Hans’ Oscar Bites

An old favorite is back, but has the Academy tired of its Pandoran whims? Or will an even older, prehistoric favorite rise from extinction?

(Spoiler: it’s Avatar. Duh.)

The nominees are:

• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• F1
• Jurassic World Rebirth
• The Lost Bus
• Sinners

In order of preference:

5 – JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH (David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan, and Neil Corbould)

Back from the dead after a nearly 30 year absence from the VFX race, Jurassic World Rebirth had the funny little stat of nabbing the only nomination for a Universal Pictures film starring Jonathan Bailey on noms morning, and not the one that they probably assumed. This is a curious nomination to me, too, as I think some of the work in the other more recent Jurassic World films was better, which is to say nothing in comparison to the OG trilogy. Still, some decent looking stuff here, but nothing that replicated that first feeling of seeing those apatosauruses grazing in that lush Hawaiian valley.

4 – SINNERS (Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, and Donnie Dean)

This was definitely one of the handful of categories Oscarwatchers were looking to see just how far the Academy strength and love of this film ran, and whether it could beat the overall nomination record. When looking at the VFX Society Awards, one of my favorite categories to peruse is the “Best Supporting Visual Effects” category, which highlights some of the less flashy stuff we as movie goers don’t even tend to notice when watching films: crowds in stands, backgrounds, and, yes, even some of the stuff that has made way for cost-cutting measures in terms of actually building sets and such. Sinners shines in this kind of stuff that helps fill in the entirety of the picture you’re watching, but perhaps the central focus VFX-wise is our dual-role Michaels B. Jordan. Yes, doubling actors on-screen has been around for decades, but having seen it done to varying degrees of success, if it wasn’t for how clean this looks and the acting masterclass put on by Jordan, this entire movie would fall apart.

3 – THE LOST BUS (Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen, and Brandon K. McLaughlin)

Watching this was just a tad PTSD-inducing for those of us who suffered through the week of early 2025 when it looked like Los Angeles was on the verge of burning down. Which is, in all honesty, probably a testament to how effective the fire effects in this are. Fire and water are two elements that have always been white whales for VFX artists in making look realistic and not uncanny, and while there are a couple of wide shots in this where I can juuuuuust make out the seams of the VFX work, for the most part it’s incredibly well done. The closer shots showing actors practically interfacing with the fire are even more gripping, and at one point you can almost feel the heat closing in on our poor lost bus.

2 – F1 (Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington, and Keith Dawson)

This almost feels like a make-up nomination from the academy for not nominating the excellent Ford V. Ferrari, but nonetheless the work here is stellar. This film had many people thinking that these Formula 1 races were actually being ran, but incredibly much of it is incredibly realistic digital effects work, coupled together with some well-placed practical effects and interstitched with real F1 races and events. One could almost forgive the incredibly corny fireworks at the end that have now become a much-memed gif featuring Javier Bardem (you know which one I’m talking about).

1 – AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH (Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett)

Guys, it’s Avatar, what more is there to say. In case you skipped out on this time around, highlights and fun stuff include new sky people with big fun sky beasts pulling around their sky balloons, more fun underwater stuff, more Tulkun whales including a big mama Tulkun, a big vortex, and !fire!. Say what you will about franchise fatigue, these 3+ hours went by pretty fast for me, it’s hard not to just have fun being in that blue world for a while and escaping this far drearier one.

WILL WIN: Avatar: Fire and Ash
COULD WIN: F1
SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE: Mickey 17