News

2024 BAM Award Nominations

Posted on by bernardovillela

In keeping to my pattern of previous years, I have kept in step with the Oscars (announcing nominations one day later). The delays in the announcement have, of course, been understandable due to the devastating wildfires across Los Angeles County. If you’re looking for a way to aid in the recovery effort, here’s just a small list of resources. Every little bit helps.

With no graceful way to segue, so on to some notes then nominations.

Please note that some films from last Awards’ Season are included due to their nationwide release date.

As always they were difficult to decide upon. Best Score always proves most difficult with such diversity of style and disparate aims of music. If you use Apple music you can listen to all the scores that were in serious contention in my playlist where I listened to them repeatedly.

Categories marked Not Awarded are ones I wanted to include but they didn’t have enough contenders.

As usual I will provide further insight when I announce the winners.

Without further ado the nominations…

Best Picture

American Fiction

Dìdi

Dune: Part Two

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

I Saw the TV Glow

Longlegs

Nosferatu

Problemista

The Substance

The Wait (La Espera)

Best Foreign Language Film

Not awarded.

Most Overlooked Picture

Drive-Away Dolls

Problemista

Rumours

The Wait (La Espera)

We Grown Now

Best Director

Robert Eggers Nosferatu

Coralie Fargeat The Substance

Cord Jefferson American Fiction

Julio Torres Problemista

Denis Villeneuve Dune: Part Two

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Cynthia Erivo Wicked

Lily-Rose Depp Nosferatu

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Tuesday

Demi Moore The Substance

Emma Stone Poor Things

Tilda Swinton Problemista

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Timothée Chalamet A Complete Unknown

Victor Clavijo The Wait (La Espera)

Ralph Fiennes Conclave

Hugh Grant Heretic

Nicholas Hoult Nosferatu

Justice Smith I Saw the TV Glow

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Sônia Braga The First Omen

Michelle Buteau Babes

Joan Chen Dìdi

Ariana Grande Wicked

Isabella Rossellini Conclave

Alicia Witt Longlegs

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Sterling K. Brown American Fiction

Nicolas Cage Longlegs

Willem Dafoe Nosferatu

Dennis Quaid The Substance

Mark Ruffalo Poor Things

Christopher Walken Dune: Part Two

Best Performance by a Young Female Actor in a Leading Role

Pyper Braun Imaginary

Cailey Fleming IF

Ariella Glaser White Bird

Beatrice Schneider The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Mia SwamiNathan Sight

Alisha Weir Abigail

Best Performance by a Young Male Actor in a Leading Role 

Luke David Blumm Lost on a Mountain in Maine

Federico Ielapi Cabrini

Homer Janson Nutcrackers

Izaac Wang Dìdi

Orlando Schwerdt White Bird

Rupert Turnbull Daddy’s Head

Best Performance by a Young Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Madsyn Barnes We Grown Now

Valeria Lamm The Hole in the Fence (El hoyo en la cerca)

Alix West Lefler Speak No Evil

Mahaela Park Dìdi

Molly Belle Wright The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Best Performance by a Young Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Bryce Gheisar White Bird

Maxwell Jenkins Arcadian

Griffin Wallace Henkel Lost on a Mountain in Maine

Mason D Nelligan The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Moisés Ruiz The Wait (La Espera)

Ben Wang Sight

Best Cast

Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, Brían F. O’Byrne, Sergio Catellito, Carlos Diehz, Lucian Msamati, Jacek Koman, Rony Kramer, Valerio Da Silva, Joseph Mydell, Vincenzo Failla, Garrick Hagon, Merab Ninidze, Mahdav Sharma Conclave

Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, etc.  Megalopolis

Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skargård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, and Simon McBurney Nosferatu

Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, Peter Dinklage, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Aaron Teoh, Shaun Prendergast Wicked

Christian Friedel, Sandra Hüller, Johann Karthaus, Luis Noah Witte, Nele Ahrensmeier, Lilli Falk, Anastazja Drobniak, Cecylia Pekala, and Max Beck The Zone of Interest

Best Youth Ensemble

Kynlee Heiman, Sebastian Billingsley-Rodriguez, Wyatt Dewar, Matthew Lamb, Owen Mathison, Ewan Matthis-Wood, Essek Moore, Laurelei Olivia Mote, Mason D Nelligan, and Isla Verot The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Valeria Lamm, Lucciano Kurti, Yuba Ortega, Santiago Barajas, Eric David Walker, Giovanni Conconi, Adolfo Osorio, etc. The Hole in the Fence (El hoyo en la cerca)

Mason Thames, Rafael Alejandro, and Ramon Reed Incoming

Blake Cameron James, RJ Lewis, Gian Knight Ramirez, Madsyn Barnes, and Giovani Chambers We Grown Now

Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Bryce Gheisar, Selma Keymakci, Jordan Cramond, Jem Matthews,and Mia Kadlecova White Bird

Best Documentary

Not Awarded

Best Original Screenplay

Francis Ford Coppola Megalopolis

Coralie Fargeat The Substance

JT Mollner Strange Darling

Jane Schoenbrun I Saw the TV Glow

Julio Torres Problemista

Best Adapted Screenplay

Robert Eggers, Patrick Galeen, Bram Stoker Nosferatu

Cord Jefferson, Percival Everett American Fiction

Peter Straughan, Robert Harris Conclave

Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts, Frank Herbert Dune: Part Two

James Watkins, Christian Tafdrup, Mads Tafdrup Speak No Evil

Best Original Score

Volker Bertelmann Conclave

Robin Carolan Nosferatu

Raffertie The Substance

Robert Ouyang Rusli Problemista

Hans Zimmer Dune: Part Two

Best Editing

Jérôme Eltabet, Coralie Fargeat, Valentin Féron The Substance

Nick Emerson Conclave

Louise Ford Nosferatu

Sofi Marshall I Saw the TV Glow

Joe Walker Dune: Part Two

Best Sound Editing/Mixing

Brian Berger, Lawrence He, Jessica Tresidder, et al. Arcadian

James Ashton, Laure Montagnol, Jessica Meir et al. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Dave Whitehead, Chris Terhune, Jeff Sawyer, Matt Stutter, Michael Babcock, Lee Gilmore, et al. Dune: Part Two

Michael Fentum, Anna-Agata Denzenova, Samir Foco, Mariusz Glabinski, Steve Little et al. Nosferatu

Martín Hernández, Charles Maynes, John Nathans, Alejandro Quevedo, Roland N. Thai et al. Terrifier 3

Best Cinematography

Jarin Blaschke Nosferatu

Stéphane Fontaine Conclave

Greig Fraser Dune: Part Two

Robbie Ryan Poor Things

Miguel Ángel Mora, Raúl Lavado Verdú The Wait (La Espera)

Best Art Direction

Craig Lathrop Nosferatu

Beth Mickle, Bradley Rubin Megalopolis

Stanislas Reydellet The Substance

Danny Vermette Longlegs

Patrice Vermette Dune: Part Two

Best Costume Design

Jenny Beavan Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Milena Canonero Megalopolis

Linda Muir, David Schwed Nosferatu

Paul Tazewell Wicked

Jaqueline West Dune: Part Two

Best Hair and Makeup

A Different Man

Longlegs

Nosferatu

The Substance

Wicked

Best Visual Effects

Alien: Romulus

Dune: Part Two

Megalopolis

Poor Things

Wicked

Best Soundtrack

Deadpool & Wolverine

Drive-Away Dolls

My Spy: The Eternal City

Red One

Y2K

Best Song

“Huele a Fraude” OHYUNG & STEFA* Problemista

“Harper and Will Go West” Kristin Wiig Harper & Will

“Song to Woody” Timothée Chalamet A Complete Unknown

“Kaawaa Kaawaa” Sachway Sachdev, Sudir Yaduvanshi, Sanj V Kill

“I Was Made For Lovin’ You” YUNGBLUD The Fall Guy

Robert Downey, Jr. Entertainer of the Year Award

TBA

Ingmar Bergman Lifetime Achievement Award

TBA

Neutron Star Award

TBA

Special Jury Awards

TBA

Moviegoing in Days of Future Past

Posted on by bernardovillela

The temptation to make this a tirade that meanders for far too long, waxes poetic finds any and all tangents and beats them to death several times over is great. However, with a few days I have been able to ponder the impetus for sitting down and writing this in the first place to the reasoned, cautionary bit of friendly advice was meant to be in the first place. In other words, please don’t take this as get-off-my-lawn but rather a necessary suggestion on course correction as we proceed through time as moviegoers.

The impetus was, as has been the case in the past, something overheard while leaving a theater. This time it was rather innocuously, and I must admit rather enthusiastically, a parent saying, mere moments after the end of the new X-Men film “Now we have to wait two years for the next one; X-Men: Apocalypse.”

This little moment struck me in so many ways as a microcosm of the current state of moviegoing, and entertainment in general. It was mere seconds after the film had ended, the experience not yet fully absorbed, but already the next one was anticipated and longed for. Clearly, there’s a positive to that. However, there’s a certain lack of even “stopping to smell the roses” indicated when one cannot walk out of an auditorium and wait five minutes before pondering the follow-up.

Hugo (2011, Paramount)

Perhaps the acuity of this particular observation was amplified because it was a parent and a kid (or kids). I distinctly recall not knowing what was coming out far in advance as a child and the surprise seemed to add to the magic. I’m not saying I don’t anticipate things for a long time now, but I still very diligently try to preserve mini-surprises like trying to only see trailers at the movies. I also don’t play the whole teaser to a trailer game.

The impact of this particular moment was further amplified by the fact that I anticipated there’d be another X-Men film but I honestly had not read up on it and didn’t even know a title. I fully understand that we live in a day and age wherein untitled projects from studios getting a slot three years down the line is news, and press releases including initial synopses get ubiquitous coverage, but I don’t want to look forward to all things at all times, so X-Men fell through the cracks. Not that I’ve had a big issue with any X-Men film. Perhaps it’s due to a subconscious desire to have Sony and Fox fall asleep at the wheel, or strike a deal, to unify the cinematic Marvel universe that I don’t diligently follow their plans.

Another reason this moment jumped out to me was that in my blogging I try and strike balance in what I cover. I try and keep current but also not forget cinematic achievements and glories of films past. It seems that the old struggle (for lack of a better word) was to not ignore the past as a film enthusiast. Now with the evolution of Internet coverage it seems at times a struggle to give adequate focus to the present.

Is it possible that all this short-sightedness has unexpected positive side-effects, such as more films being “rediscovered” after being too quickly summarily dismissed and/or ignored? Sure, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Look, I get that there’s a glut of information out there, and I don’t want to sit here and preach that we should be ignoramuses. I am perfectly aware of my bad habits. For example, I hate casting rumors and prefer confirmations, but I read both. I think my best advice to dealing with an excess of information is that there is a time for everything. So if you love a series you will read about what’s next regardless, but save your thoughts and longings for further installments for an adequate time after seeing the latest. Give it a moratorium.

X-Men: First Class (2011, Paramount)

Going back to the specific example that was the catalyst for this piece: I loved First Class a lot. So much so it ended up very high on my year-end list. My watching Days of Future Past was a lock based on how much I liked it. I saw news tidbits and they slipped in-and-out of my consciousness, as it was a film I wanted to see regardless. The trailer enticed me. I liked it quite a bit. Only today five days after seeing it did I start to read up on the stinger that closes it out. Granted it was a longer moratorium than is needed, and it connects to this last film, but it does foreshadow.

Everything is cyclical and going against the current, or trying to change is single-handedly, is foolhardy. A certain amount of information has always been available to film lover. It’s just that, like with everything, the Internet has democratized it and moved it out of the sole purview of the trades. I have more frequently lately had to check Fandango to see “What’s out this weekend?” It’s something a while ago I may have been embarrassed to admit, but I’d rather check it to see what’s out this weekend than know what’s out this weekend so I can see what I have to look forward to two or three years from now.