Brad Pitt hosts ‘Beale Street’ Reception, Screening as Oscar Voting

This weekend, Los Angeles was lit up by stars on the ground as the final weekend of Oscar campaigning for nominations resulted in a supernova of receptions, screenings, talent and voters hitting events all over town.

There was ROMA at the Chateau Marmont hosted by Charlize Theron with star Yalitza Aparicio and director Alfonso Cuarón and Mary Poppins Returns presented by Sophia Loren. There were guild and AMPAS screenings of Black Panther with director Ryan Coogler, producer Kevin Feige, production designer Hannah Beachler, costume designer Ruth Carter, and composer Ludwig Goransson; a screening of Adam McKay’s Vice that lured Timothée Chalamet, Nicole Kidman and more. Director Spike Lee, producer Jason Blum and stars John David Washington and Adam Driver were on hand for a screening and reception for BlacKkKlansman. Plus, LAFCA’s awards event was Saturday night. Black sedans were racing all over Hollywood shuttling stars back and forth, all trying to land some final face to face moments with Academy members.

Saturday night saw Brad Pitt, with his Plan B producing partners Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, hosting a reception and screening for Barry Jenkins’ Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice-winning If Beale Street Could Talk high in the Hollywood Hills at the Ross House that brought in the majority of the film’s stars and crew on hand to talk and mingle with hundred of Academy voters as they sipped champagne while overlooking a clear Los Angeles skyline. Stars KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Brian Tyree Henry, Colman Domingo Finn Wittrock and Michael Beach joined Jenkins and composer Nicholas Britell, costume designer Caroline Eselin, makeup cinematographer James Laxton, co-film editor Joi McMillon and key hair department head Kenneth Walker and there was palpable passion and love for the film and its filmmakers. Timothée Chalamet popped in to say hi to Pitt, who also produced Beautiful Boy and Chalamet’s upcoming The King, and give his support for Beale Street.

Oscar nomination voting ends today at 5pm PST. Nominations will be announced in the early morning hours on Tuesday, January 22nd.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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