Meet Me In Montauk

Song of the Day #6,434: ‘I Am the Fire’ – Simon Franglen

February 16, 2026 12:03 am

Continuing my look at the movies of 2025, this week I’ll offer up my own nominations in the four Oscar acting categories as well as Best Director.

As a new twist, I’m going to set aside the actual Oscar nominees and offer up five new names in each category. In some cases, my true top five would include one or more of the people recognized by the Academy, and I’ll point those out as I go. But I wanted to shine a light on some less than usual suspects.

First up is the Supporting Actress category, where the actual nominees are Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (also Sentimental Value), Amy Madigan (Weapons), Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners), and Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another).

Of that group, Lilleaas and Taylor would make my personal ballot and the other three slots would come from this group:

Mariam Afshari (It Was Just an Accident)
Writer-director Jafar Panahi used several non-professional actors for this film about a group of former political prisoners who believe they have located one of their captors. I’m not sure if Mariam Afshari is one of them — I see only one other credit on her IMDB page, for a 2017 drama. No matter her background or experience level, she is captivating as a photographer who seems to be the most level-headed of the group until she gets a chance to unleash her fury in a long, unbroken monologue toward the end of the film.

Oona Chaplin (Avatar: Fire and Ash)
One of these days, a motion capture performance will break through and earn an Oscar nomination. The technology is so seamless now that it’s not all that different than watching an actor under heavy makeup. Oona Chaplin’s performance as Varang, the fire-obsessed leader of a warrior tribe, would be a fine place to start. In limited screen time, she brings a fierce, sexy new dimension to a series that keeps finding new ways to surprise.

Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another)
Infiniti campaigned in the Best Actress category and missed out on a nomination, possibly because her role was a slightly better fit in Supporting. Regardless of category, she gives a star-making performance going toe-to-toe with heavyweights Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn and getting the better of both of them. She and co-star Teyana Taylor bookend the film and form its beating heart.

Tânia Maria – (The Secret Agent)
Seventy-nine year old Maria had never watched a movie before taking a role in writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s 2019 film Bacurau. Six years later, she re-teamed with Mendonça for The Secret Agent, playing Dona Sebastiana, operator of a safe house for political refugees. In just a few scenes, she brings such wisdom and warmth to the part that she has become an icon in her native Brazil. When your performance spawns a lookalike contest, you know you’re doing something right.

Son Ye-jin (No Other Choice)
Park Chan-wook’s darkly comic family melodrama juggles a myriad of tones, and it’s safe to say none of it would work without Son Ye-jin holding everything together as the matriarch of a family struggling with her husband’s unemployment. Son’s character is wary of her spouse’s shenanigans, but not above playing a few angles herself. She keeps us guessing how much she knows, or wants to know, and how far she’s willing to go.