The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has handed out 23 gold-plated statues since last changing the Oscar categories, but with the addition of Best Casting for the 98th edition of the Oscars, we now have 24 categories to track, predict, and evaluate. The biggest night in the marathon that is the film awards season effectively begins in November (or May if you count Cannes) and runs through March (March 15, 2025, this year to be exact). The Oscars ceremony is one typically filled with a variety of emotions, broken predictions, and questionable decision-making from AMPAS, the foremost voting body for the highest honor in American cinema.
While the Oscars are a night for celebration, and many nominations will certainly deserve praise, the Academy is also infamous for its most questionable decisions. If you’ve ever ended the night scratching your head after all your hopes and dreams for the biggest spotlight in Hollywood led to nothing but disappointment, and you begin to channel Wooderson, thinking to yourself, “well it’d be a lot cooler if they did…” then you’ve come to the right place. For the fifth year running, I continue listing 20 things the Academy could do on nomination morning, ranging from the likely to the impossible and everything in between that would significantly boost their cool factor.
In 2022, 7/20 (35%) came true:
- Jessie Buckley was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in The Lost Daughter.
- Ryusuke Hamaguchi was nominated for Best Director for Drive My Car.
- Drive My Car was nominated for Best Picture.
- House of Gucciwas blanked for above-the-line nominations.
- Adam McKay was not nominated for Best Director for Don’t Look Up.
- Kristen Stewart was nominated for Best Lead Actress in Spencer.
- Flee became the first film to be nominated for Best Animated Feature, Best Documentary, and Best International Feature.
In 2023, 9/20 (45%) came true:
- Everything Everywhere All at Once was enshrined as the film of the year by overperforming in nominations and winning Best Picture.
- “Naatu Naatu” was nominated for Best Original Song and performed live on the show (and won the Oscar!).
- Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian American woman to win Best Actress.
- The entire Best Actor lineup was composed of first-time nominees, with Paul Mescal filling the fifth wild card slot.
- Paul Mescal was nominated for Best Actor (see above).
- International films made nomination appearances outside of Best International Feature (although in a limited fashion, with a sole nomination for Bardo outside of the category’s winner).
- More than one Asian American woman was nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Stephanie Hsu and Hong Chau).
- Brian Tyree Henry celebrated a year full of scene-stealing supporting work with an Oscar nomination.
- Andrea Riseborough’s last-minute grassroots campaign ended in a nomination (with the asterisk of replacing Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler).
In 2024, 6/20 (30%) came true:
- Nimona overcame all obstacles and was nominated for Best Animated Feature.
- A24 entered twice into Best Picture for the second year in a row, gathering nominations for the top category with Past Lives and The Zone of Interest.
- Ben Affleck shot an ‘Air’ ball, despite being the dad movie of the year.
- Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One landed the first nomination in the franchise’s history for Best Sound.
- Godzilla Minus One proved that Oppenheimer wasn’t the only WWII film to make atomic waves in 2023, with a nomination (and win) for Best Visual Effects.
- An Oscar nomination for Animated Feature wasn’t just a Robot Dream(s).
In 2025, 5/20 (25%) came true:
- The Academy took The Substance and nominated it in five categories, with one win for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
- Nickel Boys struck gold (partially). I made a plea for RaMell Ross’s visionary film to appear in Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography, but I’ll consider a Best Picture/Adapted Screenplay package a win.
- No Other Land Overcame a Lack of Distribution and achieved both a nomination and a win in Best Documentary Feature.
- The Academy stanned Sebastian Stan with a nomination for Best Actor in The Apprentice (although his better work may have been in A Different Man).
- Robert Eggers was the Academy’s affliction nominating Nosferatu in four categories, including the two I suggested would be coolest (Makeup and Hairstyling and Cinematography).
In this completely subjective and arbitrary standard by which we can judge the annual nominations, 2025 was unfortunately the lowest success rate in the history of this column. Coming in with a 25% success rate, it was the least cool on record, bringing the four-year average to 33.75%. We could use a good year in 2026. This rate is, of course, relative to the scale of likelihood by which the list is populated, but the 20 suggestions are determined with a built-in range of possibility that hopefully will even the slate year-to-year. Some are likely, others are next to impossible. But alas, without further ado…
Here is the fifth annual pre-nomination report on “20 Things the Academy Would Do If They Were Cool,” ranked loosely in order of likelihood from most to least likely to occur.
1. No Other Choice but to Finally Recognize South Korean Cinema Again
In a career defined by masterpiece after masterpiece, Park Chan-wook just doesn’t miss. It’s jarring to realize that not only has he never been nominated at the Oscars, but the entire history of South Korean cinema has never seen a nomination outside of Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. Park lands another mesmerizing hit of socioeconomic satire with No Other Choice, and after the campaign for Decision to Leave (see #8 on the 2023 edition of this column) fell short of a nomination, it’s high time the director and the country get a nomination. If not, we might as well chalk it up to Park being too cool for the Academy.
2. Three Horror Films are Nominated for Best Picture
The story of the Academy and its lack of recognition for horror is a tale as old as time, but last year was a hint at a new direction. The Substance and Nosferatu combined for nine nominations, including one for Best Picture, making Coralie Fargeat’s bloody evisceration of female body standards only the seventh horror film in Oscar history to be nominated for the top prize. It’s likely that number will rise to nine with the prospects of Sinners and Frankenstein, but could realistically jump to ten after Weapons landed a surprise PGA nomination. Maybe Amy Madigan broke some sticks into bowls of water at the houses of Academy members, and maybe it’s still too small a sample size to indicate a trend, but either way, horror is having a very cool moment.
3. The Supporting Cast of Sinners Isn’t Left Confessing
Ryan Coogler’s vampire blockbuster has been a year-long cultural phenomenon primed for over double-digit nominations. As a Best Picture frontrunner, however, it would be a shame for the Academy to miss out on nominating its supporting cast, who in many ways are the heartbeat of the film. Miles Caton, Delroy Lindo, and Wunmi Mosaku are all nomination hopefuls, but even one of the three would be pretty cool.
4. Sorry, Baby Isn’t Apologizing for a Cool Oscar Nomination
Eva Victor’s emotionally resonant directorial debut, Sorry, Baby, has been a passion pick for many critics all season. A24 hadn’t put much into its potential campaign until Julia Roberts made an impassioned plea for people to watch the film while presenting at the Golden Globes. Victor was nominated herself at that Globes ceremony for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, and although she didn’t win, it’s possible that last minute effort leads to a bigger win and bolsters the film to an Original Screenplay nomination. Sometimes all you need is Julia Roberts in your corner (I know I sure do).
5. Mother Ann Sees Oscar Gold
Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee has admittedly run a poor awards campaign just a year removed from the monumental awards cycle for her husband and creative partner Brady Corbet with The Brutalist, culminating in eleven Oscar nominations. Fastvold co-wrote that film, but was in the director’s seat this time for the speculative biopic of Mother Ann Lee and the Shaker movement. Although Searchlight had an uphill battle campaigning the part-musical part-historical biography film, Amanda Seyfried should still get her flowers for an immensely challenging and powerful performance. Plus, what a turn of events it would be for Seyfried to be recognized for a musical after publicly losing the role of Glinda to Ariana Grande in the Wicked adaptations, a film that had cratered in its awards trajectory of late.
6. Train Dreams Keeps on Chugging Along
One of the most surprising awards players of the season premiered at Sundance almost a full calendar year ago, from creative partners Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar. Train Dreams had a fall festival run paired with a Netflix release that allowed it to thrive on word of mouth. Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Cinematography, Original Song, and Original Score are all possibilities, and it would be very cool to see the Joel Edgerton-led meditative film on the passing of time hear its name across a critical mass of its potential prospects.
7. Demon Slayer Slays the Animated Category
No shade to Elio, but it was an underwatched mid-tier Pixar effort that is closer to a rubberstamp of the Pixar label than a passionate play for Best Animated Feature. On the other hand, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle may not be the best anime of 2025, but in a down year for awards-level animation as a whole, it could be a cool and unexpected surprise for the category that hasn’t featured much change in the expected nominations. After a Golden Globe nomination, crazier things have happened. Here’s to revealing how many Demon Slayer fans are in the Academy.
8. A Title Not Distributed by NEON Grabs the Fifth Slot in International Feature
In 2025, NEON asserted its dominance as the premier distributor of international cinema, going on an acquisition spree at Cannes and dominating the market for prestige global filmmaking. It’s been an ongoing question all season long whether they have the campaign resources to adequately push their entire slate. While some films have performed better than others, there’s still a realistic possibility that the boutique studio claims all five slots in the International Feature category. One of these twenty things could easily be written for that outcome on the basis of an overwhelming power play and show of dominance, but I’m going to argue in the opposite direction. Four NEON titles appear likely to get in (The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident, and Sirât), but that fifth slot is still volatile.
NEON could close the deal with No Other Choice, but there are other underrepresented countries that present compelling options. Taiwan’s Left-Handed Girl, Tunisia’s The Voice of Hind Rajab, and Iraq’s The President’s Cake are all amongst the year’s best, and it would be cool to see at least one of them sharing the NEON-soaked spotlight.
9. Jafar Panahi Keeps Giving the Middle Finger to Iranian Censorship
In one of 2025’s most poignant moments in movies, Jafar Panahi was awarded the prestigious Palme d’Or at one of cinema’s biggest stages in Cannes. You could feel the weight of gratitude and relief pour over the Iranian auteur in that moment, and it propelled his film, It Was Just An Accident, into the awards conversation for the remainder of the year. Coupled with the intensity of the narrative surrounding Panahi regarding his past imprisonment for not complying with Iranian censorship laws, and the current sentence in absentia that has followed his global press campaign, it would be as cool as it gets to see Panahi get his first Oscar nomination.
10. Queer Debauchery Takes Center Stage with Hedda
With the recent theatrical release of 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Nia DaCosta is certainly top of mind at the right time, considering her reimagining of the stage play, Hedda, for Amazon Studios is still a long-shot Oscar hopeful. Costume design is where the film stands its best chance, given the Academy’s affinity for period dressing and its nomination in the Period Film category at the Costume Designer’s Guild, but Tessa Thompson and Nina Hoss would show up on ballots as well in a just world. It’s Hedda Gabler’s world, and we’re just living in it.
11. Wake Up Dead Man Keeps the Knives Out Screenplay Streak Alive
Rian Johnson’s two previous editions in the Knives Out series have each received sole screenplay nominations, but many have argued that Wake Up Dead Man offers some of the best writing to date in the Daniel Craig-led murder mysteries. A deeper thematic venture than its predecessors, uncovering truths about murder but also faith and our collective belief systems with as many whodunnit twists and turns as ever, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Johnson’s screenplay keep the writing nomination streak alive.
12. An Original Change of Pace for Original Song
It’s a major year for original songs with phenomena like Sinners and KPop Demon Hunters leading the charge. While both have enough great music to fill up the category on their own, we all know one slot is year-in, year-out reserved for industry favorite Diane Warren. It’s been eight straight years of her glaring with menace into the void when she inevitably loses, and sixteen total nominations without a win, but despite her “relentless” appearances (this year’s being for a documentary about herself called Diane Warren: Relentless), it’s hard to argue that her streak has accurately represented the best that original music in movies has to offer. Let’s give her a break and let some other songwriters in on the fun. Although I have a feeling I might be able to copy and paste this suggestion into next year’s column.
13. Both A$AP Rocky Projects Land Nominations
If you had A$AP Rocky crushing two supporting performances on your 2025 bingo card, well, that makes one of us. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is almost guaranteed a spot at the Oscars for Rose Byrne’s remarkable lead effort, but let’s not forget that A$AP Rocky also went toe to toe in a rap battle with the great Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, a film I vehemently defend. Its only prospect is the titular track appearing in Original Song, but what a cool world it would be if A$AP Rocky showed up to perform Trunks.
14. The Ugly Stepsister is Beautiful in Makeup and Hairstyling
One of the coolest Academy shortlist mentions was for The Ugly Stepsister, Emilie Blichfeldt’s gruesome body horror retelling of Cinderella, landing the mention out of nowhere in the Makeup and Hairstyling category. The craft categories are always opportunities for a cool one-off nomination, and this would certainly be a shocker. The category does tend to favor transformations aided by prosthetic makeup, but body horror specifically is more uncommon. RIP to Pearl, which should have pulled off a similar feat (see #20 on the 2023 edition of this column).
15. It’s a Sirât EDM-fueled Rave on the Dolby Stage
After a massive overperformance for five mentions in the shortlists, Sirât may have proved it’s more than an exercise in pyrotechnic set pieces from Oliver Laxe that more voters are watching than we may presume. The film embodies sound as a narrative device using music, cars, and explosions to significant effect as it follows off-the-grid ravers deeper and deeper into the desert. A Sound nomination would be cool, but an Original Score nomination for the EDM-based music from Kangding Ray would be uber cool. The Globe nomination is keeping that dream alive.
16. Young Performers Break Academy Precedent
It’s a rare sight for young actors to break through the awards circuit into the Academy Awards nomination spotlight, but this was a huge year for debut and breakthrough performances across the board. Jacobi Jupe in Hamnet, Baneen Ahmad Nayyef in The President’s Cake, Alfie Williams in 28 Years Later, Miles Caton in Sinners, Nina Ye in Left-Handed Girl; these are just a few of the standouts. While there’s no Oscar category for breakthrough performances, it’s cool to see how many young performances are being embraced and celebrated by the public.
17. Best Picture Triples Down on International Cinema
The AMPAS voting body has notably leaned international as its membership has expanded in recent years, and the norm has rapidly expanded from zero international films traditionally in Best Picture all the way to two after Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest both secured spots in 2024, and likewise for Emilia Pérez and I’m Still Here in 2025. That precedent could be on the rise yet again with three international titles on the precipice of a Best Picture nomination (Sentimental Value, The Secret Agent, and It Was Just an Accident).
18. The Perfect Neighbor and Its Perfect Editing
Predicting the documentaries that will show up in their own category is challenging enough, but another uncommon occurrence in Oscar nominations is a documentary film appearing outside the Documentary Feature category. One documentary, however, has received mentions throughout the season in Best Editing due to its unique construction. The Perfect Neighbor primarily uses police body cam footage as well as other modes of surveillance, such as Ring cameras, to detail the events of a disagreement between neighbors in Florida that leads to tragic consequences and a spotlight in the national media. It’s a compelling film made all the more strong because of its editing style by Viridiana Lieberman, whose interview with The Rolling Tape can be heard here.
19. Josh O’Connor Celebrates a Career Year with a Nomination
There aren’t many actors who could claim a more complete year of work in 2025 than Josh O’Connor after starring in everything from a Netflix blockbuster in Wake Up Dead Man to a variety of indies, including The History of Sound, Rebuilding, and The Mastermind. Although none of his appearances have sparked awards or notoriety, he’s clearly on a path to A-list stardom with Disclosure Day coming next year. It’s only a matter of time before his nomination comes, and it will be a day rich with coolness.
20. The Sound of Warfare
This serves as one annual inclusion of a cool nomination that has exactly a zero percent chance of occurring due to missing the shortlist. Nevertheless, it’s worth giving credit where credit is due, and Alex Garland’s Warfare had some of the best sound design in any 2025 movie. The sheer realism of its titular “warfare” is equal parts shocking, harrowing, and impressive. The Academy has demonstrated a recurring reluctance to his work of late, including Civil War, but you’d be hard pressed to find more electrifying sound work across those two projects.
Article Courtesy of Danny Jarabek