Sunday Best: Oscar Nominations 2026

  

 So the nominees were announced this past week for the 98th Academy Awards.

These awards remain the most prestigious in film.  And while many of you, dear readers, are of the opinion that all awards shows are terrible and should simply be shunned, it is my perpetual hope that Hollywood will reform itself and once again nominate movies that matter.

While there were a few happy nominations, there are a few hopeful signs, but none that make me think that the redemption of Hollywood is just around the corner.  Once again, the elite in the industry will gather together, kick out the homeless from the streets, and congratulate themselves.

The movies nominated for Best Picture are:

Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams

The top 10 highest grossers for 2025 are:

A Minecraft Movie

Lilo & Stitch

Superman

Jurassic World: Rebirth

Zootopia 2

Wicked: For Good

Sinners

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

How to Train Your Dragon

Avatar: Fire and Ash

There is 1 movie nominated in the top ten earners of the year.  But once again, a lot of these movies have not been seen by the general public.  After Sinners, F1 is in the top 14, which is respectable.  But after that is One Battle After Another, which is #30.  Maybe this wouldn't be so bad until you consider that the disasterous Snow White remake is #24. 

And I do not mean to say that movies with small box office returns are the only ones that should be nominated.  I thought Horizon: An American Saga Chapter One was excellent and that movie flopped.  But if you look at most of these nominees, the average person will not know them.

And I don't mean that big hits should be nominated.  I thought the highest grossing movie this year was the worst.  On this blog, we are not vox populi, vox dei.  But the point is that the viewing public will be much less interested in this these awards if they haven't seen the movies.

 My own top ten of the year include:

Superman

Fantastic Four: First Steps

David

Wicked: For Good

Song Sung Blue

Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

How to Train Your Dragon

F1

Novocaine

The Naked Gun

So below are my thoughts on some (not all) of this year's nominees.  

It is clear from the nominations that there is a strong socio/political tone to this year's awards.  This is especially the case with One Battle After Another.  

I also think this year suffered from the strikes that delayed productions.  The delayed effects can be felt in the mediocre crop of films.  But perhaps I'm wrong about this and the poorer quality of this year's movies is simply a result of Hollywood continuing to slide into creative oblivion.

BEST PICTURE

I've only seen Sinners, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another and F1, so I can't speak much outside of those 4.  Only one of them is in my top 10.  

If the Academy were smart, they would lean on Sinners, which was their biggest hit, even though I didn't care for it.  And it looks like they might because Sinners just made the record for most nominations for any movie in history.

BEST DIRECTOR

Chloé Zhao, Hamnet
Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Ryan Coogler, Sinners

As of now, I've only seen Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, and Sinners.  While I didn't care for Sinners, it was very well directed and I think that Coogler should win.

BEST 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

Hudson's performance is the only one I have seen and I think that she was the best actress from last year, so I'm glad she got the nomination.  Right now I think Buckley is the front runner.

BEST ACTOR

Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Though I hated Marty Supreme, Chalamet was fantastic in the role.  Jordan was also very good in Sinners, as was DiCaprio in his movie.  I really think Dwayne Johnson should have been nominated for The Smashing Machine.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan, Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners
Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

I think Madigan is the front-runner because her performance was so odd and creepy.

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

I don't know why people were raving about Penn's performance.  Maybe I'm missing something.  Benicio del Toro was good and so was Lindo, but no one here blew me away.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Avatar: Fire and Ash
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
Sinners

 Wicked's costume designs were the best this year and they didn't get nominated.  None of these nominees stand out to me.  I really think Superman and Fantastic Four should have been nominated along with Wicked.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2

I've only seen KPop Demon Hunters, but I like it enough so that I would happy if it won the award

Those are just some of my initial thoughts in some of the categories.  I'm going to try and catch up with some of the other nominees.

Thoughts?