The Long Take Review

Michael B. Jordan won Best Actor! Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman to ever win an Oscar for Cinematography! Cassandra Kulukundis defied all prognostication and won the first ever Best Casting Oscar! Kumail Nanjiani shepherded a packed Dolby Theater through a rare tie in Live Action Short! (And did so with amusing aplomb.) Even everybody’s favorite baby Yoda, Grogu, made an appearance! Suffice it to say this year’s Oscars was full of excitement, celebrating several films but especially two from Warner Bros: Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another and Ryan Coogler’s Sinners.
On this episode of The Long Take Review, we share our reactions to the show, including Conan’s hosting duties. Then we reveal how we did with our predictions, which naturally leads us to dissect the winners and losers of the night. (Sorry, Timmy.) Thank you to all of our listeners for following us through another great awards season!
Image Credit: The Hollywood Reporter
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Get hyped for the Oscars tomorrow! In celebration of our favorite day of the year, we invited our friends and fellow Oscar nerds to share their thoughts on this year’s nominees, picking one desired winner in one category of their choice. It was also Greg’s birthday when we recorded this episode, so keep an ear open for birthday wishes sprinkled throughout and a special segment involving a very special cake. We’d like to thank all of our guests: you all brought your A game and managed to get us even more hyped for the big day.
* Anthony King from the Force Ghost Conversations podcast (Letterboxd: ForceGhostPod) 4:38
* Sarah Hastings (Letterboxd: sarahehastings) 22:23
* Leah Pate (IG: thepatepups) 44:31
* Rosario Rodriguez (Encinas Homes) 1:04:09
* Greg’s Birthday Cake 1:30:40
* Greg McLaughlin of The Rebel Base Card Podcast (Substack: Greg McLaughlin)
* Hasib Hossain (Letterboxd: BeebWatchesFilm; Substack: Hasib)
And if you’d like to play along with us during the ceremony, we have a special LTR-branded ballot ready for you to print!
Image Credit: New York Times (Conan O’Brien “helps” set up the red carpet)
You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.
Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com


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The Oscars are just a week away now, and while we haven’t had any real clues about who will win since we posted Part One of our predictions, there have been some strange news stories about backlash indicting Best Actor nominee Timothée Chalamet as anti-ballet and opera, and Best Actress nominee Jessie Buckley as anti-cat. What few people spewing hot takes on the Internet realize, though, is that this backlash emerged just after Oscar voting closed on March 5th and therefore cannot have any impact on whether or not Chalamet and Buckley take home a statuette next weekend. The interviews themselves, puzzlingly, have been available for some time now: Chalamet’s interview was in February and Buckley’s in November.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to debate about who might win, however. The last two televised precursors, BAFTA and SAG (rebranded as “The Actor Awards” this year) have thrown several wrenches into what has up until now been a somewhat steady steamroll for Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Wunmi Mosaku beat presumed frontrunner Teyana Taylor in Supporting Actress at BAFTA, Sean Penn surprised with wins at both BAFTA and SAG, and former Best Actor frontrunner and previously established ballet hater Timothée Chalamet struck out at both, most notably to fellow Oscar nominee Michael B. Jordan at the Actor Awards. Did Sinners surge in popularity during this last leg of the race? And if so, how is that going to manifest on Oscar Sunday?
On this episode of The Long Take Review, P.T., Greg, Antonio, and I discuss who will win and who should win in all the “above the line” categories: Actress, Actor, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, Casting, Director, and Best Picture.
Image Credit: Rolling Stone
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We’re in the end game now: the Oscars will air live on ABC and Hulu at 4PM pacific/7PM eastern on Sunday March 15th. As I type this, voting for the Oscars is about to close tomorrow March 5th, and we now have all the information we’re going to get in terms of precursors. So, of course, we at The Long Take Review spent many hours this week recording our final predictions for who we think WILL win as well as who we think SHOULD win in each category.
In this episode, Greg, P.T., and I discuss all of the “below the line” or technical/craft categories, as well as International Feature, Documentary Feature, Animated Feature, and….yes, even all the shorts categories. Greg has literally seen every nominee and provides expert insight on even the most obscure nominees, and P.T. brings every single historical stat or precursor stat you could ever need. Let us help you with the categories that can make or break your Oscar pool!
Image Credit: ABC
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Stellan Skarsgård could win his very first Oscar this year. But after losing to Sean Penn at the BAFTAs last weekend, that seems less likely now.
Skarsgård is long overdue for this level of recognition, as he has graced our screens for decades with mainstream blockbusters from huge franchises like Marvel (he plays Dr. Erik Selvig in five MCU films, most notably Thor (2011) and The Avengers (2012)) and Star Wars (Luthen Rael in Andor! *chef’s kiss*) and prestigious films like Good Will Hunting (1997), Denis Villaneuve’s Dune films (2021 and 2024), and Melancholia (2011), just to name a few. This year, he stars in Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, which earned received Oscar nominations this year, including Best Supporting Actor for Skarsgård himself.
Since the BAFTAs were so fresh on our minds, Greg and I chat about teh winners and losers of the night and what they might mean for the Oscars, which are now a mere 2 1/2 weeks away! Our conversation begins and ends with speculation about Stellan’s chances, but in between we dissect the intricate and layered themes of the film: the relationship between life and art, the stage vs. the screen, generational trauma, psychology, and much more. Pull up your best IKEA chair and join us for the conversation. (And shout out your favorite Stellan Skarsgård performance in the comments!)
Note that we do discuss the recent incident at the BAFTA awards, but very briefly and not in very much depth. For a better understanding of what happened and the harm done to both the black community and the differently abled community, I would recommend Clayton Davis’ coverage on Variety.com: he reflected on the incident as a person of color and as a parent of a child with disabilities, and later did an exclusive interview with John Davidson.
We go into SPOILER MODE at the 36:28 minute mark. If you don’t want to be a part of this complicated spoilery family, you may listen safely until then.
Image Credit: LA Times
You can listen to The Long Take Review on Substack, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
All music licensed through Epidemic Sound.
Logo art: Illustration 73265080 © Worldofvector | Dreamstime.com


Get full access to The Long Take at thelongtake.substack.com/subscribe