2025 Oscar Noms Reaction
The 97th Oscars ceremony will be held March 2, 2025 at 7:00 EST.
Nominations for the 97th Oscars were announced this morning. Unsurprisingly, a host of snubs and surprises abound.
Here are my thoughts on the nominations for 11 of the major categories. I share who I’ll be rooting for on March 2nd, as well as some of the pictures and people I’m sad not to see make the final cut.
ANIMATED FEATURE:
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The WIld Robot
Flow
Who I’m rooting for:
Each of these five nominees is great. But Flow is a stunning achievement and a nearly perfect film. It says something important. Its filmmaking craftsmanship is as good as it gets. And most importantly, it’s entertaining for all ages (my 9 year old can vouch for that!).
Wish you were here:
Other than Flow, no other film made better, more glorious use of the animated medium than Chicken for Linda!, which is a criminally under promoted movie you should definitely sit down and watch at least once in your lifetime.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane
No Other Land
Who I’m rooting for:
I found Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat to be the most interesting and engaging watch of these films. However, any attention a win for No Other Land would bring to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East will be welcome.
Wish you were here:
A terrific trio of documentaries came out this year that will remain in my brain for decades: Daughters, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, and Will & Harper.
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE:
I’m Still Here
The Girl with the Needle
Emilia Perez
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Flow
Kneecap
Who I’m rooting for:
I understand the skepticism some circles are dishing out to Emilia Perez. For a brief time, I waded in those waters myself. But after a rewatch? I don’t know if I’m ready to say I love it but I sure know it made me feel something. What, exactly? All of it. Everything. Thrill, awe, bewilderment. It’s an experience I won’t soon forget.
Wish you were here:
The one film that should be here but can’t (since countries are only allowed to submit one film for consideration in this category) is the quietly moving meditation on love, gender and class, All We Imagine as Light.
The eligible film I do wish would have made it in here is Kneecap, a rollicking, profane, incisive treatise on the importance of language and cultural identity in which the North Irish rap group play themselves in their fictionalized origin story.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Anora
The Brutalist
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance
Challengers
Who I’m rooting for:
Anora is the best screenplay of the year and I’ll dance (no, not that kind of dance!) if it wins. I would also be ecstatic if September 5 gets some much deserved recognition here.
Wish you were here:
Screenplay categories often recognize a film that’s adored but not favored to have a big night. I was hoping the academy would take a swing at Challengers here. It’s the best movie of the year not to receive a single nomination (closely followed by Furiosa: A Mad Max Story).
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Perez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
Sing Sing
Who I’m rooting for:
Even before the Best Picture snub, I was rooting for Sing Sing’s success in screenplay. Now, I just might purchase a vuvuzela to clamor for a win in this category.
Wish you were here:
Giving Wicked & Dune Pt. 2 another nomination might have helped boost the ratings for the ceremony (which is something the academy desperately needs). But I think these five nominated films are the most solid adapted screenplays of the year.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Anora
Who I’m rooting for:
It’s been a joy to watch the support for Yura Borisov slowly surge throughout this awards season. He’s the sneaky soul at the heart of the best movie of the year.
Wish you were here:
It’s a travesty that neither Adam Pearson (A Different Man) nor Clarence Maclin (Sing Sing) didn’t make the cut.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Monica Barabaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rosselini, Conclave
Zoe Saldana, Emilia Perez
Emilia Perez
Who I’m rooting for:
She can sing. She can dance. She can rap. And she’s the only person to appear in the top three worldwide box-office films of all time. This is Zoe’s time.
Wish you were here:
Danielle Deadwyler is snubbed for the second straight year. Her performance in The Piano Lesson (another fabulous film that was shut out this morning) is nothing short of extraordinary.
BEST ACTOR:
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothee Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebatian Stan, The Apprentice
A Different Man
Who I’m rooting for:
Just when you think he’s reached the top of his game, Colman Domingo keeps climbing. His performance made me cry and cheer more than any other this year.
Wish you were here:
He’s here, but I would have loved to see Sebastian Stan nominated for A Different Man instead.
BEST ACTRESS:
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofia Gascon, Emilia Perez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
The Substance
Who I’m rooting for:
The only thing the Oscars love more than anointing the next ingenue is honoring a classic comeback story. Mikey Madison (the former) & Demi Moore (the latter) both fit the bill and are very deserving of the award.
Wish you were here:
It was a long shot, but what a delight it would have been to see the 95 year old June Squibb hit the awards circuit to celebrate the first lead role of her wonderful career for Thelma.
BEST DIRECTOR:
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Perez
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Nickel Boys
Who I’m rooting for:
I don’t think any director demonstrated more artistic command over every single aspect of their film this year than Sean Baker. His film doesn’t have a weak link, or even a mediocre one.
Wish you were here:
Edward Berger’s omission for Conclave will be labeled the snub, which is fair. But the universe that RaMell Ross creates within Nickel Boys should have been recognized in this category. Luckily, the film broke through in the tight race for Best Picture.
BEST PICTURE:
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part 2
Emilia Perez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
Anora
Who I’m rooting for:
No film made me feel more alive or taught me more about the full scope of humanity than Anora.
Wish you were here:
Eight of these spots appeared locked up before this morning, and awards season followers knew it was going to be a battle royale between five or six films for the last two spots. Nickel Boys and I’m Still Here emerged victorious, coming at the expense of two of my favorite films of the year: September 5 & Sing Sing.