“So this website only writes once a year now?”
~You
Another year another rushed Oscar rundown of preditions and thoughts of the Academy Award nominated films from the past year. Again we’re getting it done just under the wire.
But enough about us. Let’s look at the Best Picture nominations for the 2025 Academy Awards.
Anora (Six Nominations Including Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actress, Director and Screenplay)
What’s It About?
A 23-year-old sex worker meets a rich yet immature son of a Russian oligarch for a whirlwind romance that leads to a Vegas wedding. When the family finds out, a madcap evening of events ensues.
Is It Good?
The top level jokes that people make are the sheer amount of sex and nude scenes throughout, but the less cheeky response to that has largely celebrated it for it’s portrayal of sex workers (though actual sex workers have mixed thoughts).
There are some seriously funny moments in the movie, and some great performances, and we lean on “we enjoyed it enough but probably won’t see it again.” The best comparison in terms of it’s overall tone is Uncut Gems – hectic, frantic, and somewhat panic inducing at times.
Wil It Win?
We’re going to say no, despite the fact that it’s currently the odds-on favorite to win after the fast fall of Emilia Perez. It won a lot of Guilde Awards (but left the Golden Globes empty-handed) so we’re thinking a slight upset will happen tonight.
Should It Win?
Not really. It’s well-directed and well-acted and very well might win, but it doesn’t feel like it was the best movie of the year (despite the fact that this is one of the weakest years in recent memory).
The Brutalist (10 Nominations Including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Actress, Best Director and Best Screenplay)
What’s It About?
A prolific but troubled Hungarian Jewish architect suffers through the Holocaust and tries to find his way in America. His genius is recognized and often diminished as he struggles to find his way in America while struggling through personal imperfections and building an imperfect family in the aftermath of a historic trauma.
Is It Good?
We think our description of it was. And it is. It’s just a HARD movie. We had it as our second favorite movie of the year, but it’s 3.5 hours of whispered PTSD and a few very hard-to-stomach all grounded in BRILLIANT direction and cinemetography, as well as a performance from Adrien Brody that is easily even better than the holocaust-survivor performance he gave in The Pianist where he became the youngest Best Actor winner at the time.
Wil It Win?
Anora, Conclave, and The Brutalist seem to be the frontrunners. Like Anora we think it won’t quite make it and are expecting to be wrong.
Should It Win?
Yes. It’s one of three movies we think should win, so if it takes the statue it’d be deserved.
(Also for a movie on a $10 million dolar budget with TWO Oscar winners and Guy Pierce along with MAJOR set pieces, how did this get made!? Pound for pound, in terms of budget and output, this movie’s existence is a borderline miracle).
A Complete Unknown (Eight Nominations Including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Actress and Best Screenplay)
What’s It About?
Bob Dylan.
Is It Good?
Sure if you like Bob Dylan or Timotheeee Chalomeeeeeee.
Wil It Win?
No but it’s wild it’s in 4th place. Full disclosure – we hate biopics. We appreciate PERFORMANCES in biopics (and the performances here are STELLAR) (and the music is really good too) but anything that has you opening a Wikipedia page to see how accurate it is takes you out of it. But no it won’t win.
Should It Win?
No. It’s not won any of the major Best Picture awards and it’s best bet for a win is Best Sound.
Conclave (Eight Nominations Including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay)
What’s It About?
We’ll quote our founder’s Facebook post (he’s old) review of the movie.
“Stanley Tucci and Ralph Finnes dishing out some hot Vatican Goss? I’m in. I do think this will end up winning as it’s gaining momentum.”
It’s about the political process of appointing a new pope. There’s a “twist” at the end that people got mad about for reasons that the non-Catholics on our staff don’t really understand, but it’s essentially fancy priests doing a late-season Succession episode. It’s great.
Is It Good?
It’s essentially fancy priests doing a late-season Succession episode. It’s great.
Wil It Win?
We’re actually thinking it will! It’s gaining momentum – odds have it as the second-most-likely Best Picture Winner after Anora, so you have to ask. How much have we removed all the old white guys from the Academy where the “John Lithgow/Stanley Tucci/Ralph Finnes Priest Movie” upsets the “Very aggressively anxious sex-worker dramedy”? It’s a real “PICK YOUR FIGHTER” situation, but we’re guessing the more “born before 1970” wing has more of the votes.
Should It Win?
Honestly? Sure! It’s a fun movie, it’s brilliantly filmed, the acting is incredible and it’s got that Oscar gloss on it. We had it as our third top movie, and if something from the top three wins, we’re happy.
Dune: Part Two (Five Nominations)
What’s It About?
Spice.
Ugh, no, no, NO, you are NOT going to make us talk about the second part to a previously-unflimable futuristic space epic with a famously noncoluted plot when everyone including TIMOTHEEEE CHALOMEEEEEEEEEEETTT knows it’ll only win sound and effects prizes.
No. We’re not doing it.
We’re writing THREE articles about FIFTY FILMS and we have THREE HOURS TO DO IT. THIS IS NOT HEALTHY OR REALISTIC. WE CANNOT WASTE TIME ON DUNE 2!
*sigh* *goes to Google’s terrible AI* *half our staff resigns*
Dune: Part Two is about Paul Atreides’ journey for revenge and enlightenment in the deserts of Arrakis. Paul seeks to overthrow the Harkonnens who destroyed his family and liberate the Fremen. The plot is as follows.
Paul and his mother, Jessica, are taken in by the Fremen after the Harkonnens attack House Atreides
Paul learns the ways of the Fremen, including their language, fighting, and riding sandworms
Paul falls in love with Chani, a Fremen girl
Paul must choose between his love for Chani and the fate of the universe
Paul defeats the Harkonnens and humiliates them
Paul threatens the Emperor by promising to destroy spice production if he doesn’t accept Paul’s demands
The Emperor reluctantly accepts Paul’s claim to the throne
Is It Good?
Honestly it fucking rocks. We just don’t have time to get into it. As far as a viewing experience it’s “pay extra for IMAX.” As far as an Oscar film experience, it’s “lol oh it’s so cute you’re trying so hard.”
Wil It Win?
Nope. Moving on!
Should It Win?
See above.
Emilia Perez (13 Nominations Including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Supporting Actress, and Screenplay)
What’s It About?
Ugh ugh ugh.
UGH UGH UGH.
Okay fine.
You’ve heard a LOT about it but if you haven’t seen it you probably haven’t actually heard anything of substance so here goes.
Vicious Mexican cartel leader hires underappreciated lawyer to find a doctor to provide gender-affirming surgery, fakes her death to live a new life as a transgendered woman, decides she wants to still be around her wife and children pretending to be a secret aunt.
Naturally it’s a musical.
Is It Good?
Ugh, no. It’s the worst kind of bad. There are parts that are AMAZING – Zoe Saldana needs an Oscar for her performance. But outside of “looking good” and “good choreography” it’s a mess. Mexicans are offended by the representation of their country (the director is FRENCH!). The LGBTQIA+ community is upset by bluntless of the experience (excluding the leading actresses’ tweets getting her kicked off Netflix’s travel budget, look at this clip and…well share your thoughts)
Wil It Win?
*deep breath*
Like, it won’t. But there’s a lot of history to unpack here on why this movie is so wild in an award season context.
Titanic (won), All About Eve (won), and La La Land (Moonlight) share the record for most Oscar nominations, with 14.
So that means, 13 nominations ties this movie in second place with Gone With The Wind (won), From Here to Eternity (won), Forrest Gump (won), Shakespeare In Love (won), Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (lost) (boo), Chicago (won) (boo), The Shape of Water (won) (lol wut) and Oppenheimer (won).
The math says this should win. It should not. It will not.
Should It Win?
Did we fucking stutter?
I’m Still Here (Three Nominations Including Best Picture, Best Actress)
What’s It About?
Based off a memoir of a Brazilian dissident who lived through the brutal Brazilian military government in the 1970’s, it centers around a family, the disappearance that family’s patriarch, a former senator, and the struggle to deal with loss and uncertainty of corruption and lack of agency.
Is It Good?
You can’t fucking watch it without breaking laws currently, but yes, it’s good. It’s one of those “slap your friends and say get over it if they tell you they don’t like watching movies with subtitles” movies. It was our fourth favorite movie of the year.
Wil It Win?
No, because they did very little to push it forward. The lead actress (Fernanda Torres) deserves best Actress but she chose the year to go after Demi Moore doing a career defining work of what-the-fuckery. (More about that later).
It needs to win best international picture but we think Emilia Perez is going to get that as a consolation prize and it makes us feel sick.
Should It Win?
If it pulled off a miracle? Yes. But how often do miracles happen?
NIckel Boys (Two Nominations Including Best Picture and Best Screenplay)
What’s It About?
We’ll go with our founder’s post which had this as the 6th best movie of the year. All [sics] can be chalked up to well, what you’d expect from Johnny Roosevelt.
“Weirdly enough this kind of reminded me of The Brutalist? Obviously very VERY different topics (jewish immigrant experience vs. criminal/racist juvenile prison system) but stylistically they both had interesting/unique choices. I understood but didn’t really connect with the POV approach used here but the story is very resonant”
Is It Good?
It’s a bummer of a movie but what else are the Oscars for? But yes, it’s a very well done film that covers a very unfortunate part of America’s past. (If you’re curious about the particulars, the plot is pretty bleak but tells a tale)
Wil It Win?
No. It’s one of, if not the least publicly-known films here, and one of the least viewed.
Should It Win?
It’s a great movie (we ranked it number six) but not a winning one.
The Substance (Five Nominations Including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Screenplay)
What’s It About?
Um…..Pure Body Horror?
Oh you want us to be serious. Honestly it’s a “you gotta see it to believe it” movie but we’ll try to be as vague as possible.
Demi Moore plays an “aging” (read as, still Demi Moore) famous TV aerobics instructor. When she gets fired for being too old, she gets into a car crash and is told from a doctor about a secretive product called “The Substance” that can make you young and desirable again.
ALL the nudity and ALL the grossest imaginable body horror ensues.
Is It Good?
It. Fucking. Rules.
Wil It Win?
Alas, no. Again, we don’t want to spoil this movie but severed faces crawling around likely won’t take home a top trophy.
Should It Win?
YES! It won’t but it was our top movie of the year. Insane. Audacious. Wild. Like nothing you’ve ever seen. Uncomfortable. Weird. Rude! MEAN! OFFENSIVE! NEW! It’s the kind of movie that we should be awarding more to move the needle away from safe in art.
Oh speaking of not moving away the needle away from safe in art. Our last nomination.
Wicked (10 Nominations Including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress)
What’s It About?
Is It Good?
Wil It Win?
No.
Should It Win?
No.
And there you have it! Just two more of these to go! Oh crap we’re running out of time! Pray for AFFotD!
America Fun Fact of the Day 