Monday, January 26, 2026

Oscar Odds and Ends / Trailer for Tuner / Visitations: Sentimental Value

OSCAR ODDS AND ENDS



Now that we have Oscar nominees, here are some tidbits about what did and didn't happen:

*MTFB goes 95/125 in predicting the nominees.  That's a 76% accuracy rate and slightly below my average percentage for accuracy.

*By comparison my accuracy would have tied me for ninth among Gold Deby's 45 Experts and second among their editors.  Not as good as last year, but still not bad...again Gold Derby, waiting on my invitation to be on the panel next year.

*Best categories (where I got all the nominees correct) were: Adapted Screenplay and Animated Feature.  Of categories where I missed one nominee, four had the fifth nominee listed as the first "other" possibility: Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actress and International Feature.

*Worst category for me was Animated Short where I went an abysmal one out of five.  As a matter of fact the "Shorts" categories again were the biggest boondoggle to my prediction success as I only got seven right of the possible 15 in those three categories.  Leaving them out I was at 80% accuracy for the feature categories.

*Biggest surprise and disappointment was Paul Mescal missing for Supporting Actor in Hamnet.  I would have also liked to have seen Oscar Isaac in Best Actor and Guillermo Del Toro for Best Direction for Frankenstein.  A Supporting Actor nomination for Andrew Scott in Blue Moon would have been nice too.

*TFF's five Oscar Best Picture nominees (again a TFF record for number of films that played the fest and then were nominated for Best Picture) and where they landed on MTFB's People's, Pros and Composite polls:

Hamnet: Pros #1, Peeps #1, Composite #1
Sentimental Value: Pros #2, Peeps #3, Composite #2
Bugonia: Pros #9, Peeps #2, Composite #4
Frankenstein:  Pros #12, Peeps #9, Composite #10
The Secret Agent didn't have enough views from either the Pros or the People to qualify for the polls.
 

*CORRECTION...An eagle-eyed reader of the blog was kind enough to point out that TFF #51 short Two People Exchanging Saliva was a nominee for Best Live Action Short. That moves to 10 the number of TFF films nominated for a total of 40 nominations.


TRAILER FOR TUNER

Here's a new trailer for Tuner.  The film premiered at Telluride on Aug. 30th, 2025.  Here's its official trailer from Black Bear via YouTube:




VISITATIONS: SENTIMENTAL VALUE




Writer-Director Joachim Trier from Pop Culture Confidential.

Oscar nominee Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas from Pop Culture Confidential.



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Thursday, January 22, 2026

2026 Oscar Nominees Announced

2026 OSCAR NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

TFF #52 films are in Bold.


Best Picture

Bugonia

F1

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams


Best Director

Chloé Zhao, Hamnet

Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value

Ryan Coogler, Sinners


Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme

Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another

Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon

Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent


Best Actress

Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue

Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value

Emma Stone, Bugonia


Best Supporting Actor

Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein

Delroy Lindo, Sinners

Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value


Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan, Weapons

Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners

Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another


Best International Feature

The Secret Agent

It Was Just an Accident

Sentimental Value

Sirât

The Voice of Hind Rajab


Best Animated Feature

Arco

Elio

KPop Demon Hunters

Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

Zootopia 2


Best Documentary Feature

The Alabama Solution

Come See Me in the Good Light

Cutting Through Rocks

Mr Nobody Against Putin

The Perfect Neighbor


Best Original Screenplay

Blue Moon

It Was Just an Accident

Marty Supreme

Sentimental Value

Sinners


Best Adapted Screenplay

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Train Dreams


Best Casting

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

The Secret Agent

Sinners


Best Film Editing

F1

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners


Best Cinematography

Frankenstein

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Train Dreams


Best Production Design

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sinners


Best Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Marty Supreme

Sinners


Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Frankenstein

Kokuho

Sinners

The Smashing Machine

The Ugly Stepsister


Best Original Song

"Dear Me," Diane Warren: Relentless

"Golden," KPop Demon Hunters

"I Lied to You," Sinners

"Sweet Dreams of Joy," Viva Verdi!

"Train Dreams," Train Dreams


Best Original Score

Bugonia

Frankenstein

Hamnet

One Battle After Another

Sinners


Best Sound

F1

Frankenstein

One Battle After Another

Sinners

Sirât


Best Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash

F1

Jurassic World: Rebirth

The Lost Bus

Sinners


Best Live-Action Short

Butcher's Stain

A Friend of Dorothy

Jane Austen's Period Drama

The Singers

Two People Exchanging Saliva


Best Animated Short

Butterfly

Forevergreen

The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Retirement Plan

The Three Sisters


Best Documentary Short

All the Empty Rooms

Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud

Children No More: "Were and Are Gone"

The Devil Is Busy

Perfectly a Strangeness



TFF #52 SETS RECORD

Five Telluride Films were nominated for Best Picture this morning which sets a new record for the fest.  Previously the record had been four.  The five are:

Bugoina
Frankenstein
Hamnet
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value

Nine TFF #52 films were nominated this morning led by Frankenstein and Sentimental Value with nine each.  Hamnet was close behind with eight. TFF #52 films were nominated for a combined 39 Oscars.  Here's the breakdown in for each film:

Frankenstein (9): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Elordi), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Score, Production Design, Costumes, Make/Hair and Sound.

Sentimental Value (9): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actress (Fanning), Supporting Actress (Lilleaas), Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Original Screenplay, International Feature and Cinematography.

Hamnet (8): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Buckley), Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Score, Production Design and Costumes.

Bugonia (4): Best Picture, Actress (Stone), Adapted Screenplay and Score.

The Secret Agent (4): Best Picture, Actor (Moura), International Feature and Casting.

Blue Moon (2): Best Actor (Hawke) and Original Screenplay.

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (1): Best Actress (Byrne).

It Was Just an Accident (1): Best Original Screenplay.

All the Empty Rooms (1): Best Documentary Short.


More on Monday!!!




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Wednesday, January 21, 2026

MTFB'S Final Oscar Nomination Predictions for All 24 Categories / The Experts Weigh In

MTFB's Final Oscar Nomination Predictions:

BEST PICTURE




1) One Battle After Another (1)
2) Hamnet (3)
3) Sinners (2)
4) Marty Supreme (4)
5) Frankenstein (6)
6) Sentimental Value (5)
7) It Was Just an Accident (7)
8) Train Dreams (8)
9) The Secret Agent (NR)
10) Bugonia (10)


Others: F1, Wicked: for Good and Weapons.
 

BEST DIRECTION

1) Paul Thomas Anderson/OBAA (1)
2) Ryan Coogler/Sinners (2)
3) Chloe Zhao/Hamnet (3)
4) Guillermo Del Toro/Frankenstein (4)
5) Joachim Trier/Sentimental Value (5)

Others: Jafar Panhani/It Was Just an AccidentJosh Safdie/Marty Supreme and Kleber Mendanca Filho/The Secret Agent.



BEST ACTRESS

1) Jesse Buckley/Hamnet (1)
2) Rose Byrne/If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2)
3) Renee Reinsve/Sentimental Value (3)
4) Emma Stone/Bugonia (4)
5) Chase Infiniti/OBAA (5)

Others: Kate Hudson/Song Sung Blue , Amanda Seyfreid/The Testament of Ann Lee and Cynthia Erivo/Wicked: For Good.


BEST ACTOR

1) Timothee Chalamet/Marty Supreme (1)
2) Leonardo DiCaprio/OBAA (2)
3) Walter Moura/The Secret Agent (3)
4) Ethan Hawke/Blue Moon (4)
5) Michael B. Jordan/Sinners (5)

Others: Joel Edgerton/Train Dreams, Jesse Plemons/Bugonia and George Clooney/Jay Kelly


SUPPRORTING ACTRESS



1) Teyana Taylor/One Battle After Another (1)
2) Amy Madigan/Weapons (2)
3) Ariana Grande/Wicked" For Good (3)
4) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas/Sentimental Value (4)
5) Elle Fanning/Sentimental Value (5)

Others: Wunmi Mosaku/Sinners, Regina Hall/One Battle After Another and Odessa A'Zion/Marty Supreme.


SUPPORTING ACTOR




1) Stellan Skarsgard/Sentimental Value (1)
2) Benicio del Toro/One Battle After Another (2)
3) Jacob Elordi/Frankenstein (3)
4) Sean Penn/One Battle After Another (4)
5) Paul Mescal/Hamnet (5)

Others: Adam Sandler/Jay Kelly, Miles Caton/Sinners and DelRoy Lindo/Sinners.


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY


1) Sinners (1)
2) Marty Supreme (2)
3) Sentimental Value (3)
4) It Was Just an Accident (4)
5) Weapon (5)

Others: Sorry, Baby, Jay Kelly and The Secret Agent.


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) One Battle After Another (1)
2) Hamnet (2)
3) Train Dreams (3)
4) Frankenstein (4)
5) Bugonia (5)

Others: No Other Choice, Wakeup Dead Man and Nuremburg.


BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE




1) Sentimental Value (Norway) (1)
2) It Was Just an Accident (France) (2)
3) The Secret Agent (Brazil) (3)
4) Sirat (4)
5) No Other Choice (South Korea) (5)

Others: The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia), Left-Handed Girl (Taiwan) and Kukuho (Japan).


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE


1) The Perfect Neighbor (1)
2) 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2)
3) Cover-Up (3)
4) The Alabama Solution (4)
5) Apocalypse in the Tropics (*TFF #51) (NR)

Others: Come See Me in the Good Light, My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 and Mr. Nobody Against Putin.


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) K-Pop Demon Hunters (1)
2) Zootopia 2 (2)
3) Arco (3)
4) Little Amelie or the Character of Rain (4)
5) Elio (5)

Others: In Your Dreams, Demon Slayer, The Magnificent Life.


BEST CASTING




1) Sinners (1)
2) One Battle After Another (2)
3) Marty Supreme (3)
4) Hamnet (4)
5) Wicked: For Good (4)

Others: Frankenstein, Sentimental Value and Weapons.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1) Sinners (1)
2) One Battle after Another (2)
3) Hamnet (3)
4) Train Dreams (4)
5) Frankenstein (5)

Others: F1, Marty Supreme and Bugonia.


BEST EDITING

1) One Battle After Another (1)
2) Sinners (2)
3) F1 (3)
4) Marty Supreme (4)
5) Hamnet (5)

Others: Frankenstein, It Was Just an Accident and Sentimental Value.


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE




1) Sinners (1)
2) One Battle After Another (2)
3) Hamnet (3)
4) Frankenstein (4)
5) Train Dreams (5)

Others: F1, Marty Supreme and Sirat.


ORIGINAL SONG

1) Golden/K Pop Demon Hunters (1)
2) I Lied to You/Sinners (2)
3) Dear Me/Diane Warren: Relentless (3)
4) Last Time (I Seen the Sun)/Sinners (4)
5) Train Dreams/Train Dreams (5)

Others: The Girl in the Bubble/Wicked: For Good, Dream as One/Avatar: Fire and Ash.


PRODUCTION DESIGN

1) Frankenstein (1)
2) Sinners (2)
3) Hamnet (3)
4) Wicked: For Good (4)
5) Marty Supreme (5)

Others: Avatar: Fire and Ash, One Battle After Another and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.


COSTUME DESIGN


1) Frankenstein (1)
2) Wicked: For Good (2)
3) Sinners (3)
4) Hamnet (4)
5) Hedda (5)

Others: The Testament of Ann Lee, Marty Supreme and Kiss of the Spiderman.


MAKEUP AND HAIR


1) Frankenstein (1)
2) Wicked: For Good (2)
3) Sinners (3)
4) The Smashing Machine (4)
5) Kokuho (5)

Others: One Battle After Another, Marty Supreme and Nuremburg.


SOUND DESIGN

1) F1 (2)
2) Sinners (1)
3) One Battle After Another (3)
4) Avatar: Fire and Ash (NR)
5) Wicked: For Good (4)

Others: Sirat, Frankenstein and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.


VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Avatar: Fire and Ash (1)
2) F1 (2)
3) Sinners (3)
4) Frankenstein (4)
5) Superman (5)


Others: Wicked: For Good, Jurassic World Rebirth and The Lost Bus.

ANIMATED SHORT

1) Eiru
2) Butterfly
3) Playing God
4) Snow Bear
5) Cardboard

Others: The Girl Who Cried Pearls, Hurikan, The Quinta's Ghost and The Shyness of Trees.


DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1) All the Empty Rooms
2) The Devil Is Busy
3) Armed With Only a Camera
4) All the Walls Came Down
5) Chasing Time

Others: Classroom 4, We Were the Scenery and Perfectly a Strangeness.


LIVE ACTION SHORT

1) Two People Exchanging Saliva
2) Rock, Paper, Scissors
3) The Singers
4) Extremist
5) Jane Austen's Period Drama

Others: Beyond Silence, Pantyhose and The Boy with White Skin.



THE EXPERTS WEIGH IN

Here's a rundown of how some Oscar experts are predicting nominations for Telluride films:

***VARIETY

Hamnet (10): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Buckley), Supporting Actor (Mescal), Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Production Design, Costumes, Editing and Score.

Frankenstein (10): Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Actor (Elordi), Adapted Screenplay, Production Design, Cinematography, Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Sound and Score.

Sentimental Value (7): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Supporting Actress (Lilleaas), Original Screenplay, International Feature.

Bugonia (4): Best Picture, Actress (Stone), Adapted Screenplay and Production Design.

The Secret Agent (4): Best Picture, Actor (Moura), Casting and International Feature.

Blue Moon (2) Best Actor (Hawke) and Original Screenplay.

Single nominations:

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You: Best Actress (Byrne).
It Was Just and Accident: Best International Feature.
All the Empty Rooms: Best Documentary Short.
All the Walls Came Down: Best Documentary Short.
Extremist: Best Live Action Short.

Variety has 11 TFF films earning 42 nominations.




***INDIEWIRE

Frankenstein (12): Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Actor (Elordi), Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Cinematography, Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Score, Production Design, Sound and Visual Effects.

Hamnet (10): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Buckley), Supporting Actor (Mescal), Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Costumes, Editing, Score and Production Design.

Sentimental Value (5): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Supporting Actress (Lilleaas), Original Screenplay, International Feature.

Bugonia (3): Best Picture, Actress (Stone) and Adapted Screenplay.

The Secret Agent (3): Best Picture, Actor (Moura) and International Feature.

It Was Just an Accident (2): Best International Feature and Original Screenplay.

Single nominations for:

Blue Moon: Best Actor (Hawke).
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You: Best Actress (Byrne).
Cover-Up: Best Documentary.
All the Empty rooms: Best Documentary Short.
All the Walls Came Down: Best Documentary Short.
Extremist: Best Live Action Short.

Indiewire has 11 TFF films with 41 nominations.



***NEXT BEST PICTURE

Hamnet (11): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Buckley), Supporting Actor (Mescal), Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Editing, Cinematography, Costumes, Production Design and Score.

Frankenstein (10): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Elordi), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Score, Production Design, Sound and Visual Effects.

Sentimental Value (8): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actress (Lilleaas),, Supporting Actor (Skarsgard) Original Screenplay, Casting and International Feature.

It Was Just an Accident (4): Best Picture, Direction, Original Screenplay, International Feature.

Bugonia (3): Best Picture, Actress (Stone)and Adapted Screenplay.

The Secret Agent (3): Best Picture, Actor (Moura) and International Feature.

Single nominations for:

Blue Moon: Best Actor (Hawke).
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You: Best Actress (Byrne).
Apocalypse in the Tropics: Best Documentary (TFF #51)
All the Empty Rooms: Best Documentary Short.
All the Walls Came Down: Best Documentary Short.

NBP has 11 TFF films earning 44 nominations.




***THE CONTENDING

Hamnet (11): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Buckley), Supporting Actor (Mescal), Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Editing, Cinematography, Costumes, Production Design and Score.

Frankenstein (10): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Elordi), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Score, Production Design, Sound and Visual Effects.

Sentimental Value (7): Best Picture, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Supporting Actress (Lilleaas), Original Screenplay, Casting and International Feature.

The Secret Agent (4): Best Picture, Actor (Moura), Original Screenplay and International Feature.

It Was Just an Accident (4): Best Picture, Direction, Original Screenplay and International Feature.

Bugonia (3): Best Picture, Actress (Stone) and Adapted Screenplay.

Single nominations for:

Blue Moon: Best Actor (Hawke).
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You: Best Actress (Byrne).
Cover-Up: Best Documentary.
All the Empty Rooms: Best Documentary Short.
All the Walls Came Down: Best Documentary Short.

The Contending has 11 TFF films earning 44 nominations.







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Monday, January 19, 2026

MTFB Oscar Take: Shorts / Oscar 2026 Commentary / Trailer for H Is for Hawk / Visitations: Mescal, Buckley and More

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: SHORTS

Here's the first, and perhaps only, MTFB predictions for nominees in the three Shorts categories.  The shorts categories are often the categories that determine winners of Oscar pools owing to the limited availability of viewing.  So take these all with an incredibly large dose of salt... TFF #52 Shorts are in Bold.





ANIMATED SHORT

1) Eiru
2) Butterfly
3) Playing God
4) Snow Bear
5) Cardboard

Others: The Girl Who Cried Pearls, Hurikan, The Quinta's Ghost and The Shyness of Trees.


DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1) All the Empty Rooms
2) The Devil Is Busy
3) Armed With Only a Camera
4) All the Walls Came Down
5) Chasing Time

Others: Classroom 4, We Were the Scenery and Perfectly a Strangeness.


LIVE ACTION SHORT

1) Two People Exchanging Saliva
2) Rock, Paper, Scissors
3) The Singers
4) Extremist
5) Jane Austen's Period Drama

Others: Beyond Silence, Pantyhose and The Boy with White Skin.


OSCAR 2026 COMMENTARY




Well, we'll know Thursday when The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces the performers and films that received a sufficient number of votes to earn an Oscar nomination in 24 categories.

24 categories this year with the addition of a Best Casting category.  It'll be interesting to see how this category has been adjudicated because the criteria is murky.  Will the five films nominated here line up with Best Picture nominees.  Can you get nominated here if your film has no individual acting nominees?

Sure Things?  Some notes about what seem to be locks.

Best Picture: One Battle After Another, Hamnet, Sinners, Sentimental Value and Frankenstein.  Then the last four spots look like a free -for-all between It Was Just an Accident, Train Dreams, Bugonia, The Secret Agent, Wicked: For Good, and F1.  Outside possibility: Blue Moon.

Locks in other categories: 

Paul Thomas Anderson: Best Direction
Jesse Buckley: Best Actress
Stellan Skarsgard: Best Supporting Actor
Sinners: Best Original Screenplay
K-Pop Demon Hunters: Best Animated Feature
Sinners: Best Cinematography
Sinners: Best Score
K-Pop Demon Hunters: Best Original Song
Frankenstein: Makeup/Hair
Avatar: Fire and Ice: Best Visual Effects
Frankenstein: Costume Design

Most Competitive Categories:

Best Picture: One Battle, Sinners and Hamnet. 
Best Actor: Chalamet and DiCaprio.
Best Supporting Actress: Taylor and Madigan.
Best Adapted Screenplay: One Battle and Hamnet.
Best International Feature: Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident and The Secret Agent.
Best Sound: Sinners and F1

MTFB will have a special post on Wednesday with final nomination predictions.

TRAILER FOR H IS FOR HAWK

From YouTube:





VISITATIONS







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Thursday, January 15, 2026

MTFB Oscar Take: Updates to Above the Line Categories / Online Film Critics Nominees / Visitations: Hamnet

 UPDATES TO ABOVE THE LINE CATEGORIES

Here's the latest take on the eight "Above the Line " categories for Oscar nominations that are being announced one week from today.  TFF #52 films are indicated in Bold.


BEST PICTURE




1) One Battle After Another (1)
2) Hamnet (3)
3) Sinners (2)
4) Marty Supreme (4)
5) Frankenstein (6)
6) Sentimental Value (5)
7) It Was Just an Accident (7)
8) Train Dreams (8)
9) The Secret Agent (NR)
10) Bugonia (10)


Others: Wicked: for Good, F1 and Weapons.
 


BEST DIRECTION

1) Paul Thomas Anderson/OBAA (1)
2) Ryan Coogler/Sinners (3)
3) Chloe Zhao/Hamnet (2)
4) Guillermo Del Toro/Frankenstein (NR)
5) Joachim Trier/Sentimental Value (5)

Others: Jafar Panhani/It Was Just an AccidentJosh Safdie/Marty Supreme and Kleber Mendanca Filho/The Secret Agent.



BEST ACTRESS




1) Jesse Buckley/Hamnet (1)
2) Rose Byrne/If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (3)
3) Renee Reinsve/Sentimental Value (2)
4) Emma Stone/Bugonia (4)
5) Chase Infiniti/OBAA (5)

Others: Kate Hudson/Song Sung Blue , Amanda Seyfreid/The Testament of Ann Lee and Cynthia Erivo/Wicked: For Good.


BEST ACTOR

1) Timothee Chalamet/Marty Supreme (1)
2) Leonardo DiCaprio/OBAA (2)
3) Walter Moura/The Secret Agent (3)
4) Ethan Hawke/Blue Moon (5)
5) Michael B. Jordan/Sinners (4)

Others: Joel Edgerton/Train Dreams, Jesse Plemons/Bugonia and George Clooney/Jay Kelly


SUPPRORTING ACTRESS




1) Teyana Taylor/One Battle After Another (1)
2) Amy Madigan/Weapons (2)
3) Ariana Grande/Wicked" For Good (3)
4) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas/Sentimental Value (4)
5) Elle Fanning/Sentimental Value (5)

Others: Wunmi Mosaku/Sinners, Regina Hall/One Battle After Another and Odessa A'Zion/Marty Supreme.


SUPPORTING ACTOR


1) Stellan Skarsgard/Sentimental Value (1)
2) Benicio del Toro/One Battle After Another (2)
3) Jacob Elordi/Frankenstein (5)
4) Sean Penn/One Battle After Another (3)
5) Paul Mescal/Hamnet (4)

Others: Adam Sandler/Jay Kelly, Miles Caton/Sinners and DelRoy Lindo/Sinners.


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY




1) Sinners (1)
2) Marty Supreme (3)
3) Sentimental Value (2)
4) It Was Just an Accident (4)
5) Weapon (NR)

Others: Sorry, Baby, Jay Kelly and The Secret Agent.


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) One Battle After Another (1)
2) Hamnet (2)
3) Train Dreams (3)
4) Frankenstein (5)
5) Bugonia (4)

Others: No Other Choice, Wakeup Dead Man and Nuremburg.


I'll have predictions on Monday for the Shorts categories as well as a look at the closest races.  Then on Wednesday MTFB will have a special post with final predictions in all 24 categories.



ONLINE FILM CRITICS NOMINATIONS

The Online Film Critics association announced their nominees for film excellence for 2025 on Monday.  Here's what happened with films that screened at TFF:

Sentimental Value (8): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actress (Illeaas), Supporting Actress (Fanning), Original Screenplay and Film Not in the English Language.

Hamnet (7): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Buckley), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design and Costume.

Frankenstein (7): Best Supporting Actor (Elordi), Cinematography, Score, Production Design, Costume, Makeup/Hair and Visual Effects.

It Was Just an accident (4): Best Picture, Direction, Original Screenplay and Film Not in the English Language.

The Secret Agent (3): Best Picture, Actor (Moura and Film Not in the English Language.

Bugonia (2): Best Actress (Stone) and Adapted Screenplay.

Single nominations for:

Blue Moon: Best Actor (Hawke)
If I had Legs I'd Kick You: Best Actress (Byrne).
Cover-Up: Best Documentary.


 


VISITATIONS: HAMNET












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Monday, January 12, 2026

MTFB Oscar Take: 3rd predictions for Production Design, Costumes, Makeup/Hair, Sound and Visual Effects / Golden Globes '26 and TFF #52 / BAFTA Longlists and TFF #52 / PGA and TFF #52

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: THIRD PREDICTIONS FOR PRODUCTION DESIGN, COSTUMES, MAKEUP/HAIR, SOUND AND VISUAL EFFECTS 


Today we update the final five feature categories with new predictions for Production Design, Makeup/Hair, Costumes, Sound and Visual Effects. A film's previous ranking is to he right of the title in parentheses. All TFF #52 films are in Bold.    Here they are:


PRODUCTION DESIGN



1) Frankenstein (1)
2) Sinners (2)
3) Hamnet (3)
4) Wicked: For Good (4)
5) Marty Supreme (5)

Others: Avatar: Fire and Ash, One Battle After Another and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.


COSTUME DESIGN


1) Frankenstein (1)
2) Wicked: For Good (2)
3) Sinners (3)
4) Hamnet (4)
5) Hedda (NR)

Others: The Testament of Ann Lee, Marty Supreme and Kiss of the Spiderman.


MAKEUP AND HAIR


1) Frankenstein (1)
2) Wicked: For Good (2)
3) Sinners (3)
4) The Smashing Machine (4)
5) Kokuho (NR)

Others: One Battle After Another, Marty Supreme and Nuremburg.


SOUND DESIGN




1) F1 (2)
2) Sinners (1)
3) One Battle After Another (3)
4) Avatar: Fire and Ash (NR)
5) Wicked: For Good (4)

Others: Sirat, Frankenstein and Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere.


VISUAL EFFECTS

1) Avatar: Fire and Ash (2)
2) F1 (1)
3) Sinners (5)
4) Frankenstein (3)
5) Superman (4)


Others: Wicked: For Good, Jurassic World Rebirth and The Lost Bus.


As of this morning's post if the MTFB Oscar Take is 100% accurate, ten TFF films will earn 41 nominations on announcement morning-Jan. 22nd.  Hamnet will lead TFF films with 11 nominations.  TFF #52 could also a year where five of the films that screened their earn Best Picture nominations which would be a record for the fest.

Here's how that could shake out:

Hamnet (11): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Buckley). Supporting Actor (Mescal), Adapted Screenplay, Casting, Costumes, Cinematography, Editing, Original Score and Production Design.

Frankenstein (9): Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Elordi), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Original Score, Production Design, Costumes, Makeup/Hair and Visual Effects.

Sentimental Value (8): Best Picture, Direction, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actress (Fanning and Lilleaas), Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Original Screenplay and International Feature.

It Was Just an Accident (4): Best Picture, Direction, International Feature and Original Screenplay.

Bugonia (3): Best Picture, Best Actress (Stone) and Adapted Screenplay.

The Secret Agent (2): Best Actor (Moura) and International Feature.

Blue Moon (1): Best Actor (Hawke).

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (1): Best Actress (Byrne).

Jay Kelly (1): Best Original Screenplay.

Cover-Up (1) Best Documentary.


GOLDEN GLOBES '26 AND TFF #52


Telluride films had a better than fair night at the Golden Globes with a win for Best Film/Drama for Chole Zhao.  Here are all the winners from TFF #52 films from last night's Golden Globes:

Best Film/Drama-Hamnet
Best Actor/Drama-Wagner Moura/The Secret Agent
Best Actress/Drama-Jesse Buckley
Best Actress/Comedy or Musical-Rose Byrne/If I Had legs I'd Kick You
Best Supporting Actor-Stellan Skarsgard/Sentimental Value
Best Motion Picture-Not in the English Language-The Secret Agent

Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another won the most hardware of the evening with four trophies: Best Film/Comedy or Musical, Best Supporting Actress (Taylor, Best Direction and Best Screenplay.




BAFTA LONGLISTS AND TFF #52




The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (The Brit Oscars, if you will) its "longlists" for its Film categories for 2025 last week.  The longlists serve as a first cut in BAFTA's nominating process.  Films have to make the longlists in various categories to be voted on for actual nominations.

19 TFF #52 (and #51) films drew 73 "mentions" in this winnowing process.  Chloe Zhao's Hamnet lead the TFF parade.  Here is the list of TFF films making BAFTA's longlists:

Hamnet (14): Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Direction, Adapted Screenplay, Actress (Buckley), Supporting Actress (Watson), Supporting Actor (Mescal), Cast, Cinematography, Costumes, Editing, Makeup/Hair, Score, Production Design.

Bugonia (12): Best Film, Direction, Adapted Screenplay, Actress (Stone), Actor (Plemons), Cinematography, Costumes, Editing, Makeup/Hair, Score, Production Design and Sound.

Frankenstein (12): Best Film, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (Elordi), Cast, Cinematography, Costumes, Editing, Makeup/Hair, Score, Production Design, Special Visual Effects and Sound.

Sentimental Value (8): Best Film, Best Film Not in the English Language, Direction, Original Screenplay, Actress (Reinsve), Supporting Actress (Lilleaas), Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Costumes.

Pillion (6): Outstanding British Film, Outstanding Debut, Adapted Screenplay, Actor Melling), Supporting Actor (Skarsgard), Cast.

Ballad of a Small Player (3): Outstanding British Film, Production Design, Cinematography.

Blue Moon (3): Best Original Screenplay, Actor (Hawke), Supporting Actor (Scott).

It Was Just an Accident (2): Best Film Not in the English Language, Original Screenplay.

The Secret Agent (2): Best Film Not in the English language, Original Screenplay.

Nouvelle Vague (2): Best film Not in the English Language, Costumes.

Single Mentions for:

H Is for Hawk: Outstanding British Film.
Urchin: Outstanding Debut.
La Grazia: Outstanding Film Not in the English Language.
Cover-Up: Documentary.
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You: Best Leading Actress (Byrne).
Jay Kelly: Best Supporting Actor (Sandler).
Apocalypse in the Tropics (TFF #51): Documentary.
Riefenstahl (TFF #51): Documentary.
One to One: john and Yoko (TFF #51): Documentary.



PGA AND TFF #52



The Producers Guild of America announced its ten choices/nominees for their Best Film award for 2025.  The list includes four films from TFF #52>  Here's the list with TFF #52 films in Bold:

“Bugonia” (Focus Features)
Ed Guiney, p.g.a., Andrew Lowe, p.g.a., Yorgos Lanthimos, p.g.a., Emma Stone, p.g.a., Lars Knudsen, p.g.a.

“F1” (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros.)
Nominees to be determined

“Frankenstein” (Netflix)
Guillermo Del Toro, p.g.a., J. Miles Dale, p.g.a., Scott Stuber, p.g.a.

“Hamnet” (Focus Features)
Liza Marshall, p.g.a., Pippa Harris, p.g.a., Sam Mendes, p.g.a., Steven Spielberg, p.g.a., Nicolas Gonda, p.g.a.

“Marty Supreme” (A24)
Nominees to be determined

“One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros.)
Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson

“Sentimental Value” (Neon)
Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar

“Sinners” (Warner Bros.)
Ryan Coogler, p.g.a., Zinzi Coogler, p.g.a., Sev Ohanian, p.g.a. 

“Train Dreams” (Netflix)
Marissa McMahon, p.g.a., Teddy Schwarzman, p.g.a., William Janowitz, p.g.a., Ashley Schlaifer, p.g.a., Michael Heimler, p.g.a.

“Weapons” (Warner Bros.)
Zach Cregger, p.g.a., Miri Yoon, p.g.a.




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Thursday, January 8, 2026

MTFB Oscar Update: Cinematography, Editing, Score and Song / SAG Nominees / ADG Nominees

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: UPDATES FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY, EDITING, SCORE AND SONG.

Here are MTFB's third predictions for nominations for cinematography, editing, score and song.  All TFF #52 films are Bold.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY




1) Sinners (1)
2) One Battle after Another (2)
3) Hamnet (3)
4) Train Dreams (5)
5) Frankenstein (4)

Others: F1, Marty Supreme and Bugonia.


BEST EDITING

1) One Battle After Another (1)
2) Sinners (2)
3) F1 (4)
4) Marty Supreme (5)
5) Hamnet (3)

Others: Frankenstein, It Was Just an Accident and Sentimental Value.


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE




1) Sinners (1)
2) One Battle After Another (2)
3) Hamnet (3)
4) Frankenstein (4)
5) Train Dreams (NR)

Others: F1, Marty Supreme and Sirat.


ORIGINAL SONG

1) Golden/K Pop Demon Hunters (1)
2) I Lied to You/Sinners (2)
3) Dear Me/Diane Warren: Relentless (3)
4) Last Time (I Seen the Sun)/Sinners (NR)
5) Train Dreams/Train Dreams (5)

Others: The Girl in the Bubble/Wicked: For Good, Dream as One/Avatar: fire and Ash.. 


SCREEN ACTORS GUILD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED




SAG announced their nominees for "The Actor" awards.  Here's the breakdown of films from TFF #52 and their nominations:

Hamnet (3): Best Cast, Best Female Lead (Buckley), Best Male Supporting (Mescal).
Frankenstein: (3) Best Cast, Best Supporting Male Actor (Elordi), Stunt Ensemble.
Bugonia: (2) Best Female Actor (Stone), Best Male Actor (Plemons).
Blue Moon (1): Best male Actor (Hawke).
If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (1): Best Female Actor (Byrne).



ART DIRECTORS GUILD AND TFF #52




TFF #52 films nominated for Art Directors Guild Awards earlier this week:

Frankenstein: Period Feature Film
Hamnet: Period Feature Film
Bugonia: Contemporary Feature Film

The ADG serves as a precursor for the Best Production Design Oscar.







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Monday, January 5, 2026

MTFB Oscar Take: International, Doc, Animated and Casting #3 / National Society of Film Critics and TFF #52/ Critics Choice Awards and TFF #52

MTFB OSCAR TAKE: SECOND PREDICTIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL, DOCUMENTARY AND ANIMATED FEATURES AND CASTING

Here's MTFB's third round of Oscar nomination predictions for these four categories.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE




1) Sentimental Value (Norway) (1)
2) It Was Just an Accident (France) (2)
3) The Secret Agent (Brazil) (3)
4) Sirat (5)
5) No Other Choice (South Korea) (4)

Others: The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia), Left-Handed Girl (Taiwan) and Kukuho (Japan).


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE


1) The Perfect Neighbor (1)
2) 2000 Meters to Andriivka (2)
3) Cover-Up (4)
4) The Alabama Solution (5)
5) My Undesirable Friends Part 1...(NR)

Others: Apocalypse in the Tropics*, Come See Me in the Good Light and Mr. Nobody Against Putin.


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1) K-Pop Demon Hunters (1)
2) Zootopia 2 (2)
3) Arco (3)
4) Little Amelie or the Character of Rain (4)
5) Elio (5)

Others: In Your Dreams, Demon slayer, The Magnificent Life.


BEST CASTING




1) Sinners (1)
2) One Battle After Another (2)
3) Marty Supreme (3)
4) Hamnet (4)
5) Wicked: For Good (4)

Others: Frankenstein, Sentimental Value and Weapons.


NATIONAL SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AWARDS




The National Society of Film Critics announced their awards for 2025 this past weekend.  Here's how TFF #52 showed:

The Secret Agent: Winner: Best Foreign Language Film, First Runner-up Actor (Moura), Second Runner-up Best Picture and Second Runner-up Screenplay.

It Was Just an Accident: Winner Best Screenplay, First Runner-up Film in a Foreign Language and First Runner-up Director.

Blue Moon: Winner Best Actor (Hawke), First Runner-up Screenplay, 2nd Runner-up Director.

Sentimental Value: Second Runner-up Film in a Foreign Language, 2nd Runner-up Actress (Reinsve), Second Runner-up Supporting Actress (Lilleaas), Second Runner-up Supporting Actor (Skarsgard).

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You: Forst Runner-up Actress (Byrne).

Nouvelle Vague: Second Runner-up Director (along with Blue Moon).



CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS AND TFF #52




Also occurring this past weekend were the Critics Choice Awards.  Here's how the films from TFF #52 fared:

Frankenstein (4): Best Supporting Actor (Elordi), Production Design, Costumes, Make-up/Hair.
Hamnet: Best Actress (Buckley)
Sentimental Value: Best Foreign Language Film


And coming up this week announcements from The Producers Guild, Directors Guild, SAG/Aftra (SAG Awards) and BAFTA's longlists.  Hold your breath!!!





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Thursday, January 1, 2026

MTFB Oscar Update: Supporting Acting and Screenplays #5 / Visitations: Maggie O'Farrell (author of Hamnet)

MTFB OSCAR UPDATE: SUPPORTING ACTING AND SCREENPLAYS

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!


Here's MTFB's fifth take on the Oscar races for the Supporting acting and Screenplay categories.  A film/performers previous rank is listed to the right in parentheses.  TFF #52 films are in Bold.


SUPPRORTING ACTRESS


1) Teyana Taylor/One Battle After Another (1)
2) Amy Madigan/Weapons (3)
3) Ariana Grande/Wicked" For Good (2)
4) Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas/Sentimental Value (5)
5) Elle Fanning/Sentimental Value (4)

Others: Wunmi Mosaku/Sinners, Regina Hall/One Battle After Another and Odessa A'Zion/Marty Supreme.


SUPPORTING ACTOR



1) Stellan Skarsgard/Sentimental Value (1)
2) Benicio del Toro/One Battle After Another (4)
3) Sean Penn/One Battle After Another (2)
4) Paul Mescal/Hamnet (3)
5) Jacob Elordi/Frankenstein (5) 

Others: Adam Sandler/Jay Kelly, DelRoy Lindo/Sinners and Adam Scott/ Blue Moon.


ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY


1) Sinners (1)
2) Sentimental Value (2)
3) Marty Supreme (3)
4) It Was Just an Accident (4)
5) Jay Kelly (5)

Others: Sorry, Baby, The Secret AgentWeapons and Blue Moon.


ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1) One Battle After Another (2)
2) Hamnet (1)
3) Train Dreams (4)
4) Bugonia (3)
4) Train Dreams (4)
5) Frankenstein (5)

Others: No Other Choice, Wakeup Dead man and Nuremburg.




VISITATIONS: MAGGIE O'FARRELL









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