Well, we’re on to the newest list of the lot! Continuing a tradition I’ve been keen on for years, I’m ranking the new crop of Academy Award winners. For nearly all of the Oscar categories, you’ll see me list the top 25 recipients of that prize. Sometimes, our newest winner will appear. Other times, they’ll be relegated to the Honorable Mention category. Who knows, maybe one or two won’t even make the cut? It’s a list series that I’ll do each and every single year, in the weeks after the ceremony concludes. So, while this is a fun way to think about the Oscars in the aftermath of the latest telecast, it’s also a beginning for another column here on the site. Of course, definitely show us your own lists as well, in the comments section below. We’re definitely keen to know what you think!

Today, Best Original Song is the category that’s in our sights. For my money, the winners here are some of the best, pound for pound, of any category. Now, the nominees themselves these days don’t stack up to where we once were at, but still…the victors are beyond reproach. Just look at one of our most recent winners in No Time to Die‘s song of the same name by Billie Eilish. It’s certainly good, but as it as good as the best Bond titles? No. And where does it even rank on this updated list?. You’ll see where it fell below this time in a moment. This is the category, after all, where people Lady Gaga and Bruce Springsteen can take home Oscars, so you do get some classics. My selections for the best of the Academy Award bunch below, in my humble opinion, are out and out classics. It’s no secret I loved Barbie, so how highly does What Was I Made For? place here a year later? Where does Naatu Naatu from RRR stack up from the year prior? Plus what of our newest winner in El Mal from Emilia Pérez? Find out now…

Here now are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Original Song Oscar, to date:

25. Moon River (Breakfast at Tiffany’s)
24. Up Where We Belong (An Officer and a Gentleman)
23. You’ll Be in My Heart (Tarzan)
22. City of Stars (La La Land)
21. Colors of the Wind (Pocahontas)
20. Take My Breath Away (Top Gun)
19. The Way We Were (The Way We Were)
18. Remember Me (Coco)
17. (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life (Dirty Dancing)
16. When You Wish Upon a Star (Pinocchio)
15. Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
14. Theme from Shaft (Shaft)
13. My Heart Will Go On (Titanic)
12. Let it Go (Frozen)
11. Skyfall (Skyfall)
10. The Weary Kind (Crazy Heart)
9. Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid)
8. What Was I Made For? (Barbie)
7. A Whole New World (Aladdin)
6. Over the Rainbow (The Wizard of Oz)
5. Can You Feel the Love Tonight (The Lion King)
4. Streets of Philadelphia (Philadelphia)
3. Beauty and the Beast (Beauty and the Beast)
2. Falling Slowly (Once)
1. Shallow (A Star Is Born)

Honorable Mention: I’m Gonna Love Me Again (Rocketman), Jai Ho (Slumdog Millionaire), Man or Muppet (The Muppets), Naatu Naatu (RRR), No Time to Die (No Time to Die), and Talk to the Animals (Dr. Doolittle)

Stay tuned for another list early next week!

The post The Top 25 Best Original Song Winners So Far (Updated for 2025) appeared first on Awards Radar.

This time around, I’m taking a fourth crack at a Best Sound ranking. In years past, I used to avoid doing Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing just because there was so much in the way of crossover. More recently, the move to Best Sound initially gave me a new excuse. Recently however, in an effort to stretch out this series, since I know it’s enjoyed by you all, I started giving it another shot, with today the latest! Where does our most recent winner in Dune: Part Two fall amongst my picks? How about last year’s winner in The Zone of Interest or the year before’s winner in Top Gun: Maverick? Find out below…

Here now are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Oscar for Best Sound, to date:

25. Lawrence of Arabia
24. Aliens
23. Back to the Future
22. 1917
21. Gravity
20. Inception
19. The Hurt Locker
18. The Matrix
17. West Side Story
16. Black Hawk Down
15. Mad Max: Fury Road
14. Dunkirk
13. The Zone of Interest
12. The Dark Knight
11. Saving Private Ryan
10. Dune: Part Two
9. Jaws
8. Sound of Metal
7. Star Wars
6. Dune
5. Whiplash
4. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Top Gun: Maverick
2. Ford v Ferrari
1. Jurassic Park

Honorable Mentions: Apollo 13, Arrival, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, U-571, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Stay tuned for the next category early on next week!

The post The Top 25 Best Sound Winners So Far (Updated for 2025) appeared first on Awards Radar.

Today, I’m once again looking at the Best Documentary Feature category. Non-fiction cinema is its own beast, and one look at the winners in this field reveal some all-time classics. At the same time, anyone who pays attention to how the Best Documentary races have gone in recent years will know that the best films are rarely even nominated by Oscar. So, the Academy Awards do more recently pull from a reduced field. Still, there’s tons of movies I was able to pull from. For me, Michael Moore‘s Bowling for Columbine is still the best of the bunch, but there’s no shortage of quality here. Where does the most recent winner in No Other Land debut, ranking-wise? Does 20 Days in Mariupol, Navalny, or Summer of Soul remain on the list after winning in the past three years? Find out below…

Here now are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar, to date:

25. No Other Land
24. Woodstock
23. Undefeated
22. Inside Job
21. 20 Feet from Stardom
20. Searching for Sugar Man
19. The Last Days
18. In the Shadow of the Stars
17. American Dream
16. Anne Frank Remembered
15. Born into Brothels
14. Citizenfour
13. Free Solo
12. Taxi to the Dark Side
11. Harlan County, USA
10. One Day in September
9. Man on Wire
8. The Fog of War
7. March of the Penguins
6. OJ: Made in America
5. When We Were Kings
4. The Times of Harvey Milk
3. An Inconvenient Truth
2. The Cove
1. Bowling for Columbine

Honorable Mention: 20 Days in Mariupol, American Factory, Icarus, Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, Navalny, and Summer of Soul

Stay tuned for another category early next week!

The post The Top 25 Best Documentary Feature Winners So Far (Updated for 2025) appeared first on Awards Radar.

So, Best Visual Effects is the field that’s up to bat today, our first technical category for 2025, too. This category is a bit of an Oscar outlier, considering a lot of the films that win aren’t Best Picture contenders. There are exceptions, including 1917, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Dunkirk, First Man, Forrest Gump, Gladiator, Gravity, Inception, Life of Pi, and Titanic, to be sure (plus two of our most recent winners in the Dune films). However, you’ll just as soon see Academy Award winners here who barely show up in other categories. It’s part of what makes Visual Effects a fun field, but perhaps one slightly lacking in prestige. For my money, Jurassic Park is the tops in this category, but your mileage may vary. Where does the most recent Visual Effects victor fall here in Dune: Part Two? What about last year’s winner in Godzilla Minus One or the prior one in Avatar: The Way of Water? Does the first Dune even crack the list still? Find out where the Dune sequel ranks below, along with all of the rest…

Here are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Visual Effects Oscar, to date:

25. Life of Pi
24. First Man
23. Inception
22. Blade Runner 2049
21. Alien
20. Aliens
19. Superman
18. The Empire Strikes Back
17. Interstellar
16. The Abyss
15. Dune
14. Dune: Part Two
13. What Dreams May Come
12. Gravity
11. Forrest Gump
10. The Matrix
9. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
8. Avatar: The Way of Water
7. Star Wars
6. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
5. Terminator 2: Judgment Day
4. Titanic
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey
2. Avatar
1. Jurassic Park

Honorable Mention: 1917, Ex Machina, Godzilla Minus One, Independence Day, King Kong (2005), and Spider-Man 2

Stay tuned for another category early next week!

The post The Top 25 Best Visual Effects Winners So Far (Updated for 2025) appeared first on Awards Radar.

Here is the press release from The Academy:

The Academy’s Board of Governors has approved awards rules and campaign promotional regulations for the 98th Academy Awards®. In addition, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced key dates for the 2025 awards season. As previously announced, the 98th Oscars® will air live on ABC on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

In a procedural change, Academy members must now watch all nominated films in each category to be eligible to vote in the final round for the Oscars®. All designated nominees will also be included on the final ballot.

Category rules for eligibility and voting for the inaugural Academy Award® for Achievement in Casting have been codified. There will be a preliminary round of voting to determine a shortlist of 10 films, and prior to nominations voting, Casting Directors Branch members will be invited to view a “bake-off” presentation of the shortlisted achievements, including a Q&A with the designated nominees.

Other substantive awards rules changes include:

• In the rules for film eligibility, the following language regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been introduced, as recommended by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council:

With regard to Generative Artificial Intelligence and other digital tools used in the making of the film, the tools neither help nor harm the chances of achieving a nomination. The Academy and each branch will judge the achievement, taking into account the degree to which a human was at the heart of the creative authorship when choosing which movie to award.

• For consideration in the Best Picture category, films released from January 1, 2025, through June 30, 2025, must have shown proof of submission for Producers Guild of America (PGA) mark certification or awards-only determination no later than September 10, 2025. Films released from July 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025, must have shown proof of submission to the PGA no later than November 13, 2025.
• In the Animated Short Film category, voting privileges in the nominations round will be extended to all Academy members who opt in to participate. Members must view all 15 shortlisted films to be eligible to vote in the category.
• ​​​​​​In the Cinematography category, there will now be a preliminary round of voting for the Cinematography award to determine a shortlist of between 10 and 20 films.
• In the International Feature Film category, the eligibility requirement regarding creative control has been updated to be inclusive of filmmakers with refugee or asylum status.

The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens, residents, or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.

• For the Music categories, there will now be a separate, earlier deadline of Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 5 p.m. PT for song submissions. Original Score submissions will be due no later than Monday, November 3, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT.

Academy key dates, including submission deadlines and voting periods, for the 2025 Oscars season are as follows:
 

The Academy also updated and clarified formatting and language in the campaign promotional regulations for the 98th Oscars®. The campaign promotional regulations specify how motion picture companies and individuals directly associated with Oscars-eligible motion pictures may promote such motion pictures, achievements and performances to Academy members and how Academy members may promote Oscars-eligible motion pictures, achievements and performances.

Substantive changes to the campaign promotional regulations include:

• Oscar®-qualifying film festivals may now have access to approved mailing houses to share information about festival programming with Academy members.
• Public communications (including any social media posts, reposts, shares and comments) may not disparage the techniques used in or subject matter of any motion picture. Any Academy member, motion picture company or individual directly associated with an eligible motion picture found to be in violation will be subject to penalization.

All rules and dates for the 98th Academy Awards are subject to change.

For the complete 98th Academy Awards rules and campaign promotional regulations, visit oscars.org/rules.

The post The Academy Announces Key Dates for 2025 Awards Season and Rules for the 98th Oscars appeared first on Awards Radar.

As always, I’m making Best Original Screenplay an early ranking. This category has often been very good to film fans, with some real creative cinema emerging victorious. Last year saw Anatomy of a Fall win for Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, with recent winners also including Everything Everywhere All At Once, Belfast, Promising Young Woman, Parasite, Get Out, her, Manchester by the Sea, and Spotlight. This year, it was Sean Baker taking home the gold for Anora. Those of you who pay attention know that I’m often a huge fan of the Original Screenplay winners. In fact, some of the recent ones come in pretty highly here. Read on to find out just where Anora wound up placing, but spoiler alert, it comes in pretty high…

Here now are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, to date:

25. Little Miss Sunshine (Michael Arndt)

24. The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)

23. Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet and Arthur Harari)

22. Dog Day Afternoon (Frank Pierson)

21. Spotlight (Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer)

20. Juno (Diablo Cody)

19. Hannah and her Sisters (Woody Allen)

18. Chinatown (Robert Towne)

17. Everything Everywhere All At Once (The Daniels)

16. On the Waterfront (Budd Schulberg)

15. Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan)

14. The Apartment (I. A. L. Diamond and Billy Wilder)

13. Anora (Sean Baker)

12. Network (Paddy Chayefsky)

11. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola)

10. Parasite (Bong Joon Ho and Jin Won Han)

9. Good Will Hunting (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon)

8. Citizen Kane (Herman J. Mankiewicz and Orson Welles)

7. Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell)

6. Annie Hall (Woody Allen)

5. her (Spike Jonze)

4. The Producers (Mel Brooks)

3. Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe)

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Pierre Bismuth, Michel Gondry, and Charlie Kaufman)

1. Pulp Fiction (Roger Avary and Quentin Tarantino)

Honorable Mention: Belfast (Kenneth Branagh), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (William Goldman), The Candidate (Jeremy Larner), Dead Poets Society (Tom Schulman), Get Out (Jordan Peele), and Pillow Talk (Clarence Greene, Maurice Richlin, Russell Rouse, and Stanley Shapiro)

Stay tuned for another category later on this week or early next week!

The post The Top 25 Best Original Screenplay Winners So Far (Updated for 2025) appeared first on Awards Radar.

Folks, at the end of last week, I debuted my year in advance Oscar predictions piece. In it, I revealed my initial set of picks, while also more or less setting the stage for an unpredictable season. After all, it does seem like there are less overt contenders at the moment than we’ve had in the past. Still, there are films and performances to consider, so consider them we shall. What I didn’t do, however, was include the technical categories in my predictions. So, the movies that would show up there, they’re getting their moment in the sun now. Then, it’s just our garden variety season updates, ad the year progresses…

Today, I’m just doing some very slight tinkering, mainly a thing or two I might have forgotten about or re-ordered, as well as adding most of the below the line categories. Those tech fields are going to be unpredictable, though Wicked: For Good seems very safe for a lot of nominations. Everything else will just depend on the year. For example, right now Deliver Me From Nowhere or One Battle After Another would seem like likely nominees in a number of categories, while Avatar: Fire and Ash could be a below the line juggernaut. Come January? Who knows? That’s the fun of this, to be sure. So, just keep that in mind.

From here on, I’ll be updating my predictions from time to time. Mostly, it’ll be when it seems appropriate to do so. The next one will be likely after the Cannes Film Festival, though we’ll see. Right now, however, my picks in the mid April landscape can be seen, for whatever that’s worth…

Here now are my sure to be wrong Year in Advance predictions for the Academy Awards, fully written out for easy access. Behold:

BEST PICTURE

1. Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. One Battle After Another
3. Wicked: For Good
4. Jay Kelly
5. Marty Supreme
6. Bugonia
7. Hamnet
8. Sentimental Value
9. Eleanor the Great
10. Avatar: Fire and Ash

Next in Line: 11. The Ballad of a Small Player 12. The Life of Chuck 13. Highest 2 Lowest 14. The Smashing Machine 15. Caught Stealing 16. Is This Thing On? 17. After the Hunt 18. Untitled Kathryn Bigelow White House Thriller 19. Die, My Love 20. The Lost Bus 21. A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey 22. Frankenstein 23. Anemone 24. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery 25. F1

Also Consider: 26. Eddington 27. Hedda 28. The History of Sound 29. Blue Moon 30. Good Fortune

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
2. Jon M. Chu – Wicked: For Good
3. Scott Cooper – Deliver Me From Nowhere
4. Chloé Zhao – Hamnet
5. Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Next in Line: 6. Yorgos Lanthimos – Bugonia 7. Noah Baumbach – Jay Kelly 8. Benny Safdie – The Smashing Machine 9. Scarlett Johansson – Eleanor the Great 10. Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ACTOR

1. Jeremy Allen White – Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. Timotheé Chalamet – Marty Supreme
3. Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
4. Paul Mescal – Hamnet
5. Dwayne Johnson – The Smashing Machine

Next in Line: 6. Daniel Day-Lewis – Anemone 7. Colin Farrell – The Ballad of a Small Player 8. Denzel Washington – Highest 2 Lowest 9. Oscar Isaac – Frankenstein 10. Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ACTRESS

1. June Squibb – Eleanor the Great
2. Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good
3. Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
4. Emma Stone – Bugonia
5. Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

Next in Line: 6. Julia Roberts – After the Hunt 7. Jennifer Lawrence – Die, My Love 8. Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another 9. Sydney Sweeney – Untitled Christy Martin Movie 10. Tessa Thompson – Hedda

Also Consider: TBD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Jeremy Strong – Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
3. Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly
4. Jesse Plemons – Bugonia
5. Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Next in Line: 6. Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another 7. Josh O’Connor – The History of Sound 8. Bradley Cooper – Is This Thing On? 9. Idris Elba – Untitled Kathryn Bigelow Thriller 10. Jonathan Bailey – Wicked: For Good

Also Consider: TBD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Emily Blunt – The Smashing Machine
2. Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
3. Ayo Edebiri – After the Hunt
4. Regina Hall – One Battle After Another
5. Gaby Hoffman – Deliver Me From Nowhere

Next in Line: 6. Alicia Silverstone – Bugonia 7. Anne Hathaway – Mother Mary 8. Laura Dern  – Jay Kelly 9. Tilda Swinton – The Ballad of a Small Player 10. Emily Watson – Hamnet

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Jay Kelly
2. One Battle After Another
3. Sentimental Value
4. Marty Supreme
5. The Smashing Machine

Next in Line: 6. Eleanor the Great 7. Aneomone 8. Good Fortune 9. Untitled Kathryn Bigelow Thriller 10. After the Hunt

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. Bugonia
3. Hamnet
4. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
5. The Life of Chuck

Next in Line: 6. Wicked: For Good 7. The Ballad of a Small Player 8. Frankenstein 9. Highest 2 Lowest 10. Caught Stealing

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1. Elio
2. Zootopia 2
3. In Your Dreams
4. Predator: Killer of Killers
5. Fixed

BEST CASTING

1. Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. One Battle After Another
3. Marty Supreme
4. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
5. Wicked: For Good

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1. Wicked: For Good
2. Avatar: Fire and Ash
3. Deliver Me From Nowhere
4. One Battle After Another
5. The Phoenician Scheme

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. Wicked: For Good
3. One Battle After Another
4. F1
5. Avatar: Fire and Ash

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1. Wicked: For Good
2. Deliver Me From Nowhere
3. Hamnet
4. Frankenstein
5. Blue Moon

BEST FILM EDITING

1. Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. F1
3. One Battle After Another
4. Wicked: For Good
5. Avatar: Fire and Ash

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

1. Wicked: For Good
2. Frankenstein
3. The Smashing Machine
4. Mother Mary
5. Deliver Me From Nowhere

BEST SOUND

1. F1
2. Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning
3. Deliver Me From Nowhere
4. Wicked: For Good
5. Warfare

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1. Avatar: Fire and Ash
2. Mission Impossible – The Final Reckoning
3. Superman
4. Jurassic World: Rebirth
5. The Fantastic Four: First Steps

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1. One Battle After Another
2. Bugonia
3. F1
4. Frankenstein
5. Avatar: Fire and Ash

*The rest are TBD…*

Stay tuned for an update to these year in advance Oscar predictions as springtime continues on!

The post Year in Advance Oscar Predictions: All Options Are on the Table Now for The Academy (Part Two) appeared first on Awards Radar.

Too often, when AMPAS has made changes of late, they’ve almost always made the show, and the Oscars on the whole, worse. We don’t need to get into those missteps here, but the Academy has often shot itself in the foot. They’ve ignored their base or core audience in the hopes of seeking out and wooing an elusive audience member who may not actually be attainable. Here, it sure seems like their listening to cinephiles, as well as the artisans themselves who have been toiling away in comparative anonymity for all too long.

Now, on to the new categories. First up, a bit of clarification is likely necessary. In case you’re not aware, Best Achievement in Casting will go to the Casting Director, so it’s not a Best Ensemble prize. That distinction is important, since I think Ensemble is one of the Oscar categories that would be a bad idea. That would likely just pad the stats of Best Picture nominees, as opposed to doing anything notable. Casting spreads the wealth, since it can go to a wide variety of films.

Casting intrigues me since it could just as easily have gone to Anora last season as it could have to Dune: Part Two. Films both big and small with a wide variety of cast members can contend, which is a lot of fun. Essentially, almost any movie can be up for this prize. The Academy Awards are starting to nominate less films, even if their tastes are widening, so having all sorts of flicks in contention here, starting with this upcoming season, is a win.

Best Stunt Design, on the other hand, will favor blockbusters, of course, while honoring the Stunt Coordinators who have been campaigning for this recognition for years. As such, a Mission: Impossible win here wouldn’t give Tom Cruise an Oscar, so keep that in mind. However, the stunt work within flicks like that will still be honored, which is surely a win.

Stunts last season could certainly have gone to The Fall Guy, if not one of the Best Visual Effects nominees, but this category will have a nice little side effect with awards season. Now, with another potential nomination or even win on the table, mainstream blockbusters that might otherwise sit out Oscar season will now have to at least consider campaigning. Given the right film, it could also lead to some of these populist works getting additional nominations. If nothing else, more movies that more people have seen will be featured during Oscar night.

Now, it will take a few years for us to actually understand what the Academy is looking for with this categories. By the time we get to the 100th Academy Awards and the Stunts category is introduced, we’ll have a few Casting winners under their belt, which will help. For now, Oscar has done a good thing, with a lot to potentially look forward to. So, kudos to the Academy for listening and for doing the right thing. Onward and upward!

Thoughts on the new Oscar categories? Let us know!

The post It’s Refreshing to See the Academy Listen and Add the Correct New Oscar Categories appeared first on Awards Radar.

This week, we’re kicking it off with a big one, the Best Supporting Actor field. My Top 25 Supporting Actor winners are below, but first, a returning bit of commentary. For my money, this is often the most satisfying category of any Oscar night, winner-wise. It’s a place where industry veterans and character actors, as well as sometimes exciting newcomers, can take home the gold. The Academy almost never goes completely off the rails here, and that counts for something. Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight is tops for me, especially since it’s something that Oscar voters had never done before. Other top tier winners of the Supporting Actor prize? Well, for me, they’re Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda, Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, J.K. Simmons in Whiplash, Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds, and Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. Where do I currently rank Daniel Kaluuya for his Academy Award winning turn in Judas and the Black Messiah four years ago? How about Troy Kotsur for CODA three years ago? What of Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All At Once two years ago? And of course, where does last year’s winner in Robert Downey Jr. place for Oppenheimer fall? Does Kieran Culkin break in at a high position this year for A Real Pain? Read on to find out…

Here are what I consider to be the 25 best winners of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, to date:

25. Morgan Freeman – Million Dollar Baby
24. Gene Hackman – Unforgiven
23. Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah
22. Jack Lemmon – Mister Roberts
21. Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer
20. Jack Nicholson – Terms of Endearment
19. Benicio del Toro – Traffic
18. Troy Kotsur– CODA
17. Martin Landau – Ed Wood
16. Chris Cooper – Adaptation
15. Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
14. Christian Bale – The Fighter
13. Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
12. Michael Caine – Hannah and her Sisters
11. Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
10. Robert De Niro – The Godfather Part II
9. Cuba Gooding Jr. – Jerry Maguire
8. Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men
7. Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
6. Joe Pesci – Goodfellas
5. Robin Williams – Good Will Hunting
4. Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
3. J.K. Simmons – Whiplash
2. Kevin Kline – A Fish Called Wanda
1. Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

Honorable Mention: Louis Gossett Jr. – An Officer and a Gentleman, George Kennedy – Cool Hand Luke, Karl Malden – A Street Car Named Desire, Christopher Plummer – Beginners, Missouri, Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies, and Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained

Stay tuned for another category early next week!

The post The Top 25 Best Supporting Actor Winners So Far (Updated for 2025) appeared first on Awards Radar.

The past few Oscar seasons have certainly been instructive in some ways. For one, the last few years have proven that when it comes to Best Picture and statistics, only those from this modern era of preferential balloting need apply, full stop. For example, this particular reading made CODA make a lot more sense than a longer read on the category in its year, with the same being said three years for Everything Everywhere All At Once. Two years ago, however, Oppenheimer just ran away with it, negating some of the sleuthing we usually do. Then, this past year, Anora threaded a real interesting needle by dominating, which historical statistics would have predicted, but in the vessel of an independent film that previously would be far afield from what the Academy honors in that manner. That being said, at this early juncture, it’s very much still just a crapshoot.

The Academy is absolutely impossible to read a year out, anytime I do this, but even more so nowadays, even in light of what felt like a traditional pick last time. Just look at what I was predicting last year here (you’ll notice the commentary is even similar, since there’s nothing but blind speculation this early), with the year before right here, and the year before that here. Several of my Best Picture picks actually made the cut in recent years, including the eventual winners, but there’s always plenty of swings and misses. Sometimes, your assumptions about voters can even work against you. For example, last year I held back on going for Anora due to Sean Baker just not connecting with AMPAS. Oops. I once again fully expect to do badly this time around, but that’s just the nature of the beast. Mostly, this is something not to take too seriously. so, have fun with it!

Especially with nominations, voters are looking towards fare they never used to consider, even if some titles do feel on the traditional side. Winners still are seen as a step or two behind the times (though Anora and Everything Everywhere All At Once really pushed things forward in both cases, while Oppenheimer sort of has a foot in both worlds), but that could be changing. Plus, thinking about the winner in any given category right now is absurd and foolish. Nominees, on the other hand? No, still foolish, but I’m a fool. That being said, you can look at the recent tendencies of the Academy and know that their Oscar ballots are, at least in Phase One, more open minded than ever.

I normally like to tell a story with my early predictions, but I don’t know the plot yet, so my picks are again a little bit all over the place. There’s seemingly bigger contenders like Deliver Me From Nowhere and Wicked: For Good that can build on last year’s successes for A Complete Unknown and Wicked, as well as baity titles like Bugonia, Marty Supreme, and One Battle After Another. Then, it’s just hunches. For example, what to make of Jay Kelly? Moreover, it seems foolish to bet against James Cameron with Avatar: Fire and Ash. I’ll dig in on all of the possibilities soon, but this is just scratching the surface.

Below, you can see my advance Oscar predictions (they’ll be uploaded into the predictions section once I have the time, as it’s a labor intensive process, so apologies if they’re not up when you click). We shall see what happens, but this list is sure to change once I give it an update, likely in a month or two, though you’ll see a second part to this next week, as I recently explained. Below is the above the line categories, with below the line coming in a week, so stay tuned there…

Here now are my sure to be wrong Year in Advance predictions for the Academy Awards, written out for easy access. Behold:

BEST PICTURE

1. Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. One Battle After Another
3. Wicked: For Good
4. Jay Kelly
5. Marty Supreme
6. Bugonia
7. Hamnet
8. Sentimental Value
9. Eleanor the Great
10. Avatar: Fire and Ash

Next in Line: 11. The Ballad of a Small Player 12. The Life of Chuck 13. Highest 2 Lowest 14. The Smashing Machine 15. Caught Stealing 16. Is This Thing On? 17. After the Hunt 18. Untitled Kathryn Bigelow White House Thriller 19. Die, My Love 20. The Lost Bus 21. A Big, Bold, Beautiful Journey 22. Frankenstein 23. Anemone 24. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery 25. F1

Also Consider: TBD

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
2. Jon M. Chu – Wicked: For Good
3. Scott Cooper – Deliver Me From Nowhere
4. Chloé Zhao – Hamnet
5. Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

Next in Line: 6. Yorgos Lanthimos – Bugonia 7. Noah Baumbach – Jay Kelly 8. Benny Safdie – The Smashing Machine 9. Scarlett Johansson – Eleanor the Great 10. Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ACTOR

1. Jeremy Allen White – Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. Timotheé Chalamet – Marty Supreme
3. Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another
4. Paul Mescal – Hamnet
5. Dwayne Johnson – The Smashing Machine

Next in Line: 6. Daniel Day-Lewis – Anemone 7. Colin Farrell – The Ballad of a Small Player 8. Denzel Washington – Highest 2 Lowest 9. Oscar Isaac – Frankenstein 10. Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ACTRESS

1. June Squibb – Eleanor the Great
2. Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good
3. Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
4. Emma Stone – Bugonia
5. Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value

Next in Line: 6. Julia Roberts – After the Hunt 7. Jennifer Lawrence – Die, My Love 8. Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another 9. Sydney Sweeney – Untitled Christy Martin Movie 10. Tessa Thompson – Hedda

Also Consider: TBD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Jeremy Strong – Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
3. Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly
4. Jesse Plemons – Bugonia
5. Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

Next in Line: 6. Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another 7. Josh O’Connor – The History of Sound 8. Bradley Cooper – Is This Thing On? 9. Idris Elba – Untitled Kathryn Bigelow Thriller 10. Jonathan Bailey – Wicked: For Good

Also Consider: TBD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Emily Blunt – The Smashing Machine
2. Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
3. Ayo Edebiri – After the Hunt
4. Regina Hall – One Battle After Another
5. Gaby Hoffman – Deliver Me From Nowhere

Next in Line: 6. Alicia Silverstone – Bugonia 7. Anne Hathaway – Mother Mary 8. Laura Dern  – Jay Kelly 9. Tilda Swinton – The Ballad of a Small Player 10. Emily Watson – Hamnet

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Jay Kelly
2. One Battle After Another
3. Sentimental Value
4. Marty Supreme
5. The Smashing Machine

Next in Line: 6. Eleanor the Great 7. Aneomone 8. Good Fortune 9. Untitled Kathryn Bigelow Thriller 10. After the Hunt

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Deliver Me From Nowhere
2. Bugonia
3. Hamnet
4. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
5. The Life of Chuck

Next in Line: 6. Wicked: For Good 7. The Ballad of a Small Player 8. Frankenstein 9. Highest 2 Lowest 10. Caught Stealing

Also Consider: TBD

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

TBD

BEST CASTING

TBD

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

TBD

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

TBD

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

TBD

BEST FILM EDITING

TBD

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

TBD

BEST SOUND

TBD

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

TBD

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

TBD

*The rest are TBD…*

Stay tuned for Part Two of my year in advance Oscar predictions next week!

The post Year in Advance Oscar Predictions: All Options Are on the Table Now for The Academy (Part One) appeared first on Awards Radar.