AFI Awards: ‘Barbie’ and ‘Spider-Verse’ Among 10 Best Films, Top TV Shows Include ‘Jury Duty’ and ‘Last of Us’

When Harry Met Sally fans! This Wednesday, Meg Ryan makes a rare TV appearance to honor her WHMS costar, Billy Crystal, when he is feted at the Kennedy Center Honors. The televised ceremony—which always airs during the last week of the year—recognizes artists who have made profound contributions to American culture through the arts.When Harry Met Sally is over 30 years old, but it is arguably the most quoted film in Ryan's and Crystal's movie careers, so it only makes sense that Ryan would want to pay homage to one of the greatest romcoms—and films—of our time.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Who says you can’t laugh and win Oscars, too? In a stunning year for cinema, the candidates for the coveted best picture category are overflowing with prime comedic endeavors that surpass their dramatic counterparts. From a toy doll to an author with a triumphant “Black book” to a reverse Frankenstein tale that shows a whole lot of sex, the Academy has an opportunity to invite the softer side of cinema to its ceremony.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the shortlists in 10 categories for the upcoming 96th Oscars ceremony. Overall, Greta Gerwig’s meta-comedy “Barbie” had the most mentions with five including sound, original song for its three submissions from Billie Eilish (“What I Was Made For?”), Dua Lipa (“Dance the Night”) and Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (“I’m Just Ken”), and original score, from the latter duo. The big miss for “Barbie” was in makeup and hairstyling, which was the category that yielded the most surprises.

As we head into Oscar season, one thing seems inevitable: while so many new contenders have officially entered the race just in November or December, “Poor Things,” “Maestro,” “The Holdovers,” “American Fiction,” and “Killers Of The Flower Moon,” the 2024 Oscars may be the first Academy Award season that boils down to two summer blockbuster movies: “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” And yes, it’s funny to think of those two films as summer blockbusters in the traditional sense, given they’re not superhero movies or action franchises, but let’s face it, they are; one grossed over 1 billion dollars (Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie”), and one came super close to that exact figure (Christopher Nolan’s movie).

Andrew Haigh’s drama All of Us Strangers has landed nine London Critics’ Circle Awards nominations, ahead of Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which has scored seven.

Maestro producer, Kristie Macosko Krieger, has spoken out about the backlash she received surrounding the casting of Carey Mulligan.The biopic, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper as the composer, Leonard Bernstein, received a three-star review from NME.It largely centres around Bernstein’s relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, who is played by Mulligan.Around the time of its release on Netflix last month, viewers have been critical of Mulligan’s casting in the role of the famous Chilean-American actress, when she herself is British.Speaking recently with GamesRadar+, Krieger shared that Mulligan’s casting was approved by Bernstein’s family. “She got the approval of the family and that for us, we were doing it right,” she revealed.She continued: “It was Bradley [Cooper]’s idea to cast her and we agreed.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Oscars shortlist voting period has closed as of 5:00 p.m. PT. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the finalists in 10 categories — documentary feature (15), documentary short subject (15), international feature (15), makeup and hairstyling (10), sound (10), original score (15), original song (15), animated short film (15), live action short film (15), and visual effects (10) — on Thursday, Dec.

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts is out with the nominations for its 13th annual AACTA International Awards, and some familiar awards-season faces lead the pack.

Addie Morfoot Contributor In “Downwind,” a documentary executive produced by Matthew Modine, directors Mark Shapiro and Douglas Brian Miller chronicle the lethal effects that nuclear testing on American soil has had on U.S. citizens. The Oscar hopeful reveals that from 1951 to 1992, Mercury, Nevada, was the site for the testing of 928 large scale nuclear weapons.

The Critics’ Choice Association announced their 2024 nominations this morning and “Barbie” took the wheel. Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster earned 18 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Margot Robbie), Best Supporting Actress (America Ferrera), and three Best Song nominations.

In one of the earliest announcements in recent memory, the Cannes Film Festival announced early Thursday morning Paris time the president of the jury for 2024. And, in something of a surprise, this year’s president is Greta Gerwig, a soon-to-be multiple Oscar nominee for the 2023 blockbuster “Barbie.” Gerwig is the first woman to lead the jury since Cate Blanchett in 2018 and the second American this decade after Spike Lee presided over the first post-pandemic jury in 2021.

Barbie has broken the Critics Choice Award Nomination this year, after scoring 18 nominations.The 29th annual Critics Choice Awards, which are due to take place next January in LA, will see Barbie nominated in all the major categories including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Comedy, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Young Actor/Actress.It was also nominated in categories for acting ensemble, cinematography, editing, production design, costume design, hair and makeup and score. It also has three out of the six nominations in the Best Original Song category.The previous record for Critics Choice film nominations was 14, set by last year’s Best Picture winner, Everything Everywhere All at Once.Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things received 13 nominations each, while Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon received 12.Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro and Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers received eight nominations each.The nominations for the awards are made by members of the Critics Choice Association, which is made up of more than 650 critics and journalists.Check out the full list of nominations below:BEST PICTUREAmerican FictionBarbieThe Color PurpleThe HoldoversKillers of the Flower MoonMaestroOppenheimerPast LivesPoor ThingsSaltburnBEST ACTOR Bradley Cooper – Maestro Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon Colman Domingo – Rustin Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer Jeffrey Wright – American FictionBEST ACTRESS Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall Greta Lee – Past Lives Carey Mulligan – Maestro Margot Robbie – Barbie Emma Stone – Poor ThingsBEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Sterling K.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The top 20 finalists for the visual effects Oscar have been notified they have made it to the next round of voting. With Oscars shortlist voting opening in eight categories on Thursday, Dec. 14, Variety has learned exclusively that the visual effects finalists include Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things,” Zack Snyder’s “Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire” and the lone animated feature contender, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.

The American Film Institute has announced their annual year-end top 10 lists and, as always, it was filled with several awards contenders. This year’s crop of film honorees includes “American Fiction,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “May December,” “Oppenheimer,” “Past Lives,” “Poor Things” and “Spider-Man: Across the Universe.” The television selections are “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Beef,” “Jury Duty,” “The Last of Us,” “The Morning Show,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Poker Face,” “Reservation Dogs” and “Succession.” READ MORE: “American Fiction,” “May December” and “Past Lives” top 2024 Spirit Awards Nominations It should be noted, that the AFI committee is not always the best predictor for a Best Picture nomination.

The list of the 10 films chosen for the prestigious AFI Awards is out, and it is good news for Barbenheimer.

Oppenheimer and Matthew Perry are among the most viewed Wikipedia pages of 2023.This year alone, the English language version of the website had 84billion views, with celebrity deaths and Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic about the creation of the atomic bomb ranking as two of the highest searches.The list of celebrity deaths, which includes the late Friends star Perry, has been viewed 42,666,860 times, while Oppenheimer has 28,348,248 pageviews.J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist on which the film is based (played by Cillian Murphy), also ranked high with 25,672,469 pageviews.Perry, who starred as Chandler Bing in Friends, was found dead in his Los Angeles home on 28 October, aged 54.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for Netflix’s “May December” In Netflix’s “May December,” one of the most memorable scenes features Joe Yoo (played by Charles Melton) arriving at the hotel to deliver a letter from his wife Gracie (Julianne Moore) to actress Elizabeth Berry (Natalie Portman). Their encounter leads to a brief yet intense sexual liaison on the floor, culminating in a conspicuous silhouette shot of Joe’s penis. Amid Samy Burch’s narrative brilliance and Todd Haynes’ tantalizing direction, one might imagine Melton — known for his role in The CW’s “Riverdale” — felt immense pressure acting opposite Oscar winner Portman, who also produced the film.

Valerie Wu Intern The Palm Springs International Film Festival has announced its 2024 lineup. Held by the Palm Springs International Film Society, the PSIFF aims to spotlight and celebrate a range of global films. The 35th annual festival’s opening night will host the U.S.

The Gotham Awards, the New York wing of the indie film world, has already handed out its year-end honors and now it’s time for the West Coast to have their say. Bright and early this morning, Film Independent revealed the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards nominees, and, no surprise, Celine Song’s “Past Lives” was at the top of the list with five nominations.

In what is an annual tradition, A24 led all nominations at this morning’s 39th Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations with 11 nods while their movie Past Lives, along with Netflix’s May December and Amazon MGM’s American Fiction all tied for the most nominations with five apiece.