What's next for key players from Oscar season?

by Nathaniel R

Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer in the forthcoming series MARGOT'S GOT MONEY TROUBLE

Let's gently segueway now to a new year in film. When Cláudio reminded us that  Timothée Chalamet has high profile projects coming up in the wake of two consecutive years of 'close-but-no-cigar' Best Actor runs, it got me to thinking about what's next for each of this year's nominees. We're skipping anything we already covered in the  first 2026 previews we did (Dune Part Three, Digger, The Odyssey, The Weight, etc) So herewith 20 enticing projects from film, tv, and stage featuring one or more of the players who were just up for Oscar gold. Will they return to the Oscar stage and, if so, how soon? The projects are listed in rough ascending order of current interest though that could obviously change once we see stills, trailers, or hear more buzz...

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Oscar Volley: Can anyone beat Frankie in "Best Production Design"?

More Oscar Volleys are upon us. Today, ERIC BLUME and BEN MILLER discuss the Oscar race for Best Production Design...

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER's Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino are just happy to be nominated. They have non chance of winning.

ERIC:  Hi Ben, let's take a look at our five nominated films for the Best Production Design Oscar:  Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, and Sinners.  Maybe just for funsies, we can go backwards.  What are the two films that you think stand the smallest chance of winning this award?

BEN:  Frankly, there aren't many categories where One Battle After Another stands very little chance, but I think we have finally arrived at one...

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2025 in Review: Perfect Costumes & Other Visual Delights

by Nathaniel R

I had briefly hoped to do a huge post in each awards category but in the interest of time and availability thereof, we have to wade into the deep end. Herewith a random shout out to 4 costumes from the film year that I think are special in some way. ONLY THE FIRST IS A NOMINEE for Best Costume Design (here at TFE) but in the interest of spreading the wealth I really wanted to shout out some films randomly and these were the first four I thought of.  I love costume designers with all my heart. They regularly elevate and enrich storytelling and especially when costumes aren't the focus of the picture, they get way too little credit for it. 

Willa's Act Three Ensemble - One Battle After Another
If you ask me four time Oscar winner Colleen Atwood had been running on fumes for some years trapped as she was in Burtonisms and puffy shoulder fetishes. Something in Paul Thomas Anderson's near future battlefields -- not her usual type of assignment - set her imagination free again. She makes one inspired choice after another...

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Film Bitch Awards: Yellow Coats, Breathy Vocals, and Facial Reconstruction, Oh My!

by Nathaniel R

In an alternate reality somewhere I am a punctual cinephile, delivering his own personal awards with metronomic precision, one category per day for a month before the Oscar nominations or at least between the nominations and the big night. But we are in this reality and there are never enough hours in the day and always last minute screenings to shove in to try to see everything that people are talking about. While you'll have to wait to see my personal acting ballots until after the Oscar aftermath fades (as I'm still writing up star turns and need to have a clear head) but the rest of the 'traditional' i.e. Oscar parallel categories of my own awards are now up for your viewing / thinking / comparing-to-your-own-faves pleasure. I know it's Oscar day but I thought I'd throw this up if you're tired of talking predictions but are still hopped up with movie fever...

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Oscar Volleys: Let’s wrap this up!

The Oscars are TONIGHT. To end the volleys, Cláudio Alves and Nathaniel Rogers are here to cover all the categories the team hadn't yet discussed…

THE BRUTALIST | © A24

CLÁUDIO: As much as we try to cover every Oscar race at The Film Experience, it isn't always easy to get conversations going for all of them. So, here we are, Nathaniel, dealing with the last slew of races before the big night. Since last time, we focused so much on the eye candy trifecta, we could give the place of privilege to the aural achievements now. Or Best Editing since that's so strongly correlated to Best Picture. And let me tell you, I am quite lost when it comes to that particular lineup. I could see all five of the nominees winning. Though I presume The Brutalist has the least chance since it is my favorite, and I've learned, over the years, to predict pessimistically to avoid disappointments. It's a good method - everyone should try it.

NATHANIEL: Predicting pessimistically has cost me at times for overall punditry scores (not that I care to much about those stats) but the amount of emotional armor it provides is helpful…

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