WINNERS OF THE 2026 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

Cristian Mungiu’s drama, "Fjord" won the Palme d’Or at the conclusion of the 79th annual Cannes Film Festival. The Romanian director, who previously received the festival’s prize for his film, "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" in 2007, becomes the tenth director to win the coveted award twice. Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve star as a conservative couple who decide to move to the remote village in Norway where the wife was born with their children. But their new life does not go as planned when they come up against a couple who become concerned about how they're raising their family. And theatrical distributor, Neon (which will release "Fjord") continued to make history at Cannes with its seventh straight Palme d’Or winner with Bong Joon Ho’s 2019 film, "Parasite" and Sean Baker's 2024 feature, "Anora" both going on to win the Best Picture Oscar.

Russian director Andreï Zviaguintsev’s "Minotaur" went on to receive the Grand Prize which is the runner-up. Based on the 1969 French film "The Unfaithful Wife" by Claude Chabrol, "Minotaur" is set in a Russian small town and follows business executive on the verge of laying off his employees when he discovers his wife is having an affair.

This year's jury, lead by Park Chan-Wook, seemed to have great difficulty narrowing down just one winner as there our multiple films sharing prizes. The directorial duo, Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi for "La Bola Negra" and Paweł Pawlikowski of "Fatherland" both won the Best Director award. Virginie Efira and Tao Okamot jointly received the Best Actress award for their performances in "All Of A Sudden" while Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagneshare, the stars of Lukas Dhont’s World War I drama, "Coward", shared the Best Actor Award.

Here is the list of winners of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival:

Palme d’Or: "Fjord"
Grand Prize: "Минотавр (Minotaur)"
Jury Prize: "Das Geträumte Abenteuer (The Dreamed Adventure)"



Best Director: Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, "La Bola Negra (The Black Ball)" and Paweł Pawlikowski, "Fatherland" (Tie)





Best Screenplay: Emmanuel Marre, "Notre Salut (A Man of His Time)"
Best Actress: Virginie Efira and Tao Okamo, "Soudain (All Of A Sudden)"
Best Actor: Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagneshare for "Coward"



Camera d’Or: "Ben’Imana"
Short Film Palme d’Or: "Para los contrincantes (For The Opponents)"
Honorary Palme d’Or: John Travolta and Barbra Streisand

THE 98TH ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

The 98th annual Academy Awards, a celebration of awarding the best achievements in cinema, was an enjoyable yet long evening filled with over three hours of honoring the historic moments and film excellence of the previous year. 

For a second year in a row, Conan O'Brien returns to host, beginning the show with a hilarious, filmed segment of his being made up to look like Aunt Gladys in the horror film, "Weapons" and has him running from possessed children through scenes of all of the nominated movies this year. Clearly more comfortable this time, O'Brien brought a little more edge to his jokes, even delivering a few political zingers although he wasn't too harshly direct. He also found a moment to offer sincere thoughts on the importance of the globalization of cinema and the collaborative attempts in creating something of "beauty" before launching into a grand, comedic musical number with Josh Groban singing about if O'Brien became an Oscar winner with an "eagle" flying down to hand him the award.

Speaking of politics, it was relatively quiet on that front with only presenter, Javier Bardem calling out "No to War and Free Palestine" before announcing the Best International Feature winner. Other more subtle expressions included Joachim Trier, the director of the winner, "Sentimental Value", closing his speech with a quote from James Baldwin to remember that all adults are responsible for all children and not vote for politicians who don’t take this seriously and David Borenstein, who co-directed the winner of the Best Documentary Feature, "Mr. Nobody Against Putin", stated that his film is about how you lose your country through countless small, little acts of complicity.

Once again, the Best Original Song nominees were not all performed on the telecast, which is simply outrageous and not fair to the writers of these honored compositions. Only "I Lied To You" from "Sinners" which recreated the powerful moment in the film which surreally linked the past, present and future of African-American music and "Golden", the smash hit from the eventual winner of Best Animated Feature, "KPop Demon Hunters", were performed during the show. The producers claimed they wanted to highlight the cultural impact of music and storytelling last year using these songs. That is all fine and good but they still could have found time to have the other three songs performed in some capacity during the program.

The highlight of the evening turned out to be the always melancholic segment of the program; In Memoriam. We lost some major talents last year; Robert Redford, Diane Keaton, Robert Duvall, Rob Reiner to name a few and it did seem more than fitting to pay extended tribute to some of them. Billy Crystal started with a remembrance of Reiner, the director of many classic films that included "The Princess Bride", "A Few Good Men" and "When Harry Met Sally", and was joined on stage by many of the cast members who starred in his films. Rachel McAdams appeared next to talk about the impact of Keaton and then Barbra Streisand came on stage to speak warmly about her "The Way We Were" co-star, Redford and even closed by singing briefly the movie's iconic theme song. 

And one final thought: there really needs to be a better way to move the show along than cutting off a winner's acceptance speech. It was noticeably bad this year. Perhaps shorten the attempts at witty banter during the introduction of the categories which for the most part are strained and not usually amusing. But cutting the mic off from someone who has won during their brief moment in the spotlight is really rude and downright insulting.

"One Battle After Another" wound up becoming victorious in wining Best Picture after a tight race of going back and forth with "Sinners" throughout award season. With his tenth feature and numerous previous nominations, Paul Thomas Anderson would finally receive three awards for this film by the end of the evening, also winning Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. "One Battle" would lead with six awards total including Best Film Editing, the very first Best Casting award and Sean Penn taking Best Supporting Actor (becoming the seventh actor to have won three Oscars) but was a no-show at the ceremony, apparently deciding to visit Ukraine instead. "Sinners" had a good night as well, winning four Oscars with Coogler receiving Best Original Screenplay, Michael B. Jordan awarded a well deserved Best Actor prize and Best Cinematography went to Autumn Durald Arkapaw who became the first woman to win this honor.

The wins by these two films, along with Amy Madigan for Best Supporting Actress in "Weapons", helped Warner Bros. do very well this evening by collecting eleven awards, tying the record of the most wins for a studio in a single night. This was also a bittersweet victory as the future of this legendary movie studio is up in the air as its about to be acquired by Paramount with steep layoffs and reduced production is certainly going to occur when (or more hopefully if) this deal is finalized.

What made this Oscars ceremony such a thrilling, nail bitter is that it was such a strong year of great movies with most of the nominees in each category would be a well deserved winner. This was played out with there even being a very rare tie (only the seventh time in Oscar History with the most famous occurring with Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand being a draw as Best Actress in 1968) for Best Live Action Short. As we officially say goodbye to 2025, this current year has already delivered some promising films that have a credible possibility to be recognized during the next award season.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 98th Annual Academy Awards:

Best Picture: "One Battle After Another"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet"
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Michael B. Jordan, "Sinners"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Amy Madigan, "Weapons"
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Sean Penn, "One Battle After Another"
Best International Feature: "Affeksjonsverdi (Sentimental Value)" (Norway)
Best Documentary Feature: "Mr. Nobody Against Putin"
Best Documentary Short: "All the Empty Rooms"
Best Animated Feature: "KPop Demon Hunters"
Best Animated Short: "The Girl Who Cried Pearls"
Best Live Action Short: "The Singers" and "Two People Exchanging Saliva" (Tie) 

Best Casting: Cassandra Kulukundis, "One Battle After Another"
Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, "Sinners"
Best Film Editing: Andy Jurgensen, "One Battle After Another"
Best Production Design: "Frankenstein" (Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau)
Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson, "Sinners"
Best Original Song: "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" (Music and Lyrics by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park)
Best Sound: Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta, "F1"
Best Costume Design: Kate Hawley, "Frankenstein"
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey, "Frankenstein"
Best Visual Effects: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett, "Avatar: Fire and Ash"

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: Dolly Parton

Honorary Oscars:

Debbie Allen

Tom Cruise

Wynn Thomas

OSCAR MADNESS

The Oscars are just a few days away which also means the conclusion of another awards season. Here for fun are a few Oscar-related (or adjacent) articles to peruse until the big night:

Vulture has once again taken the bold step of ranking all of the nominated feature and short films that received Oscar nominations this year. It is noted that six films received eight or more nominations but there is a grand total of fifty movies that earned the honor of being recognized by the Academy. I can tell you right now I don't agree where some of these films fell in this ranking and I'm certain some of you will find many that deserved higher (or perhaps lower, in some cases). But it's still a daring and amusing endeavor that you should check out.

Please click below to read the article:

Vulture: Every 2026 Oscar-Nominated Movie Ranked

The New York Times have put together video clips of the filmmakers behind eight of the nominated Best Picture films where each discusses the details in how they put together pivotal sequences from their movies.

Please click below to read the article:

NYT: Behind the Scenes of This Year’s Best Picture Oscar Nominees

This year marks the first presentation of a new Oscar category: Best Achievement in Casting. Michael Schulman of the New Yorker has decided to look back in Hollywood history to consider some films that not only would have been nominated but more than likely could have won the award.

Please click below to read the article:

New Yorker: The Best Casting Jobs in Hollywood History

I love movie posters, especially those that really try to expand beyond the tried, true and expected of this underrated artform. Adrian Curry of Mubi Notebook has done his annual selection of what he considered the top ten best posters of last year along with an explanation on exactly why they were chosen. And there is a bonus of twenty well deserved runner-ups.

Please click below to read the article:

Mubi: The Best Movie Posters of 2025

AWARD NEWS CONTINUES

Award season is quickly winding down with the Oscars are just days away. So here is a rundown of the recent winners from various organizations and guilds:

"Sinners" took home the top prize of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 2026 Actor Awards upsetting the prize domination of "One Battle After Another" during this award season. The biggest surprise in the motion picture acting awards by SAG-AFTRA was the unexpected win of Michael B. Jordan who received Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor for his role as gangster twins in "Sinners". Jessie Buckley won Outstanding performance by a Female Actor for her moving turn in "Hamnet".

Here are the winners of the 2026 Actor Awards (Motion Picture):

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: "Sinners"
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet"
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Michael B. Jordan, "Sinners"
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Amy Madigan, "Weapons"
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Sean Penn, "One Battle After Another"
Outstanding Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: "Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning"
SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award: Harrison Ford

The 78th annual Writers Guild Awards were announced on January 27th and the scripts for "Sinners" and "One Battle After Another" were recognized as nominees for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay respectively. And while the rest of the adapted screenplays nominated by the WGA matched the Oscar nominations, the original screenplays (with the exception of "Marty Supreme) largely went in a different direction. The guild went with the work by Mary Bronstein for "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You", David Koepp's "Black Bag" and Zach Cregger's "Weapons". The award winners will be announced on March 8th however the WGA West has cancelled their ceremony due to their staff strike.

Here are the nominations and highlighted winners for the 2025 Writers Guild Awards (Motion Picture):

Best Original Screenplay:

David Koepp, "Black Bag"
Mary Bronstein, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie, "Marty Supreme"
Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"
Zach Cregger, "Weapons"

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Will Tracy, "Bugonia" (Based on the Film, "Save the Green Planet" Written by Jang Joon Hwan)
Guillermo del Toro, "Frankenstein" (Based on "Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelley)
Chloe Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell, "Hamnet" (Based on the Novel Written by Maggie O’Farrell)
Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another" (Inspired by the novel, "Vineland" by Thomas Pynchon)
Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar, "Train Dreams" (Based on the Novella by Denis Johnson)

Best Documentary Screenplay:

Mstyslav Chernov, "2,000 Meters to Andriivka"
Bernard MacMahon & Allison McGourty, "Becoming Led Zeppelin"
Andrew Goldberg, "White With Fear"

The American Cinema Editors have revealed their winners for its 76th annual Eddie Awards, which recognizes the best in film editing on February 27th. Much like the Globes, the theatrical feature categories are separated by drama and comedy.

Here are the nominations and highlighted winners for the 2025 Eddie Awards (Motion Picture):

Best Edited Feature Film (Drama, Theatrical):

Stephen Mirrione, "F1"
Chloé Zhao and Affonso Gonçalves, "Hamnet"
Olivier Bugge Coutté, "Sentimental Value"
Michael P. Shawver, "Sinners"
Joe Murphy, "Weapons"

Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy, Theatrical):

Yorgos Mavropsaridis, "Bugonia"
Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, "Marty Supreme"
Andy Jurgensen, "One Battle After Another"
Bob Ducsay, "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery"
Myron Kerstein, "Wicked For Good"

Best Edited Animated Feature:

Jesse Averna, "The Bad Guys 2"
Nathan Schauf, "KPop Demon Hunters"
Jeremy Milton, "Zootopia 2"

Best Edited Documentary Feature:

Dan Gitlin, "Becoming Led Zeppelin"
Brian A. Kates and Stacy Goldate, "It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley"
Shane Reid and Darrin Roberts, "John Candy: I Like Me"
James Lester and Oz Rodríguez, "Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music"
Viridiana Lieberman, "The Perfect Neighbor"

The DGA Awards announced their winners for the best in direction and Paul Thomas Anderson won the top film prize for "One Battle After Another" on February 7th.

Best Theatrical Feature Film: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Michael Apted First-Time Theatrical Feature Film: Charlie Polinger, "The Plague"
Best Documentary Film: Mstyslav Chernov, "2000 Meters to Andriivka"

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another continued its awards domination by winning six awards at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards including Best Film. Two largely unexpected wins were Sean Penn winning Best Supporting Actor for his disturbing turn in "Another Battle After Another" and Robert Aramayo was selected as Best Leading Actor for playing Tourette's activist, John Davidson in the bio-pic, "I Swear" which the film won two additional awards. The ceremony on February 22nd was unfortunately marred when the real John Davidson, who suffers from Tourette's, involuntarily shouted the N-word at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo when they presenting an award. The incident has created further controversy when the BBC that aired the BAFTAs did not edit out the outburst although they had plenty of time due to the two-hour time delay and they found an opportunity to remove poltical statements they deemed inappropriate during the show. 

Here are the winners of the 78th Annual BAFTA Film Awards:

Best Film: "One Battle After Another"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Outstanding British Film: "Hamnet"
Best Leading Actress: Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet"
Best Leading Actor: Robert Aramayo, "I Swear"
Best Supporting Actress: Wunmi Mosaku, "Sinners"
Best Supporting Actor: Sean Penn, "One Battle After Another"
Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer: "My Father’s Shadow"
Best Film Not In The English Language: "Sentimental Value"
Best Documentary: "Mr. Nobody Against Putin"
Best Animated Film: "Zootropolis 2"
Best Children’s & Family Film: "Boong "
Best Casting: Lauren Evans, "I Swear"
Best Cinematography: Michael Bauman, "One Battle After Another"
Best Editing: Andy Jurgensen, "One Battle After Another"
Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson, "Sinners"
Best Sound: Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta, "F1"
Best Production Design: Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau, "Frankenstein"
Best Costume Design: Kate Hawley, "Frankenstein"
Best Make Up & Hair: Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey, Mike Hill and Megan Many, "Frankenstein"
Best Special Visual Effects: Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett and Eric Saindon, "Avatar: Fire And Ash"
Ee Rising Star Award (Voted for by the public): Robert Aramayo

And the winners of the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards, held for the first time at the Hollywood Palladium and hosted by SNL alum Ego Nwodim, were announced on February 15th with "Train Dreams" winning three awards: Best Feature, Director and Cinematography. Eva Victor's "Sorry, Baby", which got an enthusiastic shout-out by Julia Roberts during the Golden Globes, took two prizes for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Performance.

Here is the list of winners of the 41st Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards (Film):

Best Feature: "Train Dreams"
Best Director: Clint Bentley, "Train Dreams"
Best Screenplay: Eva Victor, "Sorry, Baby"
Best First Feature: "Lurker"
Best First Screenplay: Alex Russell, "Lurker"
Best Lead Performance: Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Best Supporting Performance: Naomi Ackie, "Sorry, Baby"
Best Breakthrough Performance: Kayo Martin, "The Plague"
Best International Feature: The Secret Agent (Brazil)
Best Documentary: "The Perfect Neighbor"
Best Cinematography: Adolpho Veloso, "Train Dreams"
Best Editing: Sofía Subercaseaux, "The Testament of Ann Lee"
Someone To Watch Award: Tatti Ribeiro, director of "Valentina"
Truer Than Fiction Award: Rajee Samarasinghe, director of "Your Touch Makes Others Invisible"
John Cassavetes Award: "Esta Isla (This Island)"

WINNERS OF THE 2026 BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL

With the close of the 76th annual Berlin Film Festival, Ilker Çatak’s "Gelbe Briefe (Yellow Letters)" has won the top prize of Golden Bear for Best Film. The fifth feature film from the German-Turkish director following his Oscar-nominated "The Teachers' Lounge", "Yellow Letters" follows an actress and her arts professor husband in Turkey whose lives are upended due to political persecution by their authoritarian government. Grant Lee took Best Director for "Everybody Digs Bill Evans", the bio-drama about the legendary jazz pianist. Sandra Hüller received the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance for her role in "Rose", a period drama about a woman disguised as a male soldier and the Best Supporting Performance prize was shared by Anna Calder-Marshall and Tom Courtenay who co-star in "Queen at Sea" as a long-married couple who are struggling due to the wife's dementia.

Here are the winners of the 2026 Berlin Film Festival:

Golden Bear: "Gelbe Briefe (Yellow Letters)"
Best Director: Grant Gee, "Everybody Digs Bill Evans"
Silver Bear for Best Screenplay: Geneviève Dulude-de Celles, "Nina Roza"



Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize: "Salvation"



Silver Bear Jury Prize: "Queen At Sea"
Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance: Sandra Hüller, "Rose"



Silver Bear for Best Supporting Performance: Anna Calder-Marshall and Tom Courtenay, "Queen at Sea"



Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution: "Yo (Love is a Rebellious Bird)"

2026 OSCAR NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

The wait is finally over. With actors, Danielle Brooks and Lewis Pullman up extremely early this morning, the nominations for the 98th Annual Academy Awards were announced today and Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" became the all-time record holder for the most nominations with sixteen, breaking the previous record of fourteen total that the films, "All About Eve", "Titanic" and "La La Land" all shared. "One Battle After Another" was not far behind with thirteen which included Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson. The other Best Picture nominees, "Frankenstein", "Marty Supreme" and "Sentimental Value" all received nine nominations, "Hamnet" with eight and "Bugonia", "F1" and "Train Dreams" each with four total. "The Secret Agent" (a total of four nominations) and "Sentimental Value" are the 12th and 13th non-English language films to be nominated for both International Feature Film and Best Picture in the same year.

This year, the nominees for the new category, Best Casting was announced with the casting directors of the films, "Hamnet", "Marty Supreme", "Sinners", "The Secret Agent", and "One Battle After Another" being recognized for the first time. With "Bugonia", Emma Stone became the youngest woman to achieve seven career nominations, earning nods this year for Best Picture and Best Actress while Timothée Chalamet became the youngest actor since Marlon Brando to receive three Best Actor nominations by the age of thirty. Amy Madigan heard her name called for the first time in forty years, being recognized as Best Supporting Actress for her eerie turn in "Weapons". She had been nominated in the same category of Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama, "Twice in a Lifetime" back in 1985. And Diane Warren earned her seventeenth career nomination for Best Original Song with "Dear Me" from the documentary about the songwriter, "Diane Warren: Relentless" but she still hasn't won a competitive Oscar. But one of the major surprises was the follow-up musical, "Wicked: For Good" being completely shut-out after the first part of the film scored an impressive ten nominations last year.

The 98th Academy Awards will be held Sunday, March 15th, at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood and broadcast live on ABC and Hulu with Conan O’Brien returning as host.

Here is the complete list of nominations for the 2025 Academy Awards:

Best Picture:

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

Best Director:

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

Best Original Screenplay:

Robert Kaplow, "Blue Moon"
Jafar Panahi (Script collaborators: Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian), "It Was Just an Accident"
Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie, "Marty Supreme"
Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier, "Sentimental Value"
Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Will Tracy, "Bugonia"
Guillermo del Toro, "Frankenstein"
Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell, "Hamnet"
Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar, "Train Dreams"

Best Actress In A Leading Role:

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"

Best Actor In A Leading Role:

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

Best Actress In A Supporting Role:

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

Best Actor In A Supporting Role:

Benicio Del Toro, "One Battle after Another"
Jacob Elordi, "Frankenstein"
Delroy Lindo, "Sinners"
Sean Penn, "One Battle after Another"
Stellan Skarsgård, "Sentimental Value"

Best International Feature Film:

"O Agente Secreto (The Secret Agent)" (Brazil)
"Un simple accident (It Was Just an Accident)" (France)
"Affeksjonsverdi (Sentimental Value)" (Norway)
"Sirāt" (Spain)
"صوت هند رجب (The Voice of Hind Rajab)" (Tunisia)

Best Animated Feature Film:

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

Best Animated Short Film:

"Butterfly"
"Forevergreen"
"The Girl Who Cried Pearls"
"Retirement Plan"
"The Three Sisters"

Best Documentary Feature Film:

"The Alabama Solution"
"Come See Me in the Good Light"
"Cutting Through Rocks"
"Mr. Nobody against Putin"
"The Perfect Neighbor"

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"

Best Live Action Short Film:

"Butcher’s Stain"
"A Friend of Dorothy"
"Jane Austen’s Period Drama"
"The Singers"
"Two People Exchanging Saliva"

Best Cinematography:

Dan Laustsen, "Frankenstein"
Darius Khondji, "Marty Supreme"
Michael Bauman, "One Battle After Another"
Autumn Durald Arkapaw, "Sinners"
Adolpho Veloso, "Train Dreams"

Best Film Editing:

Stephen Mirrione, "F1"
Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, "Marty Supreme"
Andy Jurgensen, "One Battle after Another"
Olivier Bugge Coutté, "Sentimental Value"
Michael P. Shawver, "Sinners"

Best Production Design:

"Frankenstein" (Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau)
"Hamnet (Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton)
"Marty Supreme" (Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis)
"One Battle after Another" (Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino)
"Sinners" (Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne)

Best Original Score:

Jerskin Fendrix, "Bugonia"
Alexandre Desplat, "Frankenstein"
Max Richter, "Hamnet"
Jonny Greenwood, "One Battle After Another"
Ludwig Göransson, "Sinners"

Best Original Song:

"Dear Me" from "Diane Warren: Relentless" (Music and Lyrics by Diane Warren)
"Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" (Music and Lyrics by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park)
"I Lied To You” from "Sinners" (Music and Lyrics by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson)
"Sweet Dreams Of Joy" from "Viva Verdi!" (Music and Lyrics by Nicholas Pike)
"Train Dreams" from "Train Dreams" (Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave)

Best Casting:

Nina Gold, "Hamnet"
Jennifer Venditti, "Marty Supreme"
Cassandra Kulukundis, "One Battle After Another"
Gabriel Domingues, "The Secret Agent"
Francine Maisler, "Sinners"

Best Costume Design:

Deborah L. Scott, "Avatar: Fire and Ash"
Kate Hawley, "Frankenstein"
Malgosia Turzanska, "Hamnet"
Miyako Bellizzi, "Marty Supreme"
Ruth E. Carter, "Sinners"

Best Makeup And Hairstyling:

Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey, "Frankenstein"
Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu, "Kokuho"
Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry, "Sinners"
Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein, "The Smashing Machine"
Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg, "The Ugly Stepsister"

Best Sound:

Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta, "F1"
Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern, "Frankenstein"
José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor, "One Battle After Another"
Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker, "Sinners"
Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas, "Sirāt"

Best Visual Effects:

Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett, "Avatar: Fire and Ash"
Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson, "F1"
David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould, "Jurassic World Rebirth"
Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin, "The Lost Bus"
Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean, "Sinners"

WINNERS OF THE 2025 GOLDEN GLOBES AWARDS

The 2025 Golden Globes have been presented in a ceremony that was a tasteful and glamourous event full of the expected star-power. Gone are the days of drunken antics, rude, off-color jokes and controversial statements. After years of debauched gatherings while still trying of be taken seriously, these Globes are apparently now meant to be halcyon affairs. Yet this award show has blended in to simply become routine, a deeply serious Golden Globes that has managed to make the Academy Awards seem like a wild and crazy party.

The Globes still has the distinction of being the first of the major award shows and the 83rd edition created buzz for the potential winners (and nominees) that will lead us to the close of award season with the still distinguished, all-important Oscars.

Nikki Glaser returned as host and once again delivered stinging yet harmless jokes at the glittering crowd, making sure to let them know she was kidding following her punchline. She brought some much needed levity to the staid ceremony but the only other moment really occurred when director Judd Apatow came out to present the Best Director prize, offering a rambling yet humorous stand-up routine. No musical numbers (Sorry, Nikki but your brief attempt at a musical-comedy segment, thankfully stopped by Fran Drescher, was strained at best) and not even a brief in-memoriam. All we got from the show was Glaser's brief comedy bits, the announcement of the award winners and their acceptance speeches.

Surprisingly, the tense and troubling political atmosphere we're currently in now made little noise at this event beyond the subtle "Be Good" buttons that some stars wore. I was really expecting somebody to go off, angry and defiant to deliver fiery words that would inspire and offer some much needed encouragement. But that did not happen. We just got people sounding off the traditional laundry list of thanking family members, work colleagues and their fellow nominees. Not only did the Golden Globes play it safe but so unexpectedly did Hollywood.

Here are a list the winners of the 2025 Golden Globes Awards (Motion Picture):

Best Picture (Drama): "Hamnet"
Best Picture (Musical or Comedy): "One Battle After Another"
Best Director (Motion Picture): Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best Screenplay (Motion Picture): Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best Performance By A Male Actor In A Motion Picture (Drama): Wagner Moura, "The Secret Agent"
Best Performance By A Male Actor In A Motion Picture (Musical Or Comedy): Timothée Chalamet, "Marty Supreme"
Best Performance By A Female Actor In A Motion Picture (Drama): Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet"
Best Performance By A Female Actor In A Motion Picture (Musical Or Comedy): Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Best Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role In Any Motion Picture: Stellan Skarsgård, "Sentimental Value"
Best Performance By A Female Actor In A Supporting Role In Any Motion Picture: Teyana Taylor, "One Battle After Another"
Best Motion Picture (Non-English Language): "The Secret Agent" (Brazil)
Best Picture (Animated): "KPop Demon Hunters"
Best Original Song (Motion Picture): "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" (Music by: Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong Jun Lyrics by: Kim Eun-jae (EJAE), Mark Sonnenblick)
Best Original Score (Motion Picture): Ludwig Göransson, "Sinners"
Cinematic And Box Office Achievement: "Sinners"

MORE 2025 AWARDS NEWS

Award season is moving into high gear with the guilds announcing their nominees for the best in cinema of 2025. The actors, cinematographers, directors and producers have revealed their selections of nominations as well as another major critics group, the National Society of Film Critics selected their winners.

"One Battle After Another" continues its awards sweep with Paul Thomas Anderson's black comedy thriller was named Best Picture during the 2025 awards by the National Society of Film Critics. Anderson received Best Director while co-stars, Teyana Taylor and Benicio del Toro won Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor for their work in the film. Now in their sixtieth year, the NSFC, which has consists of more than sixty of the most prominent film critics in the country, voted on January 3rd during in-person gatherings and virtually. Kathleen Chalfant, the veteran performer was awarded Best Actress for her performance in "Familiar Touch", an indie drama that follows a woman as she transitions to life in assisted living while contending with her cognitive decline while Best Actor went to Ethan Hawke for his transformative work in "Blue Moon" where he plays musical theater composer, Lorenz Hart.

Here is the complete list of winners from the 2025 National Society of Film Critics:

Best Picture: "One Battle After Another"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best Screenplay: Jafar Panahi, "It Was Just an Accident"
Best Actress: Kathleen Chalfant, "Familiar Touch"
Best Actor: Ethan Hawke, "Blue Moon"
Best Supporting Actress: Teyana Taylor, "One Battle After Another"
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio del Toro, "One Battle After Another"
Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, "Sinners"
Best Film Not in the English Language: "The Secret Agent" (Brazil)
Best Nonfiction Film: "My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow"
Best Experimental Film:"Morning Circle"
Special Award for a Film Awaiting U.S. Distribution: "Landmarks"

SAG-AFTRA announced the nominations for their 2025 acting awards with them now being called "The Actor Awards" in their 31st year. "One Battle After Another" leads in the nominations with seven while Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" follows with five. The most glaring outcome from these nominations is the complete omission of the acclaimed performances by actors in films that are not in the English language like "The Secret Agent", "Sentimental Value" and "No Other Choice". I'm fairly certain that when the Oscar nominations are revealed in a few weeks that we will see a few actors from some of these films being recognized in the acting categories. Netflix will stream the Actor Awards on March 1st.

Here is the list of nominations for the 2025 Actor Awards (Motion Picture):

Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture:

"Frankenstein"
"Hamnet"
"Marty Supreme"
"One Battle After Another"
"Sinners"

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Leading Role:

Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet"
Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Kate Hudson, "Song Sung Blue"
Chase Infiniti, "One Battle After Another"
Emma Stone, "Bugonia"

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Leading Role:

Timothée Chalamet, "Marty Supreme"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "One Battle After Another"
Ethan Hawke, "Blue Moon"
Michael B. Jordan, "Sinners"
Jesse Plemons, "Bugonia"

Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor In A Supporting Role:

Odessa A’zion, "Marty Supreme"
Ariana Grande, "Wicked: For Good"
Amy Madigan, "Weapons"
Wunmi Mosaku, "Sinners"
Teyana Taylor, "One Battle After Another"

Outstanding Performance By A Male Actor In A Supporting Role:

Miles Caton, "Sinners"
Benicio Del Toro, "One Battle After Another"
Jacob Elordi, "Frankenstein"
Paul Mescal, "Hamnet"
Sean Penn, "One Battle After Another"

Outstanding Stunt Ensemble In A Motion Picture:

"F1"
"Frankenstein"
"Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning"
"One Battle After Another"
"Sinners"

The Directors Guild of America revealed their feature film nominees on January 8th for the 78th DGA Annual Awards and the filmmakers behind "One Battle After Another", "Sinners", "Frankenstein", "Marty Supreme" and "Hamnet" were recognized for Best Direction of a Feature Film. Nominations for direction in Feature Documentaries and First-time Feature film were also announced. The DGA Awards ceremony is set to be presented on February 7th at the Beverly Hilton.

Here are the nominations of the 2025 DGA Awards (Feature Films):

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film:

Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"
Guillermo Del Toro, "Frankenstein"
Josh Safdie,"Marty Supreme"
Chloé Zhao, "Hamnet"

First Time Theatrical Feature Film:

Ava Victor, "Sorry, Baby"
Hasan Hadi, "The President’s Cake"
Harry Lighton, "Pillion"
Charlie Polinger, "The Plague"
Alex Russell, "Lurker"

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Feature Film:

Mstyslav Chernov,"2000 Meters to Andriivk"
Getta Gandbhir,"The Perfect Neighbor"
Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, "Cutting Through Rocks"
Elizabeth Lo, "Mistress Dispeller"
Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, "Cover-Up"

The American Society of Cinematographers have delivered their nominees for the year’s best in cinematography for the 2025 ASC Awards. The technicians behind the camera of the films, "Frankenstein", "One Battle After Another", "Sinners", "Marty Supreme" and "Train Dreams" were honored. The winners of the 40th annual ASC Awards will be revealed at the Beverly Hilton on March 8th.

Here are the nominations for the 2025 ASC Awards (Motion Picture):

Best Theatrical Feature Film Cinematography:

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, "Sinners"
Michael Bauman "One Battle After Another"
Darius Khondji, "Marty Supreme"
Dan Laustsen, "Frankenstein"
Adolpho Veloso, "Train Dreams"

Best Documentary Cinematography:

Mstyslav Chernov and Alex Babenko, "2000 Meters from Andriivka"
Brandon Somerhalder, "Come See Me in the Good Light"
Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo and Tor Edvin Eliassen, "Folktales"

And today, the Producers Guild of America has released their picks for the 37th Annual PGA Awards. The producers behind the feature films, "Bugonia", "F1", "Frankenstein", "Hamnet", "Marty Supreme", "One Battle After Another", "Sentimental Value", "Sinners", "Train Dreams" and "Weapons" have been nominated this year. The PGA Awards will be held on February 28th at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Here are the nominations for the 2025 PGA Awards (Motion Picture):

Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:

Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone and Lars Knudsen, "Bugonia"
TBD, "F1"
Guillermo Del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber, "Frankenstein"
Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Sam Mendes, Steven Spielberg and Nicolas Gonda, "Hamnet"
TBD, "Marty Supreme"
Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, "Sentimental Value"
Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler and Sev Ohanian, "Sinners"
Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, William Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer and Michael Heimler, "Train Dreams"
Zach Cregger and Miri Yoon, "Weapons"

Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:

Damon Ross, "The Bad Guys 2"
TBD, "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle"
Mary Alice Drumm, "Elio"
Michelle L.M. Wong, "KPop Demon Hunters"
Yvett Merino, "Zootopia 2"

2025 GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS

The 2025 Golden Globes were announced today and "One Battle After Another" continues it's domination of recognition, receiving the most nominations with nine including Best Picture (Drama). The horror-drama, "Sinners' also did well with seven nominations. But it was indie and international cinema that really made an impact this year. Joachim Trier's "Sentimental Value", a moving drama from Norway, receiving the second most nominations with eight that included Best Picture (Drama) and Best International Film. Also receiving nominations in both of those categories was Jafar Panahi's drama based in Iran, "It Was Just an Accident" with a strong showing of a total of four nominations . "No Other Choice" from South Korea and the drama from Brazil, "The Secret Agent" each received three. 

Independent cinema was recognized in the major categories with "Hamnet", "Marty Supreme", "Bugonia", "Train Dreams", "Blue Moon" and "Nouvelle Vague" (both from director, Richard Linklater) all receiving multiple nominations. The more traditional studio fare was not ignored with the musical, "Wicked: For Good", Guillermo del Toro's reimaging of "Frankenstein" and the upcoming sequel, "Avatar: Fire and Ash" received several nominations. 

The 83rd annual Golden Globes will be presented on January 11, 2026 on CBS and Paramount+ with host, Nikki Glaser returning for a second consecutive time.

Here are the nominations of the 2025 Golden Globes (Film):

Best Picture (Drama):

"Frankenstein"
"Hamnet"
"It Was Just an Accident"
"The Secret Agent"
"Sentimental Value"
"Sinners"

Best Picture (Comedy Or Musical):

"Blue Moon"
"Bugonia" 

"Marty Supreme"
"No Other Choice"
"Nouvelle Vague" 

"One Battle After Another"

Best Director (Motion Picture):

Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"
Guillermo del Toro, "Frankenstein"
Jafar Panahi, "It Was Just an Accident"
Joachim Trier, "Sentimental Value"
Chloé Zhao, "Hamnet"

Best Screenplay (Motion Picture):

Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie, "Marty Supreme"
Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"
Jafar Panahi, "It Was Just an Accident"
Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier, "Sentimental Value"
Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell, "Hamnet"

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama):

Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Die My Love"
Renate Reinsve, "Sentimental Value"
Julia Roberts, "After the Hunt"
Tessa Thompson, "Hedda"
Eva Victor, "Sorry, Baby"

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy):

Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Cynthia Erivo, "Wicked: For Good"
Kate Hudson, "Song Sung Blue"
Chase Infiniti, "One Battle After Another"
Amanda Seyfried, "The Testament of Ann Lee"
Emma Stone, "Bugonia"

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Motion Picture (Drama):

Joel Edgerton, "Train Dreams"
Oscar Isaac, "Frankenstein"
Dwayne Johnson, "The Smashing Machine"
Michael B. Jordan, "Sinners"
Wagner Moura, "The Secret Agent"
Jeremy Allen White, "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere"

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy):

Timothée Chalamet, "Marty Supreme"
George Clooney, "Jay Kelly"
Leonardo DiCaprio, "One Battle After Another"
Ethan Hawke, "Blue Moon"
Lee Byung-Hun, "No Other Choice"
Jesse Plemons, "Bugonia"

Best Performance By a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture:

Emily Blunt, "The Smashing Machine"
Elle Fanning, "Sentimental Value"
Ariana Grande, "Wicked: For Good"
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, "Sentimental Value"
Amy Madigan, "Weapons"
Teyana Taylor, "One Battle After Another"

Best Performance By a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture:

Benicio Del Toro, "One Battle After Another"
Jacob Elordi, "Frankenstein"
Paul Mescal, "Hamnet"
Sean Penn, "One Battle After Another"
Adam Sandler, "Jay Kelly"
Stellan Skarsgård, "Sentimental Value"

Best Motion Picture (Non-English Language):

"It Was Just an Accident" (France)
"No Other Choice" (South Korea)
"The Secret Agent" (Brazil)
"Sentimental Value" (Norway)
"Sirāt" (Spain)
"The Voice Of Hind Rajab" (Tunisia)

Best Picture (Animated):

"Arco"
"Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castle"
"Elio"
"KPop Demon Hunters"
"Little Amélie or the Character of Rain"
"Zootopia 2"

Best Original Score (Motion Picture):

Alexandre Desplat, "Frankenstein"
Ludwig Göransson, "Sinners"
Jonny Greenwood, "One Battle After Another"
Kangding Ray, "Sirāt"
Max Richter, "Hamnet"
Hans Zimmer, "F1"

Best Original Song (Motion Picture):

"Dream as One" from "Avatar: Fire and Ash" (Music & Lyrics by: Miley Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt, Mark Ronson, Simon Franglen)
"Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" (Music by: Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo, Park Hong Jun Lyrics by: Kim Eun-jae (EJAE), Mark Sonnenblick)
"I Lied to You" from "Sinners" (Music & Lyrics by: Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson)
"No Place Like Home" from "Wicked: For Good" (Music & Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz)
"The Girl in the Bubble" from "Wicked: For Good" (Music & Lyrics by: Stephen Schwartz)
"Train Dreams" from "Train Dreams" (Music by: Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner Lyrics by: Nick Cave)

Cinematic and Box Office Achievement:

"Avatar: Fire and Ash"
"F1"
"KPop Demon Hunters"
"Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning"
"Sinners"
"Weapons"
"Wicked: For Good"
"Zootopia 2"

2025 AWARD SEASON BEGINS

It's December which means that award season is now in full effect. The prizes are coming fast and furious with several critics groups have selected their winners or nominees for the best in cinema of this year. Here is a round-up of the early picks from various groups:

"One Battle After Another" took the top prize of Best Film from the 91st New York Film Critics Circle on December 2nd. The over fifty member, New York-based critics organization also selected Benicio Del Toro's performance for Best Supporting Actor from this film. Kleber Mendonça Filho’s "The Secret Agent" received Best International Film and star, Wagner Moura won Best Actor. Best Director went to Iranian director Jafar Panahi for his Cannes Palme d’Or-winning drama, "It Was Just an Accident" and Amy Madigan received Best Supporting Actress for her wild turn in the horror-drama, "Weapons".
Here are the winners of the 2025 New York Film Critics Circle:

Best Film: "One Battle After Another"
Best Director: Jafar Panahi, "It Was Just an Accident"
Best Screenplay: Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, "Marty Supreme"
Best Actor: Wagner Moura, "The Secret Agent"
Best Actress: Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, "One Battle After Another"
Best Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, "Weapons"
Best Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, "Sinners"
Best Animated Film: "KPop Demon Hunters"
Best Non-Fiction Film: "My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow"
Best International Film: "The Secret Agent"
Best First Film: "Eephus"
Special Prizes: Museum of Moving Image; Screen Slate

The National Board of Review also selected "One Battle After Another" as their Best Film on December 3rd. This group of filmmakers, academics and fans gave Paul Thomas Anderson's crime-drama five awards including Best Director, Best Actor for Leonardo DiCaprio, Benicio Del Toro as Best Supporting Actor and Chase Infiniti for Breakthrough Performer Award. Other winners include Rose Byrne taking Best Actress for "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You" and Jafar Panahi's "It Was Just an Accident" was named Best International Film with both receiving these awards from NYFCC. Here are the winners of the 2025 National Board of Review:

Best Film: "One Battle After Another"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best Directorial Debut: Eva Victor, "Sorry, Baby"
Best Original Screenplay: Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, "Train Dreams"
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, "One Battle After Another"
Best Actress: Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, "One Battle After Another"
Best Supporting Actress: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, "Sentimental Value"
Breakthrough Performance: Chase Infiniti, "One Battle After Another"
Best Animated Feature: "Arco"
Best International Film: "It Was Just an Accident"
Best Documentary: "Cover-Up"
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw, "Sinners"
Outstanding Achievement in Stunt Artistry: "Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning"
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk"

The nominations for the 41st Film Independent Spirit Awards were revealed also on December 3rd with "Peter Hujar’s Day" receiving the most noms with five, followed by "Train Dreams", "Blue Sun Place", "One of Them Days", "Lurker" and "Sorry, Baby" each getting four apiece. This organization focuses only on indie film productions that cost under $30 million, leaving some films that were slightly above that figure like "Weapons", "Marty Supreme", "The Smashing Machine" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" out of consideration. The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be held on Sunday, February 15, 2026 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Here are the nominations of the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards (Film):

Best Feature:

"Peter Hujar’s Day"
"The Plague"
"Sorry, Baby"
"Train Dreams"
"Twinless"

Best First Feature:

"Blue Sun Palace"
"Dust Bunny"
"East of Wall"
"Lurker"
"One of Them Days"

Best Director:

Clint Bentley, "Train Dreams"
Mary Bronstein, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Lloyd Lee Choi, "Lucky Lu"
Ira Sachs, "Peter Hujar’s Day"
Eva Victor, "Sorry, Baby"

Best Screenplay:

Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin, "Splitsville"
Angus MacLachlan, "A Little Prayer"
James Sweeney, "Twinless"
Christian Swegal, "Sovereign"
Eva Victor, "Sorry, Baby"

Best First Screenplay:

Andrew DeYoung, "Friendship"
Elena Oxman, "Outerlands"
Alex Russell, "Lurker"
Syreeta Singleton, "One of Them Days"
Constance Tsang, "Blue Sun Palace"

Best Lead Performance:

Everett Blunck, "The Plague"
Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I’d Kick You"
Kathleen Chalfant, "Familiar Touch"
Chang Chen, "Lucky Lu"
Joel Edgerton, "Train Dreams"
Dylan O’Brien, "Twinless"
Keke Palmer, "One of Them Days"
Théodore Pellerin, "Lurker"
Tessa Thompson, "Hedda"
Ben Whishaw, "Peter Hujar’s Day"

Best Supporting Performance:

Naomi Ackie, "Sorry, Baby"
Zoey Deutch, "Nouvelle Vague"
Kirsten Dunst, "Roofman"
Rebecca Hall, "Peter Hujar’s Day"
Nina Hoss, "Hedda"
Jane Levy, "A Little Prayer"
Archie Madekwe, "Lurker"
Kali Reis, "Rebuilding"
Jacob Tremblay, "Sovereign"
Haipeng Xu, "Blue Sun Palace"

Best Breakthrough Performance:

Liz Larsen, "The Baltimorons"
Misha Osherovich, "She’s the He"
Kayo Martin, "The Plague"
SZA, "One of Them Days"
Tabatha Zimiga, "East of Wall"

Best Cinematography:

Alex Ashe, "Peter Hujar’s Day"
Norm Li, "Blue Sun Palace"
David J. Thompson, "Warfare"
Adolpho Veloso, "Train Dreams"
Nicole Hirsch Whitaker, "Dust Bunny"

Best Editing:

Ben Leonberg, "Good Boy"
Carson Lund, "Eephus"
Fin Oates, "Warfare"
Sara Shaw, "Splitsville"
Sofía Subercaseaux, "The Testament of Ann Lee"

Best Documentary:

"Come See Me in the Good Light"
"Endless Cookie"
"My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow"
"The Perfect Neighbor"
"The Tale of Silyan"

Best International Film:

"All That’s Left of You" (Palestine, Jordan, Germany, Cyprus)
"On Becoming a Guinea Fowl" (Zambia, UK, Ireland)
"A Poet" (Colombia)
"The Secret Agent" (Brazil)
"Sirāt" (Spain)

John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000):

"The Baltimorons"
"Boys Go to Jupiter"
"Eephus"
"Esta Isla (This Island)"
"Familiar Touch"

Someone to Watch Award (recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition):

Tatti Ribeiro, "Valentina"
Neo Sora, "Happyend"
Annapurna Sriram, "Fucktoys"

Truer Than Fiction Award (presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition):

Tony Benna, "André is an Idiot"
Rajee Samarasinghe, "Your Touch Makes Others Invisible"
Brittany Shyne, "Seeds"

Robert Altman Award (given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast):

"The Long Walk"

The American Film Institute announced their annual picks of the top-ten films of the year on December 4th. These selections tend to be a fairly accurate indicator of which films will probably land Oscar nominations with eight of the AFI picks from the last two years also received Best Picture noms. The annual AFI Awards will be presented during a private luncheon at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles on January 9, 2026.

Here are AFI’s Top 10 Movies of 2025:

"Avatar: Fire and Ash"
"Bugonia"
"Frankenstein"
"Hamnet"
"Jay Kelly"
"Marty Supreme"
"One Battle After Another"
"Sinners"
"Train Dreams"
"Wicked: For Good"

And the Los Angeles Film Critics Association also awarded "One Battle After Another" as their selection for Best Film. Paul Thomas Anderson received Best Director and Teyana Taylor took the Best Supporting Performance for this film. Taylor shared this prize, which the acting awards here are gender neutral categories, with Stellan Skarsgård, who was honored for his work in “Sentimental Value". The Lead Performance Award went to Rose Byrne, who has been sweeping up prizes for her riveting turn in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and Ethan Hawke, who was quite impressive in the period biopic, “Blue Moon”.

Here are the winners of 2025 Los Angeles Film Critics Association:

Best Film: "One Battle After Another"
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”
Best Screenplay: Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident”
Best Lead Performance: Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”
Best Supporting Performance: Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value” and Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”
Best Documentary/Nonfiction: “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow”
Best Animation: "Little Amélie or the Character of Rain”
Best Cinematography: Adolpho Veloso, “Train Dreams”
Best Film Editing: Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, “Marty Supreme”
Best Production Design: Hannah Beachler, “Sinners”
Best Music Score: Kangding Ray, “Sirât”

WINNERS OF THE 2025 VENICE FILM FESTIVAL

The close of this year's Venice Film Festival brought an awards ceremony with the winner of the Golden Lion was given to the latest from Jim Jarmusch, "Father Mother Sister Brother". The drama-comedy, with a starry cast led by Cate Blanchett and Adam Driver, is about the complicated relationships between parents and their children involving three sets of families. The runner-up Grand Jury prize of the Silver Lion went to "The Voice of Hind Rajab", a political docudrama from Kaouther Ben Hania that details the killing of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl who was trapped in a car during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip last year.

For his first feature film without his brother, Josh, Benny Safdie received the Silver Lion Best Director prize for his sports biopic "The Smashing Machine" based on the life of mixed-martial arts fighter, Mark Kerr. Best Screenplay went to the director, Valérie Donzelli for her drama, "At Work (À pied d'œuvre)" and shares the prize with co-writer, Gilles Marchand. Based on a true story, a successful photographer at the peak of his career decides to pursue writing but he faces financial hardship and personal struggles during this dubious transition.

Here are the winners in the Main Competition of the 2025 Venice Film Festival:

Golden Lion: "Father Mother Sister Brother"

Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize: "صوت هند رجب (The Voice of Hind Rajab)"

Silver Lion Best Director: Benny Safdie, "The Smashing Machine"

Best Screenplay: Valérie Donzelli and Gilles Marchand, "A Pied d’oeuvre (At Work)"

Best Actress: Xin Zhilei, "日掛中天 (The Sun Rises on Us All)"

Best Actor: Toni Servillo, "La Grazia (The Pardon)"



Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor or Actress: Luna Wedler, "Silent Friend"



Lion of the Future – Luigi De Laurentiis Award for a Debut Film: Nastia Korkia, "Short Summer"

Special Jury Prize: Gianfranco Rosi, "Sotte le Nuvole (Below the Clouds)"