A Complete Unknown:
“Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone,” sings Bob Dylan in his song Like A Rolling Stone from 1965. The title of this swirling biopic comes from that quintessential Dylan track. The movie is also based on the 2015 book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald and is set in the dynamic music scene of New York City in the early 1960s. Timothée Chalamet stars as Bob Dylan with Edward Norton (Pete Seeger), Elle Fanning (Suze Rotollo), and Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez) in supporting roles.
The standout film follows 19-year-old Minnesota musician Bob Dylan’s meteoric rise from an unknown singer to one of the most influential musicians ever. The movie culminates in the well-known and controversial switch to electric and rock-and-roll performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
Although most of the storyline is true, James Mangold recently told Variety that the film is “not a Wikipedia entry”; he didn’t feel a need to document every detail. Instead, he condensed timelines, which masterfully immerses you in Bob Dylan’s evolution — he also pointed out that, besides relying on Wald’s book and historical source material, he based the script (co-written with Jay Cocks) on many hours he spent talking with Dylan. Instead of a fact-based slog through Dylan’s early career, Mangold gives us a beautifully filmed movie that feels less like a biopic and more like a Hollywood film. The aspect that it’s about Dylan is secondary, as the movie is so compelling. Viewers don’t need to know anything about Bob Dylan to love this film.
Chalamet sang 40 Dylan songs in the film, playing guitar and harmonica. All performances were recorded live while filming, completely immersing you in his performance’s magic. In an October 2023 interview, Chalamet stated he was working with the same team of vocal and movement coaches that worked with Austin Butler for his performance in Elvis (2022). He spent nearly six years preparing for the role.
Along with mastering the singer’s mannerisms and voice, he delved deep into his psyche. Barbaro, Norton, and Holbrook also sang and played their instruments. “I was utterly blown away by (Monica) Barbaro’s singing,” says Wald. According to sound engineer Tod Maitland, all the recordings were done with period-appropriate microphones and instruments.
The film earned eight nominations at the 97th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Chalamet). Sadly, none of those nominations panned out into wins at the Oscars on March 2nd. It also received four nominations at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards (winning Best Actor for Chalamet). In this era of film where musical biopics are arguably at the height of their popularity as a genre, it is difficult for one to stand out. Despite this, Timothée Chalamet pulled off one of the best performances of his career and created a movie we will never forget.
Wicked:
A musical fantasy film directed by Jon M. Chu, written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, and based on the wildly popular Broadway musical. The film stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp and Ariana Grande as Galinda Upland, with Jonathan Bailey, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh, and Jeff Goldblum in supporting roles.
Set in the Land of Oz, before Dorothy Gale arrives from Kansas, the plot follows Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and her tentative friendship with her classmate Galinda, who becomes Glinda the Good. Even though thousands of fans have already loved the play, the movie was still able to be a hit and translated well to the screen.
All the original songs from the play are in the movie, and Erivo’s voice shines along with Grande and Slater. A fact that surprised me is that this movie is only part one of the story, and the second part will come out in November 2025.
This was quite disappointing, as the end of the movie leaves you on many cliffhangers, and this decision truly feels like a money grab when the movie could’ve easily been condensed. The film is bright and noisy, with AI visuals in most scenes and CIG effects that enhance the otherworldly set. The set, which was inspired by 1930s architecture from when the original Wizard of Oz movie came out, is effortless and blends well with the fanciful dance numbers and dazzling costumes that won Best Costume in the 2025 Oscars.
Although Wicked has gained acclaim, it doesn’t deserve a win as it is a money grab and is a good film version of a great play.
Conclave:
Conclave begins with a cardinal tensely making his way along a highway late at night, his crimson biretta cap clasped tightly in his hand. It’s a stark, ironic scene, the elegant robes of this holy man trudging through a contemporary, urban setting. The characters of Conclave don’t spend a lot of time in the real world; this is one of the few times we will see one outside, but the dissonance continues.
These are men carrying out what they view as an ancient function: electing a new Pope now that the old one has died. They shut out the modern world, but it’s still there, just outside the windows and beyond the doors, felt in everything they do.
Austere, simple yet captivating, this political thriller, directed by Edward Berger and written by Peter Straughan, is a must-see. In the 2025 Oscars, it won Best Adapted Screenplay. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castelitto, and Isabella Rossellini.
As Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Fiennes) organizes a conclave, he finds himself investigating secrets and scandals about the candidates. Their deeply religious world is interwoven with sin, and soon, we do not know who to trust besides Cardinal Lawrence. “If there was only certainty and no doubt, there would be no mystery and no need for faith,” says Cardinal Lawrence in a pivotal scene. That line gets to the heart of human existence and the layers of this movie. The film will be hard to forget.
I’m Still Here:
Walter Salles’ acclaimed true-life drama and winner of Best International Film at the Oscars is set during Brazil’s tumultuous dictatorship in 1970. It follows Eunice Pavia (Fernanda Torres) as her life is turned upside down when her family’s exuberant and loving existence falls off a cliff when the father, Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), a former congressman and civil engineer, is taken in for police questioning by the country’s military dictatorship. Eunice is told that it’s a routine interrogation and that he’ll be back within a matter of hours. But that doesn’t happen.
Hours stretch into days, then weeks, and then months. He is never heard from again.
Their lives, which had been filled with friends and laughter in Rio de Janeiro, are no longer. Although Eunice is also interrogated for 12 days, when reunited with her family, she puts on a brave face and campaigns for Reubens’ safe return.
Meticulous in its period detail, I’m Still Here unfolds in a vividly evoked early 1970s Brazil, with two later sections set in 1996 and 2014. This movie is beautiful and bone-chilling, feelings that were increased with how it was filmed. It looks sublime: Salles chose to shoot on various film stocks, with grainy, flighty Super-16 capturing the energy and excitement of being a teenager running riot on the streets of Rio and 35mm bringing a warm, lived-in texture to the domestic scenes. The movie immerses you, and unlike many political thrillers, which are courtroom dramas or investigations into coup leaders, this is the intimate story of a family. It’s a story of military takeover and the suspension of justice, with the last third of the story following Eunice remaking her life and becoming a human rights lawyer who goes on to uncover the tragedies that occurred during the Brazilian dictatorship.
“The stories we cannot forget, those are the ones we should tell,” says Eunice Pavia in the movie. Although this movie brings up difficult topics, these are the most important to hear.
Finally, drumroll… Anora won Best Picture!
