Oscar voting is over for the 97th Academy Awards, and now we are just patiently waiting until the awards are handed out on March 2nd. Matt Neglia and I spoke with several Academy voters about what they are voting for and why. We’ll be posting some of those thoughts for your amusement in the lead-up to the Oscars (because that’s all this is at the end of the day). Here are the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth 2025 Anonymous Oscar voters we spoke with. Remember, as you read these, they represent only a tiny fraction of the 10,000+ people who vote on the Oscar winners. While these may help provide some insight into how voters make their selections, they are far from the be-all-end-all of what will win the Oscars and should be taken with a grain of salt.
Best Picture:
- “Wicked” – When I saw this, it was at an Academy screening, and they had the whole cast and director present, and I thought, “This has got to win,” because everybody loved it – I certainly did, but truly, everyone loved it. But it seems like it got lost in the shuffle since then—strange season.
- “Anora” – I thought it was an amazing film– it showed glimpses of a world I’m unfamiliar with. I thought Mikey Madison’s performance was terrific, especially after I had seen interviews with her about her process of finding that accent and hanging out with these real-life women she’s portraying. It’s a very raw movie and very funny. Oddly enough, I was so taken by the performance by the guy, Yura Borisov. He was very understated but very powerful in how he related to her and was sort of protecting her. I don’t quite get the ending, but that’s ok.
- “Emilia Pérez” – I thought I was going to like “Emilia Pérez” more…I saw clips that showcased the sound specifically before I ever saw the movie, and I thought, “Wow, this looks innovative,” but then I saw it, and I was impressed with how daring they were to make a musical about cartels and a transgender woman…in Spanish when the director is French, and I thought Zoe was great, but it left me with kind of a lousy feeling afterward. Not so much that I put it in the lower half though. I don’t know; I only really loved “Wicked” and “Anora” this year.
- “A Complete Unknown” – This was good, although it’s awkward when you’re of a certain age, and you lived with people and know what they look like and know what they sound like, so it’s kind of hard to get past that Monica and Timothee don’t really look and sound like Bob and Joan, but I still thought it was good.
- “Conclave” – I loved the way it was shot. And I liked the pace. How do you make anything exciting with men in robes just walking around? But they did it. I’m kind of surprised it got nominated, though.
- “The Brutalist” – I only saw about half of this because it was just too long. I watched it in the Academy screening room app, but I had all these problems with it. It would play half the movie and stop, or it would buffer every few seconds. I kept calling them, and they kept saying I would have to update my settings, and eventually, I gave up. I still put it at six because I could see the intent behind it, and I respected that, though.
- “Dune: Part Two” – I don’t like those movies. I just don’t enjoy movies that are just killing and surviving.
- “I’m Still Here” – Good, but not as great as some have been hyping it up to be.
- “The Substance” – I couldn’t finish it. I watched it for Demi Moore’s performance, and that aspect was amazing, but it was just disgusting and tough to sit through.
- “Nickel Boys” – I think the first-person POV is an interesting approach, but it just didn’t work for me.
Best Director:
I was so surprised they didn’t nominate Jon M. Chu. It was like, are they just jealous of him and whats he made here with “Wicked?” I seem to recall they did the same thing to Denis Villeneuve for the “Dune” movies too. Whatever, I hope he gets nominated next year. I defaulted to Sean Baker.
Best Actress:
I voted for Mikey. I think Demi will get it because you know how the academy is with “Oh, she’s older, and it’s her time.” Yeah, she has enough friends and people on her side to get her there.
Best Actor:
Ralph Fiennes. He had such a command of that role. Very understated but powerful. Sometimes, I vote for the underdogs, but I genuinely don’t think he will win.
Best Supporting Actress:
Zoe Saldana. She was the best part of that movie.
Best Supporting Actor:
Yura, like I said above.
Best Original Screenplay:
“Anora.”
Best Adapted Screenplay:
I went with “Emilia Pérez.” I liked it, even if not as much as I had hoped. I didn’t get a chance to see “Sing Sing” though.
Best Animated Feature:
I loved “Flow” and “The Wild Robot” so much, but I watched “Memoir of a Snail” just a few nights before voting, and it really stuck with me and affected me.
Best Documentary Feature:
I abstained because I didn’t watch all of the nominees.
Best International Feature Film:
I didn’t vote for “Flow” for animated. So I went for it here instead.
Best Cinematography:
I was really disappointed “Wicked” wasn’t nominated here. I read that one dance scene with the 360 spinning took them about a week to film, and they had to use all these lights. It was awe-inspiring stuff. I voted for “Emilia Pérez” since that wasn’t here. I can see how difficult this musical must’ve been to shoot too.
Best Costume Design:
“Wicked” had so many well-designed costumes for so many characters.
Best Film Editing:
“Wicked,” obviously. Some of those numbers were brilliantly edited, and the over two-and-a-half-hour runtime just flew by.
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
Another one for “Wicked.” I almost went with “A Different Man.” What a job that was, but I just loved “Wicked” so much.
Best Production Design:
“Wicked,” without a doubt. I loved those practical sets; there was very little CGI. They planted all those tulips individually!!
Best Original Score:
I voted for “Wicked” here as well—just beautiful music across the board.
Best Original Song:
I voted for Diane Warren this year. Her songs all sound the same, and I didn’t even like this one, but I will keep voting for her until she wins.
Best Sound:
I chose “Wicked.” Working in sound, I know what is involved in those live recordings of performances, even when they were flying on the wires. I’ve read a whole lot of stuff about Simon Hayes’ process of capturing live sound. I valued how they figured out how to do that. Each person had their own boom operators in many scenes, not just using Lav mics. Anyone who works in sound will tell you this was a tough job but done exceptionally well.
Best Visual Effects:
Now, here is one where I went with “Dune: Part Two.” I don’t like it, but I can respect the work here.
Best Animated Short Film:
“Magic Candies” was my favorite.
Best Documentary Short Film:
I like underdog stories, so I voted for “The Only Girl in the Orchestra.”
Best Live Action Short Film:
I like how they used the cameras in “A Lien” and how it was edited so I chose that one.
Please let us know your thoughts on our X account and be sure to listen to our final Oscar predictions podcast episode coming this Sunday. Here are the first, second, third, fourth and fifth 2025 Anonymous Oscar voters we spoke with about their ballots. Please click here for more important upcoming dates this awards season and here for the most recent tally of awards season winners for the current year.
You can follow Matt & Will and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars & Film on Twitter at @NextBestPicture& @mavericksmovies
