Tag: Mikey Madison

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 Win? – Final Predictions | 97th Oscars

The wait is almost over. In mere hours, stars will be walking the red carpet, Conan O’Brien will take on hosting duties, and, not long thereafter, awards will start to be handed out. But, hey, before we get to that, I still have to tell you which films I think will be victorious on Hollywood’s greatest night. In the race for Best Picture, for instance, it’s been a rollercoaster ride where I, initially, thought Anora would go all the way, only for the Golden Globes (and the Oscar nominations) to indicate that the real fight was between Emilia Pérez and The Brutalist. However, when controversies surrounding toxic social media posts, ill-advised statements, and AI started happening, the Globes’ darlings started to fall into the background. Now, after the guilds and BAFTA, it certainly looks like the big winner of the night will be either Conclave or, the early favorite, Anora. What do I think? Well, let’s get to it.

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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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Anora (2024) | REVIEW

Mikey Madison as the title character in Sean Baker’s ANORA — PHOTO: Neon (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Sean Baker — Screenplay by Sean Baker.

When Sean Baker walked up to the stage to accept the Palme d’Or prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, he stood next to George Lucas, who had just received an honorary award. There the legendary creator of Star Wars, essentially the blockbuster film that changed the direction of American cinema for the next many decades, stood next to perhaps the most well-known American independent filmmaker who was enjoying the biggest moment of his career with his latest film, Anora. Arguably, no two filmmakers could better symbolize the vast breadth of American filmmaking, and here Baker was becoming the first American competitive Palme d’Or winning director in more than a decade (since Malick in 2011). Frankly, for Baker, Anora marks arguably his feature with the most public appeal. 

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