The 97th Academy Awards are this Sunday bringing us to the end of one of the more chaotic awards seasons in recent memory. But will the show itself have anything to rival the Moonlight/La La Land mix up or The Slap™? You’ll have to watch on ABC or Hulu to find out.

But before then join us in our tradition of discussing the films nominated for Best Picture! We’ve been doing this since 2020 and it’s been fascinating to track as each Oscars got gayer and gayer — until this year. A sign of Trump’s America or a one year exception? Not sure! But even these straight Oscars still have one technically gay musical (derogatory) and one subtextually gay musical (complimentary) and all of the films are worth chatting about!

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Drew: Hello!!

Riese: HI DREW

Drew: Did you know this is our SIXTH year doing this?

Riese: Wow really??!

Drew: Do you want to share why this year is different from all other years?

Riese: This year is different from all other years not just because we dip the parsley in salt water but because 1) I am on family leave right now because we had a baby six days ago and 2) due to the aforementioned situation, I did not actually view all the Best Picture nominees.

Drew: You did REALLY well though all things considered.

Riese: True. The thing about having a nine months pregnant wife is that The Brutalist is a bit of a hard sell for a relaxing night in.

Drew: Hmm shocking. To be fair, when we first started this I didn’t watch them all!

I still haven’t seen 1917. Although I did eventually watch Mank.

Riese: Sad for you.

Drew: Yeah Mank sucked.

Riese: Something cool is that every year the headline has indicated more and more gayness.

Drew: True! But not this year. Did you know we’re in a conservative backlash impacting all areas of life including the film industry?

Riese: Fascinating I had no idea. Deeply upsetting to hear.

Drew: Not great overall yeah.

Riese: I do think next year will be even worse…

Drew: Yes. But this year’s Oscars is unique in a fun way which is that many of the categories are still up in the air.

Riese: What would be your pick for best picture? I’ll start. Wicked.

Drew: Look I do not think Wicked is very well shot or edited but I had a great time and Part Two is one of the things I’m surviving 2025 for. The performances are soooo good

Riese: I had such a fantastic time at Wicked. I thought I LOVE THE CINEMA! I had come there for magic and the magic was delivered.

Drew: I listened to the soundtrack nonstop for weeks and with every listen cared less and less about the film’s lighting.

Riese: Yes, you did evolve on it over time as every Monday meeting we took a minute to discuss which song on the soundtrack was in our current top rotation and which aspect of the film we were currently reflecting upon or making our whole personality.

It was a dark winter and Wicked was glorious and it won’t win Best Picture I guess but in my opinion it was Tops.

Drew: It won the award for movie the most people saw and that isn’t nothing.

Riese: I would say Wicked was the gayest but there is technically a gayer movie…….

Drew: Oh god should we get that out of the way?

Riese: I suppose so.

Drew: I am so sorry I made a wish on a monkey’s paw for a trans lesbian musical to get an Oscar nomination and it resulted in us all having to suffer through Emilia Pérez. I really thought it was gonna be the adaptation of The Prince and the Dressmaker that never happened.

Riese: The first 20 minutes of the movie I was like “ok this is weird but good I think?” and then the next 6500 minutes I was like “I hate this.”

“La Vaginoplastia” was the song of the year but sadly it did not even get nominated for best original song. Although the conceit of the piece of the narrative that enabled that song was also so annoyingly stupid.

Drew: Yeah as I’ve said before I’d like the movie more if it was all as goofy as that viral clip.

Riese: Yeah it needed to lean into that camp.

Drew: The movie is not just transphobic and racist. It’s also bad as a film.

Riese: Yes, completely. The plot was a mess, the characters were empty, the ending was absolutely meaningless.

Drew: I was sooo certain it was going to win Best Picture for months though. But now I think we’re spared that for the worst reason, which is Karla Sofía Gascón having a bunch of racist and unhinged tweets in her past. And by past I mean like the past five years not when she was a wee child.

Riese: Yes. Also she did call you an idiot.

Drew: Yes she did.

Riese: Which I thought, “Hm, that’s a wild thing for someone to say.” But now that i’ve seen her full racist tweet history I think, “Ah, ok, that tracks.”

Drew: I was so nice about it on Twitter. I regret that. Turns out she didn’t deserve me being nice. But I just have a lot of sympathy for how hard it is to be trans in the industry!!

Riese: For sure. It is. You’ve written about this a lot of course, but like yeah it’s never great to be the only trans person on a set of a thing about trans people.

Drew: I do think it’s funny because I reviewed the film out of TIFF and since no trans critics I know of were at Cannes, I was among the first trans people to see it and have become the go to expert on it for a lot of people. I’ve had so many media requests to talk about the film.

Riese: I do love that for you

Drew: I’ve only taken two though because I’m not going on the BBC to talk about trans stuff. That’s insane.

Riese: Right

Drew: My vulnerable truth is everything around Emilia Pérez makes me sad. I wish I could just clown on it and have a good time, but given this moment in time it’s such a bummer that THIS is the representation of trans people and trans art that’s on this stage.

Riese: It really is.

Drew: Gascón being racist on top of that is just like… oof.

Riese: There are so many political and cultural forces converging right now that make this so particularly unfortunate.

Drew: At the same time, one of the reasons I care about the Oscars despite it rarely awarding the actual best movies is that it’s acted as a reflection of our culture for nearly a century. So in that sense Emilia Pérez is the perfect representation for this moment. It’ll just be easier to appreciate that in a decade when things are hopefully better and idk Isabel Sandoval has a directing Oscar.

Riese: Yeah, amongst other things, cis people having unearned and unjustified control over the lives of trans people, executed recklessly and with a lot of narrative manipulation.

Drew: Speaking of misguided representations of marginalized groups… should we discuss Anora?

Riese: It is predicated on my least favorite trope in sex worker stories but the way they executed it was actually not annoying to me at all. Until the end.

Drew: Yeah, I feel similarly.

Riese: But as a former sex worker, stories about sex workers falling in love with clients really does empower clients to see that as not just possible, but likely. And that was one of the most annoying aspects of sex work. So those stories always drive me nuts. But this one felt like it was lamp shading it a bit, and that trope enabled a much wilder story. It wasn’t a straight up Pretty Woman style thing.

Drew: It’s so unlikely — in general and in this case in particular — that I fully thought Ani was just in it for the money. And as the movie went on I was like wait are we supposed to think she actually loves this guy?? That felt like such a divide for me.

But I’d be more generous to that if the film had a different ending.

Riese: Yes, absolutely. Anora was a lot of things and it did some of those things well — just the madcap caper of it all. I guess it’s similar to Tangerine in that way.

Drew: I think it works best as a comedy! And the self-serious ending is so annoying to me, because there’s nothing inherently deeper about making it sad.

Riese: Right it’s a cheap trick and it undermines her agency.

Drew: I haven’t seen it in many years, but my feeling about Tangerine was that it was a good movie with problems that got way over-praised because movies about trans people (especially Black trans sex workers) are usually SOOO bad that people were like wow this is actually not bad!

I think that’s Sean Baker’s thing in general. While he’s talented as a filmmaker, the only reason his perspective on sex work is seen as radical or sympathetic is because the standard in the industry is so bad. But he’s actually falling into a lot of the same tropes and ruining the good things he brings to his work.

Riese: Like saying you’re gonna try a new restaurant and driving all the way there and then just eating at Applebees.

Drew: Yeah and there’s worse food than Applebees but it shouldn’t win Best Picture.

Riese: Correct.

Drew: I’ve loved Mikey Madison since Better Things though so I’m glad she’s getting this success. Better Things should win Best Picture

Riese: I agree. Also the Pulitzer Prize. Everybody should be watching Better Things in 2025.

Drew: PEGOT-winner Better Things.

Riese: I would love to see Better Things on Broadway.

Drew: Someone get Pamela Adlon on the phone.

Riese: To circle back to my own personal life for a minute.

Drew: Yes, please.

Riese: I would not necessarily recommend screening Nickel Boys to a nine months pregnant woman who has a lot of hormones going on. Gretchen is really not a crier but she cried at the end for twenty minutes and said, “Why did you do this to me?” I had to hold it together for the family.

I feel like I keep talking about the endings of movies in this chat. And I obviously don’t want to spoil anything.

Drew: It was a big year for endings!

Riese: Because this year is also the end of the world. That’s cute for us. Not for my tiny baby though.

Drew: The world must live on for Jude !!!!!!! I will fight Donald Trump and Jacques Audiard to make a better world for Jude.

Riese: Thank you so much.

Anyhow Nickel Boys was beautiful and difficult.

Drew: I loved Nickel Boys. I saw it opening night in 35mm and RaMell Ross was there and it was such a special viewing experience and also one of the best Q&As I’ve ever watched.

Riese: Oh wow that’s so cool.

Drew: The film was so meticulously crafted. Stylistically, yes, it’s obviously showy in certain choices (the POV) but it’s just as accomplished in smaller ways and in its subtler moments.

Riese: It took a bit for me to get with the POV.

Drew: Yeah it can be distancing as much as it is immersive.

Riese: I would love a surprise win for Nickel Boys

Drew: It’s not happening but I would really love that too

Riese: It’s very odd to get a Best Picture nom but no acting noms. But also not atypical for the Academy when it comes to films with predominantly POC casts.

Drew: Yeah that’s true. It was starting to change for sure, but we’re in a conservative backslide so.

Riese: Yeah, I mean when it comes to racial diversity this year was overall a step backwards. I feel like the reaction to the first Trump administration was actually quite the opposite. But, of course, the backlash to that reaction is where we are now.

Drew: There were a lot of Black films that were ignored or under-appreciated this year. The Piano Lesson should’ve been a shoo-in for several categories. And the actors in Hard Truths being ignored is so egregious.

Riese: Yes.

Drew: Also this was not a particularly strong year for the Supporting Actress category. Joan Chen should’ve been nominated and even won for Didì.

Riese: I love Joan Chen.

Riese: What was your least favorite film of the batch? Besides Emilia Pérez.

Drew: A Complete Unknown. You were spared. Just like I was spared from Joker. Until Lady Gaga was cast in the sequel. And then I watched Joker. And it was the worst movie ever. And then I didn’t even see Joker 2 even though it had Lady Gaga.

Riese: Yeah Joker was fucking awful as I said at the time.

I did not see A Complete Unknown because I was unable to go to the cinema.

Drew: Yeah they were really stingy with this screener for some reason.

Riese: I do like Bob Dylan though.

Drew: I LOVED Bob Dylan as a teenager.

Riese: Same.

Drew: “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” was my favorite song ever at one point. Any time a crush didn’t work out I was like Bob Dylan wrote this song for me.

Riese: “Tangled Up in Blue” means a lot to me. And he wrote a song for me too: “Absolutely Sweet Marie”

Drew: Honestly, I still love Bob Dylan.

Riese: Yeah I will always love Bob Dylan.

Drew: I don’t listen to him a lot but when I do I’m like oh wow he’s great. And that’s the best part of the movie. Whenever there was a song I was like oh yeah this song is good.

Riese: My writing teacher at Interlochen who made me the person i am today was wild about Bob Dylan which also had a major impact on me.

Drew: That’s really sweet.

The unfortunate thing is this movie isn’t very good. The performances are fine, but it not only falls into all the standard biopic traps, it’s not even a good version of them. It’s just so aggressively middling.

Riese: That’s sad for Bob Dylan and for you and for me if I ever watch it.

Drew: Everyone should just watch I’m Not There (2007) instead.

Riese: My least favorite film was Dune: Part Two.

Drew: Rough day for Chalamet.

Riese: Sand dunes? People in costumes and makeup? Blah Blah blah dust and fighting. I had not a single clue what was going on the entire time. You could blame that on me not paying attention but I would argue otherwise.

Drew: I am admittedly not a Dunehead. I’ve seen the Lynch movie and these two movies and I think I’m always waiting for them to be a bit more subversive in their story of metaphorical colonialism than they end up being. Maybe the books would be more interesting to me

I admired the craft and spectacle of Dune: Part Two while still feeling kind of shrug about what it’s doing or saying or anything about the characters. Also this one didn’t have Oscar Isaac. I missed Oscar Isaac.

Riese: SNOOZE

Drew: I do think it’s cool to get a sci-fi epic that’s beautifully crafted in our post-Marvel world. Like even that it’s dense enough to be confusing to you is a good thing, I might argue. I want to get behind Dune! But yeah it doesn’t do much for me.

Riese: Yeah I suppose Ulysses is also dense enough to be confusing to me and I hear that’s a good book.

Drew: I even rewatched the first one with Elise before seeing the second one. I’m really trying here, Duneheads. Is that what they’re called?

Riese: Duners.

Drew: Googling and it seems there’s no consensus. Some are saying duners, some are saying dunies, but my favorite is worm riders.

Riese: Dunies is cute. Or Dunesdayers.

Drew: Ooo Dunesdayers.

Riese: Speaking of people wearing the same outfits, Conclave was good.

Drew: I enjoyed Conclave so much. I drank one (1) White Claw beforehand and had the time of my life.

This is another film where I think the ending is handled poorly and could rant about its representation. But, honestly, I didn’t even care because I had so much fuuuuuun. Cunty cardinals! Isabella Rossellini as a nun!

Riese: Great nun. I had a nice time. I was engaged and didn’t feel bored.

Drew: I love when people vote on things in movies. 12 Angry Men? Great movie.

Riese: Fantastic movie.

Drew: It’s like watching The Traitors.

Riese: Fantastic television show. Yeah Conclave is basically The Traitors.

Drew: Which character from Conclave would win on The Traitors? Would it shake out the same way

Riese: Oh hmmm. Who wins The Traitors? The best liar or the best person?

Drew: Isn’t that the question.

I do think Conclave is the most fun I had with any of the nominees but I don’t think it should win in any of the categories. I would be fine with it winning Adapted Screenplay or Supporting Actress but I think those should be Nickel Boys and… oh god idk Ariana Grande?

Riese: Listen, Ariana Grande killed it.

Drew: She really did.

Drew: Speaking of fun movies… let’s talk about The Substance. Another movie I saw early at TIFF and did not like as much as the critical consensus. But I did have fun with it.

Riese: I think I liked it. It was a little on the nose but also idk, stylistically it was such a fun little time.

Drew: Yeah I’m more in support of it being nominated for director than screenplay because I think its writing is the weakest part. But it also won Best Screenplay at Cannes so what do I know.

I would LOVE if Demi Moore won Best Actress. She’s so good in it

Riese: It would be nice for Demi but also I want Cynthia to win.

Drew: I would also love Cynthia to win but that feels less likely.

Riese: I don’t know if my brain is working worse than usual because I’m tired or if I am usually this level of ineloquent about the cinema.

Drew: I would say every year you are insecure about the sophistication of your takes even though we’re just pals talking about movies.

Riese: That feels true.

I think the film spoke to a problem we are all deeply aware of and that is also quite important, but it didn’t really go deep enough. As a horror movie I loved it and visually I loved it but as a true interrogation of the beauty industrial complex I don’t think it had anything new to say.

Maybe that’s true about a lot of horror movies. I am famously not a horror movie expert.

Drew: See I think there are horror movies that are more nuanced. Not often but the really great ones.

Riese: Right

Drew: I do think this movie works better as an experience than as something to really think about. But Demi Moore elevates it a lot.

Riese: Yeah I would agree with that.

Drew: And hey capturing something emotionally is worthwhile.

Riese: The Substance was a nice piece of art to experience and speaking of experiencing pieces of art… The Brutalist was a very long cinema film.

Drew: My favorite! Or at least tied with Nickel Boys.

Riese: I had a feeling that you would adore it. It’s audacious to make a movie that long.

Drew: At least it had an intermission! That’s always the complaint from people with long movies.

Riese: Who is going to go see that!

Drew: A lot of people! It’s done pretty well!

Riese: Hmph. Well, I thought, you know, this is brutal. I thought, I am unhappy.

Drew: Yes it is not a pleasant film.

Riese: It’s similar to Zone of Interest in that way! Where I was like, why did I do that to myself?

Drew: But it’s so rare to get a movie about historical tragedy that engages with the years afterward instead of the tragedy itself. I really appreciated that.

Riese: That’s a good point. We need more of that.

Drew: I think it’s a really moving film about the ways people can self-destruct and hurt others in the years post-trauma when society (capitalism) continues to add on a bunch of smaller traumas. The film seems to be saying that you can either be like the brother-in-law and assimilate into a violent existing power structure or you can be like the niece and go to Israel and create a new violent power structure. It’s very bleak. Very very bleak.

Riese: Exactly! It is very bleak.

Drew: But it feels appropriate for the moment.

Riese: Yes, it has bleakness in common with the moment.

Drew: I also think it’s a really moving film about trying to make art within these broken systems and amid this trauma.

Riese: And also about the compromises of receiving funding for said art.

Drew: Yes, so Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold managing to make a movie this long with an intermission within our current system feels like a hopeful side to the bleakness

Riese: Yeah, it is hopeful that they were able to make a film that had no hope of mainstream appeal and it succeeded.

Riese: Do you think The Brutalist is going to win Best Picture?

Drew: I hope so. I think it has a shot.

Riese: I think it will win.

Drew: That’d be great. But I think it’s going to be Anora.

Riese: Oh really?? Anora? I would slap Chris Rock in the face for that.

Drew: Anora won at PGA and usually those align.

Riese: Oh interesting.

Drew: But who knows! It’s been a crazy year.

Riese: I don’t have as strong of feelings about the films this year as I have in other years. Besides my displeasure with Emilia Pérez. But that’s almost its own story. That has become bigger beyond even the awards themselves.

Drew: Yeah for sure.

We have one more.

Riese: We do.

Drew: Another movie that deals with fascism but the beginning rather than the end.

Riese: Jude’s first cinema.

Drew: Did he like it?

Riese: At first he didn’t like it, but then I put my finger in his mouth and then he liked it more. Then he sort of found it a snooze apparently.

Drew: Hmm a tough but fair review

Riese: Yeah, I mean, he was five days old so it’s a lot to consider.

Drew: I showed my eight month old cousin 2001: A Space Odyssey the first time I babysat and thought I would brainwash him into being a cinephile but now he’s in high school and I think he wants to get into finance.

Riese: You tried. That’s what’s important.

Drew: Jude should be a Rotten Tomatoes top critic.

Riese: I did think maybe I should start a Letterboxd account for my baby.

Drew: Would follow.

Did you like I’m Still Here? Was it worth watching amid raising new life?

Riese: Yes! Because I finished it today, this very day, I have yet to have time to learn everything about the historical circumstances which surrounded it.

Drew: Oh you’ll love doing that. That’s your favorite thing.

I will say when I did that it made me like the movie less only because I feel like there’s so much interesting story left unexplored. I think I might have liked a movie more that took place in the 20 year gap. Or I would’ve liked this one more from the perspective of the daughter who went to Europe. But I did still like it. A very solid film with good acting.

[two minute gap]

Riese: Sorry Penny just got back from her hike and wants to eat the baby.

Drew: Hmm I don’t think you should let her imo

Riese: Or not eat the baby but lick the baby like an ice cream cone.

Drew: Better but still questionable.

Riese: Yeah, I mean, Penny often licks her own asshole so idk if we want that on Jude’s tender skin.

Drew: At least not until week two.

Riese: Totally.

Anyhow, I feel like I didn’t get my footing in the movie at first. Although it’s hard to say if that’s because of the movie or because of the tiny peanut baby.

Drew: Right, that’s fair.

Drew: I would be very happy if I’m Still Here won foreign film over Emilia Pérez. I will say that much.

Riese: It certainly should.

Drew: Since those are the only two with Best Picture noms it feels like it’s between those. But The Seed of the Sacred Fig is the nominated movie I haven’t seen that I most want to watch. I’ve heard great things.

Riese: I like the way figs look when you cut them open.

Drew: Shane McCutcheon is voting for The Seed of the Sacred Fig as a member of the hair and makeup branch of the Academy.

Riese: Those sweet little sacred figs.

Drew: The Girl with the Needle, also in that category, is one of the most brutal films I’ve ever seen. Makes The Brutalist look fun.

Oh I also really want to watch Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat. l feel like the doc category is really strong this year. I’ve only seen No Other Land and Black Box Diaries but really liked both.

Riese: I think I saw fewer movies this year than normal because now I live with my Wife so we have to decide what to watch together.

Drew: I personally support you watching fewer movies but having a lovely wife and adorable baby.

Riese: You know what was fun though is Challengers.

Drew: CHALLENGERS SHOULD’VE SWEPT

Riese: Do you think if they had released it during awards season it may have had a shot?

Drew: Yeah or at least Zendaya might’ve had a nom. And score.

Riese: Yeah score seemed like an easy nom for them? So weird.

Drew: Now that we know she sucks as a person and not just as an actor I feel confident saying it’s INSANE Karla Sofía Gascón got a nomination this year. That category was so competitive.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste for sure but also Nicole Kidman and Angelina Jolie and Zendaya ! You could make a Best Actress category of performances not nominated stronger than the ones nominated.

Riese: 100%. Marianne Jean-Baptiste was fantastic. Babygirl was fantastic. KRISTEN STEWART IN LOVE LIES BLEEDING WAS FANTASTIC.

Drew: Omg yes.

Riese: Wow Drew I only saw 36 2024 releases.

Drew: But you brought LIFE into this world!

Riese: That’s true I did.

Drew: I saw over 100 but brought in zero life.

Riese: You are full of life.

My top five films of 2024 for everybody who cares: Wicked, Challengers, Babygirl, Love Lies Bleeding…. and Fantastical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara.

Drew: Great list.

Riese: I thought that A Real Pain was nominated for Best Picture but it wasn’t.

Drew: No but it was good.

Riese: Yeah, I liked it a lot.

Drew: My top five was Challengers, Evil Does Not Exist, Bird, Love Lies Bleeding, and Alam.

Riese: I think that’s a great list because I trust your taste.

Drew: That’s so nice. Well if Jude is craving some more cinema I’d be curious his thoughts on Evil Does Not Exist.

Riese: That is one you’ve mentioned a lot so it is definitely on my list to watch. Maybe Jude would like The Wild Robot.

Drew: Oo or Flow. I want to see both of those.

Riese: I haven’t seen any animation all year because I kept thinking “save it for the baby” as if this baby can even literally see color. (He cannot yet.) Apparently he can only see 8 to 10 inches ahead of him.

Drew: Wow. Babies are so cool. When can he start to see colors??

Riese: They start seeing red and green in 2-4 weeks. For Christmas, I suppose.

Drew: Wow.

Riese: At a month is when they can detect the brightness and intensity of colors. Apparently they struggle with yellow.

Drew: Okay so start him off with black and white films. Not Mank though.

Riese: Gonna fire up Steamboat Willie.

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The 97th Academy Awards begin Sunday, March 2 at 7pm EST on ABC and Hulu.