This week on Chasing the Gold, Shadan and Erica break down the 2025 DGA and SAG nominations, and how they might affect the Oscars race! We also spend a little time talking about the unfortunate events happening in Los Angeles right now, which has of course pushed back the timeline of a few things at the moment. Our hearts go out to everyone effected by the fires.
On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!
Director: Aws Al-Banna, Ahmed Al-Danf, Basil Al-Maqousi Stars: Aws Al-Banna, Kenzi Al Balbisi, Mohammed Kamel
Synopsis: From Ground Zero is a collection of 22 short films made in Gaza. Initiated by Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi, the project was born to give a voice to 22 Gazan filmmakers to tell the untold stories of the current war on film.
A young boy packs his schoolwork everyday and walks from his displaced persons tent to the grave of his schoolteacher buried in rubble to study. A woman sends a letter in a plastic bottle across the ocean with a digital record of her life in Gaza. A man retraces his steps to recall why he awoke inside a body bag. A child explains that the only two recognizable sounds her little brother utters are, “Papa and the siren of an ambulance.” An adolescent girl keeps her headphones on to block out the sound of drones and the flashbacks to when she almost died when her family home was bombed. A young man relates that his fiancée is dead and with her the names for the potential child they planned to have. This is but a glimpse of the twenty-two powerful short films included in From Ground Zero which is Palestine’s entry into the Academy Awards.
Collected and produced by Rashid Masharawi, the shorts in From Ground Zero reflect the experiences of amateur and professional filmmakers in war torn Gaza. Some are documentary styled, others are experimental, others fictional but nevertheless viscerally real. The sounds of drones and aircraft are so prevalent in most of the shorts it is almost shocking when a film does not have them in the soundscape. In Hana Eleiwa’s No a journalist seeks to replace the sound of war with music. The music is her way of repudiating war (Hana says “I reject October 7th”) and hopelessness, bringing to the fore the creative and community spirit of the Palestinian people.
Art, dance, and music represent some of the cultural touchstones of the Palestinian people both in a historical and contemporary framework. They are also ways of coping with, and expressing, trauma. Nidal Damo’s All is Fine follows a standup comedian as he dresses in his performance suit and goes to a theater where he was doing a routine. The theater was destroyed in an air assault. Making people laugh is what the comic hoped to do, but can people laugh in a time of ongoing tragedy? He decides they must and performs for others in the refugee camp. Bashar Al Balbisi’s Charm is an abstract dance piece wherein a young girl imagines her past and future on the shores of Gaza overlooking a mystical and mythological dancing sea goddess with voices chanting. Sorry Cinema by Ahmed Hassouna shows the work the professional director was doing before the IDF bombs and fighters crippled Gaza, and how he now feels all he can do with his camera is document the reality – the notion of fictional worlds being out of his reach. A promising visual artist in Out of Frame by Neda’a Abu Hasna visits her mostly destroyed studio examining what is left of her work. She holds her detritus covered prize-winning sculptures of doves and expresses they were meant to be symbols of peace, but now there is no peace. Her photographs of Gaza are memories of an area that no longer exists. Her art is already memory box documents.
Two of the most powerful short films using art are Awakening by puppeteer Mahdi Kreirah and Soft Skin by children’s animation teacher Khamis Masharawi. Both shorts allow children to create the scripts and, in the case of Soft Skin, the children voice and create the animation. Awakening revolves around a family where the father regains full consciousness after an injury in the 2014 struggles. As his family relates what is happening now, he cannot fathom whether he is in the past or the future – either way, they all wish for the blissful state of living without memories.
Soft Skin brings together a group of young children who draw and animate their understanding of what is happening around them. The soft skin referred to is their own. Parents write the names of the children on their arms or legs so they might be identified if they are caught in a bombing. In the animation, the writing on the skin brings bad dreams, an awareness that they are targets and their names could bring the bombs to them. Each child builds the story and animation with Khamis Masharawi documenting the process and assisting in bringing the final product to be viewed by the children and the audience.
Dignity and humanity within a traumatized and exhausted community is the core tenet of most of the shorts. Some are melancholy, such as School Day where a young boy packs his exercise book in his refugee tent and walks across Gaza to sit in the rubble of what was once his primary school to study in front of the hastily marked ‘grave’ of his schoolteacher. Other shorts speak to the urgent panic of the daily devastation. In No Signal, a man searches for his brother who he thinks could still be alive under the rubble. The buried man’s daughter thinks she heard him answer the cell phone call, but with communications being lost there is no way to be sure, and calling the emergency services is pointless. Wissam Moussa’s Farahand Myriam consists of two teenagers relating their terror and the loss of their homes, safety, and family. “I’m afraid of the night…” “The noise of the rockets is unbearable…” “Our mental health is ruined.”
Creating art in a warzone is an act of bravery and a herald for audiences to bear witness to the struggles of everyday people trying to survive in extreme circumstances. Etimad Washah, the director of the unfinished short Taxi Wanissa, about a man and his donkey cart taxi, stops making the film because her brother was killed in a bombing. The unfinished work is her statement. It is near impossible not to wonder how many of the people appearing in the shorts, in the background of the work, or areas filmed are gone since the work was made. Are the children of Soft Skin safe? From Ground Zero may be the only surviving record of the very existence of the faces and voices seen.
From Ground Zero is not a piece of propaganda. It is not what is termed ‘incendiary’ filmmaking. It is the opposite. In some ways it is summarized by the first short, Reema Mahmoud’s Selfie, in which a woman films her days creating a digital record of her life in the camps. How every day she puts on makeup to cover her exhaustion and goes out to find food for her children, or visits what is left of her house with her cat who refuses to leave. Around her people are dying of disease and starvation. Her sister’s house is bombed and only her niece survives. She places a letter and a sim card in a plastic bottle and lets the sea take it. The letter reads; “Dear unknown friend, I don’t know if you’ll read this letter… but I want you to know I had a beautiful life and a beautiful city.”
From Ground Zero is a cinematic letter in a bottle hoping to reach shores of empathy after being caught in the tides of ceaseless conflict. To watch the film and embrace its humanity is to be a part of the safe harbor for desperate people. One should not look away.
Director: Maura Delpero Writer: Maura Delpero Stars: Tommaso Ragno, Roberta Rovelli, Martina Scrinzi
Synopsis: 1944, Vermiglio, a remote mountain village. The arrival of Pietro, a deserter, into the family of the local teacher, and his love for the teacher’s eldest daughter, will change the course of everyone’s life.
In Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 masterpiece, Theorem (Teorema), a stranger (played by Terence Stamp) enters the household of a wealthy Italian family living in the bourgeois suburban area and turns it upside down. He seduces each and every family member, stays with them for a few moments, and even then, it leaves a mark on them, only to disappear afterward–leaving them dumbfounded and perplexed about his appearance and the whole experience. Each person is affected by this differently; they actualize and realize themselves in ways they never thought, expressing hidden emotions, desires, and opinions. The family begins as a faux embodiment of fulfillment and ends up as hollow shells that will be reinvigorated in time. Through his unique way, with dashes of provocation to make the viewer have a similar experience as the family with the stranger, Pasolini touches on self-realization and the breakdown of societal and personal boundaries through a psychological “attack” on their morals and concealed pleasures.
Pasolini uses a supernatural force to break what this bourgeois family deems clandestine and flip it into disarray, using the ashes coming down from Mount Etna as a symbol of rebirth. Last year, German director Christian Petzold used Theorem as inspiration for his film Afire. But instead of desolation, a beautiful, relatable truth lies behind the ashes. Similarly, albeit without the mysticality and hollow, brooding nature of Pasolini’s existentialist themes, Maura Delpero’s new astonishing film, Vermiglio, does the same thing. A stranger disrupts an entire Italian family by his mere presence and principles. Instead, Delpero uses this presence of a stranger as a catalyst for a chain reaction tether in the titular village’s fear and repression during the end of WWII, all of which implode gradually through minimalist expressions into an upheaval of drowning emotional weight.
Vermiglio is set near the end of WWII, in the titular alpine village where snow coats the plains in a rich white that pops in each frame yet adds a coldness that molds with the darkness lingering in the narrative. Every square inch of this village is beautifully framed by cinematographer Mikhail Krichman, known for his work on Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Leviathan and Loveless, making the frames look like paintings or old photographs. But this beauty seemingly comes with a price, as the villagers have several burdens induced by the war and apart. The story has a meandering feel as Delpero takes the viewer through the village to meet and explore the minds of those who inhabit it. You get sparse moments with some of them, later switching to others in the next scene to get the community feel of that time and place.
Regardless, the main narrative revolves around a family of nine, led by patriarch Cesare (Tommaso Ragno), particularly focused on one of his daughters, Lucia (Martina Scrinzi), the one he vows to protect the most. The name Lucia is no coincidence; it is taken from a saint (Santa Lucia), and their journeys share similar thresholds and garner sadness and hope. Saint Lucia was a virgin and a martyr, considered the patron saint of the eyes or the blind. She became a martyr by having her eyes removed to avoid marrying a pagan. This action reflects her martyrdom and places Santa Lucia as a symbol of purity and devotion–the light emerging from her fidelity to the land. It is an act of sacrifice, rewarded by getting her sight back through divine intervention. The physical eye was not her literal sight; understanding God’s truth guided her to a better path.
In Vermiglio, Scrinzi, who glances and pierces with her big blue eyes, plays her Lucia with a sacrificial tone to her persona, as if everything that transpires in the film gives way to a better path in life during turmoil–even if there are specific scenarios where it does not seem as such–all for acceptance and embrace in many aspects. All of this begins when a stranger, Pietro (Giuseppe De Domenico), an army deserter, comes crawling into the village terrain–Pasolini’s “visitor” that will cause ripple effects on the family members, making them feel things they have never felt before, ponder things they didn’t worry about, and desire something they never thought of wanting. Lucia and Pietro are the vessels for the two sides of uncertainty: the catalyst and the receiver. Their unison shifts the ideologies of Lucia’s other sisters, who also have their respective debacles with different relationships and bonds because of their hidden desires or newly found ones.
Delpero shows us these psychological and emotional collapse and reconstruction moments through subtle movements and focusing on small details, such as looks, gestures, facial expressions, and limited talk, never relying on dialogue to set the tone or guide the performances. This minimalist approach makes each scenario realistic, almost like recreating photographs through cinema. The specificity of its setting, from the characters’ pasts to the rich detailing in the background, adds to this because Delpero dedicates time for the audience to feel right then and there by using visual exposition rather than being verbose. From the dialects to the gowns, suits, and outfits, you see the extent of her research and the power of her direction. She has a steady hand and even better control in maneuvering her cast to create the most striking frame possible.
Vermilgio, both the film and the place, become easy to perceive yet tricky to catch as its narrative, containing climatic twists in the latter half, develops. Everything is taciturn in speech and expressionistic in its emotional physicality, working wonders on its cold, tight atmosphere that shifts as each season comes and goes. Slowly, Delpero constructs an observational piece about the passing of time amidst a fracture in a setting deemed clandestine and a post-war subservience. Vermiglio proceeds efficiently as its textured, tactile tone is felt across the snowy plains. Delpero inflamed the lands with her storytelling and image composition. It remains in my head, and I hope others do so because of its painting-like visual language that speaks louder than words. Each frame is curated by an elegance and poise, a lavishness that takes you back to a distant time–cinematic collective remembrance even if its memories are not our own.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, for Part 2 of our InSession Film Awards, we discuss our Top 10 movies of 2024! It was a very good year for film (despite what some may say) and we had a really fun discussion counting down the very best that cinema had to offer at the movies this last year.
2024 will go down as one of the more unique years for film. It doesn’t have the defining cultural moment like Barbenheimer last year. In fact, most of the Hollywood output was middling and the box office looked pretty bleak. However; cinema persists and it ended up being the year of innovative filmmaking. As you’ll hear on the episode, many of the great films this year pushed the form in ways we haven’t seen in a long time. The sheer amount of ambition and experimentation was extraordinary. Whether it come from narrative drama, animation or documentary, the year saw some of the very best filmmaking in recent years.
If you want to help support us, there are several ways you can help us and we’d absolutely appreciate it. Every penny goes directly back into supporting the show and we are truly honored and grateful. Thanks for your support and for listening to the InSession Film Podcast!
It’s hard to make a confident prediction when you can’t see a film for yourself. I’ve tried all last year to not just hop onto whatever everyone else is writing about in terms of Best Picture as I don’t have the same type of access as others in this field do. Yet, now the list is getting clearer and clearer as precursor awards shape the final push of the season to its ultimate conclusion on Oscar night.
With that in mind, I have compiled what I consider to be the clearest outcome on nomination morning, January 23rd. Even if I can’t speak to personal enjoyment or details of the films because some of them haven’t had a wide release, it’s getting more and more obvious. Buzz is a powerful tool for influencing awards voters and may be even more powerful than the film itself. With such a healthy crop, there is wiggle room, so I will make sure and provide some alternatives, spoilers, or surprises that could usurp any one of my predicted nominees.
Here are my predictions for the 10 films most likely to be nominated for Best Picture.
Note that these nominees are in alphabetical order.
Anora – Even though the critics organizations that dominate the awards conversation in the early months have no overlap with the voting body of the Academy Awards, they are the tastemakers. Every single one of those has had Anora somewhere on their lists. Anora is one of two films I consider to be mortal locks.
The Brutalist – The other mortal lock for Best Picture is The Brutalist. Like most of you, I still have not had a chance to see the film. That doesn’t mean I haven’t heard the deafening praise and exaltation from every corner of the internet. It doesn’t hurt that The Brutalist just won Best Drama at the Golden Globes.
A Complete Unknown – Lately, music biopics have been hit or miss during awards season. They either come out of the gate strong like Elvis and Bohemian Rhapsody, or they fizzle and are kept out of the big races like Rocketman and Straight Outta Compton.A Complete Unknown will be the former. With showy, but grounded performances and an artist like Bob Dylan, who has been beloved by generations. It’s hard not to predict that A Complete Unknown will be one of the final 10.
Conclave – With a contentious U.S. election decided it will be hard to imagine the Academy won’t draw a parallel to this taut papal election drama. It’s also got technical wizardry that rivals the blockbusters on a fraction of their budgets. Following director Edward Berger’s strong showing in 2023 with his adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front, it would be very strange not to see this follow-up amongst the nominees.
Dune: Part Two – This film has been on every potential nominations list since its release in March. It was always going to be the blockbuster choice no matter what else came around. The technical mastery is only matched by the scale of the love it has received from audiences. It only helps Dune: Part Two‘s chances that Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Joker: Folie à Deux fizzled where their predecessors shined very brightly.
Emilia Pérez – While it attempts to break down storytelling barriers, Emilia Pérez has become a lightning rod of negative discussion. The antipathy toward it is unlikely to hurt its chances of getting on this ballot as it racks up nominations left and right. Emilia Pérez will join a long line of “Oscar Villains,” films that receive heaps of praise that are nearly as loud as the dissenting voices. Those dissenting voices let out a loud groan as the film clinched the Best Musical or Comedy trophy at the Golden Globes.
Nickel Boys – This is another one, like many of you, I have not been given the opportunity to see. It’s clear from the scattered, but strong support it has received that Nickel Boys is an absolute contender. The love fest from year-end top ten lists is enough to give me confidence that it will make this final 10.
Sing Sing – Though it has lagged behind its competitors in some precursor nominations, Sing Sing is as indomitable as the spirits of its subjects. Distributor A24 is likely throwing their mighty marketing apparatus behind The Brutalist, but you can’t count out a film that encourages artistic expression as therapy and the triumph of the human spirit. It’s a feel-good film without the sappy schmaltz.
The Substance – It’s been surprising that a body horror film has become such a darling of the circuit. Though, its larger metaphor about aging, beauty, and addiction will likely speak to a voting body of an industry that despises aging, reveres beauty, and hides addiction. Based on its showing in the precursors, it’s very likely The Substance will be joining the Best Picture line-up.
Wicked – In all predicted models of the attempted, but failed Barbenheimer repeat, Glicked, many pundits had Gladiator II topping Wicked. With a bevy of plaudits, box office, and powerhouse performances behind it, though, Wicked is the clear winner. It’s probable Wicked will be defying odds to secure a spot in the top 10.
Even though I feel certain about my choices, there is a lingering doubt. The voters of the Academy, especially, go for something intriguing over what everyone else is doing. So, some potential alternates, spoilers, or surprises follow.
Challengers – It’s time for one last wild speculation. It’s true that Challengers’ April release date was to its disadvantage come awards time, but the film has been showing up on lists far more often than director Luca Guadagnino’s other feature, Queer. It also helps that it was somewhat of a box office anomaly, and much like The Substance has entered the cultural zeitgeist.
A Real Pain – The Academy has had a strong connection with Holocaust narratives. While A Real Pain doesn’t take place during the Holocaust, it is a film that deals with the deep scars left on the descendants of those who survived the atrocities. It’s expertly acted and written, and that could be enough for it to supplant something else here for a mention in Best Picture as well.
September 5 – Many pundits still have September 5 in their top 10, but with only a smattering of love from other awards bodies, it’s unlikely that it could crack into the final group.Though, the Academy goes absolutely gaga for journalism dramas. Look at the recent successful nominations of The Post and Spotlight for proof.
In my last animated feature article, I mentioned that Flow could be a dark horse for a nomination. It’s an independent animated film from Latvia—a country that hasn’t had the best of luck with awards, with Flow being the only Latvian film to ever even be shortlisted for the Best International Feature Oscar—and it revolves around a pack of animals, none of whom can speak anything other than their native sounds, trying to survive a random and unexplainable flood following the disappearance of all human life— another aspect left unexplained. Also, the animation style is unlike anything cinema has ever seen; as some people said during the trailers, it looked like a PlayStation cutscene more than an actual film. But, like the titular animals of the film, Flow was meant to surprise you, and after its shocking, yet well-deserved, Golden Globe win, the train might just keep flowing.
It’s becoming more evident that this race will be between the $78 million swan song for DreamWorks in-house productions vs the $3.5 million indie from Latvia. It’s a true David vs. Goliath scenario, as an animated indie has never won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Whether it be Pixar, Disney, Studio Ghibli, or even DreamWorks, bigger-budget studios have ruled this award, and that looked like it was going to be the case yet again as The Wild Robot picked up four nominations at the Golden Globes, making it one of the most nominated animated films in the history of the awards show. Still, the “little cat that could” won the award at night’s end.
We must remember that this is just one of the many awards shows over the next few months and that while this win is an excellent sign for Flow, practically guaranteeing it will receive a nomination (only one film that won the Globe failed to earn an Oscar nomination [The Adventures of Tintin]), it doesn’t mean The Wild Robot is done just yet, it just has a much taller hill to climb. Animation being recognized at these awards shows is still extremely new, so there isn’t much data to siphon through to see how well this win translates to an Oscar win. Since the inclusion of this award at the Globes in 2006, only four films (Cars, The Adventures of Tintin, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and The Missing Link) won the Globe and didn’t go on to win the Oscar, which means the Globes are hitting at an impressive 78% rate; it’s not perfect, but it’s strong.
The Wild Robot still has its merits. There is still a strong possibility that it will pick up at least one nomination other than Animated Feature in either the Original Score or Original Song category. Both of these categories are relatively weak this year, and with Robbie Williams’ song for Better Man disqualified late with no replacement and Miley Cyrus’s Globes-nominated song for The Last Showgirl missing the shortlist, it seems it’s just gotten weaker. Not to mention, people still love The Wild Robot; it has strong ratings and is bound to earn more nominations and wins along the way. But something about this race is beginning to feel, in a way, like a repeat of how last year’s race played out.
Similar to The Wild Robot, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had this award locked up as it felt we should engrave the names and call it a day; Daniel Pemberton seemed likely to pick up his second score nomination, and there was even chatter that Across the Spider-Verse would sneak in for VFX and maybe even a song mention. And then came Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, and even though Across the Spider-Verse picked up wins at the Annie Awards (which awards excellence in animation) and the Producers Guild of America (PGA), The Boy and the Heron’s wins at the Globes and BAFTA was all it needed to wind up with the Oscar in hand. For The Wild Robot, an Annie win is pretty safe considering that Flow was not nominated in the Best Feature category and is instead in Best Feature – Independent; regarding PGA, while I think Flow will pick up a nomination, the Producers Guild of America has never awarded an animated film that is either independent or foreign, Flow happens to be both.
With Flow nominated in a different category than The Wild Robot for the Annie Award, it’s safe to assume they both will win their respective awards. When it comes to PGA, if Flow wins here, I think the race is over and done with, but I have to give the edge to The Wild Robot, as even a nomination for Flow is still up in the air simply of how low-budget and small scale the movie is. That takes the race to BAFTA, where throughout the 2020s, every eventual Oscar winner in this category has won here first. Flow and The Wild Robot are longlisted for Children’s & Family Films and Animated Features, but both managed to make the list for a third award as well; Flow was longlisted for Film Not in the English Language (which, as mentioned before it was also one of the fifteen films shortlisted for International Feature at the Oscars), and The Wild Robot appeared on the list for Original Score. It’s safe to say there is no clear frontrunner here, but something is telling me to go with my gut and trust that Flow will ultimately bring it home.
Outside of Flow and The Wild Robot, I am reasonably confident in Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Inside Out 2 getting in; I don’t think either will win, but they’re there. Then comes the final spot, which could be just about anything. Critics didn’t particularly love Moana 2— its Rotten Tomatoes critic score was 61%, over thirty points lower than its predecessor— but it did make money, earning almost $1 billion worldwide. There isn’t another Disney Animation film in the mix, but I think the relative apathy toward it will hold it back. Memoir of a Snail, on the other hand, while much lesser known, is more loved by critics (94% RT) and has previous Oscar winner Adam Elliot as the writer/director. I was initially hesitant about having two stop motion films make it in the Oscar lineup, but with Moana 2 and The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim both underperforming, the stars could be aligning for Memoir of a Snail. However, watch out for That Christmas, which picked up a Best Feature Annie nomination and is longlisted for the BAFTA. While the film doesn’t have overwhelming praise (66% RT), Netflix is a major player in the Animated Feature category, and some may consider Vengeance Most Fowl more of an Aardman film than a Netflix one. Nonetheless, I think it’s down to these seven films in contention for the nomination.
This week on the InSession Film Podcast, we feature our 12th annual InSession Film Awards! During Part 1, we discuss the very best that 2024 had to offer in terms of surprises, overlooked movies, the best acting performances and so much more when it comes to the film year. Many of these categories will feel familiar, for those that follow awards season, however some of them are distinct and that’s what makes it fun.
Stay tuned for Part 2, where we discuss our Top 10 Movies of 2024.
Want to participate with our Awards show? Click here to download the Awards Category sheet, fill it out with your nominees and winners, and as you listen to the show see how your picks stack up against ours!
2024 was a very unique year. It didn’t have a defining cultural event like Barbenheimer last year. It was mostly a disappointing year for Hollywood and the major studios, with a few exceptions aside. At times, things were so bleak at the box office that it seemed as if movies were over. Thankfully, we were able to hold off on the apocalypse. However; even with mainstream cinema having a down year, it was an incredibly robust year for animation, documentary, American indie and international film – which was dominant. 2024 will go down as the year of experimental and innovative filmmaking. With films such as Nickel Boys, The Brutalist, I Saw the TV Glow, All We Imagine As Light, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World, The Substance, The People’s Joker and A Different Man, among many others, the ambition really stands out. Dune: Part Two and Furiosa are other great examples, but on a larger scale. Perhaps that will be what defines cinema in 2024 in time. It may be too early tell, but we’ll look back decades from now as some sort of paradigm shift in modern filmmaking. Either way, it was a memorable year and it was a great time talking about what made it weird and unique.
Do you agree or disagree with any of our picks? Let us know in the comment section below.
If you want to help support us, there are several ways you can help us and we’d absolutely appreciate it. Every penny goes directly back into supporting the show and we are truly honored and grateful. Thanks for your support and for listening to the InSession Film Podcast!
Adrien Brody is once again receiving multiple awards, including the Golden Globe, for his role as a Holocaust survivor. Twenty-two years after he won an Academy Award for his role as Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist, his performance as László Tóth, a Jewish-Hungarian architect who comes to America to start a new life, is reminding people of Brody’s immense talent.
InSession Film‘s Nadine Whitney spoke with Brody in a group interview and found out what attracts him to roles, the universal humanity of The Brutalist, and how his family history informs him.
Nadine Whitney: You have a very distinctive face, but you are somewhat of a chameleon as an actor. You’ve played a punk, you’ve played a hardened soldier, Salvador Dali, a con man, a detective— so many kinds of characters. What attracts you to a particular role? What is it that gets you interested in a role?
Adrian Brody: I think the beauty of being an actor is to have the opportunity to inhabit many different people. [We can] step into the shoes of others and represent things and times in our history and eras we can learn from. [We can] speak to hardships and speak to things that are beautiful, and that we all share.
I just look for anything that moves me or feels that it’s a journey that I’d like to discover and immerse myself in, and that can be anything. As you mentioned, a punk rock character, Richie in Spike Lee’s Summer of Sam. I grew up in New York, very much into hip-hop music. So punk music, for instance, was something I was not intimately connected to or related to. But then I found a lot of elements within that culture that I did relate to, and I learned a lot about music and structure. I got to perform at CBGBs and all these things, which have been so enriching in my life. I just gravitate to things that provide an opportunity for exploration.
Did you use any of your experience filming The Pianist in The Brutalist?
Adrian Brody: Yes, definitely. The Brutalist is a very different movie. It is about a man who emigrates to America and leaves behind a lot of the hardships and horrors of World War II. The research necessary to inhabit Wladyslaw Szpilman and represent those hardships had a tremendous impact on me.
I think that research was invaluable in understanding the back story of László and what he’s leaving behind. It’s a remarkable thing how an experience like working on The Pianist can inform work to come. It speaks to what the movie speaks to, which is how understanding through hardship and loss and an understanding of those experiences guide you as an artist. So much of László Tóth’s work is about finding a way to make peace with some of that suffering and incorporate it into his work. Another parallel is the power of creativity and art that can be created through darker times and to bring lightness.
It has been a long road between Wladyslaw and László. I am very grateful. I’ve had many, many blessings, and I’ve learned so much over the past 22 years. I’ve grown a lot as an actor, a man, and a human being. All those life experiences and the characters that I’ve been fortunate to play have paved the way for me to be able to do work like this with Brady [Corbet] and support a vision with complexity and nuance.
I’m grateful to still have the same love and enthusiasm for the work that I began as a boy. And for that to be received by so many with love and appreciation. I knock on wood and count my blessings every day. I really do.
László Tóth is a character whose life spans some of the biggest changes in European and American culture. How did it feel being given the script and role?
Adrian Brody: Unfortunately, it’s a rarity to find a role with this much complexity, where a filmmaker and a writer can infuse so much humanity and frailty and flaws in a protagonist, especially over three decades. Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet did that.
Reading the script was so exciting in the sense of being given the opportunity to delve into those specific moments and feelings, the triumphs and failures. It’s riveting and relatable. What gripped me was the parallels with my own ancestral journey. In emigrating to the United States, my mother and my grandparents fled Hungary in the 1950s during the Hungarian Revolution, essentially leaving everything behind; that hardship and beginning again in New York as foreigners with a limited vocabulary in English and a strong accent. The sacrifice and resilience that they endured has always been a part of my journey and a part of my understanding. I had an opportunity to honor them and my mother’s journey as an artist. The immigrant experience and the complexity of the American dream are intimately intertwined through my own familial experience.
I think primarily, ‘The American Dream’ for an immigrant is to be included and freed of persecution and oppression in the hope of assimilating to be treated as an equal. To be treated as a fellow American with access to the opportunities that exist. I think that varies for individuals in their hopes, dreams, and ambitions, but I think primarily it’s a sense of ‘making it’ and ‘making it’ is subjective. ‘Making it’ can be simply a roof over your and your family’s head. Sufficient comfort, food, freedom from persecution, and not constantly feeling like an outsider. I think that is something that is very much achievable. It’s something that we all must work together to make a reality for that sense of hope to translate into something that is honored in this country. It should be a universal dream and something that should hopefully be afforded to individuals.
What was it like working with Guy Pearce as Harrison van Buren?
Adrian Brody: He’s a wonderful human being. He’s a gifted actor. He’s very thoughtful. I love his work in the film and collaborating with him. Like our characters, we had many intellectually stimulating conversations.
I am very happy for him to receive recognition for his contribution to The Brutalist and, overall, [his] wonderful career. I’d welcome any opportunity to work with him again. He’s an exemplary person.
This week on Women InSession, we discuss problematic talent and the idea of separating the art from the artist! Is is possible? What does it look like? There are obviously a lot of nuances here and we do our best to parse through it all.
Panel: Kristin Battestella, Amy Thomasson, Jaylan Salah
On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!
It’s been wonderful to have such a competitive race for Best Actress. It makes the job of predicting who will be announced in this category on January 23rd all the more difficult.
Being that it is such a variable race, I have created a list of potential surprises or spoilers for my main list, but could easily be an alternate reality where there were slightly different votes. Many of the performances on the alternative list could easily jump to my main list to supplant anyone I’ve placed there. Here are my official predictions for Best Actress.
The contenders are listed in alphabetical order.
Cynthia Erivo(Wicked) – Cynthia Erivo’s performance is powerful. She takes on a beloved character from one of the most successful Broadway musicals of all time without reservations. Her take on Elphaba is just as indelible as the actresses who have taken the role before her.
Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez) – Like Cynthia Erivo, Karla Sofía Gascón pulls off the double whammy of emotionally raw acting and singing her heart out. She goes deep to pair the cartel lord Emilia was with the philanthropist she’s become. It’s an enthralling story arc to watch develop, made stronger by a great performance.
Nicole Kidman (Babygirl) – Nicole Kidman is an actress who leaves it all on the screen. She takes challenging roles and absolutely knocks them out of the park. It’s no different with the raw, vulnerable, and emotionally naked work she does in Babygirl.
Mikey Madison (Anora) – Mikey Madison is Ani. She becomes Ani so wholly and so completely that it’s easy to get lost in the story. It feels less like a performance than a possession, a channeling of a spirit. She’s the clear front-runner of the category and the only one I would say is an absolute lock for a nomination
Demi Moore (The Substance) – There has been a recent swell of support for The Substance, which has been great for the momentum of Demi Moore. It’s her performance that makes much of the wackiness of The Substance work. She finally found a role that is a match for her talents. It doesn’t hurt either that she just won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, either.
What follows is the alternate reality list. Five more potential nominees, each of whom has more than a slight shot at making the final five announced on January 23rd.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) – This is a performance I haven’t seen, but the buzz is palpable. Marianne Jean-Baptiste is a past nominee, also for a Mike Leigh-directed performance, so she’s found a collaborator who helps her to achieve great work. The fact that she has enthusiastic support from many critics organizations can’t hurt either.
Angelina Jolie (Maria) – Yes, most, if not all, pundits have Angelina Jolie in their list of final five nominees. Yes, the performance is excellent and a welcome return to form for a beloved performer. Yet, Netflix is otherwise occupied, and as the film hasn’t been showing up in many other major categories at the precursors, it could be tough for Jolie to be her film’s sole nominee.
June Squibb (Thelma) – I’ve been touting June Squibb for a while now. She didn’t make the list for the Golden Globes, which would have raised her profile significantly, and she’s missed out on many critics’ nominations. It would be a wonderful coup for her to snag a spot for her deserving performance.
Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here) – I haven’t seen this film, but I’m listing it here because the performance has become noteworthy. The proponents of Fernanda Torres have been very vocal. She just won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama, right on the cusp of Oscar nomination voting, raising her chances significantly.
Zendaya (Challengers) – I have been on the Zendaya train since the beginning. She is such a fearsome presence in Challengers. The role is mature and so expertly performed. It’s a shame there can only be five nominees.
2020-2022 spoiled me with a streak of masterpieces that’s yet to be matched, but this year was stronger than the one preceding it. I can’t say I completely fell in love with any of the movies I’ve seen over the past twelve months (except maybe one or two, which is already a lot to be thankful for), but there were plenty of solid efforts that gave me reason to be excited about the medium even when I thought they fell short in some critical way—stuff like Challengers, MaXXXine, The Bikeriders, Blink Twice, Cuckoo, and Saturday Night. And those aren’t even my honorable mentions, which, for what it’s worth, I had difficulty selecting. That’s generally a good sign. While the order of my list changes every few days, the top three spots do not.
Notable titles I missed include Janet Planet, The Beast, Armand, Better Man, The Glassworker, The End, Evil Does Not Exist, Bird, and Girls Will Be Girls.
Honorable Mentions (alphabetical order):
Back to Black – Marisa Abela deserved a real awards campaign. Good on BAFTA for longlisting her.
Dune: Part Two – Whaddaya want? It’s really, really good—too much chanting, face-serving, and fist-pumping, but it’s really good.
Longlegs – Seeing Nicolas Cage’s makeup job for the first time halfway through the year’s most original horror movie after months of an ingenious marketing campaign that promised to show the icon in a radically new way is an experience viewers years from now won’t be able to replicate.
Love Lies Bleeding – Kristen Stewart incredulously saying “whhhaaaaatt” after witnessing a violent act remains one of my favorite moments in any movie this year.
A Real Pain – Couldn’t stand this Sideways riff (“A Real Payne,” my pal likes to joke) when I saw it in January, but after Jesse Eisenberg’s next directorial effort was announced as a musical, everything I’d initially found off-putting started to make sense.
10. The Wild Robot
Though I wish The Wild Robot had taken a pointer from the ending of The Iron Giant—kids can handle a little bit of melancholic uncertainty!—I cried harder during this movie than I have in years. All I wanted to do afterwards was play Kris Bowers’ score on a loop and read my Jack Londons again. A win for nature fakers everywhere!
9. Femme
I wish Steve McQueen and Andrea Arnold were still making movies like Femme. The shifting power dynamic between a drag performer and the closeted bully who one night viciously assaults him makes for the grittiest and most complex thriller I’ve seen in a long time. Despite two incredible performances and an immediately arresting hook, Femme hasn’t received much attention, but future retrospectives of the new genre known as “queer noir” will ensure its reappraisal. The film has held up nicely for me in the year since I first saw it at a local festival. In 2023, I would’ve probably listed it closer to my No. 5 slot.
8. The Apprentice
The version of this film made by Adam McKay or Craig Gillespie is easy to envision and far less interesting. Like Pablo Larraín’s Jackie (the best film of 2016), The Apprentice is advantaged by its non-American perspective. Will Ali Abbasi’s snuff pic retain any edge upon review a decade from now? Hard to say, but there’s no doubt that in 2024 it’s a hella ballsy film. What will forever remain undeniably brilliant about it are Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong’s performances. As another film on this list demonstrates, Stan is unusually gifted at embodying the arcs of the characters he plays. His gradual transformation from an insecure slumlord into today’s most controversial figure is a masterclass in fine-tuned vocal and physical modulation. An urgent, entertaining, and fearless swing (by a director of Iranian descent, coincidentally) in the face of extreme opposition, The Apprentice is an oddly appropriate pairing with my next pick.
7. The Seed of the Sacred Fig
You’d think a movie made with the sort of risk Mohammad Rasoulof has taken is an Important™ piece of political filmmaking, but underneath its significance as a bona fide act of rebellion in an era of self-righteous grandstands, The Seed of the Sacred Fig is a plain old banger of a thriller. For all the talk this year of independent artists who’ve turned water into wine, there hasn’t been enough about Rasoulof making out of what is essentially a guerilla production a film that has the look and feel of a mid-aughts Soderbergh or Iñárritu studio release. The third act’s redirection hasn’t paid off for everyone, but thanks to a lean script constructed with the razor focus of a man’s mind on the eve of his execution, I was fully invested by the time this paranoid domestic potboiler literally veered off the road. Soheila Golestani is terrific.
6. Conclave
A use of Volker Bertelmann’s score early into Edward Berger’s deadly serious, irresistibly fun papal thriller reminded me of May December’s hotdog line, and that’s when I knew what sort of ride I was in for. Between its high camp, stellar ensemble work, and fantastic photography, Conclave served me the best time I’ve had at the movies this year (with a matching curial vape-and-robe set on top).
5. Anora
At least one movie every year enthralls and frustrates me in equal measure and I end up, after an ungodly number of rewatches, loving it despite its flaws. This year, that movie’s probably Anora. The lead character is thinly drawn, and just as I thought the film’s rhythm should’ve escalated, things flatlined and grew repetitive. But the arrival of Vanya’s parents in the third act (Darya Ekamasova is better than nearly every actor currently contending for an Oscar nomination) delivers the highly specific type of dark humor I want from Sean Baker. My feelings about this one are all over the place, but Anora is ultimately a movie I can’t take for granted. To this Jew from Brooklyn with Resting Ruski Face, the madcap adventure through Coney Island that Baker takes us on has a special kinda something.
4. I’m Still Here
I’m Still Here is the only entry on this list that I’ve seen just once, which is possibly why it continues to grow on me. What I first considered a very good movie with an absolutely incredible lead performance I now think might simply be great. A lesser drama would’ve presumed the stakes inherent to its central dilemma are reason enough for us to care, but Walter Salles’ film takes its time introducing the Paiva family and immersing us in their home—making the event upon which the movie pivots all the more heartrending. Finding the distinction between an actor’s contribution to a role and what’s on the page is tricky, but there’s no question from where the intelligence and quiet dignity of I’m Still Here’s lead character resonate: Give Fernanda Torres all the awards.
3. A Different Man
Ari Aster apologists wish he could make a movie as good as A Different Man. This genre-bending exercise in hysterical realism marries theme and technique more successfully than any other movie I saw in 2024, which is perhaps why the months I’d spent after Sundance thinking and writing about it were my most rewarding movie-related experience this year. But before I could understand how A Different Man’s sardonic visual metaphors for cosmic misfortune and allusions to Woody Allen romcoms and Toni Morrison all tied together, I had already become immersed in its De Palma-coded aesthetic. The textures and colors of the urban hellscape director Aaron Schimberg creates with the help of cinematographer Wyatt Garfield and production designer Anna Kathleen would look as stunning on the pages of an underground graphic novel published in the ‘90s and set in the ‘70s as they do on the big screen.
2. Nosferatu
Call me a snob, but labelling Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu a horror movie feels reductive. This nightmare is just too much of a cinephile’s wet dream. Does the narrative lose some steam toward the end? I was too busy marvelling at every intricately detailed composition of this folkloric tragedy to care. Eggers’ films have always played like anthropological discoveries; Nosferatu is his most exquisite artifact yet, as well as the most visually immaculate movie I’ve seen since 2022’s Babylon.
1. Sasquatch Sunset
Nothing during the past twelve months has fully entranced me as much as Sasquat Sunset. As I wrote in my review of the film, the Zellner brothers’ chutzpah alone couldn’t have produced this
miracle without an actor of Riley Keough’s expressivity. How did such a beautifully realized, strikingly original piece of work get written off as scat porn with bigfoots because of a few contextually appropriate examples of humor involving bodily fluid (by the same people, no less, who don’t mind when movies pair unseemly amounts of it with violence)? The Zellners’ masterpiece runs on the stuff of pure moviemaking magic.
It seems that, nowadays, everybody on Film Twitter likes to say it was a bad year for movies. To that I say: there’s no such thing. 2024 is no different. There was such an eclectic range of cinema to be found regardless of where your tastes might lie, from indie darlings and mega-blockbusters to midnight genre films. On a personal note, 2024 was the year I attended several film festivals for the first time. Sundance, TIFF, Fantastic Fest, and NYFF. Attending these festivals for the first time presented me with the opportunity to discover even more exciting films. So with that being said, there’s nothing more exciting than gushing over film. Let’s get into what I believe are the best films of 2024. As a slight disclaimer, I will be holding any films off this list that didn’t have an official 2024 release. Two films in my Top 10 (Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck and Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cloud, both seen at festivals) did not officially release in 2024, so they are the only outliers in my personal top 10 films of 2024.
10. Dìdi (弟弟) – Directed by Sean Wang
What a special film Wang gave to the world. In 2008, I was 12 years old. Chris (Izaac Wang) plays a 13-year-old in 2008, and in his character, I was instantly whisked back to a period in my life that has been long dormant. It’s the power of cinema working its magic. There are moments in life which feel so specific, and yet, Dìdi is a testament to many of these moments actually being rather universal. It’s a brutally honest film about what it meant to grow up in a time where the Internet was deeply ingraining itself in the behaviors, decision-making, and everyday lives of youth culture. I can so vividly recall the moments in this film that echoed my real-life experiences: friends stealing cell phones to text a crush embarrassing messages. The thrill of making absurd YouTube videos for personal enjoyment and the hopes of capturing a viral hit. The anxieties and worries that come with not understanding how we fit into the world around us. Bolstered by a great lead performance in Wang and a deeply touching supporting turn from Joan Chen as Chris’ mother, Dìdi is a special film that allows us to look back at our own lives with plenty of fond laughs to go alongside the retrospective thoughts. My original review from Sundance 2024 can be found right here.
9. Nickel Boys – Directed by RaMell Ross
Upon the premiere of Nickel Boys, there were a lot of extravagant statements being thrown around about the magnificent quality of the film. And I have to be as frank as possible when discussing Ross’ film: believe them all. Nickel Boys is a staggering achievement any way you look at it. Adapted from the Colson Whitehead novel, Ross and Joslyn Barnes’ script soars with a humanity that few films this year could hope to achieve. Some may hear about the film being shot in a first-person POV and think it’s nothing more than a gimmick. That couldn’t be further from the truth. In a just world, cinematographer Jomo Fray would be a lock for the Best Cinematography Oscar. The visual language of this film is otherworldly, capturing the beauty to be found around us despite such horror and ugliness perpetrated by prejudiced systems of power. There is a moment where Fray and Ross pivot from their style, and it’s equal parts exhilarating and devastating. It is a marvel of a film and a massive achievement. My Chasing the Gold piece highlighting Fray’s cinematography from NYFF 2024 can be found right here.
8. Queer – Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Going into Queer, the second Guadagnino film we received in 2024, I think many people had some preconceived notions about what it was going to be. Many suspected it to have certain links, either stylistically or thematically, to Call Me By Your Name. And while there are similarities, I was beyond thrilled to walk out of my screening feeling as if it had much more in common with Guadagnino’s 2018 take on Suspiria. This film was so excellent it even made me want to revisit Bones and All with the intent of a possible reassessment. Never taking the easy way out, Guadagnino and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes’ adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novella is a surreal look at the pain and longing that comes with love. This isn’t just a story about love. It’s instead about what the lack of love can do to us. So much of Daniel Craig’s performance, paired with the beautifully haunting score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, make Queer feel more like a ghost story than anything else. And by the time its soul-crushing finale rolls around, Guadagnino will have once again proven himself as one of the most exciting filmmakers currently working today. My original review from NYFF 2024 can be found right here.
7. Hit Man – Directed by Richard Linklater
Hit Man quickly became a comfort film of mine. It’s no surprise that Linklater has provided the world with yet another breezy and entertaining film to bask in. And of course, there’s the Glen Powell of it all. Anybody who knows me personally knows the love I hold for Powell at this point. He brings a truly dynamite presence and charisma to the big screen that is simply unmatched. And Hit Man, which he co-wrote alongside Linklater, almost operates solely as a vehicle to allow him the opportunity to shine bright. There are two sequences in this film that are worth the price of admission alone. The first is one that proves Powell can practically do anything on screen, and you can wholeheartedly buy into his performance. It’s hysterical and exciting and fully solidifies his status as a movie star in the making (as if he’s not already one). The second scene comes late in the film, and it’s just a potent example of the chemistry Powell can share with his co-stars (in this case, Adria Arjona). It’s explosive and tense, building to a crescendo that was justifiably talked about for months online. Glen Powell forever, I’ll watch Hit Man many more times in my life whenever I need a pick-me-up.
6. Anora – Directed by Sean Baker
Baker’s film is much more than the bubblegum pop visuals it initially lets on. It’s more than the modern-fairytale logline audiences sat down for. Beyond being a brilliant comedy inspired by screwball comedies and classic slapstick antics, Anora is a film about America. It’s a film about how America is the land of excess. It’s about how capitalism can distract us with enough bright lights, extravagant parties, and reckless spending in the name of vanity, while all the while bleeding us dry emotionally. It traps individuals, especially those in marginalized communities, in vicious cycles. All of this is funneled through Anora, a character that feels destined to be remembered as one of the greats of the decade. Certainly of the year. She’s hilarious, ferocious, layered, headstrong, and confident. It’s an unbelievable performance from Mikey Madison that’s more than deserving of all the acclaim. And while this film, or rather its antagonistic family of characters, seems determined to knock Anora back down to her Brighton Beach home quietly, audiences will instantly latch onto the battle of seeing her trying to desperately hold onto the life she feels she deserves. And best believe she puts up a fight that’s both wildly entertaining and moving. It’s cruel to show somebody the upper crust of life and then snatch it away from them due to boredom or immaturity. That shouldn’t be a criticism of how Baker treats his character. It should be understood as Baker criticizing the very systems that encourage this type of behavior.
5. Challengers – Directed by Luca Guadagnino
Guadagnino decided he was coming to take over 2024 from very early on in the year. A trio of lead performances with unreal chemistry, visuals from the great Sayombhu Mukdeeprom that electrify anybody who lays eyes on them, and a Reznor & Ross score designed to break speakers in movie theaters and nightclubs alike. Challengers literally has it all. Alongside Brat (my personal album of the year, but let’s not get into ranking albums right now), Challengers captured the zeitgeist in a way few modern films have the ability to. It reaffirmed the notion that audiences still want to see exciting films and stories play out on the big screen, and they want to see movie stars being energized off one another in the process! It’s a film riddled with sexual tension that bubbles and bubbles until reaching one of the great climaxes of the decade thus far. The extended final sequence is guaranteed to raise your heart rate based simply off pure tension and release alone. It’s an electrifying piece of cinema, and I adore it deeply. My Chasing the Gold piece highlighting Mukdeeprom’s cinematography can be found right here.
4. I Saw The TV Glow – Directed by Jane Schoenbrun
I briefly met Schoenbrun when walking to grab lunch at TIFF this year. They were incredibly kind throughout the conversation. When we got to discussing films, I had to mention how I Saw the TV Glow has remained in my top 5 since I’d seen it at its premiere at Sundance. Schoenbrun replied very humbly and mentioned how many great films were at the festival that might possibly surpass it. I politely replied with something I had been telling friends and colleagues since I first saw the film. That it’s unlikely, for I Saw the TV Glow is a once-in-a-generation film. Beyond the quality of its filmmaking (which is stellar) or all the ideas bouncing around throughout its runtime (which are poignant and moving), it is an astonishing film that feels like it will define this generation. Upon watching it, you can imagine all the artists it will inspire. More importantly, it will possibly help countless individuals examine parts of their lives they may have repressed or felt worried about living in truthfully. This is a film that will help and inspire change, while also piercing you with a true dread that many horror films wish to achieve. That it can do both, serve as a vital piece of art and an exciting piece of entertainment, makes this one of the best films of the year. My original review from Sundance 2024 can be found right here.
3. Dune: Part Two – Directed by Denis Villeneuve
There was obviously no reason any of us had to doubt Villeneuve when settling in for the second half of his Dune adaptation. But of course, the bar has been set incredibly high. Even if we ignore his stellar run of films which has few rivals, if any, he still would have to match quite a lot of expectations set by his first chapter of Dune. Lo and behold, from the first moments of this second half, many sighs of relief were likely taken as Villeneuve whisked us right back to Arrakis in one of the most cinematic moments of the year. From there, Dune: Part Two is a treasure trove for fans of hard sci-fi, thrilling adventures, and above all, a twisted morality tale about the ways in which absolute power can corrupt even the most noble of individuals. As somebody who is not a fan of the source material, I find this film to be quite the miracle. It effectively condenses so much of the dense novel, while also expanding upon its ideas in fascinating ways. It certainly helps that its visuals are perhaps some of the most impressive we’ve ever seen in blockbuster filmmaking. In a just world, the look of this film and the care that was put into it would be the template for any big-budget spectacle moving forward.
2. The Brutalist – Directed by Brady Corbet
Perhaps the most dense film of the year, Corbet’s The Brutalist has so much for audiences to chew on. And it’s one of the great films where, upon rewatch, its ideas continue to layer atop one another to perfection. For every revelation you might have about its plot, or characters, or setting, countless more fascinations pop up. It’s a film that you want to revisit again and again, yet also savor for understanding how special it is. As soon as that 70mm projection begins rolling, and the beautiful brass of Daniel Blumberg’s score kicks in, you feel as if you’re being whisked away to a time where films like this would still announce themselves on a regular basis. The Brutalist is a deeply special film, with Adrien Brody turning in an undeniably profound performance that will likely be one of the defining roles of his career. I’ll never forget when the intermission card first popped up, and the air of bewilderment swept around my audience as if we’d never seen anything like it before. My Chasing the Gold piece highlighting Lol Crawley’s cinematography from NYFF 2024 can be found right here.
1. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – Directed by George Miller
There’s a moment in Furiosa which basically caused me to ascend out of my seat. I found myself in that rare situation so few films pull out of me nowadays. I was truly breathless, and the only thing I could do was begin making noises to myself quietly. Of course, I’m referring to the extended “Stowaway” sequence that arrives around halfway through this film. At 79 years old, Miller is serving up some of the best action and best uses of VFX and digital-heavy filmmaking we’re likely to see all decade. There’s an energy that pulses throughout Furiosa where you feel like absolutely anything can happen. And I can almost assure you that it will, though you may not expect what it hides up its sleeve. This is a film set just before the world seems to have completely lost its mind in Mad Max: Fury Road. With that, there comes a sense of hope. The entire thematic battle taking place between Furiosa and an astonishing Chris Hemsworth as Dementus is the opportunity to pull back from the cliff’s edge we’re racing towards. In a current society that feels discordant and frightening, where it feels like people amongst us and those in power are actually losing their minds, the final act of Furiosa is beyond powerful. If we fight for the chance to move forward peacefully and it still fails, perhaps there’s some hope in knowing that we remained true to ourselves along the way. And holding onto that, if not for the immediate future but for the future that is still on the horizon, is essential. Furiosa is an absolutely wild film any way you look at it. And Miller certainly “made it epic.” But he also made it very beautiful, fun, and moving. May he be allowed to return to the Wasteland whenever he likes, and we’ll be all the better off for it as a movie-going audience.
Director: Christian Gudegast Writer:Christian Gudegast Stars:Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Evin Ahmad
Synopsis:Big Nick is back on the hunt in Europe and closing in on Donnie, who is embroiled in the treacherous world of diamond thieves and the infamous Panther mafia, as they plot a massive heist of the world’s largest diamond exchange.
It feels impossible that Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is Christian Gudegast’s second feature. This is the type of stuff you’d see from someone who had, perhaps, ten motion pictures under their belt and decided that it’s finally time to play around with form and breathe new life into the stale sub-genre of heist motion pictures. The first Den of Thieves was not only a pleasant surprise for an individual, like yours truly, who isn’t a fan of Gerard Butler’s current career trajectory but one of the ten best films of 2018. It’s first and foremost a sharply constructed character piece before it eventually morphs into a heist thriller, but not before sitting with Butler’s “Big Nick” O’Brien and contemplating how his professional choices bring him no personal rewards.
Gudegast doesn’t reinvent the wheel of heist cinema with Den of Thieves, but he certainly knows how to construct a meticulously-developing bravura setpiece that eventually culminates in a thrilling road shootout worthy of Michael Mann’s Heat. Once this occurs, Big Nick begins to realize the extent of the heist, and how each antagonist had a reason to be here. He begins to wonder if this chase was all worth it for him. The adrenaline rush of toppling a legitimate den of thieves cost him his marriage and any form of “personal life” he had with his children. This is a man who isn’t satisfied by an ordinary life and would rather chase a high that punishes him the most. By doing what he admittedly “loves,” which is acting like a total scumbag to lure criminals in his “circle,” he further distances himself from the people he should theoretically love the most.
Watching him on this endless rut of accomplishing futile goals that reward him professionally with no real, meaningful personal benefits is punishing. Gudegast doesn’t give the audience easy answers. And he doesn’t depict an easy protagonist to follow. Deep down, he wants to spend more time with his kids and family, but there’s also the next job. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. It never ends. And it will never end.
It’s a path of self-destruction strikingly conveyed by a career-best turn from Butler, who channels the inner turmoil of some of Peter Mullan’s best and most profound roles, such as in Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur or Ken Loach’s My Name is Joe. These are vastly different movies than Den of Thieves. Yet, Nick’s sullen face reminded me a lot of how Mullan would modulate his character’s imploding emotions just in how he looked at the camera in moments of pure vulnerability.
In Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, it’s unsurprising that we reunite with Nick at his most vulnerable: he’s finalizing the divorce. In the courthouse bathroom, he holds his papers in the mouth and immediately throws them away. Unable to dry his hands, he has a fit of rage and breaks the malfunctioning hand dryer. We assume he’s lost complete custody of his kids, which is eventually implied when Jovanna (Evin Ahmad) asks him if he has any later in the movie. He quickly replies, “No,” when we know this is a lie. Why is he so afraid of telling the truth? Is it because he regrets building a family that he quickly ignored because he was too busy building a reputation as Los Angeles’ “toughest cop”?
Gudegast doesn’t have the answers to these questions, yet further develops Nick’s aching loneliness as he reunites with Donnie Wilson (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), the thief who evaded his purview during the climax of the 2018 film. After successfully robbing the Federal Reserve, he has his sights set on the World Diamond Center, which has never been accomplished before. It could be the heist of the century if it is successfully pulled off. And Nick will join him along the way. After finding his trail after so long, why suddenly drop the professional life he built so meticulously to become a master thief? This question will be revealed during the film’s intimidating 144-minute runtime, which is purposefully structured in two distinct halves.
The first hour and twenty minutes or so is dedicated entirely to exposition on how they will perform the heist. Gudegast will also devote time to developing a closer bond between Nick and Donnie after they clashed in the original. The pace may feel lethargic, but it’s never boring. Gudegast fills this section with moments of intimacy so overwhelming it’s hard to watch Den of Thieves 2 with a distanced eye. We feel so close to Nick that we eventually care about him, regardless of how terrible of a person he may be. One even forgets, by watching those moments, that we wanted to see an action blockbuster and paid a ticket for such. But if one actively engages with what Butler does in the movie, they will ultimately be rewarded in seeing the actor at his most open and personal, something he has not done before donning the mantra of Big Nick.
In a key sequence during the film’s first half, Nick accidentally trips on ecstasy and begins to open up in ways his repressed, sober self never does. Even while drunk or under the influence, he isn’t as powerless as he is here. The scene is a pivotal point in the relationship between Nick and Donnie and a pure shock to the system. We finally realize what kind of a person Nick is deep down the layers of “machismo” he attempts (but fails) to convey in front of people when clean. He wants to show how “tough” he always is, how he always gets the last laugh, and perhaps even dominate conversations so that no one can even know what to respond (“The food here sucks. We come here for the ass.”) One can see how lonely and meaningless his existence has become after losing his family, which he tries to brush off continuously, but perhaps it’s always been this way.
It’s in those moments where Den of Thieves 2: Pantera shines the most. Gudegast’s patient runtime allows for a greater connection with the protagonists, who are in far deeper trouble than they thought when realizing they stole a diamond from the Italian mafia. Butler is, once again, doing career-best work by further refining what he laid out in the first movie. Because Gudegast’s writing allows a deeper dive into the scumbag that is Big Nick, Butler can have a bit more fun and also showcase even more cracks that live within the character. He also shares note-perfect chemistry with O’Shea Jackson Jr, whose subtle comedic touches add levity at just the right moment when tension begins to ramp up.
In the film’s second half, Gudegast stages another elaborate heist, which is far more thrilling than the one depicted in the first installment. The 2018 film was Gudegast’s attempt at channeling Heat. It worked, though nothing can – or will – top Mann’s film (unless he decides to make Heat 2). Gudegast understands this, which is why he shifts gears and gives us a spin on Steven Soderbergh’sOcean’s Trilogy. Some will argue that the first also had these Soderberghian flourishes (notably in how Donnie acts like Casey Affleck’s Virgil Malloy), but the constant confrontation between Nick and Pablo Schreiber’s Ray Merrimen is pure McCauley/Hanna.
But this doesn’t stop Gudegast from tipping the hat to Mann in the movie’s sole action set piece, a bravura highway chase where multiple cars attempt to shoot off Nick and Donnie. This time, though, it’s Miami Vice meets Ferrari. It’s also the adrenaline rush the movie needs before heading to a more plot-heavy section that sets things in motion for the potential third installment. That part felt a bit unnecessarily overlong, a bit like Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (no joke!), but what comes before is a sturdy exercise in craft and tension-building.
The final shootout of Den of Thieves 2: Pantera is a true feat to behold and what the big screen desperately craves. Again, it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but is so impeccably constructed that one wonders why Gudegast hasn’t been doing movies long before the first Den of Thieves. Few filmmakers working in Hollywood have an eye for action anymore. It’s all the same stale CGI junk, or headache-inducing shaky cam, with no real point of reference for the viewers to hold onto and see what’s on screen.
In one simple action scene, Gudegast teaches all of us how the camera should be positioned (he seems to be a fan of handheld over-the-shoulder shots, which are strikingly cut together inside a moving vehicle) and how the editing should respond to the different camera placements. The result is a shockingly cathartic set piece that may rank high at the end of the year as one of the best examples of how visual storytelling can move a film forward in ways few seemingly understand.
While Den of Thieves 2: Pantera ultimately ends in clunky, neverending sequel bait, what comes before is a true masterwork in the examination of its troubled protagonist before delivering a palm-sweating, edge-of-your-seat heist that’s as good as what Soderbergh stages in his Ocean’s pictures. It’s almost miraculous that Lionsgate would allow him to spend over an hour and ten minutes of his two and a half hour runtime on one single heist, but it’s now what the franchise is the most known for. Patient character building. A meticulous heist. An explosive ending. And it works.
Gudegast also takes his time to develop the arc of Big Nick into not one of redemption, but salvation. After this part of his life is over, a police officer tells him he should be relieved to return home. To which he replies, “To what?” He’s lost everything. He has nothing to return to. And no matter what he does next, all he does is dig himself in a deeper hole he may never find the courage to crawl on top of. Once we realize this, Den of Thieves 2 becomes more than just a thrilling heist picture, but an astute character study on a broken man past the point of repair.
Will he ever attain salvation? Because he’s past the point of retribution. Those bridges are burned. They can never be repaired. What can he do next but continue looking the other way and digging himself into more trouble than he already was? Is that all there is to living? It’d be a damn shame to waste the time you have for trivial personal accolades, but that’s the way Big Nick has always operated, and likely always will.
Many of the precursor award shows have a single screenplay category. Depending on the year, it can be a mix of original and adapted. Most of them this year have had a focus toward original screenplays. If it was just five screenplays at the Oscars, this year would have a strong skewing toward original stories. The buzziest films this season have been the originals.
It stands to reason, though, that with such a healthy crop of potential nominees, many will be left out. Only five original screenplays will be named in the Best Original Screenplay lineup on January 23rd. These will likely represent additional nominations to their respective film’s overall total, and it won’t be that this is where a film’s sole nomination comes from. With such a healthy crop, there is wiggle room, so I will make sure and provide some alternatives, spoilers, or surprises that could usurp any one of my predicted nominees.
These lists are presented in alphabetical order.
Anora (Sean Baker) – While Anora is rife with Sean Baker’s trademark controlled chaos, there is a great story at its heart. It’s not an easy fairy tale to swallow, but as it takes shape, we can’t help but think of its protagonist in a different light. It’s lyrical and heartbreaking amid the sex and madcap pursuit.
The Brutalist (Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold) – This is one I haven’t seen for myself, but it has been a presence on every single blog, best-of list, and nomination list it could possibly be on. The storytelling is likely as epic in scale as its ambitious runtime and breadth of plot. The nod here will be another notch in The Brutalist‘s cap.
Hard Truths (Mike Leigh) – I haven’t seen this one either, but the buzz around it is palpable. Not to mention that Mike Leigh is a five-time nominee in this category who has never won. His career has often been spent in search of nuggets of deep empathy within a slice of British life. Hard Truths seems to be in that same mold and just as powerful as Leigh’s previous works.
A Real Pain (Jesse Eisenberg) – Like its title, A Real Pain, has multiple meanings and layers. It’s about generational trauma. It’s about grief, depression, and the complicated nature of a person who refuses to change. The script is smart, funny, affecting, and satisfying from beginning to end. Jesse Eisenberg has graduated from an immature sad boy to a mature sad man.
The Substance (Coralie Fargeat) – There is momentum to the campaign of The Substance. With a few high-profile nominations, this terrifically grotesque body horror film that seeks to make you empathize with an aging woman’s struggles to regain the power she had in her youth is clicking in every way it was meant to. The script is devious and plays with so many ideas. There is a biting, bitter truth behind Coralie Fargeat’s satire. She balances the horrors, both real and psychological, with absolute precision.
Even though I feel as if I have five very strong contenders, there is so much room for a different nominee to sneak in. I could write about every worthy script from 2024. I could speculate wildly, as there were some truly excellent scripts that will be left behind. Yet, your attention span and my dictionary of superlatives are short. I have narrowed it down to a handful with the most potential.
Babygirl (Halina Reijn) – Babygirl is more than just a very strong central performance. There is a mood and a calculated plot that oozes from Halina Reijn’s script. She moves her characters and builds her plot so expertly. Her script also does a much better job than a certain mass appeal series at detailing what a consensual and mutually gratifying S&M sexual relationship can look like.
Challengers (Justin Kuritzkes) – Justin Kuritzkes’ script is such a dream. Multiple mind games, incredible plot progression, and biting, aching dialogue. It’s a script that’s tight and keeps you guessing at that utterly perfect ending.
September 5 (Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Alex David) – This is another one I have not been given the opportunity to see, but has a palpable buzz. When it has shown up at precursors there have been strong supporters of its script. There’s also a precedent as the Academy loves a film about journalism.
Director: Gia Coppola Writer: Kate Gersten Stars: Pamela Anderson, Brenda Song, Kiernan Shipka
Synopsis:A seasoned showgirl must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run.
American workers of a certain generation are accustomed to working for the same company for decades. What happens when the most stable thing in our lives is removed from us? Led by 30-year veteran, Shelly (Pamela Anderson), The Last Showgirl depicts the fallout of these characters after it is announced their show, “Razzle Dazzle,” is coming to an end. Shelly and several other showgirls will have to find new jobs for the first time in years.
The casting mirrors the plot, with varying degrees of “has-beens” playing participants in a dying Las Vegas show. Jamie Lee Curtis and Dave Bautista are far from “has-beens,” with the former winning an Academy Award just two years ago and the latter’s star rising with every surprising performance. However, they, and the rest of the cast, are known for very different things—Curtis the scream queen, Bautista the professional wrestling world champ. Song and Shipka are known more for their television roles as young actors, both trying to revamp their careers over the last couple of years. And, of course, Anderson is known by many, more for scandal than for her profession. These actors all have something to prove in their work, just as these dancers need to prove themselves again to get new jobs after the show ends.
The Last Showgirl purports itself to be a comeback vehicle for Pamela Anderson, but she’s unfortunately outdone at every turn by the rest of the cast. Curtis and Bautista are particularly stellar, with enough meat in their supporting roles to make something special. Bautista continues to impress with another thoughtful, heartfelt role that’s still surprising in each film. By no means does Anderson give us a poor offering here, but in each scene her character is forced into the background reacting to everyone else instead of being the driving force. This is the essence of Shelly’s life, reacting to things around her instead of happening to her life. With a runtime of under 100 minutes, her character would have been well served by a couple more scenes diving into her internalized thoughts.
The filmmaking from Coppola, Director of Photography Autumn Durald Arkapaw, and editors Blair McClendon and Cam McLaughlin is wonderful. The team utilizes intimate, close angles with handheld cameras to represent the chaos and closeness of the Razzle Dazzle team. The showgirls aren’t just coworkers, they’re a family. Shot on 16mm film, the movie has the texture of a bygone era. The grainy, glittery images make an ordinary kitchen look beautiful and romantic. The contrast between this beautiful imagery and the increasingly frantic showgirls is tragic, highlighting their plight.
As the younger girls (Song and Shipka) begin going out for other auditions, Shelly begins to show her true colors. Throughout the film it’s clear she’s becoming a bit more frazzled by the uncertainty on the horizon, but these scenes of jealous conflict reveal how bad it’s become. Shipka begins showing an audition routine to the girls in the changing room which is, admittedly, something you’re more likely to see at your favorite club right off the highway than at a classy show like Razzle Dazzle. Shelly becomes irate, not only because other girls are auditioning but also because they’re willing to stoop so low for work. Despite having the same job as them now, it’s clear that she views herself in a higher tier.
To make matters worse for Shelly, her daughter, played by an understated Billie Lourd, pays a visit for the first time in years. There’s clearly some tension between them that Shelly tries to mend, but her insecurities come off more desperate than genuine. Anderson channels these emotions and energy perfectly in the one-on-one scenes with Lourd, Bautista, and Curtis, but fades into the background when more people are involved.
The Last Showgirl sometimes feels like a dream but is ultimately a very realistic nightmare. Losing your job, losing your friends, trying to mend a broken relationship that’s clearly your fault. It’s hard to imagine enduring a stretch like that. Gia Coppola channels nostalgia and uncertainty in her filmmaking resulting in an emotional, if uneven, look at these Las Vegas showgirls.
On a recent, appropriately lengthy episode of The Big Picture podcast, host Sean Fennessey was joined by the critic Adam Nayman to discuss Brady Corbet’s new film, The Brutalist. The more skeptical of the two, Nayman nevertheless made note of how the craft of The Brutalist shows that Corbet, his partner and co-writer Mona Fastvold, and the other members of the film’s crew have seen some other movies. Nayman went on to mention that plenty of the films he, Fennessey, and cinema-goers everywhere have sat through this year were “made by people who don’t seem to have seen a movie before in their life… Movies that were greenlit by people who also don’t want people to see movies, or are subsidized by streamers who would prefer that movies were actually just static.” Fennessey agreed, and I found myself thinking about how true this was of my own year at the movies. Had there been that many stinkers, their bellows just barely drowned out by the precious few films that made a two-century-old medium feel like it was being born anew?
Then again, I suppose you could say that this is true of any year. Every single trip around the sun since the dawn of cinema has seen its own hefty share of films that seem to have been made with heart and a (perhaps heftier) share of those that weren’t. But as I look back at our most recent run of 366 days (Leap Year!), something about them stands out, especially as it relates to movies. You could blame my career choice, that of sitting in dark rooms glancing at illuminated screens practically every day – “Our deadly passion, our terrible joy,” as a certain luxury automobile magnate said just 13 months ago. I might credit it to the year I had, one of personal downs and ups aplenty, but quite significantly the first year I actually spent the majority of working in this space. I saw more new movies this year than I have in any one prior; the same can be said for old films fired up for the first time. I wrote more about film this year than ever before, both in reviews of individual offerings and in snapshots of the industry as a whole. For that, I have many editors, writers, friends, and audience members to thank. To not mention the filmmakers behind the works I spent much of my time thinking about among that lot feels wrong, however varied the returns on the inspiration I experienced because of them may have been.
It’s with this in mind that I can confidently say that in 2024, I too watched an unfortunately substantial amount of movies that were made by people who don’t seem to have seen a movie before in their life, as well as many movies that were greenlit by people who don’t want people to see movies, or would rather shuttle them off to streaming services where they can and will be static objects, those not even worthy of serving s background noise. (Or, furthermore, too grating and soulless to even watch on mute; I’m looking at you, whoever ushered Jerry Seinfeld and the folks from the company formerly known as Kellogg’s into the same room.) On the flip side of that deadly, terrible coin, I saw even more films that seem to have been made by people who clearly have an interest in the significance of cinema, new and old, and want to watch it evolve, live on, and outlive all of us. Occasionally, those examples came as pre-packaged franchise-adjacent romps that didn’t reinvent the wheel so much as they aggressively spun them in an interesting fashion (Twisters, The First Omen, Smile 2, even The Fall Guy). Once in a while, they were efforts that shouldn’t have necessarily moved me one way or the other, yet elicited a profound response from me given the passion that was visibly being projected (Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, The Animal Kingdom,Hundreds of Beavers, and Civil War, to name a few). Other times, they came in the form of feature-length debuts about awakening adolescent sexuality (like Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls and Molly Manning Walker’s How to Have Sex); or clever and resonant dramedies about specifically-crafted adults that I recognize because of their nuances, not in spite of them (Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, Nathan Silver’s Between the Temples, and Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths come to mind); or a transgender tale that doubles as a systematic takedown of the corporate overlords that govern comic book universes (hats off to you, Vera Drew).
I guess what I’m saying is this: More than any other kind of film that I saw in 2024, I saw a great number of movies that felt human – performed by them, made by them, lived by them. The following 10 were those that stood out above the many.
Writer’s note: Each year since 2019, I’ve put together a video countdown to honor my favorite films of the year – 25 of them, to be exact – not unlike what I’m sure you’ve seen from IndieWire’s David Ehrlich, whose still-annual efforts serve as an initial inspiration for these projects. I’m the proudest of this year’s iteration, which I pray is different enough from the others you might have come across, and perhaps will add a few films to your watchlist. It’s long, but it takes longer to put together than it does to watch. I hope you won’t mind indulging me before scrolling to read some brief thoughts on the top 10. (A big thanks to InSession Film Editor-in-Chief David Giannini for encouraging me to include this here; he’s a good egg.)
10. The Beast (Bertrand Bonello)
Léa Seydoux makes a compelling case that she is the best – and if not best, then at least the most versatile – actor on the planet in Bertrand Bonello’s time-hopping mindf*ck, which simultaneously takes place in 1910’s Paris, 2014’s Los Angeles, where a murderous cretin based on Elliot Rodger (George MacKay as one Louis of the three he plays here), and 2044, where “DNA purification” seeks to purge willing participant’s souls of the emotions they may have felt in past lives. Startling, prescient, and wholly original, Bonello’s curiosity with the future has never been so inventively-rendered. (Read my review here.)
9. Nosferatu (Robert Eggers)
The most fully-realized work of Robert Eggers’ career, not solely because the tale of Nosferatu has been living in his mind for the better part of four decades, but because of the craftspeople he continues to surround himself with for every project. A stunning, grim tale of obsession that ends on the year’s most elegiacally composed shot, Nosferatu is a crowning achievement in Eggers’ filmography, further proof that he is one of the most inspired filmmakers working today, no matter the genre. That he’s often turning in such stirring work in the horror landscape, a realm continuously peppered by the lazy, persistent regurgitation of old tropes, is perhaps most exhilarating of all. (Read Dave Giannini’s review here.)
8. Challengers (Luca Guadagnino)
Josh O’Connor turns in the best supporting performance of 2024 in a movie that still manages to belong to a scowling Zendaya, who not only convinces the audience that she could compete for a Grand Slam tomorrow, but that marrying Mike Faist would be a glitzy life’s consolation prize. Then again, maybe that credit should go to O’Connor… I’m getting dizzy. The only thing that helps me regain control of my balance is Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ rhythmic, synth-heavy score, to which I’m writing at this very second.
When I first saw Anora at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, I called Sean Baker’s eighth directorial feature his “magnum opus,” a collection of his go-to thematic devices – sexuality, class, chaos – that was anchored by an all-time performance from Mikey Madison in the same vein of what Baker has gotten in the past from Simon Rex (Red Rocket), Brooklynn Prince (The Florida Project), and the Mya Taylor-Kitana/Kiki Rodriguez tandem of Tangerine. A much-needed rewatch not only reasserted those truths, but solidified Anora as a deeper tonal experiment on top of the electric dramedy it proves to be on its face. Its much-discussed final scene – performed to the nines by Madison and Yura Borisov – is a near-perfect gutter. (Read Hector A. Gonzalez’s review here.)
6. Queer (Luca Guadagnino)
While only one film on this list deploys La Bionda’s “One For You, One For Me” as its closing credits needle drop, it would have been a clever nod at the audience for Luca Guadagnino and Justin Kuritzkes’ second collaboration of the year to conclude on that note. The duo’s adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novel of the same name is a more audacious film than Guadagnino has ever made, an experimental triumph that is most rewarding if you can get on its wavelength and let it transfix you. It’s not hard when Daniel Craig and Drew Starkey are in front of the camera, with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross composing what is the cerebral inverse to what they created for Challengers. It pairs beautifully with Queer’s swooning arc, charting what is less the tale of a passionate affair than a rich drama about obsession and yearning in agony. And let’s face it: Is anything more terrifying than unrequited love? (Read Alex Papaioannou’s review here.)
5. Evil Does Not Exist (Ryusuke Hamaguchi)
Where Drive My Car had its centerpiece audition scene and its closing performance of the “Uncle Vanya” production that the prior three hours had been building toward, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s latest meditative masterwork has a town hall meeting and a devastating conclusion that is both too brilliant to spoil and too layered to pin down. Perhaps what has kept the film on my mind since seeing it for the first time at the 2023 New York Film Festival, then twice more in theaters this year. It’s one of a small number of films that I have continued to return to in an effort to further explore its meaning. The most fascinating thing about Evil Does Not Exist, among the many, is how it’s the evolving world itself that pits the film’s characters against one another, not solely their personal desires. (Read Alex Papaioannou’s review here.)
4. No Other Land (Rachel Szor, Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, & Hamdan Ballal)
It’s true that the courageous Israeli-Palestinian collective behind the work of activism that is No Other Land have made a movie that hovers above any other documentary I’ve seen this year, and, in many ways, is the best thing I’ve seen all year. But it’s more than great, transcendent, essential, or whatever other distinction one wishes to apply to it in their assessment. It is a series of shattering images and acts that directs a flood light toward the malicious acts one nation’s militia is happy to execute in order to punish another, from soldiers teaming to fill a water well with cement to the film’s final frames, which feature perhaps the most vicious of all crimes committed on screen over 95 minutes. It can be strangely hopeful: Abraham was willing to risk his own life, defying his government in order to aid innocent people in their fight against injustice; Adra, meanwhile, remains in Masafer Yatta, continuing to organize efforts to save his home despite the many attacks it continues to suffer from outside forces. Yet that hope, as it attempts to creep into the frame throughout, is swiftly swept aside, another demolition unfolding down the road, gunfire ringing through the fills from a nearby settlement. “We need people to make a change,” Adra says late in the film. “They watch something, they’re touched. Then what?” Perhaps turning No Other Land into a document that is eternal as it is vital could get the ball rolling. In order for that to happen, it would need a distributor. At the time of this writing, none have been brave enough to step up. (Read my review here.)
3. Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve)
The very existence of Dune: Part Two is astonishing, a work that has historically been deemed “unadaptable” having been adapted as meticulously as anyone can get to the source material without veering the worm off the side of the sand dune. Not only does Denis Villeneuve’s second installment take the path laid out by his first and elevate it, but it does something few sequels have ever been capable of doing: it elevates its genre to unprecedented heights that all sci-fi films in its wake will be chasing. Timothée Chalamet deserves award consideration for his work as Paul Atreides, but both Zendaya and Javier Bardem steal the movie having been given far more to do here than they were in Dune (2021)’s final 30 minutes. (Read M.N. Miller’s review here.)
2. The Brutalist (Brady Corbet)
Is Brady Corbet cinema’s next Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, or Paul Thomas Anderson? I’m not yet sold. (Though it’s fair to assume he’d be reasonably happy with any of those three careers, as would fans of his first three features.) If The Brutalist, a staggering, grand epic unlike any American film of the recent past, is any indication, such reverence is just the beginning. What Corbet has built with this ever-rich, decades-spanning film about a Hungarian-born architect who survived the Holocaust and later flees post-World War II Europe to take a job in America, one that unexpectedly changes the course of his life, is the cinematic equivalent of the Great American Novel. Despite a runtime of 215 minutes, you never once feel as though Corbet is lengthening the proceedings for sport, as The Brutalist is entirely engrossing, meticulously detailed, and warrants how massive it is, in both scale and scope. At the time of my first viewing, it was without question the best film I’d seen in 2024; even at number two, it’s a true masterpiece in every sense of the distinction. (Read my review here.)
1. Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross)
In a 1996 interview with Charlie Rose, the late, great critic Roger Ebert gave what is, for my money, the foremost quote about the cinematic experience. When Rose asked why Ebert believed “no other artform touches life the way movies do,” he replied, “It takes us inside the lives of other people. When a movie is really working, we have an out-of-body experience.” Rose laughed: “You’ve seen too many movies, Roger.” Standing his ground, Ebert countered, challenging his interviewer to recall a time where he found himself so wrapped up in the story unfolding on screen that he wasn’t aware of his surroundings, let alone where his car was parked or what was going to happen the next day. “You only care about what’s going to happen to those people next. When that happens, it gives us an empathy for other people who are there on the screen that is more sharp and more effective and powerful than any other artform.”
RaMell Ross’ Nickel Boys is a revelation that inspires such a feeling, not solely because of the technical command that lies within, and not even strictly due to the magnetic turns from its breakout star duo and the established supporting players that surround them. Adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, Ross’ film is uniquely-striking in just how potent and formidable it is, both as a feat of storytelling and as a triumph in emotional hijacking. I am certain that I was out-of-body while watching Nickel Boys, a film that is so sensitive and immense that it is wholly indicative of having a visionary talent at its helm. Much like Ross’ prior film, the Oscar-nominated Hale County This Morning, This Evening, its artistic ambitions are features, not bugs or gimmicks, no matter how many short-sighted viewers wish to reduce them to such empty terms. It’s the rare sort of feature that feels like it is reinventing its format while simultaneously moving the craft forward. Nickel Boys the single best film to be released this year, and as powerful as many others managed to be, the margin isn’t particularly close. (Read my review here.)
A few days ago, BAFTA’s longlists provided critical new data on the Oscar race. Seven of the titles I’d penciled in for Best Cinematography made the first round of cuts: The Brutalist, Nosferatu, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, A Complete Unknown, Dune: Part Two, and Gladiator II. Instead of going to Nickel Boys, Joker: Folie à Deux, and Blitz as I had predicted they would, the remaining three slots were filled by Civil War, The Substance, and (in one of the best things to happen this season) Anora.The only film of this set that didn’t appear on my just-published (pre-BAFTA-longlist) breakdown of the season’s Cinematography contenders is Civil War (which Chasing the Gold editor Shadan Larki warned I was underestimating). Maria took the day’s biggest stumble (missing not only Cinematography but also Leading Actress for Angelina Jolie, where it was thought safest), followed by Nickel Boys.
Now that BAFTA has narrowed the field, it’s significantly easier to predict how the British Society of Cinematographers’ lineup will look. Even when the two voting bodies diverge, the guild’s discrepant picks still get longlisted (e.g., Saltburn, Tár, Cyrano). With that piece of the puzzle in place, we can more or less picture the American Society of Cinematographers’ nominations and, finally, the Academy’s. The Brutalist, Nosferatu, and Conclave all showed up as expected and are likely to be the annual trio of Oscar finalists nominated by all three major precursors (ASC, BSC, BAFTA). Emilia Pérez also turned out to be a safe choice (the only precursor it might miss is ASC).
A Complete Unknown may look like a shock considering few thought it stood a chance, but its inclusion makes plenty of sense. BAFTA members are fans of both Phedon Papamichael and music biopics. If Conclave slips at ASC (the group did overlook the similarly styled Tár) while A Complete Unknown gets nominated, could that film be this season’s third ASC/BSC/BAFTA contender (even if Conclave ultimately gets an Oscar nomination)?
Joker: Folie a Deux was always a risky bet. For the controversial sequel, missing a group of ten selected by some of Gotham City’s most frequent tourists is pretty disqualifying. Now that it wasn’t longlisted by BAFTA, the prospect of a BSC nomination has essentially disappeared.
The Girl with the Needle, on the other hand, didn’t need BAFTA to stay competitive. The path I predicted for it—Camerimage, ASC, Oscar—is still open. Bardo and El Conde nabbed their sole Oscar nods with that combination, and neither was longlisted by BAFTA. The Girl with the Needle did, however, appear in International Feature, which means the oversight in Cinematography wasn’t an accident. But that may not mean much, considering Bardo appeared on BAFTA’s 2022-23 Best Non-English Film longlist while being omitted from Cinematography (El Conde was overlooked in both). If the Danish International Feature contender comes up short, I’ll most likely swap it in my Oscar picks for A Complete Unknown.
Nickel Boys also didn’t need a BAFTA nomination, but a longlist mention seemed possible enough considering this was the only group that included The Zone of Interest in their final lineup. Unlike Joker, Nickel Boys actually has a chance of being revived by ASC. Without a guild mention, though, the film’s road to an Oscar nomination is practically nonexistent: only one film has ever made the cut with just a Critics’ Choice nomination (2015’s The Hateful Eight).
The Substance finally showed strength in this category; Gladiator II was to be expected given BAFTA’s history with Ridley Scott; Blitz is officially out of the race; Anora might actually be competitive for a BSC nomination, but I’m biased and have long been looking for an excuse to predict it.
Now our attention moves to ASC, which unveils its lineup on Thursday, January 9. BSC will weigh in with their picks on January 11.
ASC Predictions:
The Brutalist
Nosferatu
Conclave
The Girl with the Needle
A Complete Unknown
(alt. Emilia Pérez, Maria, Nickel Boys)
BSC Predictions:
The Brutalist
Nosferatu
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Anora
(alt. A Complete Unknown, Dune: Part Two, Civil War)
BAFTA Predictions:
The Brutalist
Nosferatu
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
A Complete Unknown
(alt. Anora, Dune: Part Two, Civil War)
Oscar Predictions:
The Brutalist
Nosferatu
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
The Girl with the Needle (alt. A Complete Unknown, Dune: Part Two, Nickel Boys)
On this episode, JD and Brendan discuss Mike Leigh’s new film Hard Truths, starring a phenomenal Marianne Jean-Baptiste! We’ve been looking forward to this one for awhile now. Leigh is a really solid filmmaker and he always gets amazing performances out of his actors. And boy, is this one no different. This is also one of those conversations where we fell in love with the film more as we discussed it further.
Review: Hard Truths (4:00) Director: Mike Leigh Writers: Mike Leigh Stars: Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Michele Austin, David Webber
We are just a few days away from our 12th annual InSession Film Awards show as we discuss the very best that film had to offer in 2024. This is an exciting time of year and our awards show is one our favorite things we get to do. As we’ve done in previous years, for Part 1, we will have a list of categories where we each nominate five candidates and then present our winner for that category. For Part 2 of the awards ceremonies, we will reveal our Top 10 movies of 2024.
So, to help you prepare for the show, we’ve laid out below all of the categories we’ll be discussing this weekend. To play along, select five nominees and a winner for each category. Then stay tuned for Episode 619 as we discuss each category and we’ll see how your selections compare with ours. Click on the link below if you would like a print out version.
Remember, treat each category as your own. Select your own nominees and winner based on your own experience with film this last year. If you’d like, email, Facebook or tweet us your ballot. We would love to see how your awards sheet turns out!
InSession Film Awards Categories:
Individual Special Awards
– For this category, make up your own special awards that you want to give away. This can be anything from film in 2024 that isn’t related to any category below. (I.E. Best Production Design, Best Use of Inanimate Object, Best Animal Performance, etc)
Best Movie Discovery
Best Surprise Actor/Actress
Best Surprise Movie
Best Overlooked Movie
Best Opening/Closing Credits Sequence or Scene
Best Use of Song
– Any song (non-score) used in the film, either original or per-existing. Opening and Closing credits count.
Best Original Score
Best Animated Movie
Best Foreign Language Movie
Best Documentary
Best Cinematography
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Original Screenplay
Best Director
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Actress
Best Actor
Best Picture
– Hear our Top 10 films of 2024 on Part 2 of Episode 619.
This week on Chasing the Gold, Shadan and Erica break down the 2025 Golden Globe Awards and what it all means for this year’s Oscar race! There were some surprising winners at this year’s Golden Globes, and it was very exciting to see. Other categories were more predictable. On the whole there’s uncertainty and that’s a refreshing change of pace.
On that note, check out this week’s show and let us know what you think in the comment section. Thanks for listening and for supporting the InSession Film Podcast!
