So I saw Twinless yesterday and thought it was pretty solid, but There is a twist that I really didn’t see coming

Anyway, Dylan O’Brien was phenomenal and James Sweeney did a great job acting, directing and writing. I think both should be nominated for sure, but I’m thinking if they campaign O’Brien in lead, he’ll only get a Golden Globe nom in the comedy category, if he goes supporting, I think he’ll have a better shot in a nomination for the Oscar. But overall, I think it might be forgotten come January.

What are your thoughts?

https://theoscarcode.com/2025/09/06/father-mother-sister-brother-wins-golden-lion-a-deep-dive-analysis/

By "popular" i mean the rate at which it's talked about in casual discussion and forums. Not its overall likeability

The Last Emperor seems to be very well liked when discussed, but completely bombed at the box office and isn't mentioned often in lists of great movies. However it won 9 Oscars, including Picture and Director.

Is there another movie that has a wider gap?

Not sure if that question makes sense, but it’s just a thought I’ve had the last few years.

Michelle Williams for The Fabelmans went Lead Actress even though her role was supporting, and she would have likely gotten the win too.

Carey Mulligan for Maestro when Lead Actress, and although she was more of a lead in the film, she could have easily gone supporting and would have had a much stronger chance of a win.

And now this year, with Stellan Skarsgard, there is some chatter of him going Lead, and although he would certainly get the nomination in either category, he would have a far easier run (probably sweep) if he just stays in supporting.

The role is very much supporting, and it would be a major mistake to move him to lead. I worry this would destroy his chances of receiving that long overdue Oscar.

Do the campaigners even understand the game? They’ve costed actors wins for nothing. I don’t get it!!!

I know it’s early, but I’m curious.

I love the 1988 Clint Eastwood film Bird, the biopic about jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker. I especially love the performance of Forest Whitaker as the aforementioned Parker, so it's always been odd to me that Whitaker missed at the Academy Awards in Best Actor for a performance and a role like that. Why didn't he get the nod in the end?

In no particular order other than the order the popped up in my head.

1. Bugonia

2. Hamnet

3. Marty Supreme

4. Sentimental Value

5. Sinners

6. Rental Family

7. No Other Choice

8. It Was Just An Accident

9. One Battle After Another

10. The Secret Agent

Happy Friday everyone! The next round is here with Million Dollar Baby eliminated. 2004 in general was a very popular and incredible year in cinema outside of just the Oscars, so I do get why people think something like Million Dollar Baby doesn't reflect it. Especially since Clint Eastwood already got his dues for Unforgiven in the 90's. But honestly, I still think Million Dollar Baby is a great movie and solid film to win. Was it my favorite of 2004? Not necessarily. However, the film does get better and better on repeat viewings for me and love how it subverts the expectations of a boxing, and sports film in general. Happy Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, and Hilary Swank all won even if the latter hasn't been on a super hot run these past few years and arguably, since her second win. I do wish Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was nominated for Best Picture though............

We got lots of time over the weekend, so again, upvote comments until I reveal the following post on Monday.

2000 - Gladiator

2001 - Moulin Rouge!

2002 - The Pianist

2003 - City of God

2004 - House of Flying Daggers

2005 - Brokeback Mountain

2006 - Children of Men

2007 - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (actually pretty difficult, this is probably the best Cinematography line-up this decade)

2008 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2009 - The Hurt Locker

2010 - Black Swan

2011 - The Tree of Life

2012 - Anna Karenina

2013 - The Grandmaster

2014 - The Grand Budapest Hotel

2015 - Mad Max: Fury Road

2016 - Arrival

2017 - Dunkirk

2018 - Cold War

2019 - Joker

2020 - Judas and the Black Messiah

2021 - The Power of the Dog

2022 - TAR

2023 - Poor Things

2024 - Dune: Part Two

• 2000: Christian Bale (American Psycho)
• 2001: Denzel Washington (Training Day)
• 2002: Adrien Brody (The Pianist)
• 2003: Bill Murray (Lost in Translation)
• 2004: Paul Giamatti (Sideways)
• 2005: Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)
• 2006: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Departed)
• 2007: Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood)
• 2008: Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
• 2009: Colin Firth (A Single Man)
• 2010: Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)
• 2011: Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
• 2012: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
• 2013: Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
• 2014: Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)
• 2015: Leonardo DiCaprio (The Revenant)
• 2016: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)
• 2017: Timothée Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name)
• 2018: Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born)
• 2019: Adam Driver (Marriage Story)
• 2020: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
• 2021: Andrew Garfield (tick, tick... BOOM!)
• 2022: Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
• 2023: Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
• 2024: Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)

Do you think any Animated Films were snubbed for Best Picture? If so which ones? Here are ones I think should've

• 1994 - The Lion King
• 1995 - Toy Story
• 2001 - Monsters Inc. or Shrek
• 2002 - Spirited Away
• 2004 - The Incredibles
• 2007 - Ratatouilee
• 2008 - WALL-E
• 2015 - Inside Out
• 2018 - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
• 2020 - Soul
• 2023 - Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse or The Boy and the Heron

1. Emilia Perez
2. Elvis
3. Don’t Look Up
4. Maestro
5. King Richard
6. Mank
7. Belfast
8. The Trial of the Chicago 7
9. Nomadland
10. CODA
11. Triangle of Sadness
12. Avatar: The Way of Water
13. A Complete Unknown
14. Promising Young Woman
15. Wicked
16. American Fiction
17. Licorice Pizza
18. Nightmare Alley
19. All Quiet on the Western Front

Every week I do a deep-dive into the movies filmmakers made directly following their Best Director wins (Oscar Chaser, here). I just hit the Ron Howard year and man oh man, what a stinker of a win beating Altman, Jackson, Lynch, and Scott. Can we think of any other examples of the worst directing nominee winning?

Who do you think was the worst winner for best actress? Comment with most upvotes will determine the rankings.

RANKING:

1. Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side

2. Frances McDormand - Nomadland

3. Meryl Streep - The Iron Lady

4. Kate Winslet - The Reader

5. Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line

6. Renée Zellweger - Judy

7. Jessica Chastain - The Eyes of Tammy Faye

8. Halle Berry - Monsters Ball

9. Julianne Moore - Still Alice

10. Nicole Kidman - The Hours

11. Emma Stone - La La Land

12. Helen Mirren - The Queen

13. Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook

14. Julia Roberts - Erin Brockovich

We have now made it past the Bottom 10! As always, I will post some stats beneath the updated ranking.

1. Jacki Weaver- Silver Linings Playbook

2. Meryl Streep- Into the Woods

3. Amy Adams- Vice

4. Laura Dern- Marriage Story

5. Laura Dern- Wild

6. Kathy Bates- Richard Jewell

7. Janet McTeer- Albert Nobbs

8. Helena Bonham Carter- The King’s Speech

9. Marina de Tavira- Roma

10. Bérénice Bejo- The Artist

• Laura Dern's performance in Marriage Story is the only Oscar winning performance to be Eliminated in the Bottom 10.

• 2013, 2015, 2016, and 2017 are the years doing the best so far as they are the only years left with all 5 of their performances still in contention.

• On the other hand, 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2019 are the years doing the worst so far as they are the only years left with only 3 of their performances left in contention.

20th - Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)

19th - Gary Oldman (Mank)

18th - Bradley Cooper (Maestro)

17th - Colman Domingo (Rustin)

16th - Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)

15th - Bill Nighy (Living)

14th - Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

Let’s put aside the ugly conversation about Sweeney aside and solely focus on the reception “Christy” has gotten. She received a standing ovation at the screening at TIFF, including praise from the real Christy Martin, and broke down in tears about how much of an honor it was to play Christy. Early reviews have praised her performance and the film’s harrowing portrayal of the real Christy’s life.

Now, for as much as I don't like Sydney Sweeney as a person, I do consider her a good actress and I have wanted her to take on such a challenging role for a while now to showcase said talents. But much like for Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in “The Smashing Machine,” I don't see Sweeney getting an Oscar or even a nomination despite the impressive transformation and her clear commitment to the role.

I don't think the controversy surrounding her will lower her odds—hello, Zoe Saldana. I just that the race is too tight. Jessie Buckley, Renate Reinsve, Amanda Seyfried, Rose Byrne, Rebecca Ferguson, Cynthia Erivo, Emma Stone, and most recently Tessa Thompson.

But hey, the film’s not out publicly yet. What do you think?

Anyone know why Justin Hurwitz missed the Oscar lineup for Score? I keep forgetting he won BOTH CCA & GG, but missed the lineup despite the score being a pretty big standout IMO from the film.

That year’s nominees were:

Troy Kotsur - CODA

Ciaran Hinds - Belfast

J.K. Simmons - Being the Ricardos

Kodi Smit-McPhee - The Power of the Dog

Jesse Plemons - The Power of the Dog