Awards SZN (No, really)
Jan. 9 โ Happy Friday, friends, and welcome to our very first full newsletter of the year! I feel like I’ve said this quite literally a thousand times over the past few months, but I mean it this time โ Awards season is in FULL swing! The Critics’ Choice Awards were this past weekend, and the Golden Globes are this Sunday.
The Globes have a thorny and frankly racist history, to say the least โ and despite their staying out of the headlines for the most part lately, their ethics are still highly questionable โ but with the absolute hellhole that 2026 has already proven itself to be in the United States, I can’t say I’m not looking forward to the prospect of turning my brain off for a bit and settling down with a glass of wine to watch the world’s silliest awards show. In lieu of Spotlight this week, I’ve got a block about what to watch out for this weekend, and look out for a full rundown from me on Instagram on Monday!
It’s been a while since we’ve really dove into the news, so without further ado … Action!
๐ช The Netflix v. Paramount war rages on. Despite rejections from the board of Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount is sticking by its offer of $30 per share, arguing its all-cash bid is “superior” to the current deal WBD has with Netflix.
๐ The Directors Guild of America has revealed its nominees for the 2026 DGA Awards, to be held on Feb. 7. The Actors Awards (formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards) nomination have also been announced. That ceremony will be held on March 1.
๐ธ Filmmaker Edgar Wright shouted out the Plaza Theatre and Reel Friends on Instagram this week for their recent screening of โScott Pilgrim v. The World.โ
๐ Jim Farmer spoke with filmmaker Steven Grayhm and actors Matt Dallas and Virginia Madsen about the new film “Sheepdog,” which hits theaters on Jan. 16. Check out that conversation here.
๐ Quinta Brunson, the creator and star of “Abbott Elementary,” is set to receive the Variety Showrunner Award at the 2026 Scad TVfest.
๐ญ๐บ The Hungarian arthouse filmmaker Bรฉla Tarr, known for films like “Family Nest” and “Damnation,” died earlier this week at the age of 70.
๐ฅ Netflix will release a documentary about the making of “Stranger Things” on Jan. 12.
๐๏ธ A movie called “Da Vinci,” about Leonardo Da Vinci and directed by Vladan Nikolic, is reportedly in production in Georgia. A film called “Station Break” is also listed on the Georgia Film Office’s productions page.
This week’s newsletter includes a conversation with filmmaker Matt Nadel, whose documentary short “Cashing Out” was recently shortlisted for the Oscars, as well as a peek into the making of a local film called “Crimson Cove.” In addition to a short Golden Globes preview, we’ve got a review of the new monkey-centric slasher “Primate.” Plus, what’s playing at theaters this week and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
๐ผ Be immersed in old-world elegance with Pragueย Philharmonia, led by Emmanuel Villaume,ย Sat., Jan. 23 at Sandy Springs PAC.ย Hear an early Mozart violin concerto, Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Beethoven’sย Coriolanย Overture andย Dvoลรกk’s bright, lyrical Symphony No. 8.ย Get tickets. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Matt Nadel unpacks the viatical settlement industry in documentary short ‘Cashing Out’
๐ธ On a walk with his father in 2020, Matt Nadel learned an earth-shattering truth about his upbringing. A few years later, he turned that truth into the short film โCashing Out.โ
During the early days of the AIDS crisis, before life-saving medications and therapies came into play, thousands of people turned to a new industry for a little relief before they died: viatical settlements, or the practice of people with terminal illnesses selling their life insurance policies to a third party. The sick person gets money to make the rest of their life more comfortable, and when they die, the owner of their policy collects the payout.
On that walk, Matt learned that his father was one of the investors who bought life insurance policies during the AIDS crisis. He started researching viatical settlements, trying to make sense of an undeniably morbid practice, but one that also helped so many people in an impossibly dire situation. Out of his research came โCashing Out,โ which examines what type of system allows for something like viatical settlements to exist.
๐ณ๏ธโ๐ I loved talking to Matt about his film, which was recently shortlisted for Best Documentary Short at the Academy Awards. You can learn more about the making of the film here.
Ready, Set, AGLOW!
SPONSORED BY FERNBANK MUSEUM
๐ When the sun sets, the woods come alive at WildWoods: AGLOW.
This after-hours experience combines art, nature and music at Fernbank Museum, featuring scenic trails aglow with light outdoors and nighttime access to museum exhibits inside.
๐ Select nights through Feb. 28.
Local film ‘Crimson Cove’ to premiere at Tara Theatre
๐ An independent film called โCrimson Coveโ is set to have its premiere at the Tara Theatre on Jan. 8.
Directed by Georgia-based filmmaker Loyd Bateman, โCrimson Coveโ follows a group of friends who inadvertently find themselves at odds with a small surfer community while on a bachelor trip. The rising tensions explode, turning a carefree weekend away into a nightmare.
Batemanโs film industry background is rooted in stuntwork, having worked in numerous films from โAvengers: Endgameโ to โI, Robot.โ But, while action might be a familiar genre for him, it wasnโt necessarily the genre he thought he would work in as a director. I spoke with Bateman about how he came to the film ahead of the premiere.
๐ Check out that conversation here.
Practical effects save the day in ‘Primate’
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
๐ Michael Myers. Freddy Krueger. Ghostface. All iconic slasher villains who made their mark by hunting and killing terrified teens. Now, with the film โPrimate,โ a new name has joined their ranks: Ben.
As you probably guessed, Ben is the titular chimpanzee at the center of Johannes Robertsโ new horror film (is Ben kind of a dumb name for a chimp? Yes, but letโs forget about that for now). Ben, once a kind and loving animal, was adopted by a family in Hawaii to live alongside them as a strange mix of brother and pet. But when heโs bitten by a rabid mongoose, he turns into a psychotic killer with intelligence to rival Hannibal Lecter (or perhaps his victims are just stupid โ whoโs to say?).
Ben is the true calling card of โPrimate,โ which otherwise is a fairly standard slasher, filled with forgettable performances but some truly gnarly gore and practical effects. Ben himself is the most impressive of those practical effects, and luckily, Ben is the real star of โPrimate.โ Because when the killer chimp isnโt on screen โ pounding his chest or engaging in a little light face ripping โ the movie suffers for it.
๐ Check out my full review of “Primate” here.
At the Movies!
If you’re looking for a movie to see in theaters this week, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to!
Movies releasing this weekend:
๐ฆง “Primate”
๐ง “Greenland 2: Migration” (pictured)
๐โโ๏ธ “The Chronology of Water”
๐ชด “No Other Choice”
๐ค “Is This Thing On?”
๐ต “Father Mother Sister Brother”
๐ท “Steve Schapiro: Being Everywhere”
Special Events:
๐ฎ๐ณ “Sholay:” The Final Cut in 4K @ The Plaza (Saturday)
๐ญ MomoCon: “Paprika” in 35mm @ The Plaza (Sunday)
๐ง Cineprov: “The Lost Boys” @ The Tara (Saturday)
๐ผ Be immersed in old-world elegance with Pragueย Philharmonia, led by Emmanuel Villaume,ย Sat., Jan. 23 at Sandy Springs PAC.ย Hear an early Mozart violin concerto, Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1, Beethoven’sย Coriolanย Overture andย Dvoลรกk’s bright, lyrical Symphony No. 8.ย Get tickets. SPONSOR MESSAGE
Spotlight on the Golden Globes!
Just a few thoughts I’m having going into this weekend:
โ Oscar nominations: The Golden Globes are an interesting precursor for the Oscars, namely because they split many categories the Oscars don’t (i.e., separating lead acting and best picture categories by genre) and vice versa (the Golden Globes doesn’t distinguish between original and adapted screenplay). I personally don’t find the Golden Globes to be a particularly good bellwether for Oscar winners, but I do think the Golden Globes can have the ability to affect Oscar nominations. The nomination window for the Oscars begins Jan. 12, the day after the Golden Globes airs, and a surprising win or a good speech can go a long way in voters’ minds. I’m reminded of Fernanda Torres’ win last year for “I’m Still Here” and her subsequent Oscar nomination โ who could take up that slot this year?
๐ Should Kate Hudson win Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture โ Musical or Comedy just for kicks? This sounds like a backhanded compliment, but I promise it’s not! While my real winner in this category would be Rose Byrne, I am fairly confident that she will be nominated for an Oscar, so I can wait. I can’t say the same about Kate Hudson, who I found endlessly charming in all of her Midwestern glory in “Song Sung Blue.” This is, without a doubt, the best “Globes-y” performance in the category. There was a time when the Globes used to do things like award Madonna for her work in “Evita,” but over the years, they’ve gotten a little less chaotic and glitzy. Bring back the glitz, I say! What else are the Globes for?
๐ Who will take home the best-dressed award? Ah, one of the main reasons for watching any gathering of rich and famous people on television: the clothes! My favorite looks this season have come from Teyana Taylor, Ethan Hawke (the man works a bolo tie), Chase Infiniti, Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning, Alexander Skarsgรคrd, Ariana Grande, and Colman Domingo โ but that’s a given for that man. If you’re a fashion novice (like me), definitely give Nicky Campbell a follow on Instagram. I live for his award show rundowns.
Lights, Camera, Action!
๐ฑ Earlier this week, I became aware that discerning fans of “Heated Rivalry” found star Hudson Williams’ Letterboxd account โ a discovery which swiftly prompted him to delete said Letterboxd account. I don’t blame Williams, but I do blame everyone else for constantly being weird about celebrities’ taste in movies and driving generationally comedic voices like Ayo Edebiri from the app. As Fran Hoepfner says in this funny piece from Vulture, “What if, instead, we all just behaved normally about this for once?”
๐ง New podcast alert! “Critical Darlings,” a podcast miniseries from the folks at Blank Check, will take on this year’s awards season contenders, one movie at a time. Check out their episode on “Marty Supreme” here.
๐ค If you were paying attention to movies at all last year, you probably encountered a Josh O’Connor performance at one point or another. He appeared in four movies last year, including one of my favorites of the year, Kelly Reichardt’s “The Mastermind.” What makes O’Connor so special in my opinion is not just his well-honed screen charisma, but his versatility. The four characters he played last year form a crosshatch of commentary on masculinity, and some of them certainly could have overlapped in style. But O’Connor finds the nuanced differences in all of them. I loved this piece about him from Manohla Dargis for the New York Times.
๐๏ธ Today’s Scene was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.