It’s finally time. After months of campaigning, premiering, magazine profiles, scandals and precursor awards, the 2025 Oscars will air live 6 p.m. Sunday on ABC and Hulu. From 207 movies eligible for best picture, which recognizes the most excellent film of the year, 10 are nominated but only one will take home the 2025 trophy. Unlike most of the other 22 categories, best picture is voted on a preferential ballot. Ballots are piled based on each voter’s first-choice selection. As votes are counted, the nominee with the fewest ballots had those votes redistributed to other piles based on second choices, third choices, fourth choices — and sometimes, fifth choices. While I don’t know how almost 10,000 voting members ranked their ballots, here’s what my own best picture Oscar ballot would look like if I were a voter. Click on the movie title for the trailer. 10. Emilia Pérez - directed by Jacques Audiard A crime thriller, a musical, an ode to Mexico and a depiction of a transgender woman, Emilia Pérez falls flat in every metric. Audiard’s bold and audacious approach won’t go unnoticed, but the film is overly directed and sloppily written to the point where he could only demonstrate tension right before the climax by doing a split screen. Pérez, as a character, is written so patronizingly that by the end she’s no longer a human, just a symbol or an icon. While the film has some technical merits — “El Mal” is actually a good sequence — and is anchored by Zoe Saldaña’s incredible performance, it’s overall not an effective story. (Stream it on Netflix) 9. A Complete Unknown - directed by James Mangold A Complete Unknown plays out as mysteriously as its title. Mangold has nothing more to say than that Bob Dylan tossed women away freely and used his talent as an excuse. It’s a constant poke of, “Isn’t he talented? Isn’t he great?” through Dylan’s songwriting, so much so that most of the film is just his songs. So many songs. There’s probably less than half an hour’s worth of dialogue. While the songs are great, the final movie is inarticulate, with a karaoke performance from Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan. Monica Barbaro, as Joan Baez, obliterates Chalamet’s Dylan in every scene. The MVP performance goes to Elle Fanning, who silently steals every minute of her limited screen time. (Rent with video-on-demand) 8. Wicked - directed by Jon Chu Wicked is quite an enjoyable, infectious weekend matinee, mainly when Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are on screen together and during scenes showcasing Jonathan Bailey’s irresistible charm. Yet, Chu’s unwavering commitment to medium shots rarely allows two actors to demonstrate chemistry in one frame. When it goes for wide shots, “One Short Day,” for example, did not showcase body movement and couldn’t find its focal point between crowds, props and set pieces. Sometimes, Wicked takes full advantage of its beautiful production set and costume design, as in “Popular”. Most of the time, it is goofy and too heavy-handed in forcing emotions out of the audience, shown in “Defying Gravity”. So much social commentary and so many character motivations — all as deep as a puddle. (Rent on video-on-demand) 7. Dune: Part Two - directed by Denis Villeneuve Dune: Part Two is ambitious. Its sound mixing, set decorations and visual effects are hallmarks of epic filmmaking. It is also a disappointing antithesis to Villeneuve’s early projects, such as Incendies and Prisoners, which focus on layers of intricate character development. The clearest example of this is when Timothée Chalamet’s character, Paul, meets with the southern Freeman war council to galvanize the crowd. Loud style, little substance. Zendaya is equally as forgettable with a thinly drawn character, especially once Austin Butler — who clearly understands the somewhat silliness of this spectacle and played on that spectrum — appears. (Stream on Netflix, Max) 6. Nickel Boys - directed by RaMell Ross A lot of good things happened in Nickel Boys. The plot. The acting. The careful storytelling. Onto the not-so-good part: the bold first-perspective cinematography, which hinders the plot, the acting and the storytelling. We don’t get to experience the chemistry between characters during heavy-hitting exchanges or the characters’ expressions as they process what is happening to them. Instead, we see the actors acting at us, almost like a video game. In the few fleeting moments where Ross doesn’t stick with the tricky cinematography gimmick, he relies on repeating the narrative from the other’s perspective. Yet, the acting shines through and the thoughtful narrative rarely dims, both testaments to the film’s strengths. There are more good, beautiful moments than bad ones. You should still see it, because of what you need to learn here, to feel here. (Rent on video-on-demand) 5. Anora - directed by Sean Baker Anora is fun and decent. Love the soundtrack. Mikey Madison gives a “star is born” performance as the titular character. It has some explosive moments but dwells on issues from a very surface level and runs a touch too long. Baker’s social curiosity is enough for him to craft a fun film. But under the spotlight, there’s not much to see. His curiosity ends about 20 minutes into the film when Baker gets completely disinterested in telling the story of a sex worker and instead focuses on a screwball comedy. Anora, in the end, never had a true character. Sometimes she’s smart. At times she’s naive. Mostly, the men in this world are written more interestingly than her. (Rent on video-on-demand) 4. I’m Still Here - directed by Walter Salles Salles could’ve easily bogged I’m Still Here down with torture and political drama, considering its subject matter about the military dictatorship in Brazil in the early ’70s. Instead, with Fernanda Torres’ masterful performance, he focuses on home life before and after a mother’s arrest for inquiring about her husband’s abduction by the government. Life still happens, but there is now that underlying tension among family members and also those connected to the Paiva family. Long gone was the busting and lively music and art. Long gone were moments with the blue sky and the beach. What's left is a masterful depiction of how their home becomes a metaphor for what happened in Brazil: People lived there but wouldn’t fully acknowledge what was occurring. (Only in theaters) 3. Conclave - directed by Edward Berger All of Conclave is fiction, but you wouldn’t be able to tell because of how accurate and engaging the dialogue-driven story, costumes and production sets are — down to the wire. The acting is sublime, with Ralph Fiennes almost disappearing into the role. Berger did a wonderful job depicting the drama, gossip, conversations and all of the politics going on behind the scenes of electing a pope. It’s Mean Girls (Pope’s Version). One of the most beautiful movies to look at, and it’s tightly edited to shine a light on many worldwide issues: divisive political views, partisanship, war, the role of women and treatment of genders — all tied together by one huge twist. (Stream on Peacock) 2. The Brutalist - directed by Brady Corbet It’s hard to watch The Brutalist and not get swept away by its technical merits. In every frame, cut and sound bite, Corbet knows exactly what he wants to evoke from the audience and creates a cinematic achievement through his vision from the first frame and score. Even with those calculations, the film never loses a beat in its heartfelt approach to displaying the American Dream in the most brutally honest way imaginable. Its themes of suffering, resilience, resistance and addiction are all intricately woven together through an immigrant’s journey with amazing performances by Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce. (Rent on video-on-demand) 1. The Substance - directed by Coralie Fargeat Bold, audacious and relentless — I’ve raved far too much about The Substance. From a career-best, haunting performance by Demi Moore to the gutsy vision of Fargeat, the movie is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. (Stream on Mubi) @DangHLe news-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu

Black voices within The Shorthorn newsroom carry individualistic stories. For Black History Month, The Shorthorn staff members step beyond the reporter's notebook to share our journeys and explore what it means to navigate life as Black students while carrying our cultures’ weight and wits. Figures of Black history News reporter Taylor Sansom credits her mother’s grit for balancing three jobs and attending college all while raising her. As a Black woman, she said she resonates with her mother’s drive and sees her as an inspiration. Sansom said when people think about Black history, icons like Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks are ingrained in the minds of many. While these figures played a big role in the Civil Rights Movement, she said there is so much more to Black history. “There are so many other notable people that we should also be focusing our attention on,” Sansom said. “My younger sister, she’s in high school right now, and she had no idea who Emmett Till was because they want to teach parts of history where Black people overcame, but they never want to teach the uncomfortable parts.” Emmett Till was killed at 14 years old by two white store clerks, bringing nationwide attention to the racial violence and injustice prevalent in Mississippi, according to the Library of Congress. Generational divide and identity defined Design editor Haley Walton struggled with her racial identity and being “ostracized” by both Black and white communities. She has received criticism for not speaking “Black enough,” which she said in itself implies how Black people are supposed to sound. Such statements are harmful even to those who are not biracial. “I’ve always had issues with my identity in all different shapes and forms,” said Walton, who is mixed race Black, Swedish and Creole. Walton found that some believe coping mechanisms used in Black culture are deemed meaningless, including the divide between her family on historically negative slurs. She said her family has multiple generations of mixed-raced identities who all share unique perspectives. “It’s just two different generations finding different ways to cope,” Walton said. Illustrator Candys Mena said Black history has shaped her identity as an Afro-Honduran woman through “strength, pride and resilience,” drawing on the history of African Americans in her pursuits. “I have always kept the history of my African American brothers and sisters close at heart," Mena said. “Black History Month is a moment to reflect, respect, celebrate and share what makes us who we are, and I’ll always be proud of that.” Page designer Anayah Darrett said in a statement that both societal beauty standards and racial stereotypes significantly shaped her self identity, allowing her to challenge preconceived notions. “I am just a reserved, young Black woman living life — nothing more than that,” Darrett said. “Especially not an angry one.” Beyond the textbook Graphic designer Jordan Johnson said she hopes for a future where Black history is taught more engagingly and equitably. The current public education system presents Black history in an intangible way, leaving many students without a clear understanding. “History is a living, breathing thing — it is not meant to be passively taught and learned,” Johnson said. She said she spent her childhood in predominantly non-Black communities, so her mother set a strong foundation for Black history growing up by prioritizing her education. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve taken more initiative to learn on my own,” Johnson said. “My understanding of the true expanse of my history has grown far beyond the 400-year span they try to limit us to.” Celebrating through melody Growing up in a single-parent household, my father defied societal expectations by raising me himself, something you don’t often see in the Black community. The reality is engraved into me. It’s a truth I carry like a weight on my shoulder: I would always have to work 10 times harder than my non-Black peers. The consistent pressure coupled with ever-present shadows of racial bias created self-doubt. Every skill and endeavor I took upon myself was met with the internal question of “Am I good enough?” whispering self hatred and being overwhelmed with societal prejudice. It threatened to silence my voice. Within the complexity of Black history, music has played a huge role in it. I am inspired by the voice of Nina Simone, a singer, pianist and music arranger who used her craft as a weapon for the Civil Rights Movement. Her lyrics, which reflect pain and resilience, illuminate a path for us today. I find inspiration in today’s artists like Doechii, whose rhymes and unapologetic narratives continue that path of Black expression and empowerment. Music within our community is the sound of hope, unity and strength. It’s the heartbeat of Black history and continues to bring unity to the community. Celebrating Black history is more than mere observation. To celebrate means to come together even through the toughest of times and the division of our country or our community. We should always continue to celebrate and preserve what we have historically while also uplifting each other and building beyond our countless years of oppression. @PixaPerfect_ photo-editor.shorthorn@uta.edu