By Austin Schwartz, Guest Writer
The 98 th Academy Awards were on March 15. The Oscars are designed to award artistic and technical achievements in film. One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, was this year’s winner for Best Picture.
Year after year, obscure films are nominated and viewers don’t see box-office hits even considered in conversation. Out of 2025’s Box Office top ten, only four films received Nominations. Two of which won being F1 for Best Sound Design and Avatar: Fire and Ash for best Visual Effects. To create a better perspective; there are 24 Oscar categories, and five films are nominated for each category (except best picture received 10). This means a total of 125 films could receive a nomination. Out of the 371 films released in 2025 only 52 different films received nominations.
I am in no way trying to deteriorate the value or hard work of the films that received nominations.
However, I do wonder how good each of these films are and if they should be considered “Oscar worthy.” The Oscars have long been criticized for industry bias and political influence instead of authentic judgment of art. I have a passion for story telling and am a bit of a nut when it comes to film, so I decided to watch some of these Oscar nominated films to determine how praiseworthy they truly
are. Here are my thoughts on these six Oscar nominations:
One Battle After Another - 6.5/10
It’s a well-made film that was enjoyable to watch. Acting was great and plot is interesting enough to keep you engaged. There was some lovely cinematography that I haven’t seen done before, especially during the climax. It’s on the lower end because I wouldn’t rewatch. The plot leaves more to be desired and the message isn’t that great. Bad people are good because those who are supposed to be good are bad, but bad people go after bad. The film sets out to tell us a story racism, human rights, and equality. This works a lot of the time but falls short when villainizing the African American mother and showcasing Leonardo DiCaprio, a white male, as the films protagonist. If you remove this lense and watch the film to
see a father on a quest to protect his daughter against and corrupt harsh world then it is quite powerful.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You - 8/10
This film was surprisingly engaging. It should have been up for more than just one nomination, AND Rose Byrne should have won that nomination. The performances were great and the whole piece kept you on the edge of your seat. A great analysis of the human psyche and complexity of life in parenthood.
Plus, Conan O’Brian can act. He did so well that I didn’t believe it was him. He should have been in the supporting actor’s category, but as I said this film deserved more than it was recognized for; this was the sleeper of last season, tragically.
Frankenstein – 6.5/10 I love Guillermo Del Toro, I love Frankenstein. I wish that he loved Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The problem with this story is everyone thinks they know better than her. I’d like to tell the 20 dudes that have all tried to tell this story, “a woman did it better.” First half of the film is slow and
does the same thing they all do. Victor is an aspiring scientist who believed he could create life but lacks support from his peers. The second half of the film does some phenomenal work at humanizing the monster. This is the most accurate to the original novel out of all depictions of Frankenstein. It’s frustrating how much people continue to alter the source material that worked so well; the film looked
great visually and was acted well. Sadly, Guillermo went for gimmicks over realism at times that heavily hindered the film for me. There was heavy use of the film cliche “vague science terms and large contraptions make us look smart cause audience is dumb.” It’s a film in two parts plus an epilogue. Anyone who wants to save an hour and a half of their life, jump to part 2. We all know the Frankenstein
story, so you can skip to the monsters.
Weapons – 7.5/10
Weapons is a great suspense builder. I loved the story structure. The movie is split into about 7 different perspectives and it’s like putting a puzzle together that you haven’t seen the finished image of. There are a couple silly things here and there and the ending is lackluster, but overall it’s great. Acting was superb and you are baited out the gate with a desire to keep following the fish reel. The film is also
unnerving, a horror that makes you physically scared is expected. A thriller that makes you physically scared is impressive.
K-pop Demon Hunters – 8/10
I go into greater detail on this film on my podcast, The World Needs a Little Talk. What I can say in short is that there is no surprise that this film became the craze that it is. It’s an energetic piece that has a deeply powerful message for kids. Don’t be afraid of who you are and hide it, regardless of what the world thinks you can accomplish great things. This movie could boost anyone’s self confidence and of
course give them catchy car ride sing-along.
Zootopia 2 – 6/10
For me the sequel was not as strong as its predecessor. Protagonists, Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, had proved themselves by the end of the first film and showed the city they have what it takes to protect it. The sequel sets up for them to have to prove themselves again as if they didn’t just save the city in the previous film. There are lots of funny quips and clever moments in the writing, but it felt like they were doing the same thing a second time around. Zootopia functions as a metaphor to push for racial equality within our real world as it puts predators and prey juxtaposed to one another. With resolution found at the end of the first film the second does this same premise but now pits mammals against reptiles.
PHOTO: Courtesy, Unsplash
