My thoughts on (some of) the Oscar-nominated shorts | 98th Oscars

Luana Bajrami and Zar Amir Ebrahimi in TWO PEOPLE EXCHANGING SALIVA — PHOTO: The New Yorker (Still image from YouTube).

In the build-up to the 98th Academy Awards, I tried to watch as many of the Oscar-nominated short films that I could. Some were readily available on YouTube, others were readily available on HBO Max, Disney+, or Netflix, and then there were four films that I don’t think I had the opportunity to see, either due to them not being made available or due to me not having the right subscription that would allow me to watch them. In any case, in this article, I have collected my short reactions to the four live-action shorts, four animated shorts, and three documentary shorts that I got the chance to see. And, as luck would have it, that meant I got to see the eventual winners, including in the historic tie category. Let’s get to my reactions.

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One Award After Another for Warner Bros. | 98th Oscars – Recap and Review

On Sunday night, Conan O’Brien hosted the 98th Academy Awards — Hollywood’s biggest night. It was time to celebrate the great movie year that 2025 had turned out to be, and, though there were many great, deserving films, much of the online discussion surrounding the event was about building it up as a battle between Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Fortunately, one film didn’t steamroll the other, as they together accounted for 10 wins of the night’s 24 categories, and both films picked up a handful of wins. It ended up as a celebration of Warner Bros.’ slate, as One Battle After Another, Sinners, and also Zach Cregger’s Weapons took home 11 awards, including in 7 of the 8 above-the-line categories. When the show came to a close, it was One Battle After Another that won Best Picture, but thankfully, both PTA and Coogler went home as winners.

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Who Will Win? – Final Predictions | 98th Oscars

It’s time for the 98th Academy Awards. Here comes the Oscars! This awards season has felt incredibly long. Certain above-the-line categories have zig-zagged over and over again, thus leaving us in a pretty exciting situation where only 1 acting category seems locked. Best Picture is a two-horse race between Sinners and One Battle After Another, and these two Warner Bros. crowdpleasing juggernauts are both deserving of the top prize. As is always the case, I am now ready with my predictions for each and every category, and I’ll also add some comments, personal preferences, and potential alternate winners. However, unlike for members of the Academy, AMPAS doesn’t make sure that I, or any viewer around the world for that matter, am ensured an opportunity to see every nominated film; I do have some blind spots. Thus, if there are categories where there are so many blind spots that I don’t think it’s fair to personally choose one over the others, I simply won’t put a personal preference but solely make a prediction.

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Oscar Nominations – Reaction | 98th Oscars

The nominations for the 98th Academy Awards have been announced! There were surprises, headscratchers, shocks, and snubs, as is always the case. Below, I’ve assembled bullet points and explanations of the biggest headliners, in my opinion, from this year’s nomination group. Let’s get to them.

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Who Will Be Nominated? – Final Predictions | 98th Oscars

AMPAS is announcing its list of nominees for the upcoming 98th Academy Awards on the 22nd. So, yes, now is the time to fill in your final Oscars nominations predictions. This is exactly what I’ve done here. Below you’ll see what I’m predicting. The choices are ranked from one to five or one to ten, based on how confident I am that something is getting nominated, with 1 being the most confident. One thing of note: I am predicting that Sinners will break the record for most Oscar nominations (by getting 15).

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Hollywood’s Biggest Night Celebrated Indie Film’s Greatest Champion | 97th Oscars – Recap and Review

On Sunday, Conan O’Brien hosted the 97th Academy Awards. It was the first time that the tall red-haired beloved comedian had hosted Hollywood’s biggest night for AMPAS, and it was in a year where it felt like one film ran away with the major awards. Indeed, multi-hyphenate filmmaker Sean Baker — someone who is known for his decidedly non-mainstream indie oeuvre, which has made him a true critical darling — became a 4x Academy Award winner with his very first nominations. Baker’s Anora took home Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Lead Actress, Best Director, and Best Picture. Baker’s film dominated the night, but how should we feel about it as a winner and how did Conan do as an Oscar host? Well, let’s run through The Great, The Good, The Mixed Feelings, The Bad, and The Ugly of the 97th Academy Awards.

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Who Will Win? – Final Predictions | 97th Oscars

The wait is almost over. In mere hours, stars will be walking the red carpet, Conan O’Brien will take on hosting duties, and, not long thereafter, awards will start to be handed out. But, hey, before we get to that, I still have to tell you which films I think will be victorious on Hollywood’s greatest night. In the race for Best Picture, for instance, it’s been a rollercoaster ride where I, initially, thought Anora would go all the way, only for the Golden Globes (and the Oscar nominations) to indicate that the real fight was between Emilia Pérez and The Brutalist. However, when controversies surrounding toxic social media posts, ill-advised statements, and AI started happening, the Globes’ darlings started to fall into the background. Now, after the guilds and BAFTA, it certainly looks like the big winner of the night will be either Conclave or, the early favorite, Anora. What do I think? Well, let’s get to it.

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IFSCA Awards 2024-2025 | Winners

Adrien Brody in Brady Corbet’s THE BRUTALIST — PHOTO: Universal Pictures / A24.

Yesterday, on March 1st, 2025, the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA / @IFSCritics on Twitter), of which I am a voting member, announced their full list of winners for the ongoing 2024-2025 awards season. Like any other film critics association, their awards celebrate the best films of the past year. Below you can read the full list of winners and runners up.

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Christopher Nolan’s Coronation Had Kenergy | 96th Oscars Recap and Review

(L-R) Emma Stone, Christopher Nolan, and Ryan Gosling at the 96th Academy Awards — IMAGE STILLS: A.M.P.A.S. 2024.

Last night, Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 96th edition of the Academy Awards on a night where awards prognosticators felt most of the big awards were already spoken for beforehand. However, conventional prognosticating wisdom did not always win out, as the presenters read out the winners of the Academy’s 23 categories. The early frontrunner and expected Best Picture winner Oppenheimer did, indeed, become the biggest winner of the night with seven total Oscars including wins that saw shatteringly good work from Robert Downey, Jr. and Cillian Murphy earn them their first ‘Little Golden Men.’ Hollywood’s safest bet and — as I liked to call him last night on social media — the ‘Crown Prince of Cinema,’ Christopher Nolan, had his grand coronation as Steven Spielberg passed the baton, awarded him with the Best Director award, and gave him a big hug. For many, that is what the night will be remembered for — i.e. the triumph of the immensely popular biopic and Christopher Nolan who, as some will undoubtedly perceive it, went toe-to-toe with Barbie and came out of the explosion that was ‘Barbenheimer’ with 7 golden statuettes in tow. Indeed, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a hugely deserving winner of all of the awards that the cast and crew went home with (including Best Picture, which was announced in a relatively confusing way by film-legend Al Pacino), but that’s not all the 96th edition of the Academy Awards should be remembered for. 

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Who Will Win? – Final Predictions | 96th Oscars

To paraphrase one of Hollywood’s all-time best awards hosts, it is a wonderful day for Oscar! Oscar, Oscar — who will win? In quite a few categories tonight, it seems we already know. But there are some genuine close calls this year with actress, costuming, and production design being particularly interesting. Read on below to find out which films I think will be the big winners tonight, where we all expect Christopher Nolan to be crowned for his achievements as the safest bet in Hollywood when it comes to visionary modern directors.

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