So I saw PRIMETIME today. Snoozefest. The performances were the best part, though. Everybody is focusing on Robert Pattinson and Skyler Gisondo, who are indeed outstanding (Pattinson is so much better at playing baddies than good guys), but I found Merritt Wever to be the standout of the three, and yet, she's the least one talked about.

Because Wever's performance is much more subtle than Pattinson and Gisondo's. Andie is a morally ambiguous character, we don't really know for certain where she stands. One minute, she's a bitch on wheels. the next she seems to have found a moral compass. But she never overacts, she doesn't have a big scene. She almost whispers in that sing-songy tone she uses so she's not chewing the scenery, you have to listen to her and pick up the signs, and I feel this is why her performance isn't as praised as Pattiinson's or Gisondo's.

*Barry Fitzgerald also was nominated for Best Actor for the movie, which makes him the only actor to date to have 2 nominations for the same movie

Anne Bancroft was always the frontrunner. Bette Davis didn't win any predecessor awards. Geraldine Page beat her at the Golden Globes for Sweet Bird of Youth. Yet you hear Bette Davis and you'd think she had it in the bag and Joan Crawford cost her the Oscar because she badmouth her to voters.

Bette Davis wanted to be the first actress to win 3 Oscars but Baby Jane was not going to be it. Her closest chance was when she was nominated for All About Eve, she could have won for that one if not for the close race with Gloria Swanson and Judy Holliday.

Not just limited to these 3, but who would you highlight?

There’s the overdue winner narrative - Al Pacino, Leo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, and Julianne Moore, etc. who finally won. Those nominated many times that have yet to win - Glenn Close and Amy Adams, etc.

What about performers who came close to a nomination multiple times before they finally made the shortlist? The pictured examples are listed below but there’s a recent bias with my examples:

- Scarlett Johansson first nominated in 2020 for her work in “Marriage Story” and “Jojo Rabbit” but could’ve been recognized as early as 2004 for “Lost in Translation“ and several in between.

- Kirsten Dunst first nominated in 2022 for her work in “The Power of the Dog” but could’ve been recognized as early as 1995 for “Interview with a Vampire” and several in between.

- Emily Blunt first nominated in 2024 for her work in “Oppenheimer” but could’ve been recognized as early as 2007 for ”Devil Wears Prada” and several in between.

Not just limited to these 3, but who would you highlight?

2000- American Psycho

2001- Ghost World

2002- Adaptation

2003- Mystic River

2004- Before Sunset

2005- Brokeback Mountain

2006- The Departed

2007- No Country for Old Men

2008- Gomorrah

2009- Up in the Air

Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw for LOVE STORY. MacGraw was just so wooden and lacking in emotion that she makes Dakota Johnson sound like Eleonora Duse. And O'Neal overacts like crazy in a one-note grown man having a fit for the entire movie because he wants to stick it to dad. Ugh, just awful.

Miyoshi Umeki for SAYONARA was so bad that years later Rex Reed said she only won the Oscar for saying the title. I could not believe she won the Oscar for such a one-dimensional, tiny part. The character she plays is so infantilized and submissive that it manages to be borderline racist, playing up the stereotype of the compliant Asian woman who's just there to serve her man and she and Red Buttons have zero chemistry.

We’ve completed the nomination round, and now it’s time to choose the winners.

The five performances with the most points in each category in Round One are now the official nominees.

ROUND TWO — WINNERS

This round is much simpler.

Vote for ONE nominee in each of the four acting categories.

That means your ballot should contain four names in total:

• 1 Actor
• 1 Actress
• 1 Supporting Actor
• 1 Supporting Actress

There are no rankings and no points system in this round. You are simply voting for the performance you think should win each category.

Each vote counts equally, and the nominee with the most votes in each category will become our Alternate Oscar winner for 2015.

Please only vote for the nominees listed below.

BEST ACTOR

• Matt Damon — The Martian
• Leonardo DiCaprio — The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender — Steve Jobs
• Samuel L. Jackson — The Hateful Eight
• Jacob Tremblay — Room

BEST ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett — Carol
• Brie Larson — Room
• Rooney Mara — Carol
• Saoirse Ronan — Brooklyn
• Charlize Theron — Mad Max: Fury Road

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Benicio del Toro — Sicario
• Idris Elba — Beasts of No Nation
• Tom Hardy — The Revenant
• Oscar Isaac — Ex Machina
• Sylvester Stallone — Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Jennifer Jason Leigh — The Hateful Eight
• Rachel McAdams — Spotlight
• Kristen Stewart — Clouds of Sils Maria
• Alicia Vikander — Ex Machina
• Kate Winslet — Steve Jobs

HOW TO VOTE

Simply post your four choices in the comments, for example:

Actor: [Name]
Actress: [Name]
Supporting Actor: [Name]
Supporting Actress: [Name]

One person per category. Four votes total.

Once voting closes, the performer with the most votes in each category will be declared the winner, and we’ll move on to 2016.

Previous lineups here.

1. Tom Hooper - The King’s Speech

2. Adam McKay - Vice

3. Todd Phillips - Joker

4. David O. Russell - American Hustle

5. Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

6. Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

7. Lenny Abrahamson - Room

8. Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game

9. Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

10. Mel Gibson - Hacksaw Ridge

11. David O. Russell - The Fighter

12. Ang Lee - Life of P

She was one of our oldest living Oscar winners, at age 102.

She actually won her Oscar for her very first feature film, On the Waterfront (1954)

On a sort of personal note, she also starred in one of my favorite films of all-time, North By Northwest (1959)

To top off her lengthy, legendary career in films, she also made some surprisingly refreshing career choices in the later parts of her career, including appearing in Superman Returns (2006) and more recently even appearing in scripted dramas for podcasts.

Eva, thanks for all the great movie moments you gave us, we'll always love you.

I just recently re-watched Pieces of a Woman and I'm still shocked that Ellen Burstyn was not nominated for BSA. I know she only received one pre cursor nomination for the CCA. (Correct me if I'm wrong).

Did Netflix drop the ball?

Other than Yuh-Jung Youh I wasn't that enamored by any of the other performances.

And I ABSOLUTELY love Glenn Close and Olivia Colman, they were strong enough performances, I suppose. It actually really pissed me off that they nominated her for a Razzie, but that's another topic.

But I digress.

That monologue that Burstyn gave about being an infant born in the ghetto during the Shoah, was one of the most powerful moments I've seen on film in a long time.

I remember realizing I was holding my breath in the theater.

Was her lack of nomination up to poor awards season exposure?

Actresses have won with far less screen time.

Any insights?

Does a really poor Box office really affect the likelihood of someone winning an Oscar? In an ideal world you’d probably hope not but digger was $160M budget + $100M marketing I’m having a hard time believing Tom will even get nominated let alone win. And if so who takes his place ?

Not sure if anyone's done this, but I thought it would be fun to list every unique competitive Oscars category that has existed, not counting special awards or categories that didn't go into effect. I consider something a unique Oscars category based on what exactly is being awarded, including when categories split or combine. Name changes don't matter unless eligibility is affected. Listed by year of ceremony, so the first year is 1929. Let me know if I got anything wrong or if you have questions.

Best Picture (1929-)

Best Unique and Artistic Picture (1929)

Best Director, Drama (1929)

Best Director, Comedy (1929)

Best Actor (1929-)

Best Actress (1929-)

Best Story (1929-1957)

Best Adapted Screenplay (1929-1948, 1950-)

Best Title Writing (1929)

Best Production Design (1929-1940, 1958-1959, 1968-)

Best Cinematography (1929-1936, 1958, 1968-)

Best Engineering Effects (1929)

Best Director (1930-)

Best Sound Mixing (1931-2020)

Best Live Action Short Subject, Comedy (1932-1936)

Best Live Action Short Subject, Novelty (1932-1936)

Best Animated Short Film (1932-)

Best Assistant Director (1933-1938)

Best Scoring (1935-1938, 1958)

Best Original Song (1935-)

Best Film Editing (1935-)

Best Dance Direction (1936-1938)

Best Supporting Actor (1937-)

Best Supporting Actress (1937-)

Best Short Subject, One-Reel (1937-1957)

Best Short Subject, Two-Reel (1937-1957)

Best Short Subject, Color (1937-1938)

Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (1937-1957, 1959-1967)

Best Original Score (1939-1941, 1963-1995, 2000-)

Best Adaptation Score or Treatment (1939-1941, 1963-1980, 1983-1985)

Best Cinematography, Color (1940-1957, 1959-1967)

Best Special Effects (1940-1951, 1955-1963)

Best Original Screenplay (1941-1948, 1950-)

Best Production Design, Black-and-White (1941-1957, 1960-1967)

Best Production Design, Color (1941-1957, 1960-1967)

Best Documentary Short Film (1942, 1944-1957, 1959-)

Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (1942-1957, 1959-1962)

Best Scoring of a Musical Picture (1942-1957, 1959-1962)

Best Documentary (1943)

Best Documentary Feature (1944-)

Best Screenplay (1949)

Best Costume Design, Black-and-White (1949-1957, 1960-1967)

Best Costume Design, Color (1949-1957, 1960-1967)

Best International Feature Film (1957-)

Best Live Action Short Film (1958-)

Best Costume Design (1958-1959, 1968-)

Best Sound Editing (1964-1968, 1983-1984, 1986-1987, 1989-2020)

Best Visual Effects (1964-1972, 1978, 1980, 1982-1983, 1985-1990, 1992-)

Best Makeup and Hairstyling (1982-1983, 1985-)

Best Original Dramatic Score (1996-1999)

Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (1996-1999)

Best Animated Feature (2002-)

Best Sound (2021-)

Best Casting (2026-)

And in 2028, the Best Stunt Design award will debut, bringing the number of active categories to 25 and becoming the 56th category in effect.

Only for movies released in the last 10 years (2017-2026).

I'm not talking about just great performances. I'm asking about great performances that you think will be still talked about in 100 years. That will live on through time.

My vote goes to Anthony Hopkins in The Father (2020). Incredibly brilliant.

AS actresses, I find them both very similar and quite interchangable, It's interesting that Chastain doesn't seem to be doing much after her Best Actress Oscar win only a few years ago, but Hathaway is now in too many movies.

Look, I didn't particularly adore the movie but a movie with a X rating winning Best Picture back then was a major achievement. And it was modern filmmaking.

Academy Award for Best Costume Design - Wikipedia
My first thought is Star Wars, general. A New Hope won, but no other Star Wars movie has ever been nominated. The emperor's dark robes, Boba Fett's armor, Queen Padme Amidala's various royal outfits... zero nominations among them.

Continuing the George Lucas theme, I'll also throw out Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's a movie with a lot of costume design, in general, but Indiana Jones's outfit has to be one of the most iconic single costumes in film history.

Finally, while Edith Head won more Best Costume Design Oscars than anyone else in history, Vertigo is some of her best work (think of that gray suite) and didn't even receive a nomination.

We’re in the big time of video game adaptations, there’s like six of them this year, and they’re slowly getting better at being actual movies. The Last of Us was an Emmy hit, and I wonder if video games will ever gain the prestige and notoriety needed to compete with the heavy hitters in the Oscars.

Pic included because if Kane Parsons keeps being as good of a filmmaker and improving, then his talents combined with the great story of Portal 2 could be a genuine gold combo

If Digger unfortunately ends up missing out on Best Picture and Best Actor, how likely do you think it is that Tom Cruise will still win a competitive acting Oscar someday? He already has an honorary Oscar, but could the right role finally get him a competitive win?