in the end for Conclave.

The Emilia Perez blowback does not seem to have been particularly bad in Best Song.  We'll see if that's still true two weeks from now when we re-visit these five categories.  Diane Warren's shot to finally win an Oscar for songwriting has a real possibility of happening.

Speaking of low blowback for Emilia Perez in Best Song, you have to wonder if Zoe Saldana might still have a chance for Best Supporting Actress.  We'll look at that category again next week.

FUTURE TFF SELECTION?

Of note yesterday was news from both Deadline and The Film Stage that TFF regular and member of TFF's Council of Advisors Werner Herzog will be soon filming a new feature film.  That by itself would be enough to merit it going on a future TFF watch list.  But the reporting revealed that the film will star Rooney Mara and Kate Mara.

Rooney is past TFF tribute recipient.  She was honored in 2015.  Todd Haynes Carol screened at TFF as a part of that tribute.  I have been told that Rooney loves the fest and has returned since the 2015 honor.

She attended in 2016 with Una and again in  2022 with Women Talking.

The new film is reportedly titled Bucking Fastard and is described by The Film Stage as: 

"...based on the true story of inseparable twin sisters Joan and Jean, drawing from the lives of Freda and Greta Chaplin, who became sexually infatuated with their next-door neighbor and eventually received a restraining order. The title of the film, which begins production this spring in Ireland and Slovenia, is based on a simultaneous verbal slip the twins made in court."

The Film Stage article (Linked above) also digs into Herzog's most recent book, Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir, and provides considerable detail about the two sisters.

INETRVIEWS AND PROFILES

Conclave producers Ross and Howell for the film from Variety.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Screenplays and More / MTFB Predicted Nomination Totals / SAG and DGA Nominations and TFF / IndieWire's 50+ Most Anticipated and TFF

 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

1) Dune Part Two (1)

2) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (3)

3) Wicked (4)

4) Gladiator II (2)

5) Better Man (-)

Others: Twisters, Mufasa: The Lion King and Alien: Romulus

MTFB PREDICTED NOMINATION TOTALS

As we look down the barrel, we're only eight days away from Oscar Nomination morning.  As of the latest MTFB predictions, these are your accumulated totals:

I'm expecting Emilia Perez to lead all films with 11 nominations: Best Picture, International Feature, Direction, Actress (Gascon), Supporting Actress (Saldana), Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Score, Song (x2) and Sound.

The Brutalist (10): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Brody), Supporting Actress (Jones), Supporting Actor (Pearce), Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Score and Production Design.

Dune Part Two (9): Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Sound, Costumes, Makeup/Hair and Visual Effects.

Wicked (8): Best Picture, Actress (Erivo), Supporting Actress (Grande), Production Design, Sound, Costumes, Makeup/Hair and Visual Effects.

Conclave (7): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Fiennes), Supporting Actress (Rossellini), Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Score.

Anora (6): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Madison), Supporting Actor (Borisov), Original Screenplay and Editing.

Gladiator II (5): Best Supporting Actor (Washington), Production Design, Sound, Costumes and Visual Effects.

Nickel Boys (4): Best Picture, Direction, Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography.

A Complete Unknown (4): Best Picture, Actor (Chalamet), Supporting Actor (Norton) and Sound.

A Real Pain (3): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Culkin) and Original Screenplay.

Sing Sing (3): Best Picture, Actor (Domingo) and Adapted Screenplay.

Maria (3): Best Actress (Jolie), Cinematography and Costumes.

The Wild Robot (3): Best Animated Feature, Score and Song.

The Substance (3): Best Actress (Moore), Original Screenplay and Makeup/Hair.

Nosferatu (3): Best Cinematography, Production Design and Makeup/Hair.

Challengers (2): Best Original Score and Song.

Single nominations for:

The Seed of the Scared Fig: International Feature.

I'm Still Here: International Feature.

The Girl with the Needle: International Feature

Vermiglio: International Feature.

Inside Out 2: Animated Feature

Flow: Animated Feature

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: Animated Feature.

Memoir of a Snail: Animated Feature.

Sugarcane: Documentary Feature.

No Other Land: Documentary Feature.

Daughters: Documentary Feature.

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat: Documentary Feature.

Dahomey: Documentary Feature.

Queer: Actor (Craig)

The Piano Lesson: Supporting Actress (Deadwyler).

September 5: Original Screenplay.

The Six Triple Eight: Song.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice: Costumes.

A Different Man: Makeup/Hair.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: Visual Effects.

Better Man: Visual Effects.

All told MTFB says 11 TFF #51 films land 40 total nominations.

On Monday, I'll have predictions for the Shorts categories and then full predictions for all 23 categories on Thursday the 16th.

SAG AND DGA NOMINATIONS AND TFF

The Screen Actors Guild announced their 2024 nominees for film yesterday via a press release as opposed the originally planned live announcement.  That was scrapped as a result of the massive wild fires that are still ablaze this morning in the Los Angeles area.

In each of the six film categories here were the nominees from TFF #51 films:

Best Actor: Ralph Fiennes/Conclave.

Best Actress: Mikey Madison/Anora and Karla Sofia Gascon/Emilia Perez.

Best Supporting Actor: Yura Borisov/Anora, Kieran Culkin/A Real Pain and Jeremy Strong/The Apprentice.

Best Supporting Actress: Danielle Deadwyler/The Piano Lesson and Zoe Saldana/Emilia Perez.

Best Cast: Anora, Conclave and Emilia Perez.

TFF had no films nominated in the Action/Stunt Ensemble category.

Kind of surprising omissions: Angelina Jolie (Maria) in Lead Actress and Isabella Rossellini (Conclave) for Supporting Actress.

Lots of strength for A Complete Unknown and Wicked.

The complete set of SAG nominees are linked here.

Meanwhile the Director's Guild of America (DGA) named its five nominees for Outstanding Directing for 2025 yesterday as well.  Three TFF #51 directors were nominated: Jacques Audiard/Emilia Perez, Sean Baker/Anora  and Edward Berger/Conclave.  The other two nominees are Brady Corbet/The Brutalist and James Mangold/A Complete Unknown.

At present, the Producers Guild is set to announce their nominees on Friday but that could change due to the fires as well.

INDIEWIRE'S 50+ MOST ANTICIPATED AND TFF #52

IndieWire published its list of 50+ films that they're most excited about for 2025 last week and from the list here are the films that, on their face, seem Telluride-friendly:

The Bride/Gyllenhaal

Bugonia/Lanthimos

Marty Supreme/Safdie

Die, My Love/Ramsay

Father, Mother, Sister, Brother/Jarmusch

Frankenstein/Del Toro

Materialists/Song

The Phoenician Scheme/Anderson

Untitled Baumbach

The complete article is linked here.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Lead Acting and More / THR's Most Anticipated for 2025 / Interviews and Profiles

 MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: LEAD ACTING AND MORE

I'm updating the Lead Acting categories today as well as Cinematography, Editing and Production Design.  These categories were last updated on Dec. 19th.  An actor's/film's previous position is indicated in (parentheses).  TFF #51 films are in Bold. 

BEST ACTRESS

1) Mikey Madison/Anora (1)

2) Angelina Jolie/Maria (4)

3) Karla Sofia Gascon/Emilia Perez (3)

4) Cynthia Erivo/Wicked (2)

5) Demi Moore/The Substance (5)

Others: Marianne Jean-Baptiste/Hard Truths, Nicole Kidman/Babygirl and Fernanda Torres/I'm Still Here.

BEST ACTOR

1) Adrien Brody/The Brutalist (2)

2) Ralph Fiennes/Conclave (1)

3) Timothee Chalamet/A Complete Unknown (3)

4) Colman Domingo/Sing Sing (4)

5) Daniel Craig/Queer (5)

Others: Sebastian Stan/The Apprentice, Jesse Eisenberg/A Real Pain and Sebastian Stan/A Different Man.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) The Brutalist (2)

2) Maria (3)

3) Dune Part Two (1)

4) Nickel Boys (4)

5) Nosferatu (5)

Others: Conclave, Wicked Part 1 and The Girl with a Needle.

BEST EDITING

1) Conclave (1)

2) Emilia Perez (4)

3) The Brutalist (2)

4) Dune Part Two (3)

5) Anora (5)

Others: September 5, Gladiator II and Wicked Part 1.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Wicked Part 1 (1)

2) Dune Part Two (2)

3) The Brutalist (3)

4) Gladiator II (4)

5) Nosferatu (5)

Others: Conclave, Blitz and Emilia Perez.

Comment: The Golden Globes are on Sunday.  It'll be interesting to see how they shake out.  Maybe they give us some sense about the how the Oscar wind is blowing.  Oscar nomination voting begins next week on Wednesday, Jan. 8th.  I'll have some TFF Golden Globes coverage here on Monday.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S MOST ANTICIPATED FOR 2025

The Hollywood Reporter put up their list of most anticipated films for 2025 this week.  from that list there are six films that could be TFF #52 players:

After the Hunt/Guadagnino

The Bride/Gyllenhaal

Bugonia/Lanthimos

Frankenstein/Del Toro

Marty Supreme/J. Safdie

Untitled Baumbach/Baumbach

Here's the complete list from THR.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain from The Playlist.

Behind the Scenes of Better Man from Gold Derby.

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MTFB Oscar Update: Screenplays and More / The MTFB Nomination Totals / Interviews and Profiles: Eisenberg, Baker and Gracey

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SCREENPLAYS AND MORE

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. 12th.  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, The Room Next Door and Wicked Part One.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1) Anora (1)

2) The Brutalist (3)

3) A Real Pain (2)

4) The Substance (5)

5) September 5 (4)

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

BEST COSTUMES

1) Wicked Part One (1)

2) Dune Part Two (2)

3) Maria (4)

4) Gladiator II (3)

5) Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (-)

Others: Nosferatu, Conclave and A Complete Unknown.

BEST MAKEUP/HAIR

1) The Substance (2)

2) Wicked Part One (3)

3) Dune Part Two (1)

4) Nosferatu (4)

5) A Different Man (-)

Others: Emilia Perez, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice and Maria.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Dune Part Two (1)

2) Gladiator II (2)

3) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (3)

4) Wicked Part One (4)

5) Twisters (5)

Others: Better Man, Mufasa: The Lion King and Alien: Romulus.

MTFB NOMINATION TOTALS UPDATED

At the moment I am predicting 12 TFF #51 films to earn 40 nominations with another four films that could sneak into a nomination.  Also among those 16 films are 20 other possible nominations.  The following totals for nominations and possibilities:

Emilia Perez (11 nominations and another three possibles): Best Picture, Direction, International Feature, Actress (Gascon), Supporting Actress (Saldana), Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Score, Song (El Mal), Song (Mi Camino) and Sound.  Possibles: Supporting Actress (Gomez), Cinematography and Makeup/Hair.

Conclave (Seven nominations and another four possibles): Best Picture, Direction, Actor (Fiennes), Supporting Actress (Rossellini),  Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Score.  Possibles: Supporting Actor (Tucci), Cinematography, Production Design and Costumes.

Anora (Six nominations): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Madison), Supporting Actor (Borisov), Original Screenplay and Editing.

Nickel Boys (Four nominations and one possible): Best Picture, Direction, Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography.  Possible: Supporting Actress (Ellis-Taylor).

A Real Pain (Three nominations and one possible): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Culkin) and Original Screenplay.  Possible: Best Actor (Eisenberg).

Maria (Three nominations and one possible): Best Actress (Jolie), Cinematography and Costumes.  Possible: Makeup/Hair.

September 5 (One nomination and two possible): Best Original Screenplay.  Possibles: Best Picture and Editing.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (One nomination and one possible): Best International Feature.  Possible: Original Screenplay.

Will & Harper (One nomination and one possible): Best Documentary.  Possible: Song (Harper and Will Go West)

Memoir of a Snail (One nomination): Best Animated Feature.

No Other Land (One nomination): Best Documentary.

The Piano Lesson (One nomination): Best Supporting Actress (Deadwyler).

Other films with the possibility of a nomination:

The Apprentice: Best Actor (Stan) and Supporting Actor (Strong).

Piece by Piece: Best Animated Feature and Song (Piece by Piece).

All We Imagine as Light: Best Original Screenplay.

Better Man: Best Visual Effects.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Jesse Eisenberg for A Real Pain from Pop Culture Confidential.

Sean Baker for Anora from Pop Culture Confidential.

Michael Gracey for Better Man from IndieWire.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com

MTFB Oscar Update: Supporting Acting and More / The Film Stage's Hot 100 / Interviews And Profiles

 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

1) El Mal/Emilia Perez (1)

2) Mi Camino/Emilia Perez (2)

3) Kiss the Sky/The Wild Robot (3)

4) The Journey/The Six Triple Eight (5)

5) Compress/Repress/Challengers (-)

Others: Never Too Late/Elton John: Never Too Late, Piece by Piece/Piece by Piece and Harper and Will Go West/Will & Harper.

BEST SOUND

1) Dune Part Two (1)

2) Wicked (2)

3) Gladiator II (3)

4) A Complete Unknown (4)

5) Emilia Perez (5)

Others: Blitz, Deadpool and Wolverine and The Wild Robot.

THE FILM STAGE'S HOT 100

A few posts back I ran through The Playlist's 100 Most Anticipated Films for 2025 looking for clues as to possible TFF #52 films.  Today it's The Film Stage's list that I'm combing through.  Here are some films from their list that might be TFF possibilities:

94) The Bride/Gyllenhaal

81) The Twilight World/Herzog

71) Anemone/Day-Lewis

69) Bugonia/Lanthimos

67) Hamnet/Zhao

64) Orphan/Nemes

59) Young Mothers/The Dardennes Bros.

58) Frankenstein/Del Toro

54) The Actor/Johnson

51) Untitled Noah Baumbach (Jay Kelly???)/Baumbach

44) The History of Sound/Hermanus

41) After the Hunt/Guadagnino

35) Jupiter/Zvyaginstev

29) The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol/Chomet

14) Paper Tiger/Gray

11) Marty Supreme/J. Safdie

8) Die, My Love/Ramsay

7) The Phoenician Scheme/Anderson

5) The Mastermind/Reichardt

2) The Way of the Wind/Malick

The complete Film Stage list is linked here.

INTERVIEWS AND PROFILES

Ethan Herisse for Nickel Boys from The Hollywood Reporter.

Ethan Herisse for Nickel Boys from IndieWire.

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor for Nickel Boys from The Playlist.

Pablo Larrain for Maria from Film at Lincoln Center.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

X (Twitter) @TheMTFB OR @Gort2 

Bluesky: @gort2.bsky.social

MTFB's Facebook Page

MTFB is published on Mondays and Thursdays

If you would like to be added to the MTFB e-mail list send an email to mpgort@gmail.com