Reacting to the 2025 Oscar Nominations (feat. Tansy Gardam)

David and Tansy react to this year's Oscar noms.

The Oscars nominations were announced today and I was pleased to be able to chat with Tansy Gardam from the Going Rogue podcast about what we thought of this year’s crop of nominees. Check out a video of our conversation below, along with some bullet points of my high-level thoughts.

• Emilia Perez scored an astounding 13 nominations, which is pretty incredible for a movie that no one I personally know has both 1) seen, and 2) thought was good.

• Anora put in a great showing, with nominations in major categories like Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor. It’s nice to see a relatively small indie critical darling can still get the Oscar spotlight.

• While Dune: Part Two was recognized with a few nominations, it really feels like the type of movie that would’ve swept the Oscars not too long ago. A great sci-fi epic that has spectacular filmmaking, is critically acclaimed and also made a boatload of money? Should be a shoo-in for all the major categories. (I could say the same about Conclave as well).

• I’m a bit surprised to see so much love for The Substance, a movie I thought was a blast, but isn’t typically the type of movie the Oscars honored. That said, lovely to see nominations for Coralie Fargeat for Best Director and Demi Moore for Best Actress.

• It’s cool to see The Apprentice score noms for both Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, both of whom impressed me in their respective roles. Stan in particular does something really remarkable: he captures the essence of Trump without resorting to a mere impression. It’s really something to see.

• I’m Still Here is quietly one of the best films of the year and it’s nice to see it get some more love in Best Picture and Best Actress.

What did you think of the nominations? Feel free to share your reactions in the comments. The full list of nominations is below.

Best picture

• "Anora" (Neon)

• "The Brutalist" (A24)

• "A Complete Unknown" (Searchlight)

• "Conclave" (Focus)

• "Dune: Part Two" (Warner Bros.)

• "Emilia Pérez" (Netflix)

• "I'm Still Here" (Sony Classics)

• "Nickel Boys" (Amazon/MGM)

• "The Substance" (Mubi)

• "Wicked" (Universal)

Best director

• Sean Baker, "Anora"

• Brady Corbet, "The Brutalist"

• James Mangold, "A Complete Unknown"

• Jacques Audiard, "Emilia Pérez"

• Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance"

Best actress

• Cynthia Erivo, "Wicked"

• Karla Sofia Gascón, "Emilia Pérez"

• Mikey Madison, "Anora"

• Demi Moore, "The Substance"

• Fernanda Torres, "I'm Still Here"

Best actor

• Adrian Brody, "The Brutalist"

• Timothée Chalamet, "A Complete Unknown"

• Colman Domingo, "Sing Sing"

• Ralph Fiennes, "Conclave"

• Sebastian Stan, "The Apprentice"

Best supporting actress

• Monica Barbaro, "A Complete Unknown"

• Ariana Grande, "Wicked"

• Felicity Jones, "The Brutalist"

• Isabella Rossellini, "Conclave"

• Zoe Saldaña, "Emilia Pérez"

Best supporting actor

• Yura Borisov, "Anora"

• Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain"

• Edward Norton, "A Complete Unknown"

• Guy Pearce, "The Brutalist"

• Jeremy Strong, "The Apprentice"

Best original screenplay

• "Anora," Sean Baker

• "The Brutalist," Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold

• "A Real Pain," Jesse Eisenberg

• "September 5," Tim Fehlbaum & Moritz Binder

• "The Substance," Coralie Fargeat

Best adapted screenplay

• "A Complete Unknown," Jay Cocks & James Mangold

• "Conclave," Peter Straughan

• "Emilia Pérez," Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain & Nicolas Livecchi

• "Nickel Boys," RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes

• "Sing Sing," Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin & John "Divine G" Whitfield

Best international feature

• "I'm Still Here," Walter Salles (Brazil)

• "The Girl with the Needle," Magnus von Horn (Denmark)

• "Emilia Pérez," Jacques Audiard (France)

• "The Seed of the Sacred Fig," Mohammad Rasoulof (Germany)

• "Flow," Miguel Gomes (Latvia)

Best documentary feature

• "Black Box Diaries," Shiori Itō (MTV)

• "No Other Land," Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham & Rachel Szor (No distributor)

• "Porcelain War," Brendan Bellomo & Slava Leontyev (Picturehouse)

• "Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat," Johan Grimonprez (Kino Lorber)

• "Sugarcane," Julian Brave NoiseCat & Emily Kassie (Nat Geo)

Best animated feature

• "Flow" (Janus Films/Sideshow)

• "Inside Out 2" (Disney/Pixar)

• "Memoir of a Snail" (IFC Films)

• "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl" (Aardman/Netflix)

• "The Wild Robot" (Dreamworks/Universal)

Best cinematography

• "The Brutalist," Lol Crawley

• "Dune: Part Two," Greig Fraser

• "Emilia Pérez," Paul Guillaume

• "Maria," Edward Lachman

• "Nosferatu," Jarin Blaschke

Best costume design

• "A Complete Unknown," Arianne Phillips

• "Conclave," Lisy Christl

• "Gladiator II," Janty Yates

• "Nosferatu," Linda Muir

• "Wicked," Paul Tazewell

Best film editing

• "Anora," Sean Baker

• "The Brutalist," Dávid Jancsó

• "Conclave," Nick Emerson

• "Emilia Pérez," Juliette Welfling

• "Wicked," Myron Kerstein

Best production design

• "The Brutalist," Judy Becker

• "Conclave," Suzie Davies

• "Dune: Part Two," Patrice Vermette

• "Nosferatu," Craig Lathrop

• "Wicked," Nathan Crowley

Best original score

• "The Brutalist," Daniel Blumberg

• "Conclave," Volker Bertelmann

• "Emilia Pérez," Clément Ducol & Camille

• "Wicked," John Powell & Stephen Schwartz

• "The Wild Robot," Kris Bowers

Best original song

• "Never Too Late," "Elton John: Never Too Late" (Elton John & Brandi Carlile)

• "El Mal," "Emilia Pérez" (Clement Ducol, Camille & Jacques Audiard)

• "Mi Camino," "Emilia Pérez" (Clement Ducol & Camille)

• "Like a Bird," "Sing Sing" (Adrian Quesada & Abraham Alexander)

• "The Journey," "The Six Triple Eight" (Diane Warren)

Best sound

• "A Complete Unknown"

• "Dune: Part Two"

• "Emilia Pérez"

• "Wicked"

• "The Wild Robot"

Best visual effects

• "Alien: Romulus"

• "Better Man"

• "Dune: Part Two"

• "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes"

• "Wicked"

Best makeup and hairstyling

• "A Different Man"

• "Emilia Pérez"

• "Nosferatu"

• "The Substance"

• "Wicked"

Best documentary short

• "Death by Numbers"

• "I Am Ready, Warden"

• "Incident"

• "Instruments of a Beating Heart"

• "The Only Girl in the Orchestra"

Best animated short

• "Beautiful Men"

• "In the Shadow of the Cypress"

• "Magic Candies"

• "Wander to Wonder"

• "Yuck!"

Best live-action short

• "A Lien"

• "Anuja"

• "I'm Not a Robot"

• "The Last Ranger"

• "The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent"