Oscar Volley: “Best Actor” will be a nail-biter to the bitter end

The Oscar Volleys continue. Today, CLÁUDIO ALVES and EUROCHEESE discuss the Oscar race for Best Actor.

Timothée Chalamet in MARTY SUPREME | © A24

CLÁUDIO: Last year in movies turned out to be an odd one for me. Mostly because, when I looked at my spreadsheets and lists to make up a ballot, the male acting categories felt markedly richer than their female counterparts. This never happens, not to me, at least. Yet, here we are. And while the supporting acting races don't necessarily show this - the Supporting Actress quintet AMPAS chose is one of the strongest we've had in years, mayhap decades - the leads bear the truth of the matter quite starkly.

In other words, I'm surprisingly happy to be discussing Best Actor rather than Best Actress in this year's volleys. I'm even happier to be doing it with you, Eurocheese! Are you similarly enthused?

EUROCHEESE: Same! I could have easily filled ten Actress slots the prior year, but last year saw a slew of brilliant male leads, making the limit to five a difficult choice. I can't complain about the choices the Academy made here - all five deserve their names in this lineup...

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Oscar Volley: "Best Original Screenplay" is sewn-up for Ryan Coogler. It's his coronation.

The Oscar Volleys continue. Today, LYNN LEE and BEN MILLER discuss the volatile Oscar race for Best Original Screenplay.

BLUE MOON took the slot many thought/hoped would be filled by SORRY, BABY.

LYNN: Ben, it’s been a long if not especially strange road getting here, and we’re in the homestretch now!  Other than the surprise of Blue Moon being the sleeper nominee, this race seems to be running pretty much as expected.  What do you think of the nominees?  Does Sinners have this in the bag, or could one of the international nominees score an upset?  I don’t think Marty Supreme is winning this one, and I swear it’s not just because it's my least favorite of the nominees.

BEN: As much as I love Blue Moon, I have to pour one out for my beloved, Eva Victor's Sorry, Baby...

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2025 in Review: Nathaniel's "Best" List (Pt 1)

by Nathaniel R

Begonia, Marty Supreme, Nouvelle Vague, and Kill the Jockey were among the best films of the year

PART ONE. One of the greatest and worst things about the cinema is that it is a perpetually overflowing cup. Discourse about Hollywood always leans toward sky-is-falling “end of” cinema/moviegoing due to horrid socioeconomic and public behavioral reasons. Yet at the  same time we can never keep up so it’s a fact that artists all over the world are still making cinema like the artform will never go out of style. There is literally always more to see and more in any given year than can be seen by any person, on any size of a screen. (If you love catching up on older films this pleasure/problem is exponentially more true.)

In that spirit of “overflowing” here are some darlings and honorable mentions before we get to the Top Dozen tomorrow and at least one of the ways in which they surpassed reasonable expectations...

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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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Oscar Volley: Is an upset possible in "Best Editing"?

It’s that time again! Lynn Lee and Eurocheese discuss the Oscar race for Best Editing.

the Best Editing nominees

LYNN: Happy peak Oscar season, Eurocheese! Excited to discuss the editing category with you. Overall, this is a strong if relatively unsurprising lineup. I, for one, am absolutely delighted Sentimental Value made it in – that final scene in itself deserves all of the awards. And I can see the merits in the other selections, even if the Academy once again went with all Best Picture nominees (yawn). But then it’s been almost a decade since they included any non-BP nominees. So I will just sit in the corner and shed my own quiet tear for the unsung A House of Dynamite, which deserved more awards love in general but in this category in particular. At least the BAFTAs recognized that!

What are your thoughts on the nominees? And do you think the winner will also win Best Picture (for the fourth year in a row)?

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