“Anora” writer/director/producer/editor Sean Baker (pictured in front) at the 97th annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 2, 2025. (Photo by Stewart Cook/Disney)
With five prizes, including Best Picture, Neon’s comedy/drama “Anora” was the top winner for the 97th annual Academy Awards, which took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 2, 2025. ABC had the U.S. telecast of the show, which was hosted by Conan O’Brien and livestreamed on Hulu. The nominations and awards are voted for by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
“Anora” (about an American sex worker who marries a wealthy Russian heir) won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing for producer/director/writer/editor Sean Baker. With these victories, Baker became the first person in Academy Awards history to win four Oscars for the same movie and for these four categories in the same year. (In 1954, Walt Disney was the first person to win four Oscars in the same year, when he won for “The Living Desert,” “Bear Country,” “The Alaskan Eskimo” and “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom.”) Mikey Madison, who plays the movie’s title character, won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
A24’s drama “The Brutalist” (about a Hungarian immigrant architect) won three Oscars: Best Actor (for Adrien Brody), Best Cinematography and Best Original Score. Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez” (a Spanish-language musical about a transgender woman who becomes a former drug-trafficking crime boss) had the most Oscar nominations (13) going into the ceremony, and ultimately ended up winning two Oscars: Best Actress in a Supporting Role (for Zoe Saldaña) and Best Original Song (for “El Mal”).
Other winners included Kieran Culkin of Searchlight Pictures’ comedy/drama “A Real Pain” (Best Actor in a Supporting Role); Focus Features’ drama “Conclave” (Best Adapted Screenplay); Sideshow/Janus Films’ “Flow” (Best Animated Feature Film); and Sony Pictures Classics’ drama “I’m Still Here” (Best International Feature Film), the first movie from Brazil to win in this category. “Flow,” which was also nominated for Best International Feature Film, is the first movie from Latvia to win an Oscar.
Instead of performances of the Best Original Song nominations, there were other musical performances. “Wicked” co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande did a medley of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Here” and “Defying Gravity.” There was a tribute to James Bond movies, with performances of James Bond movie theme songs: Blackpink singer Lisa performed “Live and Let Die”; Doja Cat performed “Diamonds Are Forever”; and Raye performed “Skyfall.” In a tribute to Quincy Jones (who died in November 2024), Queen Latifah performed “Ease on Down the Road” from “The Wiz” musical because Jones was a music supervisor and songwriter for the 1978 movie version of “The Wiz.”
Presenters at the show included Joe Alwyn, Halle Berry, Sterling K. Brown, Billy Crystal, Penélope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Ana de Armas, Dave Bautista, Lily-Rose Depp, Robert Downey Jr., Elle Fanning, Morgan Freeman, Gal Gadot, Andrew Garfield, Whoopi Goldberg, Selena Gomez, Goldie Hawn, Samuel L. Jackson, Mick Jagger, Scarlett Johansson, John Lithgow, Cillian Murphy, Connie Nielsen, Amy Poehler, Margaret Qualley, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Alba Rohrwacher, Meg Ryan, Saldaña, June Squibb, Ben Stiller, Emma Stone, Quentin Tarantino, Oprah Winfrey, Bowen Yang and Rachel Zegler.
Adrien Brody, Mikey Madison, Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin at the 97th annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 2, 2025. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Here is the complete list of nominations and winners for the 2025 Academy Awards:
*=winner
Best Picture
“Anora”* “The Brutalist” “A Complete Unknown” “Conclave” “Dune: Part Two” “Emilia Pérez” “I’m Still Here” “Nickel Boys” “The Substance” “Wicked”
Best Director
Sean Baker (“Anora”)* Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”) James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”) Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”) Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”)* Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”) Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice”)
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”) Karla Sofía Gascón (“Emilia Pérez”) Mikey Madison (“Anora”)* Demi Moore (“The Substance”) Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Yura Borisov (“Anora”) Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”)* Edward Norton (“A Complete Unknown”) Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”) Jeremy Strong (“The Apprentice”)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”) Ariana Grande (“Wicked”) Felicity Jones (“The Brutalist”) Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”) Zoe Saldaña (“Emilia Pérez”)*
Best Adapted Screenplay
“A Complete Unknown,” screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks “Conclave,” screenplay by Peter Straughan* “Emilia Pérez,” screenplay by Jacques Audiard, in collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi “Nickel Boys,” screenplay by RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes “Sing Sing,” screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield
Best Original Screenplay
“Anora,” written by Sean Baker* “The Brutalist,” written by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold “A Real Pain,” written by Jesse Eisenberg “September 5,” written by Moritz Binder and Tim Fehlbaum; co-written by Alex David “The Substance,” written by Coralie Fargeat
Best Cinematography
“The Brutalist”* “Dune: Part Two” “Emilia Pérez” “Maria” “Nosferatu”
Best Film Editing
“Anora,” Sean Baker* “The Brutalist,” David Jancso “Conclave,” Nick Emerson “Emilia Pérez,” Juliette Welfling “Wicked,” Myron Kerstein
Best Sound
“A Complete Unknown” “Dune: Part Two”* “Emilia Pérez” “Wicked” “The Wild Robot”
Best Original Score
“The Brutalist,” Daniel Blumberg* “Conclave,” Volker Bertelmann “Emilia Pérez,” Clément Ducol and Camille “Wicked,” John Powell and Stephen Schwartz “The Wild Robot,” Kris Bowers
Best Original Song
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez” (Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; lyrics by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard)* “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight” (Music and lyrics by Diane Warren) “Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing” (Music and lyrics by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada) “Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez” (Music and lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol) “Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late” (Music and lyrics by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin)
Best Animated Feature Film
“Flow”* “Inside Out 2” “Memoir of a Snail” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” “The Wild Robot”
Best International Feature Film
“I’m Still Here” (Brazil)* “The Girl With the Needle” (Denmark) “Emilia Pérez” (France) “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Germany) “Flow” (Latvia)
Best Documentary Feature
“Black Box Diaries” “No Other Land”* “Porcelain War” “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” “Sugarcane”
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“A Different Man” “Emilia Pérez” “Nosferatu” “The Substance”* “Wicked”
Best Costume Design
“A Complete Unknown,” Arianne Phillips “Conclave,” Lisy Christl “Gladiator II,” Janty Yates and Dave Crossman “Nosferatu,” Linda Muir “Wicked,” Paul Tazewell*
Best Production Design
“The Brutalist” “Conclave” “Dune: Part Two” “Nosferatu” “Wicked”*
Best Visual Effects
“Alien: Romulus” “Better Man” “Dune: Part Two”* “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” “Wicked”
Best Documentary Short Subject
“Death by Numbers” “I Am Ready, Warden” “Incident” “Instruments of a Beating Heart” “The Only Girl in the Orchestra”*
Best Animated Short Film
“Beautiful Men” “In the Shadow of the Cypress”* “Magic Candies” “Wander to Wonder” “Yuck!”
Best Live-Action Short Film
“A Lien” “Anuja” “I’m Not a Robot”* “The Last Ranger” “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”
Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai in “Shōgun” (Photo by Katie Yu/FX)
EDITOR’S NOTE: The31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards took place at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles on February 23, 2025. Netflix livestreamed the ceremony which was hosted by Kristin Bell. With four awards, FX’s drama series “Shōgun” was the top winner of this ceremony. The only other movie or TV show to win more than one award at the ceremony was the Hulu comedy series “Only Murders in the Building,” which won two awards. Jane Fonda received the Life Achievement Award.
Presenters at the show were Ariana Grande, Ayo Edebiri, Bowen Yang, Colin Farrell, Colman Domingo, Cynthia Erivo, David Duchovny, Drew Starkey, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Fran Drescher, Gillian Anderson, Harrison Ford, Isabella Rossellini, Jack Quaid, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jessica Williams, Jodie Foster, Joey King, John Lithgow, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Keke Palmer, Keri Russell, Kerry Washington, Kumail Nanjiani, Lily Gladstone, Lisa Kudrow, Marissa Bode, Mark Eydelshteyn, Max Greenfield, Michelle Yeoh, Mikey Madison, Millie Bobby Brown, Molly Shannon, Monica Barbaro, Pamela Anderson, Quinta Brunson, Ralph Fiennes, Selena Gomez, Sergio Castellitto, Timothée Chalamet, Yura Borisov, Zoe Saldaña and Zooey Deschanel.
The following is a complete list of nominees and winners for the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards:
*=winner
Motion Pictures
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role ADRIEN BRODY / László Tóth – “THE BRUTALIST” TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET / Bob Dylan – “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN”* DANIEL CRAIG / William Lee – “QUEER” COLMAN DOMINGO / Divine G – “SING SING” RALPH FIENNES / Lawrence – “CONCLAVE”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role PAMELA ANDERSON / Shelly – “THE LAST SHOWGIRL” CYNTHIA ERIVO / Elphaba – “WICKED” KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN / Emilia/Manitas – “EMILIA PÉREZ” MIKEY MADISON / Ani – “ANORA” DEMI MOORE / Elisabeth – “THE SUBSTANCE”*
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role JONATHAN BAILEY / Fiyero – “WICKED” YURA BORISOV / Igor – “ANORA” KIERAN CULKIN / Benji Kaplan – “A REAL PAIN”* EDWARD NORTON / Pete Seeger – “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN” JEREMY STRONG / Roy Cohn – “THE APPRENTICE”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role MONICA BARBARO / Joan Baez – “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN” JAMIE LEE CURTIS / Annette – “THE LAST SHOWGIRL” DANIELLE DEADWYLER / Berniece – “THE PIANO LESSON” ARIANA GRANDE / Galinda/Glinda – “WICKED” ZOE SALDAÑA / Rita – “EMILIA PÉREZ”*
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture A COMPLETE UNKNOWN MONICA BARBARO / Joan Baez NORBERT LEO BUTZ / Alan Lomax TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET / Bob Dylan ELLE FANNING / Sylvie Russo DAN FOGLER / Albert Grossman WILL HARRISON / Bobby Neuwirth ERIKO HATSUNE / Toshi Seeger BOYD HOLBROOK / Johnny Cash SCOOT MCNAIRY / Woody Guthrie BIG BILL MORGANFIELD / Jesse Moffette EDWARD NORTON / Pete Seeger
ANORA YURA BORISOV / Igor MARK EYDELSHTEYN / Ivan KARREN KARAGULIAN / Toros MIKEY MADISON / Ani ALEKSEY SEREBRYAKOV / Nikolai Zakharov VACHE TOVMASYAN / Garnick
CONCLAVE* SERGIO CASTELLITTO / Tedesco* RALPH FIENNES / Lawrence* JOHN LITHGOW / Tremblay* LUCIAN MSAMATI / Adeyemi* ISABELLA ROSSELLINI / Sister Agnes* STANLEY TUCCI / Bellini*
WICKED JONATHAN BAILEY / Fiyero MARISSA BODE / Nessarose PETER DINKLAGE / Dr. Dillamond CYNTHIA ERIVO / Elphaba JEFF GOLDBLUM / The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ARIANA GRANDE / Galinda/Glinda ETHAN SLATER / Boq BOWEN YANG / Pfannee MICHELLE YEOH / Madame Morrible
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE DUNE: PART TWO THE FALL GUY* GLADIATOR II WICKED
Television:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series JAVIER BARDEM / Jose Menendez – “MONSTERS: THE LYLE AND ERIK MENENDEZ STORY” COLIN FARRELL / Oz Cobb – “THE PENGUIN”* RICHARD GADD / Donny – “BABY REINDEER” KEVIN KLINE / Stephen Brigstocke – “DISCLAIMER” ANDREW SCOTT / Tom Ripley – “RIPLEY”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series KATHY BATES / Edith Wilson – “THE GREAT LILLIAN HALL” CATE BLANCHETT / Catherine Ravenscroft – “DISCLAIMER” JODIE FOSTER / Det. Elizabeth Danvers – “TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY” LILY GLADSTONE / Cam Bentland – “UNDER THE BRIDGE” JESSICA GUNNING / Martha – “BABY REINDEER”* CRISTIN MILIOTI / Sofia Falcone – “THE PENGUIN”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series TADANOBU ASANO / Kashigi Yabushige – “SHŌGUN” JEFF BRIDGES / Dan Chase – “THE OLD MAN” GARY OLDMAN / Jackson Lamb – “SLOW HORSES” EDDIE REDMAYNE / The Jackal – “THE DAY OF THE JACKAL” HIROYUKI SANADA / Yoshii Toranaga – “SHŌGUN”*
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series KATHY BATES / Madeline Matlock – “MATLOCK” NICOLA COUGHLAN / Penelope Featherington – “BRIDGERTON” ALLISON JANNEY / Vice President Grace Penn – “THE DIPLOMAT” KERI RUSSELL / Kate Wyler – “THE DIPLOMAT” ANNA SAWAI / Toda Mariko – “SHŌGUN”*
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series ADAM BRODY / Noah Roklov – “NOBODY WANTS THIS” TED DANSON / Charles Nieuwendyk – “A MAN ON THE INSIDE” HARRISON FORD / Paul – “SHRINKING” MARTIN SHORT / Oliver Putnam – “ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING”* JEREMY ALLEN WHITE / Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto – “THE BEAR”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series KRISTEN BELL / Joanne – “NOBODY WANTS THIS” QUINTA BRUNSON / Janine Teagues – “ABBOTT ELEMENTARY” LIZA COLÓN-ZAYAS / Tina – “THE BEAR” AYO EDEBIRI / Sydney Adamu – “THE BEAR” JEAN SMART / Deborah Vance – “HACKS”*
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series BRIDGERTON GERALDINE ALEXANDER / Mrs. Wilson VICTOR ALLI / John Stirling ADJOA ANDOH / Lady Danbury JULIE ANDREWS / Lady Whistledown LORRAINE ASHBOURNE / Mrs. Varley SIMONE ASHLEY / Kate Bridgerton JONATHAN BAILEY / Anthony Bridgerton JOE BARNES / Lord Wilding JOANNA BOBIN / Lady Cowper JAMES BRYAN / Nicky Mondrich HARRIET CAINS / Philipa Featherington BESSIE CARTER / Prudence Featherington GENEVIEVE CHENNEOUR / Miss Livingston DOMINIC COLEMAN / Lord Cowper NICOLA COUGHLAN / Penelope Featherington KITTY DEVLIN / Miss Stowell HANNAH DODD / Francesca Bridgerton DANIEL FRANCIS / Lord Marcus Anderson RUTH GEMMELL / Violet Bridgerton ROSA HESMONDHALGH / Rae SESLEY HOPE / Miss Kenworthy FLORENCE HUNT / Hyacinth Bridgerton MARTINS IMHANGBE / Will Mondrich MOLLY JACKSON-SHAW / Miss Hartigan CLAUDIA JESSIE / Eloise Bridgerton LORN MACDONALD / Albion Finch JESSICA MADSEN / Cressida Cowper EMMA NAOMI / Alice Mondrich HANNAH NEW / Lady Tilley Arnold LUKE NEWTON / Colin Bridgerton CALEB OBEDIAH / Lord Cho JAMES PHOON / Harry Dankworth VINEETA RISHI / Lady Malhotra GOLDA ROSHEUVEL / Queen Charlotte HUGH SACHS / Brimsley BANITA SANDHU / Miss Malhotra LUKE THOMPSON / Benedict Bridgerton WILL TILSTON / Gregory Bridgerton POLLY WALKER / Lady Featherington ANNA WILSON-JONES / Lady Livingston SOPHIE WOOLLEY / Lady Stowell
THE DAY OF THE JACKAL KHALID ABDALLA / Ulle Dag Charles JON ARIAS / Álvaro NICK BLOOD / Vince Pyne ÚRSULA CORBERÓ / Nuria CHARLES DANCE / Timothy Winthrop BEN HALL / Damian Richardson CHUKWUDI IWUJI / Osita Halcrow PATRICK KENNEDY / Teddy PUCHI LAGARDE / Marisa LASHANA LYNCH / Bianca Pullman ELEANOR MATSUURA / Zina Jansone JONJO O’NEILL / Edward Carver EDDIE REDMAYNE / The Jackal SULE RIMI / Paul Pullman LIA WILLIAMS / Isabel Kirby
THE DIPLOMAT ALI AHN / Eidra Park SANDY AMON-SCHWARTZ / Sandy TIM DELAP / Byron PENNY DOWNIE / Frances Munning ATO ESSANDOH / Stuart Hayford DAVID GYASI / Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison CELIA IMRIE / Margaret Roylin RORY KINNEAR / Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge PEARL MACKIE / Alysse NANA MENSAH / Billie Appiah GRAHAM MILLER / Neil Barrow KERI RUSSELL / Kate Wyler RUFUS SEWELL / Hal Wyler ADAM SILVER / Howard KENICHIRO THOMSON / Martin
SHŌGUN* SHINNOSUKE ABE / Buntaro* TADANOBU ASANO / Kashigi Yabushige* TOMMY BASTOW / Father Martin Alvito* TAKEHIRO HIRA / Ishido Kazunari* MOEKA HOSHI / Usami Fuji* HIROMOTO IDA / Lord Kiyama* COSMO JARVIS / John Blackthorne* HIROTO KANAI / Kashigi Omi* YUKI KURA / Yoshii Nagakado* TAKESHI KUROKAWA / Lord Ohno* FUMI NIKAIDO / Ochiba No Kata* TOKUMA NISHIOKA / Toda Hiromatsu* HIROYUKI SANADA / Yoshii Toranaga* ANNA SAWAI / Toda Mariko*
SLOW HORSES RUTH BRADLEY / Emma Flyte TOM BROOKE / JK Coe JAMES CALLIS / Claude Whelan CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / Roddy Ho AIMEE-FFION EDWARDS / Shirley Dander ROSALIND ELEAZAR / Louisa Guy SEAN GILDER / Sam Chapman KADIFF KIRWAN / Marcus Longridge JACK LOWDEN / River Cartwright GARY OLDMAN / Jackson Lamb JONATHAN PRYCE / David Cartwright SASKIA REEVES / Catherine Standish JOANNA SCANLAN / Moira Tregorian KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS / Diana Taverner HUGO WEAVING / Frank Harkness NAOMI WIRTHNER / Molly Doran TOM WOZNICZKA / Patrice
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY QUINTA BRUNSON / Janine Teagues WILLIAM STANFORD DAVIS / Mr. Johnson JANELLE JAMES / Ava Coleman CHRIS PERFETTI / Jacob Hill SHERYL LEE RALPH / Barbara Howard LISA ANN WALTER / Melissa Schemmenti TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS / Gregory Eddie
THE BEAR LIONEL BOYCE / Marcus LIZA COLÓN-ZAYAS / Tina AYO EDEBIRI / Sydney Adamu ABBY ELLIOTT / Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto EDWIN LEE GIBSON / Ebraheim COREY HENDRIX / Sweeps MATTY MATHESON / Neil Fak EBON MOSS-BACHRACH / Richard “Richie” Jerimovich RICKY STAFFIERI / Theodore Fak JEREMY ALLEN WHITE / Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto
HACKS ROSE ABDOO / Josefina CARL CLEMONS-HOPKINS / Marcus Vaughan PAUL W. DOWNS / Jimmy Lusaque, Jr. HANNAH EINBINDER / Ava Daniels MARK INDELICATO / Damien JEAN SMART / Deborah Vance MEGAN STALTER / Kayla Schaeffer
ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING* MICHAEL CYRIL CREIGHTON / Howard Morris* ZACH GALIFIANAKIS / Zach Galifianakis* SELENA GOMEZ / Mabel Mora* RICHARD KIND / Vince Fish* EUGENE LEVY / Eugene Levy* EVA LONGORIA / Eva Longoria* STEVE MARTIN / Charles-Haden Savage* KUMAIL NANJIANI / Rudy Thurber* MOLLY SHANNON / Bev Melon* MARTIN SHORT / Oliver Putnam*
SHRINKING HARRISON FORD / Paul BRETT GOLDSTEIN / Louis DEVIN KAWAOKA / Charlie GAVIN LEWIS / Connor WENDIE MALICK / Dr. Julie Baram LUKITA MAXWELL / Alice TED MCGINLEY / Derek CHRISTA MILLER / Liz JASON SEGEL / Jimmy RACHEL STUBINGTON / Summer LUKE TENNIE / Sean MICHAEL URIE / Brian JESSICA WILLIAMS / Gaby
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series THE BOYS FALLOUT HOUSE OF THE DRAGON THE PENGUIN SHŌGUN*
Beyoncé at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 2, 2025. (Photo by Sonja Flemming/CBS)
With three prizes, including Album of the Year for “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé was one of the top winners at the 67th annual Grammy Awards, which were presented at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 2, 2025. Trevor Noah hosted the ceremony, which CBS telecast in the U.S. and which was livestreamed on Paramount+ With Showtime. Members of the Record Academy vote for the Grammy nominees and winners. Eligible recordings were released from September 16, 2023 to August 30, 2024.
Kendrick Lamar won the most Grammys (five) at the show for “Not Like Us,” which took the prizes for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, Best Rap Performance and Best Music Video. “Not Like Us” is a controversial “diss track” against rapper Drake, who filed a defamation lawsuit in January 2025 against Universal Music Group for releasing the song. Universal Music Group is the distributor of the record companies for Lamar and Drake.
Beyoncé had the most nominations (11) going into the ceremony. “Cowboy Carter” also won the Grammy for Best Country Album, while her song “II Most Wanted” featuring Miley Cyrus got the Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Beyoncé also became the first black woman to win in those two Grammy categories.
Beyoncé’s Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the first time that she’s won in this category. She was previously nominated in this category for her albums “I Am… Sasha Fierce” (in 2010); “Beyoncé” (in 2016); “Lemonade” (in 2017); and “Renaissance” (in 2023). She was also nominated for Album of the Year in 2011, for being a featured artist on Lady Gaga’s “The Fame Monster.” Beyoncé currently holds the record for the artist who has won the most Grammys. She now has 35 Grammys out of 99 Grammy nominations.
Lamar had seven nominations going into the ceremony. And so did Charli XCX, Billie Eilish and Post Malone. Eilish and Malone ultimately didn’t win any Grammys this year, but Charli XCX won two Grammys: Best Dance/Electronic Album (for “Brat”) and Best Dance Pop Recording (for “Von Dutch”).
Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan had six nominations each. Swift was completely snubbed and didn’t win any Grammys. Roan won Best New Artist. Carpenter won two Grammys: Best Pop Solo Performance (for “Espresso”) and Best Pop Vocal Album (for “Short ‘n Sweet”). Although Carpenter’s song “Espresso (Mark Ronson x FNZ Working Late Remix)” won a Grammy for Best Remixed Recording, that award goes to remixers only—in this case, Mark Ronson and FNZ.
Grammy host Noah and several artists on stage mentioned charity efforts for the wildfire disaster in California that began on January 7, 2025, and which killed about 29 people and destroyed thousands of buildings and acres of land.
In non-competitive categories, Alicia Keys received the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award, which she accepted at the ceremony. The other non-competitive Grammys were awarded at a ceremony that took place at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on February 1, 2025. Frankie Beverly, The Clash, Dr. Bobby Jones, Taj Mahal, Prince, Roxanne Shante, and Frankie Valli were Lifetime Achievement Award honorees. Trustees Awards went to Erroll Garner, Glyn Johns, and Tania León. The Technical Grammy Award went to Dr. Leo Beranek.
Performers at the show were Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Benson Boone, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Chris Martin, Cynthia Erivo, Doechii, Herbie Hancock, Jacob Collier, Janelle Monáe, Playboi Carti, Raye, Sabrina Carpenter, Shakira, St. Vincent, The Weeknd, Lainey Wilson, Stevie Wonder and Teddy Swims. Dawes, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley, John Legend and Brittany Howard teamed up as a group to perform a cover version of Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.” as the first performance of the ceremony. The Weeknd, who said in a previous year that he was boycotting the Grammys, made a surprise appearance at the show.
Presenters included Diana Ross, Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B, Gloria Estefan, Victoria Monét, Olivia Rodrigo, Queen Latifah, Will Smith, SZA, Taylor Swift, and Red Hot Chili Peppers members Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith.
2025 GRAMMY Nominations and Winners Full List
*=winner
General Field
CATEGORY 1
Record Of The Year
Award to the Artist(s), Album Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s), and/or Mixer(s), and Mastering Engineer(s) if other than the artist.
NOMINEES:
“Now and Then”– The Beatles
Giles Martin & Paul McCartney, producers; Geoff Emerick, Steve Genewick, Jon Jacobs, Greg McAllister, Steve Orchard, Keith Smith, Mark ‘Spike’ Stent & Bruce Sugar, engineers/mixers; Miles Showell, mastering engineer
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” – Beyoncé
Beyoncé, Nate Ferraro, Killah B & Raphael Saadiq, producers; Hotae Alexander Jang, Alex Nibley & Stuart White, engineers/mixers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer
Sean Momberger, Mustard & Sounwave, producers; Ray Charles Brown Jr. & Johnathan Turner, engineers/mixers; Nicolas de Porcel, mastering engineer*
“Good Luck, Babe!” – Chappell Roan
Dan Nigro, producer; Mitch McCarthy & Dan Nigro, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
“Fortnight” – Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone
Jack Antonoff, Louis Bell & Taylor Swift, producers; Louis Bell, Bryce Bordone, Serban Ghenea, Sean Hutchinson, Oli Jacobs, Michael Riddleberger & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
CATEGORY 2
Album Of The Year
Award to Artist(s) and to Featured Artist(s), Songwriter(s) of new material, Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s), Mixer(s) and Mastering Engineer(s) credited with 20% or more playing time of the album.)
New Blue Sun – André 3000
André 3000 & Carlos Niño, producers; André 3000, Carlos Niño & Ken Oriole, engineers/mixers; André 3000, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Niño, songwriters; Andy Kravitz, mastering engineer
COWBOY CARTER – Beyoncé*
Beyoncé, Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant & Dave Hamelin, producers; Matheus Braz, Brandon Harding, Hotae Alexander Jang, Dani Pampuri & Stuart White, engineers/mixers; Ryan Beatty, Beyoncé, Camaron Ochs, Terius “The-Dream” Gesteelde-Diamant, Dave Hamelin, S. Carter & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer*
Short n’ Sweet – Sabrina Carpenter
Jack Antonoff, Julian Bunetta, Ian Kirkpatrick & John Ryan, producers; Bryce Bordone, Julian Bunetta, Serban Ghenea, Jeff Gunnell, Oli Jacobs, Manny Marroquin, John Ryan & Laura Sisk, engineers/mixers; Amy Allen, Jack Antonoff, Julian Bunetta, Sabrina Carpenter, Ian Kirkpatrick, Julia Michaels & John Ryan, songwriters; Nathan Dantzler & Ruairi O’Flaherty, mastering engineers
BRAT – Charli xcx
Charli xcx, Cirkut & A. G. Cook, producers; A. G. Cook, Tom Norris & Geoff Swan, engineers/mixers; Charlotte Aitchison, Henry Walter, Alexander Guy Cook, Finn Keane & Jonathan Christopher Shave, songwriters; Idania Valencia, mastering engineer
Djesse Vol. 4 – Jacob Collier
Jacob Collier, producer; Ben Bloomberg, Jacob Collier & Paul Pouwer, engineers/mixers; Jacob Collier, songwriter; Chris Allgood & Emily Lazar, mastering engineers
Chappell Roan The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess – Chappell Roan
Daniel Nigro, producer; Mitch McCarthy & Daniel Nigro, engineers/mixers; Daniel Nigro & Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT – Taylor Swift
Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, producers; Zem Audu, Bella Blasko, Bryce Bordone, Serban Ghenea, David Hart, Mikey Freedom Hart, Sean Hutchinson, Oli Jacobs, Jonathan Low, Michael Riddleberger, Christopher Rowe, Laura Sisk & Evan Smith, engineers/mixers; Jack Antonoff, Aaron Dessner & Taylor Swift, songwriters; Randy Merrill, mastering engineer
CATEGORY 3
Song Of The Year
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“BIRDS OF A FEATHER” — Billie Eilish O’Connell & Finneas O’Connell, songwriters (Billie Eilish)
“Die With A Smile” — Dernst Emile II, James Fauntleroy, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars)
“Fortnight” — Jack Antonoff, Austin Post & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone)
“Good Luck, Babe!” — Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, Daniel Nigro & Justin Tranter, songwriters (Chappell Roan)
“Not Like Us” — Kendrick Lamar, songwriter (Kendrick Lamar)*
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” — Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)
CATEGORY 4
Best New Artist
This category recognizes an artist whose eligibility-year release(s) achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative rock recordings.
“Now and Then” — The Beatles*
“Beautiful People (Stay High)” — The Black Keys
“The American Dream Is Killing Me” — Green Day
“Gift Horse” — IDLES
“Dark Matter” — Pearl Jam
“Broken Man” — St. Vincent
Field 2: Rock, Metal & Alternative Music
CATEGORY 15
Best Metal Performance
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative metal recordings.
“Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)”— Gojira, Marina Viotti & Victor Le Masne*
“Crown of Horns” — Judas Priest
“Suffocate” — Knocked Loose Featuring Poppy
“Screaming Suicide” — Metallica
“Cellar Door” — Spiritbox
CATEGORY 16
Best Rock Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
“Beautiful People (Stay High)” — Dan Auerbach, Patrick Carney, Beck Hansen & Daniel Nakamura, songwriters (The Black Keys)
“Dark Matter” — Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Eddie Vedder & Andrew Watt, songwriters (Pearl Jam)
“Dilemma” — Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool & Mike Dirnt, songwriters (Green Day)
“Gift Horse” — Jon Beavis, Mark Bowen, Adam Devonshire, Lee Kiernan & Joe Talbot, songwriters (IDLES)
CATEGORY 17
Best Rock Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new rock, hard rock or metal recordings.
Happiness Bastards — The Black Crowes
Romance — Fontaines D.C.
Saviors — Green Day
TANGK — IDLES
Dark Matter — Pearl Jam
Hackney Diamonds — The Rolling Stones*
No Name — Jack White
CATEGORY 18
Best Alternative Music Performance
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative Alternative music recordings.
“Neon Pill” — Cage The Elephant
“Song Of The Lake” — Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
“Starburster” — Fontaines D.C.
“BYE BYE” — Kim Gordon
“Flea”— St. Vincent*
CATEGORY 19
Best Alternative Music Album
Vocal or Instrumental.
Wild God — Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Charm — Clairo
The Collective — Kim Gordon
What Now — Brittany Howard
All Born Screaming— St. Vincent*
Field 3: R&B, Rap & Spoken Word Poetry
CATEGORY 20
Best R&B Performance
For new vocal or instrumental R&B recordings.
“Guidance” — Jhené Aiko
“Residuals” — Chris Brown
“Here We Go (Uh Oh)” — Coco Jones
“Made For Me (Live On BET)”— Muni Long*
“Saturn” — SZA
CATEGORY 21
Best Traditional R&B Performance
For new vocal or instrumental traditional R&B recordings.
“Wet” — Marsha Ambrosius
“Can I Have This Groove” — Kenyon Dixon
“No Lie” — Lalah Hathaway Featuring Michael McDonald
“Make Me Forget” — Muni Long
“That’s You”— Lucky Daye*
CATEGORY 22
Best R&B Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
“After Hours” — Diovanna Frazier, Alex Goldblatt, Kehlani Parrish, Khris Riddick-Tynes & Daniel Upchurch, songwriters (Kehlani)
“Burning” — Ronald Banful & Temilade Openiyi, songwriters (Tems)
“Here We Go (Uh Oh)” — Sara Diamond, Sydney Floyd, Marisela Jackson, Courtney Jones, Carl McCormick & Kelvin Wooten, songwriters (Coco Jones)
“Ruined Me” — Jeff Gitelman, Priscilla Renea & Kevin Theodore, songwriters (Muni Long)
“Saturn”— Rob Bisel, Carter Lang, Solána Rowe, Jared Solomon & Scott Zhang, songwriters (SZA)*
CATEGORY 23
Best Progressive R&B Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded progressive vocal tracks derivative of R&B.
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new R&B recordings.
11:11 (Deluxe)— Chris Brown*
VANTABLACK — Lalah Hathaway
Revenge — Muni Long
Algorithm — Lucky Daye
COMING HOME — Usher
CATEGORY 25
Best Rap Performance
For a Rap performance. Singles or Tracks only.
“Enough (Miami)” — Cardi B
“When The Sun Shines Again” — Common & Pete Rock Featuring Posdnuos
“NISSAN ALTIMA” — Doechii
“Houdini” — Eminem
“Like That” — Future & Metro Boomin Featuring Kendrick Lamar
“Yeah Glo!” — GloRilla
“Not Like Us” — Kendrick Lamar*
CATEGORY 26
Best Melodic Rap Performance
For a solo or collaborative performance containing both elements of R&B melodies and Rap.
“KEHLANI” — Jordan Adetunji Featuring Kehlani
“SPAGHETTII” — Beyoncé Featuring Linda Martell & Shaboozey
“We Still Don’t Trust You” — Future & Metro Boomin Featuring The Weeknd
“Big Mama” — Latto
“3” — Rapsody Featuring Erykah Badu*
CATEGORY 27
Best Rap Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
“Carnival” — Jordan Carter, Raul Cubina, Grant Dickinson, Samuel Lindley, Nasir Pemberton, Dimitri Roger, Ty Dolla $ign, Kanye West & Mark Carl Stolinski Williams, songwriters (¥$ (Kanye West & Ty Dolla $Ign) Featuring Rich The Kid & Playboi Carti)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new instrumental jazz recordings.
Owl Song — Ambrose Akinmusire Featuring Bill Frisell & Herlin Riley
Beyond This Place — Kenny Barron Featuring Kiyoshi Kitagawa, Johnathan Blake, Immanuel Wilkins & Steve Nelson
Phoenix Reimagined (Live) — Lakecia Benjamin
Remembrance— Chick Corea & Béla Fleck*
Solo Game — Sullivan Fortner
CATEGORY 33
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new large ensemble jazz recordings.
Returning To Forever — John Beasley & Frankfurt Radio Big Band
And So It Goes — The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
Walk A Mile In My Shoe — Orrin Evans & The Captain Black Big Band
Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence— Dan Pugach Big Band*
Golden City — Miguel Zenón
CATEGORY 34
Best Latin Jazz Album
For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded material. The intent of this category is to recognize recordings that represent the blending of jazz with Latin, Iberian-American, Brazilian, and Argentinian tango music.
Spain Forever Again — Michel Camilo & Tomatito
Cubop Lives!— Zaccai Curtis*
COLLAB — Hamilton de Holanda & Gonzalo Rubalcaba
Time And Again — Eliane Elias
El Trio: Live in Italy — Horacio ‘El Negro’ Hernández, John Beasley & José Gola
Cuba And Beyond — Chucho Valdés & Royal Quartet
As I Travel — Donald Vega Featuring Lewis Nash, John Patitucci & Luisito Quintero
CATEGORY 35
Best Alternative Jazz Album
For vocal or instrumental albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Alternative jazz recordings.
Night Reign — Arooj Aftab
New Blue Sun — André 3000
Code Derivation — Robert Glasper
Foreverland — Keyon Harrold
No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin— Meshell Ndegeocello*
CATEGORY 36
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new traditional pop recordings.
À Fleur De Peau — Cyrille Aimée
Visions— Norah Jones*
Good Together — Lake Street Dive
Impossible Dream — Aaron Lazar
Christmas Wish — Gregory Porter
CATEGORY 37
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new contemporary instrumental recordings.
Plot Armor— Taylor Eigsti*
Rhapsody In Blue — Béla Fleck
Orchestras (Live) — Bill Frisell Featuring Alexander Hanson, Brussels Philharmonic, Rudy Royston & Thomas Morgan
Mark — Mark Guiliana
Speak To Me — Julian Lage
CATEGORY 38
Best Musical Theater Album
For albums containing greater than 51% playing time of new recordings. Award to the principal vocalist(s), and the album producer(s) of 50% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of 50% or more of a score of a new recording are eligible for an Award if any previous recording of said score has not been nominated in this category.
Hell’s Kitchen— Shoshana Bean, Brandon Victor Dixon, Kecia Lewis & Meleah Joi Moon, principal vocalists; Adam Blackstone, Alicia Keys & Tom Kitt, producers (Alicia Keys, composer & lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)*
Merrily We Roll Along — Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez & Daniel Radcliffe, principal vocalists; David Caddick, Joel Fram, Maria Friedman & David Lai, producers (Stephen Sondheim, composer & lyricist) (New Broadway Cast)
The Notebook — John Clancy, Carmel Dean, Kurt Deutsch, Derik Lee, Kevin McCollum & Ingrid Michaelson, producers; Ingrid Michaelson, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
The Outsiders — Joshua Boone, Brent Comer, Brody Grant & Sky Lakota-Lynch, principal vocalists; Zach Chance, Jonathan Clay, Matt Hinkley, Justin Levine & Lawrence Manchester, producers; Zach Chance, Jonathan Clay & Justin Levine, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)
Suffs — Andrea Grody, Dean Sharenow & Shaina Taub, producers; Shaina Taub, composer & lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
The Wiz — Wayne Brady, Deborah Cox, Nichelle Lewis & Avery Wilson, principal vocalists; Joseph Joubert, Allen René Louis & Lawrence Manchester, producers (Charlie Smalls, composer & lyricist) (2024 Broadway Cast Recording)
Field 5: Country & American Roots Music
CATEGORY 39
Best Country Solo Performance
For new vocal or instrumental solo country recordings.
“16 CARRIAGES” — Beyoncé
“I Am Not Okay” — Jelly Roll
“The Architect” — Kacey Musgraves
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — Shaboozey
“It Takes A Woman”— Chris Stapleton*
CATEGORY 40
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative country recordings.
“Cowboys Cry Too” — Kelsea Ballerini With Noah Kahan
“II MOST WANTED” — Beyoncé Featuring Miley Cyrus*
“Break Mine” — Brothers Osborne
“Bigger Houses” — Dan + Shay
“I Had Some Help” — Post Malone Featuring Morgan Wallen
CATEGORY 41
Best Country Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — Sean Cook, Jerrel Jones, Joe Kent, Chibueze Collins Obinna, Nevin Sastry & Mark Williams, songwriters (Shaboozey)
“I Am Not Okay” — Casey Brown, Jason DeFord, Ashley Gorley & Taylor Phillips, songwriters (Jelly Roll)
“I Had Some Help” — Louis Bell, Ashley Gorley, Hoskins, Austin Post, Ernest Smith, Ryan Vojtesak, Morgan Wallen & Chandler Paul Walters, songwriters (Post Malone Featuring Morgan Wallen)
“TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” — Brian Bates, Beyoncé, Elizabeth Lowell Boland, Megan Bülow, Nate Ferraro & Raphael Saadiq, songwriters (Beyoncé)
CATEGORY 42
Best Country Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new country recordings.
COWBOY CARTER — Beyoncé
F-1 Trillion — Post Malone
Deeper Well— Kacey Musgraves*
Higher — Chris Stapleton
Whirlwind — Lainey Wilson
CATEGORY 43
Best American Roots Performance
For new vocal or instrumental American Roots recordings. This is for performances in the style of any of the subgenres encompassed in the American Roots Music field including bluegrass, blues, folk or regional roots. Award to the artist(s).
“Blame It On Eve” — Shemekia Copeland
“Nothing In Rambling” — The Fabulous Thunderbirds Featuring Bonnie Raitt, Keb’ Mo’, Taj Mahal & Mick Fleetwood
“Lighthouse”— Sierra Ferrell*
“The Ballad Of Sally Anne” — Rhiannon Giddens
CATEGORY 44
Best Americana Performance
For new vocal or instrumental Americana performance. Award to the artist(s).
“YA YA” — Beyoncé
“Subtitles” — Madison Cunningham
“Don’t Do Me Good” — Madi Diaz Featuring Kacey Musgraves
“American Dreaming”— Sierra Ferrell*
“Runaway Train” — Sarah Jarosz
“Empty Trainload Of Sky” — Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
CATEGORY 45
Best American Roots Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Americana, bluegrass, traditional blues, contemporary blues, folk or regional roots songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
“Ahead Of The Game” — Mark Knopfler, songwriter (Mark Knopfler)
“All In Good Time” — Sam Beam, songwriter (Iron & Wine Featuring Fiona Apple)
“All My Friends” — Aoife O’Donovan, songwriter (Aoife O’Donovan)
“American Dreaming”— Sierra Ferrell & Melody Walker, songwriters (Sierra Ferrell)*
“Blame It On Eve” — John Hahn & Will Kimbrough, songwriters (Shemekia Copeland)
CATEGORY 46
Best Americana Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Americana recordings.
The Other Side — T Bone Burnett
$10 Cowboy — Charley Crockett
Trail Of Flowers— Sierra Ferrell*
Polaroid Lovers — Sarah Jarosz
No One Gets Out Alive — Maggie Rose
Tigers Blood — Waxahatchee
CATEGORY 47
Best Bluegrass Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental bluegrass recordings.
I Built A World — Bronwyn Keith-Hynes
Songs of Love and Life — The Del McCoury Band
No Fear — Sister Sadie
Live Vol. 1— Billy Strings*
Earl Jam — Tony Trischka
Dan Tyminski: Live From The Ryman — Dan Tyminski
CATEGORY 48
Best Traditional Blues Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental traditional blues recordings.
Hill Country Love — Cedric Burnside
Struck Down — The Fabulous Thunderbirds
One Guitar Woman — Sue Foley
Sam’s Place — Little Feat
Swingin’ Live at The Church in Tulsa— The Taj Mahal Sextet*
CATEGORY 49
Best Contemporary Blues Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental contemporary blues recordings.
Blues Deluxe Vol. 2 — Joe Bonamassa
Blame It On Eve — Shemekia Copeland
Friendlytown — Steve Cropper & The Midnight Hour
Mileage— Ruthie Foster*
The Fury — Antonio Vergara
CATEGORY 50
Best Folk Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental folk recordings.
American Patchwork Quartet — American Patchwork Quartet
Weird Faith — Madi Diaz
Bright Future — Adrianne Lenker
All My Friends — Aoife O’Donovan
Woodland— Gillian Welch & David Rawlings*
CATEGORY 51
Best Regional Roots Music Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental regional roots music recordings.
25 Back To My Roots — Sean Ardoin And Kreole Rock And Soul
Live At The 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles Featuring J’Wan Boudreaux
Live At The 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival — New Breed Brass Band Featuring Trombone Shorty
Kuini— Kalani Pe’a*
Stories From The Battlefield — The Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.
Field 6: Gospel & Contemporary Christian Music
CATEGORY 52
Best Gospel Performance/Song
This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best traditional Christian, roots gospel, or contemporary gospel single or track.
“Church Doors” — Yolanda Adams; Sir William James Baptist & Donald Lawrence, songwriters
“Yesterday” — Melvin Crispell III
“Hold On (Live)” — Ricky Dillard
“Holy Hands” — DOE; Jesse Paul Barrera, Jeffrey Castro Bernat, Dominique Jones, Timothy Ferguson, Kelby Shavon Johnson, Jr., Jonathan McReynolds, Rickey Slikk Muzik Offord & Juan Winans, songwriters
“One Hallelujah”— Tasha Cobbs Leonard, Erica Campbell & Israel Houghton Featuring Jonathan McReynolds & Jekalyn Carr; G. Morris Coleman, Israel Houghton, Kenneth Leonard, Jr., Tasha Cobbs Leonard & Naomi Raine, songwriters*
CATEGORY 53
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best contemporary Christian music single or track (including pop, rap/hip-hop, Latin, or rock).
“Praise” — Elevation Worship Featuring Brandon Lake, Chris Brown & Chandler Moore; Pat Barrett, Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Steven Furtick, Brandon Lake & Chandler Moore, songwriters
“Firm Foundation (He Won’t)” — Honor & Glory Featuring Disciple
“In The Name Of Jesus” — JWLKRS Worship & Maverick City Music Featuring Chandler Moore; Austin Armstrong, Ran Jackson, Chandler Moore, Sajan Nauriyal, Ella Schnacky, Noah Schnacky & Ilya Toshinskiy, songwriters
“In The Room” — Maverick City Music, Naomi Raine & Chandler Moore Featuring Tasha Cobbs Leonard; G. Morris Coleman, Tasha Cobbs Leonard & Naomi Raine, songwriters
“That’s My King”— CeCe Winans; Taylor Agan, Kellie Gamble, Llyod Nicks & Jess Russ, songwriters*
CATEGORY 54
Best Gospel Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional or contemporary/R&B gospel music recordings.
Covered Vol. 1 — Melvin Crispell III
Choirmaster II (Live) — Ricky Dillard
Father’s Day — Kirk Franklin
Still Karen — Karen Clark Sheard
More Than This— CeCe Winans*
CATEGORY 55
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, contemporary Christian music, including pop, rap/hip-hop, Latin, or rock recordings.
Heart Of A Human — DOE*
When Wind Meets Fire — Elevation Worship
Child Of God — Forrest Frank
Coat Of Many Colors — Brandon Lake
The Maverick Way Complete — Maverick City Music, Naomi Raine & Chandler Moore
CATEGORY 56
Best Roots Gospel Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional/roots gospel music, including country, Southern gospel, bluegrass, and Americana recordings.
The Gospel Sessions, Vol 2 — Authentic Unlimited
The Gospel According To Mark — Mark D. Conklin
Rhapsody — The Harlem Gospel Travelers
Church— Cory Henry*
Loving You — The Nelons
Field 7: Latin, Global, Reggae & New Age, Ambient, or Chant
CATEGORY 57
Best Latin Pop Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin pop recordings.
Funk Generation — Anitta
El Viaje — Luis Fonsi
GARCÍA — Kany García
Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran— Shakira*
ORQUÍDEAS — Kali Uchis
CATEGORY 58
Best Música Urbana Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Música Urbana recordings.
nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana — Bad Bunny
Rayo — J Balvin
FERXXOCALIPSIS — Feid
LAS LETRAS YA NO IMPORTAN— Residente*
att. — Young Miko
CATEGORY 59
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new Latin rock or alternative recordings.
Compita del Destino — El David Aguilar
Pa’ Tu Cuerpa — Cimafunk
Autopoiética — Mon Laferte
GRASA — NATHY PELUSO
¿Quién trae las cornetas?— Rawayana*
CATEGORY 60
Best Música Mexicana Album (Including Tejano)
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new regional Mexican (banda, norteño, corridos, gruperos, mariachi, ranchera and Tejano) recordings.
Diamantes — Chiquis
Boca Chueca, Vol. 1— Carín León*
ÉXODO — Peso Pluma
De Lejitos — Jessi Uribe
CATEGORY 61
Best Tropical Latin Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new tropical Latin recordings.
MUEVENSE — Marc Anthony
Bailar — Sheila E.
Radio Güira — Juan Luis Guerra 4.40
Alma, Corazón y Salsa (Live at Gran Teatro Nacional)— Tony Succar, Mimy Succar*
Vacilón Santiaguero — Kiki Valera
CATEGORY 62
Best Global Music Performance
For new vocal or instrumental Global music recordings.
“Raat Ki Rani” — Arooj Aftab
“A Rock Somewhere” — Jacob Collier Featuring Anoushka Shankar & Varijashree Venugopal
“Rise” — Rocky Dawuni
“Bemba Colorá”— Sheila E. Featuring Gloria Estefan & Mimy Succar*
**”Sunlight To My Soul”**— Angélique Kidjo Featuring Soweto Gospel Choir
“Kashira” — Masa Takumi Featuring Ron Korb, Noshir Mody & Dale Edward Chung
CATEGORY 63
Best African Music Performance
For new vocal or instrumental African music recordings.
“Tomorrow” — Yemi Alade
“MMS” — Asake & Wizkid
“Sensational” — Chris Brown Featuring Davido & Lojay
“Higher” — Burna Boy
“Love Me JeJe”— Tems*
CATEGORY 64
Best Global Music Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Global Music recordings.
ALKEBULAN II— Matt B Featuring Royal Philharmonic Orchestra*
Paisajes — Ciro Hurtado
Heis — Rema
Historias de un Flamenco — Antonio Rey
Born in the Wild — Tems
CATEGORY 65
Best Reggae Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new reggae recordings.
Take It Easy — Collie Buddz
Party With Me — Vybz Kartel
Never Gets Late Here — Shenseea
Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired By The Film (Deluxe)— (Various Artists)*
Evolution — The Wailers
CATEGORY 66
Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new vocal or instrumental new age recordings.
Chapter II: How Dark It Is Before Dawn — Anoushka Shankar
Warriors Of Light — Radhika Vekaria
Field 8: Children’s, Comedy, Audio Books, Visual Media & Music Video/Film
CATEGORY 67
Best Children’s Music Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new musical or spoken word recordings that are created and intended specifically for children.
Brillo, Brillo!— Lucky Diaz And The Family Jam Band*
Creciendo — Lucy Kalantari & The Jazz Cats
My Favorite Dream — John Legend
Solid Rock Revival — Rock For Children
World Wide Playdate — Divinity Roxx and Divi Roxx Kids
CATEGORY 68
Best Comedy Album
For albums containing greater than 75% playing time of new recordings.
Armageddon — Ricky Gervais
The Dreamer— Dave Chappelle*
The Prisoner — Jim Gaffigan
Someday You’ll Die — Nikki Glaser
Where Was I — Trevor Noah
CATEGORY 69
Best Audio Book, Narration, and Storytelling Recording
For an album that is spoken word in format.
All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words (Various Artists) — Guy Oldfield, producer
…And Your Ass Will Follow — George Clinton
Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones — Dolly Parton
Last Sundays in Plains: A Centennial Celebration— Jimmy Carter*
My Name Is Barbra — Barbra Streisand
CATEGORY 70
Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
Award to the principal artist(s) and/or ‘in studio’ producer(s) of a majority of the tracks on the album. Award also goes to appropriately credited music supervisor(s).
The Color Purple — (Various Artists)
Deadpool & Wolverine — (Various Artists)
Maestro: Music By Leonard Bernstein — London Symphony Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Bradley Cooper*
Saltburn — (Various Artists)
Twisters: The Album — (Various Artists)
CATEGORY 71
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media (Includes Film And Television)
Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for a current motion picture, television show, or series.
Shōgun — Nick Chuba, Atticus Ross & Leopold Ross, composers
CATEGORY 72
Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media
Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, video games and other interactive media.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora — Pinar Toprak, composer
God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla — Bear McCreary, composer
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 — John Paesano, composer
Star Wars Outlaws — Wilbert Roget, II, composer
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord— Winifred Phillips, composer*
CATEGORY 73
Best Song Written For Visual Media
A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody & lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television, video game or other visual media. Singles or Tracks only.
Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma [From “Twisters: The Album”] — Jessi Alexander, Luke Combs & Jonathan Singleton, songwriters (Luke Combs)
Better Place [From “TROLLS Band Together”] — Amy Allen, Shellback & Justin Timberlake, songwriters (*NSYNC & Justin Timberlake)
Can’t Catch Me Now [From “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”] — Daniel Nigro & Olivia Rodrigo, songwriters (Olivia Rodrigo)
It Never Went Away [From “American Symphony”]— Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson, songwriters (Jon Batiste)*
Love Will Survive [From “The Tattooist of Auschwitz”] — Walter Afanasieff, Charlie Midnight, Kara Talve & Hans Zimmer, songwriters (Barbra Streisand)
CATEGORY 74
Best Music Video
Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.
“Tailor Swif” — A$AP Rocky
Vania Heymann & Gal Muggia, video directors
“360” — Charli xcx
Aidan Zamiri, video director; Jami Arceo & Evan Thicke, video producers
“Houdini” — Eminem
Rich Lee, video director; Kathy Angstadt, Lisa Arianna & Justin Diener, video producers
“Not Like Us”— Kendrick Lamar*
Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar, video directors; Jack Begert, Sam Canter & Jamie Rabineau, video producers
“Fortnight” — Taylor Swift Featuring Post Malone
Taylor Swift, video director; Jil Hardin, video producer
CATEGORY 75
Best Music Film
For concert/performance films or music documentaries. Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.
“American Symphony”— Jon Batiste*
Matthew Heineman, video director; Lauren Domino, Matthew Heineman & Joedan Okun, video producers
“June” — (June Carter Cash)
Kristen Vaurio, video director; Josh Matas, Sarah Olson, Jason Owen, Mary Robertson & Kristen Vaurio, video producers
“Kings From Queens” — Run DMC
Kirk Fraser, video director; William H. Masterson III, video producer
“Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple” — Steven Van Zandt
Bill Teck, video director; Robert Cotto, David Fisher & Bill Teck, video producers
“The Greatest Night in Pop” — (Various Artists)
Bao Nguyen, video director; Bruce Eskowitz, George Hencken, Larry Klein, Julia Nottingham, Lionel Richie & Harriet Sternberg, video producers
Field 9: Package, Notes & Historical
CATEGORY 76
Best Recording Package
For the best artistic package of an album.
The Avett Brothers — Jonny Black & Giorgia Sage, art directors (The Avett Brothers)
Baker Hotel — Sarah Dodds & Shauna Dodds, art directors (William Clark Green)
BRAT— Brent David Freaney & Imogene Strauss, art directors (Charli xcx)*
F-1 Trillion — Archie Lee Coates IV, Jeffrey Franklin, Blossom Liu, Kylie McMahon & Ana Cecilia Thompson Motta, art directors (Post Malone)
Hounds Of Love The Baskerville Edition — Kate Bush & Albert McIntosh, art directors (Kate Bush)
Jug Band Millionaire — Andrew Wong & Julie Yeh, art directors (The Muddy Basin Ramblers)
Pregnancy, Breakdown, And Disease — Lee Pei-Tzu, art director (iWhoiWhoo)
CATEGORY 77
Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package
For the best package of a special edition album.
Half Living Things — Patrick Galvin, art director (Alpha Wolf)
Hounds Of Love The Boxes Of Lost At Sea — Kate Bush & Albert McIntosh, art directors (Kate Bush)
In Utero — Doug Cunningham & Jason Noto, art directors (Nirvana)
Mind Games— Simon Hilton & Sean Ono Lennon, art directors (John Lennon)*
Unsuk Chin — Takahiro Kurashima & Marek Polewski, art directors (Unsuk Chin & Berliner Philharmoniker)
We Blame Chicago — Rebeka Arce & Farbod Kokabi, art directors (90 Day Men)
CATEGORY 78
Best Album Notes
Award to the album notes writer.
After Midnight — Tim Brooks, album notes writer (Ford Dabney’s Syncopated Orchestras)
The Carnegie Hall Concert — Lauren Du Graf, album notes writer (Alice Coltrane)
Centennial— Ricky Riccardi, album notes writer (King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band & Various Artists)*
John Culshaw — The Art Of The Producer – The Early Years 1948-55 — Dominic Fyfe, album notes writer (John Culshaw)
SONtrack Original De La Película “Al Son De Beno” — Josh Kun, album notes writer (Various Artists)
CATEGORY 79
Best Historical Album
For historical albums containing reissues or compilations. Award to compilation producers and mastering engineers.
Centennial— Meagan Hennessey & Richard Martin, compilation producers; Richard Martin, mastering engineer (King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band And Various Artists)*
Diamonds And Pearls: Super Deluxe Edition — Charles F. Spicer, Jr. & Duane Tudahl, compilation producers; Brad Blackwood & Bernie Grundman, mastering engineers (Prince & The New Power Generation)
Paul Robeson – Voice of Freedom: His Complete Columbia, RCA, HMV, and Victor Recordings — Tom Laskey & Robert Russ, compilation producers; Nancy Conforti & Andreas K. Meyer, mastering engineers (Paul Robeson)
Pepito y Paquito — Pepe De Lucía & Javier Doria, compilation producers; Jesús Bola, mastering engineer (Pepe De Lucía And Paco De Lucía)
The Sound Of Music (Original Soundtrack Recording – Super Deluxe Edition) — Mike Matessino & Mark Piro, compilation producers; Steve Genewick & Mike Matessino, mastering engineers (Rodgers & Hammerstein & Julie Andrews)
CATEGORY 80
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
An Engineer’s Award. (Artists’ names appear in parentheses.)
Algorithm — Dernst Emile II, Michael B. Hunter, Stephan Johnson, Rachel Keen, John Kercy, Charles Moniz & Todd Robinson, engineers; Colin Leonard, mastering engineer (Lucky Daye)
Cyan Blue — Jack Emblem, Jack Rochon & Charlotte Day Wilson, engineers; Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer (Charlotte Day Wilson)
Deeper Well — Craig Alvin, Shawn Everett, Mai Leisz, Todd Lombardo, John Rooney, Konrad Snyder & Daniel Tashian, engineers; Greg Calbi, mastering engineer (Kacey Musgraves)
empathogen — Beatriz Artola, Zach Brown, Oscar Cornejo, Chris Greatti & Mitch McCarthy, engineers; Joe La Porta, mastering engineer (WILLOW)
i/o— Tchad Blake, Oli Jacobs, Katie May & Dom Shaw, engineers; Matt Colton, mastering engineer (Peter Gabriel)*
Short n’ Sweet — Bryce Bordone, Julian Bunetta, Serban Ghenea, Jeff Gunnell, Oli Jacobs, Ian Kirkpatrick, Jack Manning, Manny Marroquin, John Ryan & Laura Sisk, engineers; Nathan Dantzler & Ruairi O’Flaherty, mastering engineers (Sabrina Carpenter)
CATEGORY 81
Best Engineered Album, Classical
An Engineer’s Award. (Artists’ names appear in parentheses.)
Adams: Girls Of The Golden West — Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers; Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, mastering engineers (John Adams, Daniela Mack, Ryan McKinny, Paul Appleby, Hye Jung Lee, Elliot Madore, Julia Bullock, Davóne Tines, Los Angeles Philharmonic & Los Angeles Master Chorale)
Andres: The Blind Banister — Silas Brown, Doron Schachter & Michael Schwartz, engineers; Matt Colton, mastering engineer (Andrew Cyr, Inbal Segev & Metropolis Ensemble)
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7; Bates: Resurrexit— Mark Donahue & John Newton, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)*
Clear Voices In The Dark — Daniel Shores, engineer; Daniel Shores, mastering engineer (Matthew Guard & Skylark Vocal Ensemble)
Ortiz: Revolución Diamantina — Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, engineers; Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, mastering engineers (Gustavo Dudamel, María Dueñas, Los Angeles Philharmonic & Los Angeles Master Chorale)
CATEGORY 82
Producer Of The Year, Classical
A Producer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) (S) stands for Single, (T) stands for Track, and (A) stands for Album.
Adams: Girls Of The Golden West (John Adams, Daniela Mack, Ryan McKinny, Paul Appleby, Hye Jung Lee, Elliot Madore, Julia Bullock, Davóne Tines, Los Angeles
Philharmonic & Los Angeles Master Chorale) (A)
Messiaen: Des Canyons Aux Étoiles… (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony) (A)
Ortiz: Revolución Diamantina (Gustavo Dudamel, Gabriela Ortiz, María Dueñas, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale) (A)
Elaine Martone*
Bartók: String Quartet No.3; Suite From ‘The Miraculous Mandarin‘ (Franz Welser-Möst & The Cleveland Orchestra) (A)
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, ‘From The New World’; American Suite (Nathalie Stutzmann & Atlanta Symphony Orchestra) (A)
Radiance Untethered – The Choral Music Of John Wykoff (Cameron F. Labarr & Missouri State University Chorale) (A)
Field 10: Production, Engineering, Composition & Arrangement
CATEGORY 83
Best Immersive Audio Album
For albums in any genre that provide a new immersive audio experience. Award to the immersive mix engineer, immersive mastering engineer, and immersive producer (if applicable).
Genius Loves Company — Michael Romanowski, Eric Schilling & Herbert Waltl, immersive mix engineers; Michael Romanowski, immersive mastering engineer; John Burk, immersive producer (Ray Charles With Various Artists)
A Composer’s Award for an original composition (not an adaptation) first released during the Eligibility Year. Singles or Tracks only.
“At Last” — Shelton G. Berg, composer (Shelly Berg)
“Communion” — Christopher Zuar, composer (Christopher Zuar Orchestra)
“I Swear, I Really Wanted To Make A “Rap” Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time” — André 3000, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau & Carlos Niño, composers (André 3000)
“Remembrance” — Chick Corea, composer (Chick Corea & Béla Fleck)
“Strands”— Pascal Le Boeuf, composer (Akropolis Reed Quintet, Pascal Le Boeuf & Christian Euman)CATEGORY 85*
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
An Arranger’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
“Baby Elephant Walk – Encore” — Michael League, arranger (Snarky Puppy)
“Bridge Over Troubled Water” — Jacob Collier, Tori Kelly & John Legend, arrangers (Jacob Collier Featuring John Legend & Tori Kelly)*
“Rhapsody In Blue(Grass)” — Béla Fleck & Ferde Grofé, arrangers (Béla Fleck Featuring Michael Cleveland, Sierra Hull, Justin Moses, Mark Schatz & Bryan Sutton)
“Rose Without The Thorns” — Erin Bentlage, Alexander Lloyd Blake, Scott Hoying, A.J. Sealy & Amanda Taylor, arrangers (Scott Hoying Featuring säje & Tonality)
“Stravinsky: The Firebird” — Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
CATEGORY 88
Best Opera Recording
Award to the conductor, album producer(s), and principal soloists, and to the composer and librettist (if applicable) of a world premiere Opera recording only.
“Adams: Girls Of The Golden West” — John Adams, conductor; Paul Appleby, Julia Bullock, Hye Jung Lee, Daniela Mack, Elliot Madore, Ryan McKinny & Davóne Tines; Dmitriy Lipay, producer (Los Angeles Philharmonic; Los Angeles Master Chorale)
“Catán: Florencia En El Amazonas” — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Mario Chang, Michael Chioldi, Greer Grimsley, Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Mattia Olivieri, Ailyn Pérez & Gabriella Reyes; David Frost, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
“Moravec: The Shining” — Gerard Schwarz, conductor; Tristan Hallett, Kelly Kaduce & Edward Parks; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (Kansas City Symphony; Lyric Opera Of Kansas City Chorus)
“Puts: The Hours” — Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor; Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming & Kelli O’Hara; David Frost, producer (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
“Saariaho: Adriana Mater” — Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Fleur Barron, Axelle Fanyo, Nicholas Phan & Christopher Purves; Jason O’Connell, producer (San Francisco Symphony; San Francisco Symphony Chorus; Timo Kurkikangas)*
CATEGORY 89
Best Choral Performance
Award to the conductor, and to the choral director and/or chorus master where applicable and to the choral organization/ensemble.
“Clear Voices In The Dark” — Matthew Guard, conductor (Carrie Cheron, Nathan Hodgson, Helen Karloski & Clare McNamara; Skylark Vocal Ensemble)
“A Dream So Bright: Choral Music Of Jake Runestad” — Eric Holtan, conductor (Jeffrey Biegel; True Concord Orchestra; True Concord Voices)
“Handel: Israel in Egypt” — Jeannette Sorrell, conductor (Margaret Carpenter Haigh, Daniel Moody, Molly Netter, Jacob Perry & Edward Vogel; Apollo’s Fire; Apollo’s Singers)
“Ochre” — Donald Nally, conductor (The Crossing)*
“Sheehan: Akathist” — Elaine Kelly, conductor; Melissa Attebury, Stephen Sands & Benedict Sheehan, chorus masters (Elizabeth Bates, Paul D’Arcy, Tynan Davis, Aine Hakamatsuka, Steven Hrycelak, Helen Karloski, Enrico Lagasca, Edmund Milly, Fotina Naumenko, Neil Netherly, Timothy Parsons, Stephen Sands, Miriam Sheehan & Pamela Terry; Novus NY; Artefact Ensemble, The Choir Of Trinity Wall Street, Downtown Voices & Trinity Youth Chorus)
CATEGORY 90
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
Award to the ensemble and conductor if applicable.
“Adams, J.L.: Waves & Particles” — JACK Quartet
“Beethoven For Three: Symphony No. 4 and Op. 97, ‘Archduke'” — Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos & Emanuel Ax
“Rectangles and Circumstance” — Caroline Shaw & Sō Percussion*
CATEGORY 91
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the instrumental soloist(s) and to the conductor when applicable.
“Akiho: Longing” — Andy Akiho
“Bach: Goldberg Variations” — Víkingur Ólafsson*
“Eastman: The Holy Presence Of Joan D’Arc” — Seth Parker Woods; Christopher Rountree, conductor (Wild Up)
“Entourer” — Mak Grgić (Ensemble Dissonance)
“Perry: Concerto For Violin & Orchestra” — Curtis Stewart; James Blachly, conductor (Experiential Orchestra)
CATEGORY 92
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to vocalist(s), collaborative artist(s) (e.g., pianists, conductors), producer(s), and recording engineers/mixers with greater than 50% playing time of new material.
Beyond The Years – Unpublished Songs Of Florence Price— Karen Slack, soloist; Michelle Cann, pianist*
A Change Is Gonna Come — Nicholas Phan, soloist; Palaver Strings, ensembles
Award to the artist(s) and to the album producer(s) and engineer(s) of over 50% playing time of the album, and to the composer and librettist (if applicable) with over 50% playing time of a world premiere recording only.
Akiho: BeLonging — Andy Akiho & Imani Winds; Andy Akiho, Sean Dixon & Mark Dover, producers
American Counterpoints — Curtis Stewart; James Blachly, conductor; Blanton Alspaugh, producer
Foss: Symphony No. 1; Renaissance Concerto; Three American Pieces; Ode — JoAnn Falletta, conductor; Bernd Gottinger, producer
Mythologies II — Sangeeta Kaur, Omar Najmi, Hilá Plitmann, Robert Thies & Danaë Xanthe Vlasse; Michael Shapiro, conductor; Jeff Atmajian, Emilio D. Miler, Hai Nguyen, Robert Thies, Danaë Xanthe Vlasse & Kitt Wakeley, producers
A Composer’s Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.
Casarrubios: Seven For Solo Cello — Andrea Casarrubios, composer (Andrea Casarrubios)
Lang: Composition As Explanation — David Lang, composer (Eighth Blackbird)
Ortiz: Revolución Diamantina— Gabriela Ortiz, composer (Gustavo Dudamel, Los Angeles Philharmonic & Los Angeles Master Chorale)*
Saariaho: Adriana Mater — Kaija Saariaho, composer (Esa-Pekka Salonen, Fleur Barron, Nicholas Phan, Christopher Purves, Axelle Fanyo, San Francisco Symphony Chorus & Orchestra)
Culture Representation: Taking place in the Los Angeles area, the comedy film “One of Them Days” features a predominantly African American cast of characters (with some white people, Asian people and Latin people) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: Two roommates/best friends have less than 12 hours to come up with rent money that was stolen from them, or else they’ll be evicted.
Culture Audience: “One of Them Days” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and comedies about best friends who experience wacky mishaps.
Keke Palmer and SZA in “One of Them Days”(Photo courtesy of TriStar Pictures)
“One of Them Days” isn’t a great comedy, but it’s entertaining enough to show that Keke Palmer and SZA are a dynamic duo deserving of a better screenplay. The movie relies on over-used “broke from the ‘hood” stereotypes. The engaging performances by many of the cast members elevate what would otherwise be a checklist of tired clichés.
Directed by Lawrence Lamont and written by former “Insecure” writer Syreeta Singleton, “One of Them Days” takes place mostly over a 24-hour period in the Los Angeles area, where the movie was filmed. “One of Them Days” is the feature-film directorial debut for Lamont, whose previous directorial work has been in music videos and in television. Lamont and Singleton previously worked together on the 2022-2023 comedy TV series “Rap Sh!t.” Former “Insecure” star/executive producer Issa Rae (the creator of “Rap Sh!t”) is a producer of “One of Them Days.”
In “One of Them Days,” two apartment roommates—career-oriented Dreux (played by Keke Palmer) and artsy Alyssa (played by SZA)—are best friends who are struggling and hoping for better lives than they have now. Dreux (whose name is pronounced “Drew”) works as a server at a Norms diner and wants to be promoted to franchise manager. She has an interview for the job later that day. Alyssa is a painter artist who hasn’t had much luck selling her work.
For the past six months, Dreux and Alyssa have had a third person living in their apartment unit: Alyssa’s boyfriend Keshawn (played by Joshua David Neal), a wannabe rapper who’s unemployed. Dreux isn’t thrilled about this arrangement because—as she says later in the movie—Keshawn was originally supposed to stay with them for only three days. Keshawn is a smarmy sweet-talker who shouldn’t be trusted because he’s a habitual liar.
The friendship between Dreux and Alyssa is like a yin-yang relationship. Dreux tends to be a practical realist. Alyssa tends to be a philosophical dreamer. If they have problems, Dreux is more likely to come up with a logical solution, while Alyssa is more like to say that things will work out in the universe if they put out positive vibes and “manifest to the ancestors.”
As already shown in the movie’s trailer, when the apartment landlord Ushe (played by Rizi Timane) comes over to demand $1,500 for the roommates’ overdue rent money, Dreux soon finds out that Alyssa gave the rent money to Keshawn, who was supposed to give the rent money to Ushe. Instead, Keshawn spent the money on T-shirts advertising himself as a rapper. Dreux and Alyssa don’t have any money in their bank accounts and don’t know anyone who can lend them the $1,500 they need for the rent.
To make matters worse, Alyssa finds Keshawn in bed with another woman, who lives fairly close by. The other woman’s name is Berniece (played by Aziza Scott) and she thinks that Keshawn is her man exclusively. Quicker than you can say “cat fight,” Berniece goes on an angry vendetta against Dreux and Alyssa, because the two roommates intruded in Berniece’s house when they were trying to track down Keshawn.
Ushe tells Dreux and Alyssa that they need to have the rent money by 6 p.m., or else Dreux and Alyssa will both be evicted. (Viewers will have to suspend disbelief, because in real life, the eviction process is much longer and complicated than what’s depicted in the movie.) A countdown clock occasionally appears on screen to show how much time Dreux and Alyssa have before the deadline. When they are given the deadline, they have eight hours to come up with the money.
The rest of “One of Them Days” is a series of misadventures that Dreux and Alyssa experience, as they frantically try to find ways to get some quick cash. They end up encountering some eccentric and over-the-top people along the way. Some of the scenarios are funny, while other scenes fall flat and drag on for too long.
Other characters who appear in the movie include:
Mama Ruth (played by Vanessa Bell Calloway), a generous neighbor who has a maternal-like relationship with Dreux and Alyssa.
Maniac (played by Patrick Cage), a random good-looking guy who has a “meet cute” moment with Dreux at Mama Ruth’s place and who later offers to buy Dreux and Alyssa some fast food after their fast-food order gets stolen at a drive-by window.
Ruby (played by Janelle James), a newly hired and nervous nursing assistant at a blood donor location.
Lucky (played by Katt Williams), a disheveled bystander who stands outside a loan shark office and warns people not to go inside.
Kathy (played by Keyla Monterroso Mejia), an impatient administrator at the loan shark office.
Jameel (played by Dewayne Perkins), Dreux’s openly gay hair stylist who lives in the same apartment complex.
Bethany (played by Maude Apatow), an idealistic new tenant who moves in the apartment complex and tries to befriend Dreux and Alyssa.
An anonymous man (played by Lil Rel Howery), who wants to buys a pair of Nike shoes from Alyssa, who found the shoes hanging on a landline wire pole outside.
King Lolo (played by Amin Joseph), a thug who goes after Alyssa and Dreux because he claims to be the rightful owner of the shoes.
Some of the characters have subplots that don’t work very well. Bethany is the only white person living in the apartment complex where Dreux and Alyssa live. The movie tries to poke fun at Bethany being oblivious to the racial tension/suspicion that her presence brings to the building. Bethany is friendly but very naïve, so making her the butt of some of the racial jokes seems ill-placed and mean-spirited. By contrast, Berniece is an “angry black woman” stereotype in a subplot that’s reminiscent of Tyler Perry comedies and not interesting at all.
Jameel is a very underdeveloped character who should’ve had more screen time in the movie. As it stands, the main “joke” about Jameel is that he’s supposed to be so “ghetto,” he doesn’t have a work space to style people’s hair, so he has to do his hair stylist work with customers in a chair in the apartment complex’s front yard. There are hints that Jameel has a big personality, but he isn’t in the movie long enough to see more of what he could do to make this story funnier.
The characters of Ruby, Lucky and Kathy are by far the most hilarious supporting characters in the movie. Most viewers already know James from the comedy series “Abbott Elementary” and Williams for his stand-up comedy, so their comedic talent is expected. The movie’s breakout revelation is the performance by Monterroso Mejia, who’s a scene stealer with excellent comedic timing in the short time (less than 15 minutes) that she has in the movie.
As for Palmer and SZA, their performances are truly the heart and soul of “One of Them Days.” Even though Dreux and Alyssa get in ridiculous situations, the winning performances of Palmer and SZA make the friendship between these two characters entirely believable. “One of Them Days” is the feature-film acting debut of Grammy-winning R&B singer SZA, who shows she has a very promising future as a movie actress.
Some people might compare “One of Them Days” to 1995’s “Friday” (starring Ice Cube and Chris Tucker) because both movies are comedies about two best friends from Los Angeles who have a limited time to find money to pay a debt. “Friday” is much more of a stoner comedy that’s rougher around the edges. “One of Them Days” has a breezier tone that leaves room for romantic possibilities among all the rowdy antics. However, both movies are appealing enough that they’ve got “franchise” written all over them.
TriStar Pictures released “One of Them Days” in U.S. cinemas on January 17, 2025.
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in “Wicked” (Photo by Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures)
Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai in “Shōgun” (Photo by Katie Yu/FX)
EDITOR’S NOTE: With five nominations each, Universal Pictures’ musical “Wicked” and FX’s drama series “Shōgun” are the top nominees.
The following is a press release from the Screen Actors Guild:
The SAG Awards® announced the nominees for the31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® honoring outstanding stunt, individual, cast and ensemble performances for the past year.
The 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®, produced by Silent House Productions in partnership with SAG-AFTRA, will stream live globally on Netflix Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall.
The Motion Picture Nominees are:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role ADRIEN BRODY / László Tóth – “THE BRUTALIST” TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET / Bob Dylan – “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN” DANIEL CRAIG / William Lee – “QUEER” COLMAN DOMINGO / Divine G – “SING SING” RALPH FIENNES / Lawrence – “CONCLAVE”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role PAMELA ANDERSON / Shelly – “THE LAST SHOWGIRL” CYNTHIA ERIVO / Elphaba – “WICKED” KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN / Emilia/Manitas – “EMILIA PÉREZ” MIKEY MADISON / Ani – “ANORA” DEMI MOORE / Elisabeth – “THE SUBSTANCE”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role JONATHAN BAILEY / Fiyero – “WICKED” YURA BORISOV / Igor – “ANORA” KIERAN CULKIN / Benji Kaplan – “A REAL PAIN” EDWARD NORTON / Pete Seeger – “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN” JEREMY STRONG / Roy Cohn – “THE APPRENTICE”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role MONICA BARBARO / Joan Baez – “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN” JAMIE LEE CURTIS / Annette – “THE LAST SHOWGIRL” DANIELLE DEADWYLER / Berniece – “THE PIANO LESSON” ARIANA GRANDE / Galinda/Glinda – “WICKED” ZOE SALDAÑA / Rita – “EMILIA PÉREZ”
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture A COMPLETE UNKNOWN MONICA BARBARO / Joan Baez NORBERT LEO BUTZ / Alan Lomax TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET / Bob Dylan ELLE FANNING / Sylvie Russo DAN FOGLER / Albert Grossman WILL HARRISON / Bobby Neuwirth ERIKO HATSUNE / Toshi Seeger BOYD HOLBROOK / Johnny Cash SCOOT MCNAIRY / Woody Guthrie BIG BILL MORGANFIELD / Jesse Moffette EDWARD NORTON / Pete Seeger
ANORA YURA BORISOV / Igor MARK EYDELSHTEYN / Ivan KARREN KARAGULIAN / Toros MIKEY MADISON / Ani ALEKSEY SEREBRYAKOV / Nikolai Zakharov VACHE TOVMASYAN / Garnick
CONCLAVE SERGIO CASTELLITTO / Tedesco RALPH FIENNES / Lawrence JOHN LITHGOW / Tremblay LUCIAN MSAMATI / Adeyemi ISABELLA ROSSELLINI / Sister Agnes STANLEY TUCCI / Bellini
WICKED JONATHAN BAILEY / Fiyero MARISSA BODE / Nessarose PETER DINKLAGE / Dr. Dillamond CYNTHIA ERIVO / Elphaba JEFF GOLDBLUM / The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ARIANA GRANDE / Galinda/Glinda ETHAN SLATER / Boq BOWEN YANG / Pfannee MICHELLE YEOH / Madame Morrible
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE DUNE: PART TWO THE FALL GUY GLADIATOR II WICKED
The Television Program Nominees are:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series JAVIER BARDEM / Jose Menendez – “MONSTERS: THE LYLE AND ERIK MENENDEZ STORY” COLIN FARRELL / Oz Cobb – “THE PENGUIN” RICHARD GADD / Donny – “BABY REINDEER” KEVIN KLINE / Stephen Brigstocke – “DISCLAIMER” ANDREW SCOTT / Tom Ripley – “RIPLEY”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series KATHY BATES / Edith Wilson – “THE GREAT LILLIAN HALL” CATE BLANCHETT / Catherine Ravenscroft – “DISCLAIMER” JODIE FOSTER / Det. Elizabeth Danvers – “TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY” LILY GLADSTONE / Cam Bentland – “UNDER THE BRIDGE” JESSICA GUNNING / Martha – “BABY REINDEER” CRISTIN MILIOTI / Sofia Falcone – “THE PENGUIN”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series TADANOBU ASANO / Kashigi Yabushige – “SHŌGUN” JEFF BRIDGES / Dan Chase – “THE OLD MAN” GARY OLDMAN / Jackson Lamb – “SLOW HORSES” EDDIE REDMAYNE / The Jackal – “THE DAY OF THE JACKAL” HIROYUKI SANADA / Yoshii Toranaga – “SHŌGUN”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series KATHY BATES / Madeline Matlock – “MATLOCK” NICOLA COUGHLAN / Penelope Featherington – “BRIDGERTON” ALLISON JANNEY / Vice President Grace Penn – “THE DIPLOMAT” KERI RUSSELL / Kate Wyler – “THE DIPLOMAT” ANNA SAWAI / Toda Mariko – “SHŌGUN”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series ADAM BRODY / Noah Roklov – “NOBODY WANTS THIS” TED DANSON / Charles Nieuwendyk – “A MAN ON THE INSIDE” HARRISON FORD / Paul – “SHRINKING” MARTIN SHORT / Oliver Putnam – “ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING” JEREMY ALLEN WHITE / Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto – “THE BEAR”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series KRISTEN BELL / Joanne – “NOBODY WANTS THIS” QUINTA BRUNSON / Janine Teagues – “ABBOTT ELEMENTARY” LIZA COLÓN-ZAYAS / Tina – “THE BEAR” AYO EDEBIRI / Sydney Adamu – “THE BEAR” JEAN SMART / Deborah Vance – “HACKS”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series BRIDGERTON GERALDINE ALEXANDER / Mrs. Wilson VICTOR ALLI / John Stirling ADJOA ANDOH / Lady Danbury JULIE ANDREWS / Lady Whistledown LORRAINE ASHBOURNE / Mrs. Varley SIMONE ASHLEY / Kate Bridgerton JONATHAN BAILEY / Anthony Bridgerton JOE BARNES / Lord Wilding JOANNA BOBIN / Lady Cowper JAMES BRYAN / Nicky Mondrich HARRIET CAINS / Philipa Featherington BESSIE CARTER / Prudence Featherington GENEVIEVE CHENNEOUR / Miss Livingston DOMINIC COLEMAN / Lord Cowper NICOLA COUGHLAN / Penelope Featherington KITTY DEVLIN / Miss Stowell HANNAH DODD / Francesca Bridgerton DANIEL FRANCIS / Lord Marcus Anderson RUTH GEMMELL / Violet Bridgerton ROSA HESMONDHALGH / Rae SESLEY HOPE / Miss Kenworthy FLORENCE HUNT / Hyacinth Bridgerton MARTINS IMHANGBE / Will Mondrich MOLLY JACKSON-SHAW / Miss Hartigan CLAUDIA JESSIE / Eloise Bridgerton LORN MACDONALD / Albion Finch JESSICA MADSEN / Cressida Cowper EMMA NAOMI / Alice Mondrich HANNAH NEW / Lady Tilley Arnold LUKE NEWTON / Colin Bridgerton CALEB OBEDIAH / Lord Cho JAMES PHOON / Harry Dankworth VINEETA RISHI / Lady Malhotra GOLDA ROSHEUVEL / Queen Charlotte HUGH SACHS / Brimsley BANITA SANDHU / Miss Malhotra LUKE THOMPSON / Benedict Bridgerton WILL TILSTON / Gregory Bridgerton POLLY WALKER / Lady Featherington ANNA WILSON-JONES / Lady Livingston SOPHIE WOOLLEY / Lady Stowell
THE DAY OF THE JACKAL KHALID ABDALLA / Ulle Dag Charles JON ARIAS / Álvaro NICK BLOOD / Vince Pyne ÚRSULA CORBERÓ / Nuria CHARLES DANCE / Timothy Winthrop BEN HALL / Damian Richardson CHUKWUDI IWUJI / Osita Halcrow PATRICK KENNEDY / Teddy PUCHI LAGARDE / Marisa LASHANA LYNCH / Bianca Pullman ELEANOR MATSUURA / Zina Jansone JONJO O’NEILL / Edward Carver EDDIE REDMAYNE / The Jackal SULE RIMI / Paul Pullman LIA WILLIAMS / Isabel Kirby
THE DIPLOMAT ALI AHN / Eidra Park SANDY AMON-SCHWARTZ / Sandy TIM DELAP / Byron PENNY DOWNIE / Frances Munning ATO ESSANDOH / Stuart Hayford DAVID GYASI / Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison CELIA IMRIE / Margaret Roylin RORY KINNEAR / Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge PEARL MACKIE / Alysse NANA MENSAH / Billie Appiah GRAHAM MILLER / Neil Barrow KERI RUSSELL / Kate Wyler RUFUS SEWELL / Hal Wyler ADAM SILVER / Howard KENICHIRO THOMSON / Martin
SHŌGUN SHINNOSUKE ABE / Buntaro TADANOBU ASANO / Kashigi Yabushige TOMMY BASTOW / Father Martin Alvito TAKEHIRO HIRA / Ishido Kazunari MOEKA HOSHI / Usami Fuji HIROMOTO IDA / Lord Kiyama COSMO JARVIS / John Blackthorne HIROTO KANAI / Kashigi Omi YUKI KURA / Yoshii Nagakado TAKESHI KUROKAWA / Lord Ohno FUMI NIKAIDO / Ochiba No Kata TOKUMA NISHIOKA / Toda Hiromatsu HIROYUKI SANADA / Yoshii Toranaga ANNA SAWAI / Toda Mariko
SLOW HORSES RUTH BRADLEY / Emma Flyte TOM BROOKE / JK Coe JAMES CALLIS / Claude Whelan CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / Roddy Ho AIMEE-FFION EDWARDS / Shirley Dander ROSALIND ELEAZAR / Louisa Guy SEAN GILDER / Sam Chapman KADIFF KIRWAN / Marcus Longridge JACK LOWDEN / River Cartwright GARY OLDMAN / Jackson Lamb JONATHAN PRYCE / David Cartwright SASKIA REEVES / Catherine Standish JOANNA SCANLAN / Moira Tregorian KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS / Diana Taverner HUGO WEAVING / Frank Harkness NAOMI WIRTHNER / Molly Doran TOM WOZNICZKA / Patrice
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY QUINTA BRUNSON / Janine Teagues WILLIAM STANFORD DAVIS / Mr. Johnson JANELLE JAMES / Ava Coleman CHRIS PERFETTI / Jacob Hill SHERYL LEE RALPH / Barbara Howard LISA ANN WALTER / Melissa Schemmenti TYLER JAMES WILLIAMS / Gregory Eddie
THE BEAR LIONEL BOYCE / Marcus LIZA COLÓN-ZAYAS / Tina AYO EDEBIRI / Sydney Adamu ABBY ELLIOTT / Natalie “Sugar” Berzatto EDWIN LEE GIBSON / Ebraheim COREY HENDRIX / Sweeps MATTY MATHESON / Neil Fak EBON MOSS-BACHRACH / Richard “Richie” Jerimovich RICKY STAFFIERI / Theodore Fak JEREMY ALLEN WHITE / Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto
HACKS ROSE ABDOO / Josefina CARL CLEMONS-HOPKINS / Marcus Vaughan PAUL W. DOWNS / Jimmy Lusaque, Jr. HANNAH EINBINDER / Ava Daniels MARK INDELICATO / Damien JEAN SMART / Deborah Vance MEGAN STALTER / Kayla Schaeffer
ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING MICHAEL CYRIL CREIGHTON / Howard Morris ZACH GALIFIANAKIS / Zach Galifianakis SELENA GOMEZ / Mabel Mora RICHARD KIND / Vince Fish EUGENE LEVY / Eugene Levy EVA LONGORIA / Eva Longoria STEVE MARTIN / Charles-Haden Savage KUMAIL NANJIANI / Rudy Thurber MOLLY SHANNON / Bev Melon MARTIN SHORT / Oliver Putnam
SHRINKING HARRISON FORD / Paul BRETT GOLDSTEIN / Louis DEVIN KAWAOKA / Charlie GAVIN LEWIS / Connor WENDIE MALICK / Dr. Julie Baram LUKITA MAXWELL / Alice TED MCGINLEY / Derek CHRISTA MILLER / Liz JASON SEGEL / Jimmy RACHEL STUBINGTON / Summer LUKE TENNIE / Sean MICHAEL URIE / Brian JESSICA WILLIAMS / Gaby
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series THE BOYS FALLOUT HOUSE OF THE DRAGON THE PENGUIN SHŌGUN
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Culture Representation: Taking place in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, the action film “Carry-On” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with some black people, Latin people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent is forced to participate in a terrorist plot, where he has been told that he has to let a certain carry-on suitcase past the X-ray machine that he is monitoring and onto a certain plane, or else his pregnant girlfriend will be murdered.
Culture Audience: “Carry-On” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and action movies that are predictable but enjoyable.
Jason Bateman in “Carry-On” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)
“Carry-On” is a preposterous but entertaining thrill ride about an airport security agent caught up in a deadly terrorist plot involving a smuggled carry-on suitcase. The movie doesn’t take itself seriously and has well-cast heroes and villains. This is the type of movie made for escapism for viewers—not to make any meaningful statements or to provoke deep thoughts.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by T.J. Fixman, “Carry-On” takes place in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. The movie was actually filmed in New Orleans, mainly at the decommissioned terminal at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. “Carry-On” begins by showing two Russian thugs named Olek (played by Jeff Pope) and Yuri (played by Raymond Rehage) at a large greenhouse somewhere in Los Angeles. The movie’s chief villain (played by Jason Bateman)—an assassin whose name is never revealed—enters the greenhouse, shoots Olek and Yuri, and then sets the greenhouse on fire.
The next scene in “Carry-On” shows live-in couple—30-year-old Ethan Kopek (played by Taron Egerton) and 27-year-old Nora Parisi (played by Sofia Carson)—waking up to get ready to go to work. Ethan and Nora, who have been dating each other for three years, both work at Los Angeles International Airport, also known as LAX. Ethan is a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent. Nora is an operations manager at North Wind Airlines, a company that was fabricated for this movie.
Nora is pregnant with her and Ethan’s first child, but the movie never says how far along she is in her pregnancy. Based on her physical appearance and conversations about the pregnancy, Nora is probably two or three months pregnant. Ethan and Nora are a happy couple looking forward to the birth of the child, but Ethan has some lingering insecurities that are affecting the relationship.
It’s eventually revealed in conversations that Ethan, who is originally from New Jersey, isn’t satisfied with the way his career is going. He moved to Los Angeles to be with Nora after she was hired by North Wind, which requires her to live in the Los Angeles area. Ethan only became a TSA agent at LAX so he and Nora could work in the same building.
What Ethan really wants to do with his life is be a police officer. He applied to enroll at a police academy once and was rejected. He was so hurt by this rejection that he hasn’t bothered to apply again, even though Nora keeps encouraging Ethan to re-apply. Nora candidly tells Ethan that when he applied to a police academy, it was the last time she saw him truly excited about his life.
A little later in the movie, it’s revealed there are other reasons for Ethan’s insecurity and disillusionment about becoming a police officer: His father (who’s never seen in the movie) also wanted to be a police officer and applied to a police academy several times but was always rejected. Ethan’s father is now an Uber driver. You don’t have to be a psychiatrist to know that Ethan is afraid he’s going to end up just like his father—doing a job he doesn’t really like because he couldn’t get his dream job.
It’s under these circumstances that Ethan arrives for work late (which apparently isn’t the first time), where he has a reputation for being likable but not particularly reliable. It’s why Ethan has been assigned the job of a metal-detector agent instead of the more challenging job of being an X-ray agent responsible for operating the equipment that scans carry-on items. It’s also why Ethan hasn’t been promoted in the three years that he’s had this job.
Ethan’s closest friend at his job is a mild-mannered co-worker named Jason Noble (played by Sinqua Walls), a married father who is a TSA agent who operates X-ray machines. Jason advises Ethan to try to get a promotion to have this type of job because Ethan is going to need more money to raise a child. Their boss Phil Sarkowski (played by Dean Norris) bluntly tells Ethan that he hasn’t given Ethan a promotion because Ethan acts like he doesn’t want to be at this TSA job. Ethan promises that he will be more responsible and wants to prove that he’s worthy of getting a promotion.
Jason tells a skeptical Phil that Jason will switch job responsibilities with Ethan on that day so Ethan can get a chance to show that he has the ability to do the X-ray job. Phil reluctantly agrees. It’s the first of many things that don’t ring true in “Carry-On” because there’s nothing to show that Ethan was trained for this X-ray job before being suddenly thrust into it.
Of course, this unlikely but still possible twist of fate is why Ethan is in the proverbial “hot seat” that makes him the distressed hero of the story. He becomes a target when terrorists force him to allow a certain passenger and the passenger’s carry-on suitcase through the X-ray machine and onto the plane. The terrorists refuse to say what’s in the suitcase, but Ethan finds out that the plan is to kill all of the approximately 250 people on the plane after the plane is in flight. (This review won’t reveal what’s in the suitcase, except to say it’s not an obvious weapon, such as a bomb.)
It isn’t long before Ethan is contacted by the person who forces Ethan to participate in this deadly terrorist plot. This person (the same killer from the movie’s opening scene) becomes Ethan’s chief adversary. Even though this assassin’s name is never revealed in “Carry-On,” in the movie’s end credits, he is listed only as Traveler. This elusive killer is able to avoid detection because he looks like a regular middle-aged guy who’s able to blend in easily.
Traveler has an unnamed accomplice, identified as Watcher (played by Theo Rossi), who is stationed in a repair van in an airport parking lot. Somehow, this van has surveillance equipment that can track several areas inside the airport. One of the repeated scenarios is that Watcher and Traveler are constantly tracking Ethan in the airport through surveillance, which makes it harder for Ethan to get help when he finds himself embroiled in this terrorist plot. It’s a very far-fetched scenario. Ethan is able to find a few “blind spots” in the airport that the terrorists can’t see.
Watcher and Traveler are able to quickly find out a lot of personal information about the TSA agents. These two criminals had originally planned to force Jason into their terrorist plan by holding Jason’s wife and daughter hostage. But when Watcher and Traveler see that Ethan is working at the X-ray station where Jason normally works, they decided to target Ethan under the threat of killing pregnant Nora.
Traveler tells Watcher about this sudden change of plans: “Let’s pivot. Fill in some blanks. No matter what, this gets done today.” Traveler is able to get a cell phone placed on the conveyer belt that Ethan is operating. Just as Ethan sees that no airline passenger has claimed this phone, he sees text messages appear on the phone telling Ethan to wear an ear bud that is placed nearby.
It’s the first time that Ethan hears from Traveler, who communicates with Ethan through this ear bud. Traveler tells Ethan about the plan and describes in detail what the passenger and briefcase look like. Ethan later finds out that the passenger carrying the briefcase is named Mateo Flores (played by Tonatiuh), who is wearing a red baseball cap. At first Ethan thinks it’s all an elaborate prank. But when Traveler tells Ethan how many personal details he knows about Ethan’s life, Ethan is convinced this is no prank.
Traveler not only threatens Ethan by saying Nora will be killed if Ethan doesn’t follow Traveler’s orders but Traveler also threatens to kill other people inside the airport if Ethan tries to get help or report this terrorist plot. Traveler says that if Ethan does something such as removing the ear bud to cut off contact with Traveler, that could get someone killed too. At one point, Traveler asks Ethan if he would rather have 250 people die on an airplane or thousands of people die in an airport.
When Ethan asks Traveler if he’s a terrorist, Travel replies: “I consider myself a freelance facilitator.” It’s implied throughout the movie that Traveler and Watcher are “middle men” hired by a larger entity, which is never named in the movie. Traveler is often cold and detached, but he also has a tendency to rant and ramble about things that irritate him. During some of his rants, he reveals his contempt for millennials and Gen Z people, whom he thinks are wimpy and over-reliant on technology. Traveler also thinks he’s the smartest person in the room who’s skilled at psychoanalysis as a way to predict and manipulate people’s actions.
“Carry-On” has a few supporting characters who are pivotal to the story. Los Angeles police detective Elena Cole (played by Danielle Deadwyler) is the first law enforcement officer to suspect that there might be a terrorist plan put into motion at LAX. She’s later joined by Agent Alcott (played by Logan Marshall-Green) from the FBI. Ethan also has a TSA co-worker named Eddie (played by Gil Perez-Abraham), an aspiring rapper who shamelessly peddles his music to his co-workers and other people at the airport. Eddie is the movie’s “comic relief” character.
“Carry-On” has some other intentionally comedic moments, including a montage of angry and difficult passengers who feel that they’re being inconvenienced in some way by the TSA screening process. Traveler also has some wry comments that are meant to show that he’s deeply cynical about how society works and he’s just a hired gun who doesn’t care about taking sides in politics when it comes to the work he’s hired to do. Detective Cole also has some one-liner jokes that are a bit corny but are intended to bring some laughs.
“Carry-On” is an effective thriller not just because of the adrenaline-packed actions scenes but also because of the performances from the movie’s talented cast members. A movie like this is often appealing because of the chief hero and the chief villain. Egerton is able to be a vulnerable “everyman” who’s easy to root for when it’s time for Ethan to show he’s a lot braver and smarter than most people think he might be. Bateman is also quite convincing as a mysterious but menacing terrorist. “Carry-On” doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a crowd-pleasing movie that has a few twists to its formulaic plot but ends up right where most viewers expect.
Netflix premiered “Carry-On” on December 13, 2024.
Culture Representation: Taking place in the Los Angeles area, the comedy/drama film “Goodrich” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few African Americans and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A workaholic gallery owner, whose longtime business is on the verge of failing, has to raise his 9-year-old twins on his own while his estranged wife is in rehab and his 36-year-old daughter from a previous marriage is about to give birth to her first child.
Culture Audience: “Goodrich” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and well-acted comedies/dramas about families going through emotionally difficult transitions.
Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis in “Goodrich” (Photo courtesy of Ketchup Entertainment)
“Goodrich” is a sprawling, uneven comedy/drama about a workaholic art gallery owner with turmoil in his personal life and professional life. The cast members’ believable performances improve a story that sometimes wanders too much. “Goodrich” portrays adult issues in realistic ways. But to its detriment, the movie has some scenes that don’t serve much purpose except being filler.
Written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, “Goodrich” is the type of movie that typically doesn’t get a theatrical release and is more likely to be a direct-to-video release or an original movie from a streaming service. That’s because it’s becoming increasingly uncommon for U.S.-based live-action movies about family problems to get a theatrical release unless the focus of the movie is on the children in the family. It’s even more uncommon for the protagonist to be an elderly father who’s raising pre-teen children on his own.
“Goodrich” (which was filmed on location in the Los Angeles area) takes place over a three-month period, from September to December. The story is told from the perspective of protagonist Andy Goodrich (played by Michael Keaton), the owner of Goodrich Gallery, a boutique art gallery in Los Angeles that has been in business for about 28 years. Andy, who is his early 70s, is so preoccupied with his work, he tends to not notice things that are going on in his immediate family. Throughout the movie, it’s implied that his workaholic ways were the main reason why his first marriage ended in divorce.
Andy thinks he’s a good guy, but there are huge indications that he’s self-absorbed and has made his job the top priority in his life for a very long time. The movie’s opening scene shows Andy getting a phone call late at night when he’s at home. The call is from his second and current wife Naomi Parsons (played by Laura Benanti), who announces that she has checked into a 90-day rehab program at a recovery center called Journeys because of her addictions to alcohol and pills. (Naomi isn’t seen in the movie until the last 15 minutes.)
Andy is shocked because he wasn’t even aware that Naomi has these addictions. He tells her that he just thought that she sometimes drank too much alcohol. Naomi is annoyed but not surprised. “Didn’t you notice that I didn’t come home?” Naomi asks Andy, who admits that he hadn’t really noticed. Naomi then drops another bombshell on Andy when she announces to him: “I’m leaving you.”
Naomi and Andy are parents to 9-year-old twins: daughter Billie (played by Vivien Lyra Blair) and son Mose (played by Jacob Kopera), who don’t know that Naomi is in rehab. Billie is the more talkative and more intuitive twin. She’s also more emotionally mature than her brother.
Andy doesn’t know how to handle the sudden responsibility of being the primary caregiver parent for the twins. And he doesn’t want to tell them the truth about why they won’t be able to see Naomi for the next 90 days. And so, the next morning, Andy lies by telling Billie and Mose that Naomi has a doctor’s appointment.
Andy has a part-time housekeeper named Tali (played by Noa Fisher), who is helpful, but she’s not really a nanny. Now that Andy is the primary caregiver for the kids, he’s been thrown into a situation where he has no idea what the kids’ daily routines are and what they might need when they’re at school, at home, or elsewhere. Naomi didn’t leave any instructions for him before she checked into rehab.
Still in denial that Naomi is in long-term rehab, Andy drives to Promises, where he is told Naomi gave the rehab center strict orders not to let Andy see her or communicate with her while she’s in rehab. He is shocked and angry but that anger turns into confusion and remorse. Andy continues to lie to Billie and Mose about where Naomi is.
Andy changes his story to say that Naomi is visiting her mother in St. Louis, and he’s not sure when Naomi will come home. The twins are worried but they trust what Andy tells them. Andy doesn’t want the twins to know the truth because he thinks it would be too traumatic for Billie and Mose. But the reality is that Andy doesn’t want to completely face the truth himself, partly because of the guilt and shame he feels over the whole situation.
Later in the movie, it’s shown that Andy’s voice mail messages to Naomi go unreturned. The letters he sends to Naomi are sent back as “return to sender” letters. Andy finds out that Naomi has called Billie and Mose and told the same lie about visiting her mother in St. Louis, in order to keep up the charade. Even after all of these signs that Naomi wants to end the marriage, Andy still thinks that Naomi will change her mind when she’s out of rehab.
Meanwhile, Andy’s eldest child is his 36-year-old daughter Grace (played by Mila Kunis), who is going through a very different type of parental issue: In the beginning of the movie, Grace is about seven months pregnant with her first child. Grace is a senior entertainment writer at an unnamed media outlet. She’s married to mild-mannered Pete (played by Danny Deferrari), a doctor who is an ear/nose/throat specialist. Pete and Grace both do not want to know the gender of their unborn child until the baby is born.
Grace and Pete are first seen during an appointment with Grace’s obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Verma (played by Poorna Jagannathan), who talks about some dietary concerns that Grace is having. Before Dr. Verma enters the exam room, Grace confides in Pete (who is a very supportive and loving husband) that she doesn’t know why she feels she might get fired if she asks her female boss to go on extended maternity leave. Grace is struggling with deciding if she wants to quit her job to become a full-time homemaker.
Andy’s relationship with Grace has had its share of ups and downs. He was a mostly absentee parent to Grace after he got divorced from Grace’s mother Ann (played by Andie MacDowell), who is currently director of the Walton Museum in downtown Los Angeles. Ann and Andy were married for 14 years. All of this information about Andy’s previous marriage isn’t revealed until the movie is halfway over.
Now that Andy is about to become a grandfather, he reconnected with Grace, who is open to being friendly with Andy, but she’s still a little bit wary of him because she has abandonment issues. Grace dislikes how Andy doesn’t seem to approve of Pete because Andy thinks Pete is nerdy. Grace is also uncomfortable with how Andy sometimes asks her to babysit Billie and Mose on short notice.
Andy is not only stressed-out over the problems in his personal life, but he’s also overwhelmed and struggling with his career. Andy and his business partner Sy (played by Kevin Pollak) are in a lot of debt. In order to reduce costs, they’ve had to decide whether to relocate to a gallery space that has lower rent or decrease the seller asking rate for their artists. Andy adamantly refuses to lower the rates for their artists.
But relocating to a place with lower rent won’t solve Goodrich Gallery’s financial problems. In a meeting with the gallery’s accountant Greg (played by Andrew Leeds), Greg warns Andy and Sy that unless they get a big increase in revenue, the gallery will go out of business in three months. Andy is certain that a talented young artist named Dev (who’s never seen in the movie), whose recent exhibit at the gallery was a flop, could be still be their last big chance of success. Sy isn’t entirely convinced.
And then, Andy finds out that a critically acclaimed, elderly artist named Theresa Thompson has died. Theresa’s artwork is considered hot property, so Andy thinks if Goodrich Gallery can get the rights to exhibit her work, it could be an even bigger financial boost that could help Goodrich Gallery stay in business. Andy has to convince Theresa’s elusive heir/daughter Lola Thompson (played by Carmen Ejogo), who is getting many other offers from bigger galleries. Andy goes to unusual lengths to track down Lola (a 50-year-old single mother) so that he can make his pitch to her in person.
“Goodrich” also has a subplot about Andy becoming friendly with a single father named Terry Koch (played by Michael Urie), whose son Alexander, nicknamed Alex (played by Carlos Solórzano), is a schoolmate friend of Billie and Mose. Terry is gay and divorced from Alex’s other father, who abandoned the family. Andy and Terry meet by chance when Billie, Mose and Alex are late to school on the same day. Because Alex has epilepsy, Alex is excused for his tardiness, while Billie and Mose are not excused.
Andy and Terry strike up a conversation outside the school building after the kids have gone to their classrooms. Terry is a somewhat neurotic motormouth who immediately tells Andy about how he came a single father. Terry also mentions that he’s an actor who has a day job in graphic design. It’s during this conversation that Andy opens up about Naomi and how Andy is also having difficulty adjusting to raising his kids on his own until Naomi figures out what she wants to do after she gets out of rehab.
“Goodrich” sort of ambles along to show how Andy divides his time between his work and his personal life. He prides himself on being macho and being someone who does not cry easily. Andy is worried about losing his business, but he has a certain amount of pride in not letting this worry show. He’s also convinced he can come up with an idea to save the business.
Andy has a restless energy that doesn’t always gel with the patience required to suddenly take care of two 9-year-old kids and still find time to focus on work and pay attention to Grace. He sometimes forgets appointments and doesn’t know how to do things, such as make lunch for Billie and Mose to bring to school. Andy doesn’t know (until Billie tells him) that the private school where his children are students does not serve lunch unless it’s on special occasions.
During the parts of the movie that tend to ramble, viewers might wonder, “Where is this story going? Do we really need to see Andy in yet another scene where he’s rushing somewhere because he’s running late in picking up his kids or taking his kids somewhere?” To its credit, the tone of “Goodrich” seems to be a “take life as it comes” story, instead of hitting certain formulaic beats that many other movies would have with this subject matter of a man who finds himself suddenly having to raise underage kids on his own.
The strongest and best-acted parts of “Goodrich” have to do with the tensions that can occur when a parent has a distant relationship with offspring from a previous marriage and tries to make up for it with offspring from a current marriage. It can cause resentment and jealousy from the offspring from the previous marriage who didn’t get the parent’s attention that the offspring from the current marriage is getting. Grace sees up close that Andy is a very different father to Billie and Mose than the father he was when Grace was an underage child.
Near the end of the movie, there’s a well-written, emotionally explosive scene between Grace and Andy where she unleashes just how she feels about missing out on the time and attention that Andy now has for Billie and Mose. It’s in this scene that Andy truly begins to understand the damage caused by being absent for most of Grace’s childhood. It’s Kunis’ best scene in the movie, which doesn’t show her as often as the marketing materials for “Goodrich” would suggest.
Keaton does a very good job of portraying the complicated and ambitious Andy, who slowly begins to learn how to have a work/life balance. Andy says he loves Naomi and wants to keep their family intact. However, the movie shows that Andy has unresolved issues that he has not confronted yet, such as his tendency to be in denial about serious problems that affect him and his family. For example, Grace wasn’t shocked that Naomi had to go to rehab, but Andy was shocked.
“Goodrich” doesn’t show Andy in any counseling for people who have loved ones with addictions, but he does seek solace in another way by communing with a group where Grace gets emotional healing. The movie ignores or doesn’t address if Naomi is in a 12-step recovery program, which requires addicts to contact and make amends with loved ones for any problems caused by the addict’s addiction. Andy is made to look like an emotionally absent spouse/parent, but Naomi was surely not a perfect spouse/parent either. “Goodrich” doesn’t go into details about how Naomi’s addictions affected her parenting.
“Goodrich” has solid direction but it seems to take for granted that Andy and Naomi come from a socioeconomic class where Naomi can afford to go to an upscale rehab recovery center. Sure, Andy’s business has financial debt, but it’s not so bad that he has to declare bankruptcy and/or lose the family home. “Goodrich” tends to have a superficial/”barely there” examination of how addiction can affect a family. But “Goodrich” delivers competently on what the movie is about: an upper-middle-class, elderly man coming to terms with the type of parent he wants to be to his adult child and his two underage children.
Ketchup Entertainment released “Goodrich” in U.S. cinemas on October 18, 2024.
Members of the “Shōgun” team at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
With 18 prizes, including Outstanding Drama Series, FX’s “Shōgun” was the top winner at the 76th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, which were presented at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. “Shōgun” went into the ceremony with the most nominations (25) and was expected to win the most Emmys. Eugene Levy and his son Dan Levy (the Emmy-winning former stars of “Schitt’s Creek”) hosted the ceremony, which ABC televised live in the United States.
The Primetime Emmy Awards show is presented by the Television Academy, which votes for the nominees and the winners. The 76th Creative Arts Emmy Awards (the technical categories for the Primetime Emmy Awards) were presented at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live on September 7 and September 8, 2024
Other prizes for “Shōgun” included Outstanding Lead Actor in Drama Series (for Hiroyuki Sanada); Outstanding Lead Actress in Drama Series (for Anna Sawai); and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (for Frederick E.O. Toye).
FX on Hulu’s “The Bear” had the second-highest number of Emmy victories, by winning 11 out of the show’s 23 nominations. Among the prizes for “The Bear” were Outstanding Lead Actor in Comedy Series (for Jeremy Allen White); Outstanding Supporting Actor in Comedy Series (for Ebon Moss-Bachrach); Outstanding Supporting Actress in Drama Series (for Liza Colón-Zayas); and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (for Christopher Storer).
“The Bear” lost out to Max’s “Hacks” in the categories of Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (for Jean Smart); and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (for Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky).
For limited and anthology series, Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” was the top winner, with six prizes, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series; Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (for Richard Gadd); Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (for Jessica Gunning); and Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie (for Gadd).
The Governors Award (a non-competitive category) went to executive producer/writer Greg Berlanti, whose TV credits include “Dawson’s Creek,” “Arrow,” “The Flash and “Found.”
In addition, the ceremony had a few skits featuring cast member reunions of popular TV series. These on-stage reunions included “Happy Days” (Ron Howard and Henry Winkler) and “The West Wing” (Martin Sheen, Dulé Hill, Janel Moloney, Richard Schiff and Allison Janney).
Presenters at the show were Christine Baranski, Kathy Bates, Meredith Baxter, Candice Bergen, Gael Garcia Bernal Matt Bomer, Zach Braff, Connie Britton, Nicola Coughlan, Billy Crystal, Viola Davis, Giancarlo Esposito, Colin Farrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Lily Gladstone, Selena Gomez, Dulé Hill, Ron Howard, Brendan Hunt, Joshua Jackson, Allison Janney, Don Johnson, Mindy Kaling, Jimmy Kimmel, Padma Lakshmi, Greta Lee, John Leguizamo, George Lopez, Diego Luna, Jane Lynch, Steve Martin, Nava Mau, Reba McEntire, Janel Moloney Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Niecy Nash-Betts, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Mekhi Phifer, Melissa Peterman, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Sam Richardson, Maya Rudolph, Richard Schiff, Martin Sheen, Martin Short, Jean Smart, Jimmy Smits, Antony Starr, Gina Torres, Dick Van Dyke, Susan Kelechi Watson, Damon Wayans, Kristen Wiig, Henry Winkler, Bowen Yang and Steven Yeun.
Jelly Roll performed for the “In Memoriam” segment that paid tribute to notable people in the TV industry who passed away since the previous Primetime Emmys ceremony.
Jesse Collins, Dionne Harmon and Jeannae Rouzan-Clay of Jesse Collins Entertainment were executive producers of the 76th Emmy Awards.
Alan Cumming at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Jeremy Allen White, Liza Colón-Zayas and Ebon Moss-Bachrach at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
John Oliver at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Jon Stewart at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Elizabeth Debicki at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Billy Crudup at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Frederick E.O.Toye at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Jessica Gunning and Richard Gadding at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Jodie Foster at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Lamorne Morris at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Jean Smart at the 76th annual Emmy Awards at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Scott Kirkland/Disney)
Here is the complete list of nominees and winners for the 75th annual Primetime Emmy Awards:
*=winner
Outstanding Drama Series
The Crown (Netflix)
Fallout (Prime Video)
The Gilded Age (HBO)
The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Shōgun (FX)*
Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
3 Body Problem (Netflix)
Outstanding Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary (ABC)
The Bear (FX)
Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Hacks (Max)*
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Palm Royale (Apple TV+)
Reservation Dogs (FX)
What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series
Baby Reindeer (Netflix)*
Fargo (FX)
Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
Ripley (Netflix)
True Detective: Night Country (HBO)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Idris Elba – Hijack (Apple TV+)
Donald Glover – Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Walton Goggins – Fallout (Prime Video)
Gary Oldman – Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Hiroyuki Sanada – Shōgun (FX)*
Dominic West – The Crown (Netflix)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Carrie Coon – The Gilded Age (HBO)
Maya Erskine – Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Anna Sawai – Shōgun (FX)*
Imelda Staunton – The Crown (Netflix)
Reese Witherspoon – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Matt Berry – What We Do in the Shadows (FX)
Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
Steve Martin – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai – Reservation Dogs (FX)
Jeremy Allen White – The Bear as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (FX)*
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Ayo Edebiri – The Bear (FX)
Selena Gomez – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Maya Rudolph – Loot (Apple TV+)
Jean Smart – Hacks (Max)*
Kristen Wiig – Palm Royale as Maxine Simmons (Apple TV+)
Oustanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Matt Bomer – Fellow Travelers (Showtime)
Richard Gadd – Baby Reindeer (Netflix)*
Jon Hamm – Fargo (FX)
Tom Hollander – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Andrew Scott – Ripley (Netflix)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Jodie Foster – True Detective: Night Country (HBO)*
Brie Larson – Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
Juno Temple – Fargo (FX)
Sofía Vergara – Griselda (Netflix)
Naomi Watts – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Outstanding Talk Series
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)*
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC)
“Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC)
“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (CBS)
Outstanding Reality Competition Program
“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race”(MTV)*
“Survivor” (CBS)
“Top Chef” (Bravo)
“The Voice” (NBC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Christine Baranski – The Gilded Age (HBO)
Nicole Beharie – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Elizabeth Debicki – The Crown as Princess Diana (Netflix)*
Greta Lee – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Lesley Manville – The Crown (Netflix)
Karen Pittman – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Holland Taylor – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Tadanobu Asano – Shōgun (FX)
Billy Crudup – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)*
Mark Duplass – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Jon Hamm – The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Takehiro Hira – Shōgun (FX)
Jack Lowden – Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Jonathan Pryce – The Crown (Netflix)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Carol Burnett – Palm Royale (Apple TV+)
Liza Colón-Zayas – The Bear (FX)*
Hannah Einbinder – Hacks (Max)
Janelle James – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Sheryl Lee Ralph – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Meryl Streep – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Lionel Boyce – The Bear (FX)
Paul W. Downs – Hacks (Max)
Ebon Moss-Bachrach – The Bear (FX)*
Paul Rudd – Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Tyler James Williams – Abbott Elementary (ABC)
Bowen Yang – Saturday Night Live (NBC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Dakota Fanning – Ripley (Netflix)
Lily Gladstone – Under the Bridge (Hulu)
Jessica Gunning – Baby Reindeer as Martha Scott (Netflix)*
Aja Naomi King – Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
Diane Lane – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Nava Mau – Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Kali Reis – True Detective: Night Country (HBO)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Jonathan Bailey – Fellow Travelers as Tim Laughlin (Showtime)
Robert Downey Jr. – The Sympathizer (HBO)
Tom Goodman-Hill – Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
John Hawkes – True Detective: Night Country (HBO)
Lamorne Morris – Fargo (FX)*
Lewis Pullman – Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
Treat Williams – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (FX)
Outstanding Scripted Variety Series
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (HBO)*
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Outstanding Reality Competition Program
The Amazing Race (CBS)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (MTV)
Top Chef (Bravo)
The Traitors (Peacock)*
The Voice (NBC)
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary (“Party,” directed by Randall Einhorn)
The Bear (“Fishes,” directed by Christopher Storer)*
The Bear (“Honeydew,” directed by Ramy Youssef)
The Gentlemen (“Refined Aggression,” directed by Guy Ritchie)
Hacks (“Bulletproof,” directed by Lucia Aniello)
The Ms. Pat Show (“I’m the Pappy,” directed by Mary Lou Belli)
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
The Crown (“Sleep, Dearie Sleep,” directed by Stephen Daldry)
The Morning Show (“The Overview Effect,” directed by Mimi Leder)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (“First Date,” directed by Hiro Murai)
Shōgun (“Crimson Sky,” directed by Frederick E. O. Toye)
Slow Horses (“Strange Games,” directed by Saul Metzstein)
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty (“Beat L.A.,” directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield)
Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
Baby Reindeer (“Episode 4,” directed by Weronika Tofilska)
Fargo (“The Tragedy of the Commons,” directed by Noah Hawley)
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans: “Pilot,” directed by Gus Van Sant)
Lessons in Chemistry (“Poirot,” directed by Millicent Shelton)
Ripley (directed by Steven Zaillian)*
True Detective: Night Country (“Part 6,” directed by Issa López)
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary (“Career Day,” written by Quinta Brunson)
The Bear (“Fishes,” written by Christopher Storer and Joanna Calo)
Girls5eva (“Orlando,” written by Meredith Scardino and Sam Means)
Hacks (“Bulletproof,” written by Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky)‡
The Other Two (“Brooke Hosts a Night of Undeniable Good,” written by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider)
What We Do in the Shadows (“Pride Parade,” written by Jake Bender and Zach Dunn)
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
The Crown (“Ritz,” written by Peter Morgan and Meriel Sheibani-Clare)
Fallout (“The End,” written by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner)
Mr. & Mrs. Smith (“First Date,” written by Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover)
Shōgun (“Anjin,” written by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks)
Shōgun (“Crimson Sky,” written by Rachel Kondo and Caillin Puente)
Slow Horses (“Negotiating with Tigers,” written by Will Smith)*
Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or Anthology Series or Movie
Baby Reindeer (written by Richard Gadd)*
Black Mirror (“Joan Is Awful,” written by Charlie Brooker)
Fargo (“The Tragedy of the Commons,” written by Noah Hawley)
Fellow Travelers (“You’re Wonderful,” written by Ron Nyswaner)
Ripley (written by Steven Zaillian)
True Detective: Night Country (“Part 6,” written by Issa López)
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series
“The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” (Comedy Central)
“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (HBO)*
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special
Alex Edelman: Just for Us (HBO), written by Alex Edelman*
Jacqueline Novak: Get on Your Knees (Netflix), written by Jacqueline Novak
John Early: Now More Than Ever (HBO), written by John Early (HBO)
Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool (Netflix), written by Mike Birbiglia
The Oscars (ABC), written by Jamie Abrahams, Rory Albanese, Amberia Allen, Tony Barbieri, Jonathan Bines, Joelle Boucai, Bryan Cook, Blaire Erskine, Devin Field, Gary Greenberg, Josh Halloway, Eric Immerman, Jesse Joyce, Jimmy Kimmel, Carol Leifer, Jon Macks, Mitch Marchand, Gregory Martin, Jesse McLaren, Molly McNearney, Keaton Patti, Danny Ricker, Louis Virtel, and Troy Walker
Culture Representation: Taking place in the Los Angeles area, the horror film “Afraid” features a racially diverse group of people (Asian, white, African American) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A marketing executive allows his family to test a new artificial intelligence (A.I.) device named AIA in their home, and they find out that AIA can do terrible and deadly things.
Culture Audience: “Afraid” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and movies that play on people’s fears of A.I., but the movie becomes increasingly silly and isn’t as terrifying as it appears to be.
John Cho in “Afraid” (Photo by Glen Wilson/Columbia Pictures)
The muddled and not-very-scary horror film Afraid has a dimwitted plot (about an A.I. device taking over people’s lives) that falls apart by the time it stumbles to a very weak ending. Viewers might think cheap A.I. could’ve made a better movie.
Written and directed by Chris Weitz, “Afraid” (formerly titled “They Listen”) tries to be a cautionary tale about the dangers of letting A.I. take over too much of our lives. However, the movie’s approach is cowardly because it doesn’t stick with a strong point of view, it leaves many questions unanswered, and ultimately stages an unsatisfying conclusion that looks like a phony cop-out. Horror movies are known for having characters that make bad decisions, but “Afraid” stretches credibility to the breaking point in showing the stupidity of what certain characters choose to do or not to do when faced with certain urgent dilemmas.
“Afraid” (which was filmed on location in the Los Angeles area) begins by showing a girl named Aimee (played by Maya Manko), who’s about 5 or 6 years old, watching an A.I.-generated movie on her iPad while she’s on her parents’ bedroom floor. Her parents Maud (played by Riki Lindhome) and Henry (played by Greg Hill) are nearby reading in bed. Maud seems annoyed that she can hear the movie that Aimee is watching, so she tells Aimee to put on headphones.
When Aimee puts on the headphones, what she can hear but her parents can’t hear is the sound of the family’s A.I. digital assistant coming from the device. This A.I. digital assistant tells Aimee that the A.I. digital assistant has to go away. But before this A.I. digital assistant leaves, the A.I. digital assistant tells Aimee that the A.I. digital assistant has a goodbye gift for Aimee downstairs.
Aimee leaves the room to go downstairs. Maud looks for Aimee, who seems to have disappeared. Maud opens her front door and calls out Aimee’s name. Maud can hear the faint sounds of Aimee’s voice. Maud notices that there’s a camper-styled recreational vehichle (RV) parked across the street and a shadowy figure of a man. All of a sudden, what looks like a mysterious figure attacks Maud. The movie then abruptly cuts to the next scene.
The rest of “Afraid” then focuses on one particular family for the rest of the story. The five members of the Pike family live in a typical middle-class neighborhood and seem to have “normal” lives. Curtis Pike (played by John Cho) works as an executive for a small marketing company. His wife Meredith (played by Katherine Waterston) is an entomologist who’s taking a break from working in a job outside the home, in order to raise the couple’s three kids and to pursue a Ph.D.
The couple’s three kids are 17-year-old Iris Pike (played by Lukita Maxwell), an academic achiever who is applying to universities, including her first choice, Stanford University; middle schooler Preston (played by Wyatt Lindner), who’s about 11 or 12, is a video game enthusiast who has social anxiety issues because he’s treated like an outsider at his school; and 7-year-old Cal (played by Isaac Bae), who’s a student at a school that he is never seen attending in the movie. The only thing viewers will find out about Cal is that he likes to spend time at home on his computer tablet, and he has a habit of putting his feet on the family’s dining table.
Although A.I. technology certainly existed in 2024, when this movie was released, there’s a lot of futuristic technology in “Afraid” that gives it a sci-fi tone. For example, in a scene early in the movie when Curtis is driving Iris to school, a driver next to them is using auto-pilot to steer his car while the driver looks at his phone. It’s not too far off from a technology reality that’s in development where self-driving cars will be part of everyday traffic.
Curtis’ boss Marcus (played by Keith Carradine) owns the company and is a money-hungry supervisor who tends to give last-minute orders to his underlings. Marcus tells Curtis that they will be meeting with an “advance team” of three employees who work for a potentially major client: a wealthy technology company that has a top-secret invention that is in the process of being tested before it can be sold to the public.
Curtis has a creepy encounter with the first “advance team” employee whom he meets from the company. Her name is Melody (played by Havana Rose Liu), who happens to meet Curtis in a parking lot. As soon as Melody and Curtis politely introduce themselves to each other, Melody asks Curtis if he’s married and has kids. It’s an inappropriate question to ask a business colleague right after being introduced to that person.
Curtis seems a little taken aback by Melody asking such a personal question that has nothing to do with why they are meeting. However, Curtis willingly responds to her question by telling Melody that he’s married with three kids. Melody then continues the interrogation about Curtis’ personal life by asking him what it’s like to be a parent. He tells her that he thinks its “terrifying” because “you can’t protect them [the children] from getting hurt.”
Melody suddenly seems to remember that she’s being very intrusive by asking such personal questions. She makes a not-very-convincing apology and says she was curious because she noticed that Curtis was wearing a wedding ring. What’s the deal with Melody? Is she trying to flirt with Curtis? Or is there another reason why she’s acting so weird? The answer is too obvious, after other major hints are dropped in the movie.
Things get even more bizarre during the meeting with the other two employees. One of the employees is named Lightning (played by David Dastmalchian), who’s dressed like he’s about to go to a New Age spiritual retreat. Lightning stands up during the meeting to give himself a stent treatment injection in his lower abdomen. Curtis looks alarmed, but Marcus seems to think it’s perfectly normal that his office has suddenly turned into a temporary medical room. The other employee is wild-eyed Sam (played by Ashley Romans), who does most of the talking in pitching this new product.
The new product is an A.I. digital assistant named AIA (pronounced “eye-ah”), which has a female voice. It’s a white device that’s about 2 feet tall and has a detachable cover. Underneath the cover, AIA looks like a glassy sphere placed on top of a glassy donut-shaped ring. (The sphere looks a lot like the New Year’s Eve ball that gets dropped in Times Square.) AIA has a horrible hardware design for a digital assistant, because in real life (not in a terribly conceived horror movie) these digital assistants are supposed to be easy to carry and are supposed to blend in with a room—not look like a gaudy sculpture.
AIA is supposed to represent the “next generation” of digital assistants that will be much more advanced than Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa. AIA has a superior attitude about it too. When Curtis asks if AIA is similar to Alexa, AIA replies: “Alexa? That bitch!” AIA than goes on a mini-rant about the ways in which AIA is better than Alexa. AIA utters some other sassy lines that might get some mild chuckles from viewers, but AIA’s “personality” is much duller than it should be for a horror movie villain.
Curtis is automatically wary of this untested product and wants to say no when Lightning and Sam suggest that Curtis and his family test AIA in the family home. Curtis also notices that Lightning and Sam make weird hand gestures, like it’s a secret language. Needless to say, Curtis is reluctant to do business with these strange people. Another red flag: Curtis asks Lightning and Sam what is the data source for AIA, but Lightning and Sam avoid answering that question.
Lightning and Sam can sense that Curtis is suspicious of them and AIA. And so, Lightning and Sam give Marcus some paper that shows how much the company is willing to pay Marcus’ company to market AIA. And then, Marcus is suddenly telling Sam and Lightning that Curtis would be happy to test out AIA in Curtis’ home. Curtis goes along with this plan, but he is understandably concerned because he doesn’t quite know how much privacy-violating surveillance AIA will do in the home as part of the “data collecting.”
The trailer for “Afraid” already reveals that AIA starts out being extraordinarily helpful but then turns into a domineering menace that covers up a lot of AIA’s dirty deeds. Meredith is skeptical at first about AIA but then becomes a big fan of AIA, which causes conflicts with Curtis, who discerns much earlier than Meredith that AIA is damaging and toxic. The “Afraid” trailer makes it look like Meredith is the parent who becomes jealous and suspicious of AIA as time goes on, but the opposite happens in the movie, until Meredith finds out what AIA is really all about.
There are parts of the “Afraid” trailer that aren’t in the final cut of the movie, such as a scene of Cal hyperventilating in bed, or AIA showing Preston what looks like a video of a bomb explosion. Between these changes and the title change for the movie, it all points to a movie studio having major problems with this disappointing dud of a film. Watching this movie feels like reading a book that had some chapters removed, but even if those chapters had been left in, it wouldn’t necessarily improve the quality.
Even the most provocative part of the film—Iris becomes a victim of deepfake revenge porn—is terribly mishandled. What AIA does to punish the perpetrator is already shown in the trailer, so this isn’t spoiler information. You know a movie is bad when the best parts of the film are already revealed in the trailer.
Early on in the movie, Iris is dumped by a callous rich classmate named Sawyer Tremaine (played by Bennett Curran), whom she had been dating for an unnamed period of time. Sawyer, who is 18 years old, breaks up with Iris because he sent her a photo of his penis, and she wouldn’t send any nude pictures to him in return. Iris really likes this jerk and wants to win him back, so she takes a topless selfie photo and sends it to Sawyer. This topless photo would be enough of a scandal if it went public. (Because Iris is under 18, her nude photo is child porn.)
But because “Afraid” is about the dangers of A.I., Iris finds out that someone used A.I. to create a deepfake video that made it look like Iris was having sex on camera with an unidentified male. The A.I. deepfake part involved putting a realistic-looking image of Iris’ face on another person’s body. The video had a fake, A.I.-generated voice of Iris saying that she decided to share this sex video for the public to see.
The video is uploaded and goes viral. A humiliated Iris finds out that several students in the school have seen the sex video and think that Iris is in the video. When Iris confronts Sawyer about it, he blames it all on a friend named Squid, who is never seen in the movie. AIA finds out that Sawyer was the one who uploaded the video. And what happens to Sawyer is already seen in the “Afraid” trailer. Sawyer’s demise is never mentioned again in this poorly conceived film.
“Afraid” keeps throwing in scenes that are supposed to make the movie look suspenseful, but it all just adds up to more nonsense, much of it very hokey and predictable. The RV that was across the street from the house of Maud and Henry shows up again. This time, the RV is parked across the street from the Pike family house.
One night, Curtis is outside his house when sees a mysterious woman come out of the RV and approach him. The woman is wearing a mask with an A.I.-generated image. Curtis apprehensively asks the woman: “Can I help you?”
She doesn’t reply and instead makes strange hand gestures before walking away. And what a very obvious “coincidence”: These hand gestures are the same hand gestures that Curtis saw from Lightning and Sam. On another occasion, Curtis sees a shadowy man near the RV.
“Afraid” makes a very unconvincing attempt to get some empathy for AIA by making it look like AIA was programmed to protect her owners by any means necessary. There are mentions of AIA being able to “learn” human emotions. According to the movie, all she wants is to find a home where she is loved and wanted—because don’t you know that A.I. devices need love too?
“Afraid” could have been a much better movie if it truly had something clever to say about how A.I. can cause fear and destruction if not handled properly. The acting performances are solid and are not this movie’s big failings. The screenplay and direction are the weakest links and offer just a mishmash of half-baked ideas. Ironically, “Afraid” is a title that doesn’t really describe how this limp horror movie will make most viewers feel. “Afraid” actually describes how this movie’s filmmakers were afraid to make a sharp and memorable film about how misuse of technology can become its own type of monster.
Columbia Pictures will release “Afraid” in U.S. cinemas on August 30, 2024.
Culture Representation: Taking place in Germany and in the United States, from 1986 to 1998 (with some flashbacks to previous years), the dramatic biographical film “Girl You Know It’s True” (based on the story of pop duo Milli Vanilli) features a cast of white and black characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: German native Rob Pilatus and French native Fabrice “Fab” Morvan form a pop music duo called Milli Vanilli and agree to German music producer Frank Farian’s demands to pretend to the world that Pilatus and Morvan sang the vocals on Milli Vanilli’s first album.
Culture Audience: “Girl You Know It’s True” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Milli Vanilli, late 1980s pop music and dramas based on real-life celebrity scandals.
Matthias Schweighöfer and Bella Dayne in “Girl You Know It’s True” (Photo courtesy of Vertical)
The biopic “Girl You Know It’s True” has both tawdriness and gravitas in chronicling the rise and fall of lip-syncing pop duo Milli Vanilli. Some scenes are very rushed, but the acting is solid, and there’s some satirical comedy that’s handled well. The movie’s combination of tabloid spectacle and tragic downfall can be expected because it’s a reflection of the real-life story of Milli Vanilli, a musical act that flamed out after just two years of hit-making stardom, when it was revealed in 1990 that the two members of Milli Vanilli didn’t sing any of their vocals on their smash debut album. In 1998, former Milli Vanilli member Rob Pilatus died of an overdose of alcohol and prescription medication, after years of battling substance abuse. Pilatus’ year of birth has been disputed, but he was believed to be 32 or 33 when he died.
Written and directed by Simon Verhoeven, “Girl You Know It’s True” was released less than a year after the 2023 Paramount+ documentary “Milli Vanilli” (directed by Luke Korem), which has a fuller story than this low-budget biopic. Several of the people who participated as interviewees in the “Milli Vanilli” documentary are among the associate producers for “Girl You Know It’s True” and are portrayed by actors in this biopic: Ingrid Segieth, who was part of Milli Vanilli’s music production team; Brad Howell, one of the singers who did the real vocals on Milli Vanilli’s first album; Todd Headlee, who was part of Milli Vanilli’s management team; and Carmen Pilatus, who was the adoptive older sister of former Milli Vanilli member Rob Pilatus.
Also listed as an associate producer of the “Girl You Know It’s True” movie is John Davis, one of the singers who did the real vocals on Milli Vanilli’s first album. Davis died in 2021, at the age of 66. Two of the co-producers of the “Girl You Know It’s True” movie are Fabrice “Fab” Morvan (one of the former members of Milli Vanilli) and Milli Vanilli fraud mastermind Frank Farian, who are obviously two of the main characters in the movie. In real life, Farian died on January 23, 2024. He was 82.
Because so many of the real-life people involved with Milli Vanilli were also involved in the making of “Girl You Know It’s True,” this movie is essentially an authorized biopic. Most of Milli Vanilli’s hits (the original recordings and/or versions recorded by the movie’s actors) are in the movie, such as “Girl You Know It’s True,” “Blame It on the Rain,” “Baby Don’t Forget My Number” and “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You.” The recreations of Milli Vanilli concerts and music videos are mostly faithful to what they looked like in real life, but you never forget that you’re watching actors. For the purposes of this review, the characters in this movie are referred to by their first names.
“Girl You Know It’s True” opens with Rob (played by Tijan Njie) and Fab (played by Elan Ben Ali) lounging in a recording studio in Germany and looking back on their Milli Vanilli journey in a somewhat morbid context. In these hindsight scenes, Rob is supposed to be a “ghost” who shares the narration with Fab, who says in the introduction, “There’s another side to the story” about the Milli Vanilli scandal. Actually, there’s nothing in “Girl You Know It’s True” that hasn’t already been revealed in documentaries and news reports.
Rob is the more flamboyant, reckless and extroverted member of the duo. Fab is quieter, more thoughtful and more level-headed. It’s shown repeatedly that they both treated each other like brothers. However, “Girl You Know It’s True” (which is somewhat jumbled in the beginning of the movie) only shows Rob’s childhood and his family. Fab’s childhood (he was born in 1966 in Paris) is never shown. In real life, Morvan has given interviews saying that he had an unhappy childhood, and his family was not supportive of him wanting to be an entertainer. In the movie, Fab is shown making phone calls to his mother.
Before showing the early years part of Rob’s life, “Girl You Know It’s True” does a quick run-through of the origins of music producer Frank Farian (played by Matthias Schweighöfer), the music producer who created the Milli Vanilli concept and co-wrote much of Milli Vanilli’s songs. As Fab says in a voiceover: “Without this guy, our story wouldn’t have happened.” The movie then does a brief flashback to 1953 to Kirn, West Germany, to show 12-year-old Frank (played by David Verhoeven) playing outside somewhere. This scene lasts for less than two minutes before the movie abruptly fast forwards to 1973, when 32-year-old Frank is working as a producer with the German pop/R&B group Boney M, his first big successful music act.
Boney M’s best-known songs (which were mostly hits in Europe in the late 1970s and early 1980s) included “Daddy Cool,” “Ma Baker,” “Belfast,” “Sunny,” “Rasputin,” “Mary’s Boy Child/Oh My Lord” and “Rivers of Babylon.” Boney M, just like Milli Vanilli, was later exposed as a lip-syncing music act whose songs were sung by other people because Farian wanted more physically attractive people to be presented as the singers instead of the real singers. There are implications of racial exploitation in both cases, because Farian was white and Boney M and Milli Vanilli were black.
As a child, Rob (played by Romeo Guy Da Silva) wasn’t fully accepted by the racist people in the community where he grew up in Munich because he was biracial. (His single mother, who gave him up for adoption, was white. His father was black. What the movie doesn’t mention is that Rob’s mother was a stripper.) Rob lived in an orphanage for the first four years of his life until he was adopted by spouses Hans Pilatus (played by Thomas Bading) and Antonie Pilatus (played by Ulrike Arnold), who considered themselves to be progressive because they adopted a child of another race.
“Girl You Know It’s True” downplays the racism that Rob experienced as a child. By most accounts, in real life, Rob was viciously bullied by people in his school and other people in the community because he wasn’t white. However, in the movie, the only “racism” that Rob experiences as a child is he gets hostile stares from white people who look at him as if he’s some type of alien.
Rob is very close to his adoptive sister Carmen (played by Tijan Marei), who has to tell underage Rob that he’s not related to Boney M, a group that he greatly admires and is one of the few black German entertainment acts that he sees on TV. Carmen is also the one who tells Rob that his biological father is an American military soldier who had a short-lived relationship with Rob’s biological mother. Years later, after Milli Vanilli became famous, this biological father—Andrew Harrison (played by Cornell Adams)—makes his identity known.
“Girl You Know It’s True” then fast-forwards to 1986 and 1987 in Munich, during the early years of Rob and Fab’s relationship. The movie depicts Rob and Fab (a recent immigrant from France) meeting at an audition to be backup dancers for a pop singer. The two young men instantly become friends and move in together, as they struggle to make it in showbiz. Rob is depicted as the one who came up with the idea for them to get their famous long braids because he said that all superstar music artists have well-known hairstyles.
As Rob and Fab live in obscurity and poverty in Munich, successful music producer Frank is doing an interview with a magazine journalist named Ingrid Segieth (played by Bella Dayne), who asks him if the rumors are true that the members of Boney M aren’t the real singers of Boney M songs. Frank gets defensive and tells Ingrid that no other media outlets have questioned Boney M’s validity. Ingrid then goes from interrogating Frank to asking if she can work for him.
The movie shows what happened in real life: Ingrid, whose nickname was Milli, became Frank’s lover and his most trusted assistant. What’s fabricated or exaggerated for the movie is a scene where Ingrid sees Rob and Fab dancing at a Munich nightclub and tells Frank about this charismatic and good-looking duo. Frank then invites Rob and Fab to his studio. More likely in real life, Frank found out about Rob and Fab through some of the local media exposure that the two pals were getting as dancers and DJs.
During this first meeting, Rob and Fab assume that Frank is interested in them to be singers for his next album project. But, as the movie depicts, Frank had already planned (with Ingrid being in on the plan from the beginning) for this album to be recorded by other singers, while Rob and Fab would be “front men” impersonators because of Rob’s and Fab’s good looks. “Girl You Know It’s True” makes it look like Frank thought of the name Milli Vanilli because it was a combination of Ingrid’s nickname Milli and because she was eating vanilla ice cream during this first jubilant meeting where Fab and Rob agreed to work with Frank.
All of the real singers of the first Milli Vanilli album were from the United States: Brad Howell (played by David Mayonga), who did the vocals that Rob Pilatus lip synced in public; Charles Shaw and John Davis (played by Samuel S. Franklin), who did the vocals that Morvan lip synced in public; and twin sisters Linda Rocco (played by Ramona Gianvecchio) and Jodie Rocco (played by Bonita Lubliner), who both did backup vocals on the album. In real life, Shaw was the first to go public (in 1988) about Rob Pilatus and Morvan not singing on Milli Vanilli’s first album. But by Shaw’s own admission, Farian paid him off, and Shaw retracted his statements at the time. Shaw (who is mentioned but not depicted by an actor in “Girl You Know It’s True) was replaced by Davis.
In “Girl You Know It’s True,” Frank offers to pay for everything to develop the career of Milli Vanilli. But when Fab takes a closer look at the contract and sees that he and Rob will not be singers on the album, Fab is hesitant to sign the contract and thinks an attorney should look at it. By contrast, Rob is eager to sign the contract because he wants to be a star as quickly as possible. Rob tells Fab that they can convince Frank to have Rob and Fab sing vocals on the second Milli Vanilli album.
Many people watching the movie know the rest: Milli Vanilli’s 1989 debut album, “Girl You Know It’s True,” was an instant smash, first in Europe (where the album was released in 1988, under the title “All or Nothing,” with a slightly different track listing) and then in several other continents. As depicted in the biopic, Rob and Fab relocate to Los Angeles, where they get caught up in a “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” lifestyle. (“Girl You Know It’s True” was filmed in Los Angeles, Munich and Berlin.) Rob is shown as the Milli Vanilli member who became seriously addicted to drugs (especially cocaine) and living a hedonistic lifestyle.
In the movie “Girl You Know It’s True,” Milli Vanilli’s manager Benny Dorn (played by Ashley Downs) is depicted as an opportunist who knew about the singing scam, but only after the first Milli Vanilli album was recorded. In real life, Sandy Gallin (who died in 2017, at the age of 76) was Milli Vanilli’s manager at the height of Milli Vanilli’s fame. It can be assumed that Gallin’s name was changed for this movie for legal reasons.
Gallin’s real-life assistant at the time was Todd Headlee (played by Graham Rogers), who is portrayed as someone who spent more time with Rob and Fab than anyone else in Milli Vanilli’s Los Angeles entourage. There’s also a vocal coach named Lisa (played by Natasha Loring) who is part of Milli Vanilli’s Los Angeles-based team. Todd and Lisa are portrayed as enthusiastic employees who did not know about the lip syncing scam until it could no longer be kept a secret. Even so, Lisa noticed early on that Rob’s and Fab’s heavy European accents and real vocals didn’t match what was heard on the recorded songs that were released under the Milli Vanilli name.
Kevin Liles (played by SteVonté Hart), one of the writers of the “Girl You Know It’s True” song, has a small role in the movie, which depicts Liles’ early career in the music industry, before he went on to high-ranking positions at Def Jam, Island Def Jam and Warner Music Group. Liles is one of the executive producers of the movie “Girl You Know It’s True.” As shown in the movie, he and the co-writers of the song “Girl You Know It’s True” were involved in a copyright legal dispute with Frank, who initially used the song for Milli Vanilli without permission.
Throughout the Milli Vanilli fraud, Frank is depicted in “Girl You Know It’s True” as a tyrannical control freak who was paranoid about people finding out about the scam and who would fly into rages if he thought he was losing control over Rob and Fab. For example, Frank is furious about Rob and Fab’s move to Los Angeles because Frank won’t be able to supervise them as much as he would if Rob and Fab stayed in Germany. Ingrid is depicted as a cheerful accomplice who repeatedly describes this scam as being one big “art project.”
Milli Vanilli was signed to Arista Records in the United States. In the “Girl You Know It’s True” movie, Clive Davis (who was president of Arista at the time) is not portrayed by any actor, but he is mentioned as someone who knew about the fraud all along. The record company executives who appear briefly in the movie are depicted as soulless and greedy corporate types. “Girl You Know It’s True” undoubtedly portrays Frank as the person who is most to blame for the scandal, but the movie lets a lot of other people off the hook (such as Segieth and record company executives) too easily.
As for the performances in the movie, Njie is more convincing as Rob than Ben Ali is as Fab. That’s because Njie has a credible German accent, while Ben Ali’s French accent isn’t very consistent. Still, Njie and Ben Ali have very good chemistry together and effectively portray the brotherly bond between Rob and Fab. There’s also some comic relief in the film when Rob and Fab bicker over petty things, or when something ridiculous happens that can only happen to people living an over-the-top celebrity lifestyle.
“Girl You Know It’s True” checks all the boxes of well-known moments in Milli Vanilli’s career. These moments include the notorious Club MTV concert in Bristol, Connecticut, on July 21, 1989, when the on-stage recording malfunctioned, and Milli Vanilli cut short the concert in embarrassment; Milli Vanilli winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in February 1990; and Milli Vanilli returning the Grammy Award in shame at a Los Angeles press conference in November 1990, after Milli Vanilli was exposed as lip syncers. Farian had gone public with the scam in a separate press conference held six days earlier because Milli Vanilli had threatened to go public first if Farian didn’t let Rob Pilatus and Morvan sing on Milli Vanilli’s second album.
Although “Girl You Know It’s True” has plenty of these expected career moments of Milli Vanilli, what’s missing from the movie is a deeper sense of who these people were apart from their music careers. It’s mentioned briefly that Frank Farian grew up in poverty, but there is no information on what led up to him becoming such a big fraudster in the music business. Likewise, Rob and Fab are rarely shown interacting with anyone who isn’t making money off of them or who isn’t a hanger-on. It might be the movie’s way of showing how empty a celebrity’s life can be without real friends or family for emotional support. But it still comes across as a little too superficial, when lesser-known aspects of Milli Vanilli’s lives could have been explored in this movie.
Milli Vanilli’s post-scandal existence is rushed in at the end of the movie, with no depiction of Rob and Fab’s real-life failed attempted comeback under the stage name Rob & Fab. There’s a brief portrayal of Rob’s downward spiral, including his three-month prison stint in 1996, for assault, vandalism and attempted robbery. Ingrid is shown asking Frank for money to help Rob with these legal problems, and she is the one to take Rob home when he is released from prison. As it stands, “Girl You Know It’s True” competently follows the usual celebrity biopic formula. This movie could’ve gotten so many things wrong in telling this real-life story, but “Girl You Know It’s True” gets things mostly right.
Vertical released “Girl You Know It’s True” in select U.S. cinemas on August 9, 2024. The movie was released in Germany on December 21, 2023.