Oscar Snub: Last News

Zack Sharf Denis Villeneuve recently told MovieMaker magazine that he is “deeply pleased” with “Dune” landing 10 Oscar nominations, second only to Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” as the most nominated film at the 94th Academy Awards. While “Dune” broke into the best picture race and landed nominations in every craft category, Villeneuve himself got shut out of the best director race.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director John Lithgow joined the Variety Studio presented by Audible at Sundance and reacted to one of the biggest Oscar snubs of the year: “Conclave” filmmaker Edward Berger failing to land a nomination for best director. Lithgow has a key supporting role in the papal drama. “Conclave” received eight nominations, including best picture, and many prognosticators had Berger as a lock for a best director nod after earning nominations from the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Directors Guild of America.

Paul Giamatti is our real-life Brad Pitt,” declares actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Giamatti’s Oscar-nominated co-star from “The Holdovers.” And she’s not joking. After all, as Randolph points out, “We can’t all be Brad Pitt, and I mean that in the most positive way.” The actor argues that Giamatti, in roles ranging from Revolutionary War heroes and Depression era boxing coaches to, in “The Holdovers,” a cranky New England boarding schoolteacher, has displayed a talent for always seeming natural on screen. Just as Pitt blazes on screen, Giamatti draws audiences in.

Randee Dawn When the NAACP Image Awards returns on Feb. 25 for its 54th annual ceremony, there’ll be plenty of cause for celebration. Not only will artists from television, motion picture, music and literature find themselves feted for their contributions, but it’s also the 20th anniversary of the creation of the organization’s Hollywood Bureau – and the first time the show will be fully in front of a live audience since 2020. But an Image Award event isn’t just another reason to hand out accolades during a packed award season. For organizers and nominees alike, the existence of a show that largely focuses on Black entertainers is an achievement in itself. It exists both within the Hollywood bubble and outside of it, with its own rules and perspectives and, perhaps most importantly, own voters.

Chinonye Chukwu, director of Till, is reacting to the Oscar snub after her film was not nominated at the Academy Awards.