Spirit Awards 2024

►🏆 Indie darlings 🏆 Hollywood had its busiest weekend for awards. Working backwards, on Sunday, Past Lives was named best feature at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards. In addition, Celine Song was named best director for her work on Past Lives. Elsewhere, The Holdovers' Da’Vine Joy Randolph won best supporting performance, and her co-star, Dominic Sessa, won for best breakthrough performance. On the TV side, Beef was named best new scripted series, while Ali Wong won best lead performance for her role in the show. The winners. 

—Snubs, shutouts and surprises. Todd Haynes' May December was up for five Spirit Awards, but only won one, in the best first screenplay category, for writers Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik. Ira Sachs' Passages was shut out despite four nominations, and Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers was up for three awards but didn’t win any. The biggest surprise was American Fiction star Jeffrey Wright's win over a number of big names including Natalie Portman, Greta Lee, Jessica Chastain and Andrew Scott. The snubs. 

—"The bisexual Oscars." Aidy Bryant celebrated “the resilience and ingenuity” of her fellow artists during her opening monologue at the Spirit Awards. Bryant went on to touch on the various troubles faced by recent awards hosts, saying that hosting is "becoming kind of a tough gig, like I can only hope that in this single afternoon I will be panned, considered out of touch, sexist and potentially be slapped." The monologue. 

—"People are practicing their freedom of speech." People protesting the Israel–Hamas war outside the Spirit Awards could be heard inside throughout the ceremony on Sunday afternoon. A handful of protesters were outside the tent located on the beach in Santa Monica playing previously recorded chants on a megaphone such as “free Palestine,” “long live Palestine” and “ceasefire now.” The chants continued as awards were presented inside and were also heard during the red carpet arrivals earlier in the day. The protests. 

PGA Awards 2024 

►🏆 No surprises 🏆 Also on Sunday, Oppenheimer took the top prize at the 2024 Producers Guild of America Awards. The film won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for outstanding producer of theatrical motion pictures. On the TV side, the big winners were the usual suspects: Beef, Succession and The Bear. The winners.

—"I feel like it’s really come full-circle." In 1965, Martin Scorsese was 22 and was surrounded by legends when he won the Jesse L. Laskey Intercollegiate Award at the Milestone Awards dinner hosted by the then-called Screen Producers Guild on March 8, 1965. Almost 60 years later, the filmmaker received the David O. Selznick Achievement Award at the 2024 PGA Awards in what he called a “full-circle” moment. The speech. 

—"No one should go without these essential benefits." At Sunday's ceremony, the Producers Guild of America announced an initiative aimed at ensuring health insurance benefits for every qualified producer working full-time in the film and TV industry. Blumhouse, Legendary, MACRO and Berlanti Productions have already signed onto the initiative. The story. 

SAG Awards 2024

►🏆 Oppy dominates 🏆 On Saturday, Oppenheimer won best performance by a cast in a motion picture at the 2024 SAG Awards. The film also scooped up two other awards, for leading actor Cillian Murphy and supporting actor Robert Downey Jr. On the TV side, The Bear won three awards, including best ensemble in a comedy series and acting awards for stars Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri. Succession was named best drama series ensemble, but lost out in the other categories in which it was nominated. The SAGs were the first major awards show ever to be streamed on Netflix. The winners. 

—Snubs, shutouts and surprises. The SAG Awards surprises came mainly on the TV side as Succession, which led with five nods, took home one award, albeit for the top TV prize. Instead, The Last of Us' Pedro Pascal won best drama actor, a category in which Succession accounted for three of five nominees, and The Crown's Elizabeth Debicki won best drama actress. Both actors seemed surprised by their wins. The snubs. 

—What it all means for the big one. The jam-packed weekend of last-gasp Oscar campaigning came before the film Academy’s final round of voting closes on Feb. 27. THR's executive editor of awards coverage Scott Feinberg explains the significance of the SAG wins for Cillian Murphy, Lily Gladstone and the cast of Oppenheimer. The analysis. 

—"I didn’t like reality." Legendary actor, singer, producer, writer and filmmaker Barbra Streisand accepted a SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievements and humanitarian accomplishments from Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper. In a moving speech, Streisand recalled her dreams and struggles to become an actress. The speech. 

More from the SAG Awards... 

—Most memorable moments, from all the cast reunions to Meryl Streep’s mic mishap

—10 of the most talked-about SAG Awards looks

—Fran Drescher says 2023 strike “set the trajectory for many generations to come”

Césars, Golden Bears and More 

►🏆 Félicitations! 🏆 The Cesar Awards, France’s top film honors, were handed out in Paris on Friday night, with Justine Triet's Oscar contender Anatomy of a Fall emerging as the big winner. The French courtroom drama earned the best film prize, best actress for Sandra Hüller, best director for Triet, best original screenplay shared between Triet and co-writer Arthur Harari, and Swann Arlaud took home the best supporting actor trophy. Christopher Nolan received an honorary Cesar for lifetime achievement. The winners. 

—🏆 Glückwunsch! 🏆 Dahomey, a documentary from French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop, won the Golden Bear for best film at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. Dahomey is only the second African film to win the top prize at Berlin. Hong Sangsoo won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize for A Traveler’s Needs. Sebastian Stan (A Different Man) and Emily Watson (Small Things Like These) took home acting honors. The winners. 

—🏆 Gut gemacht! 🏆 On Saturday, the Berlinale unveiled the winners of this year’s Panorama Audience Awards. Memories of a Burning Body, the second feature film from Costa Rican director Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, won the top prize for best fiction film, while No Other Land by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor took the Panorama Audience Award for best documentary. The winners. 

—🏆 Ich gratuliere!🏆 The independent juries of the Berlinale unveiled their picks of the best movies early Saturday. Matthias Glasner’s German family epic Sterben, and the Iranian feature My Favourite Cake from directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, received multiple awards for the indie juries, as did Dag Johan Haugerud’s Norwegian drama Sex. The winners.

'One Love' Jams Past $120M Globally

►Movement of the people. Bob Marley: One Love continues to prove popular with audiences at the global box office, where it crossed the $100m mark after only 10 days in theaters. The Paramount movie easily stayed atop this weekend’s domestic box office chart with an estimated $13.5m from 3,597 locations, pushing its domestic tally to $72.2m. One Love also continues to shine brightly overseas, where it has amassed $49.4m for global cume of $120.6m. Sony's Madame Web grossed a mere $5.6m from 4,013 theaters in its sophomore outing, possibly only good enough for a fifth-place finish. The news is just as bad overseas, where the film has earned $42m for a worldwide gross of $87.3m. The box office report. 

—It's not looking good, brev. Those following the saga of Coyote vs. Acme waited with bated breath Friday for Warner Bros. Discovery's earnings report for news of the animated film’s fate. The report offered no definitive answers, but there are troubling signs, as WBD said it wrote off $115m in content due to abandoning films in the third quarter of 2023. Part of those $115m in newly disclosed write-down costs could conceivably belong to Coyote vs. Acme, a $70m feature whose fate has been hanging in the balance for several months. The story.

—Long time coming. Naruto, one of the most popular mangas of all time, is headed to the big screen. Destin Daniel Cretton, who co-wrote and directed the Marvel Studios movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, has been tapped to pen and helm a live-action adaptation of the title for Lionsgate. Cretton will also produce alongside Jeyun Munford through his company, Hisako. The story. 

—"Hope to make you proud!" Vin Diesel gave an update on the future of the Fast and Furious franchise amid legal issues surrounding the star. Diesel took to Instagram on Friday to share that he met earlier that day with the writers and team behind the planned finale for the Universal action series. This marks the first public update on the film following Diesel’s former assistant suing him for sexual battery in December stemming from an alleged 2010 incident during production on Fast Five. The actor, who also produces the Fast films, has denied any wrongdoing. The story. 

—Shaky Foundation. There’s a shakeup going on behind the scenes at Apple TV+'s lavish sci-fi drama Foundation. Co-creator David S. Goyer is stepping back from his showrunner duties ahead of production resuming on the show’s upcoming third season. Goyer will still be creatively involved with the show, contributing scripts from L.A., while EP Bill Bost will be moving to Prague (where the show is filmed). Sources say Goyer and execs at the show’s production company, Skydance, clashed over the budget for season three. The story.

Critics' Conversation: Winter TV's Wicked Games

►"I’ve been wondering why there are so many dang murder mysteries this winter." THR’s TV critics Dan Fienberg and Angie Han weigh in on a conspicuously murderous past few months of small-screen offerings, with a wide range of whodunits dominating the landscape — and a few refreshing exceptions to the rule (thank you, Max’s Sort Of). The critics' conversation. 

—"I thought that was gonna get a bigger laugh." Comedian Shane Gillis made a strong effort in his return to Studio 8H on Saturday night, but as he acknowledged through his nearly 10 minutes on stage, many of his jokes didn’t quite land with the live audience — probably because much of his popular routine is not network TV-friendly. Gillis returned to Saturday Night Live as its host, five years after he was fired from the cast. In 2019, he was abruptly sacked when racist and homophobic jokes he made on his podcast surfaced. The recap. 

—"Kenny could bathe you in positivity, compassion, thoughtfulness, and hilarity." Kenneth Mitchell, known for his portrayal of several characters in Star Trek: Discovery as well as roles in Captain Marvel and Jericho, has died. He was 49. Mitchell died Saturday in Los Angeles from complications of ALS, his family told THR. Mitchell played four characters across three seasons of Star Trek: Discovery: Kol, Kol-Sha, Tenavik and Aurellio. He also portrayed Carol Danvers' father in a flashback in Captain Marvel. The obituary. 

—Wolfman pounces. Barry Tubb, a supporting actor who appeared in Top Gun, is now suing Paramount over the use of his likeness in the 2022 smash hit sequel Top Gun: Maverick. Tubb, who played Leonard “Wolfman” Wolfe in the 1986 movie, filed a suit against the studio that states that there was no stipulation in his contract to include his image in any potential sequel, which is what happened in a notable scene in Maverick. The story. 

Film Review: 'Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger'

►"Eloquent and dynamic." THR's Sheri Linden reviews David Hinton's Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger. Narrated by Martin Scorsese, Hinton’s doc delves into the filmmaking duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's body of work and their creative ups and downs. The review. 

—"Criminally flawed." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Gustav Moller's Berlinale competition entry Sons. The latest from the Danish filmmaker behind The Guilty stars Sidse Babett Knudsen as a remarkable as an avenging corrections officer. The review. 

—"Cinematic muzak." Leslie reviews Margherita Vicario's Berlinale competition entry Gloria! The period drama centers around women musicians at a Church-run establishment in early-1800s Italy. The review. 

In other news...

—Diane Warren performs medley of all 15 of her Oscar-nominated songs

—The world’s top costume design schools 2024

—Zendaya makes “generous” donation to theater where she started acting

—Musicians, studios reach tentative deal on contract with streaming residuals, AI gains

​​​What else we're reading...

—Alex Thompson has an exclusive interview with Hunter Biden, who discusses his sobriety, his legal issues and the coming presidential election [Axios]

—Jonathan Abrams talks to The Wire star Felicia “Snoop” Pearson about teaming up with writer Ed Burns to turn her life story into a TV show [NYT]

—Ashley Wong looks into how Love Is Blind helped Netflix crack the reality-TV code [WSJ]

—Sian Cain reports that the owners of the stately house featured in Saltburn say the property is being plagued by trespassers and influencers [Guardian]

—A two-parter: A San Francisco-based Bon Appétit reader (a conductor, apparently) claims he spends $3,506.41 on restaurant meals [Bon Appétit]. Alas, the Chronicle is calling BS [SF Chronicle]

Today...  

...in 2010, Warner Bros. released Kevin Smith's Cop Out in theaters. The film, a buddy cop action comedy starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, was the first feature that Smith didn't write himself and was a big critical and commercial failure. The original review. 

Today's birthdays: Erykah Badu (53), Michael Bolton (71), James Wan (47), Sean Baker (53), Drew Goddard (49), Teresa Palmer (38), Mark Dacascos (60), Jennifer Grant (58), Taylor Dooley (31), Bill Duke (81), Greg Germann (66), Chase Masterson (61), Veronica Ngo (45), Ed Quinn (56), Erinn Bartlett (51), Barbara Niven (71), Shiloh Fernandez (39), Marta Kristen (80), Toby Sebastian (32), Fay Ripley (58), Alicia Agneson (28), Lex Scott Davis (33), Demetrius Grosse (43), Sage Linder (23), Max Lloyd-Jones (33), Ify Nwadiwe (36), Joanna Arida (26), Oh Jung-se (47), Ross Partridge (56), Carmen Du Sautoy (74), Dan Berk (37)