Wicked (Movie)

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    Where to Stream the 2025 Oscar Winners, From ‘Anora’ to ‘Flow’

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    Most of the awarded films, including the winner of best picture, can be watched at home. Here’s a guide to catch up.In a resounding win for American independent film, “Anora,” Sean Baker’s rambunctious comedy-drama about the marriage between a Brighton Beach sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch, won five Oscars, including one for its lead actress, Mikey Madison, and a record-tying four for Baker, who took home statuettes for picture, director, editing and his original screenplay.“Anora” and most of the other winners are available to rent on major platforms or subscription services, and the three winning shorts are only a click away, too, though the full Oscar shorts programs are still circulating in theaters across the country. The only films currently only available in theaters are the best international feature winner “I’m Still Here” and the documentary feature winner “No Other Land,” an Israeli-Palestinian co-production that’s finding its way to art houses around the United States without official distribution.‘Anora’The writer, director and editor Sean Baker narrates a sequence from his comedy featuring Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn.NeonWon for: Best picture, director, actress, original screenplay, editing.How to watch: Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV+, Fandango at Home, Google Play and YouTube.The writer-director Sean Baker’s rambunctious film concerns the whirlwind romance between a sex worker from Brighton Beach and the son of a Russian oligarch. It somehow channels both the madcap energy of classic screwball and the unfiltered emotion of John Cassavetes. Much of that liveliness is owed to Mikey Madison’s firecracker of a performance as Ani, a stripper whose time with a handsome young party animal, Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), at first seems like a “Pretty Woman” fantasy. But a quickie marriage draws attention from Ivan’s minders in the states and his parents abroad. Ani’s fight for their relationship, which turns literal at times, is alternately slapstick and touching.‘The Brutalist’The director Brady Corbet narrates a sequence from his film, starring Adrien Brody. The movie is nominated for 10 Academy Awards.Lol Crawley/A24Won for: Best actor, cinematography, score.How to watch: Buy it on Amazon, Apple TV and Fandango at Home.Just as the unity of form and function is the goal of any great architect, Brady Corbet’s epic about the architectural vision of a Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor goes pointedly against the grain, from its 215-minute running time (with an intermission in theaters) to its use of VistaVision, a large-format process that hadn’t been used for a feature since 1961. As László Toth (Adrien Brody) emigrates to Philadelphia after the war and eventually finds work for a temperamental industrialist (Guy Pearce) with big plans for a community center, “The Brutalist” grows into a grand statement on the tension between art and commerce, and the compromise that often comes as a result. On that front, Corbet himself has unquestionably triumphed.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Perform ‘Defying Gravity’ at Oscars

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      The stars of “Wicked” Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo opened the Oscars with a spirited tribute to the cinematic versions of Oz, culminating in a rendition in “Defying Gravity” from their nominated film.After a montage of classic onscreen Los Angeles moments — a nod to the recent fires — Grande emerged, singing “Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz” in a sparkling red dress, evoking Dorothy’s ruby slippers. Erivo then took the stage, belting “Home” from “The Wiz.”Grande then returned for “Defying Gravity,” before Erivo brought everything home with her emphatic war cry. The crowd roared and gave them a standing ovation. The camera caught their co-star Michelle Yeoh in tears.While Grande and Erivo have been essentially joined at the hip during the promotional tour for the film and, of course, harmonize onscreen, they have rarely performed live together. They sang a duet at the 2024 Met Gala, singing “When You Believe,” an Oscar winner for the 1998 film “The Prince of Egypt.” That ballad, famously recorded by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, was written by the “Wicked” composer Stephen Schwartz.“Wicked” — a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz” that focuses on the character of the Wicked Witch of the West, otherwise known as Elphaba — has 10 Oscar nominations, including one apiece for Erivo and Grande, nominated in the leading and supporting actress categories, respectively.While the movie is not a best picture front-runner, it is the highest-grossing nominee, coming in fifth at the 2024 worldwide box office, just ahead of fellow nominee “Dune: Part Two.” Including a performance from “Wicked” in the ceremony is likely a draw for audiences who might not have seen, say, “The Brutalist,” which has been relatively difficult to watch as it slowly expanded its theatrical release.“Wicked,” directed by Jon M. Chu, became a phenomenon, in part because of the wave of merchandise it spawned as well as the viral moments it generated. Take, for instance, the interview in which a reporter told Erivo and Grande that people were “holding space” for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity.”Grande and Erivo’s appearance on the telecast is also a reminder that they may be back next year. “Wicked” only covers the first act of the Broadway musical on which it is based. The sequel, “Wicked: For Good,” is due out in November. More

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      Best Picture Oscar Nominees: Behind the Scenes of ‘Anora,’ ‘Conclave’ and More

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      In these videos, directors walked us through pivotal scenes from their 2025 Academy Award-nominated films.Sometimes all it takes is one scene. One scene to understand where a movie may take you. One scene to connect with its characters. One scene to give a sense of its style.In this collection of sequences from the 10 movies nominated for best picture at the 2025 Academy Awards (airing Sunday, March 2), you will hear director commentary that illuminates each nominee. A few scenes play out largely in one shot, others build out their world from a song. But each one required an intensive combination of craft and planning to pull off. Watch those narrated scenes below.Sean Baker on ‘Anora’The writer, director and editor Sean Baker narrates a sequence from his comedy featuring Mikey Madison and Mark Eydelshteyn.NeonBrady Corbet on ‘The Brutalist’The director Brady Corbet narrates a sequence from his film, starring Adrien Brody. The movie is nominated for 10 Academy Awards.Lol Crawley/A24James Mangold on ‘A Complete Unknown’James Mangold narrates a sequence from his film, starring Timothée Chalamet.Macall Polay/Searchlight PicturesEdward Berger on ‘Conclave’The director Edward Berger narrates a sequence from his film, featuring Ralph Fiennes.Philippe Antonello/Focus FeaturesDenis Villeneuve on ‘Dune: Part Two’The director Denis Villeneuve narrates a battle sequence from his film, featuring Austin Butler.Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. PicturesJacques Audiard on ‘Emilia Pérez’The director Jacques Audiard narrates a sequence featuring the song “El Mal” from his film, with Zoe Saldaña and Karla Sofía Gascón.Shanna Besson/NetflixWalter Salles on ‘I’m Still Here’The director Walter Salles narrates a scene from his film, which has an Oscar nomination for best picture.Alile Onawale/Sony Pictures ClassicsRaMell Ross on ‘Nickel Boys’The director RaMell Ross narrates a sequence from his film, which has been nominated for best picture.Orion PicturesCoralie Fargeat on ‘The Substance’The writer and director Coralie Fargeat narrates a sequence from her film starring Demi Moore.MubiJon M. Chu on ‘Wicked’The director Jon M. Chu narrates a scene in “Wicked” that features the song “Popular,” with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.Universal Pictures More

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      Oscars 2025: There’s Something Weird About the Best Picture Nominees

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      It’s entirely probable that scandal, gossip, politics and a general sense of “never heard of it before” have obscured something obvious and important about this year’s 10 best picture Oscar nominees. They’re weird — every single one. They take weird forms. The people in them do weird stuff. They induce weirdness in you.Demi Moore jabs herself with a goop known as “The Substance,” and out of her split-open back climbs Margaret Qualley, who refuses to obey the goop’s rules and proceeds to ruin their life. I paid to see this movie in a packed theater on a Saturday afternoon, where we laughed, screamed and almost threw up.Believe it or not, that movie’s a fairy tale, a funny one. So’s “Anora.” Here, the would-be princess is a Brooklyn stripper who marries a Russian nitwit whose oligarch father dispatches a goon squad to procure an annulment. If I told you “The Brutalist” ran for more than three hours and pitted a recent Holocaust survivor against his moneybags employer, maybe you’d ask which Oscar lab cooked this thing up. Then I’d have to tell you that the scale of this thing is so strangely intimate, so redolently personal, that it feels as much eavesdropped on as its premise sounds familiarly epic.A sugarless Brazilian dictatorship melodrama (“I’m Still Here”) is up against a sugar-encrusted American dictatorship musical (“Wicked”). “Conclave,” the pick-a-pope nail-biter, relies on so much shanking that it feels like a prison movie and features more cafeteria grandstanding than “Mean Girls.” For a spell, the front-runner had been “Emilia Pérez,” a musical fairy tale whose songs flout rhythm and melody, and whose Mexican cartel overlord mistakes her transness for sainthood. Then its star’s bigoted old tweets and some harsh comments by its mighty French director (about Mexicans and the Spanish they speak) turned the Oscar race into “Conclave.”Stellan Skarsgard plays the vindictive Baron Harkonnen in “Dune: Part Two,” a pretty weird blockbuster.Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros.Then, there’s “Dune: Part Two,” a movie so expensive looking, so smoothly, tastefully, artfully done that it’s easy to remain passive in the face of all that’s weird about it. But look! It’s Stellan Skarsgard, plumped, pursy and a-vape, as a baron whose kink, in part, arises from stadium-size gladiatoring. When this series is complete, many hours will have been spent watching Timothée Chalamet as the Chosen One amid a war over seasoning. It’s “Lawry’s of Arabia,” “Lost in Spice.” The race delivers double-feature Chalamet. In “A Complete Unknown,” he boldly reimagines Bob Dylan as a figure of tremendous petulance. Otherwise, it might be the most conventional thing you could hope to see about a once-in-a-lifetime weirdo; and that counts as kind of weird.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Oscars 2025 Predictions: Who Will Win Best Picture, Actor and Actress?

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      The best picture race has been full of twists and turns. The best actress race is closely contested. Our expert predicts which films and artists will get trophies on Sunday.Best PictureMark Eydelshteyn and Mikey Madison in “Anora.”Neon✓ “Anora”“The Brutalist”“A Complete Unknown”“Conclave”“Dune: Part Two”“Emilia Pérez”“I’m Still Here”“Nickel Boys”“The Substance”“Wicked”After a few years where the best picture winner was practically ordained from the start of the season, at least this race has given us some twists and turns.First, there was the saga of “Emilia Pérez,” which led the field with a near-record 13 nominations but collapsed in controversy after the unearthing of disparaging tweets by its star, Karla Sofía Gascón. Then “Anora,” a front-runner that was utterly shut out at January’s Golden Globes, scored top prizes from the producers, directors and writers guilds.Those wins usually presage a best picture victory, especially because the producers guild uses a preferential ballot similar to the Academy’s. But in the late going, another contender began to surge as “Conclave” took the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards (where “Anora” was once again shut out) as well as best film honors at the BAFTAs, the British equivalent to the Oscars.One thing gives me pause, though: If “Conclave” had the sort of across-the-board Academy support that a best picture winner can usually count on, it shouldn’t have missed out on slam-dunk Oscar nominations for directing and cinematography. “Anora” earned all the nominations it needed to, and its guild spread is hard to argue with, so that’s the film I project will win.Best DirectorJacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez”✓ Sean Baker, “Anora”Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist”Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”James Mangold, “A Complete Unknown”Baker picked up the DGA trophy but has strong competition from Corbet, who won best director at the BAFTAs. Still, I suspect the Academy will embrace “Anora” in both of the top categories. It helps that Baker has turned every acceptance speech he’s made this season into an upbeat rallying cry for theatrical independent filmmaking.Best ActorAdrien Brody in “The Brutalist.”Lol Crawley/A24✓ Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice”Brody has been collecting prizes all season, though his reign was halted last weekend when Chalamet scored a last-minute SAG win. But Chalamet faces headwinds from an Academy that remains stubbornly resistant to recognizing young men: No one under 30 has ever won the best actor Oscar except for Brody himself, who notched his win for “The Pianist” at age 29. Come Sunday, he’ll add a second Oscar to the mantel.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Where the Oscar Race Stands After ‘Emilia Pérez’ Controversy

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      “Emilia Pérez” is hobbled, “Anora” is revitalized and plenty remains up in the air ahead of the March 2 awards ceremony.Sometimes, the period after the Oscar nominations can feel like a snooze. There may be a notable snub that’s worth discussing for a few days, but things eventually settle down and people begin to behave themselves as they head into the final stretch of the season.This hasn’t been that.The last two weeks in particular have been some of the most tumultuous in recent memory, thanks in large part to the controversy involving old tweets made by one of the “Emilia Pérez” stars, Karla Sofía Gascón. The initially defiant actress went rogue to defend herself, keeping her scandal in the headlines during several crucial voting periods. Now, a film that led the field with 13 Oscar nominations has been hobbled.After all of that turbulence, where do things stand? Here are five narratives now emerging from the season that I plan to keep an eye on.‘Anora’ ascendant“Anora,” starring Mark Eydelshteyn, left, and Mikey Madison, has momentum as the race enters its final weeks.Neon, via Associated PressAs this year began, the awards-season aspirations of “Anora” appeared to stall out. The Sean Baker-directed comedy went winless at the Golden Globes on Jan. 5, and that failure-to-launch feeling lingered over the next few weeks when the Critics Choice Awards, where “Anora” hoped to score anew, were postponed from Jan. 12 to Feb. 7 because of the Los Angeles wildfires.What a difference a weekend makes. On Friday, “Anora” picked up a best-picture prize at that delayed Critics Choice ceremony, and scored top honors the next night at separate shows held by the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America. Any movie that triumphs with both of those guilds has to be considered the best-picture front-runner, even though five years ago, “1917” conquered at the PGA and DGA awards and still lost the top Oscar to “Parasite.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Vocal Coach Who Helped Timothée Chalamet and Other Stars Sing Onscreen

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      “Help” is a word that the vocal coach Eric Vetro uses often to describe his contributions to the careers of celebrities. This season alone, he’s helped several actors with the musical demands of roles as varied as Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie in “Maria”), Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown”) and a young Good Witch of the West (Ariana Grande in “Wicked”). He also worked with Monica Barbaro to honor Joan Baez’s vibrato in “A Complete Unknown” and Nicholas Galitzine to become a boy-band dreamboat in “The Idea of You.”During a recent video interview, Vetro’s high-profile résumé came into sharp focus. The memorabilia behind him in his Los Angeles home, which was unaffected by the recent fires, included a guitar that Shawn Mendes had given him. He proudly pointed to platinum records from the Recording Industry Association of America certifying a million in sales for Ariana Grande’s single “The Way” and Rosalía’s album “Motomami.” Then he turned to a wall of selfies with his famous students: “There is Katy Perry. Camila Cabello and Sabrina Carpenter are right here.”He explained that his clients’ technical and emotional needs vary, and that holding their hands through the psychological ups and downs of being a famous talent is a big part of his work. So many jobs “rest on this one person’s success,” Vetro, 68, explained. “That’s a tremendous amount of pressure.”Vetro helped both Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez and Timothée Chalamet bring out their characters’ signature sound in “A Complete Unknown.”Searchlight PicturesWhile growing up in upstate New York there were early signs that Vetro was more into behind-the-scenes guidance than stardom. He would correct a cousin while they sang Christmas carols and lend a hand to friends learning songs for musicals. As early as fifth grade, when a fellow student who was popular and athletic asked him for assistance with a song, Vetro remembered, “We just bonded. And that made me think, ‘I have something special here. This is my identity.’”His parents were skeptical, especially his father. “He would say things like, ‘What makes you think that anybody of note would want to work with you?’” when as a boy he would bring up stars like Bette Midler as examples of people he wanted to work with.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      What ‘Wicked’ Has to Say About Our Current Political Moment

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      By breaking the story into two movies, the emphasis in “Part One” shifts to a nation’s potential decline into authoritarianism. Sound familiar?In the big-screen adaptation of “Wicked,” Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) uses magic to defend her sister and unwittingly destroys a courtyard mural of the Wizard at Shiz University. When her outburst shatters the wall, it also unearths an image that has been intentionally covered up: the school’s original founders, animal professors whose ability to speak, teach humans, and organize politically posed a threat to the Wizard’s autocratic reign.This surprising fact is revealed early on, but as I watched it, I realized Elphaba’s discovery came too late.As a repeat viewer of Broadway’s “Wicked,” I’m usually fascinated by how the story’s retrospective lens encourages us to sympathize with Elphaba, who eventually will become the Wicked Witch of the West. Her rich back story — she’s a perennial outsider and highly empathetic person — has forced me to rethink my assumptions about her and reflect on how easily I accepted L. Frank Baum’s own prejudices and his representation of her as a one-dimensional villain in his novel, “The Wizard of Oz.”But, unlike the stage version, which tracks Elphaba as a young adult to her fateful encounter with Dorothy, the movie delves even more into Elphaba’s biography. It follows her to Shiz University, where she ends up rooming with her frenemy, Galinda, later renamed Glinda (Ariana Grande), whose jealousy of Elphaba’s magical powers leads to conflict. The film ends at the characters’ climactic midpoints. “If Part One is about choices,” the director, Jon M. Chu, recently told Entertainment Weekly, “Part Two is about consequences.”But for now that also means the story remains unresolved. At the end of the Broadway version, there’s relief in the surprise ending when we learn that the Wicked Witch was far kinder than we gave her credit for and that she successfully challenged the Wizard’s dominance.Instead, onscreen, Elphaba is left suspended in midair (on her broom), made a scapegoat by the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) as the Shiz professor Madam Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), falsely warns the people of Oz about an enemy who must be captured. Madam Morrible goes even further, blasting on the loudspeaker, “Her green skin is but an outward manifestorium of her twisted nature. This distortion! This repulsion! This wicked witch!”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      It’s Ariana Grande vs. Selena Gomez at the Oscars (in Fans’ Minds)

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      Anyone who follows the Oscar race knows it can get nasty. Over the long arc of awards season, films can fall in and out of favor, villains can emerge, and campaigns can be ferocious in their pursuit of gold statues. But movie fans aren’t used to the vitriol that comes along with pop music. Now, they are getting a taste.This year two major pop stars have big roles in notable movies, both of which happen to be musicals. Ariana Grande is the pink-clad mean girl Glinda in “Wicked,” and Selena Gomez plays a cartel boss’s wife in “Emilia Pérez.” While these women have been nothing but nice to one another in the press, their stans, or armies of supporters, have been going to war and drawing unsuspecting bystanders into the battle.Pop music fans are notoriously ruthless — far more so than movie lovers. Their loyalty is unwavering to the point that they take aim at anyone who dare criticize their beloved stars. Perceived slights have resulted in threats and doxxing. And now they have a stake in the Oscars. It’s causing chaos.It’s not as if pop stars have never competed for movie prizes. Cher and Barbra Streisand might have something to say about that. More recently Lady Gaga was nominated in 2019 for her role in “A Star Is Born.” But rarely have two pop idols gone head to head in the way Grande and Gomez are. The notion of a rivalry gained even more fuel this week when they both landed in the same supporting actress category in the Golden Globe nominations.Not that Grande and Gomez seem to have any personal beef. In an October red carpet interview, Gomez said she was “just excited to see Ariana’s movie.” Grande then posted on Instagram: “and we cannot wait for Emilia Perez,” adding a message to Gomez, “I just adore you.”But you would not know that these lovely words had been exchanged if you look at how their fans are acting on X.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More