The Greater Western New York Film Critics Association Honors Challengers


Yesterday, the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association announced its picks for the best of 2024.

BEST PICTURE
Anora
The Brutalist
Challengers
Dune: Part Two
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
I Saw the TV Glow
Nickel Boys
No Other Land
Nosferatu
A Real Pain

BEST FOREIGN FILM
All We Imagine as Light (India)
Evil Does Not Exist (Japan)
Kneecap (Ireland)
No Other Land (Israel)
Red Rooms (Canada)

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

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Daughters
No Other Land
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

BEST DIRECTOR
Sean Baker – Anora
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Luca Guadagnino – Challengers
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys

LEAD ACTOR
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Hugh Grant – Heretic
Keith Kupferer – Ghostlight

LEAD ACTRESS
Pamela Anderson – The Last Showgirl
Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance
Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Yura Borisov – Anora
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown
Joan Chen – Dìdi
Ariana Grande-Butera – Wicked
Natasha Lyonne – His Three Daughters
Margaret Qualley – The Substance

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Anora – Sean Baker
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold
Challengers – Justin Kuritzkes
A Different Man – Aaron Schimberg
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Conclave – Peter Straughan
Hit Man – Richard Linklater & Glen Powell
Nickel Boys – RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
Oh, Canada – Paul Schrader
Sing Sing – Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar / story by
Kwedar, Bentley, Clarence Maclin & John Whitfield

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Brutalist – Lol Crawley
Challengers – Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
Dune: Part Two – Greig Fraser
Nickel Boys – Jomo Fray
Nosferatu – Jarin Blaschke

BEST EDITING
The Brutalist – David Jancso
Challengers – Marco Costa
Dune: Part Two – Joe Walker
Nickel Boys – Nicholas Monsour
Saturday Night – Nathan Orloff & Shane Reid

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg
Challengers – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Conclave – Volker Bertelman
Nosferatu – Robin Carolan
The Wild Robot – Kris Bowers

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Yura Borisov – Anora
Lily Collias – Good One
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Mikey Madison – Anora
Izaac Wang – Dìdi

BREAKTHROUGH DIRECTOR
India Donaldson – Good One
Vera Drew – The People’s Joker
Josh Margolin – Thelma
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys
Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man

Lisa Marie’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For May


We’re nearly halfway through the year and so far, we have two films that seem like they might still be in the Oscar conversation at the end of the year, Dune 2 and Civil War.  With the Cannes Film Festival coming up this month, we should soon have some more contenders to consider.

My predictions below are a bit heavy on sequels.  In fact, if the predictions below came true, it would a record year for sequels at the Oscars.  Of course, it’s early and it’s totally probable that the majority of the films listed below will not be nominated.  Right now, it’s pretty much a guessing game.  The production delays caused by last year’s strikes have opened the door for a lot of sequels to receive consideration that they might not receive in other years.

What will happen when the nominations are announced in 2025?  Who knows?  For now, let’s just have fun guessing.  You can check out my predictions for April by clicking here.

Best Picture

The Apprentice

The Bikeriders

Blitz

Civil War

Dune, Part II

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Gladiator 2

Inside Out 2

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

SNL: 1975

Best Director

Ali Abassi for The Apprentice

Alex Garland for Civil War

Steve McQueen for Blitz

George Miller for Furiousa: A Mad Max Saga

Ridley Scott for Gladiator 2

Best Actor

Austin Butler in The Bikeriders

Daniel Craig in Queer

Richard Gere in Oh, Canada

Paul Mescal in Gladiator 2

Glen Powell in Hit Man

Best Actress

Jodie Comer in The Bikeriders

Ryan Destiny in The Fire Inside

Noemie Merlant in Emmanuelle

Anya Taylor-Joy in Furiosa

Zendaya in Challengers

Best Supporting Actor

Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain

Tom Hardy in The Bikeriders

Samuel L. Jackson in The Piano Lesson

Jeremy Strong in The Apprentice

Denzel Washington in Gladiator 2

Best Supporting Actress

Joan Chen in Didi

Danielle Deadwyler in The Piano Lesson

Connie Nielsen in Gladiator 2

Saoirse Ronan in Blitz

Rachel Sennot in SNL: 1975