“Tom Cruise is a global icon,” said Kathleen Kennedy, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees. “As an actor and producer, he brings an extraordinary commitment to everything he does. What I especially admire is his deep belief in movies and their ability to bring people together. That passion has made him an extraordinary ambassador for American film around the world. It is AFI’s honor to present him with the 52nd AFI Life Achievement Award.”

The American Film Institute is a nonprofit organization that champions the moving image as an art form. All proceeds from the 52nd AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute Gala support AFI’s education and arts initiatives.

Tom Cruise is a global cultural icon who has made an immeasurable impact on cinema by creating some of the most memorable characters of all time. With extraordinary success as an actor, producer, and philanthropist over a career spanning more than five decades, Cruise is a four-time Oscar nominee whose films have earned nearly $13 billion at the worldwide box office.

Driven by a lifetime goal of entertaining audiences worldwide, Cruise has spent the last 40 years producing and starring in movies that stand the test of time.  As a result, he has played a leading role in numerous legendary films including TOP GUN, JERRY MAGUIRE, RISKY BUSINESS, MINORITY REPORT, INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, A FEW GOOD MEN, THE FIRM, RAIN MAN, COLLATERAL, THE LAST SAMURAI, EDGE OF TOMORROW, BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, THE COLOR OF MONEY and the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE series, among many others, including TOP GUN: MAVERICK, the highest-grossing film in his career. Cruise is currently starring in DIGGER, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, and is set to return as “Cole Trickle” in DAYS OF THUNDER 2.

Cruise received Academy Award nominations for Best Actor for BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY and JERRY MAGUIRE and was a nominee for Best Supporting Actor for MAGNOLIA. Cruise was also an Academy Award® nominee in 2022 as producer of TOP GUN: MAVERICK, which was nominated for Best Picture.

Cruise has previously been honored by the Cannes Film Festival, the Producers Guild of America, France’s Knight of the Legion of Honor, Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Man of the Year Award, the John Huston Award from the Artists Rights Foundation, the Simon Wiesenthal Humanitarian Award, the Entertainment Icon Award from the Friars Club and the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation’s Pioneer Award.

In 2025, Cruise received the Honorary Oscar at the Academy’s Governors Awards.

The 52nd AFI Life Achievement Award Honoree joins an esteemed group of individuals who have been chosen for this distinguished honor since its inception.

1973 – John Ford
1974 – James Cagney
1975 – Orson Welles
1976 – William Wyler
1977 – Bette Davis
1978 – Henry Fonda
1979 – Alfred Hitchcock
1980 – James Stewart
1981 – Fred Astaire
1982 – Frank Capra
1983 – John Huston
1984 – Lillian Gish
1985 – Gene Kelly
1986 – Billy Wilder
1987 – Barbara Stanwyck
1988 – Jack Lemmon
1989 – Gregory Peck
1990 – David Lean
1991 – Kirk Douglas
1992 – Sidney Poitier
1993 – Elizabeth Taylor
1994 – Jack Nicholson
1995 – Steven Spielberg
1996 – Clint Eastwood
1997 – Martin Scorsese
1998 – Robert Wise
1999 – Dustin Hoffman
2000 – Harrison Ford
2001 – Barbra Streisand
2002 – Tom Hanks
2003 – Robert De Niro
2004 – Meryl Streep
2005 – George Lucas
2006 – Sean Connery
2007 – Al Pacino
2008 – Warren Beatty
2009 – Michael Douglas
2010 – Mike Nichols
2011 – Morgan Freeman
2012 – Shirley MacLaine
2013 – Mel Brooks
2014 – Jane Fonda
2015 – Steve Martin
2016 – John Williams
2017 – Diane Keaton
2018 – George Clooney
2019 – Denzel Washington
2022 – Julie Andrews
2024 – Nicole Kidman
2025 – Francis Ford Coppola
2026 – Eddie Murphy

The AFI Board of Trustees established the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1973 as the highest honor for a career in film. It is presented to a single honoree each year based on the following criteria as mandated through a resolution passed by the AFI Board of Trustees: “The recipient should be one whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art; whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public; and whose work has stood the test of time.”

Most recently, AFI presented the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award to Eddie Murphy on Saturday, April 18th, at a Gala Tribute at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. This special event later premiered globally on Netflix on May 31st, 2026.  Performers and presenters included Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Arsenio Hall, Kevin Hart, Martin Lawrence, Spike Lee, Eva Longoria, Tracy Morgan, Mike Myers, Judge Reinhold, Chris Rock, Kenan Thompson, Robert Townsend, and Stevie Wonder.

Are you excited about this news for Tom Cruise? Have you seen “Digger” yet? If so, what did you think of it? Please let us know in the comments section below or on our Twitter account.

The post Tom Cruise To Be Honored With The 52nd AFI Lifetime Achievement Award appeared first on Next Best Picture.

The award will be presented to Murphy at a Gala Tribute at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on April 18th, 2026. Eddie Murphy is recognized as one of the most commercially successful actors in the history of the motion picture business and remains one of the industry’s top five box-office performers overall.

“AFI is grateful to Ted Sarandos and the talented team at Netflix for the opportunity to share this proud tradition with the world,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI President and CEO.  “And to do so in honor of Eddie Murphy will allow us to shine a proper light on the impact of art at a time the world needs it most.”

Proceeds from the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute Gala support AFI’s education and arts initiatives. The official sponsor of the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award Gala dinner is Canva, the all-in-one visual communication platform. The official water sponsor is FIJI Water.

AFI Life Achievement Award Recipients
The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award Honoree joins an esteemed group of individuals who have been chosen for this distinguished honor since its inception.

1973: John Ford
1974: James Cagney
1975: Orson Welles
1976: William Wyler
1977: Bette Davis
1978: Henry Fonda
1979: Alfred Hitchcock
1980: James Stewart
1981: Fred Astaire
1982: Frank Capra
1983: John Huston
1984: Lillian Gish
1985: Gene Kelly
1986: Billy Wilder
1987: Barbara Stanwyck
1988: Jack Lemmon
1989: Gregory Peck
1990: David Lean
1991: Kirk Douglas
1992: Sidney Poitier
1993: Elizabeth Taylor
1994: Jack Nicholson
1995: Steven Spielberg
1996: Clint Eastwood
1997: Martin Scorsese
1998: Robert Wise
1999: Dustin Hoffman
2000: Harrison Ford
2001: Barbra Streisand
2002: Tom Hanks
2003: Robert De Niro
2004: Meryl Streep
2005: George Lucas
2006: Sean Connery
2007: Al Pacino
2008: Warren Beatty
2009: Michael Douglas
2010: Mike Nichols
2011: Morgan Freeman
2012: Shirley MacLaine
2013: Mel Brooks
2014: Jane Fonda
2015: Steve Martin
2016: John Williams
2017: Diane Keaton
2018: George Clooney
2019: Denzel Washington
2022: Julie Andrews
2024: Nicole Kidman
2025: Francis Ford Coppola

What do you think of this news? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account.

The post Netflix Will Stream The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute To Eddie Murphy appeared first on Next Best Picture.

“Eddie Murphy is an American icon,” said Kathleen Kennedy, Chair of the AFI Board of Trustees. “A trailblazing force in the art forms of film, television, and stand-up comedy, his versatility knows no bounds. Across five decades, his enduring impact on our culture has inspired artists and audiences alike, and AFI is proud to honor him with the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award.”

The American Film Institute is a nonprofit organization with a mandate to champion the moving image as an art form. All proceeds from the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award Tribute Gala support AFI’s education and arts initiatives.

The official sponsor of the 51st AFI Life Achievement Award Gala dinner is Canva, the all-in-one visual communication platform.

AFI Life Achievement Award Recipients
The 51st AFI Life Achievement Award Honoree joins an esteemed group of individuals who have been chosen for this distinguished honor since its inception.

1973: John Ford
1974: James Cagney
1975: Orson Welles
1976: William Wyler
1977: Bette Davis
1978: Henry Fonda
1979: Alfred Hitchcock
1980: James Stewart
1981: Fred Astaire
1982: Frank Capra
1983: John Huston
1984: Lillian Gish
1985: Gene Kelly
1986: Billy Wilder
1987: Barbara Stanwyck
1988: Jack Lemmon
1989: Gregory Peck
1990: David Lean
1991: Kirk Douglas
1992: Sidney Poitier
1993: Elizabeth Taylor
1994: Jack Nicholson
1995: Steven Spielberg
1996: Clint Eastwood
1997: Martin Scorsese
1998: Robert Wise
1999: Dustin Hoffman
2000: Harrison Ford
2001: Barbra Streisand
2002: Tom Hanks
2003: Robert De Niro
2004: Meryl Streep
2005: George Lucas
2006: Sean Connery
2007: Al Pacino
2008: Warren Beatty
2009: Michael Douglas
2010: Mike Nichols
2011: Morgan Freeman
2012: Shirley MacLaine
2013: Mel Brooks
2014: Jane Fonda
2015: Steve Martin
2016: John Williams
2017: Diane Keaton
2018: George Clooney
2019: Denzel Washington
2022: Julie Andrews
2024: Nicole Kidman
2025: Francis Ford Coppola

What do you think of this news? What is your favorite Eddie Murphy film and performance? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account.

The post Eddie Murphy Will Be Honored With The AFI Life Achievement Award appeared first on Next Best Picture.

THE CAST – Ranice Tay, Nicole Lee, Lim Shi-An, Genevieve Tan & Jack Kao

THE TEAM – Siyou Tan (Director/Writer)
​
THE RUNNING TIME – 109 Minutes

In Singapore, a society that’s so strict that it’s illegal to toss your chewing gum on the sidewalk, following the rules is a way of life. Yet there, as in most societies, there are rebels within who just can’t stay within the boundaries that societies have imposed on them. They may be political activists, religious figures, or even workers at the highest levels of government. However, in “Amoeba,” writer/director Siyou Tan captures that spirit of rebellion in the unlikeliest of places — an elite all-girls Chinese school.

When we first meet 16-year-old Xin Yu Choo  (Ranice Tay), she is noisily dragging a desk down the hallway of her new school. Arriving at her new homeroom, Choo swaggers into the room with such confidence that it sends a signal to the teacher and her compliant students that “This girl is trouble.” But to three girls huddled in the back of the classroom, the expressions on their faces read “This girl is fabulous.”

That trio soon becomes a quartet as Choo is taken under the wing of tomboy Gina Wong (Genevieve Tan), rich girl Sofia Tay (Shi-An Lim) and new bestie Vanessa Ooi (Nicole Lee), whose skill with a camcorder gives the girls the tool to document their rebellion against a school where “excellence, duty, and honor” (at least in their motto) is everything. Their pranks are the kind that you might expect from any girls their age: a little smoking, a little drinking, a little sabotaging of the school play, and creating their new codes of conduct in their own secret cave.

Fostering their spirit of rebellion is the girls’ love of gangsta rap, and the four cosplay all around the school, causing more unease among the authorities. Sofia soon introduces the girls to her family’s personal driver, Phoon (Jack Kao), who had a background in a gang when he was younger. Seeing them interact with one another, Phoon jokingly suggests that they form a “girl gang.” After all, he argues, that’s where they can put the school’s principles of “excellence, duty, and honor” in the real world. The girls agree, and a new gang is born.

For Tan, Singapore and its many cultural facets are laced throughout and almost become their own character in the film. Key among those is the country’s respect for the spirit world, which includes an unspoken belief in ghosts and in mythical creatures. She incorporates that belief into the narrative, as Choo feels the presence of a ghost in her bedroom and enlists Vanessa to use her camcorder in an attempt to capture it. As an unseen presence that needs handling, the ghost also serves as a metaphor for those things unspoken, which dovetails into Choo and Vanessa drawing closer at a time when they bothare still exploring their sexuality.

In addition, the camcorder also serves two important functions — first as a mode of expression that allows the girls to talk all about their “gang” and curse out the teachers they don’t like, and second as evidence when that incriminating footage gets into the hands of the school authorities, providing them all that they need to shut down the student rebellion.

In one sense, “Amoeba” follows a long line of films — from “American Graffiti” to “Lady Bird” — that capture the time when students are about to leave the comfort of their friends in school and move on, either to higher education or to the real world. Usually, that big break from school life is dramatized around one single event— the prom, for example, or the big game — but Tan, reflecting the strictness of Singapore society, centers on another consequential moment: the final exam to determine who will be moving up in Singapore society. The topic of the test is the myths of Singapore (of course), and Tan expertly milks the suspense as to who will pass for all its worth. Have the members of the girl gang be changed by their experience and rebel, or will they fall back to conform to what Singaporean society expects of them?

There’s an appealing looseness to Tan’s filmmaking style, directing her camera to capture her characters behaving just as girls their age are expected to act. In fact, the scenes with the girls just enjoying each other’s company are among the film’s most delightful. Yet the sheer number of them keeps the film from having the kind of strong narrative through-line that it needs to sustain audience interest. The comparatively lower stakes for the final exam need to be heightened by building anticipation for its outcome, but the many girl-bonding scenes can at times get in the way of providing that much-needed narrative drive.

Still, despite the film’s flaws, Tan’s approach to the material, much of it taken from her own experience, offers a fresh perspective on the role of young women in a strict society and how rebellion against those norms can lead to a richer and happier life. The fact that in “Amoeba,” her debut feature, Tan is able to offer a critique of Singaporean society disguised as a girls’ school revolt with such skill and sophistication offers enormous promise for even better films to come.

The post “AMOEBA” appeared first on Next Best Picture.

THE CAST – Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, Michael Imperioli, Ella Anderson, Fisher Stevens, Jim Belushi, King Princess, Mustafa Shakir, Hudson Hensley & John Beckwith

THE TEAM – Craig Brewer (Director/Writer)

THE RUNNING TIME – 131 Minutes

In a year filled with nonstop bad news and quite heavy films (see “The Voice of Hind Rajab” and “Hamnet“), audiences need something that’ll make them smile. “Song Sung Blue” is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, especially during the holiday season, for audiences of all ages from all walks of life. Director/writer Craig Brewer, who has a knack for bringing underdog stories to the big screen, does so again by taking on the true story of a Milwaukee married couple who continued to chase after dreams of superstardom despite many difficult setbacks in life. Stars Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson catch lightning in a bottle with their electric chemistry and performances, taking us on a rollercoaster of emotions through their characters’ lives. But the film also suffers from a sloppy screenplay that doesn’t make time for all these characters’ many intricacies, and often moves so quickly from one dramatic moment to the next that the emotional impact is diminished.

Mike Sardina (Jackman) is a middle-aged Vietnam veteran who will make any stage his arena, whether it’s an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting where he celebrates 20 years of sobriety with a yearly rendition of Diamond’s “Song Sung Blue“ or a musical Legends gig at the Wisconsin State Fair. But he’s tired of always having to be someone else rather than just “Lightning,“ his rock persona with, you better believe it, a lightning bolt–bedazzled jacket. But everyone is trying to make it in his orbit, including Mark Shurilla (Michael Imperioli), who is the show’s promoter and makes a killer Buddy Holly impersonator, and Claire (Hudson, with a very convincing Midwest accent), a hairdresser who also wants more from this life. Just as she’s about to go on stage and perform some of Patsy Cline’s music, she encourages Mike to do some of Diamond’s work with her.

Little do these two know the journey that lies ahead. Their first brainstorming session shows not only how great their duet skills are, but also how well they instantly click with one another. Jackman and Hudson are the only people who could have stepped into these respective roles. They’ve shown their knack for singing in previous films such as “The Greatest Showman“ and “Nine,“ and they have the beaming smiles and charisma that work for a heartwarming (and heartbreaking) movie such as this. You need two people who you want to root for in every which way, and they deliver on that front from the get-go. As Lightning and Thunder, they take Milwaukee by storm, performing Diamond’s classic songs with so much energy and love, and are even invited to open for Pearl Jam. As Mike repeatedly says, there’s more to the singer’s catalogue than just “Sweet Caroline,“ and while the song gets the centerpiece treatment, other tunes such as the mystic “Soolaimon“ and romantic “Play Me“ get their time to shine as well. Does the storytelling get too cheesy? Definitely, but there’s no denying how great everyone sounds together and how well Jackman and Hudson elevate the material.

Just as their lives are on the up-and-up, with several casino performances lined up, a shocking tragedy strikes Claire and upends everything they’ve worked toward. Though Claire, a single mother with teen daughter Rachel (Ella Anderson) and tween son Dayna (Hudson Hensley), is mainly portrayed as a cheerful, put-together woman, it’s briefly mentioned that she struggles with mental health issues, which plunge her into dark territory later on. It’s incredible to see the turn that Hudson takes (the best of her career since her Oscar-nominated turn in “Almost Famous”), exchanging Claire’s bubbly personality and radiance for something so bitter and angry. It casts a black cloud over the whole family, including Mike, who has to take a karaoke-hosting gig at a Thai restaurant to make ends meet, and Rachel, who has to step up for the family despite her own challenges.

It’s in the film’s second act where the screenplay really begins to falter. Clocking in at 131 minutes, there’s plenty of time to explore the many twists and turns this family experiences, but it always seems like Brewer is racing to get to the next Diamond cover performance rather than lingering on these emotional moments. Claire’s mental health struggles take a turn quickly, but once she goes to a facility and attends a group therapy session, everything seems to be back to normal. Mike also has a bad heart that stops at random times, but then he bounces back like nothing happened and never does anything to address it. Perhaps the most egregious storyline deals with Rachel’s unplanned pregnancy, which is discussed and dealt with in a two-minute timespan. There are aspects early in the film that also don’t get their fair share of screentime, like how quickly Mike and Claire fall in love (essentially right after their first hangout), their pasts, or how this blended family got so close despite Rachel’s initial resistance. It’s a little easier to move past because of the joyous momentum that Brewer, Jackman, and Hudson build up in the first act, but it becomes hard to ignore the longer the movie goes on. Many of the supporting players also don’t get much screentime, such as casino booker Tom D’Amato (a silly Jim Belushi) and Mike’s dentist-turned-manager Dave Watson (Fisher Stevens).

The third act of “Song Sung Blue” delivers killer tonal whiplash as the band hits the road again, but not without more unexpected tragedy. How they handle the real story is certainly ramped up for dramatic effect, and keeps dragging out an inevitable conclusion. The film also doesn’t know precisely when or how to end, but Jackman and Hudson make this film sing. Jackman is a reliable showman, and his dramatic chops are on full display here, but the majority of the praise will likely go Hudson’s way as she delivers a performance we have not seen from her in many years that highlights all of her best qualities as an actress and singer. Despite its faults, “Song Sung Blue” is a sentimental, deeply non-cynical film that practically anyone can enjoy, and is sure to be a holiday-season winner.

The post “SONG SUNG BLUE” appeared first on Next Best Picture.

Thank you so much for listening. The Next Best Picture Podcast is proud to be a part of the Evergreen Podcasts Network. You can subscribe to us anywhere you listen to podcasts or listen in the embedded player below. Please take a moment to review us on Apple Podcasts here. And if you’re feeling generous, you enjoy what you hear, and you want to hear more, please help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month, and you’ll receive some exclusive podcast content from us.

You can follow Matt, Josh, Dan & Megan and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars and Film on X @NextBestPicture, @JRParham, @dancindanonfilm & @meganlachinski

The post The Next Best Picture Podcast: Episode 460 – The 2025 New York Film Festival Continues, “Pillion,” “Psycho Killer” & “The Thing With Feathers” Trailers appeared first on Next Best Picture.

After Critics Choice unveiled its Best Picture lineup on December 12th, here’s how the Best Picture frontrunners, bubble films, and longshots fared against these prominent four precursors.

4 of 4 nominations: “Anora,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Wicked”
3 of 4 nominations: “The Brutalist,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Nickel Boys,” “A Real Pain,” “Sing Sing”
2 of 4 nominations: “The Substance”
1 of 4 nominations: “Babygirl,” “Challengers,” “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” “Gladiator II,” “Juror #2” “Queer,” “September 5”
0 of 4 nominations: “All We Imagine as Light,” “Blitz,” “Nosferatu,” “The Piano Lesson,” “The Room Next Door,” “Saturday Night,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”

On the surface, these four precursors have considerably whittled down the prospective Best Picture lineup. Only eleven movies received more than one combined nomination, while “September 5” and “Challengers” Golden Globe nominations seemingly put them above all the others who received one or zero combined mentions. With that, it would seem we have thirteen movies left fighting for just ten Best Picture slots—but it is not always that simple.

It is rare for an Oscar Best Picture nominee to have just one or zero nominations for NBR, AFI, Golden Globe, and Critics Choice, but it does happen. It sometimes happens with foreign films that weren’t eligible for NBR and AFI top ten lists or Golden Globe Best Picture nominations in the past. Both “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest” made it in last year with just one combined nomination/mention from these precursors, while “Amour” made it in with zero mentions in 2013 along with “Drive My Car” in 2021 and both “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Triangle of Sadness” in 2022. Even “Parasite” was only eligible with two of four groups in 2019, which is a record low in this era for a Best Picture winner.

Other times, it happens with a late-breaking film or a box office hit. It happened when “The Father” only made one group before it surged as the Oscar runner-up in 2020, while mega-hit “Bohemian Rhapsody” did the same in 2018, the late screening “Phantom Thread” and eventual Oscar winner “Darkest Hour” did it in 2017, “Hidden Figures” did so in 2016, “Brooklyn” surprised in 2015, “Philomena” and multiple acting Oscar winner “Dallas Buyers Club” did it in 2013, the worst reviewed Best Picture nominee of this era “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” did it in 2011 and so did “The Kids Are All Right” in 2010. In addition, box office hits “District 9” and “The Blind Side” were snubbed by all four groups but not by the Oscars in 2009.

Among those who had zero mentions in 2024, none of them are box office hits, and a couple haven’t opened in theaters yet. But given the track record of some late surging foreign films, “All We Imagine as Light” and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” might still have more wiggle room than a “Blitz,” “The Piano Lesson,” or a “Gladiator II.” Also, formerly considered bubble films like “The Room Next Door” and “Saturday Night,” and a slew of surprise NBR nominees like “Babygirl,” “Queer,” “Juror #2,” and “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” would seem truly dead, barring a massive shock.

If this makes it easy to narrow the field of Best Picture contenders down to an unlucky thirteen, it’s even easier to determine which ones are getting in, to a point. Films that sweep with mentions in NBR, AFI, the Golden Globes, and Critics Choice are almost automatically in, which means “Anora,” “Wicked,” “Conclave,” and even “A Complete Unknown” now look entirely locked. There are only two films in the expanded ballot era that swept all four and still missed the Oscars, in the musical “Mary Poppins Returns” in 2018 and the Bob Dylan/folk music inspired “Inside Llewyn Davis” in 2013 – though maybe that might give “Wicked” and “A Complete Unknown” a little bit of pause.

Those who make up three out of four groups are usually safe, but there have been more exceptions to that rule. Those who missed Best Picture after making three of those four precursors include “Glass Onion” in 2022, “Tick…Tick…Boom!” in 2021, “Da 5 Bloods” in 2020, “Knives Out” in 2019, “If Beale Street Could Talk” in 2018, “The Florida Project” in 2017, “Sully” in 2016, “Carol” in 2015, “Unbroken” and “Nightcrawler” in 2014, “Saving Mr. Banks” in 2013, “Moonrise Kingdom” in 2012 and “The Town” in 2010. It only hasn’t happened in 2009, 2011, and 2023, though it mainly didn’t happen in 2023 because “American Fiction” was the only film to make just three out of four.

This year, the films that made three of four each had a concerning miss, as “The Brutalist,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez” and “Nickel Boys” were left out of NBR, “Sing Sing” missed the Golden Globes and “A Real Pain” missed at Critics Choice. In particular, the “Sing Sing” Golden Globes snub raised the most eyebrows and raised concerns it might be in trouble with the industry later, yet recovering at Critics Choice stopped the bleeding for now. But “A Real Pain” missing at Critics Choice continues a rather disturbing trend of it missing critics groups nominations – as it has only made NBR, AFI, the Globes, the Astras, and absolutely nothing else, despite racking up Best Original Screenplay nominations and Best Supporting Actor wins for Kieran Culkin.

Nonetheless, the assumption is that as long as Culkin keeps sweeping, “A Real Pain” is safely in. Christopher Plummer is the only Best Supporting Actor in this era to win for a film that wasn’t a Best Picture nominee, and “Beginners” was a solo Oscar nominee while “A Real Pain” is also presumed safe for a Best Original Screenplay nomination. So barring someone very suddenly knocking Culkin down a peg, “A Real Pain” is still secure in the lower half of the Best Picture field – although it could use more of a critical boost than it’s gotten so far, just to be sure.

If the four films that made all four precursors are safe, and Oscar-win-contending films that made three of four, like “The Brutalist,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez,” and “A Real Pain” are too, then it would appear “Sing Sing” and “Nickel Boys” are the two most vulnerable of the presumed top ten. That would mean if a fast-charging film like “The Substance,” a critical favorite like “Challengers,” “All We Imagine as Light” and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” or a possible industry favorite like “September 5” wants to break into the Best Picture field, they have to knock off an African-American centered film and critical darling in either “Sing Sing,” “Nickel Boys” or both – and that would indeed not look right with everyone.

In truth, “A Complete Unknown” should really be their primary target since it has the worst reviews of any film that could realistically be knocked out, not counting the mortal locks “Wicked” and “Emilia Pérez.” However, films that get into NBR, AFI, the Golden Globes, and the Critics Choice are traditionally all but impossible to knock out at Oscar time – although a hit musical-themed film released at Christmas like “Mary Poppins Returns” and a Dylan esq film like “Inside Llewyn Davis” would argue that maybe “A Complete Unknown” should be a little weary.

In that case, maybe there really are only six mortal locks in Best Picture now, thanks to “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” “Wicked,” “Emilia Pérez” and “Dune: Part Two” doing almost everything they needed to do with NBR, AFI, the Globes and Critics Choice. “A Complete Unknown,” “A Real Pain,” “Sing Sing,” and “Nickel Boys” are almost all of the way there if not entirely there, “The Substance” now just needs only one of them to stumble a little bit, “September 5” and maybe “Challengers” or a foreign favorite need a few more breaks than that, and now it seems everything else is completely out of the Best Picture running.

As for what might win Best Picture, these four precursors may have done their part to narrow that race, too, even though only NBR has picked a Best Picture winner in “Wicked” so far. Historically, with the exception of “Parasite,” all Best Picture winners in this era have made three or four of these lineups, although only “The Shape of Water” and “CODA” won while making just three. As such, this confirms “Anora,” “Wicked,” and “Conclave” might be the top three in some order right now, while “The Brutalist” and “Emilia Pérez” have extra work to do to catch them.

That is what NBR, AFI, the Golden Globes, and Critics Choice have done to narrow the Best Picture race in this first leg of the precursor season. After critic groups keep doing their part for the rest of 2023, the next significant steps will come from the BAFTAs and the Guilds right after the New Year, before Oscar nominations finally come on January 17th. But until then, anywhere from eleven to fifteen films have made the Best Picture cutline heading into the next big stretch – some far more securely than others.

So what did you think is ahead now in the Best Picture race after the nominations from the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards? Please let us know in the comments below or on Next Best Picture’s X account, and be sure to check out Next Best Picture’s latest Oscar predictions here.

You can follow Robert and hear more of his thoughts on the Oscars & Film on X @Robertdoc1984

The post The State Of The Best Picture Race Following The 2024 NBR, AFI Ten, Golden Globes & Critics Choice Award Nominations appeared first on Next Best Picture.