Home stretch, team. The Oscars are nigh, and it’s time to get as ready as possible before your watch parties. For those of us in parts of the world where the Oscars coincide with business hours, “watch party” in this context means “live-streaming on my phone while wiggling my mouse on Teams”. I may have done so a few years ago during my weird side-quest into government communications; apologies to the political journalists who were trying to reach me during those few hours.

Whatever time of day you’ll be tuning in, you can our annual Oscar ballots as a PDF, PNG or JPEG, and the lists and you’ll find the links you need to check off any last-minute watches in the Carpet Check section below. In this edition, we’re taking a final temperature check after the Film Independent Spirit Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards last weekend, during which the Seans triumphed, Demi got Moore, and Conclave received another late-season surge in a way that (sort of) mirrors its plot. We’ll also hear from birthday boy Sean Baker on Anora’s Juul and his trademark font, as well as a pitch from I Saw the TV Glow’s Jane Schoenbrun on why it’s nearly time for a Baker retrospective.

On the Beat

Happy birthday, Sean Baker! A Pisces—54 today, somehow looking 34, and what a birthday month it’s been for him. After winning Best Director at the Film Independent Spirit Awards for Anora last weekend, Baker undoubtedly gave the best speech of the night. He spoke personally and ionately about the financial difficulties indie directors face now that “back-end” payments from physical media are non-existent, and ended with a call for higher up-front fees so that indie films don’t just become a “calling card” for directors to move to big-budget projects.

To hear a director who’s been making indies since 2000 talk of the sacrifices he has made to be a filmmaker, and to speak frankly about the current precarities of the film industry, was truly inspiring—no less because Anora is now Baker’s most successful film to date, in both financial and awards . His fellow Sean (Wang) spoke beautifully on indie cinema upon winning Best First Screenplay for the marvellous Dìdi (弟弟), which is sitting pretty with a 4.0 average on Letterboxd. Wang told the crowd that writing a screenplay is “like an act of stubborn faith”, before thanking “all the people who believe in first-time filmmakers—we’re a liability for some reason, but you guys believe in us”. (He went on to thank his financiers, agents, guardian angels, and all the immigrant mothers.)

It was endearing to hear Chalamet speak honestly about the years of work he put into playing Bob Dylan, and to be up front about being “in pursuit of greatness”. I’m sure anyone who’s seen Call Me by Your Name would agree Chalamet is already there, but to hear a young star talk so openly about ambition, when actors are often expected to accept these awards with humility, was heartening. You could also see how meaningful it was for Demi Moore to be recognized by her fellow actors, as she won Lead Actress for The Substance. Moore spoke about ing SAG in 1978 as a teenager, which puts into perspective just how long and rich a career she has had, and how overdue for recognition she has been.

Conclave’s win for Best Ensemble, a week after winning Best Film at the BAFTAs, grants the Papal popularity contest a strong surge ahead of the Oscars—as I wrote last week, that category is a major harbinger for Best Picture. The SAGs spread the love widely outside of the main categories, with no film taking more than one award: Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin picked up ing wins, while The Fall Guy won the Stunt Ensemble prize. For TV, Jessica Gunning won for her outstanding Baby Reindeer performance, while Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada won for Shōgun (which also took Best Ensemble and Best Stunt Ensemble in a Drama).

The day before the SAGs, we were at the Indie Spirits, putting our second-favorite snap question to actors and filmmakers: Altman or Cassavetes? The question is, of course, in honor of the Spirits’ two special awards: the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award is given annually to the ensemble cast, director and casting director of an indie film, this year the stunning His Three Daughters. (Evergreen watch: our roundtable with Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Azazel Jacobs and Letterboxd member Carrie Coon—although, Coon’s husband Tracy Letts told us at the Spirits that he runs this t .) The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, meanwhile, is presented to a film budgeted at less than a million dollars; this year it went to the coming-of-age drama Girls Will Be Girls.

On top of Best Director for Baker, Anora won both Best Feature and Best Lead Performance for Mikey Madison, who triumphed over the likes of Demi Moore, Colman Domingo and Sebastian Stan. And as ever with the Indie Spirits, some of the year’s best smaller films get the attention they’ve always deserved, with Sean Wang’s Dìdi (弟弟) winning First Screenplay and Best First Feature, the latter a truly poetic win as it came 25 years after his movie mother Joan Chen was nominated for the same award with her directorial debut, Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl. Elsewhere, Nickel Boys earned Jomo Fray a well-overdue Best Cinematography win, the outstanding No Other Land won Best Documentary and the Latvian legends behind Flow took Best International Feature.

Tonatiuh, who we spotted a few weeks ago getting seismic raves out of the Sundance premiere of Kiss of the Spider Woman, gifted Mia a little tease of the film: “There’s a few numbers in there where I looked at the team and said, ‘Oh, you’ve done it. You have made some musical-theater history.’” (They also revealed that Jennifer Lopez performed eleven numbers in thirty days!!??) Lastly, those of you who were obsessed with the Saoirse Ronan wall in My Old Ass will be pleased to know, Best Breakthrough Performer winner Maisy Stella would put Ronan on her wall, too. “That really came from me and Megan [Park]’s obsession with her… Lady Bird was one of those movies that confirmed my love for her films so much.” Us too, Maisy.

Lastly, the NAA Image Awards gave us some delightful awards-season plot twists, such as Martin Lawrence winning Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture for Bad Boys: Ride or Die, and The Six Triple Eight winning both Outstanding Motion Picture and lead actress for Kerry Washington. We also loved seeing Wicked’s biggest stan Keke Palmer honored with Entertainer of the Year (an award she could have taken in any given year). With apologies to Cynthia Erivo, Palmer’s rendition of the famous ‘Defying Gravity’ vocal run is the one I carry in my head at all times, like a treasured talisman.

Letterboxd is Obsessed With…

Mikey Madison’s towering performance in Anora is striking, and not just for the way the actress disappears into the role of a confrontational, fast-talking Brooklynite. Her physical acting is remarkable, from her expert pole-dancing to the way she moves her hands under those sharp acrylics. Letterboxd have also heaped praise upon Madison’s use of a key prop: Ani’s Juul. Madison would certainly share a win with Sergio Castellitto in Conclave for Best Vape Acting, should such an award exist.

As she moves around her club looking for clients, Madison’s regular Juul hits are like a delicate grace note that builds out a brilliantly lived-in performance. “As a fellow Juul , Anora made me feel seen,” writes Wyattn48. Will’s concerned that “Anora definitely lost her Juul on top of everything.” Furbyfurcoat hopes for justice: “Hope Anora got a big payout from the Juul class-action lawsuit.”

Speaking to us on the British Independent Film Awards red carpet last December, Baker says he gave Ani a Juul simply because “it’s what people are smoking these days”.

“We try to stay accurate with our movies, and this was a prop that we knew Ani had to have, give her something to do through those moments, give her physical action,” he says. He’s eager to insist, however, that he doesn’t condone Juul-ing. “It’s not like I’m pushing it, guys. I have a lot of things in my films which perhaps you shouldn’t be doing.”

Your Consideration

Marianna Neal on Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat:

“It is wild to me that this documentary is not nominated in the Best Editing category! That’s straight-up insane. Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat is a unique experience, brilliantly put together, and incredibly engaging for the entirety of its 150-minute runtime. There’s a lot going on here, a lot to take in, but the way all of this history is presented makes it easy to follow and, most importantly, leaves you wanting to look into all of this even further. Loved the way music was incorporated here! Simply excellent filmmaking; everyone should watch this.”

mikywee on Janet Planet:

“Goes beyond the traditional and linear, and creates its own interesting structure that blurs the lines of mother, daughter and experience. Loved this immensely. Something that stuck out to me the most was how the adult characters interacted with Lacy—they talked to her like an adult and realistically while the movie itself still recognizes her youth and ignorance. Just splendid.”

Adam Kempenaar on Ghostlight:

“Reality and fiction may coincide a tad too neatly—but it’s messy in all the right ways. Plenty of movies effectively wield emotional gut punches; O’Sullivan and Thompson offer more of a cumulative catharsis that stirred up every bit of pollen in the air around me. All the Kupferers in the cast kill it, and for those of us who didn’t go for Triangle of Sadness but recognized Dolly de Leon was the best thing about it, well…”