{"id":277147,"date":"2026-01-10T05:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T05:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/277147\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T05:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T05:09:09","slug":"oscar-frontrunners-celebrate-2025s-top-films-tv-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/277147\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar Frontrunners Celebrate 2025’s Top Films, TV Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tNo awards<\/a> season event has a higher ratio of notables to nobodies (amongst whom I count myself) than the annual AFI Awards<\/a> luncheon, which also has an unbeatable ratio of winners to losers: indeed, every table in the ballroom of the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills \u2014\u00a0save for one for members of the press\u00a0\u2014 is reserved for the principal personnel behind an American film or TV show that was chosen a month or so earlier, by a jury convened by the American Film Institute, as one of the previous year\u2019s 10 best (plus, in some years, such as this one, a film or TV show that was tapped to receive a \u201cspecial award\u201d).<\/p>\n

\n\tAttendees at this year\u2019s luncheon included the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of Hollywood\u2019s A-list \u2014 among them One Battle After Another star\u00a0Leonardo DiCaprio<\/a><\/strong>, Bugonia star\/producer Emma Stone<\/strong>, Marty Supreme stars Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet<\/strong> and Gwyneth Paltrow<\/strong>, Avatar: Fire and Ash writer\/director James Cameron<\/a><\/strong>, Wicked: For Good star Ariana Grande<\/strong>, Sinners writer\/director Ryan Coogler<\/strong> and star Michael B. Jordan<\/strong>, Hamnet producer Steven Spielberg<\/strong> and writer\/director Chlo\u00e9 Zhao,<\/strong> Jay Kelly stars George Clooney<\/strong> and Adam Sandler<\/strong>, Frankenstein writer\/director Guillermo del Toro<\/strong> and star Jacob Elordi<\/strong>, Train Dreams star Joel Edgerton<\/strong>, Task star Mark Ruffalo<\/strong>, The Lowdown star Ethan Hawke<\/strong>, Severance stars Adam Scott<\/strong> and Britt Lower<\/strong>, Pluribus creator Vince Gilligan<\/strong> and star Rhea Seehorn<\/strong> and the list goes on \u2014 plus top execs at studios and networks (e.g. Netflix\u2019s Ted Sarandos<\/strong> and Bela Bajaria<\/strong>, Warner Bros.\u2019 Michael De Luca<\/strong>, FX\u2019s John Landgraf<\/strong>, A24\u2019s David Fenkel<\/strong>) and their parent companies (e.g. Apple\u2019s Tim Cook<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

\n\tIt all made for a memorable, if somewhat crowded, cocktail hour. Cameron and DiCaprio, who collaborated on Titanic some 30 years ago, ran into each other and hugged. 2012 Sundance writers lab classmates-turned indie darlings-turned Marvel filmmakers-turned current Oscar contenders Coogler and Zhao caught up, as did Seehorn and Gilligan with the star of a prior Gilligan show, Breaking Bad\u2019s Jesse Plemons<\/strong>, who was in the room as part of the Bugonia contingent. Zhao also posed with Grande and Hamnet star Jessie Buckley<\/strong>, and then with Spielberg and Cook. And Clooney and Sarandos chatted, before Clooney brought Sandler and their Jay Kelly costar Laura Dern<\/strong> over to say hello to the afternoon\u2019s surprise guest, Carol Burnett<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe official festivities kicked off, as always, with a montage, beautifully assembled by AFI\u2019s Chris Merrill<\/strong>, featuring great film and TV work from past years ending in the same number as the year of work being honored. This year\u2019s reel, with \u201cSmile\u201d playing over it, evoked particular applause when clips appeared connected to people in the room \u2014 1975\u2019s Jaws, directed by Spielberg; 1995\u2019s The Usual Suspects, featuring Benicio Del Toro<\/strong> (a star of One Battle After Another); 2015\u2019s Creed, written\/directed by Coogler and starring Jordan; The Revenant, starring DiCaprio; and Better Call Saul, starring Seehorn \u2014\u00a0and also when a clip played of Diane Keaton<\/strong>, who died<\/a> in October, in 2005\u2019s Something\u2019s Gotta Give.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen the clip of Seehorn in Better Call Saul transitioned into a clip of her in Pluribus, it marked the start of a montage featuring each of the AFI Awards honorees for 2025, which prompted each table to erupt as their project came on the big screen.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen, AFI president and CEO Bob Gazzale<\/strong> welcomed everyone; noted that \u201cSmile\u201d was written by Charlie Chaplin<\/strong>, whose granddaughter, actress Oona Chaplin<\/strong>, was in the room at the Avatar: Fire and Ash table; and said that the song had been chosen for the montage to acknowledge the challenges of 2025 that had impacted the Hollywood community \u2014\u00a0from the devastating wildfires of January through the tragic murders<\/a> of Rob Reiner<\/strong> and Michelle Reiner<\/strong> in December \u2014\u00a0and the art that helped us to get through it: \u201cWe need your stories to help us make sense of emotions we cannot escape.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGazzale also acknowledged the heavy representation of AFI Conservatory alums amongst this year\u2019s honorees, including Task creator Brad Ingelsby<\/strong> and Bugonia producer Ari Aster<\/strong>; and the presence in the room of two past recipients of the AFI Life Achievement Award, Clooney and Spielberg, as well as AFI\u2019s founder George Stevens Jr.<\/strong>, 93, who received a standing ovation.<\/p>\n

\n\tThen came the reading, for the AFI Almanac, of the explanations for this year\u2019s AFI Awards selections, delivered by the heads of the juries that selected them, and each followed by an extended clip of that project.<\/p>\n

\n\tRich Frank<\/strong>, who chaired a TV jury that considered 65 shows, noted that Disney+\u2019s Andor \u201ccuts deep\u201d; Netflix\u2019s Death by Lightning features a \u201cbrilliant cast\u201d; Netflix\u2019s The Diplomat boasts \u201can all-star ensemble\u201d; FX\u2019s The Lowdown features, via Hawke, \u201cone of the year\u2019s most magnetic performances\u201d; HBO Max\u2019s The Pitt \u201cpulses with empathy\u201d and is \u201ctaut and timely\u201d; Apple TV+\u2019s Pluribus is a \u201chigh concept slow burn\u201d in which \u201cRhea Seehorn stands alone\u201d; Apple TV+\u2019s Severance succeeds on the back of a \u201cstellar ensemble\u201d; Apple TV+\u2019s The Studio \u201ccuts Hollywood bullshit to the bone\u201d; and Task was \u201cbeautifully realized.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAva DuVernay<\/strong> spoke on behalf of the film jury, presenting a special award to Neon\u2019s Iranian film It Was Just an Accident. She then called 20th Century\u2019s Avatar: Fire and Ash \u201can appeal to the heart that beats within and connects all living things\u201d; Focus\u2019 Bugonia \u201ca cinematic experience unlike any other\u201d that features, courtesy of Stone and Plemons, \u201ca master class in the art of acting\u201d; Netflix\u2019s Frankenstein \u201ca monument to the art of cinema\u201d; Focus\u2019 Hamnet a film in which \u201cJessie Buckley gives the performance of a lifetime\u201d; Netflix\u2019s Jay Kelly \u201chilarious and heartbreaking\u201d and \u201ctailor-made for America\u2019s leading man,\u201d Clooney; A24\u2019s Marty Supreme \u201cset in the past but utterly of the moment,\u201d with a performance by Chalamet that makes him \u201cthe undeniable leading man of a new generation\u201d; Warners\u2019 One Battle After Another \u201ca rallying cry for fearless originality in American film\u201d and a showcase for \u201ccinema\u2019s supernova, Leonardo DiCaprio\u201d; Sinners \u201ca wholly original vision\u201d and \u201cmodern masterpiece\u201d centered on \u201cone of today\u2019s brightest stars,\u201d Jordan; Netflix\u2019s Train Dreams \u201can art piece worthy of the highest poetry\u201d; and Universal\u2019s Wicked: For Good a musical built on \u201cspellbinding performances\u201d by Cynthia Erivo<\/strong> and Grande.<\/p>\n

\n\tNo project received louder applause, following the playing of its clip, than Sinners. Is that a reflection of people\u2019s feelings about the film overall, or just the chosen scene (an absolute gem<\/a>)? And regardless, does this indicate anything other than the opinions of the people in this particular room, or the industry overall? Time will tell.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe ceremony closed with remarks from Burnett, who was introduced to a standing ovation and declared: \u201cWhat a lunch! The world is a better place for having heard your voices. Congratulations, and thank you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No awards season event has a higher ratio of notables to nobodies (amongst whom I count myself) than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[140128,4648,95713,434,18,117,19,17,56378,1340],"class_list":{"0":"post-277147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-afi-awards","9":"tag-awards","10":"tag-carol-burnett","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-james-cameron","17":"tag-leonardo-dicaprio"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115869080832319433","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}