Oscar Aftermath 2026

This year's Oscar race was an interesting one, because all the nominated films were generally good, and many of the big races were unpredictable.  There was no clear winner for Best Picture or Best Actor going into Oscar night, for instance, with several of the precursors contradicting each other, so there was some genuine tension.  Every single awards ceremony brought on a fresh wave of speculation and drama, from the unfortunate outburst at the BAFTAs to Sean Penn being a no-show all season long.  This year's Oscar villain turned out to be Timothee Chalamet, who made a stupid remark during an interview, and is going to have to weather ballet and opera jokes for the rest of his career.  I wish I'd been able to have more fun with it, but I wasn't in the mood to participate much this year.  

On to the ceremony, which was a pretty good one.  Conan O'Brien returned to host, and came up with some amusing bits, including both the intro and outro skits.  I found his monologue pretty middling, but he landed a few zingers.  Politics and the concerning state of the entertainment industry were largely downplayed, though there was plenty of acknowledgement of  the sorry state of affairs all night.  There was also a current of existential dread about the fate of the Oscars themselves, which are moving to Youtube in 2029.  One of the better pre-recorded bits involved Jane Lynch in parody Youtube ads interrupting the broadcast.  There were also surprise cameos from Sterling K. Brown, Misty Copeland, and Josh Groban.  Other moments of welcome absurdity included O'Brien fantasizing about winning a statuette, and a "Marty Supreme" themed "bum drum."  However, O'Brien was at his best when he was  helping to smooth over the multiple technical snafus in the ceremony, like a microphone being mistimed.  I also really liked the "One Battle After Another" outro sketch capping off the evening.    

Most of my favorite moments came from the presenters.  Former Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel being recruited to present the Documentary categories was an inspired choice, setting the tone for the most politically charged part of the evening.  Javier Bardem opened with "No to War and Free Palestine," and wasn't bleeped.  Take that, BAFTA.  I really enjoy the trend of cast reunions at awards shows, and this year we got the ladies from "Bridesmaids" doing a comedy bit with some good audience interaction, and Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor presenting Best Picture.  The "In Memoriam" segment had special tributes for Rob Reiner and Robert Redford, with Barbara Streisand even singing a few bars of "The Way We Were" for her departed co-star.  On that note, it obviously wasn't fair that all the song nominees weren't performed at the ceremony, but I'm glad that all the effort was put into two big production numbers for "Golden" and "I Lied to You," and they skipped the rest.  It makes a significant difference to the Oscars' running time, which was well over three hours this year.  

Still, there's not much I would've wanted cut.  Okay, the new Casting category came with tributes that ran too long, and the Academy president's remarks are always boring.  The winners' speeches are always better than I think they'll be, and this year it was hard to find a winner who wasn't deserving.  EJAE getting cut off was rough.  Cinematography probably should have gone to "Train Dreams," but  I can chalk that up to a matter of taste.  Frontrunners "One Battle After Another" and "Sinners" both came away with major wins, and it felt like the Academy spread the wealth pretty well.  Jessie Buckley had the best speech, but Michael B. Jordan definitely had the best reaction to winning.

I gripe about the excessive awards season drama, but Oscar viewership held steady this year thanks to another batch of popular nominees and competitive races.  The show still feels like a big deal in a steadily declining television landscape, and it helps the film industry when the film industry needs all the help it can get.   Hollywood's not on literally fire anymore, but between the mergers and the likelihood of more strikes ahead, it may as well be.  

But for now, let's celebrate a catastrophe-free Oscars and a new batch of winners.  See you next year.    

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Rank 'Em The Best Picture Oscar Nominees of 2026

1. Hamnet - One of the things I prize most highly about the cinematic experience is its cathartic effect, and I had an emotional response to "Hamnet" like nothing else from last year.   Yes, the movie is manipulative.  However, it's very difficult to make an effective tearjerker, and playing on people's emotions is absolutely part of the assignment.  The movie gives us a very human take on Shakespeare, and multiple opportunities for Jessie Buckley to bring down the house.  

2. One Battle After Another - I have been struggling with how to rank "One Battle Another" against "Sinners" for the whole awards season.  I have to give it to "One Battle," because the filmmaking is more ambitious and accomplished, the script is much denser with a lot of different themes packed in, and the characters are funnier in a way that not many films manage anymore.  This is not my favorite of Paul Thomas Anderson's movies, but it might be his best one. 

3. Sinners - On the other hand, you have to give "Sinners" its kudos for originality, for daring, and for the best soundtrack of the year, by far.  The combination of so many different genres, tones, and cultural influences is irresistible, showing us the American South in the Prohibition era from not just one new perspective, but several.  I want more stories from this universe, but I also want Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan to continue to push in new directions.

4. Train Dreams - I wish I liked this better, because a film like "Train Dreams" doesn't get made very often.  It's a period piece that does so much to evoke a past way of living that no longer exists, while still acknowledging the darker parts of that era.  It's a film about the big questions in life, about a quiet man who is a bystander to history, and sees the world change in monumental ways.  I appreciate its placidity - and yet I think it may have been too subtle for me at times.

5. Marty Supreme - Because this was such a tough watch for me, it never had a chance of placing higher.  However, I strongly admire what Timothee Chalamet and Josh Safdie set out to do with the tale of Marty Mauser, ping-pong player and grifter supreme.  The performances are fantastic, the scummy cinematography is absolutely gorgeous, the themes and writing are as good as anything I've ever seen out of the Safdies, and the laughs are well-earned.  

6. Frankenstein - This is Guillermo Del Toro's "Frankenstein," not Mary Shelly's.  And though Del Toro is prone to excesses, this is not a bad thing.  Once you accept that this telling of the story is as much melancholic tragedy as cautionary horror story, it plays beautifully.  Whatever you want to say about Jacob Elordi's Creature or Oscar Isaac's Victor, you're never going to mistake them for any of the other versions of the characters.  And that's remarkable.

7. Sentimental Value - Honestly, this wasn't the kind of film that I was expecting from Joachim Trier and Renata Reinsve after their previous collaboration.  Maybe it's because I much prefer "The Worst Person in the World" that I found "Sentimental Value" a little unsatisfying, despite it being a perfectly good film about the nature of art and artists and families.  I enjoyed it while I was watching it, but I also retained very little, and haven't thought about it much since.  

8. Secret Agent - I'm still grappling with this one.  I really like some of Kleber Mendonca Filho's other films, but I'm running into the same problem that I did with "I'm Still Here," which is that I don't have the adequate frame of reference to absorb everything that's going on in this movie socially, culturally, and politically.  And I think I need to.  I just see a collection of fascinating pieces that I can't quite get to fit in a satisfactory way.  I'm still not sure if it's me or the film.  

9. Bugonia - So many parts of this Yorgos Lanthimos movie are great - the performances of Emma Stone and Jesse Plemmons, the Jerskin Fendrix score, and Robbie Ryan's breathtaking VistaVision cinematography, just to name a few.  Unfortunately, for reasons I am still unpacking, the movie as a whole didn't work for me.  I knew exactly where it was going far too quickly, and the nihilistic finale rubbed me the wrong way, despite being beautifully executed.

10. F1 - Well, this one's just lucky to be here.  And there's absolutely no shame in being a well-made, perfectly entertaining blockbuster about fast cars that go zoom.  

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Your 2026 Oscar Nominations

There's been a lot of change in the air for the Academy Awards.  There's a new Casting category, with Stunts coming next year!  There are only three ABC telecasts left until the Oscars move to Youtube!  I may need to write a separate post on that in the future, but for now, the nominees!

I got a bit sidetracked when it came to the actual races, and was surprised by the contenders for Best Picture.  I didn't realize that "Bugonia" and "F1" were in this race at all.  Where is "No Other Choice"?  What happened to "The Testament of Ann Lee"?  Nothing for "Wake Up Dead Man?"  There is a list of other also-rans a mile long.  However, kudos to "Sinnners" for breaking the nomination record, and "One Battle After Another" getting pretty close.  These two films have dominated the season so far, and I expect this will continue.

I've been able to watch more of the nominees this year than usual, so I only have three of the big contenders left to track down at the time of writing - "Hamnet," "Sentimental Value," and "Marty Supreme."  It's been a very good year, so all the nominees are decent.  I'd maybe single out "F1" as the weakest out of the Best Picture field from an artistic standpoint, but it's pretty immaculate on a technical level, and noteworthy for its innovations.  I didn't connect with  "Train Dreams" or "The Secret Agent," but I absolutely understand why others did.   There's no "Emilia Perez" level "Oscar villain" for people to rage at, which is a relief.  I assumed that role was going to be filled by "Jay Kelly," but the Academy didn't bite.  No big blockbuster like "Wicked: For Good" or "Avatar: Fire and Ash" in the mix either.

In the acting categories, I think the only surprise is Delroy Lindo in Supporting Actor, which feels like both a make-up nomination for missing out on "Da 5 Bloods" and a tailcoat nomination for "Sinners."  I'd rather have Miles Caton in the race, but Lindo's been around long enough that he's overdue for the recognition.  I'm absolutely tickled that Amy Madigan made it in for "Weapons," and a little disappointed that Chase Infiniti didn't for "One Battle After Another."  Kate Hudson was great in "Song Sung Blue," but Chase Infiniti was better.  Then again, if I had my way, we'd be talking about Kathleen Chalfant and Tessa Thompson.  

The first ever Best Casting nominees didn't offer much new, pretty much mirroring the Best Picture nominees.  However, notice that four of the five nominees are female, which is a big clue as to why Casting hasn't been recognized as a category before now.  Of course, there are male casting professionals, but this has traditionally been a female-dominated role, and all of the casting directors that I know off the top of my head, like first-time nominee Nina Gold, are women.

On to some of the smaller races.  There are two French films in Best Animated film, and none of the big 2025 box office winners from Asian countries like "Ne Zha 2" and the most recent "Chainsaw Man" and "Demon Slayer" movies.  The last two weren't likely from the beginning due to narrative impenetrability, and it turns out that "Ne Zha 2" wasn't even submitted!  Documentary has a few notable omissions, but I'm very thankful that "The Alabama Solution" and "The Perfect Neighbor" made it in.

The Academy did a decent job of recognizing a good variety of titles.  So "Blue Moon," "It Was Just an Accident," "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You," "Weapons," and "Sirat" may not have been big contenders, but at least that all got something.  I'm delighted  that a few smaller films got single nominations in some of the below-the-line categories.  "The Ugly Stepsister" and "Kokuho" are in Best Makeup and Hairstyling.  "The Lost Bus" is in Visual Effects.  Opera documentary "Viva Verdi!" swung a Best Song nomination. 

Still, as usual, there are a lot of films that I wish would have been recognized, including "Hedda," "Left-Handed Girl," "28 Years Later," "Nouvelle Vague," and all of the previously mentioned titles.

Conan O'Brien will be back for the ceremony in March, and I can take it easy knowing that I don't have to cram much this year, and might just skip "Wicked: For Good" entirely.

Kidding.  I could never resist a musical.

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Honoring "The Las Culturistas Culture Awards"

Award shows haven't been doing well over the past few years.  Their ratings have been sinking and their cultural cachet has plummeted.  Therefore, it's the perfect time for  a satirical awards show to rear its head.  It's time for the "Las Culturistas Culture Awards 2025," honoring the best of pop culture.

Hosted by the "Las Culturistas" podcast hosts, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, the ceremony runs an efficient ninety minutes, the winners have all been notified in advance, and all the boring parts of the ceremony have been effectively curtailed, leaving all the bits of an award show that the majority of people care about - spotting celebrities, fun musical numbers, well-edited clip packages, and zippy presenter banter.  It helps that Rogers and Yang are comedians, and able to both land a joke and pull off a song-and-dance number with enthusiasm and flair.  Everyone involved is aware that the awards are totally arbitrary, and the point is just to enjoy themselves and the spectacle of it all.  Will the award for "Most Amazing Impact in Film" be awarded to shirtless Jeff Goldblum in the thirty year-old "Jurassic Park" just to get him to come to the ceremony?  Yes it will.  Will the obvious product placement (Dunkin, Volkswagen) and promotional appearances (Jamie Lee Curtis for "Freakier Friday," in theaters August 8th) be delivered with a knowing wink at the audience?  Yes, it will.  

I haven't listened to "Las Culturistas" much beyond clips of a few random interviews, as I figured out quickly that the show is not for me.  It's obsessed with the pop part of pop culture to a degree that I will never be, and is especially focused on all the drama and gossip that I try my best to avoid.  However, I appreciate that it's so unapologetic about serving its audience of women and members of the LGBT community.  The "Culture Awards" came about from a bit on the show, where the hosts would randomly announce nominees for silly categories like "The Creatine Award for Straight Male Excellence" or "Tiny Woman, Huge Impact."  Whoever decided to let them take over the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles and do the same thing with all the pageantry and glitz of a real awards show is a genius.  The best thing about the "Culture Awards" is that it makes no attempt to appeal to everybody, the way too many other awards shows have.  There were a couple of geek-adjacent categories for me, like "Best Batman Woman," where the winner was a fake Riddler henchgirl, but most of the focus was on fashion, music, and lots of celebrities I had never heard of.  And I didn't mind at all, because the show was so entertaining.  

And this is a valuable thing.  The woman-centric parts of pop culture have too often been framed as existing in opposition to the male-centric parts of pop culture, and the played up rivalry is simply tiresome and not necessary.  Aside from a vague mention of terrible things happening in the country right now, the "Culture Awards" sidesteps all politics, and leans into the celebration of all that is fabulous and iconic.  Lisa Rinna is called on to model all the Outfit of the Year categories, and walks away with the trophy (a spray painted West Elm doorstop).  Matt and Bowen dancing to Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra" and substituting the "In Memoriam" montage with an "In Absentia" montage of all the celebrities who passed on participating is fabulous stuff.  The point of view provided by "Las Culturistas" exists in reaction to nothing else except the pop culture that it adores, and the awards show stands on its own without bothering to justify itself or explain itself.  

The "Culture Awards" ceremony aired on Bravo in August, and may be the most interesting thing they've produced in years.  It's currently available on Peacock.    

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Your 2025 Emmy Nominees

I watch too much television.  However, even I don't watch enough television to be able to give any informed opinion on how the Emmy races will shake out.  Who gets picked for what doesn't make sense to me and never will.  However, I've seen half of the Outstanding Comedy Series nominees, three of the five Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, and all but one of the Outstanding Drama Series nominees (sorry "Slow Horses").  And that means I do have some opinions on how well the Television Academy did putting the nominations together, at least.

Generally, there's always a lot of politicking and a small number of shows getting the lion's share of the nominations, because people can't watch everything.  However, one thing that's improved has been the unfortunate inertia of some long-running shows getting kudos every year for mediocre seasons.  This is a practice that seems to be slowly going away.  The final season of "A Handmaid's Tale" got one nomination in a very minor category after racking up the trophies for years.  Not much attention is going to former favorites like "Yellowjackets," or "Squid Game" either.

New in the Outstanding Comedy race are "Nobody Wants This," "Shrinking," and "The Studio," the last of which garnered a massive 23 nominations.  I expected "The Studio" to do well, because Hollywood loves to navel gaze.  The show is not for me, but I appreciate that it's giving the "Entourage" crowd something to root for.  "Nobody Wants This" feels a little slight, but acceptable, and I continue to have no interest in watching "Shrinking."  Returning nominees include "Abbott Elementary," "The Bear," "Hacks," "Only Murders in the Building," and the last season of "What We Do in the Shadows."

Over in drama, new contenders include "Paradise," "The Pitt," and "The Diplomat," which I would have pegged as a comedy.  "The Diplomat," like "Shrinking," got acting nods for its first season and is getting a series nomination for its second season, which is a good sign that the Academy is making an effort to award consistency over just chasing the fastest out of the gate.  "Paradise" seems like an odd pick until you remember that its creator, Dan Fogelman, also created Academy favorite "This is Us."  Returning nominees include "Andor," "The Last of Us," "Severance," "Slow Horses," and "The White Lotus."

"The Penguin" showed up in Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, but will almost certainly be clobbered by "Adolescence."  Cristin Milioti has a good shot at taking home a trophy for playing Sofia Falcone though.  I'm surprised that the Menendez Brothers miniseries made it in after all the bad press, but the return of "Black Mirror" is very welcome.  And going by the acting nominations, it looks like "Presumed Innocent" just missed the cut. 

The acting awards are very Oscar-like in that several of the nominated lead actress performances were for shows that didn't get other big nominations.  We've got Uzo Aduba in "The Residence," Sharon Horgan for "Bad Sisters," Kathy Bates for "Matlock," Meghann Fahy for "Sirens," and Cate Blanchett for "Disclaimer."  On the actors' side, it's just Brian Tyree Henry for "Dope Thief" and Jake Gyllenhaal for "Presumed Innocent."  "White Lotus" continues its takeover of the Supporting Actor and Actress categories.  However, one new wrinkle is that the guest actor slots for comedy are dominated this year by "The Studio" and it's ridiculous.  Ron Howard got a nomination for being mean, even.  And I know Cynthia Erivo played quintuplets, but there were so many guest actresses who did better work on "Poker Face."  Come on.

 

I like digging into the less prominent categories to see where the also-rans managed to get some recognition.  "Somebody, Somewhere" got a surprise Supporting Actor nomination for Jeff Hiller and another for writing.  "Four Seasons" got an acting nomination for Colman Domingo.  "Say Nothing" got one major nod, for writing. "The Rehearsal" didn't make it into Outstanding Comedy, but did pick up both writing and directing nominations.  I found "Day of the Jackal," "Étoile," and "Pachinko" in the cinematography categories.  James Burrows got a directing nomination for "Mid-Century Modern," because it's James Burrows.  On that note, there are eighteen slots for the major directing categories, and this year it's exactly nine women and nine men.  That's worth celebrating.  

Amusingly, I've seen all the Best Television Movie nominees (a category that everyone seems to pretend doesn't exist) for the first time, which includes "Mountainhead," "Nonnas," "The Gorge," "Rebel Ridge," and the latest "Bridget Jones" movie.  I'm rooting for "Rebel Ridge."  Apparently there's also some drama going on over in the documentary categories - rule changes mean that docs that didn't get Oscar nominations can "double dip" and be considered for Emmys.  "Will & Harper," for instance, made the Oscar shortlist but didn't get a nomination, so it still got to be considered for the corresponding Emmy categories.

Finally, the most unexpected nomination definitely goes to the "Lazarus" anime making an appearance in the category honoring achievements in main title music.  I feel it's well deserved. 

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Oscar Aftermath 2025

The Oscar ceremony was a nice break from reality this year.  There were a few shots at activism related to ongoing conflicts overseas, but not much related to the current Trump administration.  Kamala Harris was rumored to be making an appearance, but those were only rumors.  I had a pretty good bead on all of the winners well in advance, with the exception of Mikey Madison surprising in Best Actress, so there wasn't much suspense.  That left the usual pageantry and production snafus to enjoy, which I did.

 

Conan O'Brien hosted this year, which was a great choice.  He's very much of the old school late night host mold, but still current enough and silly enough to put a giant sandworm playing the piano on stage, pull up old headshots of nominees, and devote a whole opening musical number to promising to not waste time.  His monologue was only so-so, but a real stroke of genius was inviting some of the local first responders onstage to be lauded for their efforts in the recent disaster efforts - and then having them deliver a few below-the-belt jokes to capitalize on the goodwill.  Conan's audience interactions were great, and I will be very disappointed if the disappointed John Lithgow bit doesn't become a widespread meme immediately. 

Format changes this year included not having any of the Best Song nominees actually performed.  It was a sorry crop of nominees anyway, thanks to the inexplicable support for "Emilia Perez."  Instead, we had the show open with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande doing an Oz medley, and later on there was a Quincy Jones tribute and a whole James Bond extravaganza that feels a few years too late. Did Amazon sponsor that one?  The presenters were decent - Ben Stiller got to do a great physical bit -  and I liked having actors pay tribute to the craftspeople, but I still missed having the clips.  There were good speeches (Zoe Saldana), weird speeches (Kieran Culkin), bad speeches (Camille), really bad speeches (Animated Short turning into a power struggle), and Adrien Brody beating the Greer Garson record for longest acceptance speech in Oscar history.  Of course the show ran over, but at least they didn't hit the four hour mark.  

It was a bad year for the Oscars' production design.  The virtual backdrops were often very busy looking, and showrunners were having trouble getting what was on the screens to look right on the broadcast.  The orchestra was elevated above the stage, and for some reason partially blocking the central screen at times.  This resulted in the worst In Memoriam segment I have seen in a long time, which not only had the musicians blocking the screen, but also headshots of the deceased superimposed over their tribute clips, resulting in visual chaos.  And they left out Tony Todd.   And whoever decided to have a choir up there singing Mozart's "Requiem" as the accompaniment needs to be held accountable.  At least Morgan Freeman  was recruited at the last minute to pay respects to Gene Hackman. 

I didn't watch the reportedly disastrous live broadcast on Hulu, which apparently didn't account for  the extended running time of the ceremony and kicked a lot of people off the feed right before the announcement of  Best Actress.  I was hoping that this would be a viable alternative to my having to wrangle the local ABC broadcast signal every year - always a dicey proposition when you live in an apartment.  Alas, no such luck.   As long as we're  saving movie theaters, maybe we should also look into maintaining the television broadcast networks for situations like this.    

In the end "Anora" won big, and Sean Baker especially (tying Walt Disney's trophy count), but nearly all the Best Picture contenders walked away with something.  There were more Bob Dylan jokes than Trump jokes, and it's always great to see Goldie Hawn, Mick Jagger, and Bowen Yang.  June Squibb did a solid comedic bit with ScarJo.  The Quincy Jones number was worth it to see Whoopi, Oprah, and Queen Latifah looking fabulous.  Not everyone who won should have, but there were no glaring misses either.  And I hope Conan considers coming back regularly in the future.    

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Rank 'Em: Your 2025 Best Picture Nominees

There's been a lot of Oscar drama this year.  I like this batch of nominees fine, and appreciate that the international influence seems to be here to stay, though there are a few choices that I'm not on board with at all.  Below, find this year's nominees ranked from best of the best, to least of the best.  I'll keep the spoilers to a minimum.  

1. Anora - At the time of writing, this is my favorite film of 2024, an unpredictable, genre-defying romantic-comedy from Sean Baker.  It tells a very old kind of story, but with modern characters and sensibilities that offer all kinds of interesting social nuances to consider.  There are many other films this year addressing current issues and social ills, but no other film feels as timely and immediate.  "Anora" is also a delightful watch, zig-zagging from class comedy to Cinderella-sendup to genuine heartbreaker.  I know who I'm rooting for on Oscar night.   

2. The Substance - I'm probably putting this too high up in the rankings, but I adore Coralie Fargeats's crazy showbiz gorefest.  "The Substance" is a grindhouse horror movie through and through, but somehow it's stormed into the awards race and refuses to get out of the spotlight.  Demi Moore is the frontrunner for Best Actress and deserves it, giving us a portrait of self-loathing that is at the root of the film's squelchy body horror nightmares.  And I take the nomination as further proof that Hollywood is still in love with stories about itself, no matter how monstrous and gruesome.

3. Nickel Boys - I've never seen filmmaking in first person singular achieved as well as it is here.  RaMell Ross beautifully executes what could easily have been a gimmick, and you can't imagine the film being any other way.  What the camera is doing doesn't seem to work for everyone, but I couldn't keep my eyes off the screen.  The experience is so immersive, so intimate, and so haunting, it's impossible to come away unmoved.  The moments that stayed with me were often the incidental ones, emphasizing precious human connections in the midst of misery and adversity.  

4. The Brutalist - The more I consider "The Brutalist," the more I appreciate it.  This is a film of soaring ambitions, astonishing scope, and unusually weighty, meaningful themes.  Not all of it works, especially the ending, but the parts that do work offer the kind of cinema that we really don't see enough of.  I've sat through a lot of mediocre passion projects from very big name directors over the last few years, and seeing Brady Corbet pull off something this massive on a tiny budget is inspiring.  I'm also rooting for Adrian Brody for Best Actor, who hasn't done work this good in ages. 

5. Dune 2 - Denis Villeneuve did everything right here, repositioning Paul Atreides as an anti-hero and laying out his rise to power in more sinister terms.  I continue to love the production design, the grand scale spectacle, and the sprawling cast.  The sandworm sequence is one of the high points of the year.  However, it was harder to engage with the story in this installment, and so much was condensed that it lost some of the human element.  The supporting actors are the MVPs here, especially Zendaya, Javier Bardem, and Austin Butler - who simply didn't get enough screen time.

6. I'm Still Here - Maybe it's because the nomination was so unexpected, but I wanted more from "I'm Still Here."  Anchored by a fine performance from Fernanda Torres, it's a solid memoir about a family living through a dictatorship and dealing with tyranny firsthand.  However, it's a much smaller story than I anticipated, very personal and limited in scope.  There are other international films I would have nominated for Best Picture instead, like "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" or "The Girl With the Needle."  "I'm Still Here" strikes me as very good at what it's doing, but not exceptional.

7. A Complete Unknown - I keep forgetting that this is a nominee, because the movie feels so slight.  I'm not a Dylan fan, or very familiar at all with this corner of American music, so the material didn't hold much appeal.  However, watching a collection of talented actors play '60s folk music legends for a few hours was charming.  I appreciate that Bob Dylan wasn't lionized all out of proportion, and Monica Barbaro was a great surprise.  I can't quite wrap my head around what Timothée Chalamet is doing, but I appreciate that he's not giving us a typical Bob Dylan impression.

8. Wicked - They got the casting right, which goes a long way toward balancing out some of the glaring production flaws here.  I'm with the detractors of the film's cinematography and the unforgivable kneecapping of the "Defying Gravity."  However, "Wicked" is undeniably a good time at the movies, and a fabulous showcase for Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande if nothing else.  As with the "Dune" movies, it's difficult to judge based on an incomplete narrative, but as incomplete narratives go, the first half of "Wicked" is pretty swell.  I don't expect "Wicked: For Good" will be better.   

9. Conclave - I do not get it.  I simply can't take the film seriously.  The sequence of events is too ludicrous, the politicking is too didactic, and the final twist at the end is several levels of ridiculous.  Despite some good performances and plenty of Vatican eye candy, "Conclave" is such a heavy-handed message movie that it feels more like a parody of Oscar bait than an earnestly made film.  It's certainly entertaining, and has priceless camp value - Tedesco vaping is iconic - but I can't rank it any higher than this.  The fact that it's a frontrunner in the race strikes me as understandable but unfortunate.

10. Emilia Perez - It's not a bad movie.  It's ambitious, vibrant, weird, and not afraid to go big and melodramatic.  However, it's also remarkably tone deaf.  I'm not surprised that the film got made in 2025, but I am surprised that it got so much support in festival circles before anybody realized that it is a terrible trans narrative, terrible representation for its Mexican characters, and totally useless as a musical.  Zoe Saldana's performance is fantastic, and really should be in a much better film than this one.  I hope this will be a springboard for her to better things.

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Your 2025 Oscar Nominees

I'll be frank.  I've had a rough time with the awards race this season.  This is usually the halfway point of my viewing year, which means that I have about six months of 2024 movies still to watch before I make my own list of favorites - I don't have access to everything I want to see any sooner.  Of the Best Picture nominees for the 97th Academy Awards, I still need to see three.  That's normal for me.  However, I  find myself more frustrated than usual by the Academy's picks.  "Anora" and "The Substance" are among my favorite films of 2024 so far.  Great.  "Wicked" and "Dune: Part Two" are solid, maximalist, popular favorites.  No complaints there.  "Nickel Boys" and "I'm Still Here" are smaller films that were heavily championed by critics.  Fine.  No comment on "The Brutalist" or "A Complete Unknown" yet.  

However, that leaves us with "Conclave" and "Emilia Pérez," two films I find exasperating to have to keep thinking about.  Neither worked for me, and "Emilia Pérez" is especially mystifying considering the ongoing backlash from the Mexican and transgender communities.  It's not a bad movie, but I struggle to call it successful at anything it's trying to do.  I do not understand what Jacques Audiard is doing in Best Director instead of Denis Villeneuve, Edward Berger, or RaMell Ross.  "Conclave" was just too silly for me to take at face value, though it fits a certain mold of socially conscious Oscar bait that I guess I can follow the logic of.  The fact that these two are the likely frontrunners in the Oscar race right now makes me feel a little crazy.  "Emilia Pérez" has thirteen nominations, which makes me wonder if Netflix finally called in supernatural intervention in their quest for a Best Picture statuette.  

The most obvious snubs are "Challengers" and "Hard Truths," which were totally shut out.  "Sing, Sing" made a valiant effort, but didn't make the Best Picture list - if it had to be "Sing, Sing" or "Nickel Boys" though, I'm happy it was "Nickel Boys."  Also-rans like "Gladiator II," "All We Imagine as Light," "September 5," "Maria," "Babygirl," "The Last Showgirl," and "I Saw the TV Glow" never managed to gain enough traction to be real contenders.  I'm genuinely surprised that Denzel isn't in Supporting Actor for "Gladiator II" and Daniel Craig isn't in Best Actor for "Queer."  "The Apprentice" picking up nods for Sebatian Stan and Jeremy Strong is very gratifying though, after the difficulties that movie had to navigate all season.

In the less visible categories, "Flow" popped up in both Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature Film, which managed to get around the language rules by having no spoken dialogue.  "No Other Land," the Palestinian feature about resistance efforts in the West Bank, still has no U.S. distribution at the time of writing, but hopefully the increased attention will help.  Elton John getting a Best Song nomination for his recent documentary feels like a blatant ploy to get him to play the Oscar telecast, which I can't be too mad about as someone who actually watches the Oscar telecast - except they're skipping the song performances this year.  "Nosferatu" got a Cinematography nod and three craft awards, which suggests that it was a stronger contender than I had thought - "Dune: Part Two" essentially got the same thing when you take out the Best Picture nomination.  "Wicked" is noticeably missing from the Cinematography category, in case you were following that bit of controversy.

Between the Los Angeles area fires and the Trump administration antics, I'm already exhausted at the thought of watching this year's ceremony.  However, Conan O'Brien is hosting, and that's a minor miracle that I can't ignore.  I already know that my favorites aren't likely to win anything, and I don't really mind right now.  Maybe after I've seen more of the nominees that will change.  I feel about the Academy Awards nominations like I feel about the state of the world in general in 2025 - defeated, disengaged, but doing my best not to throw in the towel.  The entertainment industry is important to me, and whatever you think about the Oscars, cancelling them just means more financial hardship for the movie business.  

So, bring on the disaster relief appeals and the trans solidarity and the "Succession" jokes.  The show must go on.  

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Your 2024 Emmy Nominees

Ready or not, we're about to have our second Emmy ceremony of the year.  As usual, I've seen most of the drama series contenders, very few of the comedies, and all of the limited/anthology series.  

I don't feel qualified to make predictions about  most of the races, but the buzz is that "Shogun," "Hacks," and "Baby Reindeer" are the frontrunners.  I would have expected that "The Bear" would be sweeping again, since this set of nominations is supposed to be for their highly lauded second season, but the mixed reactions to the third season may be having a negative impact.  I won't say much more about any of the comedy races, except to say that I don't remember Paul Rudd being in the last season of "Only Murders in the Building," and Bowen Yang's yearly nod for "SNL" is still hilarious.   

In the Drama and Limited categories, I'll be rooting for "Shogun" and "Fargo."  All the nominees in the Limited category are very strong, but the Drama nominees are much more mixed.  "3 Body Problem" and "Slow Horses" weren't to my taste, and "The Crown" had a pretty poor season.  I'm glad that "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" made the cut.  "Loki" was campaigning pretty hard for a spot, but I don't feel like it was good enough to qualify as a snub.  I'm surprised "The Curse" didn't show up anywhere, though I don't know what category it goes in.  "Feud: Capote v. The Swans" is a more obvious omission from Limited, especially considering the acting nominations that it racked up.  However, I don't know which show it would replace.    

There aren't many surprises among the acting nominees.  I'm glad that Nava Mau got in for "Baby Reindeer," Aja Naomi King got a nod for "Lessons in Chemistry," and Kali Reis is here for "True Detective: Night Country," but no Jennifer Jason Leigh for "Fargo"?  No Sam Spruell?  "The Crown" is taking up entirely too much room, as usual - Jonathan Pryce got in for playing Prince Philip in "The Crown"?  However, "The Morning Show" is the real juggernaut this time around.  I counted seven nominations in the supporting actor categories, which is almost as egregious as the "Succession" tidal wave last time, but not quite.  Watch more shows, Emmy voters.    

Congratulations to Salli Richardson-Whitfield for now being an Emmy-nominated director for an episode of "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty."  Always good to have more female director nominees!  And it's Interesting that Guy Ritchie's directing nod is the only major nomination that "The Gentlemen" got, which was a pretty strong contender for Best Comedy. 

Moving on to the categories that will not be part of the Emmys broadcast, I've seen all of the Outstanding Television Movie nominees, aside from the "Monk" one, because it's a Peacock exclusive.  It's a more eclectic bunch than we've seen in previous years, but it's clear why this year's batch of TV movies didn't generate any nominations for any other major categories like acting or directing.  Nominees include  "Quiz Lady," "Scoop," "Unfrosted," and "Red, White, & Royal Blue."  I guess "Scoop" is winning.  I wonder if this means that prestige television films are being turned into movies whenever possible.        

Animated Series is a nice surprise this year, with "Scavenger's Reign," "Blue Eye Samurai," and "X-men '97" joining "Bob's Burgers" and "The Simpsons."  It feels like a proper, competitive category for once.

Documentaries that will not be eligible for the Oscars next year include "Girls State," "The Greatest Night in Pop," and the docs about Albert Brooks, Jim Henson, and Steve Martin (because they all got nominated here).    

Among the also-rans, there are plenty of technical nominations for "Masters of the Air," which really didn't make a dent in the public consciousness this year.  "The Idol" picked up a nod for Choreography.  "The Brothers Sun," "Warrior," and "The Continental" each got some recognition for Stunts.  And weirdly, so did "The Righteous Gemstones."  No MCU or "Star Wars" series got major nominations, though they're all over categories like VFX, costume design, and makeup.  

Finally, I can't let the appearance of the Tom Brady roast in Outstanding Variety Special (Live) go unremarked upon.  So, there it is.

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The Posts I Didn't Write Today, 2024

It's been a while since I've done one of these posts, but one feels overdue.  Here are some of the posts that I planned to write and tried to write over the past few months, but they never got off the ground for a variety of reasons.  

The Emmys and The Golden Globes - I used to spend a lot of time on awards season, but the behind-the-scenes meta has become more fun to write about than the awards themselves.  I actually did watch both ceremonies, but the races were dull and I didn't feel like I had enough to do full writeups about either.  The Golden Globes are officially post HFPA, and now fighting the SAG Awards and Critics Choice Awards for attention.  More people watched the ceremony than the Emmys, but unfortunately this outing was saddled with Jo Koy's now infamously bad turn as host.  Apparently he got the gig at the last minute, but it's hard to feel bad for someone who threw his writers under the bus.    

The Emmys offered no surprises, and were so late because of the SAG and WGA strikes that several of the shows they were celebrating had aired a full eighteen months before the ceremony finally took place.  That's right, "The Bear" won all those trophies for its first season in the summer of 2022, not its second.  Still, the Emmys actually put together a very good ceremony to celebrate its 75th anniversary, staging a lot of classic TV cast reunions throughout the night.  It's always nice to see how Meathead and Gloria are doing.  Unfortunately, it was up against football, FOX didn't advertise much, and the ratings were a disappointment.  However, I hope that Anthony Anderson and his mother are invited back to host in future years.  

State of the Superhero - I usually write these yearly posts as a little preview for upcoming superhero media, but the bubble has burst and there's just not enough to fill a whole post about this.  The MCU and Warners are only offering one movie apiece, while Sony somehow has three - none of which look any good.  Hype generating events were mostly canceled last summer and fall, and slates are looking mighty empty.  I could have written about the steep turn in the fortunes of the MCU, but I ended up folding most of that into a different post about Disney's wider troubles at the box office.  Honestly, it's nice getting a break from superheroes for a while.  The MCU badly needs some course correction after their awful 2023, and the DCEU coming to a close is definitely for the best.  I've been toying with writing some sort of "Rank 'Em" or farewell post for the DCEU, but I have no desire to revisit the earlier films.     

Honestly, the best thing about the superhero surge is that a lot of smaller, more niche properties got their turn in the sun - things like "Legion," "Watchmen," "The Sandman," and  "Invincible."  And now that superheroes are on the wane, unfortunately they'll be the first to go.  I expect that I'll still have opportunities to write more superhero related posts as the drama at Warners and Disney continues to unfold.  But since I don't feel the need to make much effort keeping track of superhero media right now, the feature will go on hiatus until the situation changes.    

"Joy Ride" and "No Hard Feelings" - Finally, I made a point of watching both of the raunchy comedies from the summer of 2023 that I had been avoiding for months.  However, I couldn't bring myself to write reviews for them, even short form ones.  I still dislike raunchy comedies and I knew I couldn't give either of these movies the fair shake that they deserved.  "No Hard Feelings" was pretty enjoyable, and features Jennifer Lawrence in the kind of funny, winning role that I wish she got to play more often.  She's taken a break from Hollywood, understandably, and I hope this gets her into a better groove.

Meanwhile, I liked all four of the girls in "Joy Ride," and desperately wanted them to be in a different movie than the one they were appearing in.  My Asian solidarity has its limits, and this is it.

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Oscar Reactions 2024

The 96th Academy Awards have come and gone.  It started an hour early, yet still six minutes late.  It was completely predictable and yet pulled off some welcome surprises.  This was Jimmy Kimmel's fourth time hosting the Oscars, and he's found a good groove that'll get him invited back again.  There were a lot of little adjustments for the sake of time, like most of the song performances being significantly shortened, that helped to speed things along.  This meant that longer segments like the actor presentations and the epic "I'm Just Ken" production number could run as long as needed.  

I've never been great at predictions, but I got a decent chunk of the winners right.  My biggest error was assuming that "Barbie" was going to win in the production categories that went to "Poor Things," which got four Oscars, the second highest of any film.  "Oppenheimer" had such a sweep with seven that several of the Best Picture nominees ended up going home with nothing - "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Past Lives,"  and "Maestro."  I really thought that Lily Gladstone was going to win Best Actress after she won the SAG Award, but the Oscars have been getting more international by the year, and the old bellwethers aren't always right.  

Everyone seems to have gotten the memo that acceptance speeches needed to be short and sweet.  There weren't as many endless lists of names this year and only one really unfortunate speech - the "Godzilla Minus One" Visual Effects team trying valiantly to deliver their thanks and memorialize their departed producer in a language that none of them spoke.  However, we had some great ones from dependably entertaining people like Robert Downey Jr. and Emma Stone.  Even better were the presenters, most of them handling out two awards apiece, and delivering bits and banter that actually worked.  Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito reuniting and heckling Michael Keaton as their "Batman" villain characters was great.  Kate McKinnon and America Ferrera roping Steven Spielberg into their nonsense was great.  John Cena's tribute to the 1974 Oscars streaker is an all-timer.  There were several blink-and-you-miss-em jokes that wouldn't have landed nearly as well if they were longer.       

The stagecraft this year was generally very good, with multiple screens and elements constantly rotating in and out of the space.  The big vertical panels  for the award presentations and the big circular element for the musical performances were especially eye-catching.  However, there were a few missteps.  The most obvious was the "In Memoriam" segment, which had way too much going on - distracting dancers, Andrea Bocelli and son singing "Con Te Partiro," and different tributes popping up on different screens, with a bunch of names stuffed together at the end.  Lance Reddick and Kenneth Anger deserved better!   Then there was the stunt montage that felt like a poor consolation prize for a community that's been gunning for their own category for a while.  Some of the transitions were jarring, such as cutting from the sobering "20 Days in Mariupol" acceptance speech straight into "I'm Just Ken."  

But speaking of "I'm Just Ken," it's easily the most memorable piece of spectacle that the Academy has put together in years.  Ryan Gosling essentially got to star in a genderbent "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" with all the Kens from "Barbie," Slash showed up for a guitar solo, and the crowd was loving it.  Half the fun was the delighted reaction shots from Greta Gerwig and Billie Eilish in the audience as Gosling belted in his hot pink, bedazzled suit.  A big reason that this year's show was so successful was because it actually got to make use of some star power.  It's been too long since the Oscar frontrunners were popular hits like "Oppenheimer" and "Barbie," and the Best Song category wasn't terrible.  I mean, it was still terrible this year, but two songs from "Barbie" helped a lot.  

As for Jimmy Kimmel, he's clearly not as funny as John Mulaney, but he understood how to work the crowd, how to interact with the presenters, and how to keep his own shtick brief.  He handled material about the 2023 strikes, Donald Trump, "Madame Web," and Messi the dog about as well as anybody could be expected to.  I think the show works better with a host, and a seasoned professional like Kimmel has proven to be a sure bet.    

That's two Oscar ceremonies in a row that have been decent.  Fingers crossed that this is the new normal.

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Rank 'Em - The 2024 Best Picture Nominees

It was a very good year for the movies, and there were some legitimate surprises among the Best Picture nominees.  However, as usual, my taste varies from the Academy's quite a bit and the frontrunners may not be where you expect them in my rankings.  There's a notable lack of traditional Oscar bait this time around, however, which I appreciate.  From best to least, here are the Best Picture nominees of 2023, ranked.

1. The Holdovers - I've had to stop myself from calling this a throwback, because it's really not.  You could make current day films like "The Holdovers," about average people going about their daily lives and making the best of bad situations.  Alexander Payne has made several others.  But this is a Christmas film.  And it's a found family film.  And it's got Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph giving performances that are all-timers.  And in so many other ways, this one is special.  

2. The Zone of Interest - I'm stunned that this was nominated, because this isn't typical Oscar fare at all.  Despite the British director, this is a very European art film that is completely different from the usual Holocaust narrative.  It's practically a photo negative, focusing on the experiences of Nazis as they try to compartmentalize the horrors of literally existing next to a death camp.  On the other hand, the subject matter is not only timely, but completely relevant to the state of the world right now.  

3. Anatomy of a Fall - Courtroom dramas can be tricky things, especially the ones with ambiguous outcomes.  This one clicked for me when I realized the film was about the whole family unit, not just the central couple, and we weren't here just to solve a typical mystery.  The thoughtful ending plays out beautifully.  The argument sequence is also magnificent filmmaking, not just for the tour de force performances, but because of how it's built up and deployed within the story itself.  

4. Poor Things - This was kind of the movie I was hoping "Barbie" would be, but of course never could be.  Yorgos Lanthimos is back for a female "Frankenstein" fairy tale, told as only he and Tony McNamara could tell it.  It won me over the moment the black and white switched to color, and I realized that it was doing a "Wizard of Oz" homage with the big moment of discovery being the heroine's first go at sexual intercourse.  I have a feeling this is one of those films I'm going to like more the more that I watch it.  

5. Killers of the Flower Moon - Have you ever felt guilty that you don't like a movie more than you do?  Martin Scorsese does everything right here.  DeNiro and DiCaprio play despicable men so well, and the plight of the Osage tribe is a dark chapter of history that I'm so happy is getting some attention.   However, I'd have much rather gotten this project as a miniseries instead of a lengthy feature.  The film totally exhausted me by the end, as touching and beautifully made as it was.  

6. Oppenheimer - I feel this is the movie that Christopher Nolan has spent his whole career building up to, and while it magnifies all of his greatest strengths, it magnifies all of his weaknesses too.  I spent most of the running time playing spot the familiar face, and never got all that invested in the subject of the film.  There are some beautifully orchestrated sequences, some fine performances, and I don't feel that my time was wasted, but I was never convinced the film was as epic as its production.  

7. Barbie - I appreciate "Barbie," but there was so much cultural baggage around the film that it was difficult for me to evaluate it on its own terms.  In the end, I think it has many highs and a few lows, makes lots of interesting points about gender relations, and yet isn't nearly as incisive or smart as I wanted it to be.  However, it gets a lot of points for being a whole lot of fun.  Margot Robbie is a treasure, but Ryan Gosling as Ken is perhaps the comedic performance of the decade.

8. American Fiction - This is going to sound terrible, but I'm so glad this made it into the race and not "The Color Purple."  "American Fiction" is as tired of African American struggle narratives as I am, and is trying something new.  I really admire the creative impulse behind the film, and the willingness to try something out of the box, even if the end result is often messy and inconclusive.  Unlike most viewers, I like the personal side of the story more, though the satire is very enjoyable.  

9. Past Lives - I keep forgetting this got nominated for Best Picture, and frankly that's not a good sign.  I'm one of those people who just couldn't connect with the film.  I appreciate all that it's saying about immigrant narratives and diverging life paths, but when it comes down to it, I didn't care about these people and their relationships.  I may just be at the wrong point in my life for it, or in the wrong state of mind, because I want more intimate films like this.  Just not this particular film.

10. Maestro - This is a perfectly good film, but it's a film about someone who only seems to be a famous composer and conductor by coincidence.  Bernstein may have been an unfaithful, closeted, substance abuser in a marriage of convenience, but it confounds me to no end that Bradley Cooper had so little interest in depicting Bernstein's career and relationship to music - the things that actually made him famous.  I don't think "Maestro" works as a Bernstein biopic without this. 

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Your 2024 Oscar Nominations

It's that time again! The ten Best Picture nominees this year are an eclectic bunch that includes "Barbie," "Oppenheimer," "The Holdovers," "The Zone of Interest," and "Past Lives."  At the time of writing, I haven't seen as many of the nominees as I would like, but I've been following the race all season, and I've seen enough of the contenders to have some opinions.  For the most part, none of the films on the list are surprises.  "The Zone of Interest" doing so well while "May December" and "The Color Purple" only got one nomination apiece is unexpected, but there's nothing totally out of the blue like there's been in some years past.  

Best Director is a different story.  Greta Gerwig and Alexander Payne were widely expected to be in the running instead of Justine Triet and Jonathan Glazer.  You can definitely see the effect of the more international voting body, putting their weight behind "Anatomy of a Fall" and "Zone of Interest."  Meanwhile, "Barbie" is missing in several key categories including Cinematography and Editing, so I don't see it having much of a shot at trophies on Oscar night.  Perhaps the biggest snub of the year is Margot Robbie not being nominated for Best Actress for "Barbie."  However, America Ferrera did make it into Best Supporting Actress, which is nice to see.  

Looking at the acting categories, I happy to say there are no major issues with representation this year, thanks to "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Rustin," and "American Fiction."  There would probably be more acting nominees of color if "The Color Purple" had managed to get its act together.  However, it's wild that "May, December," got no acting nominations.  I understand why Charles Melton couldn't squeeze his way into Best Supporting Actor, because that category is so crowded this year, but Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman whiffing is more of a shock.  Nobody from "Past Lives" made it either.  Instead, "Nyad" got both of its nominations in acting categories.  I'm also a little disappointed that "Maestro" is taking up so much real estate - it's a well made film but too self-important for its own good.  Bradley Cooper's recent spate of campaigning is not helping things.  

Counting up the total nominations by film, the frontrunners are who you'd expect them to be - "Oppenheimer," "Poor Things," and "Killers of the Flower Moon," with "Barbie" losing some momentum.  With the understanding that I haven't seen several major contenders like "American Fiction" and "The Zone of Interest" yet, right now I'm rooting for "The Holdovers," especially for Paul Giamatti.  I think it's probably Christopher Nolan's year, however, and he's overdue for some Academy recognition so that's fine.  I'm also secretly glad that I won't have to pay as much attention to less successful contenders like "Napoleon" and "The Color Purple," which I didn't much like.  However, it's good to see some of the others, like "The Society of the Snow," "The Creator," not being overlooked.  I feel a bit warmer now towards "Past Lives," which only got Best Picture and Best Screenplay nods, and clearly just made it into the race by the skin of its teeth.   

Amusing single nominations abound this year.  The Flamin' Hot Cheetos movie, "Flamin' Hot," is now an Oscar nominee, thanks to shrewdly including an original Diane Warren song on its soundtrack.  The Golda Meir biopic that nobody seemed to like scored a Makeup and Hairstyling nomination.  "Godzilla Minus One" scored the kaiju franchise's first nomination in Best Visual Effects, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is in Best Original Score (possibly John Williams' swan song), and that wacky vampire Pinochet film, "El Conde," got a Best Cinematography nomination and deserved it.  Wes Anderson struck out again with "Asteroid City," but he did get a Best Live Action Short nomination for "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar."

Focusing on the positive, I'm so happy that "Nimona" made it into the Best Animated Feature race, though "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" probably has this sewn up.  Best Song continues to be the most chaotic category, but I will look forward to the performance of "I'm Just Ken" on Oscar night, and no doubt Margot Robbie will still show up to the ceremony in another spectacular Barbie outfit, nomination or no.

Notable also rans include "Asteroid City," "The Iron Claw," "All of Us Strangers," "Priscilla," "Ferrari," and "The Killer."  Despite rumors of a late "Saltburn" surge, one did not appear.  It's absolutely tragic it got nothing for production design - or Rosamund Pike.  But, oh well.  It was a very good year at the movies, and the state of the Oscars this year reflects that.

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My 2023 Youtube Playlist

My yearly Youtube playlist is mostly made up of media ephemera that's difficult to categorize, and the only thing they really have in common is a strong musical element. Still, I think that they're worth recommending and writing about. This batch includes old variety show segments, deleted scenes, tie-in music videos, award show performances, and oddball musical numbers worth revisiting.

Mean Green Mother From Outer Space - Levi Stubbs sings this nominated song from "Little Shop of Horrors" at the 1987 Academy Awards.  Alan Menken wrote it specifically for the movie, so it was eligible, but it lost to "Take My Breath Away" from "Top Gun." 

Chuck E. Cheese - I have a fascination with weird pop acts from the '80s, so this 2022 Saturday Night Live sketch was catnip for me.   Bowen Yang and Benedict Cumberbatch appear as the synthpop duo Reflection Denied, filling in for the busted animatronics.  The song is legitimately fabulous and Cumberbatch's falsetto chorus is joyously absurd.  I have not been able to confirm who wrote this thing, but I will not give up the search.  

The Reindeer - Jim Henson's Muppets guest on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall in 1965.  This was the first appearance of The Reindeer, a quintet of fuzzy Santa's helpers who were still a work in progress.  Eventually they'd show up on other programs with ears and noses and more Christmas themed hijinks.  However, I love this first appearance, especially for the little exchange with Jim at the end.  

Bosom Buddies - Angela Lansbury and Bea Arthur perform this number from "Mame" at the 1987 Tony Awards.  The lyrics are a little dated, but the leading ladies are immortal.  

Christine (Official Music Video) - Did you know that John Carpenter composed the scores to many of his beloved horror movies?  To celebrate the 2017 release of an anthology of his movie themes, Carpenter got to put together an official music video for the score of "Christine," which he cameos in as the driver.  It's also worth checking out some of Carpenter's non-score music, and their respective music videos.  

I Want To Be Evil - Eartha Kitt appears on the Swedish variety show "Kaskad" in 1962, singing as only Eartha Kitt can.  For an alternate version, check out Chiwetel Ejiofor's drag performance of this number in "Kinky Boots."

When I Grow Up - Tim Minchin and three of the Matildas from the "Matilda" stage musical  perform on Conan in 2015.  I couldn't find a clip with just the performance, so you'll just have to sit through Conan's interview with Minchin first.  

Bells and Whistles - Jane Krakowski plays the lawyer in the second season of "Schmigadoon!," which is patterned off of "Chicago."  That makes this a light spoof of Billy Flynn's "Razzle Dazzle" number, but Billy didn't have to dance in the courtroom in heels!

Clair de Lune - This lovely sequence set to Debussy's "Clair de Lune" was planned to be part of the original 1940 "Fantasia," but cut for time.  The animation was rescored and used in the "Blue Bayou" sequence from "Make Mine Music," but the original version was aired as part of a "Wonderful World of Color" episode in 1966.  It's available as an extra on several of the "Fantasia" home media releases.  

In Dreams - And finally, here's Harry Dean Stanton lip syncing to Roy Orbison's "In Dreams," providing a break from the violence in David Lynch's "Blue Velvet."  We miss you, Harry. 

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