Bugonia

Would I have picked this to be on the best picture list?  Honestly, it’s out there.  It’s original, creepy, Jesse Plemons can be really scary as a “normal” person, and Emma Stone goes to extreme lengths to convince us she’s just as normal and not a victim of a bizarre conspiracy theory or has Stockholm Syndrome, although it’s easy to see why one would be drawn to that conclusion.  Using the word bizarre to describe this is a bit lite.  Stand out for me is the actor who plays Jesse’s cousin.  From the get-go, you notice he’s a bit different, and that’s perfect because he is autistic, high functioning and he does a fantastic job of portraying Donny (Aidan Delbis).  Be aware that there are not happy outcomes here and the violence level, on a scale of one to ten, is about a seven to ten+.  It’s streaming on Peacock and Fandango.  Rating:  how do you really identify an alien?  ICE need not apply.  3.25⭐️s

2026 Oscar Nominations - Full List - Hollywood Reporter

 Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines…the big show is on March 15th on ABC

Best Picture

Bugonia (Focus Features); Ed Guiney & Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone and Lars Knudsen, Producers
F1 (Apple); Chad Oman, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
Frankenstein (Netflix); Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber, Producers
Hamnet (Focus Features); Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, Producers
Marty Supreme (A24); Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Anthony Katagas and Timothée Chalamet, Producers
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
The Secret Agent (Neon); Emilie Lesclaux, Producer
Sentimental Value (Neon); Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Producers
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler, Producers
Train Dreams (Netflix); Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer and Michael Heimler, Producers

Best Director

Hamnet (Focus Features), Chloé Zhao
Marty Supreme (A24), Josh Safdie
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.), Paul Thomas Anderson
Sentimental Value (Neon), Joachim Trier
Sinners (Warner Bros.), Ryan Coogler

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme (A24)
Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Michael B. Jordan in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent (Neon)

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley in Hamnet (Focus Features)
Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)
Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue (Focus Features)
Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Emma Stone in Bugonia (Focus Features)

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio Del Toro in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Jacob Elordi in Frankenstein (Netflix)
Delroy Lindo in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Sean Penn in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Stellan Skarsgard in Sentimental Value (Neon)

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value (Neon)
Amy Madigan in Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Wunmi Mosaku in Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Teyana Taylor in One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Bugonia (Focus Features); Screenplay by Will Tracy
Frankenstein (Netflix); Written for the Screen by Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet (Focus Features); Screenplay by Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
Train Dreams (Netflix); Screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Best Original Screenplay

Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics); Written by Robert Kaplow
It Was Just an Accident (Neon); Written by Jafar Panahi; Script collaborators Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian
Marty Supreme (A24); Written by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
Sentimental Value (Neon); Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Written by Ryan Coogler

Best Animated Feature

Arco (Neon); Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman
Elio (Walt Disney); Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm
KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix); Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS); Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon
Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney); Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino

Best International Feature

Brazil, The Secret Agent
France, It Was Just an Accident
Norway, Sentimental Value
Spain, Sirat
Tunisia, The Voice of Hind Rajab

Best Documentary Feature

The Alabama Solution (HBO Documentary Films); Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman
Come See Me in the Good Light (Apple); Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro and Stef Willen
Cutting Through Rocks; Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
Mr. Nobody Against Putin (PINK); Nominees to be determined
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix); Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu and Sam Bisbee

Best Animated Short

Butterfly (Sacrebleu Productions); Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens
Forevergreen; Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears
The Girl Who Cried Pearls (National Film Board of Canada); Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski
Retirement Plan; John Kelly and Andrew Freedman
The Three Sisters (Polydont Films/Rymanco Ventures); Konstantin Bronzit

Best Casting

Hamnet (Focus Features); Nina Gold
Marty Supreme (A24); Jennifer Venditti
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Cassandra Kulukundis
The Secret Agent (Neon); Gabriel Domingues
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Francine Maisler

Best Cinematography

Frankenstein (Netflix), Dan Laustsen
Marty Supreme (A24), Darius Khondji
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.), Michael Bauman
Sinners (Warner Bros.), Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Train Dreams (Netflix), Adolpho Veloso

Best Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash (Walt Disney); Deborah L. Scott
Frankenstein (Netflix); Kate Hawley
Hamnet (Focus Features); Malgosia Turzanska
Marty Supreme (A24); Miyako Bellizzi
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ruth E. Carter

Best Documentary Short

All the Empty Rooms (Netflix); Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud (HBO); Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo
Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” (Sky); Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins
The Devil Is Busy (HBO); Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir
Perfectly a Strangeness (Second Sight Pictures); Alison McAlpine

Best Film Editing

F1 (Apple); Stephen Mirrione
Marty Supreme (A24); Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Andy Jurgensen
Sentimental Value (Neon); Olivier Bugge Coutté
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Michael P. Shawver

Best Live-Action Short

Butcher’s Stain (Tel Aviv University Steve Tisch School of Film and Television); Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi
A Friend of Dorothy; Lee Knight and James Dean
Jane Austen’s Period Drama; Julia Aks and Steve Pinder
The Singers (Netflix); Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt
Two People Exchanging Saliva (Canal+/The New Yorker); Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Frankenstein (Netflix); Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
Kokuho (GKIDS); Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
The Smashing Machine (A24); Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
The Ugly Stepsister (Independent Film Company/Shudder); Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg

Best Original Score

Bugonia (Focus Features); Jerskin Fendrix
Frankenstein (Netflix); Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet (Focus Features); Max Richter
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Jonny Greenwood
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Ludwig Goransson

Best Original Song

“Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless (MasterClass/Greenwich Entertainment); Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix); Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park
“I Lied to You” from Sinners (Warner Bros.); Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson
“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from Viva Verdi! (Viva Verdi!); Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike
“Train Dreams” from Train Dreams (Netflix); Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner, Lyric by Nick Cave

Best Production Design

Frankenstein (Netflix); Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
Hamnet (Focus Features); Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Marty Supreme (A24); Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne

Best Sound

F1 (Apple) Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta
Frankenstein (Netflix) Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.); José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor
Sinners (Warner Bros.); Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker
Sirat (Neon); Amanda Vil

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash (Walt Disney); Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
F1 (Apple); Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson
Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal); David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould
The Lost Bus (Apple); Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin
Sinners (Warner Bros.) Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean

Marty Supreme

Some guys, that I have come to know in my life, have an over abundance of chutzpah.  There’s a line delivered by our “hero” that almost made me spit water out my nose.  To paraphrase, “I could sell a pair of shoes to a double amputee”.  I’ve actually witnessed this up close and personal, many years ago.  Marty Mauser is a ping pong hustler in 1950’s New York.  He gives off the grifter vibe from the second he starts talking.  He can rationalize the bejesus out any situation, good or bad.   He has one focus and one focus only and there’s not a lot he won’t do or say to achieve those goals…in essence, he’s a survivalist with a unique skill and an “owe me” mentality.  This film is like watching a Rube Goldberg contraption triggered on speed.  It’s a little bit Pulp Fiction with a lot of miscalculated risks.  The cast is eclectic, the direction had to be spot-on to pull off any of it and Timothee Chalamet is looking at another set of best actor nominations and predictable wins.  Rating: 3.85⭐️s. Don’t get distracted—your serve.

Frankenstein - Anatomy Lesson

I’ve been putting off watching this version of the classic Mary Shelly story of an egomaniacal scientist who, through childhood trauma, creates the ultimate “monster” from parts.  He doesn’t look at people as humans with souls, just the right parts.  This is a grisly film to put it succinctly.  It’s also beautiful and grotesque at the same time.  The brain is not from someone named Abby, and the gathering of parts is graphic with a waltz like quality as the un-named monster is carefully stitched together.  The results remind me of the term “takes a licking and keeps on ticking”.  The story is told from two perspectives - creator and creation.  Guillermo del Toro has masterfully melded the two showing how lack of communication and assumptions can lead to disastrous outcomes.  Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi bring, sorry, new life to a very old story.  Rating: 3.75 stars - lightening in a bottle 

Hamnet

Today I saw a work of art that made me believe there are people born in this world that are meant to lift our consciousness to an almost mystical level of connection.  I’m talking about the bonds between couples, siblings, children and parents.  Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal are Agnes and William Shakespeare and based on the novel of the same name, this is the story of how and why the play comes into existence from a tragedy in their life.  It’s earthy and ethereal at the same time. It melds the imagined with reality taking us all to a time where nothing was automatic, life was difficult, and creativity was a commodity.  Chloe Zhao’s interpretation is so natural you’ll believe that   this isn’t a group of actors, but a family.  Rating:  4 ⭐️s - alas poor Yorrick 💀

Wicked for Good

Previously, Elphaba had been banished from Oz, Glinda had found her spot in the Wizard’s empire and moved from Shiz to a comfy penthouse in the Emerald City, Nessarose has become the Governor of Munchkin Land, Madame Morrible is still reeking political havoc and the flying monkeys and talking animals are nowhere to be seen.  For all of you who didn’t see the play or read the book that Wicked is based on, you might need to watch the first part and familiarize yourself with the characters and their backstories instead of depending on your ‘we’re not in Kansas” 1930’s version of Frank Baum’s political story bought into brilliant technicolor upon Dorothy Gale’s touchdown.  Not going to let the cat out of the bag here, but definitely recommend you see this.  There are Easter eggs all over the place.  Ariana and Cynthia are forces to be reckoned with not only with the Wizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), but anyone who wants to be recognized as the top of their craft when it comes to musicals.  They’re exceptional.  The costumes, hair and make-up, special effects, I could go on, fabulous.  Two new songs melded in seamlessly.  Jon M. Chu’s direction is spot-on.  Rating:  Follow the yellow brick road and your heart 4 ⭐️s 💚🩷💚🩷 

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

What’s the old saying?  There is no ‘joy’ in Joisey, but there is Asbury Park, the Stone Pony, Atlantic City and the Boss.  God bless you Jeremy Allen White—you had big shoes to fill and you did it.  For better or worse, this is the story/recollection of the making of the album titled Nebraska released September 30, 1982 (my 30th birthday)  We’re taken back to Bruce’s childhood and given a glimpse at his lifelong struggle to deal with his abusive father, the pressures of fame, relationships, and depression.  He’s in a creative bunker situation and his solution to taking off the mental handcuffs is a little bit of genius.  For those of you who didn’t experience this decade as a teenager or an adult, it may strike you as odd, but to me it makes sense.  There are a plethora of songs performed by Jeremy and Bruce plus a number of era hits that settle us comfortably into the timeframe.  It’s honestly very difficult to tell if it’s real or Memorex. Soundtrack sil vous please. So glad the Boss didn’t succumb to his demons and continues to carry the real heartbeat of America.  Rating:  a pair of Levi 501’s, a white sleeveless t-shirt, a bandana and a kick-ass mix-tape — 3.75 stars