Oscars 2026

I haven’t done this since 2020?!  Well, the site still works, and I’m on Spring Break.  My nephew Carter will be here for the Oscars this Sunday, so this will be fun.

Or, so I’d like to think.  As I made my way through watching the films this year, many of them are either sad and depressing or angry.  Some of them are downright soul-sucking.  I can tell I’m getting older, as if I come across something that I clearly don’t want to see by its description, I’m not compelled to watch it just to be a completionist.  If you tell me the movie is about a guy who takes pictures of the bedrooms of children who have been killed in school shootings, I’m not going to watch it.

Let’s break this down.  Same old rules apply – this is not what I think is going to win but rather my assessment of the field. 

Actor in a Leading Role:  I’ve seen all of these.  I’m really not sure why the film Blue Moon exists.  I haven’t seen everything Linklater has done, but I’ve seen a chunk, and this seems so unrelated.  My guess is that, for some reason, Ethan Hawke had a burning desire for this role.  It’s so obscure.  Does he nail Lorenz Hart?  Does anyone know?  For something with this much dialogue, I was sure it was based on a play.  Nope.  Hawke, who, even in that hair, still looks baby-faced, can’t really pull this off, whatever it is.  If annoying the hell out of me was the point of Marty Supreme, mission accomplished.  There’s been many irritating characters that are played deftly by good actors (think Estelle Parsons as Blanche in Bonnie and Clyde, who won an Oscar for that).  But you just want to constantly punch Chalamet’s Marty throughout that movie.  So, I guess he did good?  But I hated it?  If a chef prepares a perfect version of a meal you can’t stand, do you still applaud them?  Maybe?  Michael B. Jordan plays two brothers in the film, but in order to track them, I always had to pay attention to who they were with in the scene.  I didn’t really see any difference.  DiCaprio was playing manic and intense, again.  Seen it.  Out of all five, Wagner Moura was the most interesting to watch, but that movie was TWO HOURS AND FORTY MINUTES, and the first hour was slow.  So … Moura?

Actor in a Supporting Role:  I didn’t watch all of Frankenstein (more on that later – got about halfway through though did see the rest of these), but I got the point with what Elordi was doing, and he was effective.  From what I’ve seen of Del Toro in films and interviews, he is a genuinely charming fellow, so playing Sergio didn’t seem like much of a stretch for him.  Delroy Lindo was good, but he wasn’t in the film that long.  The two men that were working were Sean Penn and Stellan Skarsgard, and they were both outstanding.

Actress in a Leading Role:  Saw everything but If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, and from what I’ve heard about it, no thank you.  Out of the other four performances, the weakest was Emma Stone.  That’s really saying something.  This is the strongest category of the four acting groups this year.  I was shocked at Kate Hudson’s performance in Song Sung Blue – I went into that movie thinking it was supposed to be light-hearted.  Pretty much everything about that movie surprised me.  That leaves the two that were quite impressive, but they are so different that it’s hard to compare them.  Buckley’s performance is so external, and Reinsve is internal.  Both were excellent.

Actress in a Supporting Role:  Did not see Weapons – I’m not a horror movie person.  Least effective was Taylor, but only because she had little screen time – after the first bit, she’s gone from the rest of the film.  Similar with Mosaku.  She was good, but Sinners was such an ensemble piece.  The two ladies from Sentimental Value remain.  Fanning was ok – she didn’t have a very big role.  But, you had to have Lilleaas for Sentimental Value to work, and she had a balancing act to perform, which she did adroitly.

Animated Feature Film:  Zootopia 2 was a lot of fun and can be argued as being better than the first.  I saw KPop Demon Hunters, which was also fun.  Slick.  I didn’t see the other three.

Animated Short Film:  I only saw the trailer for The Three Sisters, but I saw the rest (they’re on YouTube).  The art styles are all very different.  The most appealing one to me was The Girl Who Cried Pearls, which looked like a Tim Burton film.  I was liking Forevergreen until it got message-y.  So, when teenagers do something careless and selfish, caregivers should sacrifice themselves to save them?  That’s a yikes.  Heck of a way to learn a lesson.  Humans can’t grow back if a small part is left.  Retirement Plan gave me a few chuckles until it got too true. Butterfly was pretty, but I already knew Nazis were bad.

Casting:  Well!  We don’t get a new category every Oscars now, do we?  I was bummed when they collapsed Sound Editing and Sound Recording into one category, but people got those mixed up all the time.  And we get another one in 2027 for Stunt Design (just when it seems that all the stunts will be done by CG or AI).  We haven’t had a    category since 2001 (Animated Feature).  Um … honestly, this is a bit hard, as there’s a lot of differences between films on how something is cast, so assessing this is slippery.  This is not, from what I understand, an award for ensemble.  It’s for casting director.  It’s determined by the casting group of the Academy.  This is probably now the most inside baseball category at the Oscars.  Given the variety of actors in Sinners and The Secret Agent, it’s hard to choose between the two.  Third would be One Battle.  Fourth Marty.  Hamnet doesn’t have that big of a cast, so I’m unsure why it is here.

Cinematography:  If I ran the world, it would be Train Dreams – that movie was gorgeous.  But, what they were pointing the camera at was very beautiful.  The rest of these movies were … fine.  I think their look came more from set design, visual effects, and editing.  Honestly, I think Song Sung Blue should have been nominated – there was a lot of well-done lighting in that movie that, again, surprised me.

Costume Design:  I haven’t seen any of the Avatar films, but when I heard this was up in this category, I howled.  I can see it for visual effects, but costume design?  WTF?!  The rest are period pieces where PEO-PLE MADE THE COS-TUMES.  You know, like the category implies.  How goofy.  Out of those four, Frankenstein was the most fanciful and inventive.

Directing:  Yes, I know.  PTA is way overdue for this, and he’ll most likely get it.  I just think that it shouldn’t be for this movie.  It is not tight.  It is not as meticulous as his other films.  I really feel they pushed this out given what was, and still is, happening in the country.  So, timeliness beat process.  I’m not going to be angry when he wins – it’s not a bad film.  It’s just not on par with what he has done.  As much as I didn’t like Marty Supreme, it did the most gymnastics, but that’s a Safdie thing, isn’t it?  The control Trier exhibited in Sentimental Value was intricate.  Zhao’s deep dive into grief was a bit too much – I get the sense she either had to be pulling back and didn’t get heeded or she was pushing buttons for what we did get.  Given Nomadland, I’ll take the former.  Maybe her success rides more on the actors she works with rather than her talent?  Sinners was also juggling skillfully.  The slight edge goes to Safdie.

Documentary Feature:  I only saw one of these:  The Perfect Neighbor.  Not only was the narrative compelling, but telling the story almost exclusively through police body camera footage added another dimension.  I might get to see Mr. Nobody against Putin before Sunday, but Cutting through Rocks is not available, I don’t want to watch Come See Me in the Good Light, and I’ve heard The Alabama Solution is like other “prison is fucking awful” documentaries.  Yeah …

Documentary Short Feature:  Remember that film I mentioned at the beginning about someone photographing the bedrooms of children killed in school shootings?  That’s All the Empty Rooms.  It’s on Netflix.  I’m not watching it.  The only one of these I watched is Perfectly a Strangeness, which I really liked.  If you have Kanopy, it’s on there.  Three donkeys roam upon an observatory in Chile.  It’s beautiful and quirky.  Not a day in the life of a security guard at an abortion clinic.  Not a film about the first journalist killed in Ukraine made by his brother.  Not the silent protestors in Isreal of the genocide in Gaza. 

Film Editing:  Usually, this is where action movies shine.  Sinners can be an action movie at the end.  So, the only “legit” action movie is F1.  Or, can you call One Battle an action movie?  I could see an argument for that.  As I mentioned before, there’s a lot going on in Marty Supreme, and that film could be a potential mess without a solid editor at the helm.  Again, didn’t like it, but I do respect it.

International Feature:  I’ve only seen Sentimental Value and The Secret Agent.  Both films are up for best picture as well, and this will not be like Parasite, which won both International Feature AND Best Picture.  I do still want to see It Was Just an Accident, as it did win the Palme d’Or.  Both the films I saw were controlled and engaging. 

Live Action Short:  I did not see The Butcher’s Stain and only saw the trailer to A Friend of Dorothy (though Kim, who did see the movie, told me that if I saw the trailer, I saw the film).  Jane Austen’s Period Drama was funny and did a good job of making one wonder how did men find out about how women’s bodies work, especially during previous historical times like the Georgian or Victorian Era, or any era for that matter.  The Singers has made me cry both times I watched it – there is something so sweet about it, and I love the punchline at the very end.  Two People Exchanging Saliva sounds bizarre, and it is set in an alternate universe and very French, but it was the most filmic.

Makeup and Hair Styling:  I have only seen Frankenstein and Sinners, so I don’t feel qualified to speak on this one.

Original Score:  This one goes to Hamnet.  I feel the score really enhanced certain scenes but was not overt.  So many scores, it seems to me, are getting way too bombastic or intrusive, and that’s not what a score is supposed to do.  Bugonia second.

Original Song:  This one I usually don’t care a tinker’s cuss for.  And, as much as I love my Train Dreams, Nick Cave’s song is not in the film.  I haven’t seen Relentless or Viva Verdi!  The argument comes in that the other two songs from KPop Demon Hunters and Sinners were integral to what was happening in the film when we heard them, and that’s the best kind of use of song, in my mind.  Both are emotionally impactful where they are used in the film.  Weighing them out, it should go to “I Lied to You” from Sinners.  But, the Academy may not agree with me.

Production Design:  This one is hard.  Most of Sinners takes place in one location, but we get to know that location very well.  Frankenstein has a lush design, and it’s based on a fairy tale version of the Victorian Era.  Hamnet is also doing a lot, but honestly, outside of exteriors, interiors are very pared down.  This was not Eggers.  Most of the stuff in One Battle is a blur; same with Marty Supreme.

Sound:  I haven’t seen Sirat.  The other four are doing a lot with splitting channels and not losing things in the mix.  Probably the one that did the best job of this was Sinners, but the others did well.

Visual Effects:  I haven’t seen three of these, so I’m not going to comment.

Adapted Screenplay:  Would love to see Train Dreams win this, but I haven’t read it, so I don’t know.  The only one I have read of this bunch is Frankenstein, and I’ll comment more on that later.  From what I know about these films and their makers, I’d vote Bugonia.

Original Screenplay:  I almost don’t want to say anything because I haven’t seen It Was Only an Accident, and it won the Palme d’Or, so it may actually be the best.  It’s definitely not Blue Moon.  Sinners is more of an idea to execute than a screenplay.  Sentimental Values is a screenplay.

And now, for the Best Picture Nominees, ranked:

10.  Frankenstein – I think del Toro is an amazing director, and the actors in this movie are great.  I had to read Frankenstein when I was younger, and I HATED it.  It’s a great metaphor for why some people just shouldn’t have kids, regardless of the motivations behind why they do.  Some people are cruel and heartless.  They are the last people who should create new life.  When Victor burns down the laboratory with the monster in it, that’s when I shut the movie off.  I’m not interested in watching wanton cruelty to prove a point.  I get it.

9.  Marty Supreme – There are no likeable characters in American Psycho.  Yet, I still find it interesting.  What happens when your protagonist, and pretty much everyone else in the film, are people you don’t like?  This movie is racing to tell the story of a character that lies, cheats, and steals.  And, his story isn’t all that compelling.  So, why should I care?

8.  F1 – I watched this movie on the same day I watched Blue Moon, got through half of Frankenstein, and Marty Supreme.  This was my favorite of the day.  I think it was weird how Brad Pitt was in this and George Clooney was in Jay Kelly, both films where they are playing old has-beens still trying to be relevant.  Only, in Pitt’s movie, which he did also produce, he was still relevant.  Clooney did not produce Jay Kelly.  Results differ.  It’s a decent action film (if you’re grabbing the crew who did Top Gun:  Maverick, it better be).  It was enjoyable.

7.  Hamnet – you would think someone who spent most of their undergraduate and part of their graduate academic careers studying Shakespeare would be beyond excited for this, and I don’t know what has happened in Shakespeare scholarship in the past 25 years, but back then, no one could nail down who wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare.  There just wasn’t enough evidence.  Maybe someone uncovered something that finally settled the issue, but this film is banking hard that Shakespeare wrote Hamlet to eternalize his son Hamnet.  Not to go into a ton of stuff why that is patently wrong, but William Shakespeare’s son Hamnet did die young at about the same time the plays attributed to Shakespeare not only include Hamlet but also switch from comedies to tragedies.  Ultimately, this film seemed very manipulative.  I put off watching it for a long time because I was constantly told how sad it was.  Like watching it was a punishment of some sort.  You know what?  My film at #1 was about loss, too.  But I didn’t feel beaten over the head by it.  It was more organic.

6.  Bugonia – The relationship between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone is a peculiar one these past few years.  I loved Poor Things and thought it was brilliant, though I hated The Lobster more than any film of the past decade because of what it said about humanity (though it may be true – that we are the worst things ever).  None of his films are very pro-human, and I definitely get that.  So, this film made me sad watching it.

5.  One Battle After Another – As mentioned previously, this director has created some of the most significant, auteur-like films for decades.  He is a consummate film director.  This is not his best work by a long shot.  But, it is timely and relevant, and that has drawn attention in a way other films of his, which are far better, don’t.

4.  Sentimental Value – A father too preoccupied with his children to parent them, then wanting to make it up to them later in life by including them.  This is a story that has been told countless times.  Ambition in youth becomes a form of regret when we age.  The human condition.  But, this film treats this dynamic with sensitive gloves, and the performances are so touching.

3.  Sinners – This was an impressive film, and it deserves all the credits and accolades it’s been receiving.  And, its metaphor is hard to ignore.  It’s stylish and exacting.  Good movie.

2.  The Secret Agent – I can’t get over thinking this film was not titled well.  Even when you look at the original Portuguese.   Marcelo / Armando is not working for the government.  When you untangle everything, he’s trying to find evidence of his mother existing in a society that has tried to wipe her out due to her class and the scandal.  Then, you get this stuff about Marcelo’s work on an electric car and leather tanning at the university that’s not the “right” one since it’s in the northern part of the country.  Funding gets cut; sides get chosen.  Armando has to take on an alias to find out about his mother yet also duck the hitmen coming for him regarding his university work.  This plot has so many layers.  But what it amounts to is that there can be a lot of illegal shit going on, but if it was 50 or so years ago, no one remembers, and very few care.  This film reminded me a lot of The Lives of Others (2006), but just in a different location.  I’m not trying to undercut how heartbreaking it is for people in other places in other times who have had to deal with injustice and corruption that have led to beloved people being hurt or killed.  But ultimately, this film suggests the ultimate horrific question: who will remember or care?

1.  Train Dreams – yes, the film that will clearly not win.  Yet, I’m heartened that it was nominated here.  That does surprise me quite a bit.  This story, which covers the protagonist’s life from age 6 to death, is only an hour and forty-four minutes, yet tells so much.  So many others of these films are two plus hours, pushing three, but they couldn’t tell a story of this magnitude.  About this man’s experience with love and loss through his entire life, and how his relationships haunt him.  This film is so beautiful and well-executed. I’m not saying this because I think Joel Edgerton is an amazing actor, though he is rarely not in shot.  It’s the treatment of love and loss in this film which makes it so poignant.

Love to all of you.  Happy Oscars!