Actor-comedian and Oscar®–nominated writer Kumail Nanjiani and actress–producer–director Tracee Ellis Ross announced the 91st Oscars® nominations today (January 22), live from the Academy’s headquarters in Beverly Hills via a global live stream on Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the Academy’s digital platforms, a satellite feed, and broadcast media.
Academy members from each of the 17 branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.
The 91st Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscars also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide
And The Nominees are.
Performance by an actor in a leading role
- Christian Bale in “Vice”
- Bradley Cooper in “A Star Is Born”
- Willem Dafoe in “At Eternity’s Gate”
- Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody”
- Viggo Mortensen in “Green Book”
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
- Mahershala Ali in “Green Book”
- Adam Driver in “BlacKkKlansman”
- Sam Elliott in “A Star Is Born”
- Richard E. Grant in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
- Sam Rockwell in “Vice”
Performance by an actress in a leading role
- Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma”
- Glenn Close in “The Wife”
- Olivia Colman in “The Favourite”
- Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born”
- Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
- Amy Adams in “Vice”
- Marina de Tavira in “Roma”
- Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk”
- Emma Stone in “The Favourite”
- Rachel Weisz in “The Favourite”
Best animated feature film of the year
- “Incredibles 2” Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle
- “Isle of Dogs” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
- “Mirai” Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito
- “Ralph Breaks the Internet” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Clark Spencer
- “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
Achievement in cinematography
- “Cold War” Łukasz Żal
- “The Favourite” Robbie Ryan
- “Never Look Away” Caleb Deschanel
- “Roma” Alfonso Cuarón
- “A Star Is Born” Matthew Libatique
Achievement in costume design
- “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Mary Zophres
- “Black Panther” Ruth Carter
- “The Favourite” Sandy Powell
- “Mary Poppins Returns” Sandy Powell
- “Mary Queen of Scots” Alexandra Byrne
Achievement in directing
- “BlacKkKlansman” Spike Lee
- “Cold War” Paweł Pawlikowski
- “The Favourite” Yorgos Lanthimos
- “Roma” Alfonso Cuarón
- “Vice” Adam McKay
Best documentary feature
- “Free Solo” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill
- “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim
- “Minding the Gap” Bing Liu and Diane Quon
- “Of Fathers and Sons” Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert
- “RBG” Betsy West and Julie Cohen
Best documentary short subject
- “Black Sheep” Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
- “End Game” Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
- “Lifeboat” Skye Fitzgerald and Bryn Mooser
- “A Night at The Garden” Marshall Curry
- “Period. End of Sentence.” Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton
Achievement in film editing
- “BlacKkKlansman” Barry Alexander Brown
- “Bohemian Rhapsody” John Ottman
- “The Favourite” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
- “Green Book” Patrick J. Don Vito
- “Vice” Hank Corwin
Best foreign language film of the year
- “Capernaum” Lebanon
- “Cold War” Poland
- “Never Look Away” Germany
- “Roma” Mexico
- “Shoplifters” Japan
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
- “Border” Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer
- “Mary Queen of Scots” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks
- “Vice” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
- “Black Panther” Ludwig Goransson
- “BlacKkKlansman” Terence Blanchard
- “If Beale Street Could Talk” Nicholas Britell
- “Isle of Dogs” Alexandre Desplat
- “Mary Poppins Returns” Marc Shaiman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
- “All The Stars” from “Black Panther”
Music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe - “I’ll Fight” from “RBG”
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren - “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns”
Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman - “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born”
Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt - “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch
Best motion picture of the year
- “Black Panther” Kevin Feige, Producer
- “BlacKkKlansman” Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, Producers
- “Bohemian Rhapsody” Graham King, Producer
- “The Favourite” Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos, Producers
- “Green Book” Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, Producers
- “Roma” Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón, Producers
- “A Star Is Born” Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers
- “Vice” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers
Achievement in production design
- “Black Panther” Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart
- “The Favourite” Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
- “First Man” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
- “Mary Poppins Returns” Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
- “Roma” Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez
Best animated short film
- “Animal Behaviour” Alison Snowden and David Fine
- “Bao” Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb
- “Late Afternoon” Louise Bagnall and Nuria González Blanco
- “One Small Step” Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
- “Weekends” Trevor Jimenez
Best live action short film
- “Detainment” Vincent Lambe and Darren Mahon
- “Fauve” Jeremy Comte and Maria Gracia Turgeon
- “Marguerite” Marianne Farley and Marie-Hélène Panisset
- “Mother” Rodrigo Sorogoyen and María del Puy Alvarado
- “Skin” Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman
Achievement in sound editing
- “Black Panther” Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker
- “Bohemian Rhapsody” John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone
- “First Man” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
- “A Quiet Place” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
- “Roma” Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay
Achievement in sound mixing
- “Black Panther” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin
- “Bohemian Rhapsody” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali
- “First Man” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis
- “Roma” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio García
- “A Star Is Born” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow
Achievement in visual effects
- “Avengers: Infinity War” Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick
- “Christopher Robin” Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould
- “First Man” Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm
- “Ready Player One” Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk
- “Solo: A Star Wars Story” Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy
Adapted screenplay
- “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
- “BlacKkKlansman” Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
- “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
- “If Beale Street Could Talk” Written for the screen by Barry Jenkins
- “A Star Is Born” Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters
Original screenplay
- “The Favourite” Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
- “First Reformed” Written by Paul Schrader
- “Green Book” Written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly
- “Roma” Written by Alfonso Cuarón
- “Vice” Written by Adam McKay

Streaming
Midnight Mass: The Blood of Life

The isolated island community of Crockett receives a mysterious new head priest, full of secrets and a brand new testament under a very unusual Messenger of God.
Meet poor Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford), freshly released from prison and wracked with guilt over what got him there, a stupid drinking accident that caused the death of his ex-girlfriend. The last thing he wants to do is go back to Crockett and the judgment of the mostly religious community there, his disappointed family, and the nightmares of his ex’s death that plague him. But where else would have him? Resignedly on the ferry, he goes.
Riley’s dad Ed (Henry Thomas) isn’t the kind of man who talks very much at all, much less about his feelings, or his very real disappointment in his elder son. Riley’s teen brother Warren (Igby Rigney) has no idea what to say to him either, and just generally keeps mum. Riley’s mom Annie (Kristin Lehman) is accepting and loving, hesitant in how to help her eldest son but never wavering in her faith in the help of our lord Jesus. Mom seems to think a good heaping dose of the Church would set Riley right but is surprised to learn that the old priest of the Parish, Pruitt, has taken an extended leave of absence from the island, and his newcomer replacement Father Paul (Hamish Linklater) is young, charismatic, and bursting at the seams to tell the whole island about the gifts he brought them, most especially what he claims as a new testament under a messenger of God.
We’ll get back to that whole ball of issues in a moment, the other interesting characters of Crockett Island. Bev Keane (Samantha Sloyan) is the nightmarish overly polite and gently, almost lovingly condescending neighbor Christian woman you’ve ever loathed, the kind of person who explains away every last thing her Church may do wrong or contradictory because, after all, God works in mysterious ways. Pfft. Of course, Bev immediately ingratiates herself as the second to the new Father Paul in their services and is the first to start covering up his transgressions as they become more rampant.
Newcomers to Crockett Sheriff Hassan (Rahul Kohli) and his son Ali (Rahul Abburi) present a burgeoning problem to the plans of Father Paul and his shadowy companion, for they are both practicing Muslims. The practical side of investigating these so-called ‘miracles’ and strange happenings falls on Hassan’s shoulders, as he already struggles with barely-concealed racism and suspicion from his fellow islanders, and of course his son is being wooed away from him by the promise of actual, tangible miracles, but from a different whole faith and God. Father Paul definitely does not practice a traditional Christian faith and relies far too much on making use of the eucharist, the ceremony of the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ turning into bread and wine and, well, consumed.
Wade (Michael Trucco) and his wife Dolly (Crystal Balint) are lifers of the island and both in general interested in one thing, the advancement of their own family, specifically their daughter Leeza (Annarah Cymone), who happens to be in a wheelchair. And that happens to be the canny Father Paul’s first real miracle-with-a-cost that he demonstrates to the astonishment of the parishioners, after a heartfelt and rousing sermon, Father Paul commands Leeza to rise, to stand, and to walk. And lo, she does. What parents wouldn’t wholly dedicate themselves to a cause after seeing this happen to their beloved precious daughter? The fringe benefits of healing, and power, the ones that come at a mighty, currently unnamed, cost, are simply a nice bonus.
Joe Collie (Robert Longstreet) is the town drunk, and while his reasons for drowning his sorrows in the sauce might be understandable, absolution wears a very different face when it comes from Father Paul. While Leeza might be willing to forgive Joe, and even as Joe begins attending the newly-formed Al-Anon meetings on the island of course hosted by Father Paul, redemption might’ve been better sought from medical professionals, and not this newfound method of religious worship.
Dr. Sarah Gunning (Annabeth Gish) is the islands’ kind of all-around medic, and this is how she and Riley’s old friend Erin (Kate Siegel), also newly returned to the island, a few months pregnant but traveling quietly alone, met when Erin comes to the Doc for obstetrics. Sarah’s older mother Mildred Gunning (Alexandra Essoe) has many medical and mental issues, and Sarah struggles in their shared home, to take care of her addled mom and balance her own life. Then Father Paul takes it upon himself to visit one of his oldest parishioners, bringing the sacred host and wine with him to give directly to Mildred, who starts looking and acting so much better under his loving care.
The show is very much a slow slow burn, with a lot of the actual action taking place in the last two episodes. Much of the beginning and middle episodes feature two people just sitting alone, having quiet and seriously in-depth conversations about heavy subjects – grief and repentance, what happens when we die, the disasters that come as a result of addictions, how our actions’ consequences reverberate to those we love around us, faith and the foibles of man, and of course, the giving of oneself over to a higher power, for strength, and guidance, and love.
Except, for the higher power that Father Paul brought back with him, to share with his beloved flock of Crockett Island, while it may be extremely powerful and full of what could be considered miraculous magic, everything comes at some kind of a cost. And when the Messenger of God is finally revealed to the shocked denizens of Crockett at Easter Mass, with Father Paul rapturing on about rebirth as the bloody massacre begins in earnest, it’s faith, not in any kind of God or religion, but faith in each other, that may save a few hardy souls.
Question the wisdom of your religious leaders along with the rest of us in a fine slow-burn addition to the Flanaverse, Midnight Mass is on Netflix now!
Movie
Saw X: It ain’t brain surgery!

Legendary executioner Jigsaw returns to exact revenge on a cadre of scam artists who promised him a bogus cure for his cancer!
First off, be aware, that this is what I call an interleaved sequel, a movie set between previous films in the franchise. In this case, Saw X occurs after the events of the very first Saw film, and before Saw II. Everybody got where we are? Good! Into the madness, we dive!
So, as we all know, John Kramer’s been diagnosed with cancer, very aggressive brain cancer, and likely doesn’t have much time left. And he’s tried everything under the sun, doing a ton of meticulous research, we’d expect nothing less from our master of the art of murder, and not one thing has worked. Yet one man from the support group for cancer sufferers, Henry (Michael Beach), offers an off-the-books supposed miracle cure, and John jumps at the chance.
Why does this nonsense always sound too good to be true? Because it is. Deleted scenes from the first Deadpool movie already told us why traveling to Mexico for any kind of medical cure is a sublimely stupid move, but Kramer is desperate. And while he might be sick and dying, John Kramer has never been what anyone could call stupid. So the villa out in the Mexican countryside, the affable cab driver Diego (Joshua Okamoto) professes surprise at Kramer being highjacked for his good, the nervous muttering from assistant Valentina (Paulette Hernandez), the side-eyeing from little housekeep Gabriela (Renata Vaca) and her tequila, and most especially the smooth and smarming reassurances of head “doctor” Cecilia Pederson (Synnove Macody Lund), all leave a kind of sour taste in John’s mouth.
The whole cluex4 scene is done in the style that the Saw films are known for, where we the audience are treated to cut-together explanatory scenes in a flip-flash fashion of usually about two minutes, for poor John when he realizes he’s been hoodwinked and just how badly, seems a little contrived. But then it’s entirely possible that we the audience truly expected our genius mastermind of the infamous Jigsaw murders to have realized what was happening sooner, and got enraged along with Kramer. And cheered as he prepared to take his bloody and ultra-violent revenge!
First up in our grand guignol of executions is the return of Jigsaw’s first protégé, Amanda (Shawnee Smith). And despite her avowed reverence for Jigsaw and his proven “therapy”, Amanda does waver a bit when the scammers are put through the paces of their specially-made Saw traps, and they shriek and blubber and bleed out. The appearance of the ringer of the bunch, Parker (Steven Brand), doesn’t even slow our beloved engineer of the damned down, because we knew Jigsaw would have his other apprentice waiting just off stage, the deliciously vicious Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor). Even the monkeywrench of involving little-boy soccer fan Carlos (Jorge Briseno) in the traps, is just another cog in the machine that is the brilliantly plotting mind of John Kramer.
A fine addition to the Saw legends, showcasing a return to the beloved style and panache of the original Tobin Bell-starring Jigsaw films, Saw X is splashing gore and gallons of blood in theaters now!
Streaming
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

“Scott Pilgrim Takes Off,” Netflix’s latest series, is a rollicking journey through the world of video game culture, blending nostalgic references with a fresh narrative twist. Centered around Scott Pilgrim, portrayed with magnetic charisma by Michael Cera, the show skillfully integrates gaming elements into its storytelling, creating a delightful homage to the video game subculture.
The series cleverly employs pixelated graphics, power-up animations, and game-like sound effects to bring the virtual world to life. These visual cues, reminiscent of classic video games, enhance the storytelling and resonate with audiences familiar with the gaming landscape. The attention to detail in recreating iconic gaming moments is commendable, creating a visual and auditory treat for enthusiasts.
The exploration of video game culture goes beyond mere aesthetics; it becomes an integral part of the characters’ identities and interactions. The script intelligently weaves gaming terminology and tropes into the dialogue, effectively blending the real and virtual worlds. The series navigates the challenges and triumphs of the characters through the lens of gaming, making it a unique and engaging experience for both gamers and general audiences.
The ensemble cast, including standout performances from Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, and Chris Evans embraces the gaming theme with infectious enthusiasm. The chemistry between the characters is palpable, adding emotional depth to the series.
“Scott Pilgrim Takes Off” successfully taps into the zeitgeist of video game culture, offering a nostalgic yet contemporary take on the gaming phenomenon. It’s a must-watch for those who cherish the pixelated roots of the gaming world while providing an accessible and entertaining narrative for a broader audience. The series takes off not only in its title but also in its ability to soar within the ever-expanding realm of Netflix originals.