AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 258: Gotham Nominations, AFI FEST, ‘Babygirl,’ ‘Gladiator II’ and More

On episode 258 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Editor-In-Chief Erik Anderson, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade and Associate Editor Sophia Ciminello talk about the Gotham Awards nominations, the world premieres of AFI FEST 2024 and two films we saw outside of the festival that will be in the Oscar race.

Always considered the kickoff of awards season, the Gotham Awards nominations were revealed this week and without too much surprise Sean Baker’s Anora led with four nods: Best Feature, Best Director, Outstanding Lead Performance (Mikey Madison) and Outstanding Supporting Performance (Yura Borisnov). Next up with three apiece were RaMell Ross’s Nickel Boys (Best Feature, Best Director, Breakthrough Performer – Brandon Wilson) and Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow (Best Director, Outstanding Lead Performance – Justice Smith, Outstanding Supporting Performance – Brigette Lundy-Paine). We break down these nominations, the surprises (Challengers in Best Feature as its only nod, The Brutalist missing there) and snubs (notably, Joan Chen) and everything in between. See full list of nominations here.

Then we head over to the AFI FEST 2024, which just ended last weekend, to talk about the world premieres of the fest: Music by John Williams (review), Robert Zemeckis’s Here (review), Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2 (review) and the new Aardman Animation film Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl. It’s a pretty spirited conversation as the film from two directing giants are among our least favorite films of the year, but then buoyed by the joy and fun of the new Aardman. Conversely, we venture into two films that we loved and saw outside of the festival last week, Halina Reijn’s Babygirl, starring Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson, and Ridley Scott’s return to the Colosseum with Gladiator II, starring Paul Mescal and Denzel Washington.

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This podcast runs 58m. We will be back next week for a retrospective of the 87th Academy Awards, covering the films of 2014. Till then, let’s get into it.