Here Are The 2024 Oscar Nominations


Here they are!  The 2024 Oscar nominations!

There’s a few surprises, like I’m Still Here getting nominated for Best Picture.  I will say that if Kamala Harris had won in November, Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong would not have been nominated for The Apprentice.  The same impulse that causes the Academy to honor the films of Adam McKay is responsible for the nominations of Stan and Strong.  Pamela Anderson getting a nomination for The Last Showgirl would have made for a great story but it didn’t happen.

After all the hype, the actual announcement of the nominations is always a bit of a let down.

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

Best Actress
Mikey Madison, “Anora”
Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”
Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”
Demi Moore, “The Substance”
Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”

Best Supporting Actress
Monica Barbaro, “A Complete Unknown”
Ariana Grande, “Wicked”
Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”
Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”
Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”

Best Actor

Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”

Timothee Chalament, “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”

Original Screenplay:
“Anora”
“The Brutalist”
“A Real Pain”
“The Substance”
“September 5”

Adapted Screenplay
“A Complete Unknown”
“Conclave”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Nickel Boys”
“Sing Sing”

International Feature
“I’m Still Here”
“The Girl with the Needle”
“Emilia Pérez”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
“Flow”

Animated Feature
“Flow”
“Inside Out 2”
“Memoir of a Snail”
“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”
“The Wild Robot”

Documentary Feature
“Black Box Diaries”
“No Other Land”
“Porcelain War”
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
“Sugarcane”

Best Editing
“Anora”
“Conclave”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Wicked”
“The Brutalist”

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture
“The Brutalist”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Conclave”
“Wicked”
“The Wild Robot”

Production Design
“The Brutalist”
“Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Nosferatu”
“Wicked”

Best Costume Design
“A Complete Unknown”
“Conclave”
“Gladiator II”
“Nosferatu”
“Wicked”

Best Sound
“A Complete Unknown”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Wicked”
“Emilia Perez”
“The Wild Robot”

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“A Different Man”
“Emilia Pérez”
“Nosferatu”
“The Substance”
“Wicked”

Animated Short
“In the Shadow of Cypress”
“Wander to Wonder”
“Yuck”
“Magic Candies”
“Beautiful Men”

Live Action Short
“Anuja”
“The Last Ranger”
“A Lien”
“The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”
“I’m Not a Robot”

Documentary Short
“Death by Numbers”
“I Am Ready, Warden”
“Incident”
“The Only Girl in the Orchestra”
“Instruments of a Beating Heart”

Best Original Song, Motion Picture
“Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez”
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez”
“Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late”
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight”
“Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing”

 

Happy Birthday in heaven to RUTGER HAUER – a personal reflection.


Quite simply, Rutger Hauer has been one of the most important actors in my life. I write about his movies every Sunday here on The Shattered Lens.

I first saw him in THE HITCHER when I was around 13 years old or so. I spent the night at a friend’s house where we watched the movie, and it scared the crap out of me. I will never, ever, ever pick up a hitchhiker I do not know because of this movie. Although I kept up with him after that fateful night, my next real meaningful memory of Hauer was from 1990 when, as an incoming senior in High School, I attended a six week summer program called Arkansas Governor’s School. We would watch movies every Sunday evening, and one of those movies was BLADE RUNNER (1982). After the movie, we would get together with an instructor to discuss the film. We all thought that Hauer had stolen the film from Harrison Ford, and we had a good time sharing theories about the doves and his character sticking the nail through his hand. I believe this was the first time I ever analyzed a film with a group of film lovers. None of my friends or family members in my “real life” cared about movies like I did.

I think it’s fair to say that I’ve been somewhat obsessed with Rutger Hauer from that point forward. I searched out his history of Dutch films and discovered important works like TURKISH DELIGHT (1973 -not one of my favorites) and SOLDIER OF ORANGE (1977 – one of my very favorites). I always wished Hauer would have worked with Director Paul Verhoeven again after 1985’s FLESH AND BLOOD. How cool would it have been to see Hauer as Robocop?! I delighted in seeing him steal the film NIGHTHAWKS (1981), his American debut, from Sylvester Stallone. After 1990, any time Rutger Hauer had a movie playing in a theater near me, I would be there. This included his early 90’s movies like SPLIT SECOND (1992 – where I was the only person in the theater), BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (1992), and SURVIVING THE GAME (1994), to his character roles in the 2000’s in movies like CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND (2002), SIN CITY (2005), and BATMAN BEGINS (2005). The last time I saw him on the big screen was in THE RITE (2011), where he co-starred with Anthony Hopkins.

Rutger Hauer has so many credits. Aside from his big screen credits, he worked on so many low budget direct to video features, made-for-TV films, as well as quite a few TV series. And I tried to watch them all. I saw some good films and some not so good films, but I always found Hauer interesting no matter what the material was. I remember being excited when it was announced that he would be joining the cast of the hit HBO series TRUE BLOOD (2008-2014), a series that I watched faithfully. The last two films of his that I was truly excited about were HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN (2010) and DRACULA 3-D (2012). It was satisfying to see him getting a lot of attention that late in his career.

I was sitting on the beach in Perdido Key, FL in 2019, when I got a notification on my phone that Hauer had passed away. It made me sad, as I had no idea he had been sick. It was also fitting that I was sitting in such a beautiful place, because Rutger Hauer had brought such joy to my life for over 30 years. Rest in peace, Mr. Hauer!

Music Video of the Day: Head Down by Cher Lloyd (2025, dir by Raja Virdi)


Hey, you know what would be fun?  How about a music video shot in the middle of a really depressing city?  For whatever reason, depressing music videos have been an important component of more than a few music videos.  In this one, it adds a layer of meaning to the song, a layer that probably was not there before.

Enjoy!