2024 was a great year for movies, with the blockbuster releases of “Dune Part II” and “Wicked.” Arthouse movies also had a big year with the releases of “Anora” and “The Brutalist.” The 2025 award season has come to a close, and the Oscars are the best way to send these films off with major recognition.
Films cannot rise toward Oscar recognition without standout performances. This year stars like Timothee Chalamet, Adrien Brody, and Mikey Madison astounded audiences with their roles throughout the year, with Chalamet having a leading role in two Best Picture-nominated films.
My personal picks for the respective acting categories are: Isabella Rosselini in “Conclave” for supporting actress, Kieran Culkin in “A Real Pain” for supporting actor, Mikey Madison in “Anora” for best actress, and Ralph Fiennes in “Conclave” for best actor. These were the major performances that stood out to me throughout the year for their emotional depth and transformation into the role. Fiennes has never won an Oscar, and this will be the perfect point in his career to award him that achievement for his muted and emotional take on a cardinal struggling with the biggest decision of his life.
However, the academy does not always value the best performances, and instead makes decisions based on cultural moments or recency. Evaluating the nominees in this light leads me to predict Zoe Saldana in “Emilia Perez” for supporting actress, Guy Pearce in “The Brutalist” for supporting actor, Demi Moore in “The Substance” for best actress, and Adrien Brody in “The Brutalist” for best actor. These are the types of performances that the Academy values, unfortunately snubbing out more laid back performances like Rosselini’s for maximalist musical romps like Saldana’s.
Overall, most of the Academy’s picks are deserving, however Moore and Saldana gave over the top yet underwhelming performances. Saldana’s role in “Emilia Perez” required strong singing performances, and she did not deliver, choosing instead to use a monotone voice in all of her songs, creating an uneasy effect for the audience. On the other hand, Rossellini gave a small but impactful performance, similar to Viola Davis’ winning role in “Doubt,” that is far more deserving of the win than Saldana. Moore gave a similarly over the top performance, donning extreme makeup for her role as both Elisabeth Sparkle and The Monster. Personally, Moore was pretty bland on the acting front, and has just received so much recognition due to the nature of her character, not her performance. This resurgence of Moore will most likely be praised by the Academy, as they awarded Brendan Fraser the award for best actor for “The Whale,” a similar resurgence of an older actor past their prime. Both of these performances required immense prosthetics and not necessarily strong emotion. Overall, the performances this year were strong all around, however the academy will most likely vote for roles that had bigger cultural moments, rather than the performances themselves.
The biggest award of the night, best picture, has ten films going head-to-head for the win. Narrowing down the choices, I would put “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” and “Dune Part II” as the three films with the most likely chances. For my pick, I would choose “Conclave” as the best film out of the nominees. The movie is very well paced, suspenseful, witty, and features some of the best actors in the business, all in the impeccable direction of Edward Berger.
Again, the Academy values moments and “The Brutalist” granted audiences the largest epic of the year, at a runtime of three hours and thirty five minutes. The movie has been discussed at length by cinemagoers and movie makers alike, generating a lot of hype around the name, leading to it being the most likely candidate for best picture. Personally, I cannot get behind all of the love for this movie, as it has so much promise but fails to deliver in almost every regard. Technically, the movie is a marvel, however the themes that director Brady Corbet tries to tackle like the American Dream and the effects of war are not handled well in the plot of the film. The academy gravitates towards films that tackle these themes, seen in their pick of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and “The Brutalist” seems to be a clear shoe-in for the award.
The Oscars are a time of celebration for the year in film, enjoyed by millions of people throughout the world. Overall, while the academy may make the wrong decisions, the Oscars need to be preserved for people to see 2025’s best films.
