Alpha Critic Reviews

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That Gay American Werewolf who reviews movies. Classic film lover. David Lynch is God. 🐺🍿🏳️‍🌈 📍That abandoned shed in the woods. Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/5rJlN Insta: https://www.instagram.com/alphacriticreviews?igsh=MXJwYnVsa3R6dTFoMA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

While this film may not be complex in scope, it mostly delivers. Curry Barker’s directorial debut, Obsession (2026), is a creative play on a variety of horror tropes, making his own unnerving experience. The overall format of the film has the feel of an extended YouTube channel episode, which is no surprise, given Barker’s background, but feels slightly out-of-place on a cinematic level.

Obsession (2026) has the consistency of a salt bagel. This film has some serious PUNCH to it that stimulates the senses at various times. Curry Barker is tapping into a special kind of psychological horror that fuses together tropes from iconic horror films such as Gaslight (1943), Get Out (2017), Fatal Attraction (1987), Evil Dead (1981), and even Weapons (2025). It’s not a perfect film, but it does offer something that is uniquely its own.

Cher’s performance in the 1985 film, Mask, was well regarded with critics and audiences alike, even earning her a Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Globe nomination.

However, Cher failed to get an Oscar nomination for her performance, which she felt was an unfair snub. As revenge, she attended and presented at the 1986 Oscar ceremony with no regard for the ceremony’s wardrobe etiquette and wore a dress that was deemed to be a blatant middle finger aimed at The Academy.

Marlon Brando was known for his intense dislike of the Academy Awards, seeing them as hypocritical, elitist, not to mention, he despised the notion of performances or even films being in competition with each other for a gold statue.

What many do not realize is that Marlon Brando DID, in fact, accept his first Best Actor Oscar for On the Waterfront (1954), during the 1955 Oscars. After the ceremony, Brando openly ridiculed the ceremony and minimized his Oscar win, with friends and acquaintances claiming that the prestigious award was just haphazardly tossed about in his house. This gave birth to the urban legend that Marlon Brando ultimately used this Oscar as a doorstop at the entryway of his home. While Brando never directly referenced this, nor is there any photographic evidence to substantiate it, this urban legend has become part of the Marlon Brando lore and is an Oscar myth that feels possible due to Brando’s reputation as a complex, eccentric, and unpredictable person.

When Dame Julie Andrews and Director George Stevens presented the Best Director Oscar to legendary director and choreographer Bob Fosse, it started what would be known as the “Triple Crown in a sole year” win, which ONLY Bob Fosse has ever achieved: Winning a competitive Primetime Emmy, Tony Award, and an Oscar in the SAME year (1973), thereby winning the top honor in television, film, and Broadway all in the same year. Furthermore, Bob Fosse would achieve his Triple Crown, all for direction, and all for DIFFERENT things. NOBODY has achieved this feat before or since Bob Fosse did so in 1973. The details are as follows:

March, 1973: Best Direction Oscar for Cabaret.
April, 1973: Best Choreography and Best Direction Tony Awards for Pippin.
May, 1973: Best Directorial Achievement for a Variety Special, Outstanding Single Program, and Outstanding Achievement in Choreography, all for the special Liza with a Z.

1. Wicked: For Good - Completely ignored. No nominations at all.

2. Both Jafar Panahi (It was Just an Accident) and Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein) not being nominated for Best Director. Both offered stunning narratives that were meticulously framed, but came short against its competition.

3. Jennifer Lawrence was incredible in Die My Love, one of this year’s boldest performances, but failed to grasp the nomination for Lead Actress.

4. Jesse Plemons was sensational in Bugonia and it is truly tragic he did not get a nomination for Best Actor.

5. Paul Mescal’s performance in Hamnet was an emotional odyssey that should have been recognized and it’s heartbreaking it failed to get a supporting actor nomination.

6. Despite being Hollywood’s current “it-boy,” Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere) failed to score the Best Actor nomination he so clearly wanted.

7. Weapons was one the best films of the year, but was clearly not as well loved by the Academy, only giving Amy Madigan a deserved nomination in the supporting actress category. This movie should have been nominated for Best Picture and Best Cinematography.

Overall, the nominations this year are mostly expected. It really was a question of who would be cut from the lineup, and now we know. Let the games begin!

In an effort to fill the time, Jerry Lewis ushered the evening’s Oscars winners back onto the stage, raced to the orchestra and tried to get its members to play a rendition of “There’s No Business Like Show Business” while swinging the conductor’s baton.

Lewis began to encourage the Oscar winners on the stage to dance with each other, many of which awkwardly stood on the stage, others blatantly leaving the ceremony, all of this occurring before NBC cut the feed to a rerun of a sportscast.

On my way home, I bumped into Orson Welles on the street. He persuaded me to go for a walk with him. He led me into a corner speakeasy, hidden behind an antique bookcase. Once inside, he sat me at a table and I got so high. He drank cognac, smoked a cigar, introduced me to his friends, and they all talked to me about trickery and lies. I got so fucking high. Orson kept showing me things. He was wearing a black fedora and sporting a black cape. I was a high potato in the middle of a crowd at his get-together, just listening to all the stories around me. Staring at their mouths and listening to their words. I have no idea what the conversations were about, but I know it was such a fucking good time. So enlightening, Orson; thanks for the good time bro 👊🏻

Mel Brooks has always been a marvel when it comes to meta comedy, otherwise known as comedy that that is self-aware of its own humor and actually satirizes and parodies itself. It’s film that allows the audience to be in on the joke, a comedic form of dramatic irony. This is very apparent in his creation of his 1976 film Silent Movie. The film is literally a silent movie about a director wanting to direct a silent movie. The concept is simple, ridiculous, but highly effective, especially when one is aware of the film’s in-joke about corporate takeovers within the Hollywood industry.

Fun Trivia: David Niven won his only Oscar for Separate Tables (1958), securing two records that, to date, have not been surpassed, the first being the shortest performance to win in the Lead Actor category, clocking in at only 23 minutes and 39 seconds. Additionally, he was assisting in the hosting of the Oscars during the year he won, making him the only Oscar host to win a competitive Oscar while hosting the ceremony

Perhaps one of the most infamous moments in Oscar history occurred in 1974, during the 46th Academy Awards telecast. Presenter David Niven was in the midst of introducing the nominees for Best Picture when activist Robert Opel appeared naked in the background and proceeded to streak across the stage, flashing the peace sign as he ran. The audience took the incident with surprising candor, applauding and hysterically laughing. David Niven, always an icon for his witty comic timing, even found himself laughing and trying to compose himself, thus making the audience laugh even harder. Realizing he was in a unique position, Niven made the now-legendary joke that Opel’s biggest moment in life was “stripping and showing off his shortcomings.” Truly one of the most unexpected, and funniest, moments in Oscar history.

In 2017, Glenn Close delivered perhaps the best performance of her career, a quiet, deeply nuanced, highly repressed role that cascades into an explosive performance by the film’s conclusion, earning Close her 7th Oscar nomination. At the time, many believed this was finally the due Glenn Close long deserved, especially after her wins at the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes and SAGs. However, Close ultimately went home empty handed on Oscar Night, losing to Olivia Colman for The Favorite, another worthy winner of the award. Case in point, there are never any guarantees with award season. The precursors are an indication of where things MAY go, but it’s NEVER a guarantee.

For those who are enamored by this year’s Sentimental Value, might I suggest the film Interiors (1978), which is a quiet character study of a family in peril when its patriarch flippantly announces that he wants a separation from his wife, played by the utterly brilliant Geraldine Page. It’s a film that is rich in subtext, raw emotions, and pent-up rage. It’s a film that emulates the storytelling style of Ingmar Bergman and provides a stunning discourse on family relationships.

Before Michael J. Fox became a household name with the Back to the Future franchise, he starred in Teen Wolf in 1985, right in the midst of being part of the tv show Family Ties. Originally Eric Stoltz was cast as Scott Howard, but was eventually recast with Fox, to which 1985 was the year that gave him two starring roles with audiences, with Back to the Future catapulting him into fame. Despite Fox rarely discussing it, Teen Wolf has become a cult classic amongst fans for its 1980s camp and eccentric characters.