Early last week, hardly anyone was predicting Jared Leto as a serious Oscars contender for his performance in HBO Max’s “The Little Things.” But that was before the Golden Globe Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards threw Leto into the heart of the Best Supporting Actor conversation — and the former Oscar winner scored another boost on Tuesday without Leto’s name even being uttered.
As the academy released its shortlists in a number of categories, including Best Score, Best Song, and Best Animated Feature, “The Little Things” found itself perhaps surprisingly well-represented. The John Lee Hancock thriller is on the shortlists for both score (thanks to oft-nominated composer Thomas Newman) and hair and makeup (where Leto has proven to be a lucky charm over the years). If nothing else, it’s proof “The Little Things” is holding strong this awards season — and further grist for Leto’s late-breaking charge into the race.
But Leto isn’t the only person rising thanks to this week’s shortlists. As Gold Derby editors and experts Joyce Eng and Christopher Rosen note in their latest slugfest, Amy Adams received an inadvertent boost for Best Actress as a result of the academy ignoring “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” where Andra Day was snubbed in the Best Song category.
This year’s Oscars shortlists included a number of surprising and exciting choices: the documentary “Welcome to Chechnya” among the Best Visual Effects contenders, the satirical “Wuhan Flu” song from “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” in Best Song, the closing anthem from the Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams comedy “Eurovision Song Contest” also in Best Song, and even the Roberto Begnini version of “Pinocchio” that was released in Italy in 2019 among the Best Makeup and Hairstyling selections. Watch Joyce and Chris discuss those potential nominees above.
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