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.

The Brutalist premiered at the Venice Film Festival

The Brutalist Released: September 1, 2024 Studio: A24, UIP-Duna Film, Universal Pictures, Focus Features Genre: epic period drama Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 14.59 Worldwide: 31.31 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Brady Corbet Screenwriting: Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold Starring: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce Review: The Brutalist is an epic period drama directed and co-written by Brady Corbet. László Tóth (Brody) is a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor who immigrates to the United States. He ends up a heroin addict who shovels coal and lives in charity housing until a wealthy client, Harrison Lee Van Buren (Pearce), learns about Tóth’s past as “an accomplished architect in Europe” WK and commissions him toe build a community center in honor of Van Buren’s late mother. Felicity Jones is Erzsébet, Tóth’s wife. She is separated from her husband when they are in the concentration camp and Tóth does not know if she’s alive when he first comes to America. Van Buren helps expediate her immigration to America, but life isn’t all rosy as the couple endure bigotry. FlickFilosopher.com’s Mary Ann Johanson said the film is “Stark and unsentimental, as stubborn and as challenging as its protagonist, and as monumental as his works. Adrien Brody’s performance is extraordinary, full of flinty anger and palpable melancholy.” FF Corbet “has pulled out all the stops to remind us what cinema used to be and, one senses the desperate urgency of subliminal appeal, could be again.” FF The film premiered September 1, 2024, at the Venice Film Festival where Corbet won the award for Best Director. It was released in the United States on December 20, 2024. Sources: FF FlickFilosopher.com movie review by Mary Ann Johanson WK Wikipedia

Awards/Honors/Lists: Eras: Awards: Oscars: Wins: ? Nominations: 10: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Brody), Best Supporting Actress (Jones), Best Supporting Actor (Pearce), Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Original Score First posted 3/2/2025.