Tag: Academy Awards

Sinners Sinks Its Teeth Into the Oscars With a Record-Breaking 16 Nominations

Film poster for Sinners (2025); directed by Ryan Coogler.

Well, it’s official: Sinners now holds the record for having the most Oscar nominations for a single film in the Academy’s history with 16 nominations. Ryan Coogler’s (put some RESPECT on his name) film beats the previous record of 14 nominations held by three films: All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997), and La La Land (2016). Out of those three films, only one of them (La La Land) didn’t win Best Picture. I know everyone is going wild over Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another right now and it’s the favorite to win Best Picture, but I’m rooting for Sinners.

Here are the categories in which Sinners is nominated:

Best Picture (Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler)

Directing (Ryan Coogler)

Actor in a Leading Role (Michael B. Jordan)

Cinematography (Autumn Durald Arkapaw)

Visual Effects (Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean)

Sound (Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker

Film Editing (Michael P. Shawver)

Production Design (Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne)

Original Song (“I Lied to You”, Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson)

Costume Design (Ruth E. Carter)

Casting (Francine Maisler)

Actor in a Supporting Role (Delroy Lindo)

Original Screenplay (Ryan Coogler)

Original Score (Ludwig Goransson)

Makeup and Hairstyling (Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry)

Actress in a Supporting Role (Wunmi Mosaku)

Sinners was my favorite film of 2025 from the moment I first saw it. I’ve watched it at least seven times now, and it only gets better with each viewing. I was worried that Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku might get shut out of their respective categories, but I’m happy to see that the Academy got it right. Mr. Lindo is 73 years old and this is his first Oscar nomination. That in itself is a travesty. That man has been turning in excellent performances for decades, and it is way past time for him to receive the accolades due him.

Sinners is now streaming on HBO Max and is available to own on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD.

Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim in Sinners. Credit: Warner Bros.

All I know is he’s got my vote. #TeamLindo

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Cinephile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. Keep watching the world, one frame at a time.

My Predictions for the 96th Academy Awards

It’s almost time for what is inarguably Hollywood’s biggest night. I know it’s been radio silence from me for a little while here, but I don’t think there’s any better time to hear from me than on my favorite holiday of the year (yes, the Oscars count as a holiday!).

Without further ado, here they are:

Being as how Oppenheimer has won virtually all of the precursor awards leading up to the Oscars, as well as its broad box office appeal, I think it’s the safest bet of the night. I really enjoyed it and appreciated the level of craft that went into making it, but I would be equally pleased if either of the Sandra Hüller vehicles, Anatomy of a Fall (YOUR GENEROSITY CONCEALS SOMETHING DIRTIER AND MEANER) or The Zone of Interest, won.

Give the man his flowers, already. He’s earned them.

This is the race I’m most conflicted about. While I’ve long been a fan of Emma Stone, I don’t want Poor Things elevated on any greater a platform than that upon which it already stands. I might make a longer post and explain in more depth at a later date, but just take my word for it for now.

While I picked Lily Gladstone and want her desperately to win, I feel like Annette Bening, Carey Mulligan, and Sandra Hüller are also deserving. We’ll see how it shakes out.

I’ve long been a fan of Murphy’s, but I wouldn’t be upset if Paul Giamatti won for his iconic performance in The Holdovers, which was one of my favorite films this year.

Since Randolph has already won every precursor award leading up to the Oscars, her win feels like a foregone conclusion. However, if Danielle Brooks won for The Color Purple I would dance with joy and say, “Look what God has done.”

I guess. I think a more inspired choice would be Ryan Gosling as Ken in Barbie or Sterling K. Brown in American Fiction, who really pulled at my heart strings. And let us not forget Robert De Niro’s quiet menacing in Killers of the Flower Moon, in which he does some of the best work we’ve seen from him this century.

I’ll burn something if this falls any other way, except maybe in the case of The Holdovers or Past Lives.

I don’t know, I just have a feeling. Also, American Fiction was the only film that I remember making me laugh out loud this year, so that counts for something.

I bet France is kicking themselves right now, but they deserve to lose for submitting The Taste of Things for consideration over Anatomy of a Fall.

I’m still rooting for The Boy and the Heron, which would be the most inspired choice here. But this category rarely rewards the most deserving film.

Too topical not to win, especially following Navalny’s win last year. I’ve read that Bobi Wine: The People’s President might be a dark horse in this particular race.

No other choice would be fitting or appropriate here, except maybe Killers of the Flower Moon.

Billie supremacy. Give her a second one.

This one was tough for me to pick. Oppenheimer is a safe bet in almost any race tonight, but there was also some excellent cinematography work done in Maestro (God, that one shot where Felicia is watching Leonard from the edge of the stage and his literal shadow consumes her…pure cinematic storytelling genius), Poor Things (as much as it pains me), and Killers of the Flower Moon.

Poor Things would also be a good choice here, but I’d be remiss to vote against Barbie and Jacqueline Durran.

This is not a contest. The editing in Oppenheimer made a 3-hour film feel like half that length. Anxiety-inducing and utterly riveting.

They’ll without a doubt throw Maestro a bone here, as it’s unlikely to win in any other category. Which is really sad because it’s really a remarkable film, but the deck is stacked this year with a lot of great films and performances.

Poor Things is also a contender, but I can’t vote against Barbie here.

Oppenheimer is the favorite to win, but I’ll never not be haunted by the sound in The Zone of Interest.

I don’t know, it seemed like a safe bet.

Okay, so this is the only nominated film in this category I managed to watch in time, but I can’t imagine anything surpassing it. Truly magnificent.

Everything I’ve read points in the direction of Wes Anderson here, so fingers crossed.

I picked The ABCs of Book Banning but Nai Nai & Wài Pó literally brought tears to my eyes so I want it to win with all my heart.

Alright, y’all…just under an hour to go until showtime. See y’all on the flip side.

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at fred.slusher@thevoraciousbibliophile.com or catch me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.

My Oscar Nominations Predictions for the 96th Academy Awards

Life has, as usual, been quite a lot to deal with as of late. If you’ve kept up with this blog, you know that my posts have been infrequent. Going into this new year, it’s my intention to remedy that. Even if posts are shorter and/or less polished than I like, then so be it. Better something than nothing.

That said, you all know that Oscars season is my favorite season of the year, and there are several proverbial horses in the race that I’m betting on. I can’t remember feeling this strongly about an awards season since at least 2017. There are several important films I haven’t seen yet, but I intend on remedying that soon as well. The films I have seen have left indelible impressions on me, especially Oppenheimer, Barbie, and Killers of the Flower Moon. I will go ahead and throw the gauntlet down now: If Cillian Murphy and Lily Gladstone walk away without little golden men come Oscars night, I will personally riot.

Without further ado, here are my predictions for who and what will be nominated for some of the major Oscars races:

Best Picture

Anatomy of a Fall

Barbie

The Color Purple

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

Saltburn

Best Director

Greta Gerwig, Barbie

Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Alexander Payne, The Holdovers

Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper, Maestro

Colman Domingo, Rustin

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Barry Keoghan, Saltburn

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Best Actress

Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Carey Mulligan, Maestro

Margot Robbie, Barbie

Emma Stone, Poor Things

Best Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe, Poor Things

Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Charles Melton, May December

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple

Taraji P. Henson, The Color Purple

Rosamund Pike, Saltburn

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Nominations for the 96th annual Academy Awards will be announced on January 23rd at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT by Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid live from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles.

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at fred.slusher@thevoraciousbibliophile.com or catch me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.

120 Nominations. 23 Categories. 53 Films. One Big Night.

Did I really go through all of the nominations for this year’s Oscars to figure out which films received the most nominations? I did. This year, 53 different films have been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their cinematic excellence.

One question I ponder quite often when it comes to film is, “What separates a good film from a great film? A great film from an epic film?”

One question I ponder quite often when it comes to film is, “What separates a good film from a great film? A great film from an epic film?” Some of it boils down to personal taste, yes, but most cinephiles (yours truly included) would argue there are certain elements which comprise any film worth its stock, pun very much intended. The first and most important of these elements is cohesiveness. All the parts of a film must work in conjunction with one another to tell a certain story. You can have a great script but it’s worthless if you have mediocre actors reciting lines from it. You can have GOATs like Meryl Streep acting in your movie but if your script is subpar, no amount of Streeping will save it.

For me, a great film is a film where everything is not only in balance but complementary. There’s subtlety, nuance, and most important of all—craft.

For me, a great film is a film where everything is not only in balance but complementary. There’s subtlety, nuance, and most important of all—craft. A great actor can make you experience several different emotions in the same scene. A great set can transport you back through time. A great cinematographer can transcend time and space to make you see things in ways you’ve never seen them before. A score, crafted just so to ebb and flow within a film’s narrative, can emphasize elements that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.

An epic film not only has all of the elements of a great film, but a certain je ne sais quoi that elevates it above the pack, that makes it timeless. An epic film is larger than life even when the story it’s telling is small in scope.

And an epic film? An epic film not only has all of the elements of a great film, but a certain je ne sais quoi that elevates it above the pack, that makes it timeless. An epic film is larger than life even when the story it’s telling is small in scope. It has a universality that makes it resonate with people from all walks of life, from all places and all times. When I think of epic films, I think of The Godfather. The Wizard of Oz. Gone with the Wind. Sunset Boulevard. Titanic. All of these have elements working in conjunction with one another, and all have not a small amount of magic cooked in for good measure. They quite possibly will outlast time, and rightfully so.

See below for a list of all the films nominated for an Academy Award this year. The number in parentheses beside each film indicates how many nominations it has received this Oscars season.

  • The Power of the Dog (12)
  • Dune (10)
  • Belfast (7)
  • West Side Story (7)
  • King Richard (6)
  • Don’t Look Up (4)
  • Drive My Car (4)
  • Nightmare Alley (4)
  • Being the Ricardos (3)
  • CODA (3)
  • Encanto (3)
  • Flee (3)
  • Licorice Pizza (3)
  • The Lost Daughter (3)
  • No Time to Die (3)
  • The Tragedy of Macbeth (3)
  • Cruella (2)
  • The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2)
  • Parallel Mothers (2)
  • tick, tick…Boom! (2)
  • The Worst Person in the World (2)
  • Affairs of the Art (1)
  • Ala Kachuu – Take and Run (1)
  • Ascension (1)
  • Attica (1)
  • Audible (1)
  • Bestia (1)
  • Boxballet (1)
  • Coming 2 America (1)
  • Cyrano (1)
  • The Dress (1)
  • Four Good Days (1)
  • Free Guy (1)
  • The Hand of God (1)
  • House of Gucci (1)
  • Lead Me Home (1)
  • The Long Goodbye (1)
  • Luca (1)
  • Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (1)
  • The Mitchells vs. the Machines (1)
  • On My Mind (1)
  • Please Hold (1)
  • The Queen of Basketball (1)
  • Raya and the Last Dragon (1)
  • Robin Robin (1)
  • Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (1)
  • Spencer (1)
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home (1)
  • Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (1)
  • Three Songs for Benazir (1)
  • When We Were Bullies (1)
  • The Windshield Wiper (1)
  • Writing with Fire (1)

The 94th Academy Awards ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on March 27th, 2022.

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at fred.slusher@thevoraciousbibliophile.com or catch me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.

The Nominations Are In

First of all, I’d like to thank the Academy for choosing to reveal this year’s Oscar nominees on my birthday. It was truly a fantastic way to begin the celebrations. Overall, I’d say I’m happy with the choices this year. I was holding my breath when they announced the nominees for Best Actress because I was so afraid Kristen Stewart was going to be snubbed. Thankfully, she pulled out a nomination and who knows? Bella Swan may be walking away with an Oscar come March 27th.

Now I’d like to compare my personal choices in eight major categories with the choices made by the Academy. Without further ado, here they are:

My Choices: Best Picture

  • Belfast
  • CODA
  • Drive My Car
  • Dune
  • King Richard
  • Licorice Pizza
  • The Lost Daughter
  • The Power of the Dog
  • The Tragedy of Macbeth
  • West Side Story

Official Nominations: Best Picture

  • Belfast
  • CODA
  • Don’t Look Up
  • Drive My Car
  • Dune
  • King Richard
  • Licorice Pizza
  • Nightmare Alley
  • The Power of the Dog
  • West Side Story

It looks like the Academy agreed with me on all but two films: The Lost Daughter and The Tragedy of Macbeth. I knew The Lost Daughter was a long shot but I’m really offended about Macbeth. In place of the films I picked, the Academy chose Don’t Look Up and Nightmare Alley. All of the films are worthy of the distinction but there can only be so many nominees.

My Choices: Best Director

  • Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
  • Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
  • Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter
  • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car

Official Nominations: Best Director

  • Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
  • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
  • Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
  • Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
  • Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

So I overshot on Maggie Gyllenhaal. Sue me. Four out of five isn’t bad.

My Choices: Best Actor

  • Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
  • Peter Dinklage, Cyrano
  • Andrew Garfield, tick, tick… Boom!
  • Will Smith, King Richard
  • Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Official Nominations: Best Actor

  • Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
  • Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
  • Andrew Garfield, tick, tick… Boom!
  • Will Smith, King Richard
  • Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Switch Dinklage and Bardem and I nailed it. I’m not surprised Bardem secured a nomination given how much the Academy loves movies about show business, but I still remain unimpressed with his performance. I may need to watch Being the Ricardos again and reevaluate my opinion. If I do, you all will be the first to know.

My Choices: Best Supporting Actor

  • Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza
  • Ciarán Hinds, Belfast
  • Troy Kotsur, CODA
  • Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog
  • Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Official Nominations: Best Supporting Actor

  • Ciarán Hinds, Belfast
  • Troy Kotsur, CODA
  • Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog
  • J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos
  • Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

I’m not surprised about J.K. Simmons. For one thing, he’s already won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role once and the Academy tends to reward industry veterans. Combined with that, he was a very convincing William Frawley. Up until now, the award has all but sat atop Kodi Smit-McPhee’s mantle. Now, it’s anyone’s guess who will walk away with Oscar gold. One thing that’s working against Kodi Smit-McPhee is that his costar Jesse Plemons is competing against him in the same category. Greater odds have been surmounted but now that Simmons is in the ring, we’ll have to wait until the night of the ceremony to see who will win.

My Choices: Best Actress

  • Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
  • Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
  • Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
  • Frances McDormand, The Tragedy of Macbeth
  • Kristen Stewart, Spencer

Official Nominations: Best Actress

  • Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
  • Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
  • Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
  • Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
  • Kristen Stewart, Spencer

Frances McDormand is usually a safe bet, but I guess the Academy has decided she’s been recognized enough in the past several years. At any rate and once again, four out of five isn’t bad.

My Choices: Best Supporting Actress

  • Caitríona Balfe, Belfast
  • Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
  • Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
  • Ann Dowd, Mass
  • Kathryn Hunter, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Official Nominations: Best Supporting Actress

  • Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
  • Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
  • Judi Dench, Belfast
  • Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
  • Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

I’m the most angry about Kathryn Hunter being snubbed. Did the Academy voters even watch The Tragedy of Macbeth?

My Choices: Best Original Screenplay

  • Belfast
  • Don’t Look Up
  • The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun
  • King Richard
  • Licorice Pizza

Official Nominations: Best Original Screenplay

  • Belfast
  • Don’t Look Up
  • King Richard
  • Licorice Pizza
  • The Worst Person in the World

Four out of five. That appears to be how I’m trending.

My Choices: Best Adapted Screenplay

  • CODA
  • Dune
  • The Lost Daughter
  • The Power of the Dog
  • The Tragedy of Macbeth

Official Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay

  • CODA
  • Drive My Car
  • Dune
  • The Lost Daughter
  • The Power of the Dog

Well, that’s it. Let me know what you think. Like the rest of you, I’ve got a lot of movies to watch.

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at fred.slusher@thevoraciousbibliophile.com or catch me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.