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| Photo taken by RAP in LA, August 15, 2025 |
As I do annually, this post reviews Academy Award nominees in major categories and provides my rankings within them. I am not predicting winners and only rank the films I have seen. Again this year, I have not seen very many of the movies, so I will be updating this post extensively in the future and noting the edits with yellow highlights.
You can find my post about last year's Oscars here and work backwards if you want.
Best Picture
“The Secret Agent”
“One Battle After Another”
“Train Dreams”
“Sinners”
“Frankenstein”
“Bugonia”
I suspect that a couple of the films I have not seen will push towards the top of this list, but I can only rank what I have watched to-date. Were most of these films better than Eddington? Or Black Bag?
** Update: The Secret Agent is exceptional filmmaking.
“F1”
“Hamnet”
“Marty Supreme”
“Sentimental Value”
Directing
Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”
Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”
Every year I struggle with ranking in this category -- I usually just put them in the same order as I do the films unless there is a good reason not to do so.
Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme”
Joachim Trier, “Sentimental Value”
Chloé Zhao, “Hamnet”
Actor in a Leading Role
Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”
Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another”
I don't think DiCaprio is going to win a second Oscar this year and Jordan did play two characters.
Timothée Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”
Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent”
Actress in a Leading Role
Emma Stone, “Bugonia”
I do not think Stone will win a third Oscar and doubt that she deserves it for this role. I saw a lot of Jessie Buckley last month as we watched the entire run of Fargo, the series. She's talented.
Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”
Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
Kate Hudson, “Song Sung Blue”
Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”
Benicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another”
Delroy Lindo, “Sinners”
Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”
There's apparently a lot of buzz about the one performance I have not yet seen (Skarsgard), but Sean Penn could absolutely win for this role. He was great. I would be very surprised if the other 3 won.
Stellan Skarsgard, “Sentimental Value”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”
Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners”
I would not be surprised if Taylor won, but obviously I still have to see several other performances.
Elle Fanning, “Sentimental Value”
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value”
Amy Madigan, “Weapons”
Animated Feature Film
This is one of those years that I did not see any of these films.
“Arco”
“Elio”
“KPop Demon Hunters”
“Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”
“Zootopia 2”
Documentary Feature Film
I have neglected this category often in recent years. It happened again.
“The Alabama Solution”
“Come See Me in the Good Light”
“Cutting Through Rocks”
“Mr. Nobody Against Putin”
“The Perfect Neighbor”
International Feature Film
Honestly, I probably would have watched "The Secret Agent" in a nearby theater while traveling in the UK if it was shorter (it runs 160 minutes). The problem with "Sentimental Value" and "Sirat" is that they were not showing at a non-chain theater near me. I'll view several of these soon, most likely.
“The Secret Agent,” Brazil
The Secret Agent would have been a completely defensible Oscar winner.
“It Was Just an Accident,” France
“Sentimental Value,” Norway
“Sirat,” Spain
“The Voice of Hind Rajab,” Tunisia
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