[I review Kate Hudson's Oscar nominated performance in "Song Sung Blue," as well as these films nominated for Best Picture: "Train Dreams" and "F1: The Movie."]
And if you have been following me, you know that I worked my little tail off to see as many Golden Globe nominated films and performances as I could before the Golden Globes as the Golden Globes are often a bellwether for what will happen with the Oscars and that was the case again this year, with some surprises and some snubs.
So if you didn't see my original reviews for the Golden Globe nominated films and performances, here they are again which include most of the films and performances now nominated for Oscars. And I have a feeling that many of my predictions for the Golden Globes will be true of the Oscars.
Golden Globe Nominated Films...Part I and Part II
Golden Globe Nominated Performances... Part I and Part II.
And here is the review for "Blue Moon," which is nominated for Best Picture and Ethan Hawke is nominated for Best Actor.
Now here are the "surprises," and some movies I missed the first time around.
"Train Dreams" was not nominated for a Golden Globe and its nomination for Best Picture kind of came out of nowhere; "F1" was nominated for a Golden Globe in the "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement" category, a separate "Best Picture" category reserved for blockbusters not necessarily deemed "artistic," so I am surprised it is now nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture with all of those snooty, artistic films the Academy likes; and "Song Sung Blue" isn't nominated for a Best Picture Oscar at all, but rather Kate Hudson is nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her performance.
Song Sung Blue (2025)
In 1987, Mike Sardina (Hugh Jackman) is a Don Ho impersonator and recovering alcoholic, appearing at the Wisconsin State Fair where he meets Claire (Kate Hudson), who is there with a Patsy Cline act. Mike is not happy as Don Ho and Claire suggests he take "the Neil Diamond route," which he eventually does but not before taking on Claire. After meeting her, he is clearly smitten and the two begin a relationship. They marry in 1994 and form their Neil Diamond tribute duo, Lightning and Thunder (He's Lightning, she is Thunder). But don't call them impersonators. They are "interpreters."
The duo has successful gigs around Milwaukee, even opening for Pearl Jam in 1995. But then tragedy strikes.
Written and directed by Craig Brewer, this is a true story, based on the documentary of the same name by Greg Kohs, and it is one of those "truth is stranger than fiction" stories, also proving that lightning can indeed strike twice, pardon the pun.
Though at times the acting and dialogue is a bit over-the-top (Hugh definitely hams it up at times, though his homage to Tom Cruise in "Risky Business" as he dances around in his tightie whities is fun), the story is fast moving, there is lots of Neil Diamond music, and Kate Hudson is quite wonderful. Her Oscar nomination was a surprise for me because I just never think of her as a dramatic actress. But she gives a fantastic performance here, and her Wisconsin accent alone should win her the Oscar. I grew up in Western Michigan right on Lake Michigan across from Milwaukee, so I know what that Wisconsin accent is supposed to sound like because we Michiganders all had it too. And she was spot on. Jim Belushi as Mike's and Claire's manager did a good job with that too.
Rosy the Reviewer says...Kate Hudson's Oscar nomination is well deserved and Neil Diamond fans will especially enjoy this crowd-pleasing film, but I want to see the documentary (for rent on Amazon Prime and Apple+).
Train Dreams (2025)
This American period drama, based on the novella by Denis Johnson, recounts 80 years in the life of Robert Grainier (Joel Edgerton), a logger and railroad worker in Idaho.
The film begins with Robert arriving in Idaho as an orphaned child. He drops out of school and spends his younger years without direction or purpose, until he meets Gladys Olding (Felicity Jones). They marry, build a log cabin and have a daughter, Kate.
He works construction for the Spokane International Railroad and later takes up seasonal logging, jobs which take him away from Gladys and Kate. As his life unfolds, he meets many men who leave impressions on him, one of whom is Arn Peeples (William H. Macy). Robert also witnesses many tragedies. And then a personal tragedy hits Robert and changes his life.
Narrated by Will Patton, Robert's life unfolds in a slow, moody and poetic way from 1888 to 1968 as he witnesses the changes in the world and dreams of times gone by. This is a tour de force for Edgerton who doesn't have much to say at times, but his face reveals all. And the movie, actually filmed in Washington State, was beautiful to look at. This is not a plot-heavy traditional film. For the first forty minutes, nothing much happens. But this film is a powerful portrait of a human life and a reminder that each of us has a meaningful story to tell.
Written by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar and directed by Bentley, this film was named as one of the top ten films of 2025 by both the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute, and Edgerton was nominated for a Golden Globe Best Actor award. However, neither the film nor the director were nominated for Golden Globes, so it was surprising that this was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (along with Best Cinematography, Adapted Screenplay and Song nominations) but no nomination for Edgerton. A huge snub. And Bentley was once again snubbed.
As an aside, here is a pet peeve of mine for nominations. How can a movie be nominated for Best Picture but the director is not? That does not make sense to me. The movie is what it is because of the decisions the director makes.
Rosy the Reviewer says...a beautifully filmed but slow-moving story that might not be for everyone (Streaming on Netflix).
F1: The Movie (2025)
Former F1 (Formula One) driver, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), returns to the sport after a 30-year absence to help save his former teammate's underdog team.
Aging former Formula One racer, Sonny Hayes has spent the last 30 years living as a racer-for-hire, following a career-ending crash at the 1993 Spanish Grand Prix that has left him burdened by the failure to live up to his potential. But after winning 24 Hours of Daytona, a sports car endurance race, he is approached by his former teammate Rubén Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of the struggling APXGP F1 team, who asks him to be their second driver. Rubén is under the knife to win one of the nine remaining Grands Prix races of the season or his investors will sell the team. Sonny, wanting to help his friend and perhaps get a second chance to show what he can do, reluctantly agrees.
Sonny's teammate is ambitious rookie, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), who is also not happy that the APXGP team is not doing well and is looking around for another team. At the British Grand Prix, Sonny and Joshua compete against each other rather than acting as a team, resulting in losing the race. Sonny exploits the rules a bit at the next race, allowing Joshua to win his first top ten finish. Sonny continues to take risks as well as proposing vehicle upgrades to technical director, Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), to compensate for their speed disadvantage so they can better compete with Ferrari and McLaren.
There are some behind the scenes machinations by board member Peter Banning (Tobias Menzies) to force the sale, more competition between Sonny and Joshua and lots and lots of racing. But we all know how this will end.
Written by Joseph Kosinski and Ehren Kruger and directed by Kosinski ("Top Gun: Maverick"), this is your classic and cliched story of a seasoned has-been giving comeuppance to a cocky newcomer, and eventually earning his respect, and we eventually see what "drives" Sonny, but sadly, there is nothing new to see here. And this story did not need to be two hours and 35 minutes long. But if you like to watch Formula One racing, there is a race about every 20 minutes in the film. I clocked it. Plotline transition, race, plotline transition, race, plotline transition, race, etc. And the races are exciting with a "you are there" feeling.
What goes on behind the scenes at Formula One races was kind of interesting, and I liked it that a woman called the shots about the cars, but in the end, it lacked drama and the kind of heart you want for a movie like this. So I did not get how this was nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. It's other nominations - "Best Visual Effects," Best Sound," and even "Best Editing," I get - but not Best Picture.
Well, on second thought, maybe this is how.
It was the ninth highest grossing film of 2025 and the highest grossing auto racing movie of all time and the highest grossing film of Brad Pitt's career.
So, yes, this was a blockbuster film, but I don't think it deserves to be up there with what I would call the more artistic films nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.
The Golden Globes actually has a separate category for the blockbusters, a "Cinematic and Box Office Achievement" award, where they honor blockbusters, and "F1" was nominated in that category this year for a Golden Globe, but not in the Best Picture category. The Academy Awards tried to do the same thing in 2018 with a proposal for a category called "Outstanding Achievement in Popular Film," which was meant to award big blockbuster hits that were perhaps not necessarily "artistic." But after critical backlash, the proposal was postponed and has since not happened. I actually thought it had happened, which was why I was surprised that this movie made it into the Best Picture category. I was thinking why isn't it in that blockbuster category? That category doesn't yet exist, but I think it should because if the Academy wants to recognize movies that make a lot of money at the box office, they should create a separate category as the Golden Globes has done.
You would think I would like this film. I came from a racing car mad family. My brother and Dad loved souped-up cars and car racing. I remember my Dad drag-racing someone on our way to my first day at college, with the car filled with my baggage and my mother saying, "Slow down, Frederic!" But my Dad and brother were mostly Nascar and drag racing fans, not so much into Formula One. Maybe that's why I wasn't into this movie either.
Rosy the Reviewer says...the movie was too long and too predictable, but if you like racing, you might enjoy this. I did, however, enjoy watching Mr. Pitt. He is one handsome man. (Streaming on Apple+)
