Hollywood’s Biggest Night Celebrated Indie Film’s Greatest Champion | 97th Oscars – Recap and Review

On Sunday, Conan O’Brien hosted the 97th Academy Awards. It was the first time that the tall red-haired beloved comedian had hosted Hollywood’s biggest night for AMPAS, and it was in a year where it felt like one film ran away with the major awards. Indeed, multi-hyphenate filmmaker Sean Baker — someone who is known for his decidedly non-mainstream indie oeuvre, which has made him a true critical darling — became a 4x Academy Award winner with his very first nominations. Baker’s Anora took home Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Lead Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture. Baker’s film dominated the night, but how should we feel about it as a winner and how did Conan do as an Oscar host? Well, let’s run through The Great, The Good, The Mixed Feelings, The Bad, and The Ugly of the 97th Academy Awards.

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Who Will Be Nominated? – Final Predictions | 97th Oscars

It’s finally that time again. Tomorrow, AMPAS is announcing its list of nominees for the upcoming 97th Academy Awards. So, of course, now is the time to fill in your final Oscars nominations predictions. This is exactly what I’ve done here. Below you’ll see what I’m predicting along with a few comments here and there. The choices are ranked from either one to five or one to ten based on how confident I am that something is getting nominated with 1 being the most confident. Let’s get to it.

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10 Most Read Articles and Reviews: 2024

We’re now in 2025. Granted, it’s only the first day of the new year, but, hey, we have to accept that 2024 is now in our collective rearview mirror. Like has become tradition on this website, I start every year by listing the ten articles or reviews written in 2024 that were the most popular based on views. At the very end of the article, I’ll even reveal what non-2024 written output was the most popular in the year to which we have now all said goodbye. Let’s get to it!

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Goodbye 2024

Tonight, we say goodbye and farewell to yet another year. Every year has its highs and lows and 2024 was no different. When I think about highs and lows in 2024, a lot of things come to mind, including many global issues and crises. But, frankly, if I were to think of a couple of images that sum up both crushing defeat and our ability to rise up and out of the ashes, I think about buildings. Yeah, that’s right. In April of 2024, the iconic and historic Danish building and tourist attraction Børsen (which translates to ‘the stock exchange’) burned down. I was in Copenhagen on the day that it happened, and I remember how I and everyone around me lost focus and just started looking out of the window at smoke rising, as a building that’s always been a part of our lives was suddenly gone before you knew it. There is hope that it can be rebuilt, and it is that hope that I want to highlight here because, as a symbol, I am immediately reminded of the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris following its own tragic and fiery catastrophe. When we fall, we can rise again. If we do it together, we can rebuild what we hold dear. And even though the state of the world can look scary, we can unite around worthy causes to keep culture and history alive for generations to come. We need that hope.

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Christopher Nolan’s Coronation Had Kenergy | 96th Oscars Recap and Review

(L-R) Emma Stone, Christopher Nolan, and Ryan Gosling at the 96th Academy Awards — IMAGE STILLS: A.M.P.A.S. 2024.

Last night, Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 96th edition of the Academy Awards on a night where awards prognosticators felt most of the big awards were already spoken for beforehand. However, conventional prognosticating wisdom did not always win out, as the presenters read out the winners of the Academy’s 23 categories. The early frontrunner and expected Best Picture winner Oppenheimer did, indeed, become the biggest winner of the night with seven total Oscars including wins that saw shatteringly good work from Robert Downey, Jr. and Cillian Murphy earn them their first ‘Little Golden Men.’ Hollywood’s safest bet and — as I liked to call him last night on social media — the ‘Crown Prince of Cinema,’ Christopher Nolan, had his grand coronation as Steven Spielberg passed the baton, awarded him with the Best Director award, and gave him a big hug. For many, that is what the night will be remembered for — i.e. the triumph of the immensely popular biopic and Christopher Nolan who, as some will undoubtedly perceive it, went toe-to-toe with Barbie and came out of the explosion that was ‘Barbenheimer’ with 7 golden statuettes in tow. Indeed, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a hugely deserving winner of all of the awards that the cast and crew went home with (including Best Picture, which was announced in a relatively confusing way by film-legend Al Pacino), but that’s not all the 96th edition of the Academy Awards should be remembered for. 

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Who Will Win? – Final Predictions | 96th Oscars

To paraphrase one of Hollywood’s all-time best awards hosts, it is a wonderful day for Oscar! Oscar, Oscar — who will win? In quite a few categories tonight, it seems we already know. But there are some genuine close calls this year with actress, costuming, and production design being particularly interesting. Read on below to find out which films I think will be the big winners tonight, where we all expect Christopher Nolan to be crowned for his achievements as the safest bet in Hollywood when it comes to visionary modern directors.

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Nominations Predictions | 96th Academy Awards

Tomorrow, AMPAS is announcing its list of nominees for the upcoming 96th Academy Awards. So, now is the time to fill in your final Oscars nominations predictions! Below you’ll see what I’m predicting along with a few comments here and there. The choices are ranked from either one to five or one to ten based on how confident I am that something is getting nominated with 1 being the most confident.

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Film-Related New Year’s Resolutions: 2024

Poul Bundgaard, Ove Sprogøe, and Morten Grunwald in the Olsen Gang-films (Nordisk Film) — Robert De Niro in Michael Mann’s HEAT (Warner Bros.) — George Lazenby in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (United Artists).

Whenever a new year begins, people bring up the same tired resolutions that most of them can never live up to. Some want to lose weight, some want to travel, while others want to quit smoking. Well, what I want to do is make a list of films that I want to finally watch or that I want to finally take the time to write full written reviews for. So, what is on this film nerd’s list of film-related New Year’s resolutions for 2024? Well, let’s have a look.

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10 Most Read Articles and Reviews: 2023

Since it is January 1st, we now have to start to accept that 2023 is in our collective rearview mirror. So, like I did last year, I now want to look at which articles, reviews, lists, or the like were the most popular with my readers. Specifically, below you’ll see my blog’s ten most-read 2023 written output. Let’s have a look at what caught your eye in the last twelve months.

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Goodbye 2023

Another year is coming to an end. Today, we all say goodbye and farewell to 2023. It has been a whirlwind of a year with notable highs, tragic lows, and shocking surprises. Even tonight — the last night of the year — the people of Denmark (including myself) were shocked to find out that Queen Margrethe II, who was the longest-serving monarch in Europe following Queen Elizabeth II’s death, is stepping down. In her annual New Year’s address, the Danish Queen announced that on 14 January 2024, she will abdicate after 52 years as the Queen of Denmark. At that point in time, Crown Prince Frederik will become King Frederik X. Although we all knew it would happen one day (and had thought it might’ve happened sooner at one time), tonight was the night. Shocking news. A historic announcement. Thank you for your service, Queen Margrethe II. “Mange tak,” as we say in Denmark. Sending her love and wishing her well.

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