OSCARS 2026 LIVE BLOG!

6:50 - Welcome again to Film Thoughts' annual live blog of the Oscars ceremony!

Much to my eternal shame, I have not seen all the nominees this year. I fell short by one, not having time to squeeze in The Lost Bus. Hopefully that doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the show tonight.

Having said that, this is still what I would vote for in each category, if I was an Academy member. 

6:55 - I wonder if Conan is going to make any awkward jokes about actually being in a nominated movie this year? Honestly, I hope he does more acting. 

7:02 - Hopefully this will be the only Aunt Gladys related gag tonight. 

7:03 - Okay, excellent dummy joke. And alright, Conan as a CGI cartoon character is pretty funny. 

7:05 - That bit went on a little too long but I enjoyed it. 

7:07 - See, one of the great things with Conan is, even when he tells a lame joke, he can turn it around with a silly delivery. 

7:08 - Me and the missus have been cracking jokes about how much our brain sees the word bologna whenever we see the word "Bugonia." 

7:10 - I would go see "CAPS LOCK"

7:12 - See, this is why Conan is a class act. There's not a joke about how nobody watches the Doc Shorts, the humor goes in a totally different direction. "Little Sad!" Except the donkey one. 

7:14 - What was with that split second shot of the camera shaking? Wow, the joke writers at the Oscars are still doing "TFW" jokes. 

7:17 - Fifteen minutes into his Oscars hosting gig, Conan O'Brien actually did get serious. 

7:19 - Okay, Conan's fake Oscar being delivered by a falcon was funny.

7:20 - It would seem like Amy Madigan is the favorite to win though Fanning would be a nice surprise. 

7:22 - Yay, for horror representation at the Oscars! She is accepting the award in front of the foyer of a Chinese restaurant. 

7:24 - "Thanks to all the dogs!" Awww, I like that. 

7:30 - I thought they were going to a comment section joke but this is okay too.

7:31 - Will Arnet has been hitting that bronzer. 

7:33 - Let me reiterate once again that I am a registered "KPOp Demon Hunters" hater. But the odds of "Little Amelie" pulling off an upset wasn't great. 

7:35 - The first unsuccessful play-off attempt of the night. I'm rooting for "Retirement Plan."

7:36 - I guess if we are going by the measurement of the Academy awarding the Most and not the Best than I guess "The Girl Who Cried Pearls" makes since in this category. Definitely had the most visually elaborate animation.

7:38 - I thought we were going to commercial but here's a musical number instead. 

7:40 - I like the swag the banjo lady here has. 

7:41 - Well, this was an honest attempt to re-create one of the best moments from a film last year and, uh, they tried. 

7:48 - Kylie Jenner's embarrassed smirk during the Bum Drum bit was amusing. Also, "Lawnmower Man" clip at the Oscars! Boy, they are still rolling with the Bum Drum thing, aren't they? 

7:51 - Anne Hathaway should do comedy more often. I was hoping "Frankenstein" would win Best Costumes just for that dress Mia Goth wore in the flashbacks. 

7:53 - Did her mic cut out for a second or did she say something really offensive? 

7:54 - I was rooting for "The Ugly Stepsister" but "Frankenstein" probably did have the best make-up, so I'm fine with this.

7:56 - Just wouldn't be an Oscar ceremony without as many awkward play-offs as possible! 

8:00 - So I've been saying Paul Mescal's name wrong the whole time. 

8:03 - The joys of live television, cutting to Delroy Lindo while someone else is still talking. 

8:06 - The P.T.A. Witness Protection was a good joke. "And I have one before you!" 

8:12 - Matt Berry shouting out Basil Rathbone, you love to see it. 

8:13 - There's definitely some Greek tragedy to Kamial Nanjami completely fucking up his face and body to get the superhero bod for a franchise that never panned out. 

8:15 - I want to reiterate how stunted I was that this year's Live Action shorts were mostly not depressing!

Okay, a tie in Live Action Shorts? That's never happened before. Hopefully, "The Singers" tied with "Friends of Dorothy" or "Jane Austen's Period Drama." 

8:17 - I wasn't crazy about "Two People Exchanging Saliva" but the filmmaker is actually in the Oscars Death Race Discord server I'm in and gave us a few shout-outs, so it's neat that they won. 

8:18 - Boy, the joys of live television are really showing up tonight. That abrupt cut to Conan on the side of the stage was an extraordinary moment. 

8:20 - Best Supporting Actor doesn't seem to have a clear cut front runner, so we'll see how this goes. I'm rooting for Delroy. 

8:22 - Sean Penn's biceps didn't want to be here. 

8:28 - Conan's white tux, that's a real humdinger. They are doing a few too many bits tonight though. 

8:32 - Robert Downey Jr. wore his Doctor Doom suit to the show tonight. 

It's actually insane that this is the first Oscar Paul Thomas Anderson has won. 

8:38 - Damn, the bits have mostly been very bad tonight. All the pithy banter in the world could not sell this one. Hopefully this will not be Ryan Coogler's only time on-stage tonight. 

8:44 - Mel Brooks burying both Carl and Rob Reiner just wasn't right.

8:46 - Probably for the best that they cut off Billy Crystal reading off Reiner's films at "The American President." 

8:48 - Someone standing up right in the way of the camera as the In Memorium montage starts. The technical gaffs tonight have been frequent. 

8:49 - I'm glad Udo Kier didn't get left out of the montage. 

8:54 - Also glad they didn't leave out Cary-Hirouki Tagawa, my boy Shang-Tsung.

8:55 - Boy, whoever is responsible for the microphones and sound tonight should probably not get brought back to this job next year. 

8:59 - Did they just cut to commercial in the middle of Babs finishing a sentence? Tonight's show feels like it's dragging on. 

9:02 - Wow, I'm impressed it took them this long to slip a zoomer/6-7 joke in there.

9:04 - ABC/Disney getting that cross-brand synergy in there with a Grogu. What is with the timing being so severely off tonight? 

 

9:06 - Shout-out to "The Lost Bus," the movie that fucked up my Oscar Death Race this year. Curse you, Paul Greengrass!

9:10 - "Do the hand thing, baby! 

9:14 - Oh no, I dozed off for a minute, woke up, and Jimmy Kimmel was hosting the show. I must be in a nightmare. 

9:16 - Man, I was really rooting for "The Devil is Busy." "All the Empty Rooms" does seem to be a little like the Academy's speed.

9:19 - Aside from it just being my favorite of the noms, it would be neat if Tig Nitaro won an Oscar. And again, inexplicably, the anti-Putin doc wins. I hate the guy too but the Academy really fuckin' hates that guy. Kimmel cracking jokes about the Melania doc, when it would not be eligible for the show this year, Jimmy! Sloppy. 

9:28 - I still have never seen "Bridemaids." What the hell is up with the sound tonight?

9:30 - "This bit has been going on a little too long." That describes all the bits tonight.

9:32 - "Sinners" obviously had the best score but "Bugonia" would be an acceptable alternative for me.

Also acceptable for them to just give it to the best score.

9:34 - Jesus Christ, what are these bits?????

9:36 - Not exactly passionate about it but "F1" was my pick for Best Sound, so that's nice. 

9:38 - I thought they were going to say "Welcome the President of the United States of America" and uhhhhh that would be awkward. 

9:43 - Woo doggy, this might not be the most boring Oscars broadcast I've ever seen but it's definitely not one of the better ones. 

9:46 - Is everybody being held at gunpoint while they read off these bits? Jesus. Also, not to be rude but Bill Pullman is looking weeeeeird. 

9:49 - Matt Berry pronounces "Demi Moore" exactly the way I would expect him too. And Miss More is wearing a giant feather duster tonight.

It's got no chance at winning but I'm rooting for "Train Dreams." '

9:50 - "Sinners" had great cinematography though, so I can't complain about that. 

9:55 - Ya know, man, I just don't get it. What about "Golden" makes it better than every other K-pop song out there? Just not my genre, I guess. 

9:57 - "Scan the QR code on your screen" ORRRRR you just put all the performances in the broadcast, you fuckin' hacks. 

10:03 - Javier, I knew you were based. 

10:04 - I figured "Sentimental Value" would win International Picture. Out of a lot that I wasn't crazy about, I suppose "The Voice of Hind Rajab" was my top pick. 

10:08 - Oh Lionel Richie, I didn't think you ever went away!

10:09 - There is a part of me that thinks it would be hilarious if Diane Warren actually does win this time. 

10:10 - The fans of this movie are about to get even more annoying now. 

10:12 - "I would like to thank.." BLARRPBRRRAPPP!!!! That made me laugh harder than any of the actual jokes tonight. 

10:15 - Doesn't matter how many years go by, anytime I hear someone say "Zendaya," my brain mentally fills it in to "...is Meechee."

Anyway, Coogler gang, rise up. 

10:17 - I love Paul Thomas Anderson but he should've won this award long before this for much more worthy films. When was the last time he had a coke night with Tarantino, I wonder?

10:20 - Ethan Hawke does deserve the Best Comb-Over Award. Will Timmy Shallot get or MBJ? Let's see. 

Michael B. was my pick from the get-go so I'm glad he turned out victorious. 

10:23 - Delroy Lindo definitely has the best ascot tonight. 

10:26 - Adrien Brody doing a Turbo Tax commercial is a good reminder that, in-between his two Oscar wins, he was starring in shit like "Giallo" and "InAPPropriate Humor." 

10:28 - Even Conan is like, "Jesus, can we please get this over with?" 

10:29 - Buckley feels like the only person in this category with real heat. Nice peroformance. Byrne would be a nice surprise. 

10:31 - I like Buckley's accent. "the arRRRRt."

10:33 - One more category, let's get this oveeeeeer with. 

10:34 - I kind of like how friggin' tall Nicole Kidman looks. 

10:36 - Well, there you, nobody how close it begins, the Academy will not nominated a horror film unless they can trick everyone into thinking it's a "psychological thriller."

10:38 - The cat, the most important thing in the room.

10:39 - I really loved Conan's hosting gig last year but this ceremony suuuucked. Too awkward to be serviceable, too boring to be memorable and entertaining. Few inspiring wins. Is that it? Are we done? Hot damn. Let's go to bed. Love you guys! 

Oh wait, there's more. 

10:40 - Ooooh this is an unfunny "One Battle After Another" bit! 

Good night, everybody!

OSCARS 2026: Viva Verdi! (2025)

 

Hey, have you thought about opera lately? Probably not! I feel most people would agree that this particular style of singing and storytelling hasn't been a part of the cultural zeitgeist for a few hundred years. Nevertheless, the bel canto apparently has enough shooters that a recent tossed-off comment from Timothée Chalamet seems to have genuinely damaged his chances at winning an Oscar right in the final days of his campaign. He said that “no one cares” about opera and ballet anymore. That only a niche audience of hardcore supporters are still passionate about these art forms and he fears cinema might go down that same road. What makes the backlash all the more ironic is that a movie about opera is nominated for an Academy Award this year. “Viva Verdi!” is easily the most obscure of 2026's selected features, another Best Song nominee that was greeted with shrugs of confusion. Disinterest in its nominated song is such that the Academy has preemptively cut it from the broadcast. Almost as if the producers know that opera does not appeal to a mass audience or something! Nevertheless, “Viva Verdi!” itself is still out there for our consideration. Let's put all the chatter aside and discuss the film itself. 

For “Viva Verdi!,” filmmaker Yvonne Russo and her team spent several years among the residents of Casa di Riposo per Musicisti. Also known as simply Casa Verdi, this is a rest home and retirement community for older opera singers and musicians. Founded in the late 1890s by Giuseppe Verdi, he designed it to be a “shelter for elderly singers who have not been favoured by fortune.” The work continues to this day, the neo-Gothic building giving the aged singers and musicians a place to live and also to teach the next generation. Russo's camera mostly focuses on a few reoccurring faces: Former singer Claudio Giombi, Japanese immigrant Chitose Matsumoto, the walker dependent Anthony Kaplen, and a few others as they go about their days. Despite their advanced ages, they all continue to sing or play.

"Viva Verdi!" is fairly standard in its construction for a documentary. Most of the film is made up of interviews with the residents of the home, cut together with photos and footage from across their long careers and personal lives. This supported by fly-on-the-wall recording of daily life in Casa Verdi, with occasional pauses to explain the building's history. While nothing groundbreaking, there is a lot of value in hearing people simply tell their stories. Giombi emerges as the film's main character, a boisterous and colorful man devoted to his wife and his art form. When he opens up a suitcase and retrieves photos from across his career, the candor and joy he expresses is something to see. Matsumoto's life story is also a fascinating one, a Japanese woman who fell in love with opera so totally that she happily moved to Italy to dedicate the rest of her life to the profession. I also greatly appreciate that the film highlights not only the star singers but also the musicians.  A drummer, a violinist, and more get to tell their stories too. 

Opera singing is, to me, one of those talents that might as well be a superpower. I genuinely do not know how the human body can produce such resonating, powerful sounds. The level of training required to make your lungs and larynx bend so extremely must be staggering. Imagine my surprise when I saw such reverberating melodies come out of the mouths of old men and women in "Viva Verdi!" A memorable moment sees a former opera singer apologizing for her voice breaking, when I'm impressed she was able to make those sounds at all. Most of the residents of Casa Verdi are in their eighties and nineties. We see one resident having her 103rd birthday. Despite their advanced ages, most of the individuals interviewed in the film seem quite energetic and spritely. The suggestion, it would seem to me, is that pursuing your passion and doing what you love is a good way to keep yourself feeling young, even as your body starts to fail you. 

This, of course, is inevitable. We see Kaplen leaning on his walker and describing how he gets around a lot slower these days. One elderly man mourns his wife, who preceded him in death, and longs for the time they are reunited. "Viva Verdi!" ends, not exactly surprisingly, with epitaphs for several of the characters seen in the film. Despite the end being near for most of these men and women, the air around "Viva Verdi!" is not of solemnness but of celebration. Celebration of the lives of these artists and what they've accomplished, and still accomplish, and celebration of the music and art they all love.  The nominated theme song is entitled "Sweet Dreams of Joy" and carries along that feeling of effervescent excitement and glee. That's what I see more of in this film than anything else. 

I'll be honest with you, guys. I know almost nothing about opera. "Viva Verdi!" didn't exactly teach me much about the complexities of performing this style of singing, of the different types, genres, or placements in the theatre. Most of the historical segments focus on the history of Casa Verdi itself, describing the man who spearheaded its creation and his reasoning for doing so. This was based in a love for the people who performed his music and for the music itself. Which does not function exactly as a rebuttal to Chalamet's statement. We do see a younger generation learning this craft, meaning opera as an art form will continue. The film's overall obscurity and the advanced ages of its figures does suggest that the popularity of opera is dwindling. I don't know how to reverse the latter condition but the firmer has been somewhat resolved by "Viva Verdi's" producers. They quickly responded to its nomination by getting the doc on digital platforms as promptly as possible. Me and all the other Oscar Death Racers really appreciate that. [7/10]

OSCARS 2026: Arco (2025)

From my position as a lowly nerd here in the United States, French science fiction has always meant something very specific. In the world of comic books, French artists like Jean Henri Giraud and publications like “Metal Hurlant” pushed forward visually innovative, graphically intense, and creatively detailed work. On the cinema side of things, filmmaker Rene Laloux would gain a cult following with surreal, wildly expressive animated films like “Fantastic Planet” and “Gandahar.” I don't know how many people are keeping that tradition alive today. We certainly don't get too many imports of that nature over here. However, we did get a prominent example this year with “Arco.” Thanks to a heavy advertising push from U.S. distributor NEON, which includes a star-studded dub of debatable quality, the film has gotten a lot of attention. That includes nominations for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. 

The film begins nearly 900 years in the future. Environmental disaster has led humanity to living in elaborate elevated structures in the clouds. Robotics have been outlawed but technology has still advanced to a fantastical level. This includes the ability to travel through time, which people do casually via flying rainbow-patterned suits. Time travel is off-limits to children but Arco Dorell, a ten year old boy, is still eager to experience it. He steals his older sister's flight suit, the gemstone that powers it, and sets off for the distant past. He arrives in the year 2075. In this time, humanoids robots perform most basic labor. Increasingly violent weather sees people living in domed cities. While her parents are away for work, young girl Iris is left with the family's robot butler to tend to her infant sibling. That is when she discovers Arco, who has crash-landed in this time and requires a new crystal to return home. The two youths grow closer, soon pursued by a mysterious trio of criminals and a local robotic police force, unaware of the circumstances surrounding Arco's arrival. 

While never quite as wild looking as “Fantastic Planet,” “Arco” does feature some impressive visuals. Befitting a narrative so concerned with rainbows, the colors are exceptionally vivid. The film delights in putting as many flashy colors next to each other as possible. The trio of buffoonish antagonist all wear shiny, single color suits and prismatic sunglasses. The bright colors are paired with fluid animations, the characters moving in an expressive and stylized manner. This is further emphasized by the film moving at a higher frame rate than is traditional, making the movements more dynamic and striking. That “Arco” looks so darn nice is good, as it did take me a while to adapt to the particular character designs. Giving everybody such full, defined lips was a bit of an odd choice. 

“Arco” pairs its brilliant colors with some imaginative science fiction settings. 2932 is so far off in the future that it allows the filmmakers to create truly fantastical technology. There are those cool sky structures, sloping straight lines with vegetation and homes build into them. People sleep in special cones of light that cause them to float. I do wish more of the movie took place in this time, where we could have seen more far-out ideas executed. That doesn't mean the slightly more contemporary 2075 setting doesn't also include some neat ideas. While Iris' parents are away, they communicate with her via life sized, interactive holograms. The everyday presence of robots is an interesting one, speaking with a voice that blends both parents and being powered by heart-shaped ports in their chest. I like that Mikki, Iris' family robot, is both so committed to protecting his charges but also a somewhat glitchy oddball who doesn't relate totally to human kind. 

The film's ideas are imaginative but not too hard for the viewer to understand. This is reflective of how “Arco” pairs its science fiction premise with a more universal, simple idea. Despite being from different eras, Iris and Arco have a lot in common. They both feel unseen by their families. Her parents are always away and his status as the youngest excludes him. We only get a brief peek at Iris' life at school but she seems to be a bit of an outcast. Arco, stranded in a time that isn't his own, is similarly on his own. These are two lonely kids who, in each other, find someone who can finally understands them. The film gently bends towards a precocious romance between them, without overdoing it. An amusing detail includes one of Iris' classmates also having a crush on her, which the girl seems totally unaware of that. 

Unfortunately, “Arco” is one of those movies with an interesting premise and a strong beginning that can't nail the last act. The film's antagonists are never truly fleshed out. They aren't a very serious threat, bickering among themselves and stumbling more often than they succeed. The English dub goes so far as to have Will Ferrall and Andy Samburg (plus, inexplicably, Flea) voice them, making it clearer that we aren't suppose to take these goofballs seriously. A race against time creates some high stakes for the finale but the film falls increasingly into a series of mostly farcical chases. The first time the movie does this, the trio's van flipping all around as it plummets down a hill, I was a amused. By the time everyone is outrunning a whole horde of robots through the winding halls of a high tech facility, it starts to feel a bit much. The story then concludes on an oddly low-key note, an epilogue taking up more screen time than was probably advisable. 

I would have preferred to watch the film with its original French audio. The English dub is distracting at times. I like Natalie Portman and Mark Ruffalo but neither seem that committed to the material, once again a studio making the mistake of favoring big name actors who might not have much experience with voice work over performers more suited to these techniques. Despite that and a second half that doesn't totally work for me, “Arco” is still a lovely, creative, and often touching adventure. I look forward to what director Ugo Bienvenu does next. The film arose out of his sketches, which proves that his imagination is a strong one. [7/10]

OSCARS 2026: Cutting Through Rocks (2025)

International cinema is vital because it gives us a window into the lives of other people from other country. If you're an American, like me, you probably do not have a very accurate understanding of far away places. Looking at art from another country, if nothing else, gives you a peek into how people over there see themselves. To the average American, I imagine they perceive Iran as nothing but endless stretches of desert, dotted with little villages. Popular conceptions like this is why it's easy for my government to convince its populace that it's fine to drop bombs on this place. Iran has a thriving film industry though. Another reminder of this is “Cutting Through Rocks,” a nomination for Best Documentary Feature that gives us a fly-on-the-wall perspective of a tiny corner of Iran and the struggles that go on there. 

The film, from directors Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, concerns Sara Shahverdi. She is the first woman elected to the town council in her small village. She has a passion for riding motorcycles and often goes right to the homes of people seeking her help. She is especially focused on helping the teenage girls in her town, many of whom are forced into marriages to older men before they are even 18. The village has many traditionalist men in it, who are aghast at the idea of a woman holding a position of leadership in the town. Eventually, the authorities go so far as to make Sara undergo a DNA test to prove that she isn't a man in disguise. Despite these challenges, she continues forward on her journey to help others.

 

Sometimes, a documentary only needs an interesting subject to succeed. Sara Shahverdi quickly establishes herself as a real character. The opening scene has her pulling down an old gate, an on-the-nose metaphor for the way she confronts the barriers put before her head-on. She cruises around on her motorcycle, wearing sunglasses, and teaches other girls how to ride and operate the machines. When she is at a council meeting, eating with people and casually sitting in their homes, it gives the impression more of someone hanging out with friends than a government matter. Basically, Sara Shahverdi being a town councilwoman strikes me a bit as if your cool aunt got elected to a minor position of power. She's tenacious, passionate, calm, considerate, and personable. Cool lady, I would say. 
 

The Academy almost always nominates documentaries that touch on important social issues, effecting countless people all over the world. “Cutting Through Rocks” is one of those too. Unsurprisingly, Shahverdi is often challenged by the men in her town. One guy has a loud argument with her right on the street, following her back to her car. On another occasion, they are harassed by a group of men as Shahverdi and her friends ride on their bikes. In the last act, when accused of being a man bringing women back to her home for improper reasons, Shahverdi is led into an office by a machine gun carrying guard. She's outright told to stop being so active, that it is not suitable for a woman to do so. The topic of teenage girls being married off comes to a head in a scene where another town councilman is confronted by a young woman. He outright states that he sees no problem with this tradition and suggests the girl before him – she looks 13 – should get married soon herself. It's infuriating. 

While “Cutting Through Rocks” has a compelling central heroine and points a camera at some distressing traditions, the film is also almost painfully slow. There's little music throughout. The camera crew stands back and watches these sometimes mundane interactions and meetings. Scenes dispassionately flow into each other, at a tortoise's pace. There's little editing, the captured scenes playing out in real time more often than not. It's not that these moments aren't interesting but it progresses so slowly. Watched at the end of a long day, I'll admit I was fighting sleep a little bit. I suppose what I'm saying is that “Cutting Through Rocks” needed more motorcycle riding. 

Ultimately, I'm glad I watched “Cutting Through Rocks.” Shahverdi seems like a brave woman, passionate about helping others and determined to personally enact positive change in her home town against long-held traditions. I admire that a lot. I'm glad she got this spotlight. I do wish the film was a little punchier in terms of pacing. Nevertheless, it is an interesting film and probably a valuable, for exposing more eyeballs to a culture and challenges that they might not think about otherwise. I hope Shahverdi and those around her aren't effected by the actions of America's military. [6/10]

OSCARS 2026: Kokuho (2025)

 

I enjoy reading about what films are popular overseas but do not connect with an international audience. Most American blockbusters, these days, are made to have a global appeal. However, some countries have their own ingrained film culture that can produce massive successes entirely on their own. For example, I'm fairly certain Japan is the only place in the world where “Kokuho” could become a box office success. A three-hour long epic about the world of kabuki theater, it's unlikely that such a culturally specific film could have emerged from any other country. However, the Japanese love this kind of thing so much that it is now the highest grossing live action film of all time in that country. Though it was Japan's official submission for Best International Feature at 2026's Oscars, the Academy passed it up in that category before giving it a random shout-out in Best Hair and Make-Up. 

It is tradition in kabuki theater that all parts be played by men, even the female roles. Kabuki actors who specializes in feminine performances are known as onnagata. In 1964, Hannai Hanjiro II is one of the most respected kabuki actors in the country. He visits a Yakuza owned club, where the gang leader's 14 year old son, Kikuo, makes his stage debut. When a rival gang attacks, Kikuo's dad is killed. Taking pity on the now orphaned boy, Hanjiro takes Kikuo on as his apprentice. Hanjiro's son, Shunsuke, also trains to become a kabuki actor and quickly befriends Kikuo. In time, they grow to become the two most successful actors on-stage. Kikuo becomes such a success that Hanjiro makes the controversial decision to pass the family mantle onto him and not his own son. The dismayed Shunsuke disappears. Because of his lack of a famous bloodline, Kikuo's popularity quickly fades and his reputation is further tarnished when the Yakuza connection in his past emerges. Shunsuke reappears on-stage and eclipses his rival in popularity soon. As their lives go on – with missing children and complicated legacies and illness going hand-in-hand – the two men cannot give up the allure the stage has over them. 

“Kokuho” – a word that refers to when an actor becomes a living national treasure, by the way – is an epic not because it has an especially wide scope or sweeping vistas and not only because it's long. Instead, the film earns the title by tracking an entire person's life, nearly from beginning to end. The story begins when Kikuo is 14. It ends with him as a grey-haired old man. In that time, his career has wild ups and downs. He fathers a daughter, who grows up too. He has friendships that come and go. His mentors age and die. The film will frequently fade to black with a date and the number of years progressed appearing on stage, jumping ahead to the next chapter. You get a real sense of time passing through this. By the time the film's 175 minute runtime is up, you are left with a real sense of its protagonist's entire existence. 

Of course, not everyone will be willing to invest that much time into a movie about kabuki. And “Kohuko” treats kabuki as extremely serious business. Despite the film being set in what we would call the modern age, the sheer amounts of kimonos and traditional Japanese architecture makes it feel like a story from another time. A great deal of emphasis is placed on family bloodlines, which make these actors feel almost more like samurai or noblemen than mere entertainers. When the family name is passed to Kikuo, a grand theatrical ritual is performed. Kikuo is subjected to intense physical training and repeating the same line over and over again in order to become the best and please his master. He is commanded to put his heart and soul and every fiber of his being into his performance. Kabuki isn't only theater, guys bouncing around on-stage in make-up and elaborate outfits. It's a matter of national honor and an art form for the ages.

As someone with no familiarity with it, kabuki theater admittedly takes some getting used to. The extremely exaggerated make-up and costumes are paired with sparse but repetitive music. The stories are based in Japanese myth and often more allegorical than direct in nature. (To the point that “Kokuho” puts text on-stage to explain what the hell these performances are actually meant to convey.)  Moreover, the style of speech admittedly sounds very foreign to my ears, the way sounds and words are stretched out into reverberating moans or ghostly howls. Despite how alien this all seems, “Kohuko” does a good job of conveying the degree of awe the art form inspires in its characters. Watching the strange dancing and singing is certainly something to behold. My favorite has two actors playing lions spinning their manes around. Another play has the actors leaping out of their silken robes and into another outfit suddenly, an admittedly striking sight. A key moment has Kikuo watching a great legend perform and is so impressed that he literally sees sparks in the sky. This is a reoccurring idea in “Kokuho,” that art is transcendent. I don't think I would ever pay to watch a kabuki play on its own but, by the end of “Kokuho,” I think I was starting to understand why this is such a heavily ritualized, important tradition in its home country. 

The idea of men playing women on-stage, essentially putting on elaborate drag to inhabit another gender, is an idea that obviously has some interesting connotations. Several brief moments call attention to Kikuo's Adam's apple jutting out of his throat under the white make-up that is meant to make him a woman. Despite the gender-fluid nature of his art form, the guy is very straight, having sex with women and even getting the hyper-macho Yakuza tattoo on his back. Yet one can certainly read into his intense bond with Shunsuke. The two are brothers and rivals and, on-stage, play lovers a few times too. The finale has both sickly and elderly, holding onto each other physically as if their lives depend on it. Another moment has Kikuo, during a downturn in his career, being attacked backstage but thugs, in a manner that reads very much like a sexual assault. The text of “Kohuko” never acknowledges the obvious queer undercurrents to all of this. Maybe in Japan – which has been both unexpectedly accepting of homosexuality and deeply prejudiced towards it over the centuries – the cross-dressing element of kabuki is so ingrained in the culture that it doesn't read as homoerotic at all. However, this is a movie about the bond between two men and I don't think the film is entirely unaware of the implications.

It helps that the acting is very strong throughout too. Ken Watanabe is excellent as the stern, often disapproving mentor and father figure. Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama are both deeply committed to making Kikuo and Shunsuke fully fleshed out human beings. While the theatrics of kabuki certainly look and sound strange to my stupid American eyes and ears, the film successfully conveys the degree of emotion the actors put into it. When combined with an observant story about the complications we feel towards the closest people in our lives sometimes, “Kokuho” is quite involving. [7/10]

OSCARS 2026: Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2025)

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science must fucking hate Vladimir Putin. I mean, I get it. He seems like a real prick. If you're going to pick a current world leader to vilify, he's an understandable choice. However, it does strike me as mildly interesting that, since 2017, six documentaries critical of the Russian president have been nominated for an Oscar, three of them winning. One of those was before the war in the Ukraine started, back when Putin was only moderately more evil than your average president. There's lots of atrocities in the world. America probably did some more since last night but I guess Putin is a suitably despicable figurehead for the Hollywood set to focus their hate on. This year's anti-Putin doc puts his name in the title too. “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” it's called, and it's the latest film to remind us why this guy sucks. 

The Mr. Nobody spoken of in the title is neither Jared Leto nor the leader of the Brotherhood of Dada. Instead, it is Pavel “Pasha” Talakin. He is a teacher and videographer at a primary school in Karabash, Russia. His job is fairly mundane at first. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, however, orders come down from on high that their will be a change in school curriculum. The government now requires public education to include regular displays of patriotic fervor and the faculty to teach material focused on glorifying Russia's military and demonizing the Ukrainians. Part of Pasha's job is to upload videos of these demonstrations and lessons to an online archive, to show that schools are doing their national duty. Dismayed by the mandated turn towards hardcore propaganda, Talakin intends to resign... Before filmmaker David Borenstein reaches out to him to make a film on this topic. Using the footage he's already legally required to record, Talakin begins to document what he's seeing. 

“Mr. Nobody Against Putin” gives us a front row seat to the Russian propaganda machine. It is not an altogether unfamiliar sight. The kids are forced to march through the halls while waving Russian flags and singing the national anthem. Soldiers arrive to educate the young boys on land mines and let them pick up guns with emptied out magazines. When I was in high school, the army had recruitment booths in the cafeteria during lunch time. A daily march down the hallways is only slightly weirder than doing the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. The material the teachers have to read off to their students, about how Putin is “de-Nazifying” the Ukraine or how Crimea actually loves Russia, is dismaying. News programs broadcasting the message that Russia has to “kill people” in Ukraine for the love of their children is depressing. But so is watching Fox News for more than a minute. A Russian rock star sings a patriotic song over footage of missiles launching, which is basically what the entire country music industry became circa 2001. I don't think the directors of “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” set out to make the point that Putin's ramped up propaganda machine is barely a rung above what the U.S. has been doing for the last twenty years but the implication struck me anyway. 

If my tone seems a bit glib given the subject matter, I'm merely following the lead of “Mr. Nobody Against Putin.” Mr. Talakin is a bit of a smart-ass. He introduces his home town by highlighting how ugly and industrial it is. It's pointed out that Karabash is home to a copper smeltery that, since 1994 at least, has led to a notable increase in birth defects and stunted growth among the town's youth. Multiple Youtube videos referring to it as Russia's most miserable town are briefly featured. Pasha seems quite happy to antagonize some of his coworkers and the government in the early scenes of “Mr. Nobody.” Such as when he plays the Lady Gaga version of “The Star Spangled Banner” when he's supposed to be honoring Mother Russia. At one point, he interviews one of the school teachers and asks him what Russian historical figures he admires. All his answers, we are quickly informed, are brutal enforcers during the Soviet years. This is played as a grim punchline of sorts.

I certainly can't object to anyone depending on gallows' humor in the face of propaganda and war crimes. I'm also not surprised that a Russian's sense of humor veers towards the dry and sarcastic. “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” does get notably more down-beat as it goes on. A friend of Pasha's is deployed and ends up dead, the sorrowful wails of his mother at the funeral. Some of his students or their siblings end up in the army. The doc's final moments are resigned and mournful. This feels like a major tonal shift after the more snide first half. It almost feels like the film is two docs in one, the first far more sarcastic than the ultimately bummed out mood it settles into.

Another unavoidable issue I had with “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” is that Talakin comes across as kind of unlikable. He is not the most charismatic of documentary host and his voice-overs are sometimes grating in their smugness. Any time a filmmaker centers themselves in what is otherwise a documentary about activism, it quickly starts to feel self-indulgent. Still, I do think “Mr Nobody” makes some good points, if a few probably by accident. I'm sure glad I don't live in an imperialistic nation run by a bloviating ogre that pumps its schools and air waves full of mindless support for the militaristic regime! [6/10]

 

OSCARS 2026: Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (2025)

The world of animation can be a delightful, unexpected place once you step outside the shallow frame work of big budget American stuff. Internationally, an animated feature can capture all sorts of tones and stories. Unless you are especially plugged into the world of French cartooning, "Little Amélie or the Character of Rain" was probably not on your radar at the start of last year. It is an independent production from Maïlys Vallade, the director of short "The Lighthouse Keeper," and Liane-Cho Han, a storyboard artist and animator who has worked on "The Illusionist" and "The Little Prince." Not big names, in other words. After getting picked up domestically by GKIDS, who have really established themselves as the face of quirky overseas animation in this country, the previously overlooked film suddenly became a serious contender for a Best Animated Feature Oscar. Maybe not quite the insane, out-of-nowhere success story of last year's "Flow" but pretty dang cool anyway. 

An intelligent consciousness emerges out of the universe and claims to be God. It incarnates in the body of Amélie, an infant recently born to a Belgian family living in 1960s Japan. After "thousands of years" of silently observing the world from within an invisible bubble, Amélie begins to cry and interact with her parents and siblings. Frustrated with being treated like a baby, it's only after her grandmother gives her a white chocolate bar that Amélie reveals her unusual intelligence to her family. Now talking eloquently and running around, she begins to learn a lot about the world. That her older brother is a brat, that rain is fabulous but water can be dangerous, that a carp is an ugly fish. That people do not live forever. In particular, she bonds with Nishio-san, the family's live-in Japanese housekeeper. As their friendship grows closer, Amélie and Nishio are tested by the boundaries of physical space and Kashima-san, the landowner who still holds onto resentment of outsiders from the war.

The central metaphor of "Little Amélie" is both highly amusing and grounded. When a child is first born and has no understanding of other people or the outside world, they truly do believe themselves to be the center of the universe. When Amélie describes herself as God, it's an unavoidable expression of a mind that is new to existing. Despite her claimed omniscience and immortality, she doesn't understand concepts like death, national boundaries, or the division between reality and fantasy. She is, in other words, a baby: Utterly self-centered but completely new to the world existing around her. The contrast between what Amélie thinks about herself and what she sees with how she actually acts provides both humor and pathos. "The Character of Rain" is a story about her learning about life, like a hundred coming-of-age stories before it. By assuming the perspective of this unusually precocious child, the film approaches its premise of a newborn realizing she isn't the most important thing in the world but that she matters nevertheless in a fresh, funny, interesting way. 

Maybe I'm giving the French too much credit but, if an American had made "Little Amélie," you can imagine its premise being played in a more grounded way. Amélie would think herself a God but she would still be a newborn, with all the physical and mental limitations that come with that. Europeans have more whimsy in their heart than that. This means Amélie is both just a child and also possessed of a cosmic intelligence. She stands up and addresses all her family members by name, something that both surprises them and doesn't seem worthy of further comment. The child has surreal visions of the world, the effects of which on those around her seem to vary from scene to scene. The film happily operates with a degree of magical realism, existing in more-or-less the real world but with unpredictable interventions of fantasy. 

The film is based on a partially autobiographical novel by a French-speaking Belgian woman who grew up in Asia. Personal details on co-director Liane-Cho Han are scarce but we know he lived and worked in France, currently resides in Denmark, and has a Chinese name. The cross-cultural elements of this story are very personal to its creators, clearly. Nishio teaches Amélie about Japanese folklore, about the meaning of her name in the local language, and the Obon ritual of floating a lantern down a river to honor the dead. When the child is told that her family isn't actually Japanese, and will return to Belgium some day, it confuses and frustrates her. Kashima-san, meanwhile, is stern towards the immigrants, still haunted by memories of World War II. She certainly doesn't consider Amélie Japanese. This is resolved in a quiet, touching way later on but it points towards a more interesting idea. Cultural identities are not set by borders. We are more the results of the people we know and the world around us than our nationality or race, boundaries that can easily be crossed by love and understanding. 

“Little Amélie” also shows a clear multi-cultural element in its animation. Studio Ghibli and Rémi Chayéhas have both been mentioned as influences, both of which are evident. The characters often have the big, expressive eyes of anime characters which are combined with the rich colors and painterly appearances of various European studios. Regardless of who inspired what, “The Character of Water” is gorgeous. The surreal flights of fantasy feature Amélie turning into a downpour of water, parting the sea, or the faces of her and her brother intermingling with cods breaking the surface of the water. Considering the important role rain and water play in the story, the film seeks similarly fluid and free-moving visuals. The blending of expressionistic colors and beautifully smooth movements makes the film a sight to behold, almost overwhelming in its loveliness at times. 

I'm glad international animation like this gets the Academy's spotlight. It would be nice if films like these won Oscars more often too. Still, Vallade and Han are surely comforted by the fact that they made a wonderful film. “Little Amélie or the Character of Rain” is amazing to look at, funny, insightful, and fascinating. [9/10]