Exactly what it says on the tin: When there are four good, deserving options, and one bad, undeserving option... and it's the bad and undeserving option that ends up winning.

Exhibit A: Michael Caine in The Cider House Rules over the rest of the otherwise great 1999 Supporting Actor lineup.

The only rule is that it had to get an ATL nomination: Directing, any acting nomination, or any screenplay category.

The Invite is a well written movie. I loved it. The performances are amazing and excellent especially Penelope Cruz. How many nominations who i think will get nominated is Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, and maybe Best Casting. For Best Actress, i don't think Olivia Wilde is getting nominated for Actress. She could but idk. I would love it if she did. What I think will win at the oscars is Best Adapted Screenplay. This movie should win Oscars. So what you think the Oscar chances are for The Invite?

It more than made up for Jane Fonda losing for They Shoot Horses Don't They.

We’ve completed the nomination round, and now it’s time to choose the winners.

The five performances with the most points in each category in Round One are now the official nominees.

ROUND TWO — WINNERS

This round is much simpler.

Vote for ONE nominee in each of the four acting categories.

That means your ballot should contain four names in total:

• 1 Actor
• 1 Actress
• 1 Supporting Actor
• 1 Supporting Actress

There are no rankings and no points system in this round. You are simply voting for the performance you think should win each category.

Each vote counts equally, and the nominee with the most votes in each category will become our Alternate Oscar winner for 2025.

Please only vote for the nominees listed below.

BEST ACTOR

• Timothée Chalamet — Marty Supreme
• Leonardo DiCaprio — One Battle After Another
• Ethan Hawke — Blue Moon
• Wagner Moura — The Secret Agent
• Jesse Plemons — Bugonia

BEST ACTRESS

• Jessie Buckley — Hamnet
• Rose Byrne — If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
• Jennifer Lawrence — Die My Love
• Renate Reinsve — Sentimental Value
• Amanda Seyfried — The Testament of Ann Lee

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Benicio del Toro — One Battle After Another
• Jacobi Jupe — Hamnet
• 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

HOW TO VOTE

Simply post your four choices in the comments, for example:

Actor: [Name]
Actress: [Name]
Supporting Actor: [Name]
Supporting Actress: [Name]

One person per category. Four votes total.

Once voting closes, that brings our run from 1990 through 2025 to a close.

Since we obviously don’t yet know how the 2026 film year will play out, we’re going to head backwards instead.

Next up: 1980, as we begin working our way through the 1980s.

Previous lineups here.

I think at this point, Penélope Cruz will definitely be nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the upcoming Oscars.

The question is for which performance?

Nené Romero in La Bola Negra

Pina in The Invite

She should be nominated for The Invite since that was a bigger role and she had 40 minutes of screen time.

For La Bola Negra, Cruz had 12 to 13 minutes of screen time and yet I think this will be the film she will be nominated for since it's getting way more Oscar buzz than The Invite. The Invite can still be nominated but La Bola Negra could end up winning a lot of categories including Best Picture.

Which film do you think Penélope Cruz will be nominated for?

Is there a chance she could be nominated for both?

But you have to try to justify the win in the context of those years!

My picks are Michael Fassbender and Gena Rowlands.

Fassbender is my personal winner in both 2012 for Shame. I would’ve given him the win over Dujardin that year, and i think he’s better than all the other nominees. And in 2016, he gets a second win for Steve Jobs. He gets the win here over Leo for sure, but in this alternate universe, Leo already won in 2014 for Wolf of Wall Street.

Rowlands takes the oscar in 1975 for Woman Under the Influence. She’s way better than Ellen Burstyn that year, so i give her the award, but Burstyn would’ve already won the year before for The Exorcist. Also, in 1978, Rowlands gets the oscar for Opening Night over Diane Keaton in Annie Hall (in this alternate universe, unfortunately Diane Keaton is a four-time nominee with no competitive win. she gets an honorary oscar down the line though, but joins all the other veteran actors that people complain should’ve gotten an award lol)

What are your picks?

And remember to copy and share these photos

1. Lewis Milestone - 2 Arabian Knights (1927/1928) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1929/1930)
2. Frank Lloyd - The Divine Lady (1928/1929) and Cavalcade (1932/1933)
3. Norman Taurog - Skippy (1930/1931)
4. Frank Borzage* - Bad Girl (1931/1932)
5. Frank Capra* - Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and You Can't Take It with You (1938)
6. Leo McCarey* - The Awful Truth (1937)
7. John Ford* - Grapes of Wrath (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941) and The Quiet Man (1952)
8. Elia Kazan* - Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
9. George Stevens* - Giant (1956)
10. William Wyler* - Ben-Hur (1959)
11. Robert Wise - West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965)
12. Jerome Robbins - West Side Story (1961)
13. David Lean* - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
14. George Cuckor* - My Fair Lady (1964)
15. Mike Nichols - The Graduate (1967)
16. Bob Fosse - Cabaret (1972)
17. John Avildsen - Rocky 1 (1976)
18. Michael Cimino - Deer Hunter (1978)
19. Warren Beatty** - Reds (1981)
20. Oliver Stone*** - Platoon (1986) and Born on the 4th of July (1989)
21. Clint Eastwood** - Unforgiven (1992) and Million Dollar Baby (2004)
22. Mel Gibson** - Braveheart (1995)
23. Anthony Minghella - The English Patient (1996)
24. James Cameron - Titanic (1997)
25. Steven Spielberg* - Saving Private Ryan (1998)
26. Michel Havanicius - The Artist (2011)
27. Ang Lee* - Life of Pi (2012)
28. Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018)
29. Alejandro Iñárritu* - Revenant (2015)
30. Damien Chazelle - La La Land (2016)
31. Guillermo del Toro - The Shape of Water (2017)
32. Chloe Zhao - Nomadland (2020)
33. Jane Campion* - The Power of the Dog (2021)
34. Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer (2023)

*Only 12 directors did direct movies that won screenplay awards that aren't mentioned here. The other 22 directors never directed a movie that won a screenplay award at all

**Warren Beatty, Clint Eastwood and Mel Gibson also acted in those movies

***Oliver Stone did win a screenplay award once himself but for a movie that wasn't directed by him

Here are the winners for a Best Independent Picture category, first awarded at the 53rd Academy Awards.

Thoughts on this lineup?

1980: Return of the Secaucus 7

1981: My Dinner with Andre

1982: Chan Is Missing

1983: Local Hero

1984: El Norte

1985: Blood Simple

1986: Blue Velvet

1987: Matewan

1988: The Thin Blue Line

1989: Sex, Lies & Videotape (Obviously)

1990: The Grifters

1991: Barton Fink

1992: Reservoir Dogs

1993: Short Cuts

1994: Pulp Fiction (Obviously)

1995: Leaving Las Vegas

1996: Fargo

1997: Good Will Hunting (Obviously)

1998: Gods and Monsters

1999: Being John Malkovich

2000: Requiem for a Dream

2001: In the Bedroom

2002: Far From Heaven

2003: Lost in Translation

2004: Sideways

2005: Brokeback Mountain

2006: Little Miss Sunshine

2007: Juno

2008: Slumdog Millionaire

2009: The Hurt Locker

2010: Black Swan

2011: The Descendants

2012: Silver Linings Playbook

2013: 12 Years a Slave

2014: Whiplash

2015: Room

2016: Moonlight

2017: Get Out

2018: First Reformed

2019: Parasite

2020/2021: Nomadland

2021: CODA

2022: EEAAO

2023: Past Lives

2024: Anora

2025: Sentimental Value

Outstanding Lead Performance

- Mahershala Ali, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

- Gillian Anderson, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

- Jeon Do-yeon, Possible Love

- John Early, Maddie’s Secret

- John Malkovich, Wild Horse Nine

- Ian McKellen, The Christophers

- Julianne Moore, The Debut

- Sophie Okonedo, Clarissa

- Andrew Scott, Elsinore

- John Turturro, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

1. Tom Hooper - The King’s Speech

2. Adam McKay - Vice

3. Todd Phillips - Joker

4. David O. Russell - American Hustle

5. Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

6. Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild

7. Lenny Abrahamson - Room

8. Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game

9. Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

10. Mel Gibson - Hacksaw Ridge

11. David O. Russell - The Fighter

12. Ang Lee - Life of Pi

13. Alexander Payne - Nebraska

14. Alexander Payne - The Descendants

15. David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook

16. Adam McKay - The Big Short

17. Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher 

18. Martin Scorsese - Hugo

19. Steven Spielberg - Lincoln

20. Spike Lee - BlacKkKlansman

21. Greta Gerwig - Lady Bird

22. Tom McCarthy - Spotlight

23. Joel & Ethan Coen - True Grit

24. Guillermo Del Toro - The Shape of Water

25. Sam Mendes - 1917

26. Richard Linklater - Boyhood

27. Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave

28. Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel

29. Martin Scorsese - The Irishman

30. Paweł Pawlikowski - Cold War

31. Alejandro G. Iñárritu - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

32. Michael Haneke - Amour

Pictured are Soderbergh, Zemeckis, Boyle, and Howard

In this thread, you can make up any Oscar category you want, and I'll tell you the winners from its inception up to the present.

Category Form:

Name:

Year/Ceremony Introduced:

Nominees:

• Anthony Hopkins number 2 for The Father (2020)
• Frances McDormand number 3 for Nomadland (2020)
• Emma Stone number 2 for Poor Things (2023)
• Adrien Brody number 2 for The Brutalist (2024)
• Sean Penn number 3 for One Battle After Another (2025)

I have read "Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears ― A Lively History of Hollywood's Oscar Rivalries" by Michael Schulman , very fulfulling and full of tidbits ..

But a major question remains : In which precise time in its 100 course, the Oscars became the "Oscars" , you know that single thing that can be named first thing in your epitaph , cement a legend and completely change a life ?

This article contains spoilers about a surprise appearance in this film.

In two weeks of release, “You Can See Everything” has grossed $45 million at the box office. Directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, the documentary has a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and audiences alike. And its take on Elizabeth Holmes, the confounding founder of Theranos who was convicted of fraud, has everyone talking.

Now the question is, what are its Oscar chances?

The film’s distributor, A24, isn’t commenting but two people close to the production with knowledge of the studio’s thinking expect it to campaign for best picture, best supporting actress and best documentary. It may also make a showing in the editing, cinematography, score and director categories.

Should Amanda Seyfried land a nomination for playing Holmes in the recreations within the film, it would be the first time an actress has been nominated in the supporting category for a role in a documentary.

And no documentary has ever been nominated for best picture. “Fahrenheit 9/11,” the 2004 film directed by Michael Moore that currently holds the title for highest-grossing nonconcert documentary, may have come the closest, considering its effect on the cultural conversation that year, but it was shut out. More surprising: it was also shut out of the best documentary race, a fate that has befallen many a popular documentary.

Access full gift article, NO PAYWALL.

Kerry Condon is one my favorite performances in The Banshees Of Inisherin. She was excellent and give a standout performance. She is the one who should’ve won Best Supporting Actress in 2023 at the oscars. She deserved an Oscar. But happy she won BAFTA award though which she deserves it. Her character did quiet scenes in the movie. Loved her character too. I wish she won. it would be a well deserved win. So what you think of her performance in The Banshees Of Inisherin?

I’ve seen people say this will sweep the oscars but I’m really skeptical !is this being overhyped?

I Just watched Bugonia. Wow it’s terrifying and the ending… wow. The perforomances were excellent especially Jesse Plemons. God, he should’ve got nominated for that. He only has GG, SAG, and BAFTA nominations. Not the Oscar which he deserved it. Emma Stone is great too. Also the score is haunting and was masterful. I enjoyed it. The Oscar Nominations it has are Best Picture, Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. I rate the movie 8/10. So what you think of Bugonia?

We’ve finished 2024, so we’re now moving on to 2025.

For anyone joining the game for the first time, we’re doing all four acting categories for one year together, with the results decided over two rounds.

You can see all of the previous lineups here: Alternate Oscars - Reddit Game

ROUND ONE — NOMINATIONS

For each category, rank your five favourite performances from the year from 1–5.

Your rankings will be worth:

1st — 5 points
2nd — 4 points
3rd — 3 points
4th — 2 points
5th — 1 point

The five performances with the most points in each category will become the official nominees.

You do not have to name five if you don’t want to. If you only want to vote for three performances, for example, they’ll receive 5, 4 and 3 points respectively.

Please make sure your choices are ranked — order matters in this round.

You can vote in as many or as few of the four categories as you like.

ROUND TWO — WINNERS

Once the nominations have been determined, I’ll make a second thread containing the five nominees in each category.

In that round, simply choose ONE nominee per category to win.

There will be no preferential voting or points in Round Two. Each vote counts equally, and whoever receives the most votes wins.

So essentially:

Round One = Who should be nominated?
Round Two = Who should win?

ELIGIBILITY

Performances will be eligible according to the year in which their film was eligible at the real-life Academy Awards.

So, rather than going strictly by festival premiere or first release date, a performance belongs to whichever Oscar year the film itself competed in with the Academy.

If you’re unsure whether a film was eligible for a particular year, this Academy reminder-list archive is a good place to check eligibility.

A few other rules:

• Maximum of five ranked choices per category.
• Anything listed after your fifth choice won’t be counted.
• Honourable mentions won’t count as votes.
• Please include both the actor and film so there’s no ambiguity.
• In cases where there may be disagreement or confusion over whether a performance is lead or supporting, your vote will count only in the category in which you place that performance. Points will not be transferred or combined between categories.
• A performer cannot receive two nominations in the same acting category for different films. If that happens, their higher-scoring performance will be kept and the next eligible performance will move into the top five.
• If there’s a tie for the final nomination spot, I’ll break it by comparing #1 votes first, then #2 votes, #3 votes, etc.

For example:

Actor

1. Person A — Film A
2. Person B — Film B
3. Person C — Film C
4. Person D — Film D
5. Person E — Film E

That ballot would give them 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points respectively.

The idea is that Round One rewards performances with broad support across people’s ballots, while Round Two gives everyone a straight choice between the five nominees.

Previous Lineup — 2024

Actor

Adrien Brody — The Brutalist
Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain
Colman Domingo — Sing Sing (winner)
Ralph Fiennes — Conclave
Sebastian Stan — A Different Man

Actress

Marianne Jean-Baptiste — Hard Truths
Nicole Kidman — Babygirl
Mikey Madison — Anora (winner)
Demi Moore — The Substance
Fernanda Torres — I’m Still Here

Supporting Actor

Yura Borisov — Anora
Clarence Maclin — Sing Sing
Adam Pearson — A Different Man
Guy Pearce — The Brutalist (winner)
Jeremy Strong — The Apprentice

Supporting Actress

Michele Austin — Hard Truths
Danielle Deadwyler — The Piano Lesson
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor — Nickel Boys
Ariana Grande — Wicked (winner)
Margaret Qualley — The Substance

Saw it for the first time recently, and while I did think it was a great movie and probably deserved its Best Picture I was mildly shocked to see it won all of the Big 5, sharing that honor with just two other films. Then I looked at the other nominations and it made much more sense. This was a weak enough year that Beauty and the Beast got nominated when the category only fit five. I admittedly haven’t watched some of the most culturally acclaimed films from that year such as Terminator 2 or Thelma and Louise, but even then this is not a year that jumps out.

So, yes, while it probably deserves its status as the first and only horror film to win Best Picture, is the lack of competition a bigger reason than the film’s own (excellent) quality?

1. Lewis Milestone - 2 Arabian Knights (1927/1928) and All Quiet on the Western Front (1929/1930)
2. Frank Lloyd - The Divine Lady (1928/1929) and Cavalvade (1932/1933)
3. Norman Taurog* - Skippy (1930/1931)
4. Frank Borzage* - Bad Girl (1931/1932)
5. Frank Capra* - Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1936) and You Can't Take It with You (1938)
6. Leo McCarey* - The Awful Truth (1937)
7. Michael Curtiz* - Casablanca (1943)
8. Joseph Mankiewicz* - A Letter to 3 Wives (1949)
9. George Stevens* - A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956)
10. John Ford* - The Quiet Man (1952)
11. Vincente Minnelli* - Gigi (1958)
12. Billy Wilder* - The Apartment (1960)
13. David Lean* - Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
14. Tony Richardson* - Tom Jones (1963)
15. Robert Wise* - The Sound of Music (1965)
16. Mike Nichols* - The Graduate (1967)
17. John Schlesinger* - Midnight Cowboy (1969)
18. George Roy Hill - The Sting (1973)
19. John Avildsen* - Rocky 1 (1976)
20. Sydney Pollack* - Out of Africa (1985)
21. Oliver Stone* - Platoon (1986) and Born on the 4th of July (1989)
22. Bernardo Bertolucci - The Last Emperor (1987)
23. Kevin Costner** - Dances with Wolves (1990)
24. Steven Spielberg* - Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998)
25. Mel Gibson** - Braveheart (1995)
26. James Cameron - Titanic (1997)
27. Peter Jackson - The Lord of the Rings 3 (2003)
28. Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012)
29. Martin Scorsese* - The Departed (2006)
30. Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
31. Kathryn Bigelow - Hurt Locker (2009)
32. Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity (2013) and Roma (2018)
33. Alejandro Iñárritu* - Birdman (2014)
34. Guillermo del Toro - The Shape of Water (2017)
35. Bong Joon Ho - Parasite (2019)
36. Jane Campion* - The Power of the Dog (2021)

*We have a new record. 21 of the 36 directors of this list (7/12 of it) did direct at least 1 movie that did win acting awards (either movies that won Best Director that aren't mentioned here or movies that didn't even win Best Director). Only 15 directors of this list never directed a movie that won an acting award

**Kevin Costner and Mel Gibson also acted in those movies. Kevin Costner is however the only one of the 2 who was nominated for acting