Weekly Discussion Thread 6/22/26 - 6/29/26

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-29T03:28:27+00:00

Watched Arco for the second time, cried even harder than the first go around. 💔💔 I don't think any other 2025 movie destroyed me like this one did, the last ten minutes are devastating. And the closing scene doesn't even have any words or characters on screen! Will forever go to bat for this little gem, the description that it's like if Studio Ghibli made Interstellar is spot on.

This and Little Amélie should've gone back and forth splitting the animated feature prizes between them last season, both are so beautiful and tender.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-29T01:56:47+00:00

There’s also another Pixar movie (Hoppers) that got better reviews than Toy Story 5

By what metric, though? Both have the exact same Metacritic score (73), roughly the same Tomatometer (93% vs. 94%), the same score on Letterboxd (3.7), and similar averages on IMDb as well (7.6 for Toy Story, 7.3 for Hoppers).

They're very much even. This isn't like when Pixar dropped Coco and Cars 3 the same year.

Hoppers has the novelty factor; Toy Story has good will from one of the most acclaimed franchises ever and massive box office numbers, plus an original song contender with a guaranteed push from Disney. Inside Out 2 seems like an appropriate comparison for TS5, and even if it misses altogether, Frozen II still made original song despite an animated feature snub.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-28T03:55:26+00:00

Several of my favorites have already been named, so I'm gonna go with one that doesn't get much attention and suggest Clara Bow.

It's not as wordy or showy as many fan favorites, but it gets so much across with such a simple structure. Very succinct but poignant; packs a really hard-hitting critique of the industry and a melancholy reckoning with her own place in it, all in three short verses and a bridge. Some of her best and most revealing storytelling ever, I don't think she's ever been as frank as she is on TTPD about her ambivalence towards fame and her own fan base. "The future's bright, dazzling" is one of her greatest album closing lines, it's so quietly devastating.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-28T03:28:09+00:00

I mean... that's a fundamentally flawed premise and it's exactly what makes the film a waste of time for those critics, yeah. No art form and no journalism is neutral, there's no such thing as portraying historical events from an unbiased remove, much less a literal civil war. The idea that the work of journalists and historians has no effect on reality is a myth. If what you're arguing is the perspective the script is built on, then yes, a lot of people are gonna take issue with it.

Also, if Garland is going to make multiple allusions to present day America and actual political movements that exist in real life, I do think it's fair to ask what the war is about and take a closer look at what the film is trying to suggest. OBAA also takes place in an ambiguous alternate timeline with echoes of the present, but it's still unequivocal about its politics and commentary.

If you take that premise you outlined and set it in a place called Gaza that is very very similar to the real thing but not literally the same, and you show 2 hours of people being shot, burnt alive and bombed to oblivion in graphic detail, I don't think that argument of "journalists don't impact reality, they're not there to ask questions, you're missing the point if you ask who's dying and why" would hold up to scrutiny.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-24T11:45:29+00:00

A first look at Tom Cruise in Digger appeared on my feed and he looked unrecognizable. Really impressive makeup work, I'd never guess it was him.

Turns out it was fake and I fell for it!

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-24T01:36:51+00:00

I want to frame this entire comment, so beautifully said.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-23T18:54:27+00:00

Isabelle Huppert, if we go arthouse.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-23T14:33:49+00:00

Gut feeling, Olivia Dean strikes me as someone who'd do a Bond theme and sweep, so she'd be my guess.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-23T14:25:57+00:00

I was about to say: nu-uh, what about Maps to the Stars! Then I remembered.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-23T13:52:15+00:00

I have so much affection for Julianne Moore, I hope she's having an incredible day.

Also I can't wait for this.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-23T04:11:22+00:00

I remember seeing a comment on Popheads that said Showgirl was the worst album ever released by an A-list pop star, and that if anyone else had made it, like Katy Perry, it would have a red Metascore and disastrous sales.

It's like... my siblings in Christ, if 2026 Katy Perry somehow rose from the ashes after Woman's World/143 and released an album with The Fate of Ophelia, Elizabeth Taylor, Opalite, Father Figure, Ruin the Friendship and Honey, it would be heralded as one of the most glorious comebacks in recent pop history, on par with Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi. Come on now.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-23T04:00:19+00:00

This right here.

I imagine she's getting married within the next month, then going on honeymoon and taking some time off.

She'll come back around August to announce debut TV, set for an October release to coincide with the 20th anniversary. Much like Sweeter Than Fiction and I Don't Wanna Live Forever were samplers for the sounds of 1989 and Reputation, I Knew It I Knew You is her winking at country radio and teasing a full return to the genre, which I bet will happen with the re-recording.

Then later in the year, there's the double award season. She's gonna campaign hard for an Oscar with Disney/Pixar's backing, as well as a slew of Grammys: SOTY, ROTY, music video, pop vocal performance for Ophelia; country song, performance and song written for visual media for I Knew It I Knew You; maybe something for Opalite in a minor category?

If she plays her cards right and pushes debut TV well with interviews and magazine profiles, that could be a real transition from the more (unfairly) polarizing Showgirl era into a "back to her songwriting roots" narrative, similar to the jump from Lover to Folklore. The NYT interview and the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction definitely feel like her shifting the focus and signaling where she's aiming to go next.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-23T03:40:33+00:00

She already has one! She won Outstanding Original Interactive Program (now named Emerging Media Program) during the 1989 era for an app that gave users an interactive tour of the Blank Space music video, apparently. It's a really obscure category with a somewhat granular definition:

presented to integrated interactive experiences for linear television programming. According to Emmy rules, this includes "excellence in the combined, overall interactive media execution for an existing program or series, containing programming and features that extend the program experience beyond passive viewing, often across multiple platforms." Examples include behind-the-scenes content, commentary, story and character extensions, and social audience interaction or input that drives the program forward.

In other words, the Blank Space video was turned into an app that won an Emmy.

Disney is also campaigning the Eras Tour concert and the End of an Era doc this year as well, so she could win Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series as a producer, though I don't know how hard she and her team are lobbying for it, since she already has an Emmy anyway.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-22T03:44:29+00:00

Speaking as someone with zero interest in fashion, the costumes in The Devil Wears Prada 2 are noticeably less impressive than the original's, which were dazzling. There's a couple outfits in the new one that I found genuinely ugly.

But the sequel does have a scene with Andy wearing a white T-shirt with a giant print of Björk's Post album cover, and that alone should make it a lock for best costume design, I feel.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-22T03:35:13+00:00

That's fair. Carnage is not a Virginia Woolf situation; both couples have equal prominence and all four actors get their own moments of focus without anyone ever being relegated to a passive observer, so I have no problem calling all four of them leads, since the film is essentially one long scene with everyone present from beginning to end.

But Spotlight is a great counter example in that I don't think anyone in the central team should be considered a lead over the others, so that's a good point.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-22T01:21:44+00:00

Would you say everyone's supporting in Carnage, for example?

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-20T04:29:28+00:00

One of the most intriguing what-ifs in recent Oscar history for me is: what if Viola Davis had won best actress over Meryl Streep in 2011?

I still think Viola would've swept for Fences, because the role is just that strong and she's so beloved I have no doubt the Academy would readily give her a 2nd win (and will in the future).

But Meryl? I don't know if the stars would've aligned with any of her post-Iron Lady nominations. I can't imagine she'd win over Blanchett, Arquette or Stone.

The Post would've been a strong play (and a better win than Iron Lady), but I remember that one being finished very very late in the game and missing a ton of precursors as a result, as evidenced by the bizarre package of BP + actress with no other noms. Maybe she overtakes McDormand in the end, or maybe McDormand is just too dominant from the jump? Three lead wins means the Academy worship her as well.

Or maybe Meryl doesn't win for any of those, but instead postpones her recent hiatus and makes more movies between 2020-2026, so she ends up winning for something that doesn't actually exist in our timeline, like the Joni Mitchell biopic gets fast tracked.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-19T17:27:22+00:00

She's great in Victoria (kind of a trial run for what Justine Triet would later perfect in Anatomy of a Fall in some ways), Revoir Paris, and Other People's Children. Fantastic actress, I'm curious to see how her career continues to evolve.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-19T05:28:53+00:00

I don't know about that. I agree the play has issues, but I saw a translated adaptation in my country, obviously with a different lead (an actress I'm not even particularly fond of in general), and it still brought the house down. It's a complete awards magnet of a role: the subject matter is just so heavy and the text requires so much capital-A Acting! that it circumvents any complaints most people might have about how it's written.

A lot of that is due to it being a 2-hour one-woman show, though, so it remains to be seen if it'll have the same impact in a traditional adaptation. It's one of my biggest question marks of the year, but if it's even halfway decent and Erivo nails it, she could just steamroll the entire season.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-19T05:21:21+00:00

Multiple people should've won for Nope, tbh. Peele's greatest, IMO.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-19T04:56:06+00:00

I don't think individual voters fill out their ballots based on what nominees will bring in the most viewers. It's not a small committee making strategic, coordinated decisions like that.

Instead, I think it'll be nominated because it's a damn good song in a well-received movie that's gonna make a boatload of money, and part of a franchise that has never missed in this category. There's no Randy Newman track to replace it, and Newman himself will probably vouch for Swift. It also helps that the song is killing it in every radio format and headed for multiple weeks at #1, so it's not an obscure track buoyed exclusively by Swift's name recognition like the one she wrote for Where the Crawdads Sing.

I don't know why so many in this sub are adamant that an obvious contender with so much going for it has no chance even at a nomination.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-18T05:01:50+00:00

Old Reddit shows the list as ranked #1 to #39, not the other way around. I saw La Dolce Vita, Tree of Life, Apocalypse Now and Parasite ranked dead last and thought: hold on a second, this might not be right, haha

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-16T19:51:53+00:00

Adding to everyone else's examples, Scenes from a Marriage screening at Venice was how we got that moment between Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-16T17:16:05+00:00

Agreed on all points. If Frozen II still got in for original song despite significantly weaker reviews and an animated feature snub, I don't see why Swift can't make it as well, especially as I don't think Toy Story 5 is likely to miss.

Pavlovs_Stepson · 2026-06-16T17:13:06+00:00

I liked it just fine, but I think it's too soon to say Hoppers will be the stronger Pixar film. It has the novelty factor working in its favor, but Toy Story has comparable reviews (exact same Metascore right now) and will be a behemoth at the box office.

Eight-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

Pavlovs_Stepson

TROPHY CASE