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‘Barbenheimer’ Sitting Pretty as Oscar Nominations to Be Unveiled

Cillian Murphy attends the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards, in Santa Monica, California, US, January 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Cillian Murphy attends the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards, in Santa Monica, California, US, January 14, 2024. (Reuters)
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‘Barbenheimer’ Sitting Pretty as Oscar Nominations to Be Unveiled

Cillian Murphy attends the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards, in Santa Monica, California, US, January 14, 2024. (Reuters)
Cillian Murphy attends the 29th Annual Critics Choice Awards, in Santa Monica, California, US, January 14, 2024. (Reuters)

Nominations for this year's Oscars will be unveiled on Tuesday, with the "Barbenheimer" juggernaut expected to roll on to the climax of Hollywood's awards season with multiple chances at glory.

After a combined $2.4 billion global box office take, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" -- two films linked only by their simultaneous release last July -- are seen as locks for a suite of nods for the 96th Academy Awards, which take place on March 10.

"It continues to be their year, and we expect them to dominate the nominations," Pete Hammond, columnist for industry site Deadline, told AFP.

With its clutch of five Golden Globes and momentum on its side, "Oppenheimer" -- Christopher Nolan's masterly portrait of the father of the atomic bomb -- appears to have the edge in the race for best picture, the Academy's top prize.

Greta Gerwig's popular "Barbie" -- a sharp satire about misogyny and female empowerment -- is playing catch-up after an initial burst of awards optimism faded.

The film, which had nine nominations for the Globes, left with just two consolation prizes -- best song and a newly created trophy for box office achievement.

And, said Hammond, it faces an uphill battle to turn its audience gold into major Oscars success.

"Comedies, or something considered lighter, are generally at a disadvantage against something a little heavier," he said.

"So in the world of Barbenheimer, 'Oppenheimer' definitely has the advantage because it's got gravitas; it's important."

Rounding out the best picture category, nominations are widely expected for Martin Scorsese's crime saga "Killers of the Flower Moon" and Venice Film Festival winner "Poor Things," a female-focused take on the Frankenstein myth.

Christmas boarding school tale "The Holdovers" is already being spoken of as a durable seasonal classic, while Leonard Bernstein biopic "Maestro," which sees Bradley Cooper in front and behind the camera, also appears well placed.

The well-received French film "Anatomy of a Fall," which won two Golden Globes including best screenplay, might fare well in a world where voters no longer seem scared of subtitles.

A year for women directors?

Between Justine Triet's "Anatomy," Gerwig's "Barbie" and "Past Lives," a Korean-American drama by Celine Song, the fight for the best picture Oscar could include three works directed by women, a historic first.

Over nine-and-a-half decades of awards, only 19 films by female directors have been nominated for the top prize.

"It could be the biggest year ever for women, in terms of the best picture race," said Hammond.

In the acting categories, the two summer blockbusters seem likely to garner nominations for their stars -- Cillian Murphy as scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, consumed by the devastating consequences of his creation, and Margot Robbie as a perfect doll tormented by morbid thoughts.

The two films' supporting actors could also be recognized -- Robert Downey Jr shines as a foil to Oppenheimer more concerned with his own political fortunes than understanding quantum physics, while Ryan Gosling is remarkable as Ken.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph appears to be in pole position for best supporting actress honors for her tour-de-force as the school cook in Alexander Payne's 1970s-set "The Holdovers."

Joining Margot Robbie in the best actress race will likely be Emma Stone for her no-holds-barred turn in "Poor Things," and Lily Gladstone, who plays a Native American whose tribe's oil wealth is threatened by a series of murders in "Killers of the Flower Moon."

Her scheming (or is he just stupid?) on-screen husband Leonardo DiCaprio might make the best actor list, but it's a tough ask in a crowded year.

In addition to Murphy and Cooper, nominees could also include Paul Giamatti's uptight history teacher in "The Holdovers," Jeffrey Wright's unwittingly popular author in "American Fiction" and Colman Domingo for his turn as a charismatic, civil rights activist in "Rustin'"

The unveiling of the Oscar nominations will begin at 530 am (1330 GMT) on Tuesday.

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Entertainment

Matthew McConaughey on His Sweet Return to the Big Screen

US actor Matthew McConaughey ended a yearslong break from acting with 'The Rivals of Amziah King,' which premiered at the 2025 SXSW film festival. SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP
US actor Matthew McConaughey ended a yearslong break from acting with 'The Rivals of Amziah King,' which premiered at the 2025 SXSW film festival. SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP
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Matthew McConaughey on His Sweet Return to the Big Screen

US actor Matthew McConaughey ended a yearslong break from acting with 'The Rivals of Amziah King,' which premiered at the 2025 SXSW film festival. SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP
US actor Matthew McConaughey ended a yearslong break from acting with 'The Rivals of Amziah King,' which premiered at the 2025 SXSW film festival. SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP

Matthew McConaughey had plenty of reasons to select "The Rivals of Amziah King," a honey-themed thriller set in the American Southwest, for his return to the big screen after more than five years away.

"The joy, the soul, the humor, the music, the poetry, the mythology, original time, place, and space," the Oscar-winning actor told AFP when asked why he had chosen the indie film for his comeback.

Written and directed by Andrew Patterson, "The Rivals of Amziah King" follows McConaughey's charismatic local honey producer, who splits his time between tending his beehives and playing the banjo in a folk band of friends and neighbors.

"I knew these people. I liked the way they loved each other. I liked the way they fought with each other, I liked the way they cared. I liked the way they use music and humor to survive," the 56-year-old Texan said.

"Amziah is a guy who really, at the heart of himself, gives people belonging, helps people belong, and that's part of the thing.

"This wasn't the reason I did it, but in hindsight, I go: 'That's a nice thing to put out there into the world, and share with people.'"

- 'Strong Indigenous woman' -

McConaughey stepped away from movies after Guy Ritchie's 2019 dark comedy "The Gentlemen," turning his focus to writing his memoir "Greenlights."

Although movie-goers saw him last year in "The Lost Bus," that was filmed after "The Rivals of Amziah King" wrapped.

The Southwestern US tale, which draws on genres like crime, comedy, musical, and drama, sees King's life take on a new purpose when he reconnects with Kateri -- played by Angelina LookingGlass -- a young Native American woman he had first taken in years earlier with his late wife.

With life lessons learned among the bees, communal dinners, and music, King not only helps her gradually integrate into the community, but also passes on his leadership role to her.

However, the young woman soon learns that the world of honey isn't as sweet as it seems.

For LookingGlass, the role was a perfect fit.

"I really loved playing her," the 22-year-old told AFP.

"A lot of people would underestimate her just by looking at her. You know, they wouldn't expect the things that she does.

"Her being this really strong Indigenous woman, and this person that goes under the radar, but then like bites at the end."

That sting was very intentional on the part of Andrew Patterson, who developed the project after his acclaimed debut film, "The Vast of Night" (2019).

Patterson wanted to center the film around a Native American woman who stops at nothing, he told AFP.

"She just uses her intellect and resourcefulness. And I was excited to put that kind of character into the world. That was that was quite literally the germ of an idea that made me want to go, and then eventually the Amziah character came after that," Patterson explained.

McConaughey wasn't initially in his plans, said the indie filmmaker, who also added Kurt Russell to his cast.

"I was just a guy in Oklahoma writing scripts, making little movies. It had nothing. There was no way that this had any chance to get in front of him.

"And over a number of years, and people getting behind my career, and you know, I think in spirit, Matthew and I were on a collision course for each other. There was no way of knowing that it would happen."

Patterson said he was "grateful" to have a movie that will open in US theaters Friday and delighted that it was with such a stellar talent.

I'm "humbled that I'm getting to put Matthew back in cinema after six and a half years," he said.

Entertainment

Movie Review: ‘The End of Oak Street’ Is a Gonzo Good Time

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ewan McGregor, left, and Anne Hathaway in a scene from "The End of Oak Street." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ewan McGregor, left, and Anne Hathaway in a scene from "The End of Oak Street." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
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Movie Review: ‘The End of Oak Street’ Is a Gonzo Good Time

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ewan McGregor, left, and Anne Hathaway in a scene from "The End of Oak Street." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Ewan McGregor, left, and Anne Hathaway in a scene from "The End of Oak Street." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

At the end of the block in David Robert Mitchell’s “The End of Oak Street,” is a cul-de-sac with a telephone pole in the middle and wires radiating out like the cables of a big top. It’s a fitting touch for a breakneck, carnivalesque movie made with throwback showmanship.

Summer movies, of course, are not known for lacking in circus-like mayhem. But much of the pastiche delight of the 1980s-set “The End of Oak Street,” a mid-August surprise, is how it absorbs an Amblin-style blockbuster spirit and conjures, without winking irony or belabored homage, a summer thrill ride seemingly designed for the drive-in.

Mitchell’s breakthrough was the nifty 2014 horror “It Follows,” which he followed up with an admirably ambitious but shaggily self-indulgent Los Angeles neo noir, “Under the Silver Lake.” But any indulgences in “The End of Oak Street,” about a 1980s suburban family whose neighborhood is transported through time, are for the audience. “The End of Oak Street” is a bonkers blast.

It’s best going in not knowing anything about the movie’s twists, so tread carefully on the rest of this review. That’s not to say that an enormous amount of “The End of Oak Street” isn’t immediately familiar, starting with the central family.

The Platts live in what looks like a San Fernando Valley neighborhood full of split levels and tidy little streets. Denise (Anne Hathaway) and Greg (Ewan McGregor) have two kids and a dog named Starbuck. Audrey (Maisy Stella) is a teenager and Brian (Christian Convery) is her younger brother.

But from the moment we meet them, during a neighborhood fair, there are obvious cracks in their all-American life. Greg is working a side job delivering pizzas while Denise is secretly typing up a maybe-aspirational novel about a woman dreaming of leaving her family. The kids have their own secrets, too. They suspect their parents are on the cusp of divorcing, and so, seemingly, do Greg and Denise.

Such a framework for sci-fi cataclysm is, naturally, Spielberg 101. But while “The End of Oak Street” is sure to test and restore their familial bonds, Mitchell, who also wrote the script, takes a route that leans more into horror, absurdism and outright silliness.

In any case, yes, there are dinosaurs. It’s both skillful and a lot of fun how Mitchell teases them out. The first signs are mysterious. A flash of light. A strange exotic flower in a neighbor’s backyard. A giant mount of feces in another’s. But soon, the Platts find that their neighborhood is overrun with primordial beasts and surrounded by jungle: Oak Street is suddenly a suburban island in a prehistoric world.

It’s a perfectly “Twilight Zone” plot that inadvertently solves the problems that have plagued the “Jurassic Park” movies for 20 years. If those films have struggled to find an off-island setting, “The End of Oak Street” instead brings the dino isle straight into suburbia. Encounters with raptors and worse transpire across front porches and shag carpets.

You could chalk it all up to good dumb fun. And it is mostly that, with set pieces built to make an audience groan in anticipation or cheer for the successful swing of a sledgehammer. But where “The End of Oak Street” succeeds where so many others fail is in the sincerity it has for its characters. Ridiculous and over-the-top as the concept is, the Platts are firmly grounded. (Hathaway, especially, helps in this department.) The combination of an earnest family drama with CGI hijinks, plus increasingly nutty plotting, make “The End of Oak Street” a fairly nonstop hoot.

Composer Michael Giacchino does his best John Williams impression to match. But Mitchell’s film also increasingly detours from the Spielberg playbook. Only Mitchell would take a moment for a freaked-out Audrey to sneak into the car to pop a cassette in and listen to Steve Winwood’s “Valerie.”

And while it would be pushing it to say there’s that much underneath “The End of Oak Street,” its characters are united in keeping certain things secret out of fear that their spouse or kids or parents can’t handle the truth. The swiftness that the dinosaurs invade their neighborhood could be symbolic of any ecological disaster, but the subsequent challenges prove each member of the family can handle quite a bit more than expected — even when the parental assurance that everything's going to be OK, like when a giant snake is slithering through their home, is laughably disputable.

It adds up to a gonzo good time that gives an old-school family adventure a darker, modern spin. Mitchell has quickly made suburbia his evident domain, where “it,” or something else, is sure to follow.

Entertainment

Movie Review: ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ Is a Southern Fried Flick with Too Many Ingredients

This image released by Black Bear shows Matthew McConaughey, left, and Angelina LookingGlass in a scene from "The Rivals of the Amziah King." (Kyle Kaplan/Black Bear via AP)
This image released by Black Bear shows Matthew McConaughey, left, and Angelina LookingGlass in a scene from "The Rivals of the Amziah King." (Kyle Kaplan/Black Bear via AP)
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Movie Review: ‘The Rivals of Amziah King’ Is a Southern Fried Flick with Too Many Ingredients

This image released by Black Bear shows Matthew McConaughey, left, and Angelina LookingGlass in a scene from "The Rivals of the Amziah King." (Kyle Kaplan/Black Bear via AP)
This image released by Black Bear shows Matthew McConaughey, left, and Angelina LookingGlass in a scene from "The Rivals of the Amziah King." (Kyle Kaplan/Black Bear via AP)

It turns out that the honey business isn't as sweet as it sounds: In the new movie “The Rivals of Amziah King,” beekeepers steal from each other, poison rivals' insects and rip folk off. “It’s not full of kind people,” the title character warns.

“The Rivals of Amziah King” isn't as sweet as it thinks it is, either. Instead of picking a single variety to explore, the movie is a maddening mishmash of genres — blending Quentin Tarantino's sudden brutality, a coming-of-age tale, a heist flick, a revenge fantasy and a sweet, music-filled country hoedown.

Matthew McConaughey returns to the big screen playing the title character in what can only be called Matthew-McConaughey-turned-up-to-11 mode, pure Cheshire Cat smile, rascally wink and buttery, Southern gentlemanly charm. Suspenders and scruff on, cowboy boots snug, McConaughey is the one who makes everyone's life instantly better just by showing up.

Written by Andrew Patterson and James Montague and directed by Patterson, “The Rivals of Amziah King” follows McConaughey's honey-producing King as he negotiates his patch of rural Oklahoma until he inexplicably leaves the movie at the hour mark and hands it off to Angelina LookingGlass, making her film debut.

We meet King ordering chicken fried steak sandwiches and cherry Cokes as he plays the banjo in a quartet of musicians at a beloved food joint. That gets interrupted when authorities need his knowledge to find out who abandoned $250,000 worth of honey barrels on the road and King starts to investigate. Then someone gets a chunk of their skull — including ponytail — ripped off in an industrial accident and that takes over. Settle in, the whiplash is just beginning.

King soon connects with his former foster daughter — that's LookingGlass, fierce and preternaturally grounded — who he gets to mansplain in the local ways, like what to eat at the potluck (“There's a story in every dish”), life lessons (“Patience is better than being smart”) and beekeeping (“Every queen is a survivor”). Bees here, if you didn't already get from the clunky writing, represent community, sharing and caring.

Cinematographer M.I. Littin-Menz's camera techniques never settle down in this movie, like a puppy forever pulling on its leash. Early sequences employ frozen shots irritatingly dropped into the mix and later we have furious close-ups, quick cuts, quirky flashbacks, ethereal river sequences and lingering poetic images of close-up bees like from a documentary, a kinetic approach that seems not to have much faith in the actual story keeping viewers' interest alive. Music supervisor Winslow Bright swamps many scenes with loud choirs, loud banjo and loud strings.

Maybe that's because as soon as you've settled down for one genre, it gets hijacked by the next. Warm and extended moments of communal song — the great T Bone Burnett had a hand in some of the outstanding Americana tunes like “Quill” with McConaughey exuberant, and “Johnny Come Outside” — are undercut by seeing kids smash their heads on school bus roofs or a cool Western-like tracking of a honey-stealing local rascal that is marred by his horrific, boiling-to-death murder. There are so many montages of honey production that viewers may qualify for a beekeeping certificate.

Great turns are produced by Kurt Russell as a lethal local kingpin who schmoozes his way past the law, and Jake Horowitz, a former Marine who knows how to plan a theft with military precision, mostly shirtless. One brazen theft here is of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and, however you liked that movie, you realize now how hard it was to actually pull off.

Patterson likes to remind viewers of his Oklahoma bona fides, but much of the overlong movie was shot in Alabama. And that hints at what's wrong with “The Rivals of Amziah King” — it just doesn't feel authentic, either in place or in story. Forget honey, it sort of leaves a vinegary taste behind.