The Women at the party

It’s parties every night right now in Hollywood as we get closer to the end of the year and as award season heats up. Last night was the ELLE Women in Hollywood event and as I wrote last week when the cover stars were revealed, it’s great to see the women of Sinners, Wunmi Mosaku and Jayme Lawson, be recognised. 

Sinners came out last spring, and was the first movie out of the gate, really, to enter the Oscar race. And even though the momentum in the fall shifted over to the films that were timed for award season, Sinners remains in play, though not as hyped as some of the other frontrunners. Maybe that was part of the plan, maybe the campaign strategists behind the film waited to see the full picture before launching their push. But everyone at this point kinda expects Paul Thomas Anderson and One Battle After Another to be the one to beat right now and while there are advantages, sometimes, to being an underdog, and a film by a Black filmmaker is always going to be an underdog in these situations, Sinners checks every box to be an Oscar favourite. 

It's a wildly inventive original story. About vampires but also a meditation on artistic ownership, artistic purpose, and a love letter to the Blues. It was a critical and box office smash … in April! I went to see it twice in theatres and I’ve since watched it twice on streaming. This is the kind of movie that the Oscars claim they want more of – acclaimed and popular, a film that inspired thinkpieces AND TikToks and made so much money! 

But, as Sarah has been saying since it opened, there are people in Hollywood who were and still are weirdly resentful of Ryan Coogler having the audacity – in their opinion – to demand proprietorship of his own work. And it remains to be seen whether or not this will play out when it’s time to vote. For now, though, Ryan and Michael B Jordan are showing up for Wunmi and Jayme. Team Sinners will likely (hopefully!) have more of a presence as we get closer and closer to the Oscar deadlines. 

Wunmi is currently not among the predicted five nominees for best supporting actress but, again, it’s a competitive season, this could change. Emily Blunt isn’t a lock either which is why she and Dwayne The Rock Johnson have been so visible. 

Teyana Taylor, however, is ranking higher on the predictions lists. And she’s been entertaining AF this entire award season. Here she is, wearing the sh-t out of this gold hooded Balmain gown, on the mic shouting out Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, while cheekily mentioning her man, Aaron Pierre. 

While Teyana is contending in the supporting category, Chase Infiniti is submitted for consideration in the best actress category. At this point Teyana’s chances look better than Chase, but I think there’s room in the best actress race and she might be the Cinderella story that the Academy can’t resist. Here she is in Ralph Lauren – I’m obsessed with the collar on this dress. 

Two of the frontrunners in the best actress race, Jessie Buckley and Renate Reinsve, were also featured in ELLE and at the party last night. I’m telling you – Jessie is dialing back on the fashion as the presumed Oscar favourite, which we’ve seen women in this position do year after year, with the exception of Demi Moore last year. And look what happened there. I’m not saying that was the reason, but it’s an interesting feature of campaigning to take note of. 

Renate doesn’t have these concerns though…and OH MY GOD, she’s getting the cream of Louis Vuitton options right now. Even better than Emma Stone. This is one of the best dresses we’ve seen all year, period.