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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Mubi: The Best Movie Posters of 2025

FILM RECOMMENDATIONS FROM FILMMAKERS AND SITES FOR THE INDIE-CURIOUS

As we move in to a second month of Coronavirus-induced quarantine, I'm sure some people might be ready to explore avenues of cinema they might have ordinarily not been interested in going down. If you are feeling adventurous, Vulture has went to various filmmakers from across the globe and asked them what they are watching while at home and what they would recommend people to see. As to be expected, these acclaimed artists (which include Ava Duvernay, Luca Guadagnino, Claire Denis, Guillermo del Toro, Edgar Wright and Paul Schrader) have largely sophisticated taste, preferring to dig back in to cinematic history or explore interesting yet challenging work. And not surprisingly, no one suggested Netflix's "Tiger King".

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The Best Movies to Help Escape According to Famous Directors

And for true fans of independent films, international cinema or those who might be indie-curious, Richard Brody, film critic of the New Yorker, has put a spotlight on three lesser known streaming sites that might be of interest: OVID.tv, Crackle, and the recently launched, IFC Films Unlimited. He has made a list of some of the more intriguing feature films that each site has to offer that you may want to check out.

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The New Yorker What to Stream: Forty-Six Films

THE MOST INFLUENTIAL FILMS OF THE DECADE

Not only is this year quickly coming to a close but we are about to move on to the next decade of the twenty-first century. And that also means looking back on the last ten years in cinema. Now I certainly have my own opinions on what were the best and influential movies of the decade but to be perfectly honest, I just simply don't have the time to try and put together my own list. So I decided to go with some reliable sources and share their lists with you. First up, the co-chief film critics of the New York Times, A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis have together selected the ten movies (and not necessarily the best) that have made an impact on entertainment and beyond. And then each critic gives their own personal favorites from the 2010's.

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The NYT Ten Most Influential Films of the Decade (and Twenty Other Favorites)

Richard Brody of the New Yorker has selected twenty-seven feature films that are from what he refers to as "the decade of mumblecore". You may recall these were movies that tended to be very low-budget, largely improvised works that were usually built around some personal experience of the filmmakers. These were not the only types of films chosen by Mr. Brody (more conventional filmmakers like Clint Eastwood, Spike Lee, Wes Anderson and Martin Scorsese also appear on the list) but he wanted to place special emphasize on their importance and influence over the last ten years.

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The New Yorker Twenty-Seven Best Movies of the Decade

And the most ambitious of these lists is from the film critics of New York Magazine which attempts to rank every movie from the decade. For each film to be considered, they had to have played in at least four U.S. theaters (exceptions were made if a film had been nominated for an award or appeared on a critic's Best-of-the-Year list) released from 2010 to 2019. That leaves a total of 5,279 movies that were ranked and the list was broken down from the top 53 films, followed by 214 runner-ups, 4,961 just-okay movies and the final 51 which represents the very worse of the decade.

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Every Movie of the 2010's Ranked