Oscar Predictions: Where Have All the Good Movies Gone? And Could 'Avatar: Fire & Ash' Pull Off a Stunning Upset?

Happy Friday, folks!

Last night, I traded in my ticket to see The Running Man to see the Cannes movie Sirat, instead, and it was interesting, to say the least. The end suffered from “Ready or Not Syndrome,” but I dug Oliver Laxe‘s suspenseful direction as well as Kangding Ray’s thumping score, which had me dancing in my seat.

I haven’t decided whether to see The Running Man this weekend or wait to see it with my brothers when I head back to Boston for Thanksgiving later this month, but I want to see something on Saturday night, so it’s between Edgar Wright’s new movie, Lionsgate’s Now You See Me sequel, and Osgood Perkins’ horror film Keeper, all of which are earning mixed reviews from critics, which scares me knowing how generous most of them are.

Shortly before going to press, I broke the news on Twitter that Gersh has dropped Succession actress Dasha Nekrasova after being made aware of statements she made on a recent episode of Nick Fuentes’ controversial podcast. Nekrasova was also removed from a Deadline story announcing her casting this week in Gabriel Basso’s directorial debut, Iconoclast.

One of the producers of Iconoclast told me that Nekrasova was never formally attached to the project and that her casting was announced prematurely, explaining that the two sides couldn’t come to a deal. Deadline reports that a deal was reached, but Nekrasova never signed it, and the role was pulled after her podcast appearance began making waves online. The producer added that his company has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to hate speech.

Kudos to Gersh for finally coming to its senses and dropping Nekrasova, as there should be zero place in Hollywood for casual anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance. And sitting on a couch and listening to someone spew hate without calling them out on it is just as bad, in my opinion.

A representative for Nekrasova did not respond to a request for comment.

With that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, tonight’s top story concerns this year’s downright lousy awards season — call it One Disappointment After Another — and why I think the 300-pound elephant in the room (Avatar: Fire and Ash) could prevail at the Oscars once the dust settles… sight unseen, of course.

There are also items about singers Adele and Sabrina Carpenter heading to the big screen, DC’s new TV series, the future of Poker Face, Jason Momoa’s return to Apple, Nicolas Cage’s unlikely reunion with John Woo, Lena Dunham’s new Netflix series, Idris Elba’s return as Luther, Ryan Reynolds’ Clint Eastwood remake, the SNL alum joining Scary Movie 6, and the teaser for Pixar’s Toy Story 5.

Paid subscribers can enter the Sneider-Verse to read more… and I’ll be back tonight with thoughts on today’s headlines, including Paramount’s new Star Trek directors.

Subscribe to Premium to read the rest.