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We’re heading into the early stretch of awards season where voters are about to embark on a long holiday weekend, give thanks and sift through a topsy-turvy world in which it’s the Dallas Cowboys and not the Detroit Lions who can be safely ignored on the Thanksgiving Day football schedule. And still ... no best picture front-runner. In fact, it’s easier to knock holes in the cases for the most prominent contenders than to argue why it’s plausible they might win. Still, some movie has to win the Oscar. I do wonder if we’ll look back on this time in a few weeks, slap our foreheads and think, “Of course, ‘Anora’ was always going to win,” because by that point it had swept through various precursors. Right now, though, that’s as hard to imagine as the Cowboys making the playoffs. Or Jerry Jones building a stadium where sunlight isn’t an enemy. Just for fun, let’s run down the five leading contenders, the movies that will head the field of 10 nominees. Maybe we can convince ourselves that we’re missing something. Or who knows, maybe we are missing something. “Anora”: It starts with the letter A, so it’s at the top of the list. Also: It’s arguably the best of the movies here, likely to win best picture from the Los Angeles or New York film critics’ groups, with writer-director Sean Baker taking some honors as well. It’s also an indie hit, topping $10 million, and, judging from the conversations I’ve had with academy voters, it has left most everyone who has seen it more than satisfied. Ostensibly, “Anora” is about a stripper who moonlights as a sex worker and ends up marrying one of her clients, the irresponsible son of a Russian oligarch. But it’s many movies in one — a screwball comedy, a tense reckoning with reality, a story of wealth and power, a tender love story. There’s humor and sadness and terror, sometimes in the same scene. It has a star turn from Mikey Madison, who might just win the lead actress Oscar. And there’s an utterly surprising, deeply soulful supporting performance from Yura Borisov, playing Igor, a hired goon who comes to love the title character almost as much as we do. He’s the movie’s secret weapon. Is there a precedent for a movie about a sex worker winning best picture? You remember Joe Buck, right? (Not the ubiquitous sports announcer.) “Midnight Cowboy” took the Oscar, and it had an X rating. And we’ve come a long way in the last 55 years. OK ... we’ve also regressed in some respects too. But “Anora” could very well be the movie to beat. “The Brutalist”: It’s 3 hours and 35 minutes long. It’s in 70mm. It has a built-in intermission, complete with a handy clock counting down the remaining time. Yes, Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” is a lot — but in a good way. Not like, say, “Babylon.” This is a movie I anticipate seeing again. It’s a big swing that mostly connects, a film with much to say about the immigrant dream at a time when the immigrant experience is very much in the national conversation. “The Brutalist” is an event movie made for anyone who obsesses over their Letterboxd account. But it’s also an intimate story about a Holocaust survivor and brilliant architect who possesses a singular vision. So, though I wouldn’t recommend doing this, Oscar voters could watch it on the academy portal over the course of a couple of nights. It’d work. And they’d know exactly when to break up the viewing. Thanks, Brady Corbet! (No, seriously, thanks. “The Brutalist” is a stunning achievement.) “Conclave”: I enjoyed “Conclave” when I caught its premiere at the Telluride Film Festival. We need more movies like “Conclave,” pulpy, impeccably made crowd-pleasers starring scene stealers like Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini. In fact, you may be old enough to remember when there’d be dozens of these sleek melodramas geared toward grown-ups. That it has found an audience makes me happy, even if its story of the schemes involved in electing a new pope feels a bit slight and silly to take it too seriously as a movie that could win best picture. And that ending? Hoo-boy. It did get people talking, but maybe not in the ways that the filmmakers would appreciate. “Emilia Pérez”: I wrote about “Emilia Pérez” last week, calling it a lock for international feature, owing to the fact that it’s likely to pull in several nominations and a lot of people genuinely like it. But also: Some people really hate it, and they’re not shy about making their feelings known. It seems like there isn’t a group of people not offended by Jacques Audiard’s musical soap opera about a Mexican cartel boss looking to transition to a woman. Trans activists feel the movie is dismissive, as do many people who care about Mexican culture. As do many people devoted to Selena Gomez, who plays the cartel boss’ wife and has to say some truly awful dialogue. To sum up: It’s polarizing. And divisive movies don’t often go on to win the best picture Oscar. “Wicked”: Here’s a movie that you may have heard a little something about. It’s the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, with Cynthia Erivo playing Elphaba, later known as the Wicked Witch of the West, and Ariana Grande doing light comedy as Glinda. It’s a story of women coming into their own and bonding over magic. You’ve probably already bought tickets to it. The critics were kinder to “Wicked” than I thought they’d be, and guild audiences have greeted it with enthusiastic standing ovations. It figures to do well with fraudulent awards shows like the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, meaning, at least in the case of the Globes, it’ll get some good airtime. Its blunt, allegorical references to fascism figure to play well postelection, but kids will like it too! Its biggest hurdle is that it’s the first entry of a two-part movie, just half the story. It’s the best half, from what I gather. But many voters will resist jumping the gun.MFA Financial, Inc. ( NYSE:MFA – Get Free Report ) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 11th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.35 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, January 31st. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. MFA Financial has raised its dividend by an average of 8.4% per year over the last three years. MFA Financial has a payout ratio of 85.9% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Research analysts expect MFA Financial to earn $1.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 95.2%. MFA Financial Price Performance MFA opened at $10.43 on Friday. MFA Financial has a 1-year low of $10.09 and a 1-year high of $13.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 2.11. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.58. Analyst Ratings Changes View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MFA About MFA Financial ( Get Free Report ) MFA Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a real estate investment trust in the United States. It invests in residential mortgage securities, including non-agency mortgage-backed securities, agency MBS, and credit risk transfer securities; residential whole loans, including purchased performing loans, purchased credit deteriorated, and non-performing loans; and mortgage servicing rights related assets. See Also Receive News & Ratings for MFA Financial Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for MFA Financial and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .A technology expert on Thursday took aim at one of President-elect Donald Trump’s many campaign promises for when he sweeps back into office next month: his vow that all remaining Bitcoin be “made in the U.S.A.” But ensuring that the United States is the world leader in the multibillion-dollar Bitcoin industry that is decentralized is a tall order for Trump to achieve – if not “near impossible,” Bloomberg reported. “It is a Trump-like comment but it is definitely not in reality,” Ethan Vera, chief operating officer at Luxor Technology, which provides software and services to miners, told the publication. That’s because blockchains “are decentralized networks in which no one controls or can be banned from participating in the process,” Bloomberg added in its Friday report. ALSO READ: Why ABC settled a case they knew they would win — and why the Lincoln Project didn't While Trump's comment, which he made in a Truth Social post in June, is mostly viewed as a symbolic pledge of support, "on a practical basis, the sector is becoming increasingly competitive as large-scale operations pop up across the world to get a slice of the tens of billions of dollars in revenue generated each year by the industry,” the report said. More than 95 percent of the 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be created “have already been minted, though the hard cap on production isn’t expected to be met for about 100 years,” Bloomberg noted. Russian oligarchs, Dubai royal families and Chinese businessmen in Africa are some of the newest competitors in the market in the “lucrative but energy-intensive process,” the report said. “President Trump campaigned on a vision for America to remain the world leader in the next frontiers of technology, from cryptocurrency to AI,” Trump-Vance transition spokesman Kush Desai told Bloomberg. “The Trump-Vance administration will work with industry titans and unleash our talent and resources to ensure American leadership and innovation in every facet of the cryptocurrency industry, from mining to end-use solutions.”AMD cheats benchmark score comparison with Intel
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NoneFrom being unsafe in the family home to having parents or caregivers who’ve forbidden their return, youth are not immune to becoming part of the country’s growing population of people without housing. That’s why Cobourg’s Rebound Child and Youth Services (Rebound) offers programs and continues to develop new resources to prevent youth homelessness in Northumberland. The not-for-profit agency that supports children, youth, and families has announced it’s a local beneficiary of the Home Depot Canada Foundation’s “Holiday Orange Door Project Campaign” combatting homelessness, which runs until December 22 at the Cobourg Home Depot and online. “We know that youth experiencing unstable housing is growing in our community,” Rebound’s executive director Sam Rockbrune told kawarthaNOW. “Funds raised through this campaign will help us provide supports, such as mental health services and our family wellness hub, to take preventative steps for youth homelessness. Rebound is already working on prevention for youth homelessness with our current programs and rolling out exciting new programs in the new year.” Rebound services offer a private and confidential process that can assist children, youth, and their families with options and resources for programming. The organization believes that the most effective services are those that are provided in a responsive and respectful manner and in a partnership with families. The agency serves more than 1,800 young people each year. In 2018, Rebound partnered with Northumberland County Community & Social Services to deliver the trusteeship program for youth aged 16 to 17 receiving Ontario Works (OW). “At the time, I was the trusteeship caseworker, and the case load was 13 individuals,” recalled Krystyne Gillespie, Rebound’s outreach and fund development manager, adding the case load has since quadrupled. “We see approximately 50 to 60 individuals per year, with around 40 to 45 of those (youth) continuing to need support through the program,” she said. “The trusteeship is not just about receiving financial support through OW. Our goal is for the youth to stay in school, graduate and go on to post-secondary education or into the workforce.” Rebound provides clients with emotional health supports, access to food and clothing items, and strives to serve as a bridge to other resources, as necessary. The agency saw, on average, two unsheltered youth per year in the first few years of the program. “So far in 2024, we currently have seven youth who are experiencing homelessness,” Gillespie noted. She said Rebound is aware of a large number of youths who are living with grandparents or other family members to provide space between them and their parents, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic. “Youth homelessness is often unseen, as youth are resilient and will find places to stay or couch-surf,” she said. “I would encourage parents to ask questions if their child is having a friend sleep over more often or throughout the week.” “Ultimately, Rebound hopes to prevent youth homelessness by helping families creating stronger bonds, building their skills around communication and conflict management, for example. Families that learn together, grow together, (and) hopefully stay together.” As for the Holiday Orange Door Project Campaign, customers can donate during checkout at the Cobourg Home Depot or by visiting orangedoorproject.ca and selecting Cobourg as the location for their donation. All local donations will help Rebound provide counselling and therapy, youth justice diversion, youth homelessness prevention programs, along with family and parenting support services. Since 2022, the Cobourg Home Depot has raised over $25,000 for Rebound through the Orange Door Project fundraising campaign, an initiative of the Home Depot Canada Foundation. The foundation is a Canadian registered charity supporting 127 organizations across the country that are committed to preventing and ending youth homelessness. To create new paths for youth experiencing homelessness or at risk of doing so, the foundation will invest $125 million by 2030.