Mike’s Fearless Oscar Picks for 2025

As always these are who I think are going to win on Sunday night, not who I think should win.  If I have a Spoiler listed, it's a film that I think has a chance to win

Winners in Green.

Best Picture:  Anora                                              Spolier:  Conclave

Best Director:  Sean Baker - Anora                                  Spoiler:  Brady Corbet - The Brutalist

Best Actress:   Demi Moore - The Substance

Best Actor:  Adrien Brody - The Brutalist                Spoiler:  Timothee Chalamet - A Complete Unknown

Best Supporting Actress:  Zoe Saldana - Emilia Perez

Best Supporting Actor:  Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain

Best Adapted Screenplay:  Conclave

Best Original Screenplay:  Anora                                   Spoiler:  A Real Pain

Best Cinematography:   The Brutalist

Best Costume Design:  Wicked

Best Film Editing:  Conclave                                               Spoiler: Anora

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:  The Substance            Spoiler:  Wicked

Best Production Design:  Wicked                                   Spoiler:  The Brutalist

Best Score:  The Brutalist

Best Song:  El Mal - Emilia Perez                                       Spoiler:  The Journey - The Six Triple Eight

Best Sound:  Dune: Part Two                                             Spoiler:  Wicked

Best Visual Effects:  Dune: Part Two

Best Animated Feature:  The Wild Robot                     Spoiler: Flow

Best Documentary Feature:  Porcelain War                 Spoiler: No Other Land  

Best International Film:  Emilia Perez                           Spoiler:   I’m Still Here 

Best Animated Short:  Yuck!                                            Spoiler:  Wander to Wonder

Best Documentary Short:  I Am Ready, Warden     Spoiler:  The Only Girl in the Orchestra

Best Live Action Short:  The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent         Spoiler:  A Lien

Transformers One

My View:  Transformers One  (2024)  PG  Transformers One tells the origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron, who, when they were young, were friends who bonded like brothers. Little did they know that the two would change the fate of Cybertron forever after discovering what they had always been told was false. I am not a big fan of the Transformers films (other than Bumblebee (2018) and Transformers (2007)), but I know there are a lot of fans out there who love the series going back to the 80s TV show and the legendary The Transformers: The Movie (1986) that had a voice cast that included Orson Welles and Leonard Nimoy. I’ve lost count of how many live-action films there are, most of which were directed by Michael Bay. Having said all that, this is maybe one of the first films in the series that is not only good but is fun to watch, and not just for fans of the series. Transformers One is an origin story, so if your knowledge of the Transformers universe is only knowing that they are giant robot-like beings that turn into cars and trucks, you will be okay. We get to see how Optimus Prime and Megatron, who we learn were best friends, became the leaders of two warring factions that battled for control of the universe. The voice cast is outstanding, with great performances by Chris Hemsworth as Optimus, and Brian Tyree Henry as Megatron. Hemsworth worked with Peter Cullen, who has been the voice of Optimus for the franchise, to get ideas on how a young Optimus might sound. The rest of the cast isn’t too bad either with Jon Hamm, Laurence Fishburne, Steve Buscemi and Scarlett Johansson taking key roles. There is one voice actor who steals almost every scene he is in, Keegan-Michael Key, as B-127 (soon to be Bumblebee, a fan favorite in the Transformers world). Key is brilliant as the overly excited young worker who wants to be with the guys he sees as heroes, only to discover that he can become one. Transformers One is an old-fashioned origin story of how a villain is created by gaining power (both physically and emotionally) and a voice to express that power. It is also about how we need heroes to stand tall and be willing to sacrifice to stop those villains from wielding their power. So take the kids and, for once, have a good time yourself at an animated Transformers movie. My Rating: Full Price  Transformers One Website  Now playing in theaters nationwide. 

My View:  Never Let Go  (2024)  R  Never Let Go is about a mother (Halle Berry) and her two sons (Anthony B. Jenkins, Percy Daggs IV) who have been haunted by an evil spirit for years. Even when traveling outside, they keep themselves connected by tethering themselves with ropes, ensuring they are always linked back to their house. When one of the boy’s questions if the evil is real and the ties that bind them together are severed, their fight for survival becomes life and death. This film starts with an interesting premise: you have grown up only knowing what your mother has told you, that there is an evil force outside your home and the only way to survive is to stay connected to the house. Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) are becoming older, and Nolan is beginning to question whether what Mamma tells them is true or not. Is there really an evil force that wants to kill them as soon as they lose connection to their home? The film tries hard to create a horror aspect that it never delivers, as very early on, what Momma believes and sees is a very evil and scary world that constantly tries to trick her into letting her guard down. Even when some gross-looking characters come to torment Momma, the chills don't register. I thought Berry gave it her all with a character that, at times, is fierce and strong but also tilts on the side of madness. Both Percy Daggs IV, as the ever-questioning Nolan, and Anthony B. Jenkins as Samuel, always on the side of caution, always backing up his mother, even when it seems things aren’t what she says they are. Unfortunately, the final third of the film becomes a big mess, as the film fails to deliver what it has set up. The film becomes less of a horror film and more of a movie about who will win a will of beliefs. And while I won’t give it away, I hated the final bit of information the film gives us, a horror trope I have always detested when used.  My Rating: Cable  Never Let Go Website   Now playing in theaters.

My View:  Child Star  (2024)  The documentary Child Star explores the world of being a child star and how growing up in the spotlight and their ascension to fame, riches, and power affects their adult lives. Demi Lovato provides us with an inside look into the pressures and pitfalls that arise when children become stars at a young age. Lovato, whose own troubles were seen in the documentary Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, takes us on a journey to explore what happens to children who often become the breadwinners of their family and are under constant pressure to preform, often at a nonstop pace. Lovato interviews former child stars Christina Ricci, Drew Barrymore, Raven-Simone, Kenan Thompson, JoJo Siwa, and Lovato’s fellow Rock Camp star Alyson Stoner. It’s a fascinating and, at times, horrifying look at an industry that often treats children as commodities to make money, and then when they grow up, or the ratings have gone down, to be let go without a support system to help them transition back into the real world. The film looks primarily at the world of Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel and how those two channels battled it out to make as much money off of their stars as they could. The documentary shows us too often that the star-making machine creates insecurity, eating disorders, and, ultimately, looking to drugs and alcohol as a way to escape. What I loved was that the blame wasn’t always put on the parents, as often they were only trying to make their children’s dreams come true. It's shocking to see how many child stars end up with almost nothing after their stardom ends due to mistakes and con artists. The film, unlike the documentary Quiet on the Set, doesn’t go into the seedier side of child exploitation but concentrates on the mental well-being of the children that grow up on sets, constantly being told they need to lose weight or they are pretty enough to get a role. And what we come away with is that Lovato is passionate and caring about making things better for the child star of tomorrow. My Rating: Bargain Matinee  Child Star Website  Now playing on the Hulu platform.

My View: The Substance (2024)  R   Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) used to be the ‘it girl’, the woman that every man wanted and every woman wanted to look like. Elisabeth’s star has faded (literally as we see her Walk of Fame star develop cracks and fade during the opening credits), and she is getting old, at least as far as Hollywood is concerned. When on her birthday, she loses her job as host of a workout show (think Jane Fonda) and gets into a traffic accident, where she meets a doctor who slips her a jump drive that promises her a new, young, and improved body if she agrees to take a drug known as The Substance. The drug will transform her into a new person for 7 days, but then she must return to her old form for 7 days. What it doesn’t tell her is that her old body will be dormant for 7 days, while her new body, which is born out of her back, produces a new body (portrayed by Margaret Qualley), who takes the name of Sue. I will warn you that this film is full of incredibly uncomfortable and gross transformations, as the new body is first born out of the back of Elisabeth, reminiscent of horror films like Alien and The Fly. As the movie progresses, it becomes increasingly bizarre and repulsive. While a horror film, it is also a satire, with the film mocking the Hollywood system, controlled by dirty old men, with an emphasis on sex and beauty, always looking for the new fresh face. I became numb at all the incredibly over-the-top scenes, whether it was the extreme close-ups of the executive (played by Dennis Quaid) as he eats like a pig while firing Elisabeth or the constant transformations as Elisabeth suffers bodily disfigurement as the Sue person continues to be young and beautiful. I was excited to see this film because I am a big Demi Moore fan. Hollywood has ignored her for far too long, but after the first 30 minutes of the film, I became more and more disappointed that she was thrown into being the monster in a bad horror film. While I was impressed by the lack of CGI used to create all the special effects, the film went overboard with them and tried to constantly shock us. The film’s ending is as bizarre as the rest of it and makes it feel like a farce, more than a satire, as we end where we started, on the cracked and faded star on the Walk of Fame. I left The Substance feeling disappointed and longing for my two-plus hours back.   My Rating: Cable  The Substance Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) R   Jessica (Jennifer Westfeldt) is tired of the dating scene and her bad luck with men. Her job as a copy editor and fact-checker causes her to be a perfectionist and overthink situations. She works for Josh (Scott Cohen), who used to be her boyfriend. After a series of disastrous dates, she decides to try dating a woman and answers a dating ad. Into Jessica’s life comes Helen (Heather Juergensen), who is instantly attracted to Jessica and is willing to try, taking it slow with Jessica. Helen is constantly amused by Jessica’s attempts at being with another woman, much like a person who doesn’t know how to swim, going to a pool and slowly dipping their toe into the water. I love this film, mostly because of the performance of Jennifer Westfeldt, who portrays Jessica as a woman with a good heart but someone who wants to go slow, really slow, in this new relationship, all the while worrying about what other people will say when they find out she is dating a woman. Kissing Jessica Stein is a romantic comedy with heart and wit and a lead that shines in every scene she is in. My Rating: Full Price  Kissing Jessica Stein Info  The film is available to rent/buy on Amazon Prime and Apple TV.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of The Substance:  English Translation

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You:  We Live in Time  (2024)  R  An up-and-coming chef (Florence Pugh) and a recent divorcee meet under some incredible circumstances that brings them together, in a decade-spanning look at life, love and heartache. The film wowed audiences at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival.  We Live in Time Website The film releases in theaters on Friday, October 18, 2024. 

                                                                   Until Next Time!

The Deliverance

My View:  The Deliverance  (2024) R  In The Deliverance, Ebony Jackson (Andra Day) is a single parent who moves her family into a new home, hoping for a fresh start. Ebony is determined to put her troubles behind her, but something in the house is causing trouble. With Child Protective Services threatening to tear her family apart, she must battle a demon in a battle for her life and the souls of her children. This is a mess of a film that doesn’t quite know what it aspires to be. The Deliverance is from Lee Daniels, who gave us Precious (2009) and The Butler (2013). The film starts as a drama about a family trying to survive. The family is in turmoil, as their father is away overseas in the military, and the mother, Ebony, played by the always interesting Andra Day, is a woman who handles the pressures of life by either lashing out at her children or drinking. Bill collectors are constantly hounding Ebony, making it difficult for her to keep a roof over her head. The situation is not helped by Ebony’s mother, played by Glen Close, who is full of opinions on how Ebony should raise her children while she is dealing with cancer. There is a brilliant scene that lets Close have fun with the role of her character. While hooked up to a machine for her treatment, she shows off her red bra and flirts with a medical technician (Omar Epps). And then there is the Department of Child Services woman, played by Mo’Nique, who shows up to check on the children without warning and with an attitude. If the film had continued along those lines, I think we would have a film that could have had an impact. Instead, we start having weird things happen. The basement becomes a breeding ground for flies, and Andre (Anthony B. Jenkins) begins to behave strangely. Andre begins talking to an imaginary friend, gets up in the middle of the night to drink a whole carton of milk and keeps going down to the basement. This is where the film goes off its rails, as the weirdness goes overboard. The scene where the film lost me was when Ebony hears a pounding on the basement door. She opens it up and Andre has been pounding his head against the door. Now, it’s a pounding that is cracking the outside of the door and the kid has a massive bump on his head. How does Ebony react? Asking what the heck was he doing down there. Not a worry about the huge bump on his head (one that stays there for a few days). The film goes into a bad ripoff of The Exorcist; this time, instead of a priest, we get a woman who calls herself an ‘Apostle’, who wants to do a ‘Deliverance’ in the house and get the Devil out of Andre. The last 30 minutes of the film is a mishmash of every possession movie you’ve seen (minus the projectile vomiting), with the usual devil high-jinks. Andra Day's outstanding performance is wasted in the film, which portrays a mother you won't like very much but still care for. The Deliverance is a drama that stops midway through and becomes a horror film with very little horror in it. To put it frankly, The Deliverance just doesn't deliver.  My Rating: Bargain Matinee  The Deliverance Website  Now playing on the Netflix platform.

Indiefest:  City of Dreams  (2024)  R  City of Dreams is about Jesús (Ari Lopez), who dreams of becoming a soccer star for his local team. His father surprisingly sends him to Los Angeles to train, but Jesús learns his destination isn’t a training camp but a sweatshop that his father has sold his son to. Jesús now dreams of escaping from his nightmare. This is another in a long line of films that have their heart and intent in the right place but don’t quite know how to get their idea across. We follow Jesús, who dreams (a lot) of becoming a soccer player for his favorite team, as he becomes part of a sweatshop that makes dresses in an old house run by a ruthless boss (Alfredo Castro) and his evil assistant (Andres Delgado). The film shows us the horrible conditions through the eyes of Jesús, a young man who doesn’t speak. With Jesús not being able to speak, it unfortunately gives us a lot of shots of Jesús, with his face always full of sweat and his mouth permanently open in horror. Anytime Jesús is in a situation that is too hard for him to handle, he imagines himself on a soccer field playing for his favorite professional team. Often those thoughts are interrupted by some sort of the Aztec warrior. I'm not entirely sure why. The film tries to do too much, as Jesús  realizes that not only is the place a sweat factory, but also involved in sex trafficking. And we have the treatment of Jesús when he attempts several escapes, which end with him being whipped while on what looks like a prayer bench. The film constantly uses religious symbolism to make Jesús a martyr and a possible savior. The ending of the film is strange and unsatisfying, with a scene that feels too staged to have any impact. City of Dreams, after the final scene, makes a plea from the filmmakers for people to become more involved with ending child slavery. As I said, the film’s heart is in the right place; it just delivers a film that never provides the impact it wants to.  My Rating: Cable  City of Dreams Website Now playing in theaters. 

My View:  You Gotta Believe  (2024)  PG  You Gotta Believe is about a Little League baseball team of misfits who dedicate their season to their best player’s dying father. Things begin to turn around and they achieve what they had previously believed was impossible: playing in the World Series. You Gotta Believe is a feel-good movie, which is strange because one of the main characters has terminal brain cancer. You Gotta Believe is helped by a solid cast, including Greg Kinnear, a too-busy father who takes over coaching the team when his best friend, played by Luke Wilson, is diagnosed with cancer and can’t continue coaching the team he loves. The film is also aided by Sarah Gadon and Molly Parker, who play the coach's wives with some humor and warmth. The cast makes this film watchable, and the chemistry between Kinnear and Wilson makes their characters’ relationship fun and believable. It’s an inspiring story of a coach who finds his talent in figuring out why particular players aren’t doing well and changing their positions or beliefs to where their strengths lay. I wish the director had opted for a more traditional storytelling approach. Instead, he tries too many cute camera shots, and there is a horrible sequence where we see the team on a winning streak as everyone from the coaches to the players and even the umpires sing the theme song to the old 60s Rawhide TV show. Those scenes take away from the film’s heart, which is about love and believing in yourself. That’s a shame, as You Gotta Believe is based on a true story about a team that went to the Little League World Series against all the odds.   My Rating: Bargain Matinee  You Gotta Believe Website  Now playing in theaters. 

Indiefest:  Tokyo Cowboy  (2023)  PG   Tokyo Cowboy is about Hideki (Arata Iura), a Japanese corporate executive known for turning failing companies around. When his company is about to liquidate a money-hemorrhaging cattle ranch in Montana, Hideki decides he can go to America and turn the ranch into a money-maker. Hideki is about to learn firsthand about life on a cattle ranch, and it’s going to be a bumpy ride. I loved this film and hope it will find the audience it deserves. The film reminds me of the wonderful 1983 film Local Hero, which starred Burt Lancaster and Peter Riegert, about an oil executive sent to buy out a small village in Scotland. Tokyo Cowboy is also a fish out of water story as Hideki is a brash corporate executive who has gotten his company’s attention by finding companies to buy and turning them into money-making machines. He is in a long-term relationship with Keiko (Ayako Fujitani), who happens to be his boss. Hideki is a headstrong guy, confident that he has the Midas touch, and at a big meeting, proposes that he can turn a failing Montana cattle ranch into a success by switching them to Japanese beef, the rare Wagyu cattle. He does this behind his boss/girlfriend’s back and is given the go-ahead to go to Montana. From the start, Hideki’s trip is a disaster. His luggage is lost, he insists on a small, cheaper car instead of a 4-wheel drive model, and his traveling companion, an expert in everything Wagyu, is more interested in having fun with the Montana ranch hands than listening to Hideki. Things go from bad to worse, and it’s very apparent that Hideki’s grandiose plans won’t work, but he keeps trying. Slowly, through the interaction of a ranch hand named Javier (Goya Robles) and the beauty of the Big Sky country, Hideki begins to realize that maybe he isn’t always right and, more importantly, isn’t happy with his life. There are some wonderful moments in this film, where characters feel real and are able to connect with each other. I loved a sequence where Javier takes Hideki to a Quinceanera, and Hideki not only has fun but suddenly realizes that he wants more from his relationship with Keiko. Tokyo Cowboy is filled with small moments that make the film feel warm, fun, and honest. I loved the performances of Goya Robles, a cowboy who wants to find a way to make money so that he can marry his girlfriend, and Robin Weigert as the Ranch manager whose family used to own the ranch she now manages and has seen company executives come into her home before. Arata Iura makes this film work as his character goes through a drastic change from a stuck-up corporate shill to a man who can find beauty and meaning in his life and his surroundings. It’s a fantastic multi-level performance that brings his character to life. So put on some boots, jump on a horse and take a ride with Hideki and maybe learn a few things about being a cowboy.   My Rating: Full Price  Tokyo Cowboy Website  Now playing in select theaters. 

Forgotten Film:  Telling Lies in America (1997) PG-13 Karchy (Brad Renfro) is the son of a Hungarian immigrant (Maximilian Schell) who works as a janitor. Karchy goes to a Catholic high school, where the rich kids mock him for being poor. Karchy, to pique the interest of a girl (Calista Flockhart), whom he has a crush on, goes to work for a local DJ (Kevin Bacon) who goes by the name of Billy Magic. The kid lies to get the job, and Billy sees that as a plus since he is going to use Karchy to receive the payola that Billy is getting to play certain records on the radio. This film is a blast to watch because of the cast. Bacon is perfect as the slick Billy Magic, who stays in a town only long enough to make some money, staying ahead of his child support payments. Brad Renfro is superbly portraying the boy who believes he has found the perfect role model in Billy, but eventually realizes that perhaps Billy's life isn't as great as it appears. A charming Calista Flockhart steals every scene she is in and is a delight as the girl who Karchy has fallen for. The film was written by Joe Eszterhas, who at one time was Hollywood’s highest-paid screenwriter with his mega-hit Basic Instinct (1993). Telling Lies in America was a passion project for Eszterhas, and it doesn’t have the crass and coarseness of his usual work, making the film feel more about its characters and how Karchy learns that appearances and brashness can cover up a lot of flaws.   My Rating: Full Price  Telling Lies in America Info  The film is available on most online screeners.

Weird Credits:  From the credits of Tokyo Cowboy:  Boss Wrangler

Coming Soon to a Screen Near You: The Substance (2024) R A celebrity (Demi Moore) believes that her days as a beauty have passed until she finds a black market drug. This cell-replicating formula temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself. The film received a huge standing ovation and won the Best Screenplay award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. I have always been a fan of Demi Moore, and I hope the film will give her more lead roles in the future.  The Substance Info   The film is in theaters on Friday, September 20, 2024.

Until Next Time!