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.

Does anyone besides me care about the Oscar-nominated shorts? I saw the live-action and animated programs today. And I want to hear the presenter say "Jane Austen's Period Drama."

I’ve watched three of the animated shorts and two of the live actions. (As yet have not watched any of the short docs). The Jane Austen one was like an SNL sketch. The Singers (on Netflix) was ok but felt a bit contrived.

It's been a while since a movie was seemingly done dirty as bad as "The Testament of Ann Lee." Co-written and directed by the co-writer of "The Brutalist," whose director was the other co-writer on this, pretty high profile star who got some awards traction, released in a limited run in time for Oscar nominations (even a few 70mm screenings, iirc), good reviews, and then ... nada. No Oscar campaign/nominations, no prominent promotion ("from the makers of The Brutalist") that I noticed, now an announcement that it's not even getting a physical media release. It was never going to be an easy sell, but they afaict didn't even try.

good soundtrack too

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

― The Luda of Suburbia (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, January 22, 2026 3:08 PM (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

Is Sirat as bad and hated as some critics say? It's finally opening near me.

by all means watch it. My people and I were alone in mocking it.

Testament of Ann Lee is one of my favorite movies of the past 25 years. I think it JUST opened in the UK

it's good!

For Brits at least I think Ann Lee is eminently more risible.

No Oscar campaign/nominations, no prominent promotion ("from the makers of The Brutalist") that I noticed

Searchlight had three potential contenders this year (Rental Family, Is This Thing On, and Ann Lee), and their awards chances all kind of fell apart. Ann Lee def had the best critical reception among the three, though, so I am not exactly sure what happened. I will say that Seyfried was very much in the mix for the Best Actress Oscar (she got a Golden Globe nod), but it was a strong field this year. She was probably 6th or 7th.

There is an FYC page, tho:
https://debut.disney.com/fyc/searchlight-awards/movie_fyc/the-testament-of-ann-lee-1760111610043

Meaning that there *was* a nominal awards campaign for the movie, even if it didn't reap rewards

Anyway...BAFTAs and Actor (formerly SAG) Awards have made three of the four acting races interesting. Jessie Buckley seems like the only lock. Chalamet's chances have been dealt a serious blow with BAFTAs going for an actor who wasn't Oscar-nominated and SAG going for Michael B. Jordan. Might Wagner Moura sneak in at the end?

Does Sean Penn winning at both awards shows mean that he will carry that momentum to the Oscars? Or does Stellan Skarsgard still have a chance with the increasingly international Academy? Is best supporting actress a three-way race between Teyana Taylor (GG winner), Amy Madigan (SAG winner), and Wunmi Mosaku (BAFTAs winner)?

http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2026/3/4/oscar-volley-best-actor-will-be-a-nail-biter-to-the-bitter-e.html

Good read.

btw I'm with Alves: precedents exist to be broken. Regina King won without SAG and BAFTA love.

a precedent is being broken — how can you break a precedent?

^^ to the tune of "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?"

If I had a preferential ballot:

Moura
Chalamet
Hawke
Jordan
DiCaprio

Who I think will win, in descending order:

Chalamet
Jordan
Moura
Hawke
DiCaprio

Heh:

https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/anonymous-oscar-ballots-sinners-one-battle-after-another-chaos-oscar-race-1236680748/

not sending their best

I generally enjoyed Sinners and am happy that an original story made a gazillion dollars at the box office. But my heart is more with OBAA, and I admit I will be sad if it gets overtaken in the final lap.

thought OBAA was much better, but sinners is a very good film too. the conversation around the films is pretty insane and best ignored

I thought Wagner Moura's perfomance was a deep one in The Secret Agent.

Watching the film you realize that you really like his kindness and openness. As a character he doesn't give much away, but you also realize he is clearly disturbed by the fascist government, by his past actions as an assistant professor who's patent was stolen, by his enemies, and by his fear of the danger he puts his fellow dissidents in.

Armando loves his son but is not close (a recurring theme in the film). When Moura plays Armando's son at the end of the film in the present time he seems very different, a short-haired doctor in a hospital who is way more open and flamboyant

His kind of performance rarely wins Academy Awards. It's surprising that he was nominated

I've seen Sinners a couple of times, and it was better the second time, downright virtuoso in its mastery of tone, themes, image and pacing; OBAA is only around 20 minutes longer, but it's only fitfully as (for lack of a better word) kinetic. Granted, I saw OBAA only the once because I was mixed about it at best - loved the acting and cinematography, didn't really love the shaggier/sillier (Pynchon) aspects of the story or the way it was told - but I still appreciated its big weird swings. I definitely need to see it again to determine where I ultimately fall.

Y'all watching the Oscars tonight?

Bought some sparkling wine so I can make a French 75.

Dan S otm. He's my favorite of the actors.

I just got back from Brazil and saw this in the Brasilia airport.

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:5xznxlcewkq6nwwdjzc7wpou/bafkreiawtz5e66fuwtrcqkxt5z5adl5k5pu3bn42luhdnlcg4xtwayvrae

so handsome

Aunt Gladys ftw!

happy for amy madigan, no real horse in that race but probably would have voted taylor or one of the SV choices

Amy Madigan and future spouse Ed Harris had the best chocolate cake sex scene in film history in the epitome of '80s Oscar staidness called Places from the Heart

Just opened a bottle of bubbly, gonna make a French 75 later. :)

ok, so OBAA winning casting (over the predicted Sinners) means it's winning Best Pic, right?

was sinners a strong favorite? honestly I had thought most of the races were too close to call apart from like, adapted screenplay and animated feature

pretty sure OBAA is winning Director and Picture.

Sinners was the favorite from what I read. I hope it wins a lot of the awards

I love Amy Madigan so I am satisfied for the evening.

The Secret Agent and Sentimental Value are my favorite films among these 10. Sentimental Value had 4 really great performances. One of these two films will win Best Foreign Language Film

three-time Oscar winner Sean Penn

sean penn’s performance was deserving but I was really hoping skarsgard would take it

Sean Penn win I think means OBAA for director/picture? Michael B. Jordan still good candidate for actor, it's either him or Timmy.

tellan Skarsgård in a reaction shot looks pissed!

None of the Best Supporting Actor nominees were disgraceful. But Sean Penn played his character in the most obvious manner. Maybe voters responded in real time to what ICE looked like in Minneapolis, and their officers acted a lot like Penn.

Chris Evans is so hot.

I saw the live action shorts yesterday and am pleased that my two favorites tied. (I preferred Two People Exchanging Saliva, but The Singers was my runner-up.)

I appreciate that Anderson and Coogler, the evening's epic duelists, are two original writer-directors. This rarely happens at Oscars.

yes for sure. original screenplay was an absurdly loaded category. nice win from coogler who deserves it

Disappointed that Benicio Del Toro didn’t win, glad PTA got the adapted screenplay win

fucking hell I'm tearing up at Rachel McAdams' Diane Keaton tribute.

omigod Barbra Streisand

I didn't mind the longer-than-usual In Memoriam (three special tributes!) considering the honorary Oscars are no longer on the main telecast

lol'd at Babs busting out the song, tho

Pedro Pascal looks like a waiter

Sigourney Weaver and Pedro Pascal are my DREAM movie couple; but I can tell an enthusiastic show scriptwriter thought Weaver would love the callback to Aliens instead of looking as if she might retch on her high heels.

Just opened a bottle of bubbly, gonna make a French 75 later. :)

made it with cognac instead of gin, and damn that's tasty

three-time Oscar winner Ludwig Goransson

Your first tonight? xpost

F1 definitely had sound. you can't say that it didn't.

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) March 16, 2026

Was there a particular sound in F1 that they are honoring?

conan's groany f1 joke ('i hear they're making a sequel... caps lock!') made me laugh

editing for OBAAA feels portentous

Autumn Durald Arkapaw is the first woman ever to win Best Cinematography

Demi Moore was not pleased to be heralded by the "St. Elmo's Fire" theme by David Foster.

I thought editing and cinematography were the most impressive elements of OBAA, so glad to see it get one of those.

brody got me with this howler

Most acting, not best acting. Terrible choice of Sean Penn for a terribly directed, misdirected performance

— Richard Brody (@tnyfrontrow) March 16, 2026

Lionel Richel doesn't say, OUTRAGEOUS?!

oof the music cutting off that korean guy was rough

Wow. The room went crazy over Jordan. These people did not like Timmy.

lol I don’t think the room is twitter. stacked category, deserving winner. was hoping hawke would steal it tho

The entire category was fire imo

i didn’t think it was mindblowingly good acting but i like mbj a lot and i’m happy he won

Jordan would have been a major shock had he not just won the SAG Award. feel like the momentum turned against Chalamet even before the ballet/opera comments.

Voting had closed by the time he made those comments to be fair.

I have this grim feeling Chalamet's career has peaked and we'll see him in rehab in a decade.

Well, he made the comments before voting opened, but they didn't get picked up by the media until the last day of voting.

yay for One Battle

deserved winner

Paul Thomas Anderson cites the 1975 Best Picture nominees and ends his speech with, "Let's have a martini!" My kinda guy.

!

my rough count is OBAA with 6 winners, sinners with 4

Ryan Coogler and Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed two films most beloved by the industry tonight. SINNERS was a massive hit. Let's savor it for an evening.

Pretty impressively even spread of winners tonight.

Give or take a "Marty Supreme," of course.

Yeah I have no big complaints. PTA is a good winner, he's a major director and that's one of his best and most crowd-pleasing movies. I would've picked some different winners, but it was a good crop overall. The Oscars have had many worse years.

Yeah nicely spread around, I undeserving wins for most things (that Kpop song sucks though). Really glad Buckley won, I thought she was amazing.

I’m glad coogler won screenplay. He was an an undergrad where my wife got he MFA and was told by one of the creative writing instructors than he should do screenplays. He took her to an award show as his guest few years ago. I guess she was right!

guessing the "where's wallace?" memes are going on

sad that THE SECRET AGENT got shut out. should have won casting imo

only real wtf winner for me is ludwig goransson, I liked Sinners a lot but absolutely hated that score

Nate Jones on why Chalamet may have lost.

In other words, likability for a character doesn't matter in whether a movie or performance is good or not — but likability for an actor (even one playing an unlikable character) probably matters in awards voting. (Tho I guess tell that to Sean Penn.)

It was ever thus with Academy voters. I recoil from the thought that being a prick on the campaign trail should prevent a deserved win, but what can I tell ya?

Lotta bad takes out there this morning.

ooh any you'd like to share?

The Chalamet stuff all feels weird to me because I follow the Oscar race closely, but I haven't seen very much of Timmy's "never-ending publicity tour" (as the Jones article puts it) and so don't have much of a personal feeling about how he comes across IRL. But even apart from the ballet/opera comments, it seems like a *lot* of people find his whole deal annoying and are absolutely gleeful not only that he lost the Oscar but that Marty Supreme didn't win any of its nine nominations. I guess I find it understandable that fellow Academy members might have opinions about how Chalamet has campaigned (and take that into consideration when casting their ballot), but I can't deal with the social-media takedowns from people who by their own admission haven't even seen the movie.

Friends on a Signal chat were quick to sigh with relief this morning on learning Chalamet lost. One of the participants, a person who'd closed her social media accounts a month ago for political reasons, said she was sick of Chalamet's self-publicity. I said I don't watch Instagram reels, so I've no clue how effective or obnoxious he came across; but my point was moot because my friend said she hadn't seen Marty Supreme.

Other bad takes include people who preferred Sinners to OBAA (a fine and understandable opinion) but treat the latter's greater success at the Oscars as evidence of racism or some broader conspiracy or whatever. Part of what annoys me about takes like this is that people just look at the numbers (Sinners won only 4 of its 16 nominations) but rarely make a case for why it should have won in each of the (non-Best Picture) categories it lost.

Because people don't watch movies.

did i watch the wrong cut of OBAA? did the christmas adventurers club actually prevail?

I totally forgot that "Uncut Gems" got totally shut out of nominations. Maybe the Academy just doesn't like Josh Safdie or the vibe of his/their films?

I've only seen Marty Supreme but yeah I wouldn't exactly call it Oscarbait

everyone otm about the takes, I have to stay off bluesky today

Yeah, in a way it's a miracle that a Safdie film got nine nominations. But in a year with Sinners, OBAA, and Frankenstein (the three movies that won in those nine categories), Chalamet was the only one who ever really had a chance at a win.

Wolf of Wall Street was shut out of its five Oscar nominations as well, and Marty Supreme has some similar energy to it.

xp In other words, I don't think it's correct to say (anymore) that they don't like Josh Safdie -- the movie got nine noms! -- but they just liked those other nominated movies more.

Frankenstein was over-awarded imo. Makeup I can see, but I really wasn't impressed with the production design, it felt pretty generic-goth to me. That and costume design I would've happily given to Sinners (or Marty for production design, I loved its '50s New York).

I haven't seen Frankenstein, but costume design for Sinners would have made a lot of sense to me.

Am I alone in finding it off that Sinners won for cinematography? A rare case where I'd seen every nominated film, and I thought it was the worst of the bunch. I get why people didn't love Train Dreams as a film, but I thought the camera work was its best attribute, and not in the expected Malick-y nature photography way. For example, the narrow aspect ratio was an inspired choice; you'd expect a beautiful(TM) film set in the west to go widescreen, but the narrow ratio emphasized the height of the trees and resonated with the film's (slight inchoate) theme of a small life lived quietly, an anti-epic.

Chalamet was the only one who ever really had a chance at a win.

I thought it was going to win that new Best Casting category. What a lineup.

one battle was a worthy casting win for finding chase infiniti and that one military interrogator guy who basically played himself

sentimental value wuz robbed for best cinematography, somehow didn't even get nommed

Yeah, the cinematography was Sinners' least impressive element.

I dunno, the second time I saw it I was struck by how good it looked, especially the use of all the changing aspect ratios.

I thought the most surreal thing about the PTA win(s) is that it felt like a lifetime achievement award, or at least long overdue, despite the fact that the dude is only 55. Scorsese was 10 years older than that when he won his first Best Director for "The Departed;" iirc, that for sure felt honorary. I suppose Spielberg was still in his '40s when he won his first Oscar. Don't recall if there was an air of "finally" to that win so much as inevitability. Like Marty, dude's track record and bona fides were unimpeachable.

It's hard for me to look at it this way because I personally dislike The Departed and think that Scorsese made many much better films prior to that, but I'd put OBAA right up there with PTA's best.

The Departed is great but he's directed 3 or 4 better movies since then and he directed 9 or 10 better before that so it felt strange even at the time to give it to him for that and no others, but timing is everything.

Jack Nicholson trying to do a Boston accent was a big no for me

Frankenstein was over-awarded imo.

It was expected to win all three of those, but yeah it feels weird that that's the film with the third-most Oscars. Reminded me of when Bram Stoker's Dracula won three craft categories (including Makeup and Costumes) at the 1992 Oscars.

I haven't seen Frankenstein, but costume design for Sinners would have made a lot of sense to me.

I think Sinners was probably the runner-up, especially since the costume designer was two-time Oscar winner Ruth Carter.

I thought the most surreal thing about the PTA win(s) is that it felt like a lifetime achievement award, or at least long overdue, despite the fact that the dude is only 55.

Al Pacino was 52 when he won his "long overdue" Oscar for Scent of a Woman.

I actually stopped Marty Supreme 90 mins into it. Couldn't stand the writing or Chalamet's character. Would love to see him play an overly vulnerable, lovable and fragile role than all these dickish, ambitious leads that seemingly reflect his IRL id and "main character syndrome"

Kinda shocked PTA didn't win it for There Will Be Blood, but that year was stacked with No Country For Old Men etc.

Timing is a thing I guess.

xp Mark Harris had a good point about that on Bluesky:

My why-Chalamet-lost analysis does not have to do with any personality issues or the ballet thing: People in and out of the industry started to fall in love with him because of the emotional connection he made to other actors in Call Me by Your Name, Lady Bird, and Little Women... >

...but it's interesting to me that in the big hit movies that have made him a star--Dune, Wonka, Complete Unknown, and Marty Supreme--he is four different versions of a solo act, a one-man show. We are watching him do his thing on his own more than we're watching him interact with others. >

Again, leaving personality out of it, I think that has subtly contributed to a lot of the "It's all about him"/"What an egomaniac" stuff that, don't @ me, I think is largely, though not 100& unearned. I'm writing this because I think he's an extraordinary talent whose best work is still ahead... >

...but as he contemplates his next career move--and I do want to note that, with five hits in a row, he is in no kind of real trouble--I hope he considers either an ensemble piece or something in which his work will be describable as generous to his costars. On screen, or on stage, or both.

anyone tut tutting about chalamet's schtick hasn't hung out w a manboy born in NYC between the ages of 12-45 . they're all like this!

Good Mark Harris points.

Pacino, looks like he was up for Best Actor in a few stacked years, often losing to or alongside a few other iconic performances, and of course ironically winning it the year he absolutely *shouldn't* have won it. Def. more of a belated award for his body of work than for Scent of a Woman specifically. I agree that at least PTA deserved it this year, as much as anyone did.

PTA deserved to win just for his endorsement of martinis.

Maybe Chalamet would’ve won if he started dating Jenna Ortega instead.

I thought Marty Supreme was pretty good, but in no way do I think Chalamet had the undisputed best performance, Michael B. Jordan was every bit as good. If there were any awards I would've liked to see Marty Supreme win, it would've been production design or casting.

Chalamet is going to get cast as identical triplets in his next film. Or maybe he can play everyone, like Eddie Murphy. Complete with all the farting. That Oscar will be his to lose.

did i watch the wrong cut of OBAA? did the christmas adventurers club actually prevail?

a lot of the push back on OBAA online comes from people who feel like it was racist in it's depiction of Perfidia, and weak-sauce w/r/t how it handles revolutionary movements in general.

definitely lots of people who wanted penn to break the fourth wall and say, I’m a bad guy and what I’m doing is wrong, btw

Has anyone before MBJ won an Oscar for multiple roles in the same movie? I know Peter Sellers was nominated for Dr. Strangelove but didn't win.

JiC: the Scorsese comparison actually highlight the way a lot of Academy voters think about these things - at the time it had become conventional wisdom that they had fucked up horribly by not awarding him for any of the era-defining classics he made in his 30s and 40s. For all they knew, if they now missed the chance to award him in his 60s, he might never make another movie that would be a plausible contender, and then the historical record would show an academy that never gave an Oscar to this gigantic artistic hero of the industry.

PTA is, as you suggest, more comparable to Spielberg - wunderkind not given his due, then finally given his due at mid-career. In their cases, it's less "we might miss our chance" and more "you've graduated, keep it up." I think at least some of the people who voted for Schindler's List to win would, at that time, have still pooh-poohed Jaws, ET, Close Encounters, etc., and were rewarding the idea of the blockbuster master/mogul "growing up." They'd rejected his previous efforts at that, but this one landed.

Timing/competition is also inescapable. If there were two Best Picture winners each year, they'd probably both have gotten one earlier than they did.

xpost I did just learn that Jeremy Irons, who of course played twins in "Dead Ringers," "when he won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1991 for Reversal of Fortune, he thanked Cronenberg in his acceptance speech." Because Irons, er, killed it in that role.

xposting myself, I bet if 1993 were now, Schindler's List and Jurassic Park might both have been nominated for Best Picture.

In the case of Spielberg, the best was yet to come, especially his 2000s.

(Morbs would've agreed)

they definitely both would have been nominated xps

kind of crazy that soderbergh got two films into a 5-nominee field in 2000 (or 2001, whatever you want to classify that ceremony as)

Fredric March and Lee Marvin won Best Actor for playing more than one role in a film.

Unrelated, I was wondering, as I watched the in memoriam: how do you think they are going to handle Woody Allen's death?

ha, I had the same thought

prob the same way they handle roman polanski's

I thought the most surreal thing about the PTA win(s) is that it felt like a lifetime achievement award, or at least long overdue, despite the fact that the dude is only 55.

Fun fact: PTA is eight months older than Sean Baker. Baker really seems like a late bloomer in comparison.

And PTA is one month older than Christopher Nolan. They've been given the award to three directors almost exactly the same age three years in a row.

Joanne Woodward won best actress for playing three personalities

LOL so Sean Penn was actually in Ukraine meeting with Zelenskyy during the Oscars. Thats a unique flex.

I joked when I was watching that he was probably in Cuba.

after which the three of us met for martinis xpost

I saw someone elsewhere point out that Jordan was the first Best Actor winner to play multiple roles since Lee Marvin. Made me wonder whether this was the first time that two Best Actor *nominees* played multiple roles (Wagner Moura does in The Secret Agent).

Another one for you trivia buffs: what is the only time that two actors were both nominated for playing the same character in a movie?

does it have to be the same movie? first guess is de niro and brando for vito corleone if not

Same movie.

Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix won for each playing the Joker.

Jessie Buckley and Olivia Colman in The Lost Daughter? I forget whether Colman was nominated.

Oh, she was! So is that it?

Oops. I guess there was more than one time. That one appears to qualify too.

Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart for Titanic

Ding ding ding.

🤘

Kate Winslet and Judi Dench in Iris also

Whoops, missed the "same movie" caveat before checking: Anthony Hopkins and Frank Langella both had Best Actor nominations for playing Nixon.

Heard on a podcast that Jordan is also the first Oscar winner whose last name is a country. There's been only one winner whose first name is a country, which you can probably guess.

Whoops, missed the "same movie" caveat before checking: Anthony Hopkins and Frank Langella both had Best Actor nominations for playing Nixon.

Think there are a bunch of these, though only three sets of actors have won Oscars for playing the same character. Two are mentioned above: Brando/Pacino for Vito Corleone and Ledger/Phoenix for The Joker. The third is Rita Moreno and Ariana DuBose for Anita in West Side Story (original and remake).

xpost Robert Englund?

Heard on a podcast that Jordan is also the first Oscar winner whose last name is a country. There's been only one winner whose first name is a country, which you can probably guess.

Someone named Chad?

IIRC the La La Land producer who stood on stage and said "Moonlight, you guys are the winner" was named Jordan, but of course he didn't actually win.

Oh wait, I got it. Show me the money!

^

cuba gooding jr

didn't jordan peele win something already?

yea he won original screenplay for get out

So Cuba Gooding Jr. can't be the only Oscar winner whose first name is a country. Unless it's limited to acting winners or something.

whoa, if F1 had won Best Picture, there would be an Oscar winner whose first *and* last names are both countries

a producer named Chad Oman

Heard on a podcast that Jordan is also the first Oscar winner whose last name is a country. There's been only one winner whose first name is a country, which you can probably guess.

― Josefa, Monday, March 16, 2026 2:58 PM (forty-nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

jaymc, you’re slipping. I should have known this trivia yesterday

Cuba Gooding Jr. also the only Oscar-winning actor I've met.

Fun fact, Cuba Gooding Jr. is the only Oscar-winning actor in "Boat Trip."

Good point about Jordan Peele also winning an Oscar. Frankly I'd assumed this podcast host was talking about all Oscar winners but he must have meant only acting winners.

Three Oscar-winning actors who are Jrs.?

Three acting Oscar winners whose last names are cities or towns in the historic county of Lancashire, England?

If it was three Grammy winners, I'd go Astley, Bolton, and Oldham (counting the Johnny Cash record with "I See A Darkness" winning Best Country Album).

Jordan is also the first Oscar winner whose last name is a country.

His last name is "Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan"?!

Just heard on a podcast that the presenters were not told what to do in the event of a tie, so Kumail's whole "here's what we're going to do" bit for the Live-Action Short tie was just him rolling with the punches and making a decision in the moment. <3

so the winner knew off the top of her head how many ties there had been in the past?

she was the second winner, maybe she had time to google it. and she also might have been wrong about the number of ties, did she say it had only happened three times before?

I was wondering whether for past ties, they also waited to announce the second winner until after the first winner's speech. very classily handled by Kumail, each set of filmmakers had their own moment.

Looks like the last time it happened, it was handled the same way (by Mark Wahlberg). But I doubt that Kumail knew that, and I liked that he told us more directly what was going to happen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztyqsRX_64M

well after looking up the last tie, for sound editing in 2013, it was handled the same way by Mark Wahlberg, with each winner announced separately. But Kumail explained it better.

The award video also included some hee-larious ironic anti-semitic banter by the bear Ted (from the movie Ted), which the Youtube commenters seemed really excited by.

xp damn

Funniest Oscar jokes I've seen:

"Marty Supreme didn't win any Oscars out of its 9 nominations. When you think about it, this is the most Marty Supreme thing that could have happened."

and

"If there's a young actor named LeBron B. James, we could have an interesting debate in a few years."

Then there's Ingrid Bergman announcing a tie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoNdQxkI-0w

LION IN THE WINTER

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/mar/31/democracy-manifest-succulent-chinese-meal-speech-australia-national-film-sound-archive

I think this goes here

Two big Oscar rule changes announced today:

-Actors can now get more than one nomination in the same category. (Mark Harris gives the example of Dennis Hopper in 1986, who was nominated for Hoosiers but not Blue Velvet.)

-Films eligible for the International Feature award will continue to include those officially submitted by their countries, but now will also include films that win an award at a major international film festival (Cannes, Venice, Toronto, etc.). And the award will now go to the director rather than the country.