Thoughts on the 2025 Oscar Nominations

    There will always be movies nominated where I think, "What was the academy thinking?!? How can anyone think this movie is the best of the year?" (2023's Triangle of Sadness, I'm looking at you).  I have mixed feelings about this year's slate of nominees, as it was considerably weaker than last year's.  Last year, the top eight movies were all worthy contenders, and even with the bottom two, I can see why they were nominated, even though I myself didn't like them.    

This year, the best movies were only very good, and most didn't rise to great. The slate was characterized by wasted potential and the failure to kill the director's darlings:  

• The Substance was on track to be the best movie of the year and perhaps the best horror movie of all time. It built the suspense and dread through the first 3/4 of the movie until it fell down in the final act, with its blood-drenched crescendo that suddenly and massively violated suspension of disbelief.
• Nickel Boys took a great story about good kids but ruined it with experimental and distracting film techniques and head-hopping.
• The Brutalist needs to cut at least 30 minutes but perhaps as much as an hour, particularly if can't be bothered to close its plot holes. What happened to Van Buren?  How did Laszlo rebuild his career after the fiasco depicted in the movie?  When did his niece overcome her trauma?  The list goes on.
• Anora failed to make me care about any of the characters. The character I liked best and identified with, was hired muscle who inadvertently assaults the main character (though she was so annoying, who can blame him?)
• Emilia Pérez was actually a pretty good movie, but the director's lack of research was kind of insulting and played on everyone else's ignorance of the difference between Spain and Mexico.
• Wicked was imaginative, but like Anora, failed to make me care about the characters.  Worse, it was a musical with not very good sound design.

    The only movies that didn't disappoint me in some way were Conclave, Dune 2, and A Complete Unknown (I haven't seen I'm Still Here, which hasn't yet come to streaming and is unlikely to before the award ceremony). 

    So, here's how Chris's and my ranking of the movies fall out:

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)

    Interestingly, except for Anora and Nickel Boys, we remained in perfect lock-step. That's pretty rare, as we are both pretty opinionated.

     I also try to draw conclusions about interesting cross-movie themes:

• Four movies take place in modern times (The Substance, Anora, Conclave, Emilia Pérez)
• Four movies are historical period pieces  (The Brutalist 1947-1960-ish; A Complete Unknown 1961-1965; I'm Still Here, 1971; Nickel Boys, 1964).
• Two movies take place out of time (Dune 2, Wicked)
• One movie deals with genocide, or more accurately, its aftermath (The Brutalist).
• Six movies contain a language other than English.  Two were mostly or entirely not in English (Emilia Pérez, Spanish; I'm Still Here, Portuguese). The others were mostly or almost entirely in English but contained other languages as well (Conclave, with Spanish, Italian, and Latin; Dune 2, Fremen and sign language; Anora, Russian; The Brutalist, Hungarian and Italian).
• One actor (Timothée Chalamet) starred in two of the nominated movies (A Complete Unknown, Dune 2).

    I'm hesitant to offer predictions or opinions for other categories because I haven't seen all of the performances, but here are my opinions in spite of my ignorance. I underlined the one that I thought should win.  Bold indicates the winner.

    Note: There should be five nominees per category. If I don't mention a nominee (or indicate a winner), it's because I haven't seen the performance. If I didn't mention a category, it's because I have no opinion.  

• Best Dirctor: Coralie Fargeat/The Substance, James Mangold/A Complete Unknown, Jacques Audiard/Emilia Pérez, Brady Corbet/The Brutalist, and Sean Baker/Anora.
• Best Actor:  Timothée Chalamet (for his Bob Dylan role), Adrien Brody, and Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes successfully made me sympathize with a Catholic cardinal, a person I have zero in common with.
• Best Actress: Cynthia Erivo, Karla Sofía Gascón, Mikey Madison, and Demi Moore.  No question -- Moore's performance in The Substance was fantastic.
• Best Supporting Actress: Monica Barbaro, Ariana Grande, Felicity Jones, Isabella Rossellini, and Zoe Saldaña. Saldaña held Emilia Pérez together.
• Best Supporting Actor: Guy Pearce, Edward Norton, and Yura Borisov. He is the ONLY person I sympathized with in Anora.  I also loved Ed Norton's turn as Pete Seeger.
• Best Writing (original screenplay): The Brutalist, Anora, and The Substance.  Extra kudos for it having been written in French and perfectly translated to English.
• Best Writing (adapted screenplay): A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, and Nickel Boys.
• Best Sound: A Complete Unknown, Dune 2, Emilia Pérez, and Wicked.
• Best Production Design: The Brutalist, Conclave, Dune 2, and Wicked.
• Best Cinematography: Dune 2, Emilia Pérez, and The Brutalist.
• Best Makeup and Hairstyling:  Emilia Pérez, The Substance, and Wicked.
• Best Costume Design: A Complete Unknown, Conclave, and Wicked.
• Best Visual Effects: Wicked and Dune 2.