Oscar 2026 and TFF

OSCAR 2026 AND TFF

Just a brief TFF check this morning post-Oscar.

TELLURIDE FILMS EARN SEVEN OSCARS

Guillermo Del Toro's was the most honored film that played Telluride last Labor Day with three wins last night: Best Production Design, Best Makeup/Hair Design and Best Costume design.

Four other TFF films won single Oscars:

Hamnet: Best Actress-Jesse Buckley

Sentimental Value (Norway): Best International Feature

All the Empty Rooms: Best Documentary Short

Two People Exchanging Saliva: Best Live Action Short (in a tie, unbelievably, with The Singers)

OVERALL

One Battle After Another was the big winner of the evening with six Oscars: Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Actor (Sean Penn) Adapted Screenplay, Editing and Casting.

Sinners was next with four wins: Best Actor (Michael B. Jordan), Original Screenplay, Score and Cinematography.

Frankenstein with three...listed above

K-pop Demon Hunters with two: Best Animated Feature, Original Song

Single wins for:

Hamnet, Sentimental Value, All the Empty Rooms and Two People Exchanging Saliva listed above.  And...

Weapons: Best Supporting Actress; Amy Madigan

Mr. Nobody Against Putin: Best Documentary Feature

Avatar: Fire and Ash: Best Visual Effects

F1: Sound

The Singers: Best Live Action Short (tie)

AND THE BLOG...

2026 might have been my best year for predicting ever. 20.5 (that's how I'm counting the Live Action tie) out of 24 categories for a 85.4% accuracy rate.  I missed Best Casting, Documentary Feature and Cinematography.  And in each of those three categories, I had the winner listed as the "Could Be".

In as far as where I would have ended up with regard to comparison with Gold Derby's Experts... Well, they counted an answer of  either Two People or The Singers as fully correct.  Using that same metric I would have tied their experts for the top spot.  They counted those as 87.5% accurate.  Had I been listed I would have tied with Mark Johnson (Awards Watch and The Contending), Tomris Laffly (Freelance), Gregory Ellwood (The Playist), Scott Feinberg (The Hollywood Reporter) and Pete Hammond (Deadline).

Here's the link to The Gold Derby results.

Again, for the third year...Gold Derby...I'm awaiting my invitation to join your crew of experts for next year.

Now...onto puzzling out the 2026 version of Telluride.  For those who are curious, for whatever reasons, I am planning to be in The Ride for the festival again this year.

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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

Ten 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.

Two People Exchanging Saliva (1): Best Live Action Short (screened at TFF #50)

More on Monday!!!

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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

Paul Mescal for Hamnet from Awards Watch.

Jesse Buckley (and others) for Hamnet from Gold Derby.

Jaochim Trier and Eskil Vogt for Sentimental value from Awards Radar. 

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com

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