Cinemagooey

Summaries, factoids and predictions regarding this year’s Best Picture nominees.

This year’s Oscar nominations for Best Picture run the gamut from visually soulful (Train Dreams) to nail biting nail biting horror (Sinners) to why-was-this-movie-nominated (F1). Here’s a rundown, with a few fun factoids thrown in and predictions for chances of winning the coveted prize.

BUGONIA

The latest film from Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, Poor Things) has it all: conspiracy theories, corporate malfeasance, aliens and bees. It’s a non-stop, heart-thumping black comedy with stellar performances by Emma Stone (nominated for Best Actress in a leading role) as Michelle, the cold, calculating CEO, and Jessie Plemons (who was snubbed for a Best Actor nomination) who plays Don, the kidnapper who’s convinced the Michelle is an alien. This movie takes you on a wild ride until the delicious (and surprising) end.

Factoid: Bugonia is a remake of the Korean film Save the Planet!

Cinemagooey Prediction: Close, but no tomato. Lanthimos is an Academy favored child. Five of his films have been nominated for an Oscar and he took home the top prize for Poor Things in 2024. But with stiff competition this year coming from several frontrunners, Lanthimos won’t have a repeat Best Picture Oscar this year.

SENTIMENTAL VALUE

Writer/Director Joachim Trier is an international wonder and this year his film Sentimental Value is up for both Best Picture and Best International Feature. The film tells the story of Nora, an restless, angst-ridden actress and her relationships with Gustav, her negligent father and famous film director. Gustav abandoned Nora and her sister when they were small to focus on his career, which sets up the gut-wrenching family dynamics at the heart of this film. This captivating movie bleeds heart and redemption, a Trier trademark, with doses of humor and quirkiness thrown in for levity.

Factoid: Anders Danielsen Lie plays Nora’s lover in In Sentimental Value, but in 2021 he was at the heart of another Trier/Rensve collaboration in The Worst Person In The World, which was also nominated for Best Foreign Film at the 2022 Oscars.

Cinemagooey Prediction: A nice nod, but no win. While Sentimental Value will fail to grab the golden statue for Best Picture, it’s the Cinemagooey pick to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Feature.

FRANKENSTEIN

A visually stunning turn by director Guillermo del Toro, this Netflix-made movie boasts incredible performances, but it misses the mark for Best Picture. While a beautiful film to behold, it’s wieldy and ambles for far too long. The costumes and scenery are bar none and deserve the nomination for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design. Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac give solid performances as our favorite monster with a heart and his scientist-creator with a God complex.

Cinemagooey Prediction: A round of applause for Hollywood darling del Toro, but no prize here. He’s been industry-validated with his 2018 win for The Shape of Water.

F1

F1 is fun to watch, but it’s full of tired tropes (a brooding, older racecar driver takes a gamble on one last, big win) and reminiscent of children’s books (See the cars! See them go fast! See them crash!). It’s a mystery why this film is nominated for Best Picture. Sure, it’s got Brad Pitt looking surgically-enhanced younger than he did in the early aughts, and Kerry Condon and Javier Bardem are always a joy to watch on the big screen. And it’s very entertaining. But that’s about it. Watch it on Apple TV. Or not.

Factoid: Irish actor Kerry Condon plays Pitt’s strong female love interest with aplomb in this movie, but if you’re short on time do yourself a favor and skip F1 to watch The Banshees of Inisherin. She’s a phenom in Banshees and one of the few saving graces of F1.

Cinemagooey Prediction: Won’t happen. In the end, fun doesn’t win the day but it’s an enjoyable lap around the racetrack.

THE SECRET AGENT

The second international contender among the 2025 Best Picture nominees, this is an ambitious, violent, fantastical political thriller with gorgeous visuals and a sumptuous 70’s vibe that just won’t quit. Wagner Moura is Armando, a Brazilian professor on the run from an authoritarian regime because of his political teachings. This flick features a lot of sharks, and Spielberg’s movie JAWS plays a big role, which magnifies the 70’s love fest prevalent throughout this lush film.

Factoid: A disembodied leg shows up several times in the film, which really was a bizarre urban legend/news story in Brazil in the 1970’s.

Cinemagooey Prediction: Not a win, but a well-deserved nod. Hollywood is a political town and the flashpoints in this film are clear warnings about the dangers of an authoritarian regime – thus the industry recognition. However, this movie could upset Sentimental Value in the Best International Feature category.

MARTY SUPREME

Timothy Chalamet is Marty Supreme, a down-on-his-luck shoe salesman/small time hustler with big dreams of becoming the next table tennis world champion. Chalamet channels Marty and is eerily brilliant in the role, setting up his win for Best Actor. Set in the 50’s, Marty Supreme captures the style and essence of the era in costume and design set. Nice performances by Gwynth Paltrow and Kevin O’Leary, the Shark Tank guru in his first film role.

Cinemagooey Prediction: It checks most of the boxes, doesn’t track to win, as it lacks in many ways compared to the major competitors.

TRAIN DREAMS

In Train Dreams director Clint Bentley reminds us that we are all Robert Granier, the ordinary protagonist of the film who lives through the mundane and the horrific, the extraordinary and the banal. When Robert’s life takes a tragic turn, he fills his days working for the railroad and searching for the elusive thing that will show him the “why” of it all. The cinematography is breathtaking and mood-giving, the actors glorious. Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones give powerful, subtle performances and William H. Macy graces the screen for a few scant minutes, yet gives an unforgettable performance. Train Dreams plods along consistently – just like life – showing us the synergy in beauty and boredom, love and pain.

Cinemagooey Prediction: Train Dreams won’t win, but this beautiful little film deserves this moment in the spotlight. Perhaps it’s the Academy’s nod to cinematic beauty and simple storytelling at its best.

HAMNET

Hamnet is the name of William Shakespeare’s son, but this movie, directed by Chloe Zhao (who is nominated for Best Director), centers on Shakespeare’s wife, Agnes (played by Jessie Buckley). Agnes is a psychic/healer/herbalist/naturist and mother to Shakespeare’s three children. When the plague claims Hamnet, Agnes grieves and agonizes until her husband memorializes their only son in the only way he knows how – through the stage. The costumes and set designs are fabulously realistic and Paul Mescal mesmerizes as Shakespeare, but all of that falls away in the face of the luminous Buckley, who dazzles and beguiles as Agnes. Her performance is astounding and she deserves all of the hype she’s receiving for the role.

Cinemagooey Prediction: While this one is a NO for the big win, it’s a resounding YES for Jessie Buckley in the Best Actress category.

SINNERS

Writer/Director Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is true cinematic delight. The film surprises in so many ways. It’s a historical drama, but also a song and dance musical. It’s a lesson in Depression-era racism, but also a vampire flick. It seems to spin in so many directions one wonders if it’s going to come together as a cohesive whole and yet it wildly succeeds, keeping us spellbound along the way.

Michael B. Jordan gives a magnificent performance as two characters: the twins Elijah and Elias a/k/a “Smoke” and “Stack,” who open a juke joint in racially charged Mississippi. Enter cotton field workers, the KKK, old lovers, a voodoo priestess and…vampires. It’s one night of carnage and grand storytelling that deservedly places the movie in the Best Picture Category.

Cinemagooey Prediction: The battle for Best Picture is between Sinners and One Battle After Another. Sinners has the best shot at knabbing the prize from OBAA in an upset.

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic film about a political revolution gone awry and its beleaguered, scattered members is a political action thriller with performances that stun and a plot that enthralls. Every performance in this film is top notch and Sean Penn may have haters, but his performance as Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw is so good it’s scary. Leo DiCaprio gives another star turn as Bob, the hapless stoned hippie on the lamb searching for his daughter. He deserves the Best Actor award as much or more than Chalamet, but all signs point to Timmy this year.

Cinemagooey Prediction: This one will take home the big prize. Hollywood loves PTA and the Academy will probably feel it’s Anderson’s due (he’s had 14 Oscar noms, after all). The only thing that could stand in his way is Sinners winning in an upset. But it’s Anderson’s year and he’ll get the gold and a standing ovation on March 15.