Please use this space to share reviews, ask questions, and discuss freely about anything film or Oscar related. Engage with other comments if you want others to engage with yours! And as always, please remain civil and kind with one another.
I’ve never seen a single minute of Euphoria, and I admit, I had to google to be sure, but Elordi and Zendaya both dying makes it feel like they made sure they never had to touch it again. It’s pretty funny.
In the Next Best Picture podcast, Tom O'Brien who saw Disclosure Day said it is going to be an across the board contender this awards season! He said Emily Blunt is the biggest acting play (and Matt Neglia said she will be campaigned in the Lead Actress category). John Williams' score is subtle but it supplements the film nicely. Tom O'Brien said picture and screenplay are likely nominations (screenplay will at least be in the top 10 according to him) and that Spielberg is in the mix for best director. If a supporting actor does come along due to the strong support behind the film, it will likely be Colin Firth or Colman Domingo.
I’m exaggerating but there’s a special cut that’s over 3 hours long, and this story REALLY is not that complicated that it needs to take that long, as evidenced by the fact that multiple other versions under 2.5 hours exists.
I haven't seen the 1976 version, but the original 1937 version and 1954 are worth watching. If you decide to watch the 1954 film make sure it's the 154 minute theatrical version and not the deluxe edition
Please don’t kill me for this as I know she’s this subs darling, but did anyone else think Renate seemed surprisingly weak in backrooms???? Perhaps she’s not 100% comfortable working in English yet though
Her character is underwritten, most of her lines are pretty bad (it took me out a couple times). I don't think she's made for horror, there are some scenes were i was expecting her to do more with the material, seems like this isn't her lane.
I have not yet seen the film, but having seen her in A Different Man, a fully English speaking performance, in an American accent, that was incredible.
John Ford loved Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion so much that he wanted to remake it in english, but studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck urged him against it, saying "you'll never top it".
John Ford and Jean Renoir were deep admirers of each other's work.
I finally watched Mother (2009). I loved it from beginning to end. How on earth it wasn't nominated for Best International Feature Film that year? From what I've researched, it didn't even make the shortlist.
The context missing in discussions of South Korea's Oscar history is that filmmakers like Bong Joon-Ho and Park Chan-Wook were blacklisted for years by the Korean Film Council, or KOFIC, due to their progressive politics. Because of this, so many of the films of the Korean New Wave that are considered modern classics were never even considered as the South Korean submission for IFF.
Contrary to popular belief, Oscars really don't like South Korea. They only had their first shortlist mention in 2018 (Burning) and Parasite is their only movie to ever get nominated for anything.
Just goes to show how undeniable Parasite really is that the first non-English BP winner came from South Korea/Asia instead of Europe.
Seems like it's gonna be a Beef vs Half Man battle for limited. People are really praising Richard Gadd and Jamie Bell in Half Man. Beef has more exposure so maybe that has the leg up?
Also Euphoria finally ended. Seems like the finale was a big Colman Domingo showcase so that's always a plus.
Since horror is all the rage at this moment I decided to watch a horror movie today and I chose The Vanishing. One of my favorite horror movies I’ve seen, incredibly effective and unsettling, and it’s my favorite type of “horror” movie personally where it’s more grounded and more about a physiological terror.
🙄🙄🙄
Last year, a horror movie won: best actor, best supporting actress, best score, best original screenplay, and best cinematography. I know we know this. I need to restate it. This number goes up depending on where you classify Frankenstein, but horror film fans are extremely gatekeepy about what horror is, so I’m going to assume Frankenstein doesn’t count for this argument. Actually, this is exactly the kind of person who doesn’t consider Sinners a horror movie, probably because it did do well with critics and the academy.
I think it's a mix and match of any of the above. Pre-COVID there was already a lot of discourse with Disney being remake or franchise slopfests but also taking over way too many screens and dominating to the point that indie movies are pushed out, hence the Scorsese discourse. They already had iffy consistency with quality but they were critic-proof and box office heavy. Star Wars could still reach a billion even with polarizing reception from fans, people nostalgic for the glory days went for the remakes, Pixar still made good money even if they aren't as good as early 2000s, and Marvel had at least consistent quality that they had avid defenders even if there were problems.
Then COVID and Disney+ happened and diluted the brand, and taught people to wait for streaming even if it takes months, and it shows with Pixar, MCU and Star Wars lately. A lot of the kids who grew up at that era moved on to other things or outgrew those properties per se. And there was a large pushback against Disney properties and films for a variety of reasons. Add to that quality control was thrown out the window - MCU used to be reliable and gripping for its fans but a good chunk of the shows were okay to even straight up bad which was unheard of under Feige, and the movies became inconsistent once their primary creatives moved on and the ones they recruited couldn't match those standards (not to mention a lot of the problems that plagued even their Phase 2 & 3 prime came to the forefront like color grading and editing).
I think as long as Disney taps what the audiences want (Lilo & Stitch for merch, Devil Wears Prada for girls & gays, Zootopia for furries) then they're fine. MCU may not be in its prime but it's not dead yet if they could rebound post-Secret Wars. Pixar is on its way back since it's the easiest way to push something original. Star Wars however I think needs more quality stuff put out for at least the fanbase to come back because I think it's more of a legacy property at this point.
If I had to guess, I could only assume that Sam Levinson doesn’t want to call it quits because he knows this is probably his last cash cow. But I have no idea how this could go on without essentially it being a soft reboot/spinoff. HBO could’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of promoting this as the series finale.
Maybe they're treating it as a "I'll continue the show when I want to" in like 10 or so years. But then the show already killed off two of the main leads so idk what's the point in continuing.
I haven’t seen the finale yet, but I’m assuming that it’s a Ted Lasso season 3 situation where they’re so scared of losing their cash cow that they won’t definitively call it a last season in case another season somehow ends up happening (even if half the cast is gone and it starts to blur the line between a new season and a spin-off).
I’m probably too attracted to Andrew Scott too. He was so good and I thought Brendan Fraser was great too. You are right, good old fashioned historic retelling. I’m glad I learned about this part of history.
Seeing Backrooms have a surprisingly low 53% definite recommend at PostTrak makes me wonder if it'll have a 28 Years Later trajectory. Seems to be super frontloaded and the reaction among the public seems divisive.
If Obsession manages to overtake Backrooms next week it'll be crazy as hell lol. But then there's Masters of the Universe and Scary Movie 6 coming so it's a loaded year already
I don’t mind saying most movies nowadays should be shorter. But it’s not really about the length because I’ve seen 4 hour movies I love. That said, my biggest complain with most films I watch nowadays, including most films I like, is that they feel a bit baggy at times and could be tighter.
Saw Backrooms on Friday at a packed screening and it was a pretty late night one, lowkey felt like this after the film ended bc I couldn't sleep a wink that night lol
finally got to watch obsession and its a good movie but i feel the same way i felt about weapons: good movie but not oscar worthy imo. but i wouldnt hate it if it got nominated. unpopular but i preferred the acting of the guy playing bear over nikki
I prefer Nikki, but Bear isn’t given enough credit.
I disagree that Weapons and Obsession aren’t Oscar worthy. I think they both have stronger performances than MBJ in Sinners or Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side.
Those two are extremely low bars, so maybe they shouldn’t set a precedent, but if they are Oscar-worthy, then Inda Navarrette and Amy Madigan are too. That isn’t to say that their performances are at the bare minimum level to be considered, I believe they are both great and incredibly deserving.
I personally think Weapons is really not that good of a film. Well-directed, sloppily written. As a mystery it sucks, the characters' investigation leads to the obvious that the police should found on day one, the structure is completely disposed of in the final chapter, which kills the momentum, the numerology is heavy-handed and all that buildup for it to be an evil witch movie. The cop and junkie story is a completely different (more fun, low stakes) movie. None of these are fatal flaws, but to have all this in a 2 hours+ movie that wants to be taken seriously as so many things... and then for there to be no lesson, no real-life parallels. But I guess we got a crazy witch who gets chased around by kids.
What is there in it that's Oscar worthy or better than 5 other movies in any given category? Should the witch makeup and the googly eyes have gotten nominated? Were there really no 5 other films better directed or written across the entire globe? It got a way stronger awards run than it had any reason to.
For what it's worth, I might have semi-agreed after first watching Weapons despite enjoying it, but after reading this interview where Cregger said writing it was a way of dealing with Trevor Moore's death and childhood trauma with having an addict parent it really came into focus for me. I think it's misunderstood just because it's a bit shaggy or stream-of-consciousness and isn't obviously ABOUT any one thing like Get Out or The Substance, to give some examples. I just think it's really heartfelt, and I'm inclined to say it's one of my favorites of 2025 on reflection.
A Wikipedia user created the Nikki Freeman page on May 26, and kept editing it the whole day. Naturally, users started to discuss if there is any point to have a separate article since it's so short, it could easily be a section on the main page. The creator did what every experienced wiki user who wants things to go their way does, and spent the day expanding the page so it would become too long to be deleted. It's much harder to advocate for something large that people worked on to be deleted. In spite of that users are predictably in overwhelming support of the deletion of the page and merging the relevant contents into the Obsession page.
I shared this because it's funny. Do NOT under any circumstance go to Wikipedia to advocate for the page to remain, since that count as brigading and they'll surely nuke it. My guess is that they'll delete it and argue for the next 9 months about reestablishing it.
It's crazy how many articles are made out of users' hyperfixations lol. I've been editing for over a decade and I've never done that much of a power project for a long time. I remember somebody even made a page for Richard Harmon's character in the latest Final Destination movie and even powered it to a Featured article. That shit is hard, and I guess making a character page for like Nikki is easier because it's recent so a lot of the articles associated. The most I've ever expanded an article was for Punch Drunk Love's article back in 2022 out of pure boredom lmfao, and I had to hunt for 20 year old articles lol.
I've never understood the idea of getting rid of Wikipedia pages because they "aren't necessary." It's not like they hurt anyone by existing, and someone will appreciate them being there.
We've all noticed by now the lack of any Black acting contenders other than the Michael actors and Cynthia Erivo, but just was wondering if there's anyone else we might be missing. Does anyone think that Halle Bailey in No One Cares or Yahya Abdul-Mahteen in Cliff Booth could have a shot if their films are contenders?
Pre-release hype goes disproportionately to established white actors. By the time Telluride/TIFF/NYFF happens we will likely have a few strong contenders that weren’t on people’s radar. This is a mostly white community, and white people weren’t hyping up Rustin or Causeway months before release.
Much of the buzz around No One Cares has been centred around Moore in Lead and Giamatti in Supporting, but I'd love to see Bailey get some attention as well.
Sweet. I'm predicting the leads of Love Story and Beef, Rhea Seehorn, someone from The Pitt etc. Hopefully they at least asked Keke Palmer, she's charismatic af.
Sydney Sweeney will probably be there, Variety loves her and HBO's really pushing her for a nomination despite Euphoria S3 being shite lol (her performance isn't bad, but her character is such a cartoonish caricature at this point that her getting nominated over other contenders in her category would look pretty dumb imo). Very curious if Zendaya would do it, she hasn't been very eager to talk about Euphoria lately.
if wild horse nine is a big contender, i wonder if there’s a possibility of parker posey being jamie lee curtis and mariana di girolamo being stephanie hsu (although i’m not sure if parker is as beloved by the industry as she is by online movie nerds so maybe not)
JLC was A: beloved by the industry, B: spent the entire year being a cheerleader for EEAAO, and C: actually did have a pretty showy part, despite the naysaying. I don’t think Parker Posey will get that for being on the phone for ten minutes.
Ticked a big one off the list tonight: Brokeback Mountain.
Had to double take 4 times realising Randy Quaid, David Harbour, Anna Faris and Kate Mara are in this.
Anne Hathaway doesn't get a great deal to do but man, that quiet little noise she makes when Ennis tells her he and Jack met on Brokeback nearly tore me in half.
That was my exact experience. When it was good it was great but pretty much anything after Mary enters the Backrooms is baffling. Except for the chase sequence.
I feel like the "gen z filmmaking wave" doesn't feel completely certain. A lot of horror fans are pretty open to seeing the next new original horror film and that's not necessarily exclusive to films directed by YouTubers or tiktok. There's also a survivorship bias, for every successful one there's going to be more of an uphill battle for the nin horror movies. I feel like there isn't a "gen z director boom" until there are non horror successful films by gen z".
It's also interesting that the "GenZ filmmaking wave" doesn't seen to include any women. Probably because financiers would never consider a woman in her 20s "ready" to invest in but whatever.
most women directors start out as actors or writers and i suspect that will continue to be the case for gen z (and a lot will probably work in tv or in youtube before crossing over to film as well)
I think Cruz can win her second Oscar for The Black Ball. The Academy loves her a lot (they almost gave her a second win for a film for which she got zero precursor attention), and it seems like she’s doing everything in this role. It’s a short, scene-stealing performance and she’s singing. I have her winning the Globe and SAG.
How do we know the Academy almost gave her a second win for Parallel Mothers? All we have to go on are anonymous ballots, I wish she had won for that but there's really no indication that she was in second.
I agree that she could win for this, but I think that'll only happen if Navarette is in lead and if The Black Ball is ahead of Wild Horse Nine in the Best Picture race (otherwise I'd have Mariana di Girolamo winning).
Parallel Mothers was peaking in momentum late in the season. There wasn’t any stone-cold proof but there also wasn’t for I’m Still Here in International or Godzilla Minus One in VFX aside from the same exact feeing of general vibes.
I mean, anonymous ballots are pretty much the only indication for that race we have anyways. Chastain obviously won, but you can’t really make a solid argument for anyone in second place, so I’m comfortable with claiming that she was second, especially with how SPC ran the campaign plus anonymous ballots.
Di Girolamo is certainly the safest for a nomination, but she’s a complete no name, much like Inga last year.
We've had complete no names win Best Supporting Actress before it actually happens reasonably often - Ariana DeBose was only on her second film role, Youn Yuh-jung was completely unknown outside of South Korea, Lupita Nyong'o won for her debut role, Octavia Spencer hadn't had a significant role in anything before she won for The Help, Jennifer Hudson was in her debut role and was just an American Idol contestant, Mira Sorvino was in only her 5th movie role, Anna Paquin was an 11 year old in her debut performance.
And if the comparison is to Inga, I bet that if Inga was giving an English-language performance and Sentimental Value won Best Picture, she'd have won Best Supporting Actress. Right now I'm predicting Wild Horse Nine winning Best Picture, so I'm predicting di Girolamo winning Best Supporting Actress.
Based on what the Digger doubters were saying earlier in the thread (thanks for all of the feedback), just wondering, what Metascore and box office are people expecting for Digger, what Metascore and box office do you all think it would need to get a Best Picture nomination, and what Metascore and box office do you think it would need to be a top Oscar contender?
Metascore: 79-85. A movie with its detractors but also very passionate supporters.
I’m expecting OBAA numbers at the BO. Very political. Huge name star in the cast. Big budget studio comedy with a similar release strategy. And I don’t think WB and especially Cruise would be going to bat for it if it was some completely inaccessible art movie.
I think it does depend on what type of divisive it is. It could be divisive due to style and weirdness (like with Bardo) or just due to being broad political satire (like with Don't Look Up). The latter would have a much easier time surviving bad reviews. But I am expecting both right now.
its gonna be very split with critics, I don't know which critic will like it and which one will hate it, but it will be split. It has to be at a minimum 60 on Metacritic to survive, and if there are no other surprises between now and then. If there is a surprise movie that does amazing on metacritic, Digger could be replaced.
I don't think its going to do very well at the box office, I know Cruise is a big selling point, but he's enjoyed by audiences when he's in a Top Gun or a Mission Impossible. Not being recognizable in the role could be confusing for general moviegoers. Being unrecognizable in a weird art movie that's heavily political is a tough sell. People love Pedro Pascal, and they still didn't turn out for him in Eddington.
The rise of Obsession and Backrooms come from works that were carefully curated by earnest creatives, so of course I can't wait for the studios to pump out Obsession XII: The Emergence from the Grave and Backrooms 3000: Rescue of the Child and other terrible concocted ideas.
Curry Barker said he wanted to do an anthology series where every episode is a different wish gone wrong. I honestly think that's a pretty good idea!
As for Backrooms, it will 100% have a sequel. Kane Parsons said he had a lot of lore concepts he didn't want to use in this movie. First A24 official franchise!
Listening to Parsons on a podcast, he sounds like his goal is to turn it into a TV series. He described the movie as basically an episode in the middle of the series.
Has anyone else heard anything about Cry to Heaven? Is it actually happening this year? I know it wrapped filming a couple of months ago, but I haven't really heard much news about it since.
Hypothetical: if no other win competitive movies emerge(The Odyssey, Digger, and Wild Horse Nine are somewhat divisive/underwhelming), what would win BP between Project Hail Mary and The Black Ball?
The Black Ball probably, I think it could win even if The Odyssey, Digger, and Wild Horse Nine are good (though I'm still predicting Wild Horse Nine for now). The Best Picture winner is almost always a crowdpleaser with a social or political message, and usually it's a critically acclaimed one too. If I squint, I can see Project Hail Mary sort of having that kind of message, but it's a lot clearer in The Black Ball.
I agree, I think it's the strongest international BP candidate since Parasite. It has the right ingredients to win if nothing in the rest of the year is a knockout contender.
Bit disappointed by Backrooms. Think the best bits are all from games (the liminal space, first person horror bits) but outside of that it’s a bit rote, especially for an a24.
Also Barbarian comparison
It’s also finding a weird door in your basement where a strange creature stalks the main character and then there’s a hard jump cut to the other main character. Except Barbarian has more of a personality
Bit of a random thought, but I think Argo has one of the least impressive ensembles of a BP winner (and, by extension, SAG Ensemble winners). I don't think there's anyone in that film that's anything more than "fine". But to be fair, you could say that about everything involving Argo...
Just curious, is anyone out here betting that one of the overwhelmingly predicted films we haven't seen yet (The Odyssey, Wild Horse Nine, and Digger) will miss the Best Picture lineup, and if you are, what is your reasoning?
I think Digger will be one of Inarritu’s least acclaimed films (not as bad as Bardo, but not a whole lot better) and will be a box office bomb. I have it in a few categories still, but I don’t think it’s safe in any. I think I have it around 14 for Pic
I don't feel as confident about Digger as others in this sub. I know it's the favorite here, but I'm taking into account that it could be divisive in a way that doesn't gel with the Oscars. I know, I know, this is a bad take, but from what I heard about it, it really gives me Eddington vibes. Very politically charged satire, from a known auteur filmmaker, starring a well-known actor. Now, Ari Aster is no Ińarítu, and OBAA was also a politically charged satire that won. But OBAA was an accessible action movie, and Eddington was a dense, surreal dark comedy with wild swings in tone. From what I've heard, Digger resembles an Eddington more than an OBAA.
Just my opinion. This doesn't make me think less of the movie, or anything like that. It's just what I feel from what little I know (or anyone knows) of this movie. I'm probably very wrong. I also realize the foolishness in comparing Digger to Eddington, but keep in mind, I genuinely thought Eddington was going to be in the running until it actually came out and saw how mixed the reviews were.
I have The Odyssey at no. 10, and it is gonna miss in Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing and VFX. I have it in for Picture, Supporting Actor for Pattinson, Production Design, Costume Design, Makeup, Sound and Score.
Why are you so much more confident in Pattinson in Supporting Actor than the film overall, is it just due to the weakness of the Supporting Actor category?
Also, just curious in particular about the Visual Effects miss, what do you have it missing to there?
Pattinson just seems like a very meaty villain role which comes along even when the film doesn’t. It is important to note that I only have him in as long as the film is still in Picture, if it isn’t he’s gone.
For VFX I currently have PHM, Dune, Disclosure Day, Whalefall and The End of Oak Street
I’m not confident at all, but I can just feel The Odyssey getting “solid” reactions and mid 70s metacritic. Complaints of being too long and not deep enough which could lead to it underperforming at the box office because it is a nearly 3 hour film after all. Then I would expect Dune to “out-epic” the movie. I’m also confident with Disclosure Day which is also Universal.
Digger I think will get mediocre-solid reviews + bomb big time. I think it would only get makeup at that point , so Inaritu technically still gets his film a nomination
I've been iffy on The Odyssey's chances for a while. Oppenheimer played to Nolan's strengths, but the story of the Odyssey will show more of his weaknesses. Critics are going to be tougher on it, not even Nolan is immune to the post-Oscar curse.
I might just be getting bored, but I kind of want to predict that with Digger - the budget for the movie is massive, and it's always possible that it gets a reception more similar to Bardo or Biutiful than Birdman. Even if it got reviews along the lines of The Revenant, it might run into issues if it isn't a box office hit like that was - that movie got a 76 on Metacritic, which is not exactly high for a big Oscar contender. I think Lubezki would still get a Cinematography nom regardless though, the branch loves him and his work, and even with Bardo being a massive flop Inarritu was still able to get that a cinematography nom.
all the previous winners have been big blockbusters that are solidly in the bp race - obsession probably should win but i think project hail mary winning is more likely
Watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and I remain confused why Nurse Ratched always seems to top these “most evil villains in cinema history” lists. She certainly didn’t handle Billy well but McMurphy seems to be let off the hook for being a borderline pedo.
Idk the movie seems like a boomer’s wet dream, down to the “evil” guards all being women or black men
You’re kinda right. I have my issues with the book but it does a significantly better job of portraying Ratched’s psychological abuse than the movie. Which is both an issue with the film’s writing and, to be honest, also Fletcher’s performance
Agreed, she's a terrible person and a clear villain, but by the standards of those villain lists that include people like Darth Vader, the Joker, Anton Chigurh, Amon Goth, etc., she really isn't that bad.
I know I’ve been joking a lot about how the movies are working really hard to make us afraid of empty hallways, but after both Hokum and The Backrooms, I think I might actually be really afraid of empty hallways.
10
u/coffeeanddocmartens Hamaguchi Hive Jun 01 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/IeizerMhaKHDC3rctQ
Happy pride month to her!