2024 OSCAR PREVIEW EVENT AT THE STATE THEATRE
Tonight, at the State Theatre, come check out a FREE event. The 2024 Oscar Preview event, which is, again, TONIGHT, Thursday, March 7th at 7:00 PM. Organized and presented in association with the Ann Arbor District Library. Come to this interactive event the find out who Russ Collins, movie and music maven Martin Bandyke, and the State and Michigan’s outstanding Film Programming Nick Alderink believe will walk away with Oscars!! The Academy Awards Show is on Sunday. Embrace the silliness of movie award mania!!
OSCAR ODDS
BEST PICTURE
- "Oppenheimer" - Clear favorite
- "Poor Things"
- 'The Zone of Interest"
- "The Holdovers"
- "Anatomy of a Fall"
- "Barbie"
- "Killers of the Flower Moon"
- "American Fiction"
- "Past Lives"
- "Maestro"
BEST ACTOR
- Cillian Murphy – "Oppenheimer" – Kind of close between Cillian and Paul Giamatti
- Paul Giamatti - "The Holdovers"
- Bradley Cooper - "Maestro"
- Colman Domingo - "Rustin"
- Jeffrey Wright - "American Fiction"
BEST ACTRESS
- Lily Gladstone - "Killers of the Flower Moon" - Kind of close between Lily and Emma Stone
- Emma Stone - "Poor Things"
- Sandra Huller - "Anatomy of a Fall"
- Annette Bening - "Nyad"
- Carey Mulligan – "Maestro"
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- "Anatomy of a Fall" – Close with "The Holdovers"
- "The Holdovers"
- "Past Lives"
- "Maestro"
- "May December"
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- "American Fiction" – Top 3 are fairly close
- "Oppenheimer"
- "Barbie"
- "Poor Things"
- "The Zone of Interest"
BEST ANIMATED FILM
- "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" – Very close between "Spider-Man" and "Heron"
- "The Boy and the Heron"
- "Nimona"
- "Elemental"
- "Robot Dreams"
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- "20 Days in Mariupol"
- "Four Daughters"
- "The Eternal Memory"
- "Bobi Wine: The People's President"
- "To Kill a Tiger"
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
- "The Zone of Interest"
- "Society of the Snow"
- "Perfect Days" – Russ’s favorite
- "Io capitano"
- "The Teacher’s Lounge"
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
- "What Was I Made For" - Billie Eilish & Finneas – "Barbie – Barbie is a sure winner here!
- "I’m Just Ken" - Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt - "Barbie"
- "The Fire Inside" - Diane Warren - "Flamin' Hot"
- "Wahzhazhe" ["A Song for My People"] - Scott George - "Killers of the Flower Moon"
- "It Never Went Away" - Jon Batiste & Dan Wilson - "American Symphony"
SPECIAL SCREENINGS DOWNTOWN
"Tetsuo: The Iron Man" — PLAYS TONIGHT AT 7:15 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Part of the U-M Center for Japanese Film Studies 2024 Series
A "metal fetishist" (Shin'ya Tsukamoto), driven mad by the maggots wriggling in the wound he's made to embed metal into his flesh, runs out into the night and is accidentally run down by a Japanese businessman (Tomoro Taguchi) and his girlfriend (Kei Fujiwara). The pair dispose of the corpse in hopes of quietly moving on with their lives. However, the businessman soon finds that he is now plagued by a vicious curse that transforms his flesh into iron. Presented in Japanese with English subtitles.
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" — PLAYS FRIDAY, MARCH 8 AT 9:30 PM AND THURSDAY, MARCH 14 AT 7:30 PM AT THE STATE
Part of the Late Night Classics series
Following her rescue from the devastating Quarter Quell, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) awakes in the complex beneath the supposedly destroyed District 13. Her home, District 12, has been reduced to rubble, and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is now the brainwashed captive of President Snow (Donald Sutherland). At the same time, Katniss also learns about a secret rebellion spreading throughout all of Panem -- a rebellion that will place her at the center of a plot to turn the tables on Snow. From director Francis Lawrence.
"Free Chol Soo Lee" — PLAYS SATURDAY, MARCH 9 AT 1 PM AT THE MICHIGAN (FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!)
Part of the Korean CinemaNow Film Series
In 1970s San Francisco, 20-year-old Korean immigrant Chol Soo Lee is racially profiled and convicted of a Chinatown gang murder. After spending years fighting to survive, investigative journalist K.W. Lee takes a special interest in his case, igniting an unprecedented social justice movement. Directed by Julie Ha and Eugene Yi. Presented in English and Korean with English subtitles.
Bicycle Film Festival Ann Arbor 2024 — PLAYS SATURDAY, MARCH 9 AT 6:30 PM AND 8:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Presented by Bike Alliance of Washtenaw. This year, BFF Ann Arbor presents an international short film program with award-winning and emerging new talent. For lovers of pro cycling, gravel biking, mountain biking, youth culture, and more - this program will take you on a journey with passionate cyclists around the world.
AAFF Sneak Preview Event — PLAYS MONDAY, MARCH 11 AT 5:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Get an early look at this year's Ann Arbor Film Festival!
"Dance, Girl, Dance" — PLAYS MONDAY, MARCH 11 AT 6:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Part of the We Can Do It! - Pioneering Women of Hollywood's Golden Age film series
A burlesque queen (Lucille Ball) competes with an aspiring ballerina (Maureen O'Hara) for a divorced playboy (Louis Hayward). From director Dorothy Arzner.
"The Italian Job" — PLAYS TUESDAY, MARCH 12 AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Part of the Music by Quincy Jones series
A comic caper movie about a plan to steal a gold shipment from the streets of Turin by creating a traffic jam. From director Peter Collinson starring Michael Caine, Noël Coward, and Benny Hill.
"Joyland" — PLAYS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13 AT 7 PM AT THE MICHIGAN (FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!)
Part of the Center for South Asian Studies Film Festival
The Ranas--a happily patriarchal joint family--yearn for the birth of a baby boy to continue the family line. Their youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for an ambitious trans starlet. Their impossible love story slowly illuminates the entire Rana family's desire for sexual rebellion. Presented in Urdu with English subtitles.
CONTINUING DOWNTOWN
A 2023 drama film directed by Wim Wenders, from a script written by Wenders and Takuma Takasaki. A co-production between Japan and Germany, the film combines four short stories and stars Kōji Yakusho in the role of a toilet cleaner. The film competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on 25 May and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and the Best Actor Award for Kōji Yakusho. It was nominated for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, becoming the first film not directed by a Japanese filmmaker to be nominated as the Japanese entry.
Hirayama seems utterly content with his simple life as a cleaner of toilets in Tokyo. Outside of his very structured everyday routine he enjoys his passion for music and for books. And he loves trees and takes photos of them. A series of unexpected encounters gradually reveal more of his past. A deeply moving and poetic reflection on finding beauty in the everyday world around us.
A 2024 American comedy road film directed by Ethan Coen. Coen wrote the screenplay with his wife Tricia Cooke. It stars Margaret Qualley, Geraldine Viswanathan, Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, Pedro Pascal, Bill Camp, and Matt Damon. It is the debut of Coen as a solo director, excluding the documentary "Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind" (2022), without the collaboration of his brother, Joel. It is also his first narrative film since "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" (2018).
This comedy caper follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
A 2024 American epic science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve, who co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Spaihts. The sequel to "Dune" (2021), it is the second of a two-part adaptation of the 1965 novel "Dune" by Frank Herbert and follows Paul Atreides as he unites with the Fremen people of the desert planet Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen. Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem reprise their roles from the first film, with Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken and Léa Seydoux joining the ensemble cast.
The film will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.
Set in France in 1889, the film follows the life of Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel) as a chef living with his personal cook and lover Eugénie (Juliette Binoche). They share a long history of gastronomy and love, but Eugénie refuses to marry Dodin, so the food lover decides to do something he has never done before: cook for her. From director Tran Anh Hung. Presented in French with English subtitles. Surprisingly to many, it beat out "Anatomy of a Fall" (nominated be Best Picture) as France’s entry.
For the 19th consecutive year, the Oscar-Nominated Short Films are playing the Michigan Theater. With all three categories offered – Animated, Live Action and Documentary – this is your annual chance to predict the winners (and have the edge in your Oscar pool)! A perennial hit with audiences around the country and the world, don’t miss this year’s selection of shorts. Please know, essentially, none of these programs are for children, not even the animation. The Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 10th.
Oscar-nominated Short Films 2024: Live-Action
- "The After" (Canada)
- "Invincible" (Denmark)
- "Knight of Fortune" (USA)
- "Red, White and Blue" (UK)
- "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" (UK)
Oscar-nominated Short Films 2024: Animated
- "Letter to a Pig" (France)
- "Ninety-Five Senses" (USA)
- "Our Uniform" (Iran)
- "Pachyderme" (France)
- "War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko" (USA)
Oscar-nominated Short Films 2024: Documentary
- "Island in Between" (Taiwan)
- "Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó" (USA)
- "The ABCs of Book Banning" (USA)
- "The Barber of Little Rock" (USA)
- "The Last Repair Shop" (USA)
Oscar nominated for Best Picture
A 2023 historical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis. It stars Christian Friedel as the German Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss, who strives to build a dream life with his wife, Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), in a new home next to the German Auschwitz concentration camp.
The film premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2023 to acclaim, winning the Grand Prix Prize. It was named Best Film by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and selected as one of the top-five international films of 2023 by the National Board of Review.
The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Glazer and Best International Feature Film. A new film from writer/director Jonathan Glazer (‘Under the Skin’)
Oscar nominated for Best Actor, Jeffrey Wright
A 2023 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Cord Jefferson, in his feature directorial debut. Based on the 2001 novel "Erasure" by Percival Everett, the film follows a frustrated novelist-professor who jokingly writes an outlandishly stereotypical "Black" book out of spite, only for the book to be published and receive widespread fame and acclaim. It stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, and Keith David.
Director Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture's obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who is fed up with the establishment profiting from "Black" entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish "Black" book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
Oscar nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and 9 other categories
From director Yorgos Lanthimos ("The Favourite," 2018) and starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe. Brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist, a young woman runs off with a lawyer on a whirlwind adventure across the continents. Free from the prejudices of her times, she grows steadfast in her purpose to stand for equality and liberation.
COMING SOON
"One Life" — OPENS THURSDAY, MARCH 14 AT THE MICHIGAN
Based on the book "If It's Not Impossible...: The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton" by Barbara Winton, this film tells the incredible, emotional true story of Nicholas "Nicky" Winton (Johnny Flynn), a young London broker who visits Prague in December 1938. In a race against time, Winton convinces Trevor Chadwick (Alex Sharp) and Doreen Warriner (Romola Garai) of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia to rescue hundreds of predominantly Jewish children before Nazi occupation closes the borders. Fifty years later, Nicky (Anthony Hopkins) is haunted by the fate of the children he wasn't able to bring to safety in England. It's not until the BBC show "That's Life!" re-introduces him to some of those he helped rescue that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he carried -- all the while skyrocketing from anonymity to a national hero. From director James Hawes.
"Love Lies Bleeding" — OPENS THURSDAY, MARCH 14 AT THE STATE
From director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story; reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou's criminal family. Starring Kristen Stewart, Katy M. O'Brian, and Ed Harris.
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