What a night, especially for Sean Baker, the director of Best Picture winner, Anora! The film won five of the six of its Oscar nominations, surprising even those who had predicted it to win Best Picture. What does the indisputable success of a small indie film made for $6 million dollars (for reference, Wicked cost $150 million) with a 40-person crew mean for the future of movies? On this episode of The Long Take Review, we try to answer this question as well as react to the winners and losers more generally. Which wins made us happiest? Which were disappointing? Who had the best or worst speech? How many categories did we correctly predict, and in retrospect how should we have strategized differently? Join us to learn the answer to these questions, as well as P.T.’s bond theme preferences, the movie Greg’s pouring one out for, and Jen’s predictions for Wicked: For Good next year.

Thank you to all our listeners, family, and friends who have followed along with us this awards season! Our coverage all the more joyful because you were here with us.

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Easily, the biggest surprise of Oscar nomination morning was the Brazilian docudrama, I’m Still Here, making it into the Best Picture 10 in addition to being nominated for International Feature. We recently got a chance to catch up with Walter Salles’ film about a family targeted by a military dictatorship in 1971 and knew that we absolutely needed to squeeze a review in before the Oscars this Sunday. We try to explain why Best Actress nominee Fernanda Torres is so acclaimed, debate the film’s thesis, and have an extended conversation about a dog named Pimpão.

Note that we recorded this episode before we recorded our recently released Final Oscar Predictions episode and, therefore, before we knew who had won the SAG Awards. But if you want to hear our Oscar thoughts just on I’m Still Here, listen through to the end of this episode.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 17:35 minute mark. If you are still undecided as to whether or not you want to still be here for spoilers, you can listen safely until then.

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The Oscars are finally here! If you haven’t had time to watch all the films, but find yourself looking to predict some winners, we at The Long Take Review have got you covered. In an epic, record-breaking episode, we discuss who will win and who should win in every. single. category. So this is your one stop shop for help with your Oscar pool. We’ve tiered the episode so you can opt in depending on your level of mania: first, all four of us talk the major “above the line” categories, then three of us stick around to talk animation, docs, and Greg’s wisdom on the shorts, and, finally, P.T. and I, left unchecked, go off the rails with the technical, “below the line” categories. Below you’ll find time stamps to guide your listening.

Part One (0:00:00 - 1:32:46) Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Actor, Actress, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, International Feature, Director, Best Picture

Part Two (1:32:47 - 2:15:53) Original Score, Original Song, Documentary Feature, Animated Feature, Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Documentary Short Film

Part Three (2:15:54 - 3:35:40) Makeup and Hairstyling, Costume Design, Production Design, Visual Effects, Sound, Film Editing, Cinematography, a discussion of broader narratives, and some wild unlikely to happen predictions.

The 97th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 2, 2025, starting at 4:00PM PT or 7:00PM ET. You can watch live on ABC or ABC.com or stream live on Hulu.

And if you need a ballot to keep track of your predictions (or hope-dictions), download our template below!

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Early speculation about films for 2024 frequently highlighted an adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-prize-winning novel, The Nickel Boys, purely based on the source material’s notoriety. Few film critics, however, could have known then that Ramell Ross’ adaptation, Nickel Boys, would be so bold in its aesthetic choices. Ross reconfigures conventional film continuity to create what he calls a “sentient POV,” in which the camerawork reflects a sensory experience, as if the camera were a person. This radical, experimental style, deeply rooted in ideological resistance, has dazzled some critics while putting off others. It also seems to have had an impact on the Academy, which nominated the film in two categories.

In this episode, P.T., Antonio, and I share our viewing experiences and try to unpack Ross’ choices. To what extent are they a subversion of the white colonial gaze that cannot be disentangled from classical Hollywood cinema? How did the cinematography fit the themes of the story? How did it help deliver key plot points? And why might book readers like Greg be a little cooler on the film? Come for the answers and stay for an inspirational story from Antonio’s legal writing class.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 29:17 minute mark. If you are still undecided as to whether or not you want to serve your sentence with this film, you can listen safely until then.

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It’s hard to believe, but The Long Take Review podcast has made it to 100 episodes! To commemorate this milestone, P.T., Greg, Antonio, and I take a break from our Oscar season coverage to ask each other some probing questions, both about the films we have covered during the first 100 episodes and more generally about our filmgoing lives. What has been our most memorable theatrical experience? What unpopular film would we defend? What film have we covered that we most associate with the other co-hosts? And if we were casting the pod, who would be in the ensemble? Find out our answers to these and so much more. This was very fun to record and confirmed for us how joyful and meaningful it has been making this show every week.

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Is it too early to talk about next year’s Oscars when this year’s hasn’t even happened yet? The Sundance Film Festival says no. In fact, a handful of films that premiere there go on to compete in the awards race the following year. And unlike most other film festivals, Sundance offers online screenings for us civilians, which means we can actually review some films! P.T., Antonio, and I share our thoughts on the films that we saw, and then we break down reactions to the titles we weren’t able to see, notable acquisitions, and all the early Oscar buzz. Which film was so sad it made Jen angry? Which film’s weirdness delighted P.T. to no end? And which film tricked Antonio into thinking it would be a thriller? Listen to find out.

This entire episode is SPOILER FREE. Enjoy!

Image Credit: (clockwise from top left) Sundance, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Deadline

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Find someone who looks at you the way everyone in A Complete Unknown looks at Timothee Chalamet playing Bob Dylan.

For James Mangold’s film, covering Dylan’s four-year journey from first arriving in New York City through “going electric” in 1965, one debate amongst critics centers on the representation of Bob Dylan’s genius: does the film fall into the stereotypical biopic trap of putting its subject on a pedestal, unabashedly touting his generational talent and nothing more? Or does Mangold offer a more nuanced, complicated story, subverting the tropes that he arguably codified in Walk The Line (2005), his film about country music star Johnny Cash?

In this episode of The Long Take Review, we start with this question, discussing how the film does and does not adhere to its genre conventions. The conversation, however, sprawls many other topics, including the infighting between Dylan and more traditional folk artists, the historical accuracy of events portrayed in the film, what the film might be saying about Dylan’s artistry and legacy, how many Oscars it could win, and more.

We go into SPOILER MODE at the 21:04 minute mark. If you are still undecided as to whether or not you want to go on tour with us, you can listen safely until then.

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Everyone over at The Long Take Review got up bright and early Thursday morning to watch the live announcement of this year’s Oscar nominations. We share our thoughts on the broadcast, as well as the nominees. How many did Jen correctly predict? How many has Greg already seen? What is P.T.’s mastermind theory about which films have a path to winning Best Picture? And why did we spend so much time talking about monkeys? Listen to find out!

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Director Brady Corbet gave not one but two acceptance speeches at The Golden Globes, as he won for Best Director and his film, The Brutalist, won Best Motion Picture Drama. Star Adrien Brody also won Best Actor Motion Picture Drama. There were two predominant themes amongst those three speeches: that immigrant stories matter, and that film studios should take more chances on filmmakers’ artistic visions (especially when their ideas don’t seem as commercially viable). Those who have seen the two-part period drama know that these themes also manifest in the epic story of fictional architect, László Tóth.

In a year with no clear Best Picture frontrunner, however, it remains to be seen how much The Brutalist’s success will repeat at the Oscars. Antonio, Greg, P.T., and I do debate how well the film famously shot in VistaVision on an astoundingly small $10 million budget will fare on Hollywood’s biggest night. But before we do, we carefully unpack all of the film’s complicated themes and narrative choices.

Oscar Nom Wishes 3:25-25:24

Spoiler Free Takes: 25:25-44:04

SPOILER MODE: 44:05-1:45:52

Oscar Watch: 1:45:53 - the end

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Before we describe this episode of The Long Take Review, we would like to acknowledge and express our support for the victims of the Los Angeles wildfires. Here are some ways to help:

The Entertainment Community Fund provides a safety net for performing arts and entertainment professionals, including those impacted by the wildfires.

This GoFundMe supports a colleague of ours displaced by the Eaton Canyon fire in Altadena.

The Red Cross works with local partners to provide shelter, food, emotional support and health services for victims.

According to another colleague who regularly fosters dogs, the Pasadena Humane Center and the Agoura Animal Care Center are overburdened with animals affected by the fires.

This LA Times article lists many more organizations that are providing aid.

In this episode of The Long Take Review, we host, for the second time, our own awards ceremony, The LTRs or “Letters.” While we don’t have any delusions about our influence in the awards race, we tried to think of performances, screenplays, filmmakers, and films that we want to spotlight before Oscar voting closes on January 17th. (Those who campaign during awards season call this an FYC or “For Your Consideration” event.) We begin with our individual lists of nominees, form a shared list of nominees through consensus picks (nominees that appeared on more than one of our lists) and non-consensus shout-outs (nominees that appeared on only one list but we decide should be nominated anyway). After we have a set of shared nominees, we engage in a spirited yet collaborative debate to decide on a winner and honorable mention, live during the show.

Get ready to take some notes and make some Letterboxd watchlists! In a later post on The Long Take Substack, Jen will share each of our full lists of nominees for reference.

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