Writer and photographer Katherine Oktober Matthews joins Elysia to discuss this year's writing and directing nominees for the 2026 Academy Awards. After they each unleash some of their hottest takes breaking down the three categories, they reconvene after the credits for a separate spoiler-filled discussion of eight of the nominees (01:47:05).

Note: All film discussion in this episode is spoiler-free (until the separate post-credits spoiler section)!

Links discussed:

Katherine's writing and photography
Elsewhere: A Personal Essay in Words and Photos
The Emotion Mixer
Oscars 2025: Live-Action Shorts & the Emotion Mixer (with Katherine)
The Craft (1996) & The Craft: Legacy (2020) (with Katherine)
Interview w/ Hamnet author – Not Just the Tudors podcast

Subscriber bonuses:

What is real witchcraft? (with Marilyn, and a Katherine double-Macbeth cameo)
Hamnet – WhachaWachin (with spoilers)

The nominees:

Best Original Screenplay (00:10:37.453)

Ryan Coogler – Sinners (HBO Max, our coverage)
Josh Safdie & Ronald Bronstein – Marty Supreme (to rent)
Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt – Sentimental Value (to rent, our coverage [subscribers])
Jafar Panahi w/ Mehdi Mahmoudian, Shadmehr Rastin, & Nader Saïvar – It Was Just an Accident (Hulu)
Robert Kaplow – Blue Moon (Netflix)

Best Adapted Screenplay (00:45:19.607)

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3) – based on: The novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon
Chloé Zhao & Maggie O'Farrell – Hamnet (to rent, our coverage [subscribers]) – based on: The novel Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein (Netflix, our coverage) – based on: The novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar – Train Dreams (Netflix) – based on: The novella Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
Will Tracy – Bugonia (Peacock) – based on: The film Save the Green Planet! (2003) by Jang Joon-hwan

Best Director (01:25:21)

Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3)
Ryan Coogler – Sinners (HBO Max, our coverage)
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet (to rent, our coverage [subscribers])
Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value (to rent,

Oscars 2026 – Original & Adapted Screenplay + Best Director