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Happy Saturday, all. It’s been a big week around here with Oscar nominations coming out this past Thursday. This is my favorite morning of the year — you might prefer Christmas like my honey Alonso does, and that’s fine — but there’s such an infectious buzz around the pre-dawn announcement of Academy Award contenders. Everything is new and there’s so much to analyze: the surprises that delighted us, the omissions that enraged us. Then again, maybe that’s just the caffeine talking.
Making music, and history.
The big headline is that “Sinners” earned a record 16 nominations, including best picture; best director and best original screenplay for Ryan Coogler; and best actor for Michael B. Jordan. This is one of our absolute favorite movies of 2025, so we were thrilled that it did so well. And the unexpected inclusion of the always great Delroy Lindo for supporting actor was one of the nominations that made me the happiest. He is the heart of this wildly ambitious film.
That historic number for “Sinners” surpasses the previous record of 14 nominations, which “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land” received. Coming in second was “One Battle After Another” with 13, including best picture; best director and best adapted screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson; and best actor for Leonardo DiCaprio. (My new pal Andy Jurgensen, who I had the pleasure of moderating a Q&A with last weekend, also was honored for his skillful editing.) Both of these films will compete in the new category of best casting alongside “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme” and “The Secret Agent.”
We went into all of this and so much more bright and early during our annual Oscar nominations livestream. It was such a great turnout, and there was so much to discuss: Amy Madigan for “Weapons”! Nothing for “Wicked: For Good”! And perennial nominee Diane Warren … for a song she wrote for the Diane Warren documentary! If you enjoyed this, mark your calendar for Noon Pacific time on Tuesday March 10. That’s when our great friend Glenn Whipp, the LA Times awards expert, will stop by our YouTube channel to help with Oscar picks. (I’ll remind of you of this about 1,000 times before then.)
What do you hope wins the Oscar for best picture?
As for this week’s reviews, here’s what we discussed on our Breakfast All Day YouTube channel and podcast. If you live somewhere in the path of this massive winter storm that’s coming, stay inside and stay safe! We’ll keep you company.
Kali Reis is wondering what she’s doing here, too.
MERCY. What happened to Chris Pratt? He used to be an exciting screen presence. That first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie was a great showcase for his swagger and roguish charm, with hints of goofy sweetness. Increasingly, he’s become bland and boring, never more so than in this annoying futuristic thriller that feels like propaganda for AI. Rebecca Ferguson and Kali Reis co-star. In theaters.
Mother will make everything all right.
THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE. It’s a musical about the Shakers, starring Amanda Seyfried! Does that sound like a bizarre combination of words? Director and co-writer Mona Fastvold does take a big swing here, and while the song and dance numbers are mesmerizing, the stuff in between them is pretty standard. (We recorded this review before Oscar nominations came out so we didn’t know whether Seyfried made it into best actress; she didn’t, but she is tremendous here.) In theaters.
A heartbreaking loss of a distinctive voice.
COME SEE ME IN THE GOOD LIGHT. This film did receive an Oscar nomination, though, for best documentary feature. It focuses on the late Andrea Gibson, the genderqueer Colorado poet who fought a long and arduous battle with cancer. Gibson and their partner, Megan, were generous in opening up their home and lives to director Ryan White. This is an intimate and loving portrayal, but it’s also surprisingly funny. It’s been streaming for a little while on Apple TV, and we’re glad we caught up with it.
Still shook.
We also recorded a quick, out-of-the-theater reaction after seeing “Send Help,” the insane new movie from Sam Raimi. Rachel McAdams stars as a nerdy but resourceful office worker who’s stuck on a deserted island with her terrible boss (Dylan O’Brien) after a plane crash. This is a welcome return to the kind of outrageously over-the-top horror we’ve come to expect from the director of “The Evil Dead” and “Drag Me to Hell.” We’ll have a full review when the movie comes out next week.
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Rodents of Unusual Size? I don’t think they exist.
Over at our Patreon, we honored the legendary Rob Reiner with our January Off the Menu poll. “The Princess Bride” was the winner, and it’s easy to see why. This 1987 classic is such a joy to revisit. I watched it so many times when I was young — my high school boyfriend and I used to recite giant chunks of dialogue to each other — and I was surprised at how much I still knew by heart. I’m not even going to bother summarizing this movie. It’s “The Princess Bride,” you know it. But watching it again reaffirms how hilariously clever William Goldman’s script was, and what a light touch Reiner had with mixing genres and tone. This is a romance, and a comedy, and an adventure tale; it’s also gently parodying old-fashioned swashbuckling stories while simultaneously serving as a satisfying example of them. And Robin Wright and Cary Elwes are just impossibly beautiful together. Go re-watch “The Princess Bride,” it’ll put a smile on your face.
Speaking of Rob Reiner, he also appears with amusing anecdotes in the delightful, two-part documentary “Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!” which is streaming now on HBO Max. Reiner’s late father, Carl, and Brooks were comedy partners and best friends for decades. We’ll have a review of Judd Apatow’s documentary next week, so keep an eye out for that.
And if you love LA movies like I love LA movies, you will love this LA Times ranking of The 101 Best Los Angeles Movies. A bunch of my friends and fellow critics contributed their insights on films as varied as “The Big Lebowski,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Tangerine,” “Double Indemnity,” “Boyz n the Hood” and “Boogie Nights” (above). And of course, it includes “Los Angeles Plays Itself,” a documentary about … LA movies. This is a fun read and it will give you a ton of ideas for films to catch up on or revisit.
That’ll do it for me this week. If you’re a member of our Patreon at the Lunch Date level, don’t forget that our next meet-up is at Noon Pacific time on Monday, Jan. 26 (and if you’re interested in our monthly live chats, there’s more info at the Membership tab). Thanks so much, as always, for being here. If you enjoyed my newsletter, I hope you’ll pass it along to someone else. And if someone else passed it along to you, I hope you’ll subscribe. Have a great week, be careful out there in the extreme weather, and I’ll see you back here next Saturday.
