2025 Academy Award Nominations

We made it! The Oscar nominations are here and there are some great surprises (Delroy! Ugly Step Sister!) Some weird surprises (Wicked For Good completely blanking) and of course some egregious snubs. (I hunger and thirst for The Testament of Ann Lee) Sinners is now the most nominated movie of all time with a whopping 16 nominations! Below is a list of the nominee + my thoughts and comparisons to my predictions that I shared on Blue Sky.

Best Picture

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

I went 9/10 with my predictions. I had It Was Just An Accident over F1. F1 is the only one I haven't seen yet, so I'll be getting on that soon. I never expected that movie to get so popular. 

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler – Sinners

Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Chloé Zhao – Hamnet

I went 5/5 with my predictions here! I think this is a great line up, but I wish they could've found room for Mona Fastvold for The Testament of Ann Lee. 

Best Lead Actress

Jessie Buckley – Hamnet

Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue

Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

Emma Stone – Bugonia

I went 4/5 with my predictions here. Some kept saying Kate Hudson was happening and I kept ignoring it, but here she is. I'm so bummed for Chase Infiniti and Amanda Seyfried. Even though I think Emma Stone is great in Bugonia, she just won her second Oscar and wasn't even campaigning. I think even she herself would've rather seen Infiniti or Seyfried there. Or even Jennifer Lawrence for Die My Love. All worthy performances. Still, I'm psyched for Buckley, Byrne and Reinsve. All excellent performances. 

Best Lead Actor

Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme

Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another

Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan – Sinners

Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

4/5 again for predictions! Poor Jesse Plemmons. I haven't seen Blue Moon so I can't speak to Ethan Hawke, but I'm jazzed for all the other nominees. I was starting to get a bit worried for Michael B. Glad he made it in. 

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan – Weapons

Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Another 4/5. Elle made it in! I thought she was just going to miss. If you would've asked me in the early 2000's which Fanning sister would've gotten an Oscar nomination first, I would've quickly said Dakota, but it was Elle all along. This is probably my favorite category. I wouldn't change a thing. 

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein

Delroy Lindo – “Sinners

Sean Penn – One Battle After Another

Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

You guessed it, 4/5 Delroy Lindo getting in was a huge shocker. Especially over Paul Mescal who had been hitting every precursor. I'm happy for Lindo, but I wish I could give Penn's nomination to Mescal - actually, to Jacobi Jupe but that was the longest shot of them all. 

Best Adapted Screenplay

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Train Dreams

I went 5/5 with my predictions here, though I wish I didn't. I wanted Rian Johnson to go 3 for 3 and get Wake Up Dead Man in there. It deserved to be.

Best Original Screenplay

Blue Moon

It Was Just an Accident

Marty Supreme

Sentimental Value

Sinners

I went 4/5 here, I was really holding out for Sorry, Baby. Blue Moon got in instead. I'm happy for It Was Just An Accident as that also felt a bit vulnerable. 

Best Animated Feature

Arco

Elio

KPop Demon Hunters

Little Amélie or The Character of Rain

Zootopia 2

I went 5/5 here! I haven't seen Arco or Elio, hopefully Arco comes available before the ceremony. Elio is just a matter of me sitting down and actually watching it. Zootopia 2 and Little Amelie remain my favorites

Best Documentary Feature

The Alabama Solution

Come See Me in the Good Light

Cutting Through Rocks

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

The Perfect Neighbor

I went 2/5 here. My Undesirable Friends not getting nominated was probably the biggest shocker since that film had been on a winning streak. I'm actually okay with this because that run time was brutal. It would've been far better if they either edited it into a mini series or knocked a few hours off of it. Don't get me wrong, it was compelling and I'm glad I watched it, but 5.5 hours and it's still part 1?! It's a lot. I haven't seen Cutting Through Rocks and Mr. Nobody Against Putin yet. I really enjoyed the other three docs. Come See Me in The Good Light is a surprise, but I'm so happy it got in. I know many thought it would be too sentimental.

Best International Feature Film

It Was Just an Accident – France

The Secret Agent– Brazil

Sentimental Value – Norway

Sirāt – Spain

The Voice of Hind Rajab – Tunisia

I went 4/5 here. The only film I haven't seen is The Voice of Hind Rajab, which is also the one I didn't pick. I went with No Other Choice even though I know it barely stood a chance. 

Best Casting

The Secret Agent

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Marty Supreme

I went 4/5 here. I had Sirat in over The Secret Agent. This was tough to guess with no precedent set. I'm pulling for Nina Gold and Hamnet because she hit the jackpot with child casting like she always does. She also did Game of Thrones for reference. 

Best Cinematography

Frankenstein

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Train Dreams

I went 4/5 here. I had Hamnet in over Marty. This is the only category where you will see me rooting for Train Dreams lol

Best Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

Sinners

I went 3/5 here. Avatar was a huge shock. I thought they were going to be a lone VFK nominee. Wicked For Good missing here was pretty surprising, but voters must have really thought "been there, done that" with them. 

Best Film Editing

F1

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners

I went 4/5 here, I missed Sentimental Value like the clown that I am. 

Best Make-Up & Hairstyling

Frankenstein

Kokuho

Sinners

The Smashing Machine

The Ugly Stepsister

THE UGLY STEPSISTER!!! This might be my favorite nomination. This film rocked. I went 3/5 here because I never thought they would get in, and I assumed no one liked The Smashing Machine. I should know better, this branch is weird. Again, weird miss for Wicked For Good. 

Best Production Design

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

I went 3/5 here. I was really hoping for Fantastic Four: First Steps because of how cool it looked, but alas. That was always a long shot. 

Best Original Score

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Sinners

4/5 here, I didn't expect Bugonia to get in. I'm all for my king Ludwig anyways. Sinners has the best score by a long shot. 

Best 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

4/5 here. I was pulling for the song from Come See Me in the Good Light, but instead it was Sweet Dreams of Joy. I'm just glad the awful Wicked For Good songs didn't make it in. 

Best Sound

F1

Frankenstein

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Sirāt

I went 5/5 here! It's the best I can do because the true winner, Warfare didn't even make the short list. 

Best Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash

F1

Jurassic World: Rebirth

The Lost Bus

Sinners

I did 3/5 here. I guess Jurassic World just needed to shake Chris Pratt to get a nomination. Whatdoyaknow. 

Best Animated Short Film

Butterfly

Forevergreen

The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Retirement Plan

The Three Sisters

I went 2/5 here. Butterfly is fantastic and I hope it wins. I'm shocked Snow Bear and Playing God (both available on youtube if you're curious) didn't make it in. I cried like a baby in Snow Bear and cringed all the way through Playing God. (Seriously, it's a horrifying 9 minutes of stop motion) Eiru is another film by the great Cartoon Saloon that I was hoping would get in, but didn't. That unfortunately is not available online to watch, but I was fortunate enough to get a screener of it. 

Best Documentary Short Film

All the Empty Rooms

Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud

Children No More: Were and are Gone

The Devil is Busy

Perfectly a Strangeness

I went 3/5 here. I haven't seen Children No More and Perfectly A Strangeness. All The Empty Rooms and The Devil is Busy are both outstanding shorts. Armed Only With A Camera is okay, I didn't love it as much as the others. I would've preferred Classroom 4, another short listed doc to get in. All three are available online/streaming to watch.

Live Action Short Film

Butcher’s Stain

A Friend of Dorothy

Jane Austen’s Period Drama

The Singers

Two People Exchanging Saliva

3/5 here. I've only see Two People Exchanging Saliva, which is on youtube to watch and is definitely worth your time. I'm bummed The Extremist didn't get in, that's another great one that was on the short list. Rock, Paper, Scissors had a lot of buzz, but missed. I really want to see Jane Austen's Period Drama. It sounds hilarious.