Blog: A Collection of 2025 Oscar Nominated Reviews

This weekend is the 97th Oscars! We covered film festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, Fantasia Film Festival and many more. Thank you to everyone one the team that contributed this past year. Click on the titles to read and listen the full reviews for each film! I’m Still Here was reviewed twice, once during NYFF and another when it came to theaters, both reviews are included below.

The Brutalist – 10 nominations

Direction wise, the scene that really stands out to me is the scene in the first half where László’s cousin kicks him out after a job gone wrong. Just the way the shot was framed, and lit, and edited together gave a sense of dread and despair I wasn’t expecting. Even the opening shots with the upside down statue of liberty screams bold direction, while not being ostentatious.

• Paulo Bautista

Conclave – 8 nominations

Edward Berger has crafted an immensely decadent thriller about the fate of the Catholic church. You have men all vying for the same crown where they each have their reasons for wanting power and not wanting to let others take control. The performances across the board are beyond fantastic. Ralph Finnes is a complicated man who is reserved to those around him, but is in full on Sherlock Holmes mode trying to investigate the skeletons just barely hiding in his cohort. 

• Dakota Arsenault

The Substance – 5 nominations

The heightened world Coralie Fargeat creates in The Substance is seemingly timeless and intoxicatingly stylish. It’s a world where the biggest star in Hollywood stays on top with an 80s-flavoured fitness program, and eternal youth is delivered as a bi-weekly subscription. The contrast between the sweat-soaked, overproduced, oversexualized weekly music video that replaces Elisabeth’s fitness show, and the grimy streets of nowhere-specific, Los Angeles makes visually explicit the artificial nature of show business. 

• Jeff Bulmer

I’m Still Here – 3 nominations

What really elevates this film though is its execution. Fernanda Torres has been lauded enough, but until she’s more of a sure thing for an Oscar nom, she should continue to receive praise. Being able to carry all those emotions of Eunice Paiva – the anger at the state, the fear for the husband, the strength to support her kids, the exhaustion, the stoicism, the stress, the joy when it comes – is no small feat. She alone is enough of a reason to watch this film.

• Paulo Bautista

I’m Still Here – 3 nominations

When the world resumes, it’s darker. Brazil under the dictatorship is rendered in harsh colours by Salles and cinematographer Adrian Tejido, especially once the Paivas are abducted for questioning. The prison holding Eunice is oppressively dark, almost fully black in several scenes – though Tejido accomplishes this without sacrificing visibility. After Eunice is released, the world seems more muted. Even if the locations are the same as before they were taken, the Paivas’ house looks a bit drearier, the beach a bit lonelier. In every shot, the film echoes the void left by Rubens.

• Jeff Bulmer

A Real Pain – 3 nominations

For me the film really comes down to two scenes. One is a dinner scene where David talks through his complicated feelings regarding Benji, and the other the final night of their trip talking about the future while smoking marijuana on the roof of their hotel, particularly how they’ve drifted apart. Months later I’m still not sure how I feel about the ending of this film. I don’t know whether or not David has perhaps improved his perception and relationship with Benji and that things will be better in the future, or that perhaps cynically they won’t and they’re still stuck in the cycle of highs and lows and that that’s just life. 

• Paulo Bautista

The Apprentice – 2 nominations

Over the course of the film, we see his reverence of Cohn turn to disgust, his kind heartedness towards his brother Fred, Jr. turn to contempt. With only minimal changes to its framing, Apprentice could be an uplifting film about a man refusing to break in the face of adversity. In a way, it’s a story of Trump achieving the American Dream. But Abbasi’s vision of that American Dream is cynical, one in which no Great Man becomes such without leaving a horrific trail of bodies in his wake.

• Jeff Bulmer

The Girl With The Needle – 1 nomination

The film’s subject matter is certainly one that remains extremely relevant, especially in light of recent social circumstances involving women’s health, rights and bodily autonomy. The performances are excellent and the black and white photography gives it a certain gritty feel. It’s dark, thought provoking, and one can’t help being drawn in by the plight of Karoline, and the various women we come across, all the while wondering what actions one would have taken in similar, often desperate, circumstances.

• Brodie Cotnam

A Different Man – 1 nomination

Stan is contrasted by Pearson, a man who people might recognize from the Jonathan Glazer film Under the Skin. Pearson acts like how we would expect someone that looks like Sebastian Stan would. His confidence is nauseating and his nonstop positive attitude is eye roll worthy. When he enters a room, your first assumption is what feat will he be unconsciously bragging about today. You hate this man purely because he lives his life to the fullest and doesn’t let anything get in his way (truly annoying behavior clearly). 

• Dakota Arsenault

No Other Land – 1 nomination

I think the only real endorsement I have to say about this film is this – of the 85 films I’ve seen this year, I’ve given 14 five stars (and two of those were films from last year for the Oscars that I was late getting to). Of all of those films, I would say that No Other Land is the singular film I think is a must watch…

• Paulo Bautista

Oscar Primer Blog Series

I also wrote about every feature film not nominated for Best Picture about the odds they have to win each of their respective awards.

Part 1 – The Wild Robot, Alien: Romulus and A Different Man

Part 2 – A Real Pain, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Memoir of a Snail and Gladiator II

Part 3 – Sing Sing, Maria, September 5 and Inside Out 2

Part 4 – Nosferatu, The Six Triple Eight and Black Box Diaries

Part 5 – Flow, The Girl With The Needle, Elton John: Never Too Late and Sugarcane

Part 6 – The Apprentice, Porcelain War and Better Man

Part 7 – No Other Land, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat and The Seed of the Sacred Fig

I also wrote my annual If We Were Oscar Voters blog post with former co-host Rachel Ho, where we pick who should have been nominated for every Oscar category.

Oscar Podcasts

Every year I break down the odds that all the Best Picture nominees have to win each of their awards along with reactions, predictions and a draft. Here is all the coverage leading up to the Oscars.

Episode 295: 2025 Oscar Nomination Reactions – Dakota and guest Alex Southey react to the nominees for the 2025 Oscars.

Episode 296: Anora’s Complete Brutalist – Dakota and guest Jeff Bulmer break down the odds that The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown and Anora have to win their respective nominations.

Episode 297: Emilia Substance: Part Two – Dakota and guest Ethan Simmie break down the odds that Emilia Pérez, Dune: Part Two and The Substance have to win their respective nominations.

Episode 298: I’m Still Wicked, Conclave Boys – Dakota and guest Paulo Bautista break down the odds that Wicked, Conclave, I’m Still Here and Nickel Boys have to win their respective nominations.

Episode 299: 2025 Oscar Draft – Dakota and guests Thomas Stoneham-Judge, Brodie Cotnam and Alex Watson draft Oscar nominated films to see who can get the most wins on Oscar night.

Episode 300: 2025 Oscar Predictions – Dakota and guest Elizabeth Mulloy predict who they think will win each Oscar category.