One Battle After Another Wins In Atlanta


I’m getting the feeling this is going to be a boring awards season.  The Atlanta Film Critics Circle has announced its picks for the best of 2025 and One Battle After Another won …. again.  And that’s fine!  It’s just that, from a blogging point of view, I always prefer an unpredictable season to a predictable one.

Anyway, here are the winners in Atlanta!

BEST FILM: One Battle After Another

TOP 10 FILMS (ranked):

  1. One Battle After Another
  2. Sinners
  3. Weapons
  4. Hamnet
  5. Marty Supreme
  6. It Was Just an Accident
  7. No Other Choice
  8. Sentimental Value
  9. Train Dreams
  10. The Secret Agent

BEST LEAD ACTOR: Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Runner-up: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

BEST LEAD ACTRESS: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Runner-up: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
Runner-up: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Amy Madigan, Weapons
Runner-up: Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: One Battle After Another
Runner-up: Sinners

BEST DIRECTOR: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Runner-up: Ryan Coogler, Sinners

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Sinners
Runner-up: Weapons

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: One Battle After Another
Runner-up: Hamnet

BEST DOCUMENTARY: The Perfect Neighbor
Runner-up: The Alabama Solution

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE: It Was Just an Accident
Runner-up: No Other Choice

BEST ANIMATED FILM: KPop Demon Hunters
Runner-up: Arco

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: One Battle After Another
Runner-up: Sinners

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Sinners
Runner-up: One Battle After Another

BEST STUNT WORK: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Runner-up: F1

BEST VOICE PERFORMANCE: Arden Cho, KPop Demon Hunters
Runner-up: Jason Bateman, Zootopia 2

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE: Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another

BEST FIRST FEATURE: Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby

The New York Film Critics Circle Honors One Battle After Another


The New York Film Critics Circle has announced its picks for the best of 2025.  And here they are:

Best Film: One Battle After Another

Best Actress: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Best Director: Jafar Panahi, It Was Just An Accident

Best Screenplay: Marty Supreme

Best Actor: Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Cinematography: Sinners

Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, Weapons

Best Non-Fiction Film: My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow

Best Animated Film: KPop Demon Hunters

Best First Film: Eephus

Best Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another

Best International Film: The Secret Agent

The Gothams Honor One Battle After Another


Last night, Awards Season began with the Gotham Awards!  One Battle After Another, which I really don’t want to have to sit through but I guess now I have no choice, won Best Feature.  (Oddly enough, that was the only award that One Battle After Another won, suggesting that the award had more to do with the film’s politics than its quality.)  Far more interesting is the fact that Iranian dissident (who is facing prison if he even returns to his native country) Jafar Panahi won Best Director and Best Screenplay for It Was Just An Accident.  Will the Academy have the courage to also honor him?

The winners are listed in bold below.

Best Feature
Bugonia
East of Wall
Hamnet
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Lurker
One Battle After Another
Sorry, Baby
The Testament of Ann Lee
Train Dreams

Best Director
Mary Bronstein – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident
Kelly Reichardt – The Mastermind
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
Oliver Laxe – Sirât

Outstanding Lead Performance
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Lee Byung-hun – No Other Choice
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Sopé Dìrísù – My Father’s Shadow
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love
Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent
Josh O’Connor – The Mastermind
Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee
Tessa Thompson – Hedda

Outstanding Supporting Performance
Benicio Del Toro – One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Indya Moore – Father Mother Sister Brother
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly
Andrew Scott – Blue Moon
Alexander Skarsgård – Pillion
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value
Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

Best Original Screenplay
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
Sorry, Baby
Sound of Falling

Best Adapted Screenplay
No Other Choice
One Battle After Another
Pillion
Preparation for the Next Life
Train Dreams

Best International Feature
It Was Just an Accident

No Other Choice
Nouvelle Vague
Resurrection
Sound of Falling

Best Documentary Feature
2000 Meters to Andriivka
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
The Perfect Neighbor
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk

Breakthrough Director
Constance Tsang – Blue Sun Palace
Carson Lund – Eephus
Sarah Friedland – Familiar Touch
Akinola Davies Jr. – My Father’s Shadow
Harris Dickinson – Urchin

Breakthrough Performer
A$AP Rocky – Highest 2 Lowest
Sebiye Behtiyar – Preparation for the Next Life
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
Abou Sangaré – Souleymane’s Story
Tonatiuh – Kiss of the Spider Woman

4 Shots From 4 Christmas Films


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Happy holidays!

Let’s get December started with….

4 Shots From 4 Christmas Films

The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)

Lethal Weapon (1987, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Stephen Goldblatt)

Die Hard (1988, dir by John McTiernan, DP: Jan de Bont)

Die Hard 2 (1990, dir by Renny Harlin, DP: Oliver Wood)

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For November


I guess the question right now is whether or not Wicked: For Good will receive a Best Picture nomination.  Tradition would seem to dictate that, like The Lord of the Rings films and the Dune films, Wicked: For Good would get a nomination to go along with the first part of the story.  However, the reviews of Wicked: For Good have not been particularly good.

That said, those reviews have not had much effect when it comes to the film’s box office.  And that’s why I think, despite bad reviews, Wicked: For Good will be nominated.  I don’t think it’s going be quite the Oscar powerhouse that some were expecting but it will still, at the very least, be nominated.  It’s too big to fail at this point.

Here are my review for November.  Click here for my April and May and June and July and August and September and October predictions!

Best Picture

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Frankenstein

Hamnet

Jay Kelly

Marty Supreme

One Battle After Another

Sentimental Value

Sinners

Train Dreams

Wicked For Good

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another

Ryan Coogler for Sinners

Josh Safie for Marty Supreme

Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value

Chloe Zhao for Hamnet

Best Actor

Timothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme

George Clooney in Jay Kelly

Joel Edgerton in Train Dreams

Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon

Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley in Hamnet

Cynthia Erivo in Wicked For Good

Kate Hudson in Song Sung Blue

Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Valure

Amanda Seyfried in The Testament of Ann Lee

Best Supporting Actor

Benicio del Toro in One Battle After Another

Paul Mescal in Hamnet

Sean Penn in One Battle After Another

Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly

Stellan Skarsgard in Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Actress

Elle Fanning in Sentimental Value

Ariana Grande in Wicked For Good

Regina Hall in One Battle After Another

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in Sentimental Value

Amy Madigan in Weapons

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Mark L. Lester Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to director Mark L. Lester.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Mark L. Lester Films

Roller Boogie (1979, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Dean Cundey)

Class of 1984 (1982, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Albert Dunk)

Commando (1985, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Matthew Leonetti)

Public Enemies (1996, dir by Mark L. Lester, DP: Misha Suslov)

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Udo Kier Edition


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

In memory of Udo Kier, here are…

4 Shots From 4 Udo Kier Films

Flesh For Frankenstein (1973, dir by Paul Morrissey, DP: Luigi Kuveiller)

Blood For Dracula (1974, dir by Paul Morrissey, DP:Luigi Kuveiller)

Europa (1991, directed by Lars Von Trier, DP: Henning Bendtsen,
Edward Kłosiński, Jean-Paul Meurisse.  Released as Zentropa in North America)

Swan Song (2021, dir by Todd Stephens, DP: Jackson Warner Lewis)

 

6 Shots From 6 Films: Special Martin Scorsese Edition


4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Martin Scorsese!  It’s time for….

6 Shots From 6 Martin Scorsese Films

Taxi Driver (1976, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Chapman)

Goodfellas (1990, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Ballhaus)

Casino (1995, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Robert Richardson)

Shutter Island (2010, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Robert Richardson)

Hugo (2011, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Robert Richardson)

The Irishman (2019, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Rodrigo Prieto)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Allison Anders Edition


4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the great director Allison Anders!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Allison Anders Films

Border Radio (1987, dir by Allison Anders, Dean Lent, and Kurt Voss, DP: Dean Lent)

Gas Food Lodging (1992, dir by Allison Anders, DP: Dean Lent)

Mi Vida Loca (1993, dir by Allison Anders, DP: Rodrigo Garcia)

Grace Of My Heart (1996, dir by Allison Anders, DP: Jean-Yves Escoffier)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Veronica Lake Edition


4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, we celebrate the birth of one of my favorite Golden Age actresses, Veronica Lake!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Veronica Lake Films

Sullivan’s Travels (1941, dir by Preston Sturges, DP: John Seitz)

This Gun For Hire (1942, dir by Frank Tuttle, DP: John Seitz)

I Married A Witch (1942, dir by Rene Clair, DP: Ted Tetzlaff)

The Blue Dahlia (1946, dir George Marshall, DP: Lionel Lindon)