This is the thread where we discuss matters pertaining to the detrius that accompanies the "End of the Year in Cinema" -- 2025

Let's star with the NYFCC.

https://bsky.app/profile/nyfcc.bsky.social

thank you for starting this thread! i was going to start it after the Gotham Awards, which are tonight, but didn't realize NYFCC was voting today, too.

Some nice boosts for Del Toro, Madigan, and Moura. All definitely in the Oscars mix already, but this strengthens their odds.

Ooh, and Rose Byrne, too

I was rooting for Byrne.

I still need to see IIHLIKY

Full list of winners:

Film: One Battle After Another

Director: Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident

Actor: Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent.

Actress: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another

Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, Weapons

Screenplay: Marty Supreme by Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein

Animated Film: KPop Demon Hunters

Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw for Sinners.

Non-Fiction Film: My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow

International Film: The Secret Agent

First Film: Carson Lund’s Eephus.

Student Prizes: London Xhudo (Undergraduate, NYU) and Tan Zhiyuan (Graduate, The New School)

Special Prizes: Museum of Moving Image, Screen Slate

We'll see if the Panahi film goes far enough with crit groups. I expect The Secret Agent, a good film, to gain ground as more people see it.

i was going to start it after the Gotham Awards, which are tonight

wait, no, the Gothams were last night!! here are the winners:

Best Feature
One Battle After Another: Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy, Adam Somner, producers (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Best Director
Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident (Neon)

Outstanding Lead Performance
Sopé Dìrísù, My Father’s Shadow (Mubi)

Outstanding Supporting Performance
Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Breakthrough Performer
Abou Sangaré, Souleymane’s Story (Kino Lorber)

Best Documentary Feature
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow: Julia Loktev, director; Julia Loktev, producer (self-distributed)

Breakthrough Director
Akinola Davies Jr., My Father’s Shadow (Mubi)

Best International Feature
It Was Just an Accident: Philippe Martin, Jafar Panahi, producers (Neon)

Best Adapted Screenplay
Pillion, Harry Lighton (A24)

Best Original Screenplay
It Was Just an Accident, Jafar Panahi (Neon)

I don't know My Father's Shadow at all

Wow, three for Panahi. Clearly the Oscar Frontrunner.

Top ten list from Cahiers du Cinéma is out.

1) “Afternoons of Solitude” (Albert Serra)
2) “One Battle After Another” (Paul Thomas Anderson)
3) “Yes!” (Nadav Lapid)
4) “The Secret Agent” (Kleber Mendonça Filho)
5) “I Only Rest in the Storm” (Pedro Pinho)
6) “L’Aventura” (Sophie Letourneur)
7) “7 Walks With Mark Brown” (Pierre Creton / Vincent Barre)
8) “Nouvelle Vague” (Richard Linklater)
9) “Laurent Dans le Vent” (Anton Balekdjian / Léo Couture / Mattéo Eustachon)
10) “Miroirs No. 3” (Christian Petzold)

Afternoons of Solitude is from 2024, but might also be the best new film I saw in 25.

I haven't watched the Petzold, Pinho, or Lapid.

I've only seen the top two. Pedro Pinhos last film was three hours long, so I'm thinking the new one will be an easier watch.

National Board of Review

Best Film: “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)

Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)

Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)

Best Actress: Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (A24)

Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)

Best Supporting Actress: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value” (Neon)

Best Directorial Debut: Eva Victor, “Sorry, Baby” (A24)

Breakthrough Performance: Chase Infiniti, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)

Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, “Sinners” (Warner Bros.)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, “Train Dreams” (Netflix)

Best Animated Feature: “Arco” (Neon)

Best International Film: “It Was Just an Accident” (Neon)

Best Documentary: “Cover-Up” (Netflix)

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, “Sinners” (Warner Bros.)

Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” (Paramount Pictures)

NBR Freedom of Expression Award: “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” (Kino Lorber)

Top 10 Films (in alphabetical order):

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” (20th Century Studios)
“F1” (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros.)
“Frankenstein” (Netflix)
“Jay Kelly” (Netflix)
“Marty Supreme” (A24)
“Rental Family” (Searchlight Pictures)
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.)
“Train Dreams” (Netflix)
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)
“Wicked: For Good” (Universal Pictures)

Top 5 International Films (in alphabetical order):

“Left-Handed Girl” (Netflix)
“The Love That Remains” (Janus Films)
“The Secret Agent” (Neon)
“Sentimental Value” (Neon)
“Sirāt” (Neon)

Top 5 Documentaries (in alphabetical order):

“2000 Meters to Andriivka” (PBS)
“Come See Me in the Good Light” (Apple Original Films)
“My Mom Jayne” (HBO Documentary Films)
“Natchez” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
“Orwell: 2+2=5” (Neon)

Top 10 Independent Films (in alphabetical order):

“The Baltimorons” (IFC)
“Bring Her Back” (A24)
“Father Mother Sister Brother” (Mubi)
“Friendship” (A24)
“Good Boy” (IFC)
“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (A24)
“The Mastermind” (Mubi)
“Rebuilding” (Bleecker Street)
“Sorry, Baby” (A24)
“Urchin” (1-2 Special)

Independent Spirit Awards out today, too.
https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/here-are-your-2026-film-independent-spirit-awards-nominees/

Nice to see Hlynur Pálmason in the top five international films :)

BFI/Sight & Sound Top 50:

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/polls/50-best-films-2025?brid=4FziS7bBB3Vx0Z-s2ItVQw

justin chang / richard brody’s lists:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/2025-in-review/the-best-films-of-2025
https://archive.ph/zyhgl

LAFCA voting now:
https://bsky.app/profile/lafilmcritics.bsky.social

Good to see Eephus show up on lists.

Dying to know what ILX thinks of Sirat.

Cool to see that Richard Brody mentioning Invention. I keep directing people to it IRL, to (seemingly) no avail.

xp I loved Sirat

Golden Globe nods: https://deadline.com/lists/golden-globes-nominations-2026-movies-tv/golden-globes-television-series-musical-or-comedy-nominees/

Around the usual bilge the Golden Globes went surprisingly deep. Eva Victor, Reinate Reinsve, Michael B. Jordan, Rose Byrne, Tessa Thompson, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Teyana Taylor, and Lee Byung-Hun.

No real surprises, though. On one hand, I'm glad that the Globes has expanded its voting pool in recent years and now (like the Oscars) recognizes artier, more international fare. On the other hand, it was kind of fun when they'd nominate dreck just because a big movie star was in it (I guess the closest we get to that this year is The Smashing Machine).

A decade ago they would've given Eva Victor and Lee Byung-Hun a hard pass though.

Oh for sure, and those two in particular do seem like genuine surprises, despite what I just said.

I guess the other surprise is that Avatar and Wicked were both passed over for Best Pic noms.

I hope Ben Shapiro isn't taking his snub in the new podcast category too hard. He seemed to really want it.

My critics circle's nominees and I'm proud:

https://nextbestpicture.com/the-2025-florida-film-critics-circle-ffcc-nominations/

Oooh, cool set of nominees

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/polls/best-films-2025-all-votes

sight and sound

oh ward fowler posted that already. this is the individual ballots

SAG Awards: https://ew.com/sag-2026-actor-awards-nominations-full-list-11880512

Odessa A'zion and Paul Mescal get a second life; good on Ethan Hawke; ugh re the Bugonia nods.

Miles Caton is a surprise. The obvious snubs are the Sentimental Value cast members, which I thought at first was an eligibility issue but appears not to be. I'm guessing the Oscars will replace the Bugonia nominees with Wagner Moura and Renate Reinsve, but you never know...

I'm 100% certain Moura's in.

The key thing to remember here is that the voting body for the SAG Awards consists of about 160,000 members. This number includes a large number of people who, for example, might have stood in the background of an insurance company commercial, or did a promo spot for a dishwater detergent brand. So, let’s just say these are not the most… discerning… group of people, if you know what I’m saying. And while there is some crossover between SAG Award voters and Oscar voters, it's not as big as you might think...

It's basically why you see no actors from Sentimental Value, no Wagner Moura. Actors who will absolutely be getting Oscar nominations in a few weeks. The majority of these 160,000 voters are not watching international films and their tastes are purely commercial. Almost none of the performers from foreign films who received Oscar nominations in past years (Antonio Banderas, Fernanda Torres, Sandra Hüller, Penélope Cruz) were recognized at the SAG Awards.

They also don’t watch a wide variety of movies, or a large number of them. There is a very small number of total titles mentioned in the nominations overall… they watch less and then pick their choices from those few films. So much so that One Battle After Another broke the record for most SAG nominations for a single film project ever - a cumulative even nominations across six categories

Yeah. This is the same awards group that nominated Jennifer Aniston for Cake and Adam Sandler for Hustle.

(although those nominations suggest that SAG voters do watch widely ... as long as there are celebs involved)

This is also a problem with Florida Film Critics Circle, and, I imagine, other regional groups.

DGA:

Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)
Ryan Coogler, “Sinners” (Warner Bros.)
Guillermo Del Toro, “Frankenstein” (Netflix)
Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme” (A24)
Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet” (Focus Features)

PGA:

“Bugonia” (Focus Features)
“F1” (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros.)
“Frankenstein” (Netflix)
“Hamnet” (Focus Features)
“Marty Supreme” (A24)
“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)
“Sentimental Value” (Neon)
“Sinners” (Warner Bros.)
“Train Dreams” (Netflix)
“Weapons” (Warner Bros.)

Weapons is the surprise here, though there is a similar aversion to non-English films on display in both of these guilds (as with SAG). So I think Weapons and F1 get replaced by The Secret Agent and It Was Just an Accident in the Oscar BP noms, and either Safdie or Del Toro or both could easily be replaced by Panahi and Trier.

Personally, I'm happy to see Train Dreams make it into PGA noms, which makes me feel more confident about its Oscar chances. Bugonia is the other one that feels iffy Oscar-wise, but if the PGA of all guilds is snubbing Wicked and Avatar, then can only be good news for Bugonia.

Golden Globes

Best Motion Picture — Drama

Frankenstein
Hamnet - WINNER
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners

Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Blue Moon
Bugonia
Marty Supreme
No Other Choice
Nouvelle Vague
One Battle After Another - WINNER

Best Motion Picture — Animated

Arco
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters - WINNER
Little Amélie or The Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement

Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1
KPop Demon Hunters
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Sinners - WINNER
Weapons
Wicked: For Good
Zootopia 2

Best Motion Picture — Non-English Language

It Was Just an Accident - France
No Other Choice - South Korea
The Secret Agent - Brazil - WINNER
Sentimental Value - Norway
Sirāt - Spain
The Voice Of Hind Rajab - Tunisia

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama

Jessie Buckley - Hamnet - WINNER
Jennifer Lawrence - Die My Love
Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value
Julia Roberts - After the Hunt
Tessa Thompson - Hedda
Eva Victor - Sorry, Baby

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama

Joel Edgerton - Train Dreams
Oscar Isaac - Frankenstein
Dwayne Johnson - The Smashing Machine
Michael B. Jordan - Sinners
Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent - WINNER
Jeremy Allen White - Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I’d Kick You - WINNER
Cynthia Erivo - Wicked: For Good
Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue
Chase Infiniti - One Battle After Another
Amanda Seyfried - The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone - Bugonia

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Timothée Chalamet - Marty Supreme - WINNER
George Clooney - Jay Kelly
Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon
Lee Byung-Hun - No Other Choice
Jesse Plemons - Bugonia

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Emily Blunt - The Smashing Machine
Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value
Ariana Grande - Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan -Weapons
Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another - WINNER

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

Benicio Del Toro - One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein
Paul Mescal - Hamnet
Sean Penn - One Battle After Another
Adam Sandler - Jay Kelly
Stellan Skarsgård - Sentimental Value - WINNER

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another - WINNER
Ryan Coogler -Sinners
Guillermo del Toro - Frankenstein
Jafar Panahi - It Was Just an Accident
Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao - Hamnet

Best Screenplay

Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another - WINNER
Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie - Marty Supreme
Ryan Coogler - Sinners
Jafar Panahi - It Was Just An Accident
Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell - Hamnet

Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat - Frankenstein
Ludwig Göransson - Sinners - WINNER
Jonny Greenwood - One Battle After Another
Kangding Ray - Sirāt
Max Richter - Hamnet
Hans Zimmer - F1

Best Original Song

“Dream As One” - Avatar: Fire and Ash - Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen
“Golden” - KPop Demon Hunters - Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong Jun, Kim Eun-Jae (Ejae), Mark Sonnenblick - WINNER
“I Lied To You” - Sinners - Raphael Saadiq, Ludwig Göransson
“No Place Like Home” - Wicked: For Good - Stephen Schwartz
“The Girl In The Bubble” - Wicked: For Good - Stephen Schwartz
“Train Dreams” - Train Dreams - Nick Cave, Bryce Dessner

Good on Wagner Moura and Teyana Taylor. Looks like it's gonna be Buckley vs Byrne at the Oscars.

I’m bummed sinners is losing to one battle. PTA has a very white dude way of portraying black ppl

it's interesting how unsettled all the acting categories are right now. you usually have at least one category where a single actor steamrolls on their path to the oscar, like kieran culkin last year.

i think jessie buckley is probably still in the strongest position, but byrne is a worthy contender. on the lead actor side, it was always going to be timmy vs. leo, but wagner moura's chances need to be taken seriously in an increasingly international academy.

in supporting actress, amy madigan seemed to have some momentum from critics' awards that might have solidified at the globes, but the fact that they went with taylor (the early favorite) makes it a toss-up. and same with supporting actor, where benicio del toro was starting to pick up steam but stellan skarsgard made it interesting. (esp. since skarsgard was not nominated for a sag award.)

I don't think Scrunchy Face has a chance at winning -- unless you mean a nomination, which, yeah, was always gonna happen; I say it's Chalamet's to lose.

Skarsgard was the early favorite until, to my delighted surprise, Del Toro started showing up; his is a performance that as I watched OBAA on opening weekend I thought, "He's so casually ingratiating here that of course the Academy will nominate the hambone Sean Penn."

Del Toro is very easily the best part of OBAA

I do think DiCaprio does have a chance of winning. For one, people clearly love the film. For another, Oscar voters seem resistant to giving Best Actor to men under 35 and may want Chalamet to wait a while longer. And finally, it's been a decade since Leo's only Oscar, and he is enough of a star that a second one won't seem excessive.

That said, there are several arguments against him. One is that OBAA is an ensemble film, and much of the attention so far has gone toward the supporting players. Related to that, Marty Supreme is entirely driven by Chalamet in a performance that feels like a force of nature -- whereas DiCaprio's character in OBAA is helplessly pulled along for the ride. Emma Stone was recently rewarded with a second Oscar, but that was big and showy in a way that DiCaprio's is not (and Chalamet's is).

So, ultimately, I agree that the Oscar is Chalamet's to lose. But I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't get it.

*that performance was big and showy

I've read the argument about Chalamet's age several time since 2017, and if he hadn't come close to winning last year I'd say you're right. Voters like him.

I wouldn't mind Le Scrunch or Moura winning at all; this category so rarely rewards recessive performances.

Yeah, I suppose the more pertinent comparison in terms of someone winning for a second time is Adrien Brody beating Chalamet last year. But voters may treat that as a case of Chalamet already coming close and so he might as well get it this time.

Finally got around to seeing Hamnet last night and I think this might be my favorite film of the year; but i also loved One Battle and If I had Legs I'd Kick You. It was certainly the most beautiful film to look at, the color palate, the setting, those shots of the moss and the herbs, that hole in the tree stump...

Hamnet is well-acted and pretty to look at, but I was rather disappointed in it. The film never really persuaded me of its fundamental conceit, that writing Hamlet was Shakespeare's way of processing the grief of his son's death, and so I wasn't emotionally moved by it at all. I won't be mad if Jessie Buckley wins the Oscar, as she currently favored to do, but I'll be rooting against it in picture, director, and screenplay.

I won't necessarily argue with you on that point, but rather point out that the primary focus of the narrative is Agnes, and not W.S. and his creative process.

I’m not interested in seeing Hamnet, but two people in the last week have recommended the novel to me. Anyone read it?

I read it a couple years ago -- it's fine. The movie deepens its mystical passages; Zhao's at her best evoking paganism as it manifests in woods and streams.

agree with jaymc’s take on hamnet. very pleasant to look at but ultimately trying a little too hard to pull the heartstrings, imo

does anyone really think anything other than OBAA might win picture? I think it’s been a very good year for movies but it really seems to have the conversation on lock

Best Picture and Director, possibly Best Supporting Actor.

yeah OBAA feels like a shoo-in. i can imagine Sinners winning SAG ensemble and Hamnet wining BAFTA best film, which could make it feel competitive. but i don't think either of those films are as strong with the entire Academy. of course, we'll learn more with the nominations on Thursday.

I totally expect it to win (and will be happy for it) but also I just keep in mind those weird curveball years. The electorate is opaque.

If it does, I was looking at the list of winners since the '90s, I think it would be my favorite Best Picture since maybe Unforgiven. I like a bunch of them, but don't love many. Also, looking at the list I realize I never saw CODA, or even heard much about it. Is it good?

it’s a fine little movie but nothing special. the kind of stuff the academy loves

yeah, it was fine for what it was. but kind of tv movie/middlebrow indie film vibes. the director (sian heder) wasn't even nominated for best director that year.

that was such a weird oscar year (the slap notwithstanding). still very much affected by the pandemic. coda was a sundance movie that had an extremely limited theatrical release in august simultaneous with its streaming premiere on apple tv+. at that time, nobody was talking about it as an oscar contender at all. then over the next few months it picked up some word-of-mouth buzz (still without any reported domestic box office). and then somehow gathered steam at the right moment.

power of the dog was the main competition (jane campion won best director), but i think it was too weird for some voters, and a feel-good movie like coda is what people wanted in early 2022.

I'm harsher: CODA was at best hack work when I watched it on a bored Sunday afternoon in August 2021, was legit horrified when it became an Oscar frontrunner.

i was paying less attention to the oscar race back then, but i genuinely had never even heard of coda until it started getting awards nominations in december 2021. so its trajectory always felt kind of "huh?" to me.

still the only Best Picture winner where a character loves The Shaggs, i think

at least there aren't any contenders this year that are utterly embarrassing, that I can think of

Perhaps that dreadful-looking Wicked sequel.

oh i guess that might get nominated, i forgot it existed

not really the same cringe factor when the movie is for 12 year olds imo. but that one really was truly awful

Avatar?

Very possible that both Wicked and Avatar get snubbed in Picture. Gold Derby currently has them sitting at #11 and #14, respectively -- and there's a big drop-off between #10 (Bugonia) and #11.

OBAA would be a really good winner. Best since Anora, imo.

lolling at "scrunchy face" and "le scrunch"

long shot but i'd take odds for hamnet best picture. terrible movie

Surprised by how much I agreed with AN Wilson’s review of Hamnet. https://open.substack.com/pub/anwilson/p/hamnet

I had not read the novel, nor am I likely to do so. This is not because Maggie O’Farrell is not a very good novelist, but because I am embarrassed by attempts to reconstruct the “real” Shakespeare, the man behind the plays, etc. It is so obvious that Shakespeare subsumed his ego, and is not to be found in the plays. Why look for the living among the fictitious?

I can't take the review seriously because if he HAD read the (okay) novel they'd note that Shakespeare is even more of a slightly malign detached presence.

Variety thinks F1 is likely to get a best picture nom, given that it appeals to older voters.

The main reason people are thinking it might is because it got a PGA nomination. But I'm skeptical.

I thought Sinners and OBAA were both somewhat cartoonish. I enjoyed them both but liked Sinners more. The acting and the atmosphere were good, the vampire story was at least modestly intriguing, and the music was incredible. I also liked that it referenced the story of Robert Johnson.

My main complaints about OBAA were 1) it was even longer than Sinners, which is to say way too long, and 2) to get through it you have to sit through an incessant and intrusive score and soundtrack that were not that interesting (it’s almost as if PTA is turning into Christopher Nolan). I liked the movie but the whole thing felt a little punishing to me, and the story of the white patriarchal overlords was way too over the top.

I agree, but Sinners felt more daring than the strawmen of OBAA. No one talks about how the anti-Christianity angle of sinners, which to me seems much riskier in the black community than anything in OBAA

Honestly I almost stopped watching sinners about 15 minutes in, but then it just takes off and never lets up

the story of the white patriarchal overlords was way too over the top.

― Dan S, Monday, January 19, 2026 4:43 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

*opens the newspaper*

the more i think about hamnet, the less i like it. i wish its awards buzz were aimed at the testament of ann lee, a movie unafraid to show how viscerally brutal childbirth is

Hamnet's a B+/B movie, therefore a failure if you're one of my movies. The woodland ambience and the way it conjures the spirits of Merrie Olde England reminds me of Chimes at Midnight. Paul Mescal seems to generate sexual heat with any costar, and Jesse Buckley responds in kind. I just can't stand it when otherwise smart people think that writing a play or some sonnets is explicit "therapy" like seeing a counselor or working out your problems. So the last act would instinctively repulse me.

*one of my students

I thought Sinners and OBAA were both somewhat cartoonish.

Not seen OBAA. I liked Sinners well enough, but I agree.

Or at least, going-in not knowing anything about what to expect, the opening 20-30 minutes felt really quite restrained and I was all set up to watch a subtle historical thriller exploring race relations in 1930s Mississippi, with possible nods to the supernatural.

What I got was a charmingly goofy but enjoyable musical vampire movie in the style of From Dusk Til Dawn that explored its topics through sometimes loose, sometimes forced analogy.

Viewed purely as a vampire or horror film, I didn't think it really did anything very new with the tropes and trappings of those genres and a lot of the sequences felt very familiar from other vampire or zombie-style films - vampires needing to be invited in; unsuspecting people not understanding that a loved one is a vampire and falling for their trick; the ensemble barricading themselves in a building as the monsters try to get in. The difference is that THESE monsters turn you into an Irish folk singer.

The soundtrack and sound-design were something else mind you. There were points where I felt like I was having some severe auditory hallucinations. That said the whole sequence where musicians from the future have a costume party together didn't work on me at all. Or at least, it nearly made me spray Tango Ice Blast over the backs of the heads of the people in front of me.

Maybe it's the Netflixy production sheen of a lot of modern big budget horrors these days that leave me wondering if the producers aimed to make them look absurd? Contrast the most recent Candyman with the original, for example. I need a bit more grit on screen or it's hard for me to take the premise of a horror film too seriously.

Michael B Jordan is definitely "what went right" with the film though. In fact lots of fantastic performances to carry it

Dan S., how do you define "cartoonish"? Not a zing.

I thought Sinners and OBAA were both somewhat cartoonish.

I thought No Other Choice was pretty cartoonish, too! And like OBAA and Sinners could have lost a few minutes, imo, though Sinners I thought was the richest of these among-the-best-of-the-year three, so seemed like the least too-long.

Sinners WAS a subtle historical thriller exploring race relations in 1930s Mississippi in the guise of a horror film.

I think y'all are using "cartoonish" glibly imo

the more i think about hamnet, the less i like it. i wish its awards buzz were aimed at the testament of ann lee, a movie unafraid to show how viscerally brutal childbirth is

I watched ‘Call the Midwife’ the other night, that was enough viscera for me.

Well, One Battle for sure has a coyote vs. roadrunner quality to it. No Other Choice, there were some similar Looney Tunes vibes, imo. And Sinners if not cartoonish was certainly comic booky, just comic booky with an impressive level of depth.

the thing that makes sinners original and full of depth is its incorporation of the history of black music and the co-opting thereof. also the character work is remarkable. that this is all happening in a genre movie is ALSO part of what's great about it

yup

i loved how moss- and lichen-forward the beginning of hamnet was, but it really started to lose me when both its birth scenes were like... immaculately clean. why invest me in the loss of this child and deliberately elide the pain and indelicacy of childbirth, especially in a period piece that foregrounds a witchy woman's relationship with her art man and her children. this seems like a small detail to get caught up in but it extends to the rest of the movie's relationship with the reality of things, such as its representation of hamlet!!!!

I can only understand "cartoonish" as descriptor if you want histories to be, I dunno...serious in a staid Academy Award-winning way?

I think y'all are using "cartoonish" glibly imo

I mean, that's what I got from it. First 20-30 minutes, not so much. But once people started soft-shoeing on railway platforms it all got pretty heightened. From what I remember about the colour pallette is it was all super saturated. The vampires sing "Will Ye Go Lassie Go?". It wasn't really very subtle, but maybe that was the point. I dunno, a lot of it worked but not all of it.

Maybe it's the Netflixy production sheen of a lot of modern big budget horrors these days that leave me wondering if the producers aimed to make them look absurd? Contrast the most recent Candyman with the original, for example. I need a bit more grit on screen or it's hard for me to take the premise of a horror film too seriously.

Had much the same reaction to Frankenstein, which I thought had a generic videogame-ish aesthetic — especially compared to Del Toro's earlier work.

Frankenstein's flaws get worse and worse in my mind the more I think back to it. I'm at peace witht he idea that Del Toro is more interested in making his films look like theme park rides these days than anything close to "horror". It would just be nice if there were a little more substance, dimension and humanity to his screenplays.

Whatever interest it's got Jacob Elordi provides.

Oscar and Jacob were both stalwarts, I'll give you that

David Ehrlich's annual video countdown of his top 25, assembled entirely of clips from the movies set to music (the countdown starts about four minutes in, after an expertly edited intro collage):

https://vimeo.com/1156345183

There was no birth in OBAA, but I liked that it kept the postpartum depression plot from Vineland.

lots of depressed mothers in the movies this year (I finally watched Die My Love, which I thought was great, totally understand why it's not a big oscar contender though)

I think Lawrence could've made a run for it if If I Had Legs I'd Kick You didn't exist.

certainly, she's very good in it, as is Pattinson

Well, One Battle for sure has a coyote vs. roadrunner quality to it. No Other Choice, there were some similar Looney Tunes vibes, imo. And Sinners if not cartoonish was certainly comic booky, just comic booky with an impressive level of depth.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Agree with this. Maybe cartoonish isn't the right word, maybe (for One Battle) just a broadness that felt, for my personal taste, a little too absurd. I know that that is something many people loved about it.

Sinners may get more nominations, but OBAA is almost certainly going to win BP/BD, and probably a few other awards. I guess PTA deserves some recognition after all of these years.

I'm behind on 2025 films, so I'm looking forward to a lot of them. If any of you have a Criterion Channel subscription you should watch Caught by the Tides by Jia Zhangke

It's a step below his usual but I loved it, yes.

Have any of you seen Afternoons of Solitude by Albert Serra? It's on Mubi and is a pretty great film

Yeah, might be the best thing I saw in 2025. Along with 'Viet And Nam', which is also on MUBI now, at least in Denmark.

Cartoonish in and of itself is not a negative qualifier. Absolutely agree there is a lot of Looney Tunes in No Other Choice and Park Chan Wook's work in general for instance, this is not a problem as Looney Tunes shorts are amongst some of the greatest cinema ever produced. It'd be like complaining that something feels too much like Renoir or Hitchcock.

He’s said that it’s a big inspiration on the film and goes into a bit more depth on the interview he did for Letterboxd a couple of weeks ago. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/park-chan-wook-no-other-choice-interview-1236397524/

Oscar nominations in seven minutes.

I'm ready!

whoa, Elle Fanning makes it in over Odessa A'zion and Ariana Grande

was hoping for Sirat in original score, alas

thank god xpost

Blue Moon a mild surprise in screenplay, wonder if it shows up in Picture

Delroy Lindo!!

Paul Mescal missed out there -- totally happy with Lindo in his place.

same

Secret Agent makes it in for casting, which is cool. Any movie with Dona Sebastiana deserves it.

The Sy Hersh doc missed

I've wanted a Lindo nod since 1995 (Clockers).

Whoa, Voice of Hind Rajab over No Other Choice

(So only 4/5 Neon films)

Yay, Ethan Hawke

Kate Hudson takes Chase Infiniti's spot

The Best Actor category is all killer.

And Jafar Panahi shut out of Director

whoa, F1. some people were predicting it, but i couldn't believe it.

That also means no It Was Just an Accident

Someone count the Sinners noms -- did it set a record?

OK, I'm counting 16, which is wild. That'd be a record even without the new Casting category.

Yay, Ethan Hawke

― Venus of Willendorf on Golf (jaymc), Thursday, January 22, 2026 5:46 AM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

justice for ethan hawke!

That final slate for actor seemed solidified for the last month ago, but I still worried Hawke wouldn't make it. Jesse Plemons was probably #6, and he's good in Bugonia, but my heart was with Hawke.

meanwhile Emma Stone is her generation's Meryl Streep, an instant nomination favorite.

Thinking of a Bluesky post from a couple days ago where someone was complaining that Hollywood was "continuing to snub Sinners." I think this was about the Golden Globes, where it lost to OBAA in a few categories. But I really don't think you can say that after this morning. (Especially since AMPAS is a much better representation of "Hollywood" than the Hollywood Foreign Press.)

I'm hearing lots of grumbling from film crit circle members, disappointed at the boringness. I have to keep explaining how these nods, barring the surprises that the Academy always throws in, were cemented months ago.

Pretty predictable, true, but that's because there were a lot of obviously strong candidates. Not at all mad at most of the categories.

wicked being shut out is extremely satisfying

Many of the nominees will not make my year-end rundown, but I can't say that anyone/anything embarrassed me other than honoring Bugonia in any way.

I still haven't seen Bugonia — or Kinds of Kindness for that matter — but the Lanthimos/Stone combo sure is some kind of powerful Oscar bait.

I'm surprised at the F1 nominations, not that it will win anything.

I was hoping Good Boy would have managed a nom for editing but it was a long shot. But that movie floored me. They have to give that dog something, bring him on stage for a treat at least.

the dog won an Astra Award (over human actors), which is the first time I ever heard of the movie Good Boy. (maybe also the first time I heard of the Astra Awards.)

Glad Nick Cave's "Train Dreams" made the cut.

Testament of Ann Lee completely shut out; again I wonder why this film got such a late release.

(I have not seen it yet, nor have I seen Song Sung Blue, but I have a hard time believing Seyfried is less deserving of a nom than Kate Hudson)

notable that Testament of Ann Lee had a release schedule similar to The Brutalist last year. both of them were made by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold (they cowrote both films), but the one directed by Corbet and starring a man got 10 nominations, while the one directed by Fastvold and starring a woman was shut out.

I'm surprised at the F1 nominations, not that it will win anything.

Wouldn’t be surprised if it won for sound and maybe an outside shot at editing, but unlikely to win best picture.

Penn and Del Toro both being nominated for best supporting actor for One Battle After Another is the sixth time since 2017 that there've been double nominees in that category, which is notable only because that category didn't have any double nominees in the previous 26 years (none between Bugsy in 1991 and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri in 2017).

Then there were the days when Godfather movies earned three Supporting Act noms.

Sentimental Value is a double nominee in supporting actress, but that seems to have happened more frequently over the years.

I'm surprised at the F1 nominations, not that it will win anything.

The expansion to 10 Best Picture nominations was a concession to the major studios and their unrecognized blockbusters.

Sentimental Value is a double nominee in supporting actress

And that Best Supporting Actor nom has got to be category fraud.

In the case of Sentimental Value I think they got the categories right — it's Reinsve's film.

As I noted above, F1 got a PGA nomination, so it didn't come completely out of nowhere. But I still thought It Was Just an Accident would edge it out.

Thinking of a Bluesky post from a couple days ago where someone was complaining that Hollywood was "continuing to snub Sinners." I think this was about the Golden Globes, where it lost to OBAA in a few categories. But I really don't think you can say that after this morning. (Especially since AMPAS is a much better representation of "Hollywood" than the Hollywood Foreign Press.)

― Venus of Willendorf on Golf (jaymc), Thursday, January 22, 2026 9:12 AM (four hours ago)

there's a little social media trend of pitting these two films against each other with Sinners framed as the more progressive political choice. it's very stupid imo

neither of them are perfect, both are really great though. ON the whole I preferred OBAA, I'm not going to cry if Sinners wins a bunch of stuff.

there's no compelling reason to compare them is my take

I enjoyed aspects of Sinners but thought it was flawed, including, damningly, that the music was bad

there's a little social media trend of pitting these two films against each other with Sinners framed as the more progressive political choice. it's very stupid imo

― obvious old hat (rob), Thursday, January 22, 2026 10:23 AM (fifty-four minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

it’s completely demented

You get to see white supremacists killed in both of them, there’s no need to choose.

In the case of Sentimental Value I think they got the categories right — it's Reinsve's film.

― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Thursday, January 22, 2026

and for the first time in years no obv category fraud in Best Supporting Actress.

I'm super behind on the international films. I just saw the trailer for Sirat, which looks amazing though I don't know wtf it's about. Voice of Hind Rajab as well. Don't suppose these are hitting streaming any time soon

My cohort and I thought Sirat (unintentionally?) hilarious but we're in the minority.

guardian reviewer hated it but from what he wrote it sounds like something I would enjoy

I loved Sirat. The film's biggest booster seems to be Justin Chang, who raved in the New Yorker.

i didn't care for Voice of Hind Rajab as a movie, but it is effective agitprop.

It's not out of the realm to consider that the movie wants you to laugh. xpost

lopatin not getting nominated for best score is a bad sign for chalamet

Nah, Marty Supreme still picked up 9 nominations. Think it has more to do with the taste of the Music branch.

Recall that the main snub in that category last year was the Reznor/Ross score for Challengers.

I picture Best Score voters as people who go to see John Williams concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.

Bugonia's wretched score wrested a nomination. So.

“Blue Moon” isn’t something I’m interested in, but I’m happy for Ethan Hawke!

I really didn't mind Blue Moon. (Though I do have long history of digging small-scale stagey things more than anyone I ever talk to IRL, so...)

Another thumbs-up for Afternoons of Solitude, and Viet & Nam too. (Thanks Frederik B for repping for the latter on one the festival threads last year.)

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-2026-oscar-nominations-and-what-should-have-been-picked

in which brody calls FROWNLAND “the most important film of the century”

"most important independent film" tbf.

He mentions Invention again there so he's okay by me lol.

I haven't seen 'Sirat' yet, but I loved Oliver Laxes 'Mimosas', which is another one of thoses movies that move in and out of Mubi all the time. And having seen that, I definitely think Laxe knows that his films are kinda ridiculous. He is part of the same little wave of Galician directors as Albert Serra, iirc, along with Lois Patino, who, again, has movies on Mubi every now and then, and they're always worth checking out.

I liked Afternoons of Solitude, as I do most Serra.

lemme guess, Brody thinks The Phoenician Scheme should've swept

He thinks it should've been nominated, but he says Sinners is the best picture of the year.

brodys a joke

frownland is just alright

Nah he’s right about Sinners imo

Byrne is good in it, but I was not a fan of "If I Had Legs..." My wife and I thought it was kinda ... misogynistic? But tbh, most people in this movie are pretty unpleasant.

it’s basically girl daddy longlegs (complimentary)

Took me a second, because I scanned that as girl-daddy Longlegs, and I was like, wtf?

I found If I Had Legs... equally impressive and unpleasant. Byrne is indeed very strong, though; this feels like an extension of her terrific work on Physical.

She's good in everything and has been around long enough that it's kind of wild it took this long for her to get a certifiable Big Screen Acting Showcase.

Just saw Testament of Ann Lee. Snubbing this was criminal. Seyfried deserved a nom, Fastvold deserved a bum for director, screenplay deserved a nom, score and song… wtf.

Man that video on the Times with Pretti reading some words for a soldier who just passed had me in tears. I doubt Fox News will run it but I can’t imagine any current or former service ppl who see that not being affected

Shit sorry wrong thread

I've now seen F1. Was open-minded but it's a bad, silly movie. Clearly it was nominated by the Academy members who resent having to catch up on critically acclaimed films before the voting deadline.

I guess the deal with Testament getting shut out is that they didn't send out screeners, so like, no one from the Academy saw it.

Not just Academy members. I got a screening link only after begging for it.

what a weird way to market this film. thanks Searchlight! Seyfried has worked overtime on social media all year to drum up attention for this.

yeah she's not to blame

i wonder if Searchlight didn't know what to do with it. it wasn't even acquired until several weeks after its Venice premiere, so some hesitation was there from the start. and not like they had a lot of other contenders to balance, but Is This Thing On probably seemed like it an easier sell.

that said, i feel like Seyfried was always its only possibility at a major nomination, and best actress was very competitive.

BAFTA noms:
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jan/27/bafta-film-awards-2026-full-list-of-nominations

Lots of overlap with Oscars. For instance, BAFTA best director is the Oscars lineup + Yorgos. BAFTA best actress is the Oscars lineup + Chase Infiniti. Foreign language (international) film is identical.

Main notable difference is Brit films I Swear and The Ballad of Wallis Island sneaking into screenplay, acting, and casting categories.