The Rickies (or HYLI's Alternative Oscars)
The Oscars are Sunday so Patrick decided to invite Friend of the Newsletter Thomas Nassiff on to do Oscars Prediction and alternative ballots
Hey gang. While we love music around these parts, obviously, we also really fucking love movies. If I’m being honest, music is more of a Passion (blech) to me, while movies are the thing that brings me more enjoyment and entertainment out of any hobby. Andy is sick this week (he keeps texting me he has “concrete in his head” which sounds Great) (Andy: My head is going to explode and I’m going to be so grateful when it does), so I decided to ask Thomas Nassiff, a fellow movie bud that we taught how to watch movies and who is one of my best friends on the planet, to fill his spot. We are going to go through some of the major categories at the Oscars, provide our predictions for who will win as well as who we think SHOULD win, and also give our own alternative Oscars ballot—The Rickies (Thomas: actually these are called The Thoscars)— in which we provide who we think in a just world should have been nominated in those categories as well as a few others the Oscars are too dumb to include. Two of my favorite pods — The Big Picture and Blank Check— do this and I always love those episodes so I figured we’d give it a try. This is a one-off. If you are a luddite who doesn’t like movies and only comes here for me and Andy bitching at each other or me foaming at the mouth about riffs, all good, see you next week. As always though, we hope you like this. Let’s give out some Rickies.
The Actual Oscars Nominees
Best Supporting Actress
Patrick’s Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Zoe Saldaña - Emilia Perez (preference: Monica Barbaro - A Complete Unknown)
Thoughts: One of the annoying things about the Oscars in the last few years is that the runway is so long leading up that a few of the awards have no suspense to them at all. Like, Zoe is obviously going to win. I’m sure she’s great in this movie I will never see. Isabella Rossellini is in like five seconds of Conclave and Felicity Jones is actively bad in portions of The Brutalist. It’s Monica Barbaro or Ariana Grande to me and, personally, I just think what Barbaro had to do was more complicated and revelatory. She’s my pick even though Saldaña will obviously win.
Thomas’ Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Zoe Saldaña - Emilia Perez (preference: Ariana Grande - Wicked)
Thoughts: I actively disliked Emilia Perez, and in most of the categories where it’s nominated, it would be my last-ranked nominee. Saldaña is “good” in that she’s doing the right stuff in a relatively impressive way, but the story is garbage and the songs are garbage so she’s basically doing a really good job at delivering garbage. I am as shocked as anyone else that Ariana Grande is my should-win here, as I am not one of the Wicked people, but Grande makes it work to a degree that without her the movie would totally fall flat for me — she’s legitimately hilarious. A 2.5-hour “part one” of a Broadway musical certainly had the chance to be amongst my least favorite films of the year and she helped turn it into a fun three-star hang.
(Andy: I will not be commenting on Emilia Perez as it is a movie I will never see. Patrick is right give it to Monica)
Best Supporting Actor
Patrick’s Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain (preference: Guy Pearce - The Brutalist)
Thoughts: Same thing here as above. Like, why is it just an open-and-shut case that Kieran Culkin is going to win this? Why has there been zero suspense over this award for months now? Culkin is good in this. I have seen him play this part for what feels like a decade now. Edward Norton has never been as … idk, gentle maybe?, of a character as he does in A Complete Unknown and Guy Pearce was one of the best performances of the year in the tiniest guy imaginable in The Brutalist. I haven’t seen The Apprentice and have no desire to, I’m sure Jeremy Strong was totally normal in that. Yura Borisov was a great discovery in Anora but not even really my favorite male supporting performance in that. Between Norton and Pearce, Pearce is who I think should win this but, again, it’s locked up. Ho hum.
Thomas’ Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain (preference: Guy Pearce - The Brutalist)
Thoughts: A really underwhelming category for me in terms of the real-life nominees, though I think there’s a lot of goodness down below in our alternative picks. I don’t love any of these performances — Culkin’s running away with it and I think he’s totally good in A Real Pain, a movie I did not expect to still be thinking about after watching it via virtual Sundance more than a year ago. Pearce is my winner because we don’t see him a ton and he smashes it, but I have problems with the way his character is written (not the actor’s fault) so it’s not a performance I am in love with. Jeremy Strong is really up to some shit in The Apprentice and if you’re a Succession-head I honestly think it’s worth watching just for him.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Patrick’s Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Conclave (preference: Nickel Boys)
Thoughts: This one seems a bit more up in the air than the last two I guess but it still seems like Conclave is the heavy favorite. A weird bunch of nominations. A Complete Unknown and Sing Sing are two movies I like a ton but I wouldn’t say the scripts are necessarily their strongest attributes. Conclave’s best attribute probably is the script, so I’m not mad at it winning but, as an act of adaptation, I think what RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes did with Nickel Boys is nothing short of revelatory and I would be delighted if it somehow squeaked out a win here.
Thomas’ Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Conclave (preference: Nickel Boys)
Thoughts: The love for Conclave at this show is also odd to me — a quite fun movie where they need to pick a new pope and things ensue. Crazy move by the marketing team for this flick to make the real pope go to the hospital! Every year of this awards show since COVID hit has felt like some sort of mental breakdown of the voting bodies and this movie getting treated this seriously is part of that trend to me. Nickel Boys is a deeply serious work and a film that I am going to remember for the rest of my life — not to mention a remarkable adaptation of a novel in the true sense of the word “adaptation” — so that’s my preference here.
Best Original Screenplay
Patrick’s Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Anora (preference: The Brutalist)
Thoughts: Anora is a movie I like more than The Brutalist, which I also really enjoy. I think the screenplay for The Brutalist is one of the most impressive scripts that have been filmed in recent memory. I can get why it wouldn’t work for some but if this movie were to win anything, I feel like it should probably be this (and cinematography and score, of course). But, again, I prefer Anora as a movie so I’m not going to cry about it when it inevitably wins on Sunday.
Thomas’ Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: A Real Pain (preference: Anora)
Thoughts: I think it’s a toss-up between these two, which are also probably my two favorite nominees. I am picking the opposite of what Pat has above just so the whole blog isn’t us constantly agreeing. A Real Pain’s big success IMO is the mesh between its screenplay and the folks they got to deliver the performances as written — I don’t necessarily feel either the acting or the writing is elite-level stuff, but it all meshes in a positive way. Anora is probably the actual best screenplay, I love the flow this movie has to it — putting a part of NYC on film that you don’t see too much and it’s the movie that made me laugh the most all year.
Best Actor
Patrick’s Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Timothée Chalamet - A Complete Unknown (preference: Colman Domingo - Sing Sing)
Thoughts: Man, what a crop this year! We usually get two or so nominees in the acting categories where it’s like what tf is this movie, where did this come from? All of these nominations fucking rule! I might be way off here since it’s gone back and forth a bit and maybe Adrien Brody wins, which he would totally deserve, but I think with the SAG awards happening—even with Oscars voting closing before the SAG broadcast—the tide seems in Timmee’s favor. However, I think there’s a fair chance that Colman Domingo is the best living actor and, unlike his nomination last year for a movie no one saw, he is fucking incredible in one of the best movies of this year. I’d give the Oscar to him Sunday if I could but I’ll be delighted if Adrien or Tim won. I like Sebastian Stan (though it should be for his other performance this year) and Ralph Fiennes a lot and it’s cool they’re nominated but cmon they don’t stand a chance.
Thomas’ Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Adrien Brody - The Brutalist (preference: Colman Domingo — Sing Sing)
Thoughts: I wouldn’t be surprised if Timmée wins, I just think they’re going to go with the more established guy here. Brody is great in a movie that is just so deeply serious about itself that I haven’t allowed myself to get overly invested in it — it’s just outside my top ten of the year though I suspect revisiting it will move it up on the list at some point. What Domingo is doing in Sing Sing is wild shit tbh, and feels like it should be resonating more with the voting bodies — this dude is carrying a movie cast primarily with non-professional actors and landing body blows every five minutes on screen. Elite god-tier stuff.
(Andy: TIMMY HYPE TRAIN 2025 BRING HOME THE GOLD MY BOY)
Best Actress
Patrick’s Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Demi Moore - The Substance (preference: Mikey Madison - Anora)
Thoughts: Weird category. Some great performances but if the nominations happened even like two weeks after when they did, is there even a 1% chance that Karla Sofia Gascón gets nominated over Marianne Jean-Baptiste? Feels like truly zero chance that happens and it’s criminal that it happened when it did. I will say I haven’t seen I’m Still Here yet, regrettably, so maybe Fernanda Torres pulls an upset and wins. I wouldn’t say that would be wildly shocking, but it seems like this is a two-horse race. With all the recent push that Anora has gotten in several categories, I’m kind of surprised that hasn’t extended to Mikey Madison. It seemed like she had the award locked up until Demi’s campaign seemingly began the night of the Golden Globes. Demi picking up an award at this stage of her career for a performance in, admittedly, a movie I didn’t like at all is a bit of a bummer but she gave kind of an out-of-this-world performance so I’m not mad. I think the ingenue-type thing the Oscars love to historically give out should be extended to Mikey but that’s just lil ole me.
Thomas’ Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Demi Moore - The Substance (preference - Mikey Madison - Anora)
Thoughts: You have to go back like 10ish years to find a Best Actress winner that you’d consider to be a “breakthrough” performance, hence I don’t think Madison is going to win this year. She is so great in Anora. Please don’t ask me to write about The Substance, a fun and delightfully gory film that would have been a really excellent episode of “Black Mirror.” If Moore doesn’t win, I’d say the next most likely winner is Fernanda Torres in I’m Still Here, one of my other favorite performances of the year which I’d consider a more suitable “traditional” winner.
Best Director
Patrick’s Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Sean Baker - Anora (preference: Brady Corbet - The Brutalist)
Thoughts: The shadow of Jacques Audiard kind of looms over this here too. Like, why is he nominated over Luca Guadagnino or Denis Villeneuve or RaMell Ross?? Hell, you could extend that to James Mangold too, even though I really like A Complete Unknown. It’s just, like, there’s not a ton of directorial flair there really. I don’t like The Substance but if there’s anything it—and Coralie Fargeat’s direction—has going for it, it is flair. To me, it’s a two-horse race and truly one where I will be happy either way. I think the trajectory of Baker’s career from movie to movie is impressive and what he accomplishes spearheading his movies on such tiny budgets is remarkable to me. I think what Corbet did, on a budget not meaningfully larger than Anora’s, is revelatory. He should win for the first half of The Brutalist alone.
Thomas’ Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Brady Corbet - The Brutalist (preference: Sean Baker - Anora)
Thoughts: Some of the top-tier categories are intriguing due to the relative uncertainty around Best Picture (or perhaps the relative weakness of the leading nominees there). I think we are going to wind up seeing some of these most coveted awards spread around to the point where there won’t be a decisive “this was the best movie of the year” feeling at the end of the night (Patrick: I don’t see this happening but it would be fun). Which is fine and good! I think all these movies should be seen (not Emilia Perez). I’m good with either of these fellas winning, they did a very impressive job at making their movies. Corbet is more impressive on paper IMO due to … waves arms around to show how big his movie is … but Anora feels like the peak of the current Sean Baker experiment and it’s been a great experiment.
(Andy: Brady Corbet - The Brutalist (preference: Brady Corbet - The Brutalist) the Oscar should go to Brady Corbet for the film The Brutalist in my opinion!)
Best Picture
Patrick’s Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Anora (preference: Nickel Boys)
Thoughts: If I were doing the Oscar’s preferential ballot system, Nickel Boys would be at the top of my list and, of the ones I’ve seen (not counting I’m Still Here, unfortunately, and Emilia Perez, fortunately), The Substance would be at the bottom. I don’t think either have any chance of winning. This does seem like a more wide-open race for Best Picture than the last few years, what with Oppenheimer having it sewn up for like six months last year. It’s strange that it seemed like, through June of last year, everyone was like “this movie year is gonna suck, survive to 25, etc. etc. Dune 2 is obviously going to win like 14 Oscars” and now it might win, like, two? And has zero chance in this category? Conclave seemed to take the mantle there for a bit but I don’t think it has a ton of a chance now. A Complete Unknown would be a fun wtf win out of the Old Oscars playbook but it isn’t happening. I think it’s Anora’s, which is a good choice in terms of picking good movies but probably a bad choice in terms of making the Oscars continue to be a thing people care about. Though, admittedly, I don’t think The Brutalist moves the needle a ton there either. I’d love for either to win, I think Anora will win. RIP my beloved Nickel Boys. I can’t wait for two weeks from now when I never hear about Emilia Perez again. Weird movie year but good movie year. Shoutout Anora, you rock, congrats on being the least-seen Best Picture winner ever.
Thomas’ Prediction (and Preference)
PICK: Anora (preference: Nickel Boys)
Thoughts: Three of my top five favorite movies of the year — including both of my top two — are nominated for this category, which is fun! I think Nickel Boys is a wild moon shot of a film that was executed perfectly, instantly went to the #1 spot and stayed there for me. ᑐᑌᑎᕮ 2 had been in that spot for the whole year before that, and it’s my #2 at the moment. Anora is my #5 and I could see it getting up to #3 on a rewatch, so I think it’s a very deserving winner. It’s funny and it’s sad and it’s got great performances and it’s got excellent New York City cinematography — overall a wonderful film and a worthwhile celebration of independent filmmaking if it wins. I do wish we were going to get a rock-solid “they did it” award for this ᑐᑌᑎᕮ franchise at some point — based on the subject material that’ll inform the third film, it seems unlikely to happen. Emilia Perez is one of the most embarrassing films to be nominated for this award ever and The Substance doesn’t work for me personally but I’m happy it’s here as a potential doorway to more genre fare in this category down the road. I think Conclave is the second-most-likely winner which is totally bizarre. Just a little aside — I also watched all of the nominations for Non-English Picture and Animated Feature (aside from that Wallace & Gromit movie) — so I’ll shout out that I think I’m Still Here wins International while my personal pick would be Flow; and that I think Flow will win in Animated and that would be my personal pick there as well. The Wild Robot seems like the most likely winner in Animated otherwise.
The Rickies™️ Alternative Oscars
Alright, here we go, hope you are sticking around because I find these to be Fun. Before we get to our alternative ballots for the categories above, we thought we’d throw in a few fun extra categories that the Oscars would never (and probably should) include. Obvious caveats aside that there are movies I haven’t seen. If your favorite movie isn’t included below, assume that I just haven’t seen it yet and will give it a 5* with a <3 on Letterboxd once I see it, outside of Emilia Perez, which I will never see 😊
Best Newcomer - Performance
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Adam Pearson - A Different Man; Brandon Wilson - Nickel Boys; Clarence Maclin - Sing Sing; Katherine Kupferer - Ghostlight; Willa Fitzgerald - Strange Darling
PICK: Clarence Maclin - Sing Sing
Thoughts: I’m kind of actually shocked dude didn’t get nominated in the actual Best Supporting Actor because he should be winning that award come Sunday. Some of the best acting of the year, what the fuck is the Academy doing? A Different Man doesn’t work without Sebastian Stan but it isn’t great without Adam Pearson. Katherine Kupferer and Willa Fitzgerald have been in smaller parts in other movies I’ve seen but graduate to being leads here and absolutely kill it. Brandon Wilson has a tough job with the way Nickel Boys is framed but of the performances in that movie, he does so much with such little time. All incredible performances from performers I can’t wait to see more of. Maclin takes it.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Aaron Pierre - Rebel Ridge; Clarence Maclin - Sing Sing; Izaac Wang - Didi; Juliette Gariépy - Red Rooms; Katy O’Brien - Love Lies Bleeding
PICK: Aaron Pierre - Rebel Ridge
Thoughts: My true pick here is Clarence Maclin, but in the interest of highlighting as many movies as possible, I’ll get away from the choice Pat made — totally agreed on what he said and I find it surprising that Maclin wasn’t actually nominated. Rebel Ridge isn’t perfect but it’s such a blast and doesn’t work without Aaron Pierre (or the supporting performance from Don Johnson, low-key the MVP of that movie IMO). Pierre is instantly buyable as an action star, and that performance has enough going on to where I could see him slotting into a variety of roles over a long career. Let’s hope! I don’t think I heard too much about Katy O’Brien in Love Lies Bleeding — maybe Kristen Stewart took most of that attention — but I’m higher on that movie than most, vibes immaculate through about 90% of the runtime, and I think we’ll see her in some niche stuff moving forward. Gariépy on the other hand seems to be getting a lot of attention, well-deserved for that role. If I’m picking with the softest parts of myself it would be for Izaac Wang, who does an amazing job delivering what is for him a period piece performance — but if you’re a similar age to me and Pat, might actually feel more like a documentary of your middle/high school years (Patrick: I was born in the 80s, I couldn't relate to such a 90s movie). Didi is in my top 10 of the year and that kid is amazing in it!
Best Newcomer - Director
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Aaron Schimberg - A Different Man; Arkasha Stevenson - The First Omen; Greg Kwedar - Sing Sing; Josh Margolin - Thelma; JT Mollner - Strange Darling
PICK: Arkasha Stevenson - The First Omen
Thoughts: This one is a bit more nebulous of a category, since to direct a feature at this scale, most of these people had to direct something tiny like a decade ago and toil away in TV to get to this point. So this is more of a “New To Me/Most Film Watchers” more than, like, debut feature or whatever. Also, there is an actual DGA Award for Best First Time Director and they gave it to RaMell Ross—who, to be clear, should win Best Director at the Oscars—but has directed an Academy Award-nominated documentary before? Goofy shit. All of these nominees directed movies I either loved a ton or respected, with them absolutely dripping directorial flair all over the picture. My finalists are Schimberg and Stevenson and I think Stevenson did more stuff in The First Omen that was shocking to me and felt like something I haven’t seen out of a genre that feels like it has been done to death. She wins.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Dev Patel - Monkey Man; Francis Galluppi - The Last Stop in Yuma County; Greg Kwedar - Sing Sing; RaMell Ross - Nickel Boys; Sean Wang - Didi; Vera Drew - The People’s Joker
PICK: Sean Wang - Didi
Thoughts: I picked six nominations, sue me! I do think Ross should be eligible since the last film is a doc and this is a feature. I’ve already written enough about a few of these so I’ll talk about some of the others here that I haven’t mentioned yet. The People’s Joker doesn’t … totally work for me tbh … but I watched it at the screening room at UArts before that institution embarrassingly shut its doors to its students and staff with almost zero heads-up, amongst a very young crowd, and it was just an awesome experience. That movie is a radical act of adaptation or parody or whatever you want to call it, and it was just a very creatively inspiring thing to see. The Last Stop In Yuma County is a nice little movie that gets a lot of brownie points with me because it’s very up my alley (a single-setting hostage sorta deal that isn’t nearly as serious as it sounds) and if this guy wants to make more movies like it I’ll probably be first in line to rent them on Apple TV. And finally, Dev Patel directed a movie in 2024! And starred in it! And it was too long but it friggin rocked the Dolby Atmos theater at my local AMC!!!
Best Set Piece
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: “Bob Dylan Plays Newport” in A Complete Unknown; “Final Tennis Match” in Challengers; “The Entirety of Rebel Ridge but really just the scene where he fucks up Don Johnson” in Rebel Ridge; “Lisan Al-Gaib rides the Shai Hulud” in Dune: Part Two; “First 15 minutes of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
PICK: “Lisan Al-Gaib rides the Shai Hulud” in Dune: Part Two
Thoughts: I love a set piece. You could argue this basically fits into categories of direction or writing but I think the stunts pulled off, often by teams outside of the primary filmmakers, are incredible and deserve recognition on their own. Stuff like A Complete Unknown and Challengers’ scenes are just fun scenes that make your hair stand up a bit and are shot incredibly. I don’t really know how you make Rebel Ridge, Dune: Part Two or Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga without the execution of these specific scenes, though. I’d love to give it to Rebel Ridge—a movie that is fucking sick, brother—but Timmee riding the worm is shit I’ve never seen before. Seeing that shit in the Dolby Room is why I love the movies. Ride that worm, brother.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
PICK: “Lisan Al-Gaib rides the Shai Hulud” in Dune: Part Two
Thoughts: I’ll be honest, these types of categories don’t mesh with how my brain works, but I think Pat’s list rocks so I’m just going with his list. Do you guys remember when the Lisan Al-Gaib rode the worm in ᑐᑌᑎᕮ 2 for the first time? Fucking electric. Full-body chills. Me crying in the IMAX theater in Grand Rapids Michigan on my third theater watch. Me perfectly timing my Coca-Cola refill at the Universal Citywalk movie theater in Orlando Florida to get back to my seat right before it happens on my fourth theater watch. This is why we have movies!! I will also shout out the Challengers tennis match which — how did they do that? I don’t know. It rocks so hard. And Pat didn’t mention this one bc maybe he is scared of powerful female friendships? But seriously … when she defies gravity during the song “Defying Gravity” in the film Wicked … tears of spectacle … tears of joy … couldn’t believe what it did to me … Wicked is totally fine for 2h20min and makes me levitate for five minutes of that song … movies are rarely able to be bigger or more bombastic than during the big number of a high-budget musical and it hits (Patrick: I’m not scared I just forgot it happened since I was blinded by how wildly backlit that movie is, I had to get a cornea transplant after, I’m still recovering). Also honorable mention to the parts of Road House when Jakey G and Conor McGregor do fighting — it sucks so bad (complimentary) (Patrick: come on).
Best Needle Drop
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: “All The Things She Said” - T.A.T.U. in Anora; “Breakers Roar” - Sturgill Simpson in Civil War; “Come As You Are” - Nirvana in Queer; “Father Figure” - George Michael in Babygirl; “Jewel” - T. Rex in Longlegs; “Starburned and Unkissed” - Caroline Polachek in I Saw the TV Glow
PICK: “Starburned and Unkissed” - Caroline Polachek in I Saw the TV Glow
Thoughts: This is a music newsletter. This is me shoehorning music into the movie edition of this newsletter. These are all either a) songs I loved before the movie that made my hair stand up when they dropped in, b) songs that thematically fit so perfectly, or c) both. I don’t love I Saw the TV Glow as much as some, which is fine, it quite literally was not made for me. But the scene with this cue is one of the coolest visual parts of the movie and the song fits it perfectly. Shoutout Sturgill Simpson, shoutout all the other songs in Civil War, shoutout Kurt Cobain, die in piss Longlegs, shoutout Marc Bolan, The Bikeriders really tried to copy-paste a Scorsese soundtrack huh? It’s Caroline’s award.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
PICK: All of the songs playing off computer speakers in Didi
Thoughts: Once again, my brain doesn’t work this way. Unless I’m keeping a list throughout the year, I’m just not gonna be able to remember the needle drops in the *checks notes* 79 and counting 2024 releases I saw. I like Pat’s picks here, especially the Civil War and Longlegs shouts. I am going with the highly specific to a point in time (that point in time being when we had MySpace profile songs) drops that Sean Wang peppers throughout Didi — the feeling I had with each successive one was truly so odd — I already knew the movie felt like a movie for me, but as soon as Hellogoodbye started playing (and I already knew it must be coming at some point), it hit a different gear.
(Andy: Everyone bathe in the glory of Patrick giving a fake Oscar nomination to Longlegs. Life is good!)
Best Scene
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: “The Lazlo and Harrison meeting in the diner” in The Brutalist; “The iPhone scene” in Hit Man; “The dinner scene” in A Different Man; “Lisan Al-Gaib rallies the troops” in Dune: Part Two; “The birth scene” in The First Omen
PICK: “The Lazlo and Harrison meeting in the diner” in The Brutalist
Thoughts: Some real sicko shit here. Big blockbuster fare from Dune: Part Two and The First Omen; Rick Linklater proving he still has the sauce with two people being insanely out of this world hot in Hit Man; and then simply two of the best examples of executing dialogue that left me slack-jawed in A Different Man and The Brutalist. I’m leaning The Brutalist here. While I love the whole movie, I understand the criticisms of the second half. This scene is in the first half and is all-timer shit.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
PICK: “I will lead you to paradise” from ᑐᑌᑎᕮ 2
Thoughts: I am once again not making a list here!! When the Mahdi tells them that he will lead them to paradise … I fear that I personally would have signed up and enlisted in the holy war. I’M POINTING THE WAY! IN YOUR NIGHTMARES YOU GIVE WATER TO THE DEAD AND IT BRINGS JOY TO YOUR HEART!
Andy: (Thomas is right by 1 million points. Timmy is GOATed in this scene. That 5 minute stretch is the most fun I’ve had in the movie theaters since King Théoden's speech at Pelennor Fields. It is pure ecstasy cinema).
Best Year as a Performer
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Cailee Spaeny (Civil War and Alien: Romulus); Fred Hechinger (Gladiator II, Thelma and Nickel Boys); Glen Powell (Hit Man and Twisters); Nicholas Hoult (Juror #2, The Order and Nosferatu); Timothée Chalamet (Dune: Part Two and A Complete Unknown)
PICK: Timothée Chalamet (Dune: Part Two and A Complete Unknown)
Thoughts: There were a couple of other potential nominees here, like Sebastian Stan and Austin Butler, but I think the variety of work from these five was more fun to me. Nick Hoult loves to play a cuck. Glen Powell loves to play a hunk. Cailee Spaeny and Fred Hechinger are young as hell and have nutso range. But, like, if there is a MVP this year of seemingly life itself, it is Tim. He opened and closed the year on fucking top. He is him.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
PICK: Cailee Spaeny (Civil War and Alien: Romulus)
Thoughts: Spaeny, Powell and Chalamet are the real crux of the category here. And I think Timmée is the best answer. But I am going with Spaeny because I really liked both of these films and we didn’t really talk about either — she’s probably my second-favorite performance in each film (Kirsten Dunst & David Jonnson, respectively) but she kills it in both.
(Andy: TIMMY! TIMMY! TIMMY!)
Fun categories!!! Some of these (set pieces especially) feel like absolute no-brainers. Some of them (newcomer directors) are already awarded at other award shows. Some of them were me just trying to shoehorn music into the coverage of movies in this Music Newsletter in a year where the Original Songs and Scores largely are whiffs. Enough of the Fun Stuff though, let’s get into the actual Oscars categories.
Best Supporting Actress
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Alicia Witt - Longlegs; Elizabeth Olsen - His Three Daughters; Katherine Kupferer - Ghostlight; Monica Barbaro - A Complete Unknown; Zendaya - Dune: Part Two
PICK: Zendaya - Dune: Part Two
Thoughts: It’s kind of insane to me Zendaya got totally blanked for two wonderful performances in massive movies. I don’t think Dune works at all if you don’t immediately buy the dynamic between her and Timothée. You could argue Chani’s part is more important to pull off than Paul’s because, if you don't buy her, you don’t buy the actions of Paul. I love these other performances, I think Monica should win Sunday and/or call me, but Zendaya is my choice here.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Adria Arjona - Hitman; Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor - Nickel Boys; Cailee Spaeny - Civil War; Zendaya - ᑐᑌᑎᕮ: Part Two, Cat - A Quiet Place: Day One
PICK: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor - Nickel Boys
Thoughts: Hey, we are just having fun here, right? I agree that Zendaya is the best. But Adria Arjona I feel is going to be very important in my life moving forward. She pops on screen and that movie doesn’t work without her chemistry with Glen Powell. Mika Abdalla in Snack Shack is not mentioned above, but basically is tasked with being a lifeguard who is hot enough that she makes two best friends want to kill each other. I think she worked very well with Gabriel LaBelle, perhaps a space worth monitoring. The cat (not sure if the cat is a boy or girl cat, I put the cat here bc the cat is very smart and generally gives girl cat vibes) does important work in the A Quiet Place prequel. Ultimately Ellis-Taylor wins because the scene where they hug is … a totally unreal moment.
Best Supporting Actor
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Clarence Maclin - Sing Sing; Denzel Washington - Gladiator II; Don Johnson - Rebel Ridge; Guy Pearce - The Brutalist; Josh Brolin - Dune: Part Two
PICK: Clarence Maclin - Sing Sing
Thoughts: I love how Big Denzel is in Gladiator II, a movie that is mid. Dude is swinging for the fences and spraying hits all over the park in a C- movie. Don Johnson is hamming it up in Rebel Ridge as the biggest piece of shit you definitely know. There’s a scene where he’s on the phone with Aaron Pierre and it’s like, yeah dude, you fucking got it. Brolin is Brolin, he is almost always way overqualified for the part he has and sells it. But this is between Pearce and Maclin. I think what Maclin has to do is more involved and, idk, just better acting lol. It’s real *Julia Butters voice* “Mister, that’s the best acting I’ve ever seen in my whole life” shit.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Chris Hemsworth - Furiosa; Fred Hechinger - Gladiator II; Mark Eydelshteyn - Anora; Simon Rex & Haley Joel Osment - Blink Twice; Tom Hardy (Venom Voice) - Venom: The Last Dance; Capybara - Flow
PICK: Tom Hardy (Venom Voice) - Venom: The Last Dance
Thoughts: The correct winner is Clarence Maclin but we covered that in the newcomer category so my winner here is a lifetime achievement award for the work that Tom Hardy has done in the VENOM film franchise. The majority of the Sony Spider-Man work has largely been a farce, somewhere between a money-laundering scheme and tax evasion. But Hardy made VENOM a buddy-cop thing with one hilarious film, one okay film, and one quite bad film (this one). So it’s recognition for a lifetime of work. How about Fred Hechinger in Gladiator II? Yes, Denzel Washington is much better. Obviously!!! He’s Denzel Washington. But Hechinger … check out this shitty little shithead in this movie!! White Lotus alumni stand up. Blink Twice is a movie that was not very well considered beyond its casting but its casting is impeccable; over in Flow I’m unsure of the gender of the capybara as well, but since I put the cat in supporting actress, I put the capybara here.
(Andy: can I veto this) (Patrick: no, he cooked)
Best Screenplay
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: A Different Man; The Brutalist; Ghostlight; Nickel Boys; Sing Sing
PICK: The Brutalist
Thoughts: I consolidated the two categories here because this is the one Oscars category where it seems like they just wing the rules each year and it’s dumb. I also eliminated one of the movies (Conclave) that seems like it will win Sunday because there is a “twist” in the script that is Actively Bad and it’s weird to me it will win lol. A Different Man, Ghostlight and Sing Sing feel like classic screenplay category nominations, where it feels like the Oscars tend to reach out to the Independent Spirit Awards for one single category each year. Lovely written movies. It’s The Brutalist and Nickel Boys here. Again, I think Nickel Boys is a better movie. I think the writing of The Brutalist is astounding. A24 please drop the screenplay book release.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
PICK: TRAP
Thoughts: Nickel Boys is the best movie of the year for me and thus takes this category for me IRL, but have you guys seen TRAP, the movie where they set a trap to catch a serial killer? That movie rips.
(Andy: Please let me veto!) (Patrick: no, he cooked)
Best Actor
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Aaron Pierre - Rebel Ridge; Adrien Brody - The Brutalist; Colman Domingo - Sing Sing; Keith Kupferer - Ghostlight; Sebastian Stan - A Different Man
PICK: Colman Domingo - Sing Sing
Thoughts: We really had it good with male lead performances this year. Keith Kupferer made me cry several times. We love a Chicago That Guy. Sebastian Stan is someone I’ve never fully bought and he made it his mission to convince me this year. Mission accomplished. Lowkey is one of the funniest performances of the year too. Aaron Pierre is going to be a fucking star because of Mufasa: The Lion King Rebel Ridge and it is so well-deserved. Brody might win Sunday and he would deserve it if he does. As I said above, I think Colman Domingo might be the greatest living actor and he gave my favorite performance of the year. He would deserve this for the parole scene, which narrowly missed my scenes category, alone.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Aaron Pierre - Rebel Ridge; Colman Domingo - Sing Sing; David Dastmalchian - Late Night with the Devil; Glen Powell - Twisters; Josh O’Connor - Challengers
PICK: Josh O’Connor - Challengers
Thoughts: Legit tough choices here. Again, we’re mostly just having fun with these. Super cool to see Dastmalchian, a career “that guy” in so many franchise films, get to lead this odd, not-quite-all-there project that’s basically Ghostwatch (1992). I dedicated some time to Domingo and Pierre above, so I’ll also just mention that … we live in the Glen Powell timeline baby!! I’m psyched for it!!! The Challengers trio — not sure who counts as supporting or leading — whatever, they all did awesome but O’Connor and Zendaya are the pillars.
Best Actress
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Lily-Rose Depp - Nosferatu; Marianne Jean-Baptiste - Hard Truths; Mikey Madison - Anora; Nell Tiger Free - The First Omen; Zendaya - Challengers
PICK: Marianne Jean-Baptiste - Hard Truths
Thoughts: I’m actually kinda shocked a few of these didn’t get nominations. We respect Scream Queens in this house and Nosferatu and The First Omen gave us not just two great horror actress performances but two of the best lead performances of the year. Zendaya is a mega-star in a huge movie and got blanked. What? Mikey might actually win, and similar to Adrien Brody above, she’d deserve it. But I think, in a 1a/1b type slot with Colman Domingo, Marianne Jean-Baptiste gave the Performance of the Year. I don’t even fully love Hard Truths but that’s, like, masterclass shit. A 10/10 performance in a 3.5/5 movie.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Anne Hathaway - The Idea of You; Juliette Gariépy - Red Rooms; Kirsten Dunst - Civil War; Mikey Madison - Anora; Zendaya - Challengers
PICK: Kirsten Dunst - Civil War
Thoughts: I don’t know if y’all watched The Idea of You on the Amazon Prime Video platform but it’s a true monument to the importance of Being A Movie Star in a rom-com thing like that. And without Anne Hathaway delivering the goods, it wouldn’t be what it is today — which is my 42nd favorite movie of 2024. Kiki Dunst’s face is a special effect in Civil War — there’s a moment in that movie where I’m like holy smokes!!! That woman has BEEN TO WAR! I can believe her in anything.
Best Director
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Bradley Corbet - The Brutalist; Denis Villeneuve - Dune: Part Two; RaMell Ross - Nickel Boys; Luca Guadagnino - Challengers; Sean Baker - Anora
PICK: RaMell Ross - Nickel Boys
Thoughts: For such a weird movie year, we had some real flexes from directors at the top. Brady Corbet hearing Jimi and taking PTA’s entire The Master vibe out of nowhere, Denis topping himself and kinda taking Chris Nolan’s throne as Best Blockbuster Director going, Luca making the Sports Movie Hall of Fame, and Sean Baker continuing to be a little dang ass freak and showing he’s got an insane bag of moves. All valiant efforts. I know I said it’s weird RaMell Ross got the DGA first-time director award above, but it is remarkable he did this with his first narrative feature. I’m not diminishing documentaries. But it is a very different skillset and he immediately was like “fuck outta here, I’m the next all-timer.” Some of the stuff he does in Nickel Boys is stuff I genuinely didn’t think you could do in a movie. My only concern is he goes back to documentaries and we don’t get another 10 narrative features out of him. If RaMell takes a MCU/Disney movie, I might just never watch a movie again. I’m so serious here.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
NOMINEES: Denis Villeneuve - Dune: Part Two; M. Night Shyamalan - TRAP; Mike Cheslik - Hundreds of Beavers; RaMell Ross - Nickel Boys; Robert Eggers - Nosferatu
PICK: Robert Eggers - Nosferatu
Thoughts: I sat down to write this without a real plan for what I was doing in these categories, and it’s becoming funny to me which of the genuinely great stuff I loved this year is making it into the lists versus what’s getting kicked out in order to talk about Hundreds of Beavers and TRAP. Shyamalan is on a great run right now and, if you don’t get it, maybe loosen that tie and unbutton a button or two, roll up those sleeves and TRY TO RELAX at the cinema baby. Hundreds of Beavers is like a hundred minutes too long but — I respect it with every drop of blood in my body. Inspirational creativity. I gave it to Eggers because someone’s gotta be brave enough to reward a white guy for achieving his childhood dream.
Best Picture
Patrick’s Nominees and Pick
BALLOT: 10. Rebel Ridge; 9. Challengers; 8. Hit Man; 7. A Complete Unknown; 6. A Different Man; 5. The Brutalist; 4. Ghostlight; 3. Anora; 2. Nickel Boys; 1. Sing Sing
Thoughts: I excluded one movie here (La Chimera) because Andy of HYLI fame screamed at me that it was a movie that was released in 2023, despite seemingly every podcast I listen to mentioning it as a 2024 release. His reasoning made sense and it convinced me, but it would have been on this list otherwise (Andy: I am on my knees begging you to realize that I was simply following your rules about release dates, you massive thumb). As it stands, I think this was a movie year with some great highs, but probably no movies that will be an all-timer I remember in 20 years. A lot of A-minuses, as well as a lotttttt of C-minuses. The mid-tier of this year is huge. I love Sing Sing. I want everyone to watch Sing Sing. The older I get, the more I shift towards acting wowing me more than auteur-theory director-writers. I don’t know how you get much better acting than what you get from this movie, including from multiple men who are not professional actors. It’s a revelation. Easily my movie of the year.
Thomas’ Nominees and Pick
BALLOT: 10. Rebel Ridge; 9. Civil War; 8. Sing Sing; 7. Didi; 6. Nosferatu; 5. Anora; 4. Challengers; 3. Flow; 2. ᑐᑌᑎᕮ Part Two; 1. Nickel Boys
Thoughts: I honestly can’t believe how similar our lists are — Pat and I don’t always agree on a ton of stuff but there’s a lot of quality overlap here. The Brutalist is 11th on my list and A Different Man is #15 (Andy: I cannot fathom what you’ve put ahead of these). I’ve already dedicated time to all of these films above, so I’ll just say — I love movies! I love going to the movie theater. I feel very strongly about all of these films mentioned here and I’d say really my top 25 are all movies that I’d easily recommend to folks. That makes for a pretty strong year, I think, even if it doesn’t have the tippy-top triumphs that 2023 had. Thanks for letting me write about VENOM, Pat! (Patrick: *Venom voice* VENOMMMMM!!!)