A Month of Gratitude and the Oscars 2025

Another whirlwind month slides by as I settle into my new employment and watch my grand-daughter grow more independent and beautiful by the day. I recently turned 51 and spent some time over the long weekend reflecting; as I do when I have a birthday, about the blessings that I have in my life. Whenever I have another lap around the sun, I am always blown away by how generous and kind my loved ones are and how terrifically my friends treat me. Again I was showered with love and attention, some gorgeous and thoughtful gifts and lots of messages and offers to share time in celebration of my life.  Blessings, so many blessings and much to be grateful for.
In the last month I have had so many reason to feel grateful, its hard to name all of them, but some highlights for me were The Bohemian Summer Festival, regular stays with Zoe, Ben and Freja in Bendigo due to work travel, Soundbathing with friends, my mums cast coming off the wrist that she broke in January, seeing Kinky Boots at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sip Champagne bar with Zoe, the Book Club group, trivia nights rebooting, Spicywatch movie night, the National Gallery of Victoria with Seth and watching the Oscars with my feet up and a glass of bubbles in hand!  A bloody amazing month and a reflection of how genuinely lucky I am to be able to engage and afford to be doing so many fantastic things. 
And, I also have my next month of movies lined up thanks to the awards season which always takes the thinking out of 'what to watch' for me for weeks to come. And don't worry - just in case you missed it, here are the nominees and winners in every category of the 2025 Academy Awards. Happy viewing!

Best Picture

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

Director

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

Leading Actor

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

Leading Actress

• Cynthia Erivo in Wicked
• Karla Sofia Gascon in Emilia Perez
• WINNER: Mikey Madison in Anora
• Demi Moore in The Substance
• Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here

Supporting Actor

• Yura Borisov in Anora
• WINNER: Keiran Culkin in A Real Pain
• Edward Norton in A Complete Unknown
• Guy Pearce in The Brutalist
• Jeremy Strong in The Apprentice

Supporting Actress

• Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown
• Ariana Grande in Wicked
• Felicity Jones in The Brutalist
• Isabella Rossellini in Conclave
• WINNER: Zoe Saldana in Emilia Perez

Animated Feature Film

• WINNER: Flow
• Inside Out 2
• Memoir of a Snail
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengence Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

Cinematography

• WINNER: The Brutalist — Lol Crawley
• Dune: Part Two — Greig Fraser
• Emilia Perez — Paul Guilhaume
• Maria — Ed Lachman
• Nosferatu — Jarin Blaschke

Costume design

• A Complete Unknown — Arianne Phillips
• Conclave — Lisy Christl
• Gladiator II — Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
• Nosferatu — Linda Muir
• WINNER: Wicked —  Paul Tazewell

Documentary feature film

• Black Box Diaries
• WINNER: No Other Land
• Porcelain War
• Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat
• Sugarcane

Documentary short film

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

Film editing

• WINNER: Anora — Sean Baker
• The Brutalist — David Jancso
• Conclave — Nick Emerson
• Emilia Pérez — Juliette Welfling
• Wicked — Myron Kerstein

International feature film

• WINNER: Brazil: I'm Still Here
• Denmark: The Girl with the Needle
• France: Emilia Pérez
• Germany: The Seed of the Sacred Fig
• Latvia: Flow

Makeup and hairstyling

• A Different Man — Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado
• Emilia Pérez — Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
• Nosferatu — David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne Stokes-Munton
• WINNER: The Substance — Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli
• Wicked — Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth

Music (original score)

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

Music (original song)

• WINNER: El Mal from Emilia Pérez; Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
• The Journey from The Six Triple Eight; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
• Like A Bird from Sing Sing; Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
• Mi Camino from Emilia Pérez; Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
• Never Too Late from Elton John: Never Too Late; Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin

Production design

• The Brutalist — Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia
• Conclave — Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter
• Dune: Part Two — Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
• Nosferatu — Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová
• WINNER: Wicked — Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Short film (animated)

• Beautiful Men
• WINNER: In the Shadow of the Cypress
• Magic Candles
• Wander to Wonder
• Yuck!

Short film (live action)

• A Lien
• Anuja
• WINNER: I'm Not a Robot
• The Last Ranger
• The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

Sound

• A Complete Unknown — Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco
• WINNDER: Dune: Part Two — Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill
• Emilia Pérez — Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta
• Wicked — Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis
• The Wild Robot — Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts

Visual effects

• Alien: Romulus — Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan
• Better Man — Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs
• WINNER: Dune: Part Two — Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes — Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke
• Wicked — Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould

Adapted screenplay

• A Complete Unknown — Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks
• WINNER: Conclave — Screenplay by Peter Straughan
• Emilia Pérez — Screenplay by Jacques Audiard; In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
• Nickel Boys — Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
• Sing Sing — Screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John "Divine G" Whitfield

Original screenplay

• WINNER: Anora — Written by Sean Baker
• The Brutalist — Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
• A Real Pain — Written by Jesse Eisenberg
• September 5 — Written by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; Co-Written by Alex David
• The Substance — Written by Coralie Fargeat

A REAL PAIN
Release Date: 2024
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 90 mins
A comedy-drama, written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg who also stars in the lead role, A Real Pain delivers a thought provoking at relationship that is greatly bolstered by Keiran Culkin's incredible portrayal of Benji, a troubled young man who swings between being magnetically care free and offensively careless. Culkin landed the both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor off the strength of his role here and he shines very brightly as Benji. 
David and Benji, mismatched and once close cousins, take a pilgrimage to Poland using the funds that their deceased grandmother left for them. They join a Jewish heritage tour in the hopes of seeing the home that she grew up in and connecting with their Jewish family history. Along the way the odd couple cousins engage in a series of activities that has a profound effect of them both and upon their relationship with each other. 
I loved the way that this movie played out, with Benji's 'real pain' character actually being the main catalyst for change and growth in others, in spite of his own misgivings and at times complete disregard for social norms and etiquette.
A Real Pain is as charming as it is disturbing, brilliantly written and perfectly cast, it's one not to miss. 
FINAL SAY: We used to be different. 
4 Chilli Peppers ​

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