Anora wins Oscar for Best Picture

Anora Released: May 21, 2024 Studio: Film Nation Entertainment, Cre Film Genre: romantic drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 15.43 Worldwide: 34.95 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Sean Baker Screenwriting: Sean Baker Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian, Vache Tovmasyan, Aleksei Serebryako Review: Anora is a romantic drama produced, written, directed, and edited by Sean Baker. He said the movie was inspired by “a story from a friend about a Russian-American newlywed who was kidnapped for collateral.” WK He also used his own experience editing wedding videos from 2000-01, including some of Russian-Americans in New York. WK The title character (Madison) is a New York sex worker who meets Vanya (Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch. After he pays her for several sexual encounters, he impulsively asks her to marry him and they elope in Vegas. His family is then determined to have the marriage annulled. “The film’s pace is frenetic” KM which “might overwhelm some people” KM but Anora is “a must-watch for cinema fans worldwide.” KM Baker knows how “to tell stories that feel real” and in Anora, “his most important film to date,” KM he does that with a “story filled with memorable characters and a main performance that is just magical.” KM The movie premiered at Cannes on May 21 where it won the Palme d’Or. It was released theatrically on October 18. Sources: KM Koimoi.com review by Nelson Acosta WK Wikipedia

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Eras: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 5: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Madison), Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing Nominations: 6: Best Supporting Actor (Borisov) First posted 3/2/2025.

CODA premiered at Sundance

CODA Released: January 28, 2021 Studio: Apple Original Films Genre: coming of age Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: -- Worldwide: 1.91 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Siân Heder Screenwriting: Siân Heder Starring: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Marlee Matlin Review: CODA is a coming-of-age film written and directed by Siân Heder. It is an English-language remake of the French-Belgian 2014 film La Famille Bélier. Ruby Rossi (Jones) is a child of deaf adults (CODA) who wants to become a singer despite her family’s hope that she help with the family fishing business after she graduates from high school. MadnessBrewing.com says the movie “is a really great film…despite its formulaic nature.” MB “Even though the expected outcome was always the result, it never felt disappointing.” MB “What CODA suffers from in lack of twists, it makes up in character development and relationships.” MB CODA was the first film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival to go on and win the Oscar for Best Picture. Kotsur was the first male deaf actor to win an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. All of the deaf characters in the film were portrayed by deaf actors. Sources: MB MadnessBrewing.com review by Jamie Gore WK Wikipedia

Awards/Honors/Lists: Eras: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 3. Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Kotsur), Best Adapted Screenplay Nominations: 3 First posted 3/2/2025.

Nomadland, the eventual Best Picture Oscar winner, released

Nomadland Released: September 11, 2020 Studio: Highwayman, Hear/Say Productions, Cor Cordium Productions, Searchlight Pictures Genre: drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 3.70 Worldwide: 39.46 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Chloé Zhao Screenwriting: Chloé Zhao Starring: Frances McDormand Review: Frances McDormand stars “as a widow who leaves her life in Nevada to travel around the United States in her van as a nomad” WK in this “docu-fictional hybrid” GN based on Jessica Bruder’s 2017 non-fiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. The movie captures a sad “a new phenomenon: America’s 60- and 70-something generation whose economic future was shattered by the 2008 crash. They are grey-haired middle-class strivers reduced to poverty who can’t afford to retire but can’t afford to work while maintaining a home. So they have become nomads, a new American tribe roaming the country in camper vans in which they sleep, looking for seasonal work.” GN However, the movie also shows “that, along with the hardship and the heartache, there is also serenity in this way of life, even a kind of euphoria – without the burdens of a house and possessions you can have a glorious and very American freedom in the lost tradition of Emerson and Twain.” GN The movie was written, produced, directed, and edited by Chloé Zhao. She became only the second woman to win an Oscar for Best Director and the first Asian woman. She was also the first to be nominated in four categories in a single year. Sources: GN The Guardian movie review by Peter Bradshaw WK Wikipedia

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 3. Best Picture, Best Director (Chloé Zhao), Best Actress (McDormand) Nominations: 6. Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography First posted 3/1/2025.