Tonight it’s the Oscar ceremony, and even though I’ve not seen every film, here are my favorites for this 98th edition.
Actor in a Leading Role
- Timothée Chalamet • Marty Supreme
- Leonardo DiCaprio • One Battle After Another
- Ethan Hawke • Blue Moon
- 🟢 Michael B. Jordan • Sinners
- Wagner Moura • The Secret Agent
I haven’t yet seen Marty Supreme, Blue Moon, or The Secret Agent, so that leaves only DiCaprio and Michael B. Jordan. I have to say that the last one, who plays two characters in Sinners — twins with very different behavior — impresses me more than the first, even though his over-the-top acting was more appropriate here than in Killers of the Flower Moon.
Actor in a Supporting Role
- 🟢 Benicio Del Toro • One Battle After Another
- Jacob Elordi • Frankenstein
- Delroy Lindo • Sinners
- Sean Penn • One Battle After Another
- Stellan Skarsgard • Sentimental Value
As far as I’m concerned, there’s no doubt that Benicio Del Toro’s portrayal of a revolutionary judo teacher is irresistible — he deserves to win the award.
One Battle After Another 9/10
C’est une claque, un film complètement fou d’une intensité rare avec la maestria de son réalisateur pour un message révolutionnaire prudent, qui j’imagine appelle à résister en protégeant plutôt que par des méthodes violentes qui, au-delà des surenchères sécuritaires qu’elles peuvent justifier, détruisent les adversaires de l’autoritarisme.
(...)Actress in a Leading Role
- 🟢 Jessie Buckley • Hamnet
- Rose Byrne • If Had Legs I’d Kick You
- Kate Hudson • Song Sung Blue
- Renate Reinsve • Sentimental Value
- Emma Stone • Bugonia
It’s a toss-up between Jessie Buckley and Renate Reinsve as far as I’m concerned, since I haven’t seen the other films, and Buckley literally carries Hamnet on her shoulders—along with all the film’s emotional weight. If she doesn’t deliver, the whole thing falls apart.
Actress in a Supporting Role
- Elle Fanning • Sentimental Value
- Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas • Sentimental Value
- Amy Madigan • Weapons
- 🟢 Wunmi Mosaku • Sinners
- Teyana Taylor • One Battle After Another
For this category, I was torn between Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Wunmi Mosaku. Even though the actress who plays Renate Reinsve’s sister in Sentimental Value is the driving force behind the emotion—and thus the wonderful final scene — I have a slight preference for the complex and tragic character of Annie in Sinners.
Animated Feature Film
- Arco
- Elio
- 🟢 KPop Demon Hunters
- Little Amelie or the Character of Rain
- Zootopia 2
I haven’t seen Little Amelie or the Character of Rain yet, which, on paper, could have been a contender in my heart, and even though I really enjoyed ** Zootopia 2** and its anti-colonialist message, these past few months have been punctuated for me by the songs of Kpop Demon Hunters, and I hope Sony Animation wins another Oscar—especially if it pisses Disney off.
Zootopie 2 7/10
Toujours aussi drôle, plein de clins d’œils amusants, citations surprenant vu le public type du film, et encore une fois un message intéressant, particulièrement de nos jours.
Casting
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- 🟢 One Battle After Another
- The Secret Agent
- Sinners
One Battle After Another boasts a stellar cast, featuring Benicio Del Toro and Sean Penn in somewhat unconventional roles, and above all the revelations Teyana Taylor and Chase Infiniti — whose absence from this competition I simply cannot understand.
Cinematography
- Frankenstein
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another
- 🟢 Sinners
- Train Dreams
Ryan Coogler’s flick is the one that sticks with me the most because of its stunning visuals.
Costume Design
- Avatar: Fire and Ash
- Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- 🟢 Sinners
It seems to me that it’s a close contest between Hamnet and Sinners; I have a preference for the vampire film, which features a wide variety of costumes that reflect different origins, social classes, and professions — and I think this very subtle work deserves the award.
Directing
- Chloé Zhao • Hamnet
- Josh Safdie • Marty Supreme
- 🟢 Paul Thomas Anderson • One Battle After Another
- Joachim Trier • Sentimental Value
- Ryan Coogler • Sinners
Even though Hamnet is my favorite film and I admire Chloé Zhao’s work, the mastery and originality of Paul Thomas Anderson’s visuals once again demonstrate this director’s excellence — a director who has so far been consistently overlooked by the Oscars. This would be an opportunity to right that wrong and send a message to Trump.
Film Editing
- Marty Supreme
- 🟢 One Battle After Another
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
I’ll admit this isn’t the category I pay the most attention to, but the pacing of this massive, nearly three-hour-long feature, One Battle After Another, struck me as extraordinarily smooth.
International Feature Film
- The Secret Agent
- It Was Just an Accident
- 🟢 Sentimental Value
- Sirat
- The Voice of Hind Rajab
The only one I’ve seen on this list is Sentimental Value; I liked it, though I wasn’t a huge fan, but since it’s received several other nominations in this edition, I suppose it’s going to win.
Sentimental Value 7/10
Plutôt intéressant la manière dont le film tente de décrire la transmission des traumatismes à travers les silences, les abandons et la mélancolie. Il me semble qu’il aurait gagné à être moins verbeux et peut-être un peu moins dans une forme d’auto-complaisance sur le monde du cinéma.
Makeup and Hairstyling
- Frankenstein
- Kokuho
- Sinners
- The Smashing Machine
- 🟢 The Ugly Stepsister
The prize will probably go to Frankenstein—the makeup and prosthetics are simply breathtaking — but I still hope that the smaller, yet equally excellent The Ugly Stepsister wins, as it is clearly just as deserving.
Music (Original Score)
- Jerskin Fendrix • Bugonia
- Alexandre Desplat • Frankenstein
- Max Richter • Hamnet
- Jonny Greenwood • One Battle After Another
- 🟢 Ludwig Göransson • Sinners
Ludwig Göransson’s music is the one that left the biggest impression on me and plays a significant role in the story; I think the Oscar should logically go to him.
Music (Original Song)
- Dear Me • Diane Warren: Relentless
- 🟢 Golden • KPop Demon Hunters
- I Lied To You • Sinners
- Sweet Dreams Of Joy • Viva Verdi!
- Train Dreams • Train Dreams
🎶 I’m done hiding, now I’m shingiiiing.
KPop Demon Hunters 7/10
Si ce n’est la musique qui n’est pas forcément mon style ou l’histoire un peu simple, j’ai passé un excellent moment devant ce nouveau tour de force de Sony Pictures Animation. C’est beau, les personnages sont extra, on a du rythme, des enjeux, une vraie mise en scène, en bref du très bon.
Production Design
- 🟢 Frankenstein
- Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another Sinners
Even though I didn’t particularly care for Guillermo del Toro’s latest film—which feels too similar to the rest of his filmography, particularly The Shape of Water, yet never quite matches the power of his earlier works—the sets are sumptuous, we must admit.
Sound
- F1
- Frankenstein
- One Battle After Another
- 🟢 Sinners
- Sirat
Just like with music, sound is fundamental in Sinners, so it’ll be either that or F1… But I really didn’t like F1.
F1 6/10
L’idée serait donc de reproduire ce qui a marché sur Top Gun Maverick mais mixé avec Jours de tonnerre, et je trouve que ça ne marche pas. À part la dernière course qui est vraiment haletante, notamment la partie à la première personne, les scènes en voiture ne sont pas mal filmées mais les plans se répètent énormément, ne sont pas très originaux et le montage rend le tout assez illisible. Le Mans 66 et même le très décrié Gran Turismo m’ont beaucoup plus impressionné sur cet aspect là.
(...)Visual Effects
- Avatar: Fire and Ash
- F1
- Jurassic World Rebirth
- The Lost Bus
- 🟢 Sinners
Creating a flawless double of Michael B. Jordan without anyone noticing is a remarkable achievement by the special effects teams that deserves recognition. Jurassic World could have been better, even though it’s not bad, and as for Avatar, we all already saw that, and the movie was pretty disappointing.
Jurassic World Rebirth 7/10
C’est mieux en VO quand même. Par contre, quitte à ce que la saga Jurassic demeure sans propos très intéressant pour ne devenir que des films de monstres, autant nous épargner la famille à chaque fois si on ne sait pas quoi en faire. Reste que je suis prêt à pardonner pas mal de choses du fait que ce volet a été réalisé de bout en bout en seulement un an, et je suis donc très curieux de revoir Gareth Edwards dans un projet plus personnel toujours avec Scarlett Johansson qui apporte de la crédibilité et un certain détachement amusé qui fonctionne bien avec la tournure que prend cette série.
Avatar: Fire and Ash 6/10
Alors c’est très bien que le message de cette trilogie soit d’affronter frontalement ses ennemis quand ils sont brutaux et violents, qu’il ne sert à rien de fuir, de se cacher derrière un pacifisme aveugle ou de s’enfermer sur sa famille pour la protéger, car on n’échappe pas à la détermination de destruction globale, il faut donc résister.
(...)Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
- Bugonia
- Frankenstein
- 🟢 Hamnet
- One Battle After Another
- Train Dreams
In my opinion, the story’s accuracy and fluidity—which prevent it from veering into pathos—stem primarily from the subtlety of the screenplay, namely Hamnet.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
- Blue Moon
- It Was Just an Accident
- Marty Supreme
- Sentimental Value
- 🟢 Sinners
A vampire story with such a powerful and subtle political message definitely deserves another Oscar for Sinners.
Best Picture
- Bugonia
- F1
- Frankenstein
- 🟢 Hamnet
- Marty Supreme
- One Battle After Another
- The Secret Agent
- Sentimental Value
- Sinners
- Train Dreams
It’s hard to choose, but Hamnet simply blew me away, and even though I love One Battle After Another and its very contemporary themes, the subtlety and sensitivity required to keep Chloé Zhao’s drama from descending into ridiculous pathos demonstrate the great talent of the director, her crew, and her cast.
———
That brings the total to 7 Oscars for Sinners, 4 for One Battle After Another, 3 for Hamnet, and 2 for KPop Demon Hunters.
Download your ballot at Letterboxd.
Source featured photo
Wikipedia - Greg in Hollywood (Greg Hernandez) - Flickr