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The Oscar Watcher All things movies. Oscar focused, but much more. My profile on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/n5qZ

This month's favorites theme is: FAVORITE OSCAR WINNERS.APRIL FOOLS!(I hope to never see these films again.)What are you...
01/04/2026

This month's favorites theme is:
FAVORITE OSCAR WINNERS.
APRIL FOOLS!
(I hope to never see these films again.)

What are your least favorite winners?

My profile on Letterboxd
https://boxd.it/n5qZ

If I had gone with my gut, I would have gotten all three Shorts as well as Documentary Feature. But I listened to the no...
16/03/2026

If I had gone with my gut, I would have gotten all three Shorts as well as Documentary Feature. But I listened to the noise, caved to it, and missed two. However, going with my hunch cost me Best Picture, Casting, and Original Song. It's almost like The Oscars are unpredictable or something.

How did everyone else do?

I've gone back and forth on this for the last 48 hours, and it's time to make the leap. I can't shake this gut feeling t...
15/03/2026

I've gone back and forth on this for the last 48 hours, and it's time to make the leap. I can't shake this gut feeling that, 'Sinners' is going to overperform tonight. I finally decided that if I go with 'One Battle After Another' and it wins, I'll be happy, but if 'Sinners" does end up taking it, I'll be kicking myself from now to next years Oscars, maybe longer. I'm also going against 'Golden'. Admittedly, that is a "hope prediction". If I'm wrong, who cares - I hate that category. But if I'm right, 🥳.
One thing is for sure, if I am wrong about Best Picture, I'll never trust my hunches again.

Only a few more hours to go. Have fun, everybody. Enjoy the show, and good luck with your predictions!

The Oscar Nominations 2026THE LOST BUS (Apple+)Dir.- Paul Greengrass1 nomination - Visual Effects Paul Greengrass is ...
03/03/2026

The Oscar Nominations 2026
THE LOST BUS (Apple+)
Dir.- Paul Greengrass
1 nomination - Visual Effects

Paul Greengrass is best known for two things: the Jason Bourne films and dramatic re-enactment films of real-world events. This film is one of the latter. It takes place during the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise California . The story focuses on a school bus driver who becomes stranded in the fire with a bus full of school children, and his attempts to drive the kids to safety.
When we are with the bus, this film is as exciting as it gets. It had me on the edge of my seat, even though I knew the outcome. The visual effects are incredible. This is one of those films where the effects are so real, so well done, that you don't even see them. It really looks like the fire is raging. This is a very worthy recipient of this VFX nomination.
It is a truly terrifying spectacle. I only wish the rest of the movie lived up to those effects. Unfortunately, the personal beats of the story are heavy-handed and overly melodramatic. I know this is a true story, and I know they wanted to flesh out the characters, but it didn't work for me. Their stories weren't nearly compelling enough to compete with the true star of this show, the inferno raging around them. It's worth seeing for that alone


The Oscar Nominations 2026F1: THE MOVIE (Apple+)Dir.- Joseph Kosinski4 nominations - Best Picture, Editing, Sound, Visua...
03/03/2026

The Oscar Nominations 2026
F1: THE MOVIE (Apple+)
Dir.- Joseph Kosinski
4 nominations - Best Picture, Editing, Sound, Visual Effects

'F1' is a great popcorn movie. Sure, we've seen this story before: the grizzled has-been vs the cocky upstart. And yeah, Kerry Condon is wasted here, and she has no chemistry with Brad Pitt. But that's not why we're here. We came for the races, and let's be honest, the crashes.
This is what this film gets right. The racing sequences are thrilling and the crashes spectacular, with sound, editing and VFX working seamlessly together. You don't realize that you are not watching actual races. You don't see the effects, and that is when visual effects are at their best.
'F1' is a fun movie. Best Picture worthy? I'm not so sure. Technically, it's at the top of the game, but I think the screenplay was full of clichés and unoriginal, and that brought the whole film down. I had a good time at 'F1', but there are other films more deserving of its Best Picture slot.

This month's favorites theme is: FILMS OF IRELAND 🇮🇪 What are your favorites? My profile on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/n...
02/03/2026

This month's favorites theme is:
FILMS OF IRELAND 🇮🇪
What are your favorites?

My profile on Letterboxd
https://boxd.it/n5qZ

The Oscar Nominations 2026IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (In Cinemas)Dir.- Jafar Panahi2 nominations - International Feature, O...
24/02/2026

The Oscar Nominations 2026
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT (In Cinemas)
Dir.- Jafar Panahi
2 nominations - International Feature, Original Screenplay

'It Was Just an Accident' is a remarkable film. On its own, it is a great film, but when you consider what it took to get made, it truly is an astonishing work. Panahi and crew had to film in secret, as their film, being critical of the Iranian government and shot without filming permits, would have led to their arrest.
The film's criticisms underlie the film's main theme of the moral dilemma of revenge. After Vahid, a man who was tortured in an Iranian prison, thinks he recognizes his torturer. He and a group of his fellow ex-prisoners kidnap the man, with the intent of taking their revenge.
This is a political thriller, but it also breaks out of that box and becomes something more, as the band of kidnappers decide what they should do with their captive. It's a tense and thrilling ride, and the ending of that journey is powerful. This is a screenplay very worthy of its nomination, and I was glad to hear it called on nominations morning. I don't think it was ever a question that it would be nominated for International Feature, especially after its Palme d'Or win at Cannes. At one time, there was even talk of it entering the Best Picture race. But I think the nominations are where the Oscar story will end for this extraordinary film.

The Oscar Nominations 2026ARCO (In Cinemas)Dir.- Ugo Bienvenu, Gilles Cazaux1 nomination - Animated Feature Arco is a...
23/02/2026

The Oscar Nominations 2026
ARCO (In Cinemas)
Dir.- Ugo Bienvenu, Gilles Cazaux
1 nomination - Animated Feature

Arco is a quirky little film from France about a young boy in the future who travels back in time, and gets stuck in a not too distant future timeline. There seems to be a climate event happening, although that isn't made entirely clear, and fires seem to be a consequence of this, event, at least in this part of the world.
This film is a confusing mix of genres: part environmental fable, part family drama, part time travel adventure. I'm not sure what it was trying to say; it's message(s) were a bit muddled. It works best as the adventure, but even there it fell short for me. There was a trio of bumbling hunters of some sort. I wasn't sure of their motivation. Voiced by Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, and Flea (in the English dub), they were supposed to be comic relief, but I just found them annoying.
Although I didn't care much for the film, it did have some gorgeous, detailed backgrounds. They gave me something to look at when the story wasn't drawing me in. But that's not enough, for me. In a typical year, I don't think this film would have come close to a nomination, but this is not a strong year for animation, so it managed to get in.


The Oscar Nominations 2026KOKUHO (In Cinemas)Dir.- Sang-il Lee1 nomination - Makeup and Hairstyling 'Kokuho' was a su...
21/02/2026

The Oscar Nominations 2026
KOKUHO (In Cinemas)
Dir.- Sang-il Lee
1 nomination - Makeup and Hairstyling

'Kokuho' was a surprise makeup nomination. It had been shortlisted along with International Film, but I don't think many people were predicting it. We should have been. The makeup (and hair) in this film is outstanding.
The word "Kohuho" translates to 'National Treasure'. This is the epic, decades spanning story of an orphaned boy who decides to devote his life to the art of Kabuki Theater and rises to the top of the art form. While I did find the film to be slightly overlong, I didn't really mind, as it is a gorgeous film. Honestly, it's a bit of a sensory overload, but in the best way.
I'm not sure how this film got on the radar of the Hair & Makeup branch of The Academy, while missing out with every other branch. (They do tend to be a bit more adventurous in their selections than the other branches.) Yes, the makeup is excellent, but also inextricably tied to the costumes and the production design, the cinematography and the score. The film spans from the 60s to the 2010s. That would be enough, but this film really shines with the scenes of classic Kabuki Theater. It is mesmerizing. The technical work on this film is as meticulous as the Kabuki actors work in the film.
This is a film that I think I will go back to. In addition to the sumptuous visuals, it's solidly directed and well-acted. It lost me for a bit in the middle, but for the most part it kept my attention, especially during the Kabuki scenes. 'Kokuho' is definitely worth revisiting and absolutely worthy of its nomination. I only wish it had been able to squeeze in to International Feature as well.

The Oscar Nominations 2026SONG SUNG BLUE (Peacock)Dir.- Craig Brewer1 nomination - Lead Actress I was enjoying this f...
19/02/2026

The Oscar Nominations 2026
SONG SUNG BLUE (Peacock)
Dir.- Craig Brewer
1 nomination - Lead Actress

I was enjoying this film in the first hour. Sure, it wasn't breaking any new ground or anything, but it was a light-hearted romance about a couple who meet, fall in love, and start a Neil Diamond tribute band. It's a story as old as time. Well, the first part is anyway.
Once we get to the second hour, things change. (And really, this film has no business being over two hours long.) What started out as a light romance turns dark, and the melodrama kicks into high gear as the family suffers tragedy after tragedy. I know this is supposedly a true story, but I think their struggles could have been handled in a less heavy-handed way.
This is the based-on-a-true-story biopic of Lightning & Thunder, the aforementioned band, and is based on a 2008 documentary of the same name. It chronicles their rise and tragic fall, their comeback and even more tragic end.
This film was lucky to have Kate Hudson. She is easily the best thing in the film, and she gets to show off her acting chops quite a bit as her character has quite the arc. I can see how she got a nomination; it really is a strong performance, despite the weakness of the overall film.
'Song Sung Blue' seems to be a crowd-pleaser, but I don't see it. If you are a Neil Diamond fan and you like over-the-top melodrama, this might be a fun watch, but it's not for me. It did make me want to check out the documentary, though. There's definitely a story here. I think I just want to see it told in a different way.

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