The Oscars 2024 saw big wins for "Oppenheimer," "American Fiction," "Poor Things," and "Anatomy of a Fall," with Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" taking home seven Oscars and Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" proving to be a successful bet. Host Jimmy Kimmel entertained the audience, while Emma Stone won Best Actress for "Poor Things." Additionally, Netflix landed 19 nominations but only secured one win, and Ukraine won its first Oscar for the war documentary "20 Days at Mariupol."
The USC Scripter Awards honored the writers behind the feature American Fiction and the TV adaptation Slow Horses, with both the original authors and screenwriters sharing the top honors. The awards recognize the best adapted projects of the year, with American Fiction and Slow Horses winning in their respective categories. The Scripter Awards have a history of predicting the best adapted screenplay Oscar, and have previously honored acclaimed works such as Schindler’s List, No Country for Old Men, and Moonlight.
"American Fiction," an Oscar-nominated film starring Jeffrey Wright, has garnered widespread acclaim for its stinging satire of white liberals' tokenization of black creatives in the publishing and entertainment industries. The movie, based on Percival Everett's novel "Erasure," addresses contemporary issues of race, culture, and identity in America, while also exploring themes of grief, family, and love. Despite some interpretations of its messaging, the film has sparked important conversations about race and storytelling in the US.
Celine Song's "Past Lives" won best feature and best director at the Independent Spirit Awards, while Cord Jefferson's "American Fiction" and Alexander Payne's "The Holdovers" also took home top honors. The event, held in Santa Monica, celebrated independent films with a budget cap of $20 million, and featured gender-neutral acting awards for the first time. The show also honored television, with Netflix's "Beef" and Ali Wong receiving awards.
"Past Lives," "The Holdovers," and "American Fiction" were the big winners at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards, with "Past Lives" winning best feature and best director, "The Holdovers" taking home three awards, and "American Fiction" winning for best lead performance and best screenplay. On the television side, Netflix's "Beef" won for best new scripted series, with Ali Wong and Nick Offerman also taking home acting awards. The awards show, hosted by Aidy Bryant, was disrupted by protestors calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, with director Babak Jalali expressing his inspiration from their chants during his acceptance speech.
Jeffrey Wright discusses his Oscar nomination for "American Fiction" and the support he's received from the industry, reflecting on the film's impact on his personal life. He also hints at his role in "The Batman 2" and the secrecy surrounding the script. "American Fiction," based on the novel "Erasure," has garnered critical acclaim and multiple Oscar nominations. Wright's emotional connection to the film is tied to his late mother, and he shares his son's touching reaction to the movie.
Oppenheimer continues its winning streak at the BAFTA Film Awards, securing seven wins including Best Film, while streaming services like Netflix and Apple Original Films were completely shut out. American Fiction surprised with a win for Adapted Screenplay, despite having only one nomination. Cillian Murphy won Best Actor for Oppenheimer, and the awards show indicated a shift towards aligning with Oscar voters.
This week's new releases for streaming and VOD include American Fiction, The Marvels, and a variety of other exciting films across different platforms, such as Down Low on Netflix, The Last Voyage of the Demeter on Paramount Plus, and Cat Person on Hulu. These releases offer a diverse range of genres, from comedy to thriller, providing plenty of options for movie enthusiasts to enjoy at home.
Sterling K. Brown predicts he won't win the Oscar for best supporting actor, expressing admiration for fellow nominee Robert Downey Jr. and suggesting Colman Domingo as a likely winner. Despite encouragement from others, Brown is content with the nomination and praises the script of his film, American Fiction, for challenging the industry's portrayal of Black life.
With no new wide releases, holdover films like "The Beekeeper" and "Mean Girls" musical led the North American box office, while Oscar-nominated films like "American Fiction" and "Poor Things" received significant boosts in ticket sales. "The Beekeeper" earned $7.4 million, "Mean Girls" musical earned $7.3 million, and "Wonka" added $5.9 million in its seventh weekend. "American Fiction" saw a 65% increase in sales, while "Poor Things" got a 43% boost, and "The Zone of Interest" expanded to 317 screens. The Oscar-nominated "Oppenheimer" and "The Holdovers" also saw increased earnings, with final numbers expected Monday.
With no new wide releases, "Mean Girls" is set to top the domestic box office again, projecting $6.7 million over the weekend, marking the lowest-grossing No. 1 release in a while. Oscar-nominated films like "American Fiction" and "Poor Things" are expected to see increased grosses, while "Argylle" aims to kickstart business next weekend. Other notable performances include "The Beekeeper" in second place, "Wonka" in third, "Anyone but You" in fourth, and "Migration" rounding out the top five.
Actor Jeffrey Wright believes his indie movie "American Fiction" has a real shot at winning Best Picture at the Oscars, despite competing against blockbuster hits. He expressed disdain for turning art into a competition but remains confident in the film's merit and unique qualities, emphasizing that a great film is a great film regardless of its size.
Tracee Ellis Ross discusses her role in the film "American Fiction," her experiences as an actress, and her upbringing as the daughter of Diana Ross. She emphasizes the importance of shaping roles to fit her vision and advocating for meaningful representation of Black characters in film and television. Ross also reflects on her personal journey and the speech she gave about living for herself as a single woman without children.
"American Fiction," a dramedy filmed in parts of eastern Massachusetts, has received five Oscar nominations, including best picture, best adapted screenplay, and acting nods for Jeffrey Wright and Sterling K. Brown. The film, based on the novel "Erasure" by Percival Everett, follows a Black writer and professor returning to his hometown of Boston and delves into themes of hypocrisy and the exploitation of Black entertainment.
The SAG Award nominations reflect a mix of expected and surprising inclusions and omissions, with American Fiction outperforming, Penélope Cruz receiving a nomination, and Leonardo DiCaprio being snubbed. The nominations, determined by a nominating committee of SAG-AFTRA, may offer encouraging signs for some films' Oscar prospects, but the outcomes are not always indicative. The individual acting races saw both expected and unexpected nominees, with some notable misses and surprise inclusions, setting the stage for an intriguing awards season.
