Wonder Watchlist

The Oscars are just a short few hours away, and honestly, it can’t come soon enough. Conversations around award season in particular this year have been exhausting, from nearly weekly discussions on which nominee is more problematic than the other to pundits continuing to diminish Sinners and its awards momentum. Needless to say, the lengthy award season is making those who enjoy this time of the year a little stir-crazy. So I decided to unplug from some of the noise and revisit some of the year’s best films.

Every year I try my best to watch all films that get the honor of being recognized. This year there were more than a handful of films that I felt should’ve made the category. But this year the nominees reflect something for everyone horror, action, and even sci-fi are being represented. It’s an exciting year, regardless of the noise online.

Naturally I have to note a few films that I felt missed being nominated, but deserve to be there:

• Sorry, Baby directed by Eva Victor
• Resurrection directed by Bi Gan
• No Other Choice directed by Park Chan-Wook
• If I Had Legs I’d Kick You directed by Mary Bronstein
• The Shrouds directed by David Cronenberg
• The Testament of Ann Lee directed by Mona Fastvold

f1 Dir. Joseph Kosinski

If I’m being completely honest, this is one of the films on this ranking that I’m the most disappointed with being here. Sure, it’s a cool car movie with some booming audio, but the only thing worth remembering from the film is that meme of Javier Bardem and how he spent his interviews advocating for Palestine. F1 is what some would call a dad movie, which, for anyone who knows me, is one of my favorite genres. But this one just didn’t land for me; it was a great experience in a theater, though. I found the film far too long for how uninteresting a majority of it is. And not for a second do I believe Brad Pitt as any kind of race car guy. Maybe if the lead was better cast, I would’ve found more enjoyment. Is it deserving of some Oscars? Depends on whom you ask.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 3/5

train Dreams Dir. Clint Bentley

Clint Bentley’s quiet and simple life created within Train Dreams is dreamy, a small family living a loving existence with one another. Nothing fancy, just enough, with a hard-working mother and father, and a beautiful child created from that love. I was pretty moved by it at the time I watched it, but the further removed I get from that experience, the less this one sticks out to me compared to the rest of the list. It’s an incredibly well-made film, from its acting to its thoughtful script. However, parts of the film come across as trying to replicate a style or tone from films of the same subject matter. If it were more interested in being its own identity, rather than those it’s inspired by, I don’t doubt this would be higher on my ranking.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 3.5/5

Bugonia dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

The Oscars never cease to amaze me sometimes, because how is it the film itself, Bugonia gets a nomination, Emma Stone’s performance in the film gets a nomination, but Jesse Plemons, giving a career-best performance, gets nothing? I will be the first to admit that I’m not the biggest Lanthimos fan, outside of The Favourite, which I adore. But this alien-invasion conspiracy-brained girl boss film was pretty awesome. Plemons is just on another level here, playing a guy who you are afraid of but also prepared to believe. And it’s shocking he didn’t get added to the Oscars conversation. The cast is where Bugonia gets everything right, everyone from Stone to Aidan Delbis is on the film’s wavelength the entire time. It mostly works, and to avoid spoilers, where my issues arise with the film’s ending, I was left wishing there was less of an explanation.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 3.5/5

The Secret Agent Dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho

Wagner Moura impressed me to the highest degree with 2024’s Civil War, so when I saw his face on the poster for The Secret Agent I was totally in. Moura yet again blew me away playing not one, not two, but three different roles. With the backdrop of the late 1970s, the film truly transports you to another time, and for the most part, the film completely works. But after some time, the 161-minute film about a man fleeing his past in hopes of finding a safer, more peaceful life hits a lull. The story is intense, but the film’s pacing doesn’t reflect this as much; nevertheless, the acting blew me away, and I hope Wagner Moura ends up with that shiny gold Oscar statue.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 3.5/5

Sentimental Value Dir. Joachim Trier

I’m a big fan of films that are about people within the business, either directors or actors, or even how famous films were made. So on the premise of Sentimental Value alone, I found myself desperate to watch it. And with the charming and talented Stellan Skarsgård playing Gustav Borg, an illustrious film director and absent father—a role the Oscars saw fit to nominate him for the first time. He’s not the only praiseworthy performance in the film, with Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning all having moments that leave a lump in your throat. It’s a moving story about trying to repair broken relationships and how movies are vessels for healing. For all the films on this list, Sentimental Value feels like the most real human experience out of them all; it feels natural for it to be nominated for plenty of Oscars.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 4/5

hamnet dir. Chloé Zhao

If someone told me prior to the release of Hamnet that this is the film that would be the villain of award season, I’d laugh. This one, really? This is the one who is the bad guy? Sure, it seems like a movie that would be typical for plenty of Oscars, but it doesn’t take away from the film’s impact. Chloé Zhao tackles the story of the inspiration behind Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a tragedy itself. For much of the latter end of the film, I felt myself holding my breath, so much of the story surrounds heightened emotions, extreme love, and extreme pain. Jessie Buckley plays Agnes, a woman in tune with the world around her, who falls in love with blossoming playwright Will, and the early life of their family. Loss hits them hard, and I was swept up in their pain. Buckley deserves each praise she gets, but Jacobi Jupe as their young son Hamnet is truly the performance of the film.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 4/5

One battle after another dir. Paul Thomas Anderson

As we enter the top four, I have to admit, they are all basically interchangeable depending on the day you ask me. Seeing this in IMAX, much like another film on this list, One Battle After Another is what the format was made for. A story about revolutionaries, Christmas clubbers, and how your past eventually finds you. A stacked cast featuring Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and a stunning debut from Chase Infiniti brings Anderson’s film to life. They all show how fighting in modern America looks and how the frontline changes over time, but the battle persists. I’ve been a big Teyana fan since before she made her switch to acting, but this evolution of herself has been a joy to witness. If someone were to ask for an acting sample of each one of the film’s cast, choosing One Battle After Another wouldn’t be a mistake for a single one.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 4.5/5

frankenstein dir. Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro’s work has always appealed to me, as a woman who loves monster stories; he understands what makes these stories compelling. Using a mixture of yearning romance and devastating trauma, del Toro finally gets his chance to tell a story meant for him: Frankenstein. It’s no secret that I was the most excited for this film, and I walked away mostly satisfied. Jacob Elordi as The Creature and Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein examine the abusive relationship between a father and his patchwork son. Elordi is the true star of the film, not only because his character is a main focus, but also because his performance is the film’s best. He’s gentle while being clumsy, intelligent while filled with naivety. On a first watch, the film’s pacing was a noticeable issue for me, and although re-watching the film helped resolve some of this, the story doesn’t flow as tightly as it intends. Mia Goth brings the romance as Elizabeth; her connection with The Creature swept me off my feet. Although its chances of winning Best Picture feel nearly impossible, it’s one that I don’t question its nomination.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 4.5/5

Read my full review of Frankenstein

Marty Supreme dir. Josh Safdie

Ping pong was never a sport where I thought I’d be on the edge of my seat while watching it, in a movie, or in any other capacity. But Marty Supreme proved me wrong and gave me a cinematic panic attack. Timothée Chalamet is Marty Mauser, a man desperate to be successful by any means necessary. It’s an effective film because Marty feels like a character any of us know in our lives: the ambitious youth who have been told they are the best, having to enter the real world and find that they weren’t the only kid who was the “best.” An electric sports drama that examines the price of greatness and what success really means.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 5/5

Read my full review of Marty Supreme

Sinners Dir. Ryan Coogler

The moment I left our press screening for Sinners, I knew that this was going to be my favorite movie of the year, and since the film’s release, there hasn’t been a day when I don’t come across something related to the film. Ryan Coogler’s first original film, Sinners, is more than just a vampire horror movie. It’s Coogler’s most ambitious work; he takes all the best aspects of vampirism and weaves them into a thoughtful, bluesy story rooted in the American South. Seeing Michael B. Jordan playing twins Smoke and Stack, along with Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo, Miles Caton, and Jack O’Connell in IMAX with Ludwig Göransson’s score and Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s cinematography was otherworldly. Coogler’s script blends many different themes and cultures together to make not only an entertaining big studio film but an original story that audiences have been yearning for.

If I had to put a numerical rating: 5/5

read my full review of Sinners

With this year’s award season finally coming to a close, it’s safe to say that the longer the Academy pushes its Oscars ceremony, the worse the conversations around these movies get. Here’s to great films and the audiences that watch them!

Where to watch the LIVE event? Check out this guide from the Detroit Free Press!