But it's not really that different because once again I've only seen half of the Best Picture nominees for 2025's pickchas.
I don't know about you; but I need a little break from the madness. What madness? Oh, you know. I don't have to tell you.
So that's me with my Oscar(TM/Reg./Pat Pend/All Rights Reserved). I found it in a filing cabinet in the Gloria Swanson building at Paramount; I think it was Mary Hart's office (she left her door ajar. What can I say, I'm nosey?). The real question is why did Mary have Katina Paxinou's Oscar? It was in sad shape; so I "borrowed" it, took it home and polished it up. I may have forgot to return it. Ooopsie!
So let's talk Academy Awards, 2026!!! Here's the Best Pictures that I saw:
SPOILERS FORTHCOMING!
FRANKENSTEIN
Really liked it. Gorgeous to look at. Put me in mind of Coppola's version of Dracula, which is one of my favorite movies. But all during it I was like: "Frankenstein, again? For godsakes how many times have we seen this story by now? How about a live-action version of Frankenstein Jr.? We haven't seen that before..."*
I don't know about you; but I need a little break from the madness. What madness? Oh, you know. I don't have to tell you.
So that's me with my Oscar(TM/Reg./Pat Pend/All Rights Reserved). I found it in a filing cabinet in the Gloria Swanson building at Paramount; I think it was Mary Hart's office (she left her door ajar. What can I say, I'm nosey?). The real question is why did Mary have Katina Paxinou's Oscar? It was in sad shape; so I "borrowed" it, took it home and polished it up. I may have forgot to return it. Ooopsie!
So let's talk Academy Awards, 2026!!! Here's the Best Pictures that I saw:
SPOILERS FORTHCOMING!
FRANKENSTEIN
Really liked it. Gorgeous to look at. Put me in mind of Coppola's version of Dracula, which is one of my favorite movies. But all during it I was like: "Frankenstein, again? For godsakes how many times have we seen this story by now? How about a live-action version of Frankenstein Jr.? We haven't seen that before..."*
And btw...we've had this many versions of Frankenstein:
HAMNET
Went in knowing very little about this. Thought the first part was super heavy...to the point of, like...ah, no thanks. But totally redeemed itself in the last section about the premiere of the play. Dealing with trauma through art is always gonna fly with this fellah!
MARTY SUPREME
Okay, this is like my fourth Safdie joint. The Bros of Saf (fellow alums, yay!) are just so far, not quite my cup of tea. They really seem to like thoroughly unlikeable people doing unlikeable things running around and screaming at the tops of their lungs. I did like the one with The Rock and Miss Blunt. Marty Supreme, though. I was like: "Why? Why am I supposed to care about this guy? He's like an asshole for the entire movie and then I'm supposed to like him when he cries about his baby? I felt bad for the baby that this man was his father. I can't say I didn't enjoy the spanking scene. Kevin O'Leary should come out with a line of spanking paddles and see if he can get the other Sharks to go in on it with him. I'd buy one! Also, Gwyn Paltrow's necklace would never have fit down that drain. That bugged me. Out of all these choices, I hope this one wins, as it would be a nice feather in the cap of Boston University Film School. Ms. Paltrow was terrific, as usual and I thought the Production Design nailed the period.
F1
Please see my series of blogs for my thoughts on this picture. You can start with the following link!
Went in knowing very little about this. Thought the first part was super heavy...to the point of, like...ah, no thanks. But totally redeemed itself in the last section about the premiere of the play. Dealing with trauma through art is always gonna fly with this fellah!
MARTY SUPREME
Okay, this is like my fourth Safdie joint. The Bros of Saf (fellow alums, yay!) are just so far, not quite my cup of tea. They really seem to like thoroughly unlikeable people doing unlikeable things running around and screaming at the tops of their lungs. I did like the one with The Rock and Miss Blunt. Marty Supreme, though. I was like: "Why? Why am I supposed to care about this guy? He's like an asshole for the entire movie and then I'm supposed to like him when he cries about his baby? I felt bad for the baby that this man was his father. I can't say I didn't enjoy the spanking scene. Kevin O'Leary should come out with a line of spanking paddles and see if he can get the other Sharks to go in on it with him. I'd buy one! Also, Gwyn Paltrow's necklace would never have fit down that drain. That bugged me. Out of all these choices, I hope this one wins, as it would be a nice feather in the cap of Boston University Film School. Ms. Paltrow was terrific, as usual and I thought the Production Design nailed the period.
F1
Please see my series of blogs for my thoughts on this picture. You can start with the following link!
Sinners
Please see my series of blogs for my thoughts on this picture. You can start with the following link!
Please see my series of blogs for my thoughts on this picture. You can start with the following link!
BEST ACTRESS
I only saw two of these actors in the movies they're nominated for. Jessie Buckley for Hamnet and Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue. Jessie Buckley's performance is the more "actorly" of the two. Like, wailing over your dead child is probably the most dramatic scenario there is; and man, she pulled out the stops. I much preferred her quieter moments during the latter part of the movie. However, I truly loved what Kate Hudson did with her performance in Song Sung Blue; plus, she had to sing. If there's a Major Award for Screen Chemistry, it should be bestowed on her and Hugh Jackman. In fact, I thiink Song Sung Blue deserved nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor...the whole shebang. That movie totally took me by surprise and it really moved me. Also about the healing power of art. Loved it and Kate!
I only saw two of these actors in the movies they're nominated for. Jessie Buckley for Hamnet and Kate Hudson for Song Sung Blue. Jessie Buckley's performance is the more "actorly" of the two. Like, wailing over your dead child is probably the most dramatic scenario there is; and man, she pulled out the stops. I much preferred her quieter moments during the latter part of the movie. However, I truly loved what Kate Hudson did with her performance in Song Sung Blue; plus, she had to sing. If there's a Major Award for Screen Chemistry, it should be bestowed on her and Hugh Jackman. In fact, I thiink Song Sung Blue deserved nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor...the whole shebang. That movie totally took me by surprise and it really moved me. Also about the healing power of art. Loved it and Kate!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Again, I have only seen two of the nominated performances. Amy Madigan and Wunmi Mosaku, for Weapons and Sinners, respectively. As for Ms. Mosaku, I had to refresh my memory as to who she played in the movie; but once I did, I nodded in agreement. The entire cast of that movie was great. I have to throw my hat in the ring, however, for Ms. Madigan, since A) Her husband is one of my hall passes and B) she's been doing great work for a long time and C) I can't help but admire her audacious choices for the character's look; and that a character I doodled once looks exactly like Aunt Gladys (which I'm sure is a complete coincidence ;) ):
Again, I have only seen two of the nominated performances. Amy Madigan and Wunmi Mosaku, for Weapons and Sinners, respectively. As for Ms. Mosaku, I had to refresh my memory as to who she played in the movie; but once I did, I nodded in agreement. The entire cast of that movie was great. I have to throw my hat in the ring, however, for Ms. Madigan, since A) Her husband is one of my hall passes and B) she's been doing great work for a long time and C) I can't help but admire her audacious choices for the character's look; and that a character I doodled once looks exactly like Aunt Gladys (which I'm sure is a complete coincidence ;) ):
BEST ACTOR
Again, only two of these. Michael B. Jordan for Sinners and Timothee Chalamet for Marty Supreme. With this, I have to go with Mr. Jordan, because he actually played two characters (twins) one of whom then turns into a vampire. That's a lot on one actor's plate! Also, he started out on an ABC soap; so, we gots to support that! Timmy C. was excellent at playing an unrelenting asshole. So big an asshole I couldn't have cared less if he won or lost his ping pong battles. I kept thinking about King Kong going to Hong Kong to play ping-pong with his ding-dong...(Hey! Now there's a movie idea!!!). But if they gave an Oscar for ass paddling, I'd have to hand it to him! Maybe for the sequel they could come up with something to do with this to Marty:
Again, only two of these. Michael B. Jordan for Sinners and Timothee Chalamet for Marty Supreme. With this, I have to go with Mr. Jordan, because he actually played two characters (twins) one of whom then turns into a vampire. That's a lot on one actor's plate! Also, he started out on an ABC soap; so, we gots to support that! Timmy C. was excellent at playing an unrelenting asshole. So big an asshole I couldn't have cared less if he won or lost his ping pong battles. I kept thinking about King Kong going to Hong Kong to play ping-pong with his ding-dong...(Hey! Now there's a movie idea!!!). But if they gave an Oscar for ass paddling, I'd have to hand it to him! Maybe for the sequel they could come up with something to do with this to Marty:
I could think of a few things! I bet Kevin O'Leary could too (wink,wink)!
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Again, only two. Delroy Lindo in Sinners and Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein. My first question is: How did Jacobi Elordi get nominated for Supporting Actor when the movie is named after him? Oh, wait...then it would've been called Frankenstein's Monster. Still. I think this is a case of nominations for reasons other than just the acting. Delroy has been around a long time and everyone loves him. Jacob is a newcomer and everyone wants to...err...ah...that is to say...slurp his standing bathwater. Or would that be sitting? I can't make a choice here. Jacob made a wonderful impression under all that make-up and Delroy was better on that TV show he did with Kerry Washington. I'm just going to go with Delroy in this case. Age and hotness before youth and beauty.
BEST DIRECTOR AND BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Going with Ryan Coogler here on both. And deservedly so. So few actually original stories are brought to the screen that Sinners was something of a miracle; proving something we haven't seen before (Frankenstein) can make boatloads of the long green; which, let's face it, is just as important as the Arts and Sciences part, am I right people?
As for the rest of the catergories I will withhold comment but for a few, as I saw so few of what got nominated.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Since I've only read one of the sourceworks in this category (and that it's also the only one I saw); that would be Frankenstein. I'd only recently read the novel and was surprised by it's structure and multiple viewpoints. I think this film version cleaved closely to that and caught the Gothic tone.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Frankenstein was gloriously overheated and a delight to the eye. That being said, I think it's much harder to convincingly do a very particular historical period and nail it with real precision; particularly the early part of a decade, which is usually still part of the prior one and the latter part of the current one. 1952 is hard to nail; but I think they nailed it: Marty Supreme, it is.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Again, only two. Delroy Lindo in Sinners and Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein. My first question is: How did Jacobi Elordi get nominated for Supporting Actor when the movie is named after him? Oh, wait...then it would've been called Frankenstein's Monster. Still. I think this is a case of nominations for reasons other than just the acting. Delroy has been around a long time and everyone loves him. Jacob is a newcomer and everyone wants to...err...ah...that is to say...slurp his standing bathwater. Or would that be sitting? I can't make a choice here. Jacob made a wonderful impression under all that make-up and Delroy was better on that TV show he did with Kerry Washington. I'm just going to go with Delroy in this case. Age and hotness before youth and beauty.
BEST DIRECTOR AND BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Going with Ryan Coogler here on both. And deservedly so. So few actually original stories are brought to the screen that Sinners was something of a miracle; proving something we haven't seen before (Frankenstein) can make boatloads of the long green; which, let's face it, is just as important as the Arts and Sciences part, am I right people?
As for the rest of the catergories I will withhold comment but for a few, as I saw so few of what got nominated.
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Since I've only read one of the sourceworks in this category (and that it's also the only one I saw); that would be Frankenstein. I'd only recently read the novel and was surprised by it's structure and multiple viewpoints. I think this film version cleaved closely to that and caught the Gothic tone.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Frankenstein was gloriously overheated and a delight to the eye. That being said, I think it's much harder to convincingly do a very particular historical period and nail it with real precision; particularly the early part of a decade, which is usually still part of the prior one and the latter part of the current one. 1952 is hard to nail; but I think they nailed it: Marty Supreme, it is.
See you at the Oscars bambinas and Katina-a-reenas!
CFR 1/28/26
* Maybe we did see this...The Iron Giant, perhaps? Still not live action though. (Love that movie!)