Sparky Reviews Best Picture Lineup Part One
- Sparky
- 3 days ago
- 8 min read
Award Ceremony Time is Here
Within the film industry, there are award ceremonies. To show the best of the best films of the year. There are countless award ceremonies that promote the previous year’s films. However, one of the most prestigious award ceremonies is The Academy Awards also known as The Oscars.
Through The Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, a jury of selected people who are within The Academy review various films that go through several rounds of viewing and critiquing. Until the finalists are selected and those are fully nominated for an Academy Award.
Being nominated for an Academy Award is a huge honor. Even if the film does not win, entertainment companies use the title of “Oscar nominated” in their productions and those who were nominated for an Oscar. If a project does win an Oscar, it is a huge moment in their career. A moment where all of the blood, sweat, and tears was worth it for getting that little golden trophy. While each category is glorified in their own way, the biggest award of the night goes to Best Picture.
Best Picture is a category that takes all of the elements in a film into consideration. A Best Picture Film must represent all the elements of what makes a film a masterpiece. Generally, leading up to The Academy Awards, many movie theaters show films that are under the nomination of Best Picture.
On March 7, 2026. AMC Theaters did a Best Picture Showcase. So, in honor of Oscar week, I went to this event completely blind and analyzed the films as best as I could. What makes these films the best in their field? Let’s find out together. In this episode of Sparky Reviews, we’re going to doing a Best Picture Lineup with five films nominated by The Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences for Best Picture at The Oscars.
Best Picture Lineup Number One - Train Dreams
The first film in this Best Picture Lineup is Train Dreams. Essentially, it’s about a man named Robert Grainier who tries to make a living within the railroad system. It shows the struggles and challenges of people who work within the railroad system. Men who work rigorously and dangerously. In addition, how this life affects the family of those who worked on the railroad system.
Honestly, this film is incredibly powerful. Train Dreams is beautiful, powerful, and really puts into perspective of a lot of things. The amount of discipline, sacrifice, and just trying to survive that these men had. Plus, the other people who selected to join the logging company for the railroad industry. These people were men trying to survive, those who were trying to make a better life in the west, and immigrants from Asia.
From what is shown in this film, there’s no doubt why Train Dreams was nominated by The Academy for many awards. According to The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in their article The 98th Academy Awards, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences state that “Train Dreams was nominated for Original Song, Cinematography, and Writing (Adapted Screenplay), and Best Picture” (4, 8, & 9). To be honest, I will be surprised if Train Dream doesn’t win for cinematography. Since there are a lot of scenes where the camera angles really help tell the story of Train Dreams. There’s no doubt as to why this film was nominated for Best Picture.
Best Picture Lineup Number Two - The Secret Agent
The next film in our Best Picture Lineup is The Secret Agent. This film is also known as O Agente Secreto because this film is completely in Portuguese. Yep, this film is from Brazil. According to The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in their article The 98th Academy Awards, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences state that “The Secret Agent was nominated for Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role, Casting, and International Feature Film” (1, 4, 6, & 8). So, at first glance, there’s something incredibly special about this film with the number of nominations.
This is not the first time that an international film has been nominated for Best Picture. In fact, international films have slowly made their films more apparent even winning several categories depending on the year. With that, The Secret Agent is an incredible film about surviving oppression and refugees.
Essentially, The Secret Agent is about a professor named Marcelo who is put onto a hitlist by the Brazilian military dictatorship, and he must escape Brazil with his family. The story telling of this film is incredibly intense and intriguing. One of the things that The Secret Agent does is perspective changes.
The story will focus on Marcelo’s perspective but then transition to a modern-day Brazil to two interns who are trying to find out information from Marcelo through recordings. This perspective is shown in the middle of the film. Which shows more engagement as both are trying to find the whole picture of what is going on. Additionally, this film focuses a lot on refugees.
One of the things that The Secret Agent profoundly focuses on is refugees. There’s a point in the film where most of the main cast of characters are talking and none of their names are truly who they are. They all have their own story and are trying to stay undercover during the military regime. Each one of them has a target on their back because of what the military regime deems targetable.
The Secret Agent brings a lot into perspective for individuals who live in military dictatorships and keep their families safe. There’s no surprise that The Secret Agent or O Agente Secreto would be nominated for Best Picture in addition to other categories at The Academy Awards
Best Picture Lineup Number Three - One Battle After Another
Next, the film in our Best Film Lineup is One Battle After Another. Buckle up because this film has a lot to talk about.
According to The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in their article The 98th Academy Awards, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences state that “One Battle After Another was nominated for Actor in a Leading Role, Best Picture, two Actor in a Support Role, Actress in a Support Role, Casting, Cinematography, Directing, Editing, Music, Production, Sound, and Writing Best Adaptation.” (1, 2, 4-9). Just from this list alone, there’s something incredibly special about One Battle After Another. Honestly, this film deserves everything it’s nominated for and more.
I’m not going to sugar coat anything because based on what this film talks about, it doesn’t sugar coat anything. One Battle After Another follows a man named Bob who was a part of the revolutionary group who hit many major structures during the revolution. After going underground, he lives a semi-normal life. This is until him and his daughter get discovered and now there’s a man hunt for both of them.
Let me be frank, this film was my favorite out of the five I saw. One Battle After Another is a big middle finger to everything that is happening right now in the United States. From ICE raids to deportations to MAGA to ethnic cleansing to police brutality to everything in between. Literally, the first scene in the film is the revolutionary group breaking into a deportation facility and saving all of the refugees.
I feel that this film needed to come out right now. As it’s a huge cultural significance to everything that is happening right now. To show that we will not be silent and we will not comply with what is happening. Even the characters unwillingness to help the police, this film just felt like so much like our current world. One Battle After Another feels the most realistic because it’s what is happening right now in America.
To be honest, it doesn’t surprise me why this film was nominated for twelve nominations including two different actors in a supporting role. The Academy nominating two actors or actresses from one film genuinely doesn’t happen. Which goes to show how well this film did in terms of power.
Best Picture Lineup Number Four - Hamnet
Furthermore, the next film in the Best Picture Lineup is Hamnet. According to The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in their article The 98th Academy Awards, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences state that “Hamnet was nominated for Actress in a Leading Role, Casting, Costume, Directing, Music (Original Score) Production Design, Writing (Adapted Screenplay)” (2, 4, 5, 7-9). A powerful period film being nominated for eight academy awards must have gained attention from The Academy. Without a doubt, Hamnet deserves every award it’s nominated for.
Hamnet follows William Shakespear in addition to his wife Agnes and their battle with grief and love. Out of the five films shown, this one was definitely the most tear jerking. First, the film focuses on Agnes who is seen as an oddball in this society. Which is very normal for women who were into medicine, herbs, and likes to stay in the forest. Which is where she meets William, a writer who yearns to be a playwright.
The thing that I love about this film is that these two who were different in society were able to find love in each other. In addition, when they face loss, the two of them work through grief together. Hament is a beautiful tragedy in of itself about two people dealing with life, love, and death.
Best Picture Lineup Number Five - Frankenstein
Lastly, the last film in this Best Picture Lineup is Frankenstein. Frankenstein is one of the most done stories in cinema. However, in typical Guillermo del Toro fashion, this is no typical storyline. According to The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in their article The 98th Academy Awards, The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences state that “Frankenstein was nominated for Actor in Supporting Role, Cinematography, Costume, Makeup/Hair Style, Music (Original Score), Production Design, Sound, Best Picture, and Writing (Adapted Screenplay)” (2, 4, 7-9). So, how did a story that has been told over and over suddenly get nominated for eight academy awards?
Well, the best way to describe why this film has made such a big difference is perspective. Most of the time, this story is told from the perspective of Dr. Victor Frankenstein. However, Guillermo del Toro flips the narrative in the middle of the film to Frankenstein. This is one of the reasons why I loved this film so much.
Frankenstein also focuses on the theme of revenge. This theme falls both for Dr. Frankenstein and Frankenstein. I feel that the themes of the film really tie together both story lines. Which really makes the original story of Frankenstein more lively and also interesting. With all of this in mind, there’s no doubt as to why Frankenstein is nominated for eight nominations including Best Picture.
Follow Up to Best Picture Lineup
So, there you have it. The first five films of the Best Picture nomination for this year's Oscars. There is another Best Picture Showcase that is coming this weekend. If you'd like to check it out, feel free to get tickets to the next showcase.
Additionally, if you'd like to have a movie marathon before The Oscars, feel free to follow the following links to watch the first five films that I talked about. This includes:
Thank you for reading this review. If you liked it, feel free to share and comment what your favorite film is in this lineup.
Word Reference:
The 98th Academy Awards | 2026. (2026, January 23). Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2026
Comments