Another Best Actress contender maintaining momentum this week is Demi Moore, who started her week with a belated birthday bash, then got nominated for a Golden Globe, and then stepped out, with her dog, Pilaf, at the SFFILM Awards Night in San Francisco, where she was honored with the Maria Manetti Shrem Award for Acting. Or maybe I should say it was a big week for Pilaf? Do we think Pilaf will go to the Oscars, if Demi goes?
Also at the Awards Night was Denis Villeneuve, honored with the Irving M. Levin Award for Film Director. Dune 2 star Austin Butler, sporting a buzz cut, was on hand, too. Some people have been wondering where Dune 2 is this awards season, but I expect it will get a few nominations come Oscar time in the craft categories, and Butler is still a longshot for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his deranged performance (complimentary) as Feyd-Rautha. Honestly, if he had campaigned more this year, he might be more of a factor, but he spent most of his year working. After his intense, much criticized Elvis campaign, this was the right call. Also, knowing that Dune 3 will happen eventually, I won’t be surprised if Dune works out like Lord of the Rings, and the final entry into the franchise gets all the awards.
But back to Demi. This is a year where I truly do not believe there is one performance better than all the rest, so many actresses did such great work this year in such a wide range of genres and styles, but Demi Moore is so good in The Substance, I want that film to overcome the gross gap—it’s a disgusting body horror nightmare and I can see a lot of the crusty Academy voters, particularly, either turning it off early or not even watching it—and finally get Demi her first Oscar nomination. Her first and very overdue Oscar nomination!
