I have a deep and abiding love for watching old Siskel and Ebert reviews. You can find a lot of them on YouTube where people’s VHS copies have been cleaned up as much as possible, and there’s an even deeper back catalog on a dedicated site. Many of the episodes on the latter, like their 1983 “If We Picked the Oscars Special,” contain the commercials from the broadcast, which can be fun. In their honor, and so that I can highlight elements that I found fantastic even in works that I didn’t otherwise care for, I have begun to do this myself, annually. Feel free to check out my list from last year, and see below, the winners and the nominees, if I picked the Oscars.
- Best Picture – Furiosa
- Best Director – Oz Perkins – Longlegs
- Dev Patel – Monkey Man
- Vera Drew – The People’s Joker
- Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw the TV Glow
- Julio Torres – Problemista
- Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
- Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two
- Best Actor – David Jonsson – Alien: Romulus
- Jesse Plemons – Kinds of Kindness
- Julio Torres – Problemista
- Chris Hemsworth – Furiosa
- Dev Patel – Monkey Man
- Manolo Solo – Cerrar los ojos (Close Your Eyes)
- Roy Dupuis – Rumours
- Best Actress – Willa Fitzgerald – Strange Darling
- Lea Sedoux – La Bête
- Demi Moore – The Substance
- Emma Stone – Kinds of Kindness
- Maika Monroe – Longlegs
- Kirsten Dunst – Civil War
- Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
- Best Supporting Actor – Richard Brake – Last Stop in Yuma County
- Blair Underwood – Longlegs
- Ed Harris – Love Lies Bleeding
- Javier Bardem – Dune: Part Two
- Willem Dafoe – Nosferatu
- Yura Borisov – Anora
- Best Supporting Actress – Alicia Witt – Longlegs
- Hong Chau – Kinds of Kindness
- Catherine O’Hara – Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
- Ariana Grande – Wicked
- Cailee Spaeny – Civil War
- Best Cinematography – Furiosa
- Best Production Design: She is Conann
- Best Adapted Screenplay – Last Things
- Best Sound: Cerrar los ojos (Close Your Eyes)
- Best Film Editing: Civil War
- Best Original Score – Challengers
- Best Original Song: “Evening Mirror,” Written by Paul Grimstad, Performed by Talia Ryder, from The Sweet East
- “Claw Machine,” Written by Haley Dahl, Performed by Sloppy Jane featuring Phoebe Bridgers, from I Saw the TV Glow
- “Hell on Earth,” Composed by Zilgi, from Longlegs
- “Elizabeth in Maine,“ composed by Robert Ouyang Rusli, from Problemista
- “Liar,” Written by Saleka Shyamalan and Jeremy Lloyd, Performed by Saleka Shyamalan, Trap
- Best Visual Effects – Hundreds of Beavers
- Best Original Screenplay: Problemista
- Best International Feature Film: La Bête
- Best Costume Design – Wicked
- Best Makeup and Hairstyling – MaXXXine
- Best Casting – Jina Jay – Wicked Little Letters
- David Guglielmo – Last Stop in Yuma County
- Lindsay Graham & Mary Vernieu – Love Lies Bleeding
- Geraldine Barón, Abby Harri, Salome Oggenfuss – I Saw the TV Glow
- Jesy Rae Buhl & Lauren Cargo – Gasoline Rainbow
-Mark “Boomer” Redmond
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