#OSCARS: “ANORA” WINS BEST PICTURE AT 2025 ACADEMY AWARDS

It was a huge night for ANORA, which after some early buzz that seemed to have faded, only to gain momentum over the past few weeks to take the throne at the 97th Academy Awards tonight in Los Angeles!

The Sean Baker Dramedy centering on a sex worker who is swept off her feet by the son of a Russian oligarch, took five of the six awards which it was up for including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Mikey Madison), Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. Baker, winning for the first time tonight, took to the podium to make a battle cry for brick and mortar cinemas, after more than 1,000 theatres had closed since the Pandemic. He made his case to Filmmakers to continue releasing films theatrically, before wishing his mother a Happy Birthday. His mother took him to the theatre for the first time when he was five-years-old.

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Brady Corbet‘s THE BRUTALIST also did quite well, taking three Oscars including Best Actor (Adrien Brody), Best Cinematography and Best Original Score. Meanwhile, WICKED, DUNE: PART TWO and EMILIA PEREZ each took home two Oscars each.

Funnyman Conan O’Brien hosted the Awards for the first time ever at the ceremony which saw much humour, yet also took moments to remember the likes of the late Quincy Jones, and two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman who had passed recently.

Complete list of winners below:

BEST PICTURE
WINNER: Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked

BEST ACTRESS
WINNER: Mikey Madison, Anora
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

BEST DIRECTOR
WINNER: Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown

BEST ACTOR
WINNER: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
WINNER: Daniel Blumberg, The Brutalist
Volker Bertelmann, Conclave
John Powell and Stephen Schwartz, Wicked
Clément Ducol and Camille, Emilia Pérez
Kris Bowers, The Wild Robot

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
WINNER: I’m Still Here, Brazil
The Girl With the Needle, Denmark
Emilia Pérez, France
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Germany
Flow, Latvia

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER: Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two
Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Pérez
Edward Lachman, Maria
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
WINNER: I’m Not a Robot
A Lien
Anuja
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
WINNER: Dune: Part Two
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked

BEST SOUND
WINNER: Dune: Part Two
A Complete Unknown
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
WINNER: No Other Land
Black Box Diaries
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
WINNER: The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Death by Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
WINNER: “El Mal,” Emilia Pérez
“The Journey,” The Six Triple Eight
“Like a Bird,” Sing Sing
“Mi Camino,” Emilia Pérez
“Never Too Late,” Elton John: Never Too Late

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
WINNER: Wicked
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
WINNER: Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave

BEST EDITING
WINNER: Sean Baker, Anora
Dávid Jancsó, The Brutalist
Nick Emerson, Conclave
Juliette Welfling, Emilia Pérez
Myron Kerstein, Wicked

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
WINNER: The Substance
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
Wicked

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
WINNER: Peter Straughan, Conclave
Jay Cocks and James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys
Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, Sing Sing

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WINNER: Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, and Alex David, September 5
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
WINNER: Wicked
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
WINNER: In the Shadow of the Cypress
Beautiful Men
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
WINNER: Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
WINNER: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Yura Borisov, Anora
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

#GIVEAWAY: ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN CINEPLEX RUN-OF-ENGAGEMENT PASSES TO SEE “ANORA”

Elevation Pictures x Mr. Will want to give Readers a chance to win Cineplex Run-of-Engagement Passes to see ANORA. This is our favourite Film of 2024 so far!

Synopsis:

Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.

Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian and Vache Tovmasyan

To enter for a chance to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Tell us in the comments your City and tag 1 friend you’ll bring along with you. You can also enter via our X and IG accounts. Enter as many times as you like.

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Rules and regulations here.

Elevation Pictures release ANORA October 25, 2024.

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

#TIFF24: DAY FOUR SIGHTINGS – ANGELINA JOLIE, CATE BLANCHETT, MIKEY MADISON, ALICIA VIKANDER, SYDNEY SWEENEY, ANA DE ARMAS, JUDE LAW, NICHOLAS HOULT, PAUL RUDD AND MORE

Cannot believe how great our day went and this will go down as the day we finally met the great Cate! So many new core memories created!

It was an explosive Day Four of TIFF ’24 including:

•Angelina Jolie at Premiere of WITHOUT BLOOD after being honoured at TIFF Tribute Awards Gala
•Sydney Sweeney and Ana de Armas at TIFF ’24 for EDEN.
•Sam Worthington at TIFF ’24 for RELAY
•Jude Law, Tye Sheridan, Teresa Palmer, Nicholas Hoult, Jurnee Smollett at TIFF ’24 for THE ORDER
•Malala at TIFF ’24 for LAST OF THE SEA WOMEN
•Alfonso Cuáron at TIFF ’24 for DISCLAIMER.
•Cate Blanchett being honoured at TIFF Tribute Awards tonight. Here with DISCLAIMER and RUMOURS
•Isabella Rosselini at TIFF ’24 for CONCLAVE
•Alicia Vikander and Himesh Patel at TIFF ’24 for THE ASSESSMENT
•Paul Rudd at TIFF ’24 for FRIENDSHIP
•Mikey Madison, Sean Baker, Karren Karagulian, Yura Borisov and Vache Tovmasyan of ANORA
•John David Washington and Malcolm Washington at TIFF ’24 for THE PIANO LESSON

See our Day Four highlights!

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Angelina Jolie‘s exciting arrival with son Pax at WITHOUT BLOOD Premiere

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Some highlights from Cate Blanchett’s In-Conversation:

@mrwillwong #TIFF24 : Cate Blanchett comments on her characters in TAR and CAROL at her in-conversation. #tiff #tiff2024 #torontointernationalfilmfestival #toronto #cateblanchett #lydiatar #carolmovie ♬ original sound – Mr. Will Wong

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

#TIFF24: “ANORA” REVIEW

By David Baldwin

Anora (Mikey Madison), or Ani as she prefers to be called, is a sex worker working at a New York gentlemen’s club. One evening, a guest requests a dancer who can speak Russian. Ani fits the bill and meets Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), the charming, high-rolling son of a Russian oligarch. He is instantly enamoured by Ani and asks to spend more time with her outside of the club. They begin a transactional relationship which turns into marriage soon after. When Vanya’s parents find out, they are none too pleased.

Multi-hyphenate Writer/Director Sean Baker won the Palme d’Or for ANORA at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for a good reason – it is a magnificent film and one of the best of the year. Full stop.

The Filmmaker, whose previous films include Red Rocket and The Florida Project, has crafted a one-of-a-kind film that starts off like a romantic fever dream before evolving into a wildly intense ride akin to something the Safdie Brothers would make. It is a genuinely delirious pivot that Baker crafts beautifully and carefully, subverting expectations as he goes along. Everything that happens remains grounded in reality and never veers into the fantastical. That may disappoint some people, but it never feels disingenuous. His eye for realism extends into his depiction of sex work as well, not treating it or the strip club that factors into much of the film with the typical Hollywood glow-up. Instead, he avoids any voyeuristic gazes and depicts what it really looks like and more importantly, depicts it with the respect it deserves. Baker has long been a proponent of sex work and his inability to play into antiquated notions of it works to the Film’s benefit greatly.

All of this praise would be meaningless however without Madison, who gives a star-making performance as Ani. She is a whip-smart firecracker who speaks her mind (often profanely) and takes shit from absolutely no one. Madison infuses Ani with a ferocious energy that propels her through the entire film, only briefly hinting at the emotional interior underneath her warrior-hardened exterior. She is expressive in her pleasure with her profession and will gleefully and ravenously take down anyone who writes her off as a mere prostitute. Madison’s raw physicality and intimacy adds depth to the performance, as does the New York accent she uses to deliver every hilarious and devastating line. You hang on every moment of it, unable to look away for fear of missing out on another expressively brilliant layer she adds to Ani.

While all of the supporting players are great (Eydelshteyn’s Vanya and Yura Borisov’s Igor are the standouts), none of them can even dream of matching the strength of Madison’s performance. It is spectacular, must-see work that will stay with you long after the credits roll and will thankfully, ensure she will not be typecast as the villain who gets set on fire at the end ever again.

ANORA screens at TIFF’24:

Sunday, September 8 at 8:00PM at Royal Alexandra Theatre

Monday, September 9 at 8:30PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto

#FIRSTLOOK: NEW REDBAND TRAILER FOR “ANORA”

After taking the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes, we get a new redband trailer for Sean Baker‘s ANORA, coming to theatres this October via Elevation Pictures!

Synopsis:

Anora, a sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.

Starring Mikey Madison, Mark Eidelstein, Yuri Borisov
Written and directed by Sean Baker

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

#FIRSTLOOK: PALME D’OR WINNER “ANORA” TO BE RELEASED IN CANADA VIA ELEVATION PICTURES.

Elevation Pictures is thrilled to announce that ANORA, directed by Sean Baker and starring Mickey Madison, has won the Palme d’Or at the 77th Annual Cannes Film Festival. The Film follows an exotic dancer’s challenging relationship with the son of a Russian oligarch.

The Canadian distributor also will release RUMOURS which premiered to raves, starring Alicia Vikander and Cate Blanchett. The Guy Maddin film centers on World leaders who meet at the G7, but get lost in the woods whilst trying to compose a joint statement on an unspecified global crisis. Beset by thick fog and menaced by undead bog bodies and a giant brain, they navigate the tortured passions between them.