Split Decision: "Sinners"

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, LYNN LEE and NICK TAYLOR discuss Sinners.

NICK: Lynn, I think you’re one of the only people on this site - maybe in the entire world - whose opinion on Sinners I don’t know. The most nominated film in Oscar’s history deserves a volley before the big night! For my part, I think Ryan Coogler’s ambition is off the charts, and I genuinely can’t wait to see what he and his team are going to do with their blank check. The execution of that ambition, from plotting to formal execution, is very uneven to me, and I have a hard time reconciling what’s so exciting with what’s undernourished. But before I continue, please tell me what you think of Sinners!!

LYNN: Funny, I feel like I've been singing the praises of Sinners so much lately, I'm finding it difficult to avoid repeating myself!  It was my #1 movie of 2025, and I think it deserved many, if not most, of its Oscar nominations...

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Split Decision: “Marty Supreme”

In the Split Decision series, our writers pair up and face off on an Oscar-nominated movie one loves and the other doesn't. Today, ABE FRIEDTANZER and CLÁUDIO ALVES discuss Marty Supreme...

ABE: In 2024, I achieved an exciting milestone: seeing all the major Oscar movies before Thanksgiving. The last one I caught was the late-breaking Timothée Chalamet movie no one had seen yet, A Complete Unknown. Since I'm not into music all that much, I was impressed but not wowed, but happy at least, even if just for prognostication purposes, to have seen a film that was going to factor into the Oscar race.

It's amusing that, one year later, the film that nearly eluded me and turned out to be close to my last one to screen was also a little-seen late-breaking Timothée Chalamet movie. The difference here, however, was that Marty Supreme had its surprise premiere at the New York Film Festival, and then I managed to RSVP for an FYC screening in mid-October in LA that disappeared from listings moments later. I got to the Academy Museum and only found my seat ten minutes after the screening was supposed to start, stunned at how popular this hard-to-see film was. I knew nothing about it other than that it was Josh Safdie's first time directing a movie on his own in many years, and Chalamet was supposed to be incredible. Several hours later, I found myself in solid agreement…

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Oscar Volley: High Quality / Low Suspense in "Best Director"

The Oscar Volleys continue with Ben Miller and Nathaniel R talking Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson will FINALLY win an Oscar... for ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

BEN: Welp Nathaniel, this felt like the most boring category of the whole Oscars a month ago. Luckily, there seems to be a bit of flux in this race. Paul Thomas Anderson seemed poised to run away with the statue, but Ryan Coogler can't stop butting in.

Before we get to that, I wanted to know your thoughts on this lineup as a whole. This certainly wouldn't be my personal lineup, but there aren't any Todd Phillips or Adam McKay mucking up the group.  How do you feel about this Best Director lineup?

NATHANIEL: What a lede to entice the readers, Ben. "Most Boring" Ha ha. But true. What I really want to know is WHY do you find it boring?

Please click all that apply...

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Oscar Volley: Best Director is an embarrassment of riches

The Oscar Volleys are back! Tonight, it's time for Cláudio Alves Eric Blume to discuss the Best Director race...

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, Paul Thomas Anderson | © Warner Bros.

CLÁUDIO: This early in the season, every race is somewhat volatile, prone to radical changes down the road to Oscar. However, I think that Best Director feels especially mercurial as far as nominations are concerned, though not for a lack of contenders - quite the opposite! Voters are spoiled for choice from a roster of strong candidates, all with mighty campaigns behind them, sterling reviews and eye-catching narratives. So much so that only PTA feels secure in his nomination bid, all but locked for the honor unless AMPAS pulls a 2012 on us.

Personally, I can't complain, even if he has been way more worthy of these plaudits in the past and should have already won a couple of Oscars - There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread come to mind. Of course, One Battle After Another is excellent, not some mediocrity destined to win apologies in the form of unwarranted trophies. The "River of Hills" chase sequence alone will surely be played in all tributes to PTA's career in a couple of decades. And yet, my mind can't help but wander to The Departed when pondering OBAA at the Oscars...

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First Oscar Predictions of the Year - Complete!

Whew. That took longer than expected but you can now see all of the "April Foolish" first-round predictions for this Oscar year, albeit compiled in May & June and delivered to you in early July. Since the first wave of 20 categories takes so long to compile (updates are easier) we should note up front that James Vanderbilt's Nuremberg, another film centered on the Nuremberg Trials, was scheduled for a November 2025 release after the weeks of research for these charts so it is not yet included.  That said we can hardly claim it a certainty as a competitor. World War II is no longer automatic "Bait" for voters, Vanderbilt is not (yet) an Oscar player and though the cast has four previously nominated actors none are the sort that Oscar voters ALWAYS watch regardless. Anyway, we'll save it for the next up date.

What follows are a dozen key questions were asking ourselves in July about the upcoming competition before things really heat up during the fall film festivals. We've love to hear your thoughts on these 12 questions...

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