Does the movie deserve an Oscar? Or: Chris and Cathy review the Academy Award Nominees for Best Picture

Every year, my husband Chris and I try to watch all of the AMPAS Best Picture Nominees and review, rate, and rank them prior to the awards ceremony.  These aren't really predictions on which movie will win Best Picture, only which ones we think are best.

Notes: 

• The movie titles link to the IMDb page for the movie, and the rankings at the end of the line link to our review of it. 
• Starting in 2024, we used a rubric with weighted scores to determine rankings, rating 12 different aspects such as watchability, message, character/situation relatability, storytelling, acting/casting, pacing, themes and motifs, visual/sound design, and an appropriate ending using a 5 point scale so actual ties are unlikely.  In 2026, we added a new category: haunting our thoughts.
• In-Progress Rankings can change. As we work through and compare the movies, we sometimes change our minds about the scores we assigned the different variables, and that can move a movie up or down the list.
• The overall rankings may not match what is shown at the bottom of the individual reviews; the individual reviews represented how we felt right after seeing the movie. We both adjusted our scoring over time, and before publishing the final movie review, we went back through our scoring sheet and finalized everything.
• Winners are marked in bold.

2026 Final Rankings: Movie titles (Pithy Reviews; Individual rankings of 10 nominees):

Note: the order is alphabetical until we've seen a movie, at which point it moves up to a ranked list.  Here are my initial thoughts on this year's nominees, prior to seeing them. Here are my overall thoughts on the nominees after seeing them.

1. Sinners (Southern gothic vampires sing the Blues; Cathy: 1, Chris: 1)
2. Bugonia (Alien-hunting conspiracy theorists; Cathy: 5, Chris: 2)
3. Train Dreams (Dreamy old logger survives ... life; Cathy: 3, Chris: 3)
4. Hamnet (The Bard's wife; Cathy: 2, Chris: 5)
5. Winner: One Battle After Another (Daddy-Daughter Revolution; Cathy: 7, Chris: 4)
6. F1: The Movie (Mesmerizing Top Gun for Formula 1 Fans; Cathy: 4, Chris: 6)
7. The Secret Agent (Strange, sweaty movie about life in fascist Brazil; Cathy: 6, Chris: 8)
8. Frankenstein (Monster-'splaning; Cathy: 9, Chris: 7)
9. Sentimental Value (Slow-paced movie about a family of actors; Cathy: 8, Chris: 9)
10. Marty Supreme (Odious ping-pong hustler no one respects; Cathy:10, Chris:10)

2025 Final Rankings: Movie titles (Pithy Reviews; Individual rankings of 9 nominees):

Note: the order is alphabetical until we've seen a movie, at which point it moves to the top of the list, in ranked order.  Here are my overall thoughts on the nominees. 

1. A Complete Unknown (Super songwriter's origin story; Cathy: 1, Chris: 1)
2. Conclave (Absorbing conspiracy at the Vatican; Cathy: 2, Chris: 2)
3. Emilia Pérez (Stereotypes, redemption, and transition; Cathy: 3, Chris: 3)
4. Dune: Part Two (Best rendition of a classic SF novel; Cathy: 4, Chris: 4)
5. The Substance (Excellent horror movie ruined by ending; Cathy: 5, Chris: 5)
6. The Brutalist (Troubled architect explores the pitfalls of patronage; Cathy: 6, Chris: 6)
7. Wicked (Beautiful, yet boring; Cathy: 7, Chris: 7)
8. Winner: Anora (Steaming pile of говно; Cathy: 9, Chris: 8)
9. Nickel Boys (Civil rights meets a feverish collage of an arthouse film; Cathy: 8, Chris: 9)

Unranked:

• I'm Still Here/Ainda Estou Aqui (A Brazilian politician's wife makes a new life after her husband is disappeared in 1971; Not available on streaming before the awards were given out, and then we never got around to seeing it.)

2024 Final Ranking: Movie titles (Pithy Reviews; Individual rankings of 10 nominees):

1. American Fiction (Brilliantly ironic smart comedy; Cathy: 1, Chris: 4)
2. Past Lives (Excellent exploration of love and human connections; Cathy: 2, Chris: 3)
3. The Zone of Interest (Masterpiece of monstrous implication; Cathy: 3, Chris: 2)
4. Poor Things (Fantastic, filthy, feminist, Frankensteinian fairytale; Cathy: 6, Chris: 1)
5. Barbie (Spectacular and sly doll's-eye-view of womanhood; Cathy: 4, Chris: 6)
6. Winner: Oppenheimer (Important, long and explosive; Cathy: 5, Chris: 5)
7. The Holdovers (Very good teacher/student relationship story; Cathy: 7, Chris: 7)
8. Anatomy of a Fall (Beautiful courtroom drama; Cathy: 8, Chris: 9)
9. Killers of the Flower Moon (Important, badly-told story; Cathy: 9, Chris: 8)
10. Maestro (Gorgeous, well-acted, boring slog; Cathy: 10, Chris: 10)

2023 Final Ranking: Movie titles (Pithy Reviews; Individual rankings of 9 nominees):

We didn't use a rubric in 2023. Rather, Chris and I rated each movie individually, and I averaged the two to determine overall rank. If there was a tie, they are listed alphabetically. 

1. Women Talking (Excellent and haunting; Cathy: 1, Chris 1) 
2. The Banshees of Inisherin (Excellent, beautiful, and a little surreal; Cathy: 2, Chris: 3)
3. Elvis (Excellent movie with stellar acting, music, and costumes; Cathy: 5, Chris: 2)
4. Tie: 

• Winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once (Excellent, beautiful, imaginative, and utterly bizarre; Cathy: 4, Chris: 4)
• The Fabelmans (Good story about a storyteller; Cathy: 3, Chris: 5)

5. Top Gun: Maverick (Very enjoyable but not really Oscar material; Cathy: 6, Chris: 6)
6. Tie

• All Quiet on the Western Front (Beautiful, boring, and disconnected; Cathy: 7, Chris: 8)
• Tár (Boring movie about a loathsome person. Only watched 60%; Cathy: 8, Chris: 7)

7. Triangle of Sadness (Terrible, gross, and Cathy only watched half; Cathy: 9, Chris: 9)

Unranked:

• Avatar: The Way of the Water (not seen due to lack of interest)