We are officially in the middle of awards season. Just last night the 2024 Grammy Awards were dished out in the music world and movie-wise, centre stage was the London Film Critics’ Circle which named their flicks of the year. We’re still just under five weeks out from this year’s Academy Awards winners being named so we thought we’d take a look at the current frontrunners in all of the top categories.
We’ll kick things off with the award for Best Actress. The big name leading the pack at the moment is none other than Emma Stone who is simply fantastic in the Yorgos Lanthimos film Poor Things. We caught the film back in November at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and simply adored it, Stone and fellow nominee Mark Ruffalo, who has been named in the performance by an actor in a supporting role category. Stone is well ahead in the ‘actress’ category and she should take, though Lily Gladstone, nominated for her work in Killers of the Flower Moon, is the next favourite and could suprise on the night.
Across the way in the Best Actor category, we have the likes of Jeffrey Wright, nominated for American Fiction, which opened on UK screens this past weekend, Bradley Cooper for Maestro, which is screening on Netflix, Colman Domingo for fellow Netflix film Rustin, and Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers, which has also just debuted in British cinemas back in late January. While Giamatti is popular for his turn in Alexander Payne’s new film, it is Cillian Murphy who looks to be the outright bookie’s fave for the award.
Behind the camera for Best Director are Jonathan Glazer for the harrowing WWII-set The Zone Of Interest, Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon, Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things, and Justine Triet for the brilliant courtroom drama Anatomy Of A Fall but, of course, it is British director Christopher Nolan who has the cards in his favour at this precise moment in time. As I type this you check out Online Casino Ireland and similar sites having Nolan as the clear leader in the category with odds at around 1/20, which means you’d have to put £20 down to win one pound back. Lanthimos and Scorsese are currently priced at 16/1 which are much longer odds. Looks like Nolan will potentially be bringing home his first Oscar, if you believe the pundits.
The big award on the night is Best Picture, and, as we’ve seen in the last few years, there are ten films in the running. In the betting circles, Maestro is coming in at the 100/1 long shot on various sites. There’s also the Korean film Past Lives (which is excellent), The Zone Of Interest, American Fiction, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie and Anatomy of a Fall also in the running for the top gong, but it is The Holdovers, Poor Things and Nolan’s Oppenheimer in the top three with the latter the favourite for the award by a country mile.
Oppenheimer leads most of the categories it is nominated in, but, if you’re looking for something that is a little more closely run, take a look at Best Visual Effects where it is pretty much an open field. The top shots are the superb Godzilla Minus One and Gareth Edwards’ The Creator, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could also stand a chance here.
A lot can change in the final month of the build-up to the big night in Los Angeles with the BAFTAs still to be handed out (on the night of February 18th), and the SAG Awards which will be dished out on 24th February, a ceremony which could affect the acting gongs.
We’ll keep you informed as we approach this year’s Oscars which will be on handed out on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.
