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Oscars: Best Actor Is the Only Toss Up Category on Sunday Night, Most Awards Will Go to “One Battle After Another”

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The social media Oscar prognosticators are heading to their climax on Sunday night.

But the only real toss up, I think, is Best Actor. Ethan Hawke should have won, but his campaign was minimal. Timothee Chalamet was the front runner for a long time, but he’s perhaps blown himself up. That leaves Michael B. Jordan, who is now the front runner.

You never know, but Chalamet could still win. Most of the hate directed at him came too late to influence voters. If he brings Kylie Jenner to the show, he will absolutely lose, however. The universe will not permit that.

The other winners, I’m afraid, look pretty set in stone. Paul Thomas Anderson and “One Battle After Another” are going to take Best Director and Best Picture. This doesn’t mean that Ryan Coogler and “Sinners” don’t deserve it. But as a whole movie, “One Battle” is the most satisfying one of the year.

Also, Sean Penn will pick up a third Oscar, this time in Best Supporting Actor, for “One Battle.” His path to success was just laying low and letting the work speak for itself.

Jessie Buckley has Best Actress wrapped up for “Hamnet.” Standing at the lip of the Old Globe stage, her character — Mrs. Shakespeare — has that indelible moment you can’t ignore. (Also, I really think Paul Mescal got screwed with no nomination. He was spectacular.)

Amy Madigan in a cinch for Best Supporting Actress from “Weapons.” Personally, I loved Teyana Taylor in “One Battle.” But Madigan was great, and the role caps off 50 years in the business.

Screenplay awards will go to “Sinners” for original and “One Battle” for adapted.

Again, maybe I’m wrong, or maybe there’s a huge surprise. This Oscar season went on two or three weeks too long. But this what happens. Just as voting begins you think something has changed in the mindsets of voters. How many times did we say to ourselves, “One more week and –“?

But you know, it always turns out the same way.

“Frankenstein” will pick up several below the line awards. Guillermo del Toro is headed to a Governor’s Award one day soon.

One more thing about “Sinners,” and I said it before: if they gave out Oscars for single scenes, the dance number in the barn would win. It was the only real ‘gasp’ moment of the season.

“Melania” Movie is the 7th Most Watched Show on Amazon Prime — and Dropping Fast Even Though It’s Free

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“Melania,” the movie, is free to watch on Amazon Prime.

You’d think it would be number 1 on the platform.

But it’s not. It’s number 7, and dropping quickly.

On the Amazon Prime movie chart, “Melania” lags well behind “The Fall Guy” movie starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.

The latter film costs $3.99 to rent.

Why is “Melania” free? Because Fox/Rupert Murdoch has underwritten the streaming. And that’s why Murdoch’s NY Post is erroneously reporting that the movie is number 1 on amazon. LOL. You can’t make it up. (They do.)

As anyone who checks it out even briefly knows, “Melania” is an infomercial. It has zero nutritional value as a movie. Could it be worse? No.

Stay tuned. The “Melania” chart position will get worse.

Vanity Fair Cuts Oscars “Losers” from Newly Downsized Party, Puts Formerly Ignored Kylie Jenner on Cover in Hail Mary Move

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Kylie Jenner — reviled in serious circles and possibly the reason Timmy Chalamet will lose the Oscar — is on the cover of Vanity Fair.

Kylie is the first Kardashian to get a cover, as previous editors like Graydon Carter thought she was trash.

But the new Vanity Fair, edited by Mark Guiducci, is desperate for readers. This is their Hail Mary pass to pick up some steam. I guess they also hope that Kylie will come to their Oscar party with Timmy. The dimwit is lighting up a cigarette on the cover.

However, if Chalamet loses, that may be a problem. Guiducci tells Matt Belloni on The Town podcast that the severely cut guest list eliminates Oscar nominees who don’t win and “Second tier” actors, agents, etc.

So if you don’t take your category Sunday night, forget trying to get into the LACMA Geffen Gallery. You simply weren’t good enough. Kylie might have to leave Timmy in the limo.

Vanity Fair has really become a rolling disaster. They hustled out the Jenner issue so that their previous cover, featuring Margaret Qualley, was gone. The Qualley cover was simply the ugliest thing I’ve seen in a long time, a new low for VF. In every photo they ironed out Qualley’s trademark cheekbones. The cover picture looks out of focus.

She should sue them, frankly.

As for Kylie Jenner, there are not many new epiphanies in Vanity Fair. The inside photos are of her semi-naked, exactly the kind of stuff that hurt Timmy’s Oscar campaign. The biggest revelation is that Kylie is NOT actually a billionaire, after all. I’m sure she’s thrilled the magazine has clarified that point.

So we look forward to Sunday night and stories of formerly invited guests unable to get into the LACMA space ship. (I see in the new issue VF has traded advertorial for LACMA in a puff piece.)

Do listen to Matt Belloni’s podcast on Spotify. It’s short, heavily edited, and Guiducci does not come off well.

“Saturday Night Live” Hopes for Ratings Boost with Harry Styles After Ryan Gosling-Gorillaz Outing Drops 200K from Previous Week

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It’s all Harry Styles this weekend on “SNL.”

The one time member of One Direction is the host and musical guest.

Styles has the number 1 album in the country right now — “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.” Hitsdailydouble.com predicts a whopping 445,000 first week sales.

“SNL” is counting on Harry’s fans to tune in and bring friends. This last Saturday’s show with Ryan Gosling and avant garde group Gorillaz fell by 200,000 from the week before with Connor Storrie and Mumford and Sons. Total was around 4.4 million.

Gosling was nevertheless very funny going off book a lot. He always looks like he’s having a ball. I can’t believe how Ashley Padilla has taken over the show, by the way. Her star has rocketed to the top. The cast is very good right now, and Ben Marshall is also on his way up.

Meantime, Gorillaz. A lot of old fans gasped when they performed “Clint Eastwood,” an actual work of genius. The performance was so sublime that it pushed the 25 year old single into the iTunes top 50. Sensational. The YouTube clip has had 2.5 million views!

Former “Grey’s Anatomy” Star Katherine Heigl Gambles No Career vs Joining Other MAGA Has Beens And Taking Her Chances

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Katherine Heigl had a career 20 years ago, and she blew it.

Heigl starred on TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and in a couple of fun movies like “Knocked Up” and “The Ugly Truth.”

But the “Grey’s” end was a debacle, and at one point Heigl was doing cat food commercials.

Years later, she has no career. So what to do? Apparently, like some stars with cold careers, Heigl has chosen MAGA and Donald Trump. She’s now taking heat for turning up at Mar-a-Lago for the annual Wine, Women & Shoes annual fundraiser.

Heigl came with her mother, and a nicely revived face. Responding to criticism she wrote in a statement: “Animals don’t vote.”

She’s wrong, of course. During his 2024 campaign Trump lied that Haitian immigrants in Ohio were eating dogs. He invented the whole thing, scared voters, and dropped it after the election was over.

“Animal activist” Heigl had nothing to say then, but when invited to Trump’s headquarters she managed to get herself and her mom on a plane to Palm Beach — no doubt underwritten.

Heigl posed for pictures with shameful Trump lackeys Lara Trump — the “singer — and Jeannine Pirro aka “Miss Box Wine.”

The event raised $5.5 million for Big Dog Ranch, the largest no-kill dog rescue in the United States. But if Heigl — who has her own animal rescue charity — didn’t want to also endorse Trump World, she could have chosen many other events and organizations.

Now Heigl jumps in with all the other Trumpist losers like Dennis Quaid and Nicki Minaj, as well as Scott Baio, Dean Cain, and many others who have no impact on the culture.

PS Not happy to see men’s fashion line Robert Graham as a step and repeat sponsor. Really, guys? I’ll be clipping out that tag from my shirts. 

“Baby Reindeer” Creator Richard Gadd is Back with a New Limited Provocative HBO Series Called “Half Man” with Jamie Bell

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I wasn’t sure what Richard Gadd would do after the enormous success of “Baby Reindeer.”

Now we know.

Next month comes “Half Man,” Gadd’s limited series co-starring Jamie Bell.

What’s it about? Two men closer than “brothers,” whose history is informing their present. When the two meet up at a wedding three decades after their initial friendship, there’s an “an explosion of violence takes place which catapults us back through their lives, from the eighties to the present day.”

No trailer yet, but this has the feel of an HBO Emmy worthy show. Of course.

Blockbuster Alert: Watch the Trailer for Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day,” Starring Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor

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This is a blockbuster warning.

The trailer for Steven Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” is here, and it looks great.

Colin First, Emily Blunt, and Josh O’Connor star in what looks like the capper to “ET,” “Close Encounters,” and “AI.”

You can’t beat a trailer that ends with the almost-reveal of a space ship

Will “Disclosure Day” explain everything about UFOs and aliens? I actually thought David Lynch’s Season 3, episode of “Twin Peaks” might have done that. But Spielberg is a genius, and this may be his pièce de résistance.

This makes me think next year’s Oscars will really be worth it!

Exclusive: Barbra Streisand’s Oscar Appearance for Robert Redford Confirmed, But Singing is Not Necessarily Promised

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The struggle to make sense of the Oscars continues.

Sunday’s show promises to be nothing if not “interesting.”

I’ve confirmed that Barbra Streisand will make an appearance, likely in conjunction with the In Memoriam for Robert Redford.

But my sources warn “do not expect her to sing” on the show. There’s been a lot of anticipation that Streisnad might deliver “The Way We Were” live on stage. So far, I’m told, that’s not in the cards.

Indeed, Josh Groban has already been announced as a performer, with a gospel choir. That seems like the music for In Memoriam has been covered.

Separately, some press watched a nicely conducted Q&A zoom call with the Oscarcast’s producers and Conan O’Brien. There were not a lot of surprises. No one really answered the question of how political jokes or statements would be handled. There’s a lot of latitude on a live show.

What did come across from the panel was their overwhelming interest in featuring “Sinners.” Ryan Coogler’s nominated film is getting a massive production number featuring all the below the line artisans of the film. The best song nominee from the film will be highlighted with costumes, ballet, and so on.

The reason for this? Said producer Raj Kapoor, this is because “Sinners” reaped the most nominations in Oscar history. So, is the Academy already bestowing 16 statuettes on the film regardless? Do they know the voting totals? Would you spend that much time and money spotlighting a film that goes on to lose?

And no one explained why only the “Sinners” song and the one from “Demon Hunters” are getting any attention? Three Best Song nominees are getting the short straw. But none of the journalists chosen to ask questions of the panel asked a difficult question. It was a lost opportunity.

Still, Kapoor et al. promised surprises — indicating the Streisand rumor (which I later confirmed was true).

Tim Roth All But Steals Excellent “Peaky Blinders” Movie But Says He’s Never Seen an Episode of the Hit Show

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The “Peaky Blinders” movie is a hit.

You don’t have to know much about the long running series to appreciate the film, called “The Immortal Man,” which opens Friday in theaters.

The next week it goes to Netflix but remains on the big screen, where I think you should watch it. It’s that good.

Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, Tim Roth, Rebecca Ferguson, and Barry Keoghan star in what is the final episode of what Murphy calls “this chapter” of the show, meaning it could go on without him.

Roth plays a villain added to the story, a British fascist sympathizer named Beckett, who was not in the series. When I told him I’d seen all the episodes, he exclaimed, “Would you believe I’ve never seen one!” To be fair, his character comes along years after the series’ finale.

But “The Immortal Man” stands alone as a film, and it’s very very good.

For the film, all the original creators returned including director Tom Harper, screenwriter Stephen Knight, within insanely rich cinematography from Ben Wilson and George Steel.

Netflix threw an old fashioned elegant premiere for “Immortal Man” last night with a private screening at the DGA Theater. Among the guests were Kathleen Turner, and Steve Buscemi. Later the crowd moved to an elegant dinner buffet at the Plaza Hotel where Murphy held court.

(As a total aside, I met WNBC’s Natalie Pasqarella, a rising media star and anchor of the Channel 4 News here in New York. She’s lovely.)

Keoghan and Ferguson never arrived, but Murphy spent a lot of time accepting congrats. (He did miss fellow Oscar winner Adrien Brody, however, who came to the party in a super Thom Browne black suit.)

Netflix loves this movie. Every guest at the DGA found a genuine tweed cap, the kind worn in the movie, on their seats. At the Plaza, the tables were adorned with replica pocket watches.

As you may know, the TV series follows the antics of the Peaky Blinders gang in Birmingham, England from 1880 to 1920. The gang is Irish but they’re mixed with Romani’s — gypsies — making the stories and cast extremely colorful. A mild warning — there’s a lot of gritty violence, including the disposal of enemy who is eaten alive. Pigs factor into it, and you don’t want to miss Murphy and Keoghan mud wrestling.

There are a lot of takeaways in “The Immortal Man.” Ferguson is great, this role is a big departure from her “Mission Impossible” role. She deserves to be a real leading lady. Keoghan, as usual, has his show stopping moments. Roth steals a lot of scenes with aplomb and gets what’s coming to him.

But it’s Murphy’s movie. I asked him if was possible that he could be old enough to be Keoghan’s on screen father? “Biologically, yes, I’m afraid so,” he replied drolly. “Tommy Shelby got busy at 16!” Murphy, now 49, has matured into being one of the world’s great stars, a lyrical Irish actor whose range is unlimited. You can’t take your eyes off him here.

Final Oscar Presenters Include No Big Surprises, Legacy Stars, or Hollywood Royalty, Big Concentration on Under 50 Crowd

This Sunday’s Oscar presenters are mostly fifty or under.

Believe it or not, the biggest name on the list is Nicole Kidman, who I think of as a youngster.

No Sally Field, Michael Douglas, Dustin Hoffman, Jane Fonda, Shirley MacLaine, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, etc. In other words, no BIG stars and no one from the hierarchy.

Don’t get me wrong — these are all great people. But there’s no buzz here. Not even a mention of Tom Cruise, who received a Governors Award a few months ago. He and Nicole could have presented Best Picture!

New round of Oscar presenters this Sunday include: Rose Byrne, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Ewan McGregor, Wagner Moura, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Lewis Pullman, Channing Tatum and Sigourney Weaver.

They joined already announced: Will Arnett, Adrien Brody, Javier Bardem, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Kieran Culkin, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Anne Hathaway, Chase Infiniti, Mikey Madison, Paul Mescal, Demi Moore, Kumail Nanjiani, Gwyneth Paltrow, Maya Rudolph and Zoe Saldaña.

Is this really all that’s left of Hollywood? Couldn’t they bring in Sophia Loren or Catherine Deneuve? Pacino and DeNiro? Michael Caine? Julie Andrews? Goldie Hawn?

Watch: Superstar Sting Docked the “The Last Ship” at the Tonight Show Last Night to Preview Cutting Edge Met Opera House Run