Here’s What Won At Cannes


Here’s what won at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.  As the Academy’s membership has become more international, Cannes has been transformed into an Oscar precursor over the past few years.  Time will tell if that’s the case this year.  (Of the film’s that did win this year, The Secret Agent sounds like the most Oscar-friendly)

Palme d’Or
Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident

Grand Prix
Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value

Jury Prize
Mascha Schilinski for Sound of Falling and Oliver Laxe for Sirat (tie)

Best Director
Kleber Mendonça Filho for The Secret Agent

Best Screenplay
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Young Mothers

Best Actress
Nadia Melliti for The Little Sister

Best Actor
Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent

Special Prize
Resurrection, dir. Bi Gan

Camera d’Or for Best First Film
The President’s Cake, dir: Hassan Hadi

Palme d’Or for Best Short Film
I’m Glad You’re Dead Now, dir: Tawfeek Barhom

Lisa Marie’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For April


Now that the 2024 Oscars are over with, it’s time to move on to the 2025 Oscars!

Needless to say, there’s probably nothing more pointless than trying to guess which films are going to be nominated a year from now.  I can’t even guarantee that all of the films listed below are even going to be released this year.  And, even if they are released this year, I can’t guarantee that they’ll actually be any good or that the Academy will show any interest in them.  I mean, someone like Martin Scorsese always seems like a safe bet but we all remember what happened with Silence.  For months, everyone said Silence would be the Oscar front runner.  Then it was released to respectful but not ecstatic reviews.  Audiences stayed away.  The film ended up with one technical nomination.  And let’s not forget that last year, at this time, the narrative was that it was going to be Ridley Scott’s year.

My point is that no one knows anything.  As much as I hate quoting William Goldman (because, seriously, quoting Goldman on a film site is such a cliché at this point), Goldman was right.

(Add to that, 2025 is starting to look like it’s going to be a seriously underwhelming year as far as the movies are concerned.)

Anyway, here are my random guesses for April!  A few months from now, we can look back at this list and have a good laugh.

Best Picture

After The Hunt

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Deliver Me From Nowhere

Eddington

F1

Frankenstein

The Lost Bus

One Battle After Another

Wicked For Good

The Young Mothers Home

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another

Jon M. Chu for Wicked For Good

Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for The Young Mother’s Home

Guillermo del Toro for Frankenstein

Joseph Kosinksi for FI

Best Actor

Austin Butler in Eddington

Timothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme

Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another

Matthew McConaughey in The Lost Bus

Jeremy Allen White in Deliver Me From Nowhere

Best Actress

Olivia Colman in The Roses

Cynthia Erivo in Wicked For Good

Julia Roberts in After The Hunt

Amanda Seyfried in Ann Lee

June Squibb in Eleanor The Great

Best Supporting Actor

Colman Domingo in Michael

Josh O’Connor in The History of Sound

Sean Penn in One Battle After Another

Joaquin Phoenix in Eddington

Christoph Waltz in Frankenstein

Best Supporting Actress

Fran Drescher in Marty Supreme

Ayo Edebri in After The Hunt

Ariana Grande in Wicked For Good

Gabby Hofman in Deliver Me From Nowhere

Nia Long in Michael

Here Are The Online Film Critics Society Nominations!


Film Review Under the Skin

The Online Film Critics Society announced their nominees for the best of 2014 earlier today and what can I say other than the fact that I love them!  Seriously, it’s such a wonderful mix of the expected (Boyhood, Selma) and the unexpected (Ida, Mommy).

If the Oscar nominations look anything like the OFCS nominations, then it will be a very interesting night.  (Unfortunately, they probably won’t…)

(h/t to awardwatch)

Best Picture 
Boyhood 
The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Ida 
The Lego Movie 
Mommy 
Nightcrawler 
Selma 
Two Days, One Night 
Whiplash 
Under the Skin 

Best Animated Feature 
Big Hero 6 
The Boxtrolls 
How to Train Your Dragon 2 
The Lego Movie 
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 

Best Film Not in the English Language 
Ida 
The Missing Picture 
Mommy 
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 
Two Days, One Night 

Best Documentary 
Citizenfour 
Life Itself 
The Missing Picture 
National Gallery 
The Overnighters 

Best Director 
Wes Anderson – The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Jean-Pierre Dardenne & Luc Dardenne – Two Days, One Night 
Ava DuVernay – Selma
Jonathan Glazer – Under the Skin 
Richard Linklater – Boyhood

Best Actor 
Ralph Fiennes – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Brendan Gleeson – Calvary
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler 
Michael Keaton – Birdman
Timothy Spall – Mr. Turner 

Best Actress 
Marion Cotillard – Two Days, One Night 
Essie Davis – The Babadook 
Anne Dorval – Mommy
Julianne Moore – Still Alice 
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl 

Best Supporting Actor 
Josh Brolin – Inherent Vice 
Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
Edward Norton – Birdman
Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year 
Suzanne Clément – Mommy
Agata Kulesza – Ida
Tilda Swinton – Snowpiercer

Best Original Screenplay
Boyhood 
The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Selma 
Two Days, One Night 
Whiplash 

Best Adapted Screenplay 
Gone Girl 
Inherent Vice 
Snowpiercer 
Under the Skin 
We Are the Best! 

Best Editing 
Birdman 
Boyhood 
Gone Girl 
The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Whiplash

Best Cinematography 
Birdman 
The Grand Budapest Hotel 
Ida 
Mr. Turner 
Under the Skin 

Best Non-U.S. Release (non-competitive category)
’71 ,
10,000 km ,
Entre Nós ,
Han Gong-ju ,
Hard to Be a God ,
The Look of Silence ,
The Salt of the Earth ,
What We Do in the Shadows ,
Timbuktu ,
The Tribe

Mommy