‘Awards Magnet’ mailbag: Kieran Culkin’s run and the Best Actress bloodbath

Why does it look like Kieran Culkin is set to steamroll the Best Supporting Actor Oscar race? Is Angelina Jolie a lock to get a Best Actress nomination? Gold Derby editors and experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng are here to answer your burning questions of the week on Awards Magnet.

For the second week in a row, a listener is down on Culkin’s performance in A Real Pain and doesn’t get why he’s the Best Supporting Actor favorite. But as we all know, there’s a lot more that goes into a successful Oscar campaign than just the performance itself, regardless of how one feels about it, and some of that has to do with one’s competition as well. Meanwhile, another listener comes to Culkin’s defense while another listener floats the idea of A Real Pain pulling a CODA.

SEE Awards Magnet mailbag: Critics Choice nominations and Timothée Chalamet’s unorthodox campaign

Meanwhile, the Best Actress race remains a stiff battle for five spots. While Mikey Madison feels the safest for nomination, thanks to Anora‘s strength in the Best Picture race, one listener believes Angelina Jolie “ain’t missing” either for Maria. Pablo Larraín‘s past leading ladies, Natalie Portman (Jackie) and Kristen Stewart (Spencer), have gotten in, but they were much sturdier at this stage of their respective races with multiple wins from critics groups under their belts. Jolie has zero so far.

Plus: questions about A Complete Unknown, The Substance, and a “this or that” that might start a stan war.

Email your questions to slugfests@goldderby.com.

Timestamps:
Intro – 00:00
Sebastian Stan – 01:38
‘His Three Daughters’ – 04:08
‘Sing Sing’ – 08:24
‘The Substance’ – 12:11
Kieran Culkin and ‘A Real Pain’ – 13:56
Best Actress – 24:57
Favorite movies and shows of 2024 – 31:42
Selena Gomez or Ariana Grande? – 39:22