Review: “The Odyssey” is Signature Christopher Nolan (Both Good and Bad)

By Ben Miller

13 feature films into his career, director Christopher Nolan has developed a string of touchstones for his films. You can expect an all-star cast, massive practical set pieces, underdeveloped women, stunning visuals, and clunky dialogue. With his new film The Odyssey, Nolan again delivers on everything you come to expect from a Nolan movie.

This time, Nolan (a well-documented child of cinema history), decides to take his chances with a sword and sandals epic in the vein of Ben-Hur or Quo Vadis. While the filmmaker might not have the reverence for the genre, he dives headfirst into the craft and scope necessary to make a film of this magnitude. When this film is big, bold, and a little silly, that’s where everything excels. It’s when things get more intimate that the film loses its way...

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Are the new Best International Film rules a good idea?

As the summer stands between us and the awards season to come, Cláudio Alves and Juan Carlos Ojano discuss some of this year’s new Oscar rules, focusing on their beloved Best International Film race.

Visar Morina's SHAME AND MONEY became the first film eligible for the Best International Feature Oscar this season, when it won the World Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

CLÁUDIO: Much was said about the Oscar rule changes when they were first announced at the beginning of May, with various opinions going around. While the possibility of actors double-dipping in the same category for the first time since the 1930s is enticing, the transformations to the Best International Film race are perhaps more important and worthy of discussion. And who better to discuss it with than Juan Carlos Ojano, the only person I know who has seen every single nominee in the category's history and discussed them through The One-Inch Barrier podcast? But first, let's assess the rules themselves…

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First Predictions: Best Supporting Actress

by Nathaniel R

Can Daisy & Esmé pull an Emma & Kate in the new version of SENSE & SENSIBILITY?

With such a banner Best Supporting Actress season in the rearview mirror, how can the next race even dream of topping it? Who will be our next Madigan... our Wunmi or Teyana? Will we get another Inga & Elle twofer? Sight unseen the films of 2026 don't appear to be offering us a wealth of contenders. And yet, who can really know in the spring or summertime?  Promos and buzz and rumors of greatness for forthcoming films almost always center around movie star leads and auteurs. Supporting characters, and the actors who play them, only (usually) turn heads / gather momentum during actual screenings and the reviews / media discourse that follows. Which is a long way of saying I don't feel even remotely confident in this first round of Oscar predictions for the 99th Oscars.

Consider the following possibilities...

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First Oscar Predictions: Visual Categories

by Nathaniel R

First still from WERWULF. Can it follow in Nosferatu's footsteps and receive craft nominations?

We started with Costume Design (we're partial to those threads, don'cha know) but now the rest of the first round predictions for the 99th Oscars are available in all visual categories...

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529 Invites are out for Academy Awards Membership

by Nathaniel R

As is annual tradition, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has published the list of the people they're inviting to join their 19 branches this year. Being on this list doesn’t mean you’ve become an Academy member; it just means you’ve been sponsored and  invited (you cannot apply for membership – they have to invite you.) The only other way to become a member, outside of sponsorship from a current member, is to be Oscar-nominated. You’re automatically considered, with or without a sponsor if that happens.

More on invitees I’m thrilled about and other particulars after the jump…

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