I’ve been thinking a lot about Ariana DeBose and how her career has unfolded since she won the Oscar for West Side Story. She’s clearly a talented actress and performer — the Academy doesn’t just hand out statues — but unfortunately, her post-Oscar trajectory hasn’t done her many favors.

Since her win, she’s appeared in a string of critical and commercial flops: Wish, Argylle, I.S.S., Poolman, Kraven the Hunter, and now Love Hurts, which doesn’t exactly scream “prestige.” Outside of Schmigadoon! (which was a great fit for her), none of these projects have helped solidify her as a serious star. In fact, they’ve arguably harmed the public’s perception of her talent.

She also hasn’t returned to a prominent Broadway production since Hamilton, despite stage being her natural strength. That’s a missed opportunity, especially considering how well-respected she is in the theater world. And let’s be honest — outside of theater and musical film circles, West Side Story didn’t have the mainstream reach many expected. A lot of people were introduced to her through these underwhelming projects, and that’s skewed how the general public sees her.

Now, on top of that, she’s embroiled in controversy over an Instagram story that seemed to throw shade at Rachel Zegler — another actress who’s been the subject of her own online discourse. This has tainted Ariana’s image even more, and the backlash might be worse than what she got after her BAFTA performance.

In my opinion, she needs to: • Fire her agent or reevaluate her team. • Take a break from social media and interviews (people are probably tired of seeing her at this point). • Get really selective with her roles. Maybe return to Broadway or take on a low-key indie project that shows her range as an actress.

I say all of this with respect — she’s incredibly talented, but talent alone doesn’t shield you from bad optics or bad decisions. She still has time to pivot, but the clock’s ticking.

​I mean, I truly think nor before nor after any lineup could beat Best Actress-1995.

Also, all performances, except for the one that actually won, have remained iconic 30 years late. Whoever won that year was stealing it from the rest of the nominees.

(FYI: EGOT is someone who has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony)

Who is your favorite person who has won 3/4? Mine are Steve Martin (missing the Tony, funnily enough lost to Lin-Manuel), Paul McCartney (missing the Tony), and Lin-Manuel Miranda (missing the Oscar)

I will have to watch it again, but I remember Al Pacino being incredible in taking on the hammy portrayal of Frank Slade in Scent of a Women the last time I watched a little time ago. I know people complain about Denzel losing in Malcolm X, but I though Pacino did truly well. I'm not sure if people are actually more annoyed by the approach of his character or Denzel losing.

Most of the most hated Best Picture winners are disliked mainly for the movies they beat out rather than their actual quality. The fact that "Crash" might have been considered just a "disliked and forgotten" Best Picture winner if it had won in a weaker year is actually frightening, because this movie IS THAT BAD. I know it may sound repetitive to criticize Crash in 2025, but it's not, because when people say that Crash' is awful, they're not referring to it being a white savior movie with terrible dialogue that reduces racism to a "complex traits of a human character". They mean it's awful because it beat their favorite cheating romance from winning. I believe that even in 2004, racism and sexual abuse were already condemned enough not to be portrayed as simple moral failings that could easily be redeemed or justified. Sandra Bullock's character, for example, never apologizes or faces consequences: She just cries about being lonely and starts treating her maid better. This kind of film isn't just bad and unpleasant to watch—it's an insult to years of advocacy for serious causes, sending extremely problematic messages and treating prejudice and abuse as mere flaws of "complex and redeemable characters" in an attempt to appear deeper and more realistic than it is. So, when we choose to be repetitive and criticize Crash, can we forget Brokeback Mountain for five minutes?? It seems so wrong that the backlash against such a problematic and harmful movie winning Best Picture was overshadowed by the fact that another movie lost. Honestly, I think most people have neither watched Crash nor Shakespeare in Love and are just repeating speeches.

The nominees for the All-Time Oscar for Best MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING are:

• AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981)
• THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980)
• THE FLY (1986)
• THE SUBSTANCE (2024)
• THE THING (1982)

Now let's nominate for All-Time BEST COSTUME DESIGN:

1. Please format your answer as follows: Movie (Year). For example: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001).
2. Nominate a film released during the years the Oscars have been active (1927- 2024)
3. One film per comment
4. The film does NOT have to be a former nominee or winner
5. No 2025 movies
6. The FIVE top comments with the most upvotes will be our Best Costume nominees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9P9MnHhacQ&t=150s

All of the reporting I saw at the time says she didn't stand. She didn't stand right away. But if you start at 2:30, you can see where Angela Bassett is seated, front row and almost dead center, right next to Austin Butler. At 2:35-2:36 in the wide shot, you can clearly see a gap in between the people in the front row, because she is still sitting and everyone else in that row is standing. At 2:37, the gap fills in, because she stands. It's not super clear video or easily visible when watching live (and you will need to watch it full screen in your computer), but she stood up. Then, if you pause it 2:36, turn playback speed all the way down, and freeze frame play it (hit the space bar twice quickly to get to the next frame and do that until you get to the right one) you will see that she is standing when they show the audience from the stage. The wideshot ends while the timestamp says 2:38, and the next frame, while it still says 2:38, you get a literally one frame short of her standing before the camera moves and Ariana DeBose is blocking the camera's view of Angela Bassett (they were concentrating filming Jamie Lee Curtis at this point after all, not the Angela Bassett). The timestamp is 2:38, but you have to freeze it on the exact right frame because Ariana DeBose is in between her and the camera. Keep watching, and at 2:47, she is still standing when the camera is showing the back of the audiences heads as they show JLC on stage. Obviously I'm not saying that if I saw Angela Bassett on the street I would recognize the back of her head. And her head isn't super visible. But since we already know that she is sitting, and that Austin Butler is next to her, we can tell she is standing because we can see the back of Austin Butler's head clearly and the lady next to him is standing. There was a man on the other side of him, so she was the only woman next to him. And his head is pretty clear to make out: he's 6 feet tall (and probably wearing slight lifts to make sure any photographers don't get a snap of him looking shorter than any woman he's pictured with), and he has a pretty distinctive haircut that is easily recognizable from the back. He's standing, and the woman next to him is standing otherwise her head wouldn't be partially visible since every row behind her is standing. At 2:51-2:53 there's another wide shot and again, you can't exactly pick her out, but once you know where she is sitting and what color dress she is wearing, even though you can't look at a still and easily say "that's Angela Bassett standing in the front row" you can clearly say "I see a purplish dress with hair that sort of looks the right shape that is wear Bassett was sitting looks like it's at a similar height as the rest of the front row".

In the one quick freeze frame where you can clearly see her, it looks like after she stands she still has her hands down and I see no evidence of her clapping. But she definitely did stand up. She made the face she made, she probably didn't clap, and she didn't stand right away, but it is not true that she refused to stand. I don't know how much that changes the discussion about her reaction/behavior, I just think it's obnoxious that the media made this huge story and didn't even report it accurately. I

2020:

Oscars: Frances McDormand - Nomadland

Golden Globes: Andrea Day - The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Drama) & Rosamund Pike - I Care a Lot (Musical/Comedy)

SAG: Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

BAFTA: Frances McDormand - Nomadland

Critics Choice: Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman

2021:

Oscars: Jessica Chastain - The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Golden Globes: Nicole Kidman - Being the Ricardos (Drama) & Rachel Zegler - West Side Story (Musical/Comedy)

SAG: Jessica Chastain - The Eyes of Tammy Faye

BAFTA: Joanna Scanlan - After Love

Critics Choice: Jessica Chastain - The Eyes of Tammy Faye

2022:

Oscars: Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Golden Globes: Cate Blanchett - Tár (Drama) & Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once (Musical/Comedy)

SAG: Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once

BAFTA: Cate Blanchett - Tár

Critics Choice: Cate Blanchett - Tár

2023:

Oscars: Emma Stone - Poor Things

Golden Globes: Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon (Drama) & Emma Stone - Poor Things (Musical/Comedy)

SAG: Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon

BAFTA: Emma Stone - Poor Things

Critics Choice: Emma Stone - Poor Things

2024:

Oscars: Mikey Madison - Anora

Golden Globes: Fernanda Torres - I'm Still Here (Drama) & Demi Moore - The Substance (Musical/Comedy)

SAG: Demi Moore - The Substance

BAFTA: Mikey Madison - Anora

Critics Choice: Demi Moore - The Substance

Ranking of Most Accuracies Compared to Oscars

1. BAFTA - 3
2. Golden Globes & SAG & Critics Choice - 2

Since there are 18 choices, I can't do a poll, so you can just post your answer.

• Rush - Shine - 1997

• Foxx* - Ray - 2004

• Reese - Walk the Line - 2005

• PSH - Capote - 2005

• Whitaker** - Last King of Scotland - 2006

• Hudson - Dreamgirls - 2006

• Waltz - Inglorious Basterds- 2009

• Monique - Precious- 2009

• Spencer - Help - 2011

• Simmons - Whiplash- 2014

• Arquette - Boyhood - 2014

• Larson - Room - 2015

• Janney - Tonya - 2017

• Rockwell - 3 Billboards - 2017

• DeBose - West Side Story - 2021

• Da'Vine** - Holdovers - 2023

• Culkin** - Real Pain - 2024

• Saldana - Emilia Perez - 2024

(*) Foxx managed to get 2 noms that year, one of them for Collateral

(**) Managed to also win the big 5 Critics awards (NBR, NSFC, LAFCA, NYFCC, LFCC)

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Nominated for Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, Visual Effects, Film Editing and Production Design)
• War Horse (Nominated for Original Score, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Production Design and Cinematography)
• Selma (Nominated for Original Song)
• Black Panther (Nominated for Original Score, Original Song, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Production Design and Costume Design)
• Ford vs. Ferrari (Nominated for Sound Mixing, Sound Editing and Film Editing)
• Nightmare Alley (Nominated for Production Design, Cinematography and Costume Design)
• Avatar: The Way of Water (Nominated for Sound, Production Design and Visual Effects)
• Dune: Part 2 (Nominated for Sound, Cinematography, Production Design and Visual Effects)

The lineup for Best Makeup and Hairstyling has been decided! Nominees are:

- La Vie en Rose (2007, France)

- Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Mexico)

- Ran (1985, Japan)

- Society of the Snow (2023, Spain)

- Titane (2021, France)

Today's category is Best Costume Design.

Rules:

1. Only feature films not primarily in English allowed - no documentaries or short films
2. No 2025 films
3. Films and performances do not have to be previous Oscar nominees or winners
4. Comment the name of the film, the year it was released and its primary language/country. If your choice has already been commented, give it an upvote instead of commenting again
5. If you don’t agree with a film choice, please don’t downvote. Downvoting essentially takes someone else’s upvote away, which makes the system unfair. If you don’t like a film, ignore it and upvote the one you do like so it can get ahead.

Top 5 upvoted comments will decide the nominees, which will be voted on once all the categories have been decided. Voting will be open for 24 hours.

Have fun!

(Tomorrow's category will be Best Supporting Actress)

With 22.5% of the vote, Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential) has been eliminated. Vote for the performance you like the least in the form below and the one with the most votes will be eliminated.

VOTE HERE

40: Roberto Bengini (Life is Beautiful)

39: Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love)

38: Jessica Lange (Blue Sky)

37: Michael Caine (The Cider House Rules)

36: Jack Palance (City Slickers)

35: Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets)

34: Jack Nicholson (As Good As It Gets)

33: James Coburn (Affliction)

32: Kim Basinger (L.A. Confidential)

• 1990: Kathy Bates - Misery
• 1991: Jodie Foster - The Silence of the Lambs
• 1992: Emma Thompson - Howards End
• 1993: Angela Bassett - What's Love Got To Do with It
• 1994: Winona Ryder - Little Women
• 1995: Sharon Stone - Casino
• 1996: Frances McDormand - Fargo
• 1997: Kate Winslet - Titanic
• 1998: Cate Blanchett - Elizabeth
• 1999: Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry
• 2000: Ellen Burstyn - Requiem for a Dream
• 2001: Halle Berry - Monster's Ball
• 2002: Nicole Kidman - The Hours
• 2003: Charlize Theron - Monster
• 2004: Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• 2005: Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line
• 2006: Helen Mirren - The Queen
• 2007: Marion Cotillard - La Vie En Rose
• 2008: Meryl Streep - Doubt
• 2009: Gabourey Sidibe - Prescious
• 2010: Natalie Portman - Black Swan
• 2011: Viola Davis - The Help
• 2012: Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
• 2013: Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
• 2014: Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
• 2015: Brie Larson - Room
• 2016: Emma Stone - La La Land
• 2017: Frances McDormand - Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• 2018: Olivia Colman - The Favourite
• 2019: Scarlett Johansson - Marriage Story
• 2020: Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman
• 2021: Kristen Stewart - Spencer
• 2022: Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once
• 2023: TBA
• 2024: TBA

Ranking:

1. The Broadway Melody

2. Crash

3. Cimarron

4. Cavalcade

5. The Greatest Show on Earth

6. The Great Ziegfeld

7. Gigi

8. Around the World in 80 Days

9. Tom Jones

10. Driving Miss Daisy

11. The Life of Emile Zola

12. Green Book

13. Out of Africa

14. Shakespeare in Love

15. Chariots of Fire

16. Going My Way

17. A Man For All Seasons

18. Oliver!

19. Gentleman's Agreement

20. Grand Hotel

21. The Artist

22. CODA

23. Nomadland

24. Braveheart

25. Dances with Wolves

26. Hamlet

27. The English Patient

28. An American in Paris

29. How Green Was My Valley

In some ways, the expected results. It was close for both rounds, but the final round is the Best Picture winner Anora versus the breakout genre film of the year The Substance. I've also included a second question about whether to do this for another year.

The Rules:

• Voting will close at midnight EST on Tuesday, April 8.
• A match-up needs a minimum of 10 votes total before the results are considered. Highest seed advances by default if not enough votes are submitted.
• Try to avoid voting for a matchup where you have not seen both films. It's an honor system since I can't really enforce that, though.

https://forms.gle/nt7KuJNssYPKVmiw8

1. Linda Wurtmüller for Seven Beauties (1976)

2. Jane Campion for The Piano (1993) & The Power of the Dog (2021)

3. Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation (2003)

4. Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2009)

5. Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird (2017)

6. Chloé Zhao for Nomadland (2020)

7. Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman (2020)

8. Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall (2023)

9. Coralie Fargeat for The Substance (2024)

Vote here

• 25. Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
• 24. Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
• 23. Reneé Zellweger (Judy)
• 22. Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)
• 21. Reese Witherspoon (Walk The Line)
• 20. Frances McDormand (Nomadland)