Ten 2024 Best Actress Oscar Nomination Contenders

 

Ten 2024 Best Actress Oscar Nomination Contenders

Fantasia Barrino – The Color Purple (Warner Bros) - The Color Purple documents the traumas and gradual triumph of Celie, an African American teenager raised in rural isolation in Georgia as she comes to resist the paralyzing self-concept forced on her by others. Celie narrates her life through painfully honest letters to God.

Annette Bening – Nyad (Netflix) – True story of sixty-four-year-old marathon swimmer Diana Nyad attempts to become the first person ever to swim from Cuba to Florida.

Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall (NEON) - Sandra, Samuel and their visually impaired son Daniel have been living in a remote mountain location for the past year. When Samuel is found dead outside the house, an investigation for death in suspicious circumstances is launched. Amidst the uncertainty, Sandra is indicted: Was it suicide or homicide? A year later Daniel attends his mother’s trial, a veritable dissection of his parents’ relationship.

Greta Lee – Past Lives (A24) - Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Decades later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront destiny, love and the choices that make a life.

Natalie Portman – May December (Netflix) - Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance, a married couple buckle under the pressure when a Hollywood actress meets them to do research for a film about their past.

Carey Mulligan – Maestro (Netflix) - Maestro is an upcoming American biographical drama film directed by Bradley Cooper and produced by Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Todd Phillips, as well as Cooper, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Josh Singer. It is based on the life of Leonard Bernstein, who worked as a conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. The film stars Cooper as Bernstein, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, and Sarah Silverman. Maestro is scheduled to be released in 2023 by Netflix.  A biopic about the life of Leonard Bernstein, with a focus on his marriage to Felicia Montealegre aka Carey Mulligan.

Kate Winslet – Lee - The story of photographer Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

Phoebe Dynevor – Fair Play (Netflix) - Is a 2023 American erotic thriller film written and directed by Chloe Domont, in her feature directorial debut. The premise is when a coveted promotion at a cutthroat financial firm arises, supportive exchanges between the lovers begin to sour into something more sinister. As the power dynamics irrevocably shift in their relationship, Luke and Emily must face the true price of success and the unnerving limits of ambition. Fair Play premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2023. It will be distributed by Netflix.

Jane Levy – A Little Prayer (Sony Pictures Classics) - Tammy (Jane Levy) and husband David (Will Pullen) lead a quiet life in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, sharing a home with David’s parents, Bill (David Strathairn) and Venida (Celia Weston). David and Bill work together and have always been closely involved in each other’s lives. When Bill begins to suspect that David is straying in his marriage, he is drawn into a relationship minefield, caught between wanting to protect his amicable daughter-in-law and trying to understand his impulsive son. As Bill confronts the limits of patriarchal influence, he is also forced to reckon with disheartening behavioral patterns that may be transcending generations.

Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures) – Could be lead or supporting nomination. – Limited Theater Release - Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 American epic Western crime drama film directed and co-produced by Martin Scorsese, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Roth, based on the 2017 book of the same name by David Grann. Its plot centers on a series of Oklahoma murders in the Osage Nation during the 1920s, committed after oil was discovered on tribal land. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio alongside Robert DeNiro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow. It marks the seventh collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio and the eleventh between Scorsese and DeNiro.

Ten 2024 Best Actor Oscar Nomination Contenders

 

Ten 2024 Best Actor Oscar Nomination Contenders

Bradley Cooper – Maestro (Netflix) - Maestro is an upcoming American biographical drama film directed by Bradley Cooper and produced by Director Martin Scorsese, Director Steven Spielberg, and Director Todd Phillips, as well as Cooper, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Josh Singer. It is based on the life of Leonard Bernstein, who worked as a conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. The film stars Cooper as Bernstein, Carey Mulligan, Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke, and Sarah Silverman. Maestro is scheduled to be released in 2023, by Netflix.

Colman Domingo – Rustin (Netflix) - Rustin is an upcoming American biographical drama film directed by George C. Wolfe from a screenplay written by Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black. The film is produced by Barack and Michelle Obama's production company Higher Ground Productions. The story revolves around gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who helped organize the 1963 March on Washington alongside Martin Luther King Jr. It is scheduled to be released on Netflix in 2023.

Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures) – Limited Theater Release - Killers of the Flower Moon is a 2023 American epic Western crime drama film directed and co-produced by Martin Scorsese, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Roth, based on the 2017 book of the same name by David Grann. Its plot centers on a series of Oklahoma murders in the Osage Nation during the 1920s, committed after oil was discovered on tribal land. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio alongside Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow. It marks the seventh collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio and the eleventh between Scorsese and De Niro.

David Strathairn – A Little Prayer (Sony Pictures Classics) - Tammy (Jane Levy) and husband David (Will Pullen) lead a quiet life in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, sharing a home with David’s parents, Bill (David Strathairn) and Venida (Celia Weston). David and Bill work together and have always been closely involved in each other’s lives. When Bill begins to suspect that David is straying in his marriage, he is drawn into a relationship minefield, caught between wanting to protect his amicable daughter-in-law and trying to understand his impulsive son. As Bill confronts the limits of patriarchal influence, he is also forced to reckon with disheartening behavioral patterns that may be transcending generations.

Anthony Hopkins – Freud’s Last Session (Sony Pictures Classics) - Freud's Last Session is an upcoming film, based on the stage play of the same name by Mark St. Germain, which itself is based upon the book The Question of God, written by Armand Nicholi. The screenplay was written by St. Germain, with the film directed by Matt Brown and starring Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Goode. It tells of a meeting between C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud and the debate on God that follows, and discussions of the nature of their relationships with other people such as Freud’s daughter.

Barry Keoghan – Saltburn (Amazon Studios) - Saltburn is an upcoming black comedy-drama thriller film that began filming in July 2022, written, directed, and produced by Emerald Fennell. Premise is about a college student (Barry Keoghan) becomes obsessed over a rich classmate (Jacob Elordi) who is from an aristocratic family.          

Kingsley Ben-Adir – Marley, One Love (Paramount Pictures) - Bob Marley: One Love is about the biographical drama film about the life of singer and songwriter Bob Marley. Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, and written by Zach Baylin, Frank E. Flowers, and Terence Winter, the film stars Kingsley Ben-Adir as Marley, alongside Lashana Lynch as Rita Marley, and Jesse Cilio as Norval Marley.

Joaquin Phoenix – Napoleon (Apple Original Films/Sony Pictures) - Napoleon is an upcoming historical drama film directed and produced by Ridley Scott and written by David Scarpa. It is based on the true story of Napoleon Bonaparte, primary depicting the French leader's rise to power as well as through the lens of his addictive and volatile relationship with Empress Joséphine. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby, and Tahar Rahim. Napoleon is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 22, 2023, by Sony Pictures Releasing, before streaming on Apple TV+ at a later date.

Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers (Focus Features) - The Holdovers is an upcoming American comedy-drama film directed by Alexander Payne, written by David Hemingson and starring Paul Giamatti. It will be given a limited release in theatres on November 10, 2023, followed by a wide release on November 22. The premise is about the disliked Deerfield Academy teacher Paul Hunham who is put in charge of supervising Angus, a smart and rebellious student unable to journey home for Christmas. Joining them is Mary, the school's head cook.

Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures) - Oppenheimer is an upcoming biographical thriller film directed, written and co-produced by Christopher Nolan about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear weapons. Based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, the film stars Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer, with a supporting ensemble cast including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh. Oppenheimer is scheduled for release in the United Kingdom and United States on July 21, 2023, by Universal Pictures.

 

20th Anniversary of 2003 Films

20^th Anniversary of 2003 Films

*OSCAR WINNERS

*NOMINATED FOR BEST PICTURE

I saw all of these that year

21 Grams

Bad Santa

Catch Me if You Can

City of God

Cold Mountain – (Best Supporting Renée Zellweger)

Dirty Pretty Things

Elf

Finding Nemo

House of Sand and Fog

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

In America

Kill Bill: Volume 1

Lost in Translation

Love Actually

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Matchstick Men

Monster – (Best Actress Charlize Theron)

Mystic River – (Best Actor Sean Penn - Best Supporting Tim Robbins)

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Open Range

Phone Booth

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pear

S.W.A.T.

Seabiscuit

Something's Gotta Give

Tears of the Sun

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

The Cooler

The Dancer Upstairs

The Fog of War (Documentary)

The Girl with the Pearl Earing

The Human Stain

The Italian Job

The Last Samurai

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Best Picture – Best Director Peter Jackson)

The Matrix Reloaded

The Room

The Station Agent

Winged Migration

Whale Rider

Sci-Fi Films Coming Soon 2023 - 2024

                      

 Sci-Fi Films Coming Soon

2023 -2024 

* Definitely Want To See 

A Quiet Place III - John Krasinski an integral part of the A Quiet Place film franchise will not direct A Quiet Place Part III.

Alien: Romulus - is an upcoming science fiction horror film directed by Fede Álvarez and co-written by Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues, serving as a "standalone" installment, the seventh mainline installment and ninth film overall in the Alien franchise. It stars Cailee Spaeny, Isabela Merced, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Spike Fearn, and Aileen Wu.

Avatar 3 -  Starring Sam Worthington · Zoe Saldaña · Sigourney Weaver · Stephen Lang · Giovanni Ribisi · Kate Winslet · David Thewlis · Oona Chaplin. More Water from Director Cameron with his unique touch for imaginative special effects.

Beetlejuice 2 – Director Tim Burton reprises the successful 1988 film starring Jenna Ortega, Michael Keaton, Wilem Dafoe, Monica Bellucci and Winona Ryder. This is a follow-up to the comedy about a ghost named Beetlejuice and a haunt a house.

Distant - An upcoming sci-fi comedy film directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck that revolves around an asteroid miner. After crash-landing on a foreign planet, the miner must navigate the hostile landscape while running out of oxygen and dodging bizarre creatures in order to reach the other survivor.

Dune: Part Two – This is the second installment of Denis Villeneuve's two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel Dune and serves as a direct sequel to the 2021 film. The movie will continue where Dune left off, following Paul Atreides' (Timothée Chalamet) ascent to power and subsequent uprising against Emperor Shaddam IV.

Gladiator 2 – Actor Pascal aka “The Mandalorian” - Denzel Washington – Connie Nielsen.  Directed by Ridley Scott. Serving as a sequel to Gladiator (2000). No Plot details.

Joker: Folie à Deux – Director Todd Philipps brings the sequel back to life with Oscar Winner Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker along with Zazie Beetz and Catherine Keener.Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes -

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - The New Apes movie is set many years after the conclusion of 2017's War for the Planet of the Apes. Many apes’ societies have grown from when the Moses-like Caesar brought his people to an oasis, while humans have been reduced to a feral-like existence. Some ape groups have never heard of Caesar, while others have contorted his teaching to build burgeoning empires. In this setting, one ape leader begins to enslave other groups to find human technology, while another ape, who watched his clan be taken, embarks on a journey to find freedom. A young human woman becomes key to the latter's quest, although she has plans of her own.

Mad Max: The Wasteland – (Part Prequel – Sequel to Mad Max: Fury Road) – Directed by George Miller – “The Wasteland" will probably end up chronicling the continuing adventures of Mad Max, A.K.A. Max Rockatansky, a former cop whose family was murdered by a gang and who sought revenge against those who committed that terrible crime. Cast Tom Hardy is back with Anya Taylor Joy as the new “Furiosa” along Chris Hemsworth”.

Spaceless - An assassin wakes up inside a spacesuit tumbling helplessly through space, with a computer designed to keep him company until his air runs out. He must try to solve the mystery of his death, which began when he broke into an orbiting space station to carry out a hit. Director Gore Verbinski – Won Academy Award for Best Animation in 2012 “Rango”.

The Electric State – An upcoming American science fiction adventure film directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It is based on the narrative art book of the same name by Simon Stålenhag. Plot is about an orphaned teenager traverses the American West with a sweet but mysterious robot and an eccentric drifter in search of her younger brother. Millie Bobby Brown - Chris Pratt - Ke Huy Quan - Stanley Tucci - Jason Alexander - Brian Cox - Jenny Slate - Giancarlo Esposito - Anthony Mackie and Billy Bob Thornton.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Is an upcoming dystopian action-adventure movie based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins which serves as both a sequel and prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy.

The Pod Generation - An upcoming sci-fi romantic comedy film directed by Sophie Barthes that will be set in the near future where AI is all the craze and nature is fading into obscurity. The protagonists of the story are the New Yorker couple, Rachel and Alvy, who are prepared to have a family using a new technology created by a tech giant Pegasus. Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke and Oscar-nominated Chiwetel Ejiofor are set to headline the film in the leading roles. The diverse cast also includes Kathryn Hunter, Vinette Robinson, Rosalie Craig, Jean-Marc Barr, Rita Bernard-Shaw, and Megan Maczko. The movie is scheduled to be released sometime in 2023.

BEST PICTURE OSCAR CONTENDERS - First Half of 2023

 

  

BEST PICTURE OSCAR CONTENDERS

First Half of 2023

*Leading Contender

BEST PICTURE

 “DUNE 2” -  In Part Two, viewers can expect Villeneuve's plot to favor the second half of Herbert's Dune, which tracks Paul's rise to power among the Fremen and his eventual rebellion against Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV.

 “Anatomy of a Fall” - Sandra, Samuel and their visually impaired son Daniel have been living in a remote mountain location for the past year. When Samuel is found dead outside the house, an investigation for death in suspicious circumstances is launched. Amidst the uncertainty, Sandra is indicted: Was it suicide or homicide?

 “The Holdovers” – A Comedy - Forced to spend Christmas break with a handful of students, a curmudgeonly college professor develops an unlikely bond with a school troublemaker and the head cook.

 “Killers of the Flower Moon” – A true film story a series of murders of wealthy Osage people that took place in Osage County, Oklahoma, in the early 1920s—after big oil deposits were discovered beneath their land.

 “Maestro” – Leonard Bernstein - The film story of the complicated life of the famed musical conductor American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian

 “May December” - Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance, a married couple buckle under the pressure when a Hollywood actress meets them to do research for a film about their past.

 “Oppenheimer” - Physicist J Robert Oppenheimer works with a team of scientists during the Manhattan Project, leading to the development of the atomic bomb.

 “Saltburn” – A dark comedy-drama thriller about a college student who becomes obsessed over a rich classmate who is from an aristocratic family.

 “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” - After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. However, when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders. He must soon redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.

 “The Zone of Interest” - A Nazi officer falls in love with the woman of the commander of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

SLEEPER CONTENDERS

 “Rustin” - Bayard Rustin, advisor to Martin Luther King Jr., dedicates his life to the quest for racial equality, human rights and worldwide democracy. However, as an openly gay Black man, he is all but erased from the civil rights movement he helped build.

“Asteroid City” - World-changing events spectacularly disrupt the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention in an American desert town circa 1955.

“Nyad” - Sixty-four-year-old marathon swimmer Diana Nyad attempts to become the first person ever to swim from Cuba to Florida. Annett Benning Stars.

“The Book of Clarence” -  Inspired by classic Hollywood epics set in biblical times, The Book of Clarence tells the tale of "Clarence," a down on his luck denizen of Jerusalem embarking on a misguided attempt to capitalize on the rise of celebrity and influence of the Messiah for his own personal gain - a journey that leads him on an exploration of the idea of faith and to a highly unexpected path of his own.

“The Color Purple” – Musical adaption of the 1985 film – Director: Blitz Bazawule -  Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg are Executive Producers.