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The Latest: Academy Award nominees announced

Canadian Press Jan 23, 2025 9:10 AM
FILE - An Oscar statue appears outside the Dolby Theatre for the 87th Academy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 21, 2015. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)▲

Actors Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang announced the Jacques Audiard’s the Netflix narco-musical about transgender identity, dominated the list with 13 nominations. “The Brutalist,” a three-plus hour postwar epic, and “Wicked,” a blockbuster adaptation of the Broadway musical, followed behind with 10 nominations each.

While the announcement typically kicks off a barrage of award-show pageantry culminating in the Oscars themselves, this year’s programming will be muted because of the devastating fires across Southern California.

Here's the latest:

Oscar nominations snubs and surprises, from Daniel Craig to Selena Gomez

In one of the more wide-open Oscar fields in recent history, there were .

Not too long ago, it seemed that people like and were destined for best actress nominations, while general audience disinterest in the young Trump movie might have indicated its awards chances were dead on arrival.

But the members of the film academy had something different in mind.

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Nominations for Brazil’s ‘I’m Still Here’ has many in the country rejoicing

Brazilians have been overjoyed after “I’m Still Here” received three Oscar nominations: best film, best international feature, and best actress for its lead, Fernanda Torres.

“Three historic nominations and a country in celebration,” Brazil’s government posted on X. “You can celebrate: our cinema is among the best in the world!”

The announcement quickly trended on social media and sparked a flood of memes, including jokes about organizing a national caravan to the Oscars. Others shared a deepfake video featuring Torres’ face on a soccer player scoring goals. Many users likened the excitement to watching the World Cup.

TV Globo, Brazil’s largest network, interrupted its morning programming to air the announcement of the best actress nominees. Hosts Ana Maria Braga and Gil do Vigor cheered and hugged.

‘Flow’ is about cats. Its director’s dog seemed unimpressed

The Latvian animated film “Flow” was nominated for two Oscars: international feature film and animated feature film. Director Gints Zilbalodis of him watching the nominations announcement while chomping on an apple and petting a prone golden retriever.

“Flow” was the last film announced in the international feature film category, at which point Zilbalodis smiled and picked up the sleepy dog’s head, failing to fully rouse his canine friend. When “Flow” was subsequently announced as an animated nominee, Zilbalodis leaned back on the dog, who gave him a side-eye and refused a bite of the apple.

One theory for the pup’s possible petulance? “Flow” is a “wondrously shimmering animated fable,” put it, whose main character is ... a black cat.

It’s been a weird year for Hollywood — and the Oscars reflect that

These nominations followed an up-and-down year for Hollywood that saw expansive poststrike delays, wide swaths of unemployed workers due to an industry-wide production slowdown and the tragedy of the California fires in January. Most humbling, perhaps, was the presidential election that returned Trump to office in a race where podcaster Joe Rogan seemed to hold more sway than all A-listers combined.

At the same time, even amid a downturn for superhero films, the industry rallied behind some galvanizing hits. That uncertain state of the movies seemed to be reflected in the Oscar nominations, which were spread across films both widely seen and little noticed, theatrically released and predominantly streaming.

But unlike last year, when Hollywood rallied around the success of “Oppenheimer,” the 2024 movie year offered up no clear frontrunner for the industry’s top honor.

Coralie Fargeat breaks up the boys’ club

What could have been an all-male slate of best director nominees was disrupted by “The Substance” director.

Her fellow nominees are Sean Baker (“Anora”), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”), Jacques Audiard (“’Emilia PĂ©rez”) and James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”).

She’s also nominated for best original screenplay and her film is up for best picture.

“I really believe that movies can change the world, so I hope this movie will be a little stone to build new foundations,” said Fargeat after the movie won best screenplay at Cannes. “I really think we need a revolution and I don’t think it has really started yet.”

‘Nickel Boys’ mints a surprise

RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys,” a POV-shot drama, had been overlooked by many guilds in earlier voting. The adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel picked up nominations for best picture and best adapted screenplay.

The film is about two young men — Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson) — who’ve been sent to an abusive, mid-century Florida reform school called Nickel Academy. The story, laced with the cruelties of the Jim Crow-era South, has commonalities with films made before. But the grammar of “Nickel Boys” is entirely its own.

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The only 3 films that have scored more nominations than ‘Emilia PĂ©rez’

    1. “All About Eve” (1950), 14 nominations

    2. “Titanic” (1997), 14 nominations

    3. “La La Land” (2016), 14 nominations

Donald Trump may be president but Sebastian Stan is 'The Apprentice'

One of 2024’s most audacious films, ” landed two nominations, for Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong. Stan portrays a not-yet President Trump in a film that dramatizes the real estate mogul’s formative years in New York under the tutelage of attorney Roy Cohn, played by Strong.

Trump has called those involved with the film “human scum.”

Could this finally be Netflix’s year?

Netflix, despite its starring role in Hollywood, has never won best picture. Many of its top contenders have previously racked up large numbers of nominations (including “Mank,” “The Irishman” and “Roma”) but gone home with only a handful of trophies.

“Emilia PĂ©rez,” though, may be its best chance yet. It became the most nominated non-English language film ever, with 13, surpassing Netflix’s own “Roma,” which scored 10 nominations in 2019.

Karla SofĂ­a GascĂłn makes history as first openly trans actor to earn an Oscar nomination

is the first openly trans actor nominated for an Oscar, for her work in “Emilia PĂ©rez.”

In the movie that’s earned comparisons to “Sicario” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” alike, she plays a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender affirmation surgery. In Cannes, the Spanish actor who lives in Mexico with her co-stars.

“I’m a little like Nostradamus. I like to think about what can happen. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter,” Gascón told The Associated Press in September, about her awards prospects. “If it does happen, I would be so grateful. It would be a beautiful thing. But if it doesn’t, whatever. I’d go back to my old life. I’ll do my grocery shopping. I’ll play with cats. I’ll see my family. Maybe I’ll do other jobs and people will like those jobs.

“I like to go lightly in my life,” she added, smiling.

Emilia PĂ©rez leads the pack with 13 nominees

Following behind the Netflix musical are “The Brutalist” and “Wicked.”

Here’s a list of the top five nomination-getters:

“Emilia PĂ©rez,” 13 nominations

“The Brutalist,” 10 nominations

“Wicked,” 10 nominations

“Conclave,” 8 nominations

“A Complete Unknown,” 8 nominations

Why were there so many ‘nominees to be determined’?

As Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott read out the list of 10 best picture nominees, the abundance of “nominees to be determined” drew titters.

The best picture statue is awarded to the film’s producer(s). According to academy rules, to qualify as a nominee, that producer must have been determined eligible for a Producers Guild of America award for the picture or have successfully appealed the Producers Guild of America’s refusal of such eligibility. In some cases, that process is still ongoing.

Still without US distribution, ‘No Other Land’ is an Oscar nominee

“No Other Land” has made it to the Oscars, despite the documentary’s lack of U.S. distribution.

Made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective, the film depicts daily life in a village under Israeli occupation.

It’s been hailed as one of the year’s most powerful documentaries, winning prizes at international film festivals. It’s also stoked controversy, prompted death threats for its makers and — despite the acclaim — remains without an American distributor.

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The show won’t go on for Pamela Anderson

Despite momentum from her Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nominations, Pamela Anderson missed out on an Oscar nomination for “The Last Showgirl.”

2 previous Oscar winners miss out in best actress

They’ve been here before, but many expected them to return again.

Nicole Kidman did not receive a best actress nomination for “Babygirl” and Angelina Jolie was similarly absent for “Maria.”

‘Challengers’ and Luca Guadagnino will not serve

Despite having two awards buzz movies in the tennis threesome ride “Challengers” and Daniel Craig-starred “Queer,” Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 films were shut out from Oscar nominations.

“Challengers” had garnered acting nominations for Zendaya in other contests and its score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross had won a Golden Globe.

The 2025 Oscars best picture nominees

The nominees for best picture are: “Anora”; “The Brutalist”; “A Complete Unknown”; “Conclave”; “Dune: Part Two”; “Emilia PĂ©rez”; “I’m Still Here.”; “Nickel Boys”; “The Substance”; “Wicked.”

More nominees are...

The nominees for best actor are: Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”; TimothĂ©e Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”; Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”; Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”; Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice.”

The nominees for best actress are: Demi Moore, “The Substance”; Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”; Mikey Madison, “Anora”; Karla SofĂ­a GascĂłn, “Emilia PĂ©rez”; Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”

The nominees for original song are: “El Mal” from “Emilia Perez”; “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight”; “Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing”; “Mi Camino” from “Emilia PĂ©rez”; “Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late.”

The nominees for best animated film are: “Flow”; “Inside Out 2”; “Memoir of a Snail”; “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”; “The Wild Robot.”

And the first nominees are...

The film academy began announcing nominees at 8:30 a.m. EST. Here's a look at some of the early nominees:

The nominees for best supporting actor are: Yura Borisov, “Anora”; Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”; Edward Norton, “A Complete Unknown”; Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”; Jeremy Strong, “The Apprentice.”

The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are: Monica Barbaro, “A Complete Unknown”; Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”; Ariana Grande, “Wicked”; Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”; Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia PĂ©rez.”

The nominees for original screenplay are: “Anora”; “The Brutalist”; “A Real Pain”; “September 5”; “The Substance.”

President Trump vows to help ‘troubled’ Hollywood

President wants to make Hollywood “bigger, better and stronger” and has cast Mel Gibson, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone as stars of what he is calling his “Special Ambassadors to a great but very troubled place, Hollywood, California.”

Trump announced on his social media site last week that the three actors would be his eyes and ears to the moviemaking town.

“It will again be, like The United States of America itself, The Golden Age of Hollywood!” he wrote on Truth Social.

“I’m old enough to have touched some years of the Golden Age of Hollywood, and I’ve seen its slow deterioration since. Today, we are in pretty bad shape,” Voight said. “Very few films are made here now, but we are fortunate to have an incoming President, who wants to restore Hollywood to its former glory, and with his help, I feel we can get done.”

It’s unclear what exactly the three will be doing in this effort to bring productions back to the U.S.

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Award show dates

Hollywood’s awards season all but came to a halt as disrupted life and work in the Los Angeles area. There were near-daily updates from the Hollywood guilds and organizations that put on awards shows as the industry navigates the crisis and fallout.

But as of now, here’s the dates of major upcoming awards shows, from to .

    4. Grammy Awards, Feb. 2

    5. Critics Choice Award, Feb. 7

    6. Producers and Directors Guild awards, Feb. 8

    7. Writers Guild Awards, Feb. 15

    8. BAFTAs, Feb. 16

    9. Spirit Awards, Feb. 22

    10. SAG Awards, Feb. 23

    11. Academy Awards, March 2

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In light of the devastating LA fires, what do the Oscars even mean?

The enormity of the destruction in Southern California quickly snuffed out all festivity in the movie industry’s high season of celebration.

The fires have struck at the very heart of a movie industry still trying to stabilize itself after years of pandemic, labor turmoil and technological upheaval. Not for the first time this decade, the Oscars are facing the question of: Should the show go on? And if it does, what do they mean now?

The Oscars remain as scheduled, but it’s certain that they will be transformed due to the wildfires, and that most of the red-carpet pomp that typically stretches between now and then will be curtailed if not altogether canceled. With so many left without a home by the fires, there’s scant appetite for the usual self-congratulatory parades of the season.

Focus has turned, instead, to what the Oscars might symbolize for a traumatized Los Angeles. The Oscars have never meant less, but, at the same time, they might be more important than ever as a beacon of perseverance for the reeling movie capital.

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Who won at the Golden Globes?

Hosted earlier this month, two wildly audacious films — Brady Corbet’s 215-minute postwar epic “The Brutalist” and Jacques Audiard’s Spanish language, genre-shifting musical “Emilia Perez” — won top honors at the .

was crowned best film, drama, putting one of 2024’s most ambitious films on course to be a major contender at the Academy Awards. The film, shot in VistaVision and released with an intermission, also won best director for Corbet and best actor for Adrien Brody. In his acceptance speech, Corbet spoke about filmmakers needing approval on the final cut.

“Emilia PĂ©rez” won best film, comedy or musical, elevating the Oscar chances of Netflix’s top contender. It also won best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña, best song (“El Mal”) and best non-English language film. Audiard, the French director, made way for , the film’s transgender star who plays a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender-affirming surgery, to speak on behalf of the film.

When are the actual Academy Awards?

The marquee event and capper of Hollywood’s awards season will proceed as scheduled on March 2.

Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, where the show takes place, was briefly imperiled by the Sunset Fire, though the blaze was quickly extinguished. The film academy did delay the Scientific and Technical Awards from Feb. 18 (a rescheduled date has not been announced) and canceled altogether its annual nominees luncheon, an untelevised mainstay of the social calendar known for its mingling and “class photo.”

The Oscars will be broadcast live on ABC,

Who are the hosts for today’s announcement?

Actors Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott will host the announcement.

Along with being a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” Yang held a supporting role in last year’s blockbuster “Wicked,” which is itself a nominee contender.

Sennott is the star and writer of 2023’s “Bottoms,” as well as the lead in 2020 indie-darling “Shiva Baby.”

How to watch the announcement

The nominations will be announced at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The show will be available to stream on Oscars.com, Oscars.org, as well as on the Academy’s social media platforms. It will also stream on ABC, Hulu and Disney+.

The Associated Press

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