A Brief History of Oscar Ties

by Cláudio Alves

Best Live-Action Short Film is the only category to count two ties in its Oscar history.

Last month, at the 98th Academy Awards, the world got to witness the seventh official tie in Oscar history. Presenter Kumail Nanjiani was quick to assure the audience that this was not a bit but something that was really happening as the Best Live-Action Short Film race came down to two victors – The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva. For someone like me, what made this even more momentous was how, for once, the Academy made a good choice, even if they didn’t make up their mind. In a category where good taste goes to die, our champions are good examples of the form, amply deserving of this honor and their new place in the annals of Oscar history. Who would have thought?

For some added context, join me as I go over these seven ties. Were they all deserving? Let’s find out…

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Reader Poll: Who would you love to see as the next Amy Madigan?

This question was posed by a loyal reader and to double the fun we want you to participate with our Team. 

AMY MADIGAN "FLUMMOXED" AND BEAUTIFUL OSCAR SPEECH

At the 98th Oscars Amy Madigan improbably returned to the Oscars 40 years after her first nomination (Twice in a Lifetime, 1985) and WON for Weapons. Who would we like to see as the next Amy Madigan? Here is the criteria for eligibility for this niche actressexual poll: 

• The actress must have received only one one previous Oscar nomination (they lost)
• That nomination was 20 or more years ago
• They are at least 50 years of age at this writing.

Check out the eligibility list and VOTE FOR YOUR TOP TEN by Wednesday night April 8. Share the link with friends you think would like to play. We'll discuss the results from TEAM EXPERIENCE and from readers here on the weekend of April 10th.

The Lone Acting Nominee vs Best Picture Stars

by Cláudio Alves

In the battle of Aunt Gladys against Best Picture stars, the witch won!

I don’t know about you, but I love Oscar trivia, the more meaningless, niche, and utterly useless for prediction purposes, the better. Indeed, matters of stats and precedent feel better invoked in post-Oscar talk than in the middle of the season, when folks sometimes hold on to these analyses as if they were unshakable rules. Every year, Academy Award history gains new records, new precursor combos that failed or succeeded, and age-old assumptions that were never examined until they were proven wrong. So, let’s roll with it and enjoy the silliness of our collective Oscar obsession. Tonight, I’d like to return to the matter of Amy Madigan’s Best Supporting Actress win.

Hers is a remarkable achievement for a number of reasons, spanning from genre bias to the sheer quality of the performance at hand. Still, even odder is the fact that the Weapons witch was a lone acting nominee facing off against a lineup of women starring in Best Picture nominees. And though we live in an era when the Academy tends to privilege the movies listed in their top race in almost every other category, Madigan came out victorious. This particular scenario has only happened three times before…

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Ranking the 2025 Oscar Clips

By Ben Miller

It's been a few years, but we are finally back! The Oscars brought back acting clips for the Oscars and I'm here to rank them from 20 to 1. Let's get to it!

What Are We Doing?

"If there's a straight line, you've got a problem."

20. Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
19. Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
18. Amy Madigan, Weapons

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Split Decision: "Bugonia"

In the Split Decision series, our writers pair up and face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Tonight, ERIC BLUME and CLÁUDIO ALVES discuss Bugonia...

ERIC: Cláudio, a friendship is nothing without honesty, so I'll honor our friendship by saying I've been putting off our conversation on Bugonia, because it's a film that brought me such perverse joy and basic movie-movie satisfaction...and I know you are not a big fan of Lanthimos' aesthetic and style, his partnership with Emma Stone, and some of Stone's key performances.  They all mean a lot to me, so diving into this pit seems a bit challenging. 

But what is the purpose of being a passionate cinephile if you can't dive into the pit, right?  I'll start by saying that I think Bugonia is great, crazy, zany fun, and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.  That's just basic-level movie audience talk, but it's true, and I can't say that about a lot of movies, not even a few that I rank higher in my top ten list this year!  Now, proceed, my friend.

CLÁUDIO: For the record, I'm not anti-Lanthimos nor am I anti-Stone…

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