Weapons - 1 Nomination

 

• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Amy Madigan

Weapons is the perfect example of a movie that I would never have watched if there hadn’t been an Oscars nomination involved. I’m not a big fan of horror/psychological thriller, and I’m definitely out on jump scare movies. But the return of the brilliant Amy Madigan to the big screen was ample reward for braving the film, and what beautiful symbiosis to be nominated 40 years on the nose after her first nomination for a movie that I barely remember, and 37 years after Field of Dreams for which she deserved to be but wasn’t nominated at all (“It’s just like the 60’s!”)

The film begins with the disappearance of all but one of an entire class of children in a small town, and their teacher (Julie Garner) who becomes obsessed with finding them. When she visits the remaining child’s parents, it is clear that something is not quite right with them and she meets the mother’s aunt (Amy Madigan) who appears unwell but recovering and apparently there to take care of the child. As the teacher and the father (Josh Brolin) of one of the missing children get closer and closer to solving the mystery, this bizarre and particularly creepy aunt becomes more and more suspicious.

I have to admit that for all my protestations about having to watch the movie, I really enjoyed it. The cast was superb, the story was tight, and the scares were… well… not terribly scary (though more than sufficiently for my taste). It was more psychological thriller than horror film (thank goodness) and I was surprised and delighted at how good it was. It’s hardly a “don’t miss” but if you have a little time and HBO Max, I vote to see it. While Amy Madigan is not currently favored to win the category, her performance was strong and could grab an unexpected upset.

Sentimental Value - 9 Nominations

 

Best International Feature Film: Norway
Best Motion Picture of the Year: Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
Best Achievement in Directing: Joachim Trier
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Renate Reinsve
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Stellan Skarsgård
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Elle Fanning
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas
Best Original Screenplay: Joachim Trier (writer), Eskil Vogt (writer)
Best Achievement in Film Editing: Olivier Bugge Coutté

Sentimental Value centers on estranged sisters Nora and Agnes, who reconnect with their once-famous but emotionally distant filmmaker father Gustav after their mother’s death. Gustav, a celebrated director whose career has slowed, returns with a personal new script inspired by their family history and hopes that Nora will star in it, but she refuses, leading him to cast an American actress instead, which further fractures their uneasy reunion.

This is one of two films this year to appear in both the International Feature and Best Picture categories, and I was deeply moved by this one, and impressed with the play within a play nature of the story. What I loved about the movie, in particular, is that the complexity of real relationships isn’t often smoothed over by a perfect reconciliation with a hug and a tear and a confession; sometimes people are able to move forward even when their affection isn’t perfect, and their wounds are not completely healed.

The acting was quite brilliant, but I was mostly blown away by the screenplay. A most deserving film to be honored by the Oscars, and a worthwhile watch for those who delight in storytelling that takes its time.

Wicked - 10 nominations

 

• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

  • Frances Hannon 
  • Laura Blount 
  • Sarah Nuth
• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

  • John Powell 
  • Stephen Schwartz
• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Sound

  • Simon Hayes 
  • Nancy Nugent Title 
  • Jack Dolman 
  • Andy Nelson 
  • John Marquis
• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Achievement in Visual Effects

  • Pablo Helman 
  • Jonathan Fawkner 
  • David Shirk 
  • Paul Corbould
• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Motion Picture of the Year

  • Marc Platt
• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

  • Cynthia Erivo
• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Ariana Grande
• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Achievement in Film Editing

  • Myron Kerstein
• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Achievement in Production Design

  • Nathan Crowley (production designer)
  • Lee Sandales (set decorator)
• 
  2025 Nominee Oscar

  • Best Achievement in Costume Design

  • Paul Tazewell

"Oh, what a celebration we'll have today! Thank goodness!"

What if we could go back in time and learn how the Wicked Witch of the West became so reviled and renowned? That's the story of Wicked Part 1 when Elphaba and Glinda are paired together at Shiz University and shenanigans unfold. Glinda is popular and beautiful, Elphaba is studious and different, that is to say, green. And while normal maneuverings at school and normal love triangles abound, there is also a populist movement against talking animals; maligning them and making people fear them as the enemy. (hmmm, totally unrealistic, of course). Elphaba doesn't want to be different, much like most people, but also doesn't want to admit that she is troubled by her difference. When the head mistress takes a special in her interest as a practitioner of magic, Elphaba is invited to meet the Wonderful Wizard of Oz who lives in the Emerald City. Having now developed a friendship with Glinda, she invites her friend to come along and off the two go to meet the wizard.

I'm a huge fan of the musical (and for the love of God, would somebody please give Marc Platt his do over Oscar? Haven't you bothered this guy enough???) Back to the musical - if you know it, if you love it, if you have trouble sitting quietly in the theater and not singing along with the songs, you're going to absolutely love this film! But more than that, seeing it on screen brought to life two concepts from the stage that I had overlooked.

First, there's the trip to the Emerald City where everything is green. it hit me watching the magnificent costumes and production design that Elphaba's visit to the city is the first time in her life that she fits in more than the popular girl. She has come to the land of green, where green is keen (sorry, I couldn't resist) and it is everywhere. I know the movie sprinkled in tiny bits of pink into the Emerald City, but that choice showed even more how Glinda and her pink personality didn't quite fit in the hallowed city as much as Elphaba does. I can imagine both overwhelmed by the new feelings - fitting in for one, sticking out for the other.

The other revelation is how many plays on good, goodness, bad disguised as good, good disguised as bad - the themes are literally spread throughout the entire movie. If you've seen it already, go back and watch or go back and listen to the soundtrack. Almost every use of the word good has multiple meanings, "I have been changed for good." Does that mean I have been changed in a good way, or does that mean I have been changed permanently? Or both? Even the line I opened this post with - Thank Goodness! Is that, "thank the one who is representing good (Glinda)," is it "thank the state of being good," or just the plain old "phew!" This show is riddled with these suckers, and watching the movie again was a pleasure for all of the new discoveries that await even the longest time fan of the show. (or, good God, maybe just me... oh! There's another one!)

See this film for goodness sake! (That's another one... is it, "for the sake of goodness" or is it "gosh darn it!" OK I'LL STOP NOW.)

Emilia Perez - 13 nominations

 

• 
  
  

  • Best International Feature Film, France
• • Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling

  • Julia Floch-Carbonel 
  • Emmanuel Janvier 
  • Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
• 
  • Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)

  • Clément Ducol 
  • Camille
• 
  • Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song), "El Mal"

  • Clément Ducol 
  • Camille 
  • Jacques Audiard
• 
  • Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song), "Mi Camino"

  • Clément Ducol 
  • Camille 
  Jacques Audiard
• 
  • Best Sound

  • Erwan Kerzanet 
  • Aymeric Devoldère 
  • Maxence Dussère 
  • Cyril Holtz 
  • Niels Barletta
• 
  • Best Motion Picture of the Year

  • Pascal Caucheteux 
  • Jacques Audiard
• 
  • Best Achievement in Directing

  • Jacques Audiard
• 
  Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

  • Karla Sofía Gascón
• 
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

  • Zoe Saldana
• 
  • Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Jacques Audiard 
  • Thomas Bidegain 
  • Léa Mysius
  • Nicolas Livecchi
• 
  • Best Achievement in Cinematography

  • Paul Guilhaume
• • Best Achievement in Film Editing

  • Juliette Welfling

Remember when I said that being nominated 4 times for a single movie was pretty impressive? Well Jacques Audiard is nominated 5 times for this single movie, where he seems to have done everything except craft services. Guess what else? The film is nominated for Adapted Screenplay, because Audiard had already produced an opera libretto which was based on a book.

The story follows Rita, a discontented defense attorney who is engaged by a cartel kingpin to give him the cover he needs to transition to being a woman, including helping him fake his own death and relocating his wife and children to Switzerland. Once she has transitioned, she begins to live a new life as a philanthropist and do-gooder (with a hint of corruption on the side), and she decides that she misses her family terribly and asks Rita to bring them back to Mexico to live with her. Her ex-wife rekindles an affair she was having while still married, and adds another layer of complication to this already complicated life. The film reflects on criminality, corruption, family, and the question of whether life truly changes when the core personality does not.

Before I saw the film, I had no idea it was a musical. Selena Gomez turns out to be a non-fluent Spanish speaker who pulls off acting and emoting while speaking the language. Zoe Saldana turns out to be a trained dancer who can also really sing. And those were just the smallest of surprises. Everything about this film is not what you expect it to be, in all of the best ways. I loved it, the music and the songs are excellent and beautifully choreographed. The cinematography was exceptional. I imagine that Selena Gomez was a breath away from a Supporting Actress nomination (which would have tied EP with the three other films in history to garner 14 nominations, the record.) The whole of this film is even greater than the sum of its parts, and its parts are pretty magnificent.