Hollywood Week: Netflix Raises Prices, Exceeds Growth Expectations, Academy Award Nominations
- Details
- Category: Entertainment News
- Published on Saturday, 25 January 2025 08:53
- Written by Janet Walker
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 97th Academy Awards this week, after several delays due to the devastation, and unbelievable loss, and injury, from the Los Angeles County fires.
Netflix Announces Price Hike
Streaming giant Netflix has announced a price hike on all paid plans beginning January 2025. The highest subscriber package will increase less than 10% from $22.99 to $24.99, while the ad-supported subscriber packages which begin at $6.99 will increase to $7.99, and the standard ad-free which is currently, $15.99 will increase to $17.99, about 12.5%.
And The Nominees Are . . . 97th Oscars® Nominees Announced
Exceed Growth Expectations
Netflix also announced its 2024 Q4 growth which greatly exceeded expectations, and the behemoth added 19 million subscribers, it's largest three month growth in the company's history, bringing the global total to 302 million subscribers.
Netflix and the Secret Sauce
Netflix has taken the term sports betting to a whole new level as the company announced it would be venturing into the sports arena.
"It seems that the company's forays into live sports have resonated with viewers. In their letter to investors, the company focused on the success of their highly promoted live-streamed boxing match between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul on Nov. 15. The match drew 60 million households and, according to Netflix, makes it the most-streamed sporting event in history," NPR.com reported.
Adding two Christmas Day NFL football matchups, with a spectacular Beyonce Half-time show, which was advertised globally as a Beyonce concert with a side of NFL football, proving that Queen Bey can bring in the audience around the world. The streaming giant also smacked down the competition with their jump into WWE wrestling.
Netflix included in their letter to shareholders, that they will announce subscriber growth as it coincides with company milestones.
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Academy Award Nominations
After several delays, and uncertainty, and cancellations, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 97th Academy Award nominees for performances in 2024. The announcements were originally announced to be held without an audience, scaling the usual awards season hype down to a more sedate and respectful presentation reflecting the impact and the long road of healing that is confronting many across the SoCal region.
However, save a brief statement by Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang stated "We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community," the announcements did not reflect the same spirit with an audience of individuals who seemed unaffected by the tragedy and the comedians who Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott, who presented the nominees effectively with comedic banter between them.
PGA 2025 Nominees Announced for Motion Picture, Television Program Categories
Groundbreaking drama Emile Perez received 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Lead Actress for Karla Sofía Gascón and Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldana. Karla Sofía Gascón was the first openly trans female in the Academy's history to be nominated.
The Brutalist, the Bradley Corbet epic drama, received 10 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and three Acting nominations, for Adrian Brody, Guy Pearce, and Felicity Jones.
A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic, received 8 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director for James Mangold, and three acting nods for Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, and Monica Barbaro.
Anora, from director Sean Baker, received 6 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director, Best Actress for Mikey Madison, and Best Supporting Actor for Russian actor Yura Borisov.
Conclave, the Catholic drama from Director Edward Burger, received 8 nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor for Ralph Fiennes, and a first-time nod for Best Supporting Actress Isabella Rossellini.
The Substance, the horror drama of agism in Hollywood, brought to life by French Director Coralie Fargeat, received five nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, and Best Actress for Demi Moore. However, the films supporting actress Margaret Qualley was snubbed.
Writers Guild Awards Nominations Announced
Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan each received nominations for their roles, in the Donald Trump biopic, The Apprentice. Colman Domingo was nominated again this year for his performance as an innocent man in Sing Sing Prison. Kieran Culkin received his first Academy Award nomination for his bipolar portrayal in A Real Pain, his co-star and the film's director, and screenwriter, Jesse Eisenberg was nominated in the Original Screenplay category.
Fun Facts
Emilia Pérez sets the record for most nominations for a non-English language film at 13. Previous record holders, with 10 nominations each, were Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and Roma (2018).
Emilia Pérez and I'm Still Here are the 10th and 11th non-English language films to be nominated for both International Feature Film and Best Picture in the same year. Each of the previous films (Z, 1969; Life Is Beautiful, 1998; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000; Amour, 2012; Roma, 2018; Parasite, 2019; Drive My Car, 2021; All Quiet on the Western Front, 2022; The Zone of Interest, 2023) won for International Feature Film. To date, Parasite is the only film to also win Best Picture.
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In the acting categories, 13 individuals are first-time nominees (Monica Barbaro, Yura Borisov, Kieran Culkin, Karla Sofía Gascón, Ariana Grande, Mikey Madison, Demi Moore, Guy Pearce, Isabella Rossellini, Zoe Saldaña, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Fernanda Torres). Colman Domingo is the only acting nominee who was also nominated last year. Adrien Brody is a previous acting winner.
Three acting nominations are for non-English language performances: Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez, and Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here.
In eight of the last 10 years, at least one non-English language performance has been nominated in the acting categories. For the sixth consecutive year, at least one film nominated for Best Picture has been directed by a woman. Coralie Fargeat's nomination for The Substance is the 10th Directing nomination for a woman. Best Picture nominations for Emilia Pérez and Wicked mark the first time two musicals have been nominated in the category since 1968 (Oliver! and Funny Girl were two of the five nominated films that year).
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Jacques Audiard, nominated for Directing and Original Song for Emilia Pérez, becomes only the third person to be nominated in both the Directing and Original Song categories, and the first to do so for the same film. Leo McCarey (Directing: 1937, 1944, 1945; Song: 1957) and Spike Jonze (Directing: 1999; Song: 2013) received their nominations in separate years.
Diane Warren, Original Song nominee for "The Journey" from The Six Triple Eight, is nominated for the eighth year in a row, bringing her total nominations in the category to 16 (tying with Paul Francis Webster, and behind Johnny Mercer at 18 and Sammy Cahn at 26).
She received an Honorary Award in 2022. For the fifth year in a row, a non-English language song has been nominated in the Original Song category. Sound mixer Andy Nelson (Wicked) has a record 25 nominations in the combined Sound categories and is second only to John Williams (with 54) for the most nominations for a living person.
Flow becomes the third animated film to be nominated for International Feature Film (Waltz with Bashir, 2008; Flee, 2021) and the second animated film to be nominated for both Animated Feature Film and International Feature Film (Flee, 2021). Chris Sanders ties the record for most nominations for Animated Feature Film with his fourth nomination in the category (tying Pete Docter and Hayao Miyazaki). France (Emilia Pérez) continues to add to its record number of nominations for International Feature Film with its 39th nomination (Italy is second with 30 nominations).
Eric Nyari is only the fifth individual to be nominated for both Documentary Feature Film (Black Box Diaries) and Documentary Short Film (Instruments of a Beating Heart) in the same year. The last person to accomplish this was Charles Guggenheim in 1994.
The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC, streamed live on Hulu and airs live in more than 200 territories worldwide.
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Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a former member of the International Federation of Journalists.
