2026 Oscars® Recap: Jeez, It's So Much Fun To Not Give Timothée Chalamet An Oscar!

I got my best score in ages guessing 19 out of 24 right of the Academy Awards last night. Was a fun broadcast - Conan killed, and I loved the loose vibe of the whole affair, but damn, why didn't I got with my gut that the Best Picture was going to be the actual best movie of the year: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER?

I went with my inner rumblings last year with ANORA so I don't know why I wimped out and went with the media sway 'bout a SINNERS sweep. Sigh. For the record, I love SINNERS and am blaring the soundtrack right now, but ONE BATTLE is something other than else and PTA is one of the best filmmakers ever so I'm glad to be wrong.

Anyway, these are the five Oscar predictions I got wrong:

BEST PICTURE: My pick: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER/What won: SINNERS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: I guessed Benicio del Toro (maybe because I had a few small beers) for ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, but the Oscar went to: Sean Penn

I think my biggest takeaway here is that in all the years I've been making these there predicts, I've often counted out those that have won Oscars before. I didn't predict Adrien Brody last year, I discounted Anthony Hopkins a few years ago too - I had the foul idea that these folks wouldn't get the gold multiple times. Next time, I'll rethink this.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: My pick: BUTTERFLY/What won: THE GIRL WHO CRIED PEARLS

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
BEST CASTING: My pick: SINNERS, Francine Maisler/ What won: Cassandra Kulukundis for ONE BATTLE.

I kinda had the dumb idea that this award was made to honor such ensembles as SINNERS, but damn, Ms. Kulukundis, did really nail it on ONE BATTLE so I will shut up now.

That's it - here's hoping 2026 will have a roster of movies that compares, because this last year is so far my favorite of the 2020s.

More later...

Hey Kids! Funtime 2026 Oscar® Predictions!

Yep, it's that time of year again - the 98th Academy Awards ceremony will go down Sunday evening at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, and here I am again with my predictions, which I've been doing since the late 2000s. So it seems a dead heat between SINNERS and ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, and I could be wrong (and often am) but I'm sensing a SINNERS sweep, even though I prefer Paul Thomas Anderson's work there.

That's the tricky part about making these predictions - trying not to pick the ones you want to win, and I've had good scores (my best score was 22 out of 24) with that in mind, but this year seems set to have some upsets. This year was a weird but really good one for film so the only thing I actually feel sure about is that Conan O'Brien as host will be funny AF.

So here goes my predicts:

BEST PICTURE: SINNERS

 

BEST DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER 

Yeah, I think SINNERS will win Best Picture, but PTA will finally get his Director due. Like I said, I want ONE BATTLE to get the gold, but this is what I'm feeling right now.

 

BEST ACTOR: Michael B. Jordan (SINNERS)

It's just too much fun to not give Timothy Chamalet this award (I so wanted him to win for his Dylan last year, but not pulling for his this time - MARTY SUPREME was decent, but didn't really resonate with me). Jordan's confident performance (performances?) as twin brothers Smoke and Stack I'm betting will get the gold.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 

 

Benicio del Toro, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER  

 

BEST ACTRESS: Jessie Buckley, HAMNET

Her anti-cat comments aside, no other actress moved me more than Buckley in HAMNET. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Madigan, WEAPONS

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: KPOP DEMON HUNTERS

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM: BUTTERFLY

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: FRANKENSTEIIN

BEST DOCUMENTARY: MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: ALL THE EMPTY ROOMS

BEST FILM EDITING: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM: SENTIMENTAL VALUE, Norway

BEST CASTING: SINNERS, Francine Maisler

 

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: FRANKENSTEIN, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: SINNERS, Ludwig Goransson

 

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: “Golden” from KPOP DEMON HUNTERS, music and lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park

 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: FRANKENSTEIN

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT: TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA

 

BEST SOUND: F1

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, written by Paul Thomas Anderson

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Ryan Coogler, SINNERS

Like I say every year - tune in Monday to see how many I got wrong.

Oscars 2025: My Worst Score Since 2007!

Last night, I got my worst Oscar prediction score since 2007, and that was 13 out of 24, now it’s one worse as there are only 23 categories now (they combined Sound Design and Sound Editing into just Sound). Now, I was expecting this because I knew EMILIA PÉREZ was gonna win multiple Academy Awards, but I just couldn’t go there as I’m so against it. Voting with your heart over your head is never how to go, but that’s how I went this year, and I paid the price.

Otherwise, I did highly enjoy first-time host Conan O’Brien from THE SUBSTANCE parody opening to his goofy monologue, with such lines like, “A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, A REAL PAIN, NOSFERATU - these are just some of the names I was called on the red carpet. I think two are fair,” too, well, just about all of his antics. Yeah, I’m a fan, and he didn’t disappoint. 

Funnily enough, I got all the acting categories wrong except for Kieran Culkin for A REAL PAIN, who probably had the most memorable acceptance speech, but I won’t go into that here.

So let’s take a look at the long list of the ones I got wrong, shall we?

BEST ACTOR: My prediction - Timothée Chalamet, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN / Who won: Adrien Brody, THE BRUTALIST

Conan: “Bob Dylan wanted to be here tonight, but not that badly.”

I said Brody would probably win, but I couldn’t not go with Chamalet as I so adored his performance as my all-time favorite performer. Back when Chamalet was promoting the movie back in December, he was showing up at events cosplaying Dylan, so I was hoping he’d do the same for the Oscars. Not that it would’ve helped him win (the voting ended on Feb. 21), but here’s the butter yellow Givenchy suit he wore last night, and what I think would’ve been better – a light blue tux like Dylan’s at the 1998 Grammys when he won Album of the Year for Time Out of Mind.

BEST ACTRESS: My prediction - Demi Moore, THE SUBSTANCE / Who won: Mikey Madison, ANORA

Now I didn’t like THE SUBSTANCE, but I really thought it was Moore’s time so this was surprising.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: My prediction - Isabella Rossellini, CONCLAVE / Who won: Zoe Saldaña, EMILIA PÉREZ

DOCUMENTARY SHORT: My prediction - I AM READY, WARDEN / What won: THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA

FILM EDITING: My prediction: CONCLAVE, Nick Emerson / What won: ANORA, Sean Baker

ORIGINAL SONG: My prediction: “The Journey” from THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT, Diane Warren / What won: “El Mal” from EMILIA PÉREZ

ANIMATED SHORT: My prediction: YUCK! / What won: IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS

LIVE ACTION SHORT: My prediction: THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT / What won: I AM NOT A ROBOT

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: My prediction: A REAL PAIN, Jesse Eisenberg / What won: ANORA, Sean Baker

Whew! Baker really cleaned up as he directed, wrote, and edited ANORA. The only Oscar he’s not personally taking home for it is Madison’s Best Actress award. I loved ANORA, but seriously didn’t expect a four Oscar sweep!

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: My prediction: THE WILD ROBOT / What won: FLOW

I got this wrong and I saw FLOW, and haven’t yet seen THE WILD ROBOT. Let this be this year’s lesson for me – vote with your head next time! Btw, I loved FLOW, but at first the cat going underwater scenes stressed me out a little. It felt kinda like LIFE OF PI, but with all the overblown symbolism replaced by a resourceful, resilient kitty.

Okay, so that's this year’s Oscars. Next year, I’ll go back to voting with my head, and not my heart.

More later…

Hey Kids! Funtime 2024 Oscar® Predictions!

The world has been on fire lately, but the 97th Academy Awards® is still going down this Sunday night so I’m still going to make my predictions. I’ve been busy finishing a big book project so I haven’t been film babbling much lately (I said the same thing last year), but I’ve seen nine of the ten Best Picture nominees (I'M STILL HERE is the one I haven’t caught up with yet), and a lot of the other films that got nods so I think I’m fairly good to go.

The few things that I can safely predict is that I’m going to be really pissed off if EMILIA PÉREZ wins anything, which is sure to happen because it got 13 f-in’ nominations, and that Conan O’Brien is going to be really funny as the first-time host of the big show. Otherwise this is such a crap shoot that I bet I’ll get more wrong on the following predictions than ever before.

So here are my highly anticipated, not-thrown-together-at-the-last-minute predictions:

1. BEST PICTURE: ANORA

This is a f-in’ excellent movie, and it looks like the odds are in its favor, so this is definitely the voting with my heart year for me.

2. BEST DIRECTOR: Sean Baker, ANORA

3. BEST ACTOR: Timothée Chalamet, A COMPLETE UNKNOWN

Adrien Brody is who everyone’s predicting will take home the award, but I’m going with the wild card, because it was my favorite performance of 2024 (and my favorite film too), and I don’t care if I’m wrong. I did admire Brody in THE BRUTALIST, and he’s won everything except the SAG that Chalamet won last weekend, so he’ll probably win, but I’m still pulling for Timmy as Zimmy.

4. BEST ACTRESS: Demi Moore, THE SUBSTANCE. I hated the movie, but she did a good job, and it just seems like her time.

5. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Kieran Culkin, A REAL PAIN

This feels like a given too, as Culkin nails his portrayal of a particular kind of guy that I bet we’ve all known some version of. Otherwise I’ll be happy if Edward Norton wins for his excellent turn as Pete Seeger in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN, because it’s crazy he’s never won one before.

6. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Isabella Rossellini, CONCLAVE

Please don’t let it be Zoe Saldaña for EMILIA PÉREZ! Please don’t let it be Zoe Saldaña for EMILIA PÉREZ!!!!

7. PRODUCTION DESIGN: WICKED, Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales

8. CINEMATOGRAPHY: THE BRUTALIST, Lol Crawley

9. COSTUME DESIGN: WICKED, Paul Tazewell

10. DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: NO OTHER LAND

11. DOCUMENTARY SHORT: I AM READY, WARDEN

12. FILM EDITING: CONCLAVE, Nick Emerson

13. MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: THE SUBSTANCE

14. VISUAL EFFECTS: DUNE: PART TWO

15. ORIGINAL SCORE: THE BRUTALIST, Daniel Blumberg

16. ORIGINAL SONG: “The Journey” from THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT, Diane Warren

17. ANIMATED SHORT: YUCK!

18. LIVE ACTION SHORT: THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT

19. SOUND: DUNE: PART TWO

20. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: A REAL PAIN, Jesse Eisenberg

21. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: CONCLAVE, Peter Straughan

22. ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: THE WILD ROBOT

23. BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM: I’M STILL HERE

Did I mention I don’t want EMILIA PÉREZ to win anything? I know, I know, with 13 noms, it's probably going to take home some gold, but I’m still gonna dream.

As I always say, tune in on Monday to see how many I got wrong.

More later...

Blu Ray/DVD Review: CONAN O'BRIEN CAN'T STOP

This documentary drops today on Blu ray and DVD:

CONAN O'BRIEN CAN'T STOP (Dir. Rodman Flender, 2011)

The title shot of this film has Conan O'Brien backstage strumming his guitar framed exactly like Bob Dylan was in the title shot of the 1965 documentary DON'T LOOK BACK. The font is even the same so it appears that director Rodman is attempting to do what D.A. Pennebaker did definitively for Dylan: capture an icon on tour during a pivotal period of transition.

Sadly, this is hardly a definitive or essential piece of work. It's a sloppily assembled, horribly uneven, and only fitfully funny film that jumps around spastically as much as its subject often does during his monologues - only it's less annoying when Conan does it.

I expected so much more from the director of LEPRECHAUN 2!

At the beginning Flender sums up the situation that I'm sure everybody reading this surely knows, so I'll try to keep it brief - after losing his Tonight Show gig on NBC in early 2010, Conan contractually could not appear on television, radio or the internet for 6 months, so he went out on a tour dubbed "The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour."

Okay, so that wasn't very brief.

There are a lot of clips of amusing stage antics, and some entertaining excerpts of the stable of songs (mostly rockabilly) played on the tour, but the choppiness of the presentation prevents immersion into the material.

The soundbite nature of the editing makes the interview bits unable to provide much insight. We hear Conan talk about the raw deal he was given (at point he says "sometimes I'm so mad I can't even breathe"), but you're better off with the 60 Minutes interview from last year if you want anything approaching revelations.

Still, Conan is an extremely funny guy so the film can't help have some hilarity - you gotta love a guy who says "it's in God's hands now" after sending a tweet. Sometimes Conan comes off mean with his constant comical verbal abuse of his assistant Sona Movsesian, the school boy punches to the shoulders of staff members, and the merciless ribbing of 30 Rock's Jack McBrayer - but hey, that's just the man's patented attention seeking persona. He acknowledges as much: "I might be a fuckin' genius and I might be the biggest dick ever, I don't know. Or maybe both - that's what Patton was."

It's obvious that Conan is always "on" when he's in front of a camera (I bet a lot of the time off camera too), so its a documentary that will be most enjoyed by hardcore fanatics i.e. Team Coco.

Although CONAN O'BRIEN CAN'T STOP isn't a great documentary, it's a worthwhile Blu ray/DVD because of its abundant special features.

The commentary with Conan, Flender, and the crew is much funnier than the movie (Conan says he wanted the tour's lengthy name to be even longer: "I wanted to call it 'The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour Because of Jay Leno Tour'"), there's a fairly insightful 11 minute interview, and a nice smattering of watchable outtakes which are listed below.

Special Features: Commentary with Director Rodman Flender, Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter, Mike Sweeney and Sona Movsesian, Interview with Conan O'Brien, Interview Outtakes, Additional Scenes.


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