The Big Picture · Discussion · Awards
January 22, 2026/ 64 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins react to the 2026 Academy Award nominations two hours after they landed, then walk the whole board category by category. Sinners sets a record with 16, One Battle After Another trails with 13, and F1 sneaks into Best Picture after Sean touted it for months and then, at the last minute, predicted Weapons. Along the way: the Chase Infiniti Best Actress snub, It Was Just an Accident missing Best Picture, Delroy Lindo's surprise Supporting nod, and a Best Original Song category one host wants deleted outright.
90 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Snubs, surprises, and WTFsthe stories behind the board
16 nominations, the most ever. Casting was added this year, but it still would have broken the record at 15. The hosts expect it to win the most trophies on the night by sheer volume: 16 bites at the apple. Delroy Lindo's car-monologue scene is the one they flag for the clip-reel moment.
13 nominations, third-most in Academy history, and the presumptive Best Picture winner, though the hosts point out they've barely discussed their favorite film of the year. The Chase Infiniti Best Actress snub, they argue, shows voters underrating the women in a film they otherwise nominated everywhere.
The Best Picture surprise. Sean called it for five months, then blinked on nomination morning and predicted Weapons, reasoning the Academy had never nominated three non-English films for Best Picture. Amanda: 'You fucked up, buddy.' Also in for sound and film editing.
Jafar Panahi's Palme d'Or winner is the first Palme d'Or film to miss Best Picture since Titane in 2021. It landed Original Screenplay and International Feature, and the hosts float it winning International as an Argo-style consolation to get Panahi on stage.
Kate Hudson's Best Actress nomination is the most-mocked slot of the morning, in over Chase Infiniti and Amanda Seyfried. 'Charlize Theron in Monster Lite Lite,' Sean calls it: the wrong kind of Oscar nostalgia.
One nomination, Amy Madigan for Supporting Actress. Sean's theory for the shortfall: Zack Cregger is off shooting Resident Evil and skipped the whole campaign. Both hosts would have taken it over F1 in Best Picture.
Nine nominations, but Guillermo del Toro missed Best Director while landing Adapted Screenplay. Strong across the crafts too, including the endlessly-discussed handmade sets.
The 'straight-up good' Best Picture nominee Sean has been holding onto since he saw it at Sundance a year ago. Netflix's second film in the category, with digital cinematography the hosts call hard to pull off.
The 2026 nominations, category by category'Their pick' = the host prediction for March 15th
Also mentioned raised along the way
Snubbed outright No Other ChoiceWicked for GoodThe Testament of Ann LeeSorry, BabySirāt
Searchlight's also-rans Rental FamilySpringsteen: Deliver Me from NowhereIs This Thing On?
Documentary near-misses Cover-Up2000 Meters to Andriivka
Original Song footnote (a Hollywood Reporter listing error) Highest 2 Lowest
Kate Hudson's back catalog Almost FamousHow to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Name-checked in passing Da 5 BloodsClockersThe RevenantThe Color of MoneyCat on a Hot Tin RoofThe HustlerHudCool Hand LukeJudgment at NurembergMonsterEverything Everywhere All at OnceBlack PantherSe7enUncut GemsEvitaBardoAvatar: The Way of WaterOppenheimerTitaneArgoThe Worst Person in the WorldHustle & Flow
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV AndorNarcosThe Good WifeThe Good Fight