Oscar Nominations

The Oscar nominations for 2025 have been announced and we are going to talk about them. We will recap the nominations for the major categories and talk about the possible snubs, the biggest surprises and then talk about who I think is going to actually take each of the categories. There were so many incredible films released last year that the awards this year are actually very up in the air and lots of films deserve the recognition.

Best Picture:

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune Part Two

Emilia Perez

I’m Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked

So some people were pretty pissed at the lack of Challengers on this list. But that film was so nowhere even close to being on the shortlist for best picture. Even if we replaced Emilia Perez; the options are Sing Sing, I Saw The TV Glow, and Here, even replacing 3 films Challengers wasn’t even close. The plot was so underdeveloped and hollow. Second of all a lot of people were questioning Wicked’s inclusion on this list and it's going to make me violent. Movie musicals are 3X harder to make well then films of any other genre. It's not just acting, it's singing, dancing, and ensemble staging. They are also 10X harder to make financially successful because the general public doesn’t like or respect musicals. So if you can make a good movie musical that transcends theatre kids it absolutely deserves recognition. The academy historically hates musicals Wicked 100%, absolutely, unequivocally deserves its best picture nomination and it deserves to be in the conversation.

I think The Brutalist is going to take this one, they are going to Return of the King the Dune series. Meaning they are going to make us wait until the trilogy is over, they are going to do the same with Wicked should they recognize that at all. Off of this shortlist I would love to see The Substance or Nickel Boys win. I just think that they are both a long shot. The academy also hates horror movies so The Substance’s nominations are a miracle, we will see how much they actually win.

Best Director:

Jacques Auidard - Emilia Perez

Sean Baker - Anora

Brady Corbet - The Brutalist

Coralie Fargeat - The Substance

James Mangold - A Complete Unknown

We have our obligatory woman director nomination and there is no way that they are actually going to give it to her, but the fact that she got nominated for a horror film is an accomplishment in itself.

Best Actor:

Adrien Brody - The Brutalist

Timothée Chalamet - A Complete Unknown

Colman Domingo - Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes - Conclave

Sebastian Stan - The Apprentice

Amazing how both Sebastian Stan and Chalamet were both nominated for the wrong films. Let’s be clear, they both deserve their nominations, just not for the movies they were nominated for. Sebastian Stan absolutely deserved it for A Different Man, and Chalamet deserved his for Dune Part 2. I don’t think it matters I think Adrien Brody or Ralph Fiennes are running away with this one.

Best Actress:

Cynthia Erivo - Wicked

Karla Sofia Gascon - Emilia Perez

Mikey Madison - Anora

Demi Moore - The Substance

Fernanda Torres - I’m Still Here

I could not be happier for Cynthia Erivo and Demi Moore, who are both my personal picks for this category, however I think the win is going to Torres.

Best Supporting Actor:

Yura Borisov - Anora

Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain

Edward Norton - A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce - The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice

I loved seeing Keiran Culkin win the Golden Globe for this category and I am personally hoping that he walks away with the Oscar as well. I think this category is pretty open, I don’t see a clear front runner.

Best Supporting Actress:

Monica Barbaro - A Complete Unknown

Ariana Grande - Wicked

Felicity Jones - The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini - Conclave

Zoe Saldana - Emilia Perez

Isabella Rossellini snuck in here on name recognition alone, I’m sorry but she was in 30 seconds of Conclave supporting actress is a huge stretch. I hope and think Zoe Saldana is going to take this. Say what you want about Emilia Perez but Saldana was phenomenal and she deserved her flowers. I love that Ariana Grande got her nomination, she truly surprised me with her performance in Wicked. She was incredible.

Original Screenplay:

Anora

The Brutalist

A Real Pain

September 5

The Substance

Okay my favorite categories, I NEED The Substance to take this. There simply was not a better written original film this year. It was so expertly written and I need this film to be recognized. I simply will not be acknowledging anything else.

Adapted Screenplay:

Conclave

A Complete Unknown

Emilia Perez

Nickel Boys

Sing Sing

Okay this category is much more difficult but I think that the only correct contenders are Sing Sing, Nickel Boys and Conclave. I personally am rooting for Nickel Boys, but I think Conclave is going to take it.

Animated Feature:

Flow

Inside Out 2

The Wild Robot

Memoir of a Snail

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

What an incredible year for animated films. There literally is no wrong answer here. Every single one of these poignant, beautiful and incredibly written and acted. I am personally partial to The Wild Robot but there really is not an incorrect choice.

Now we get into the most technical awards which are equally as impressive and important but they are less interesting to talk about, that said there are a few that I feel extremely strongly about like production design and cinematography so we are going to go into detail for those.

Production Design:

The Brutalist

Conclave

Dune Part Two

Nosferatu

Wicked

I swear to Hera, Zeus and Jesus Christ if Dune Part Two does not win these technical awards I am going to flip a fucking table. I will set up a table just to flip it. Acceptable other winners for this are Wicked and Wicked.

Cinematography:

The Brutalist

Dune Part Two

Emilia Perez

Maria

Nosferatu

The technical award leaders are Dune Part 2, Wicked and Nosferatu all rightfully so. The only real snub this year is Nickel Boys for really every category but especially cinematography. It was the most unique and story driven camera work of the year and its absence is honestly shocking. That said, Dune part two doesn’t have any competition in this category at all. That said the academy hates genre films so I see this going to Nosferatu or The Brutalist.

Overall it was not an egregious year for Oscar nominations, I did not hate Emilia Perez as much as a lot of people seemed to. But I also think that it was outdone in nearly every single category. I don’t see it winning any Oscars and if it does then we do have a problem, because it simply was not the best at anything. Saldana is the only one worthy of her award.