Couple Indemnity

To round off our first full year of film reviews, we have decided to record a special one-off Oscar awards episode to reflect, debate and celebrate our most respected movies that we have enjoyed watching in 2025. Our nominees in the given categories are as follows: Best Costume/Makeup: Phantom Thread (Mark Bridges) Little Women (Jacqueline Durran) Boogie Nights (Mark Bridges) Barry Lyndon (Milena Canonero & Ulla-Britt Soderlund) Pride and Prejudice (Jacqueline Durran) Amadeus (Theodor Pistek) Best Musical Score/Soundtrack: Boogie Nights (Michael Penn) Amadeus (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) There Will Be Blood (Jonny Greenwood) Charade (Henry Mancini) Little Women (Alexandre Desplat) Best Cinematography: Rear Window (Robert Burks) Barry Lyndon (John Alcott) Aftersun (Gregory Oke) Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Claire Mathon) There Will be Blood (Robert Elswit) Pride and Prejudice (Roman Osin) Most Memorable Moment: Boogie Nights (Jessie’s Girl: Firecracker scene) There Will Be Blood (Milkshake scene) Strangers on a Train (Carousel final scene) Rear Window (Thorwald catches Lisa) Smith Goes to Washington (Jefferson Smith filibuster) The Bridges of Madison County (the kitchen confrontation scene) Little Women (Amy’s speech) Best Supporting Actress: Thelma Ritter (Rear Window) Marlene Dietrich (Stage Fright) Florence Pugh (Little Women) Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) Susan Kohner (Imitation of Life) Best Supporting Actor: Robert Walker (Strangers on a Train) Paul Dano (There will Be Blood) Joe E. Brown (Some Like It Hot) Burt Reynolds (Boogie Nights) Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master) Best Actress: Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) Grace Kelly (Rear Window) Meryl Streep (The Bridges of Madison County) Bette Davis (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane) Lee Remick (Days of Wine and Roses) Liv Ullmann (Autumn Sonata) Best Actor: Clint Eastwood (The Bridges of Madison County) Jack Lemmon (Days of Wine and Roses) Ray Milland (Dial M for Murder) Daniel Day Lewis (There Will be Blood) Murray Abraham (Amadeus) James Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) Best Director: Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window) John Carpenter (The Thing) Billy Wilder (Some Like it Hot) Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) Blake Edwards (Days of Wine and Roses) Greta Gerwig (Little Women) Best Picture: Dial M for Murder Rear Window Some Like it Hot The Bridges of Madison County There Will be Blood Days of Wine and Roses

For Hal's Christmas selection this year, he has chosen his favourite and "definitive" screen adaptation of Charles Dickens' festive novel of Scrooge ("A Christmas Carol") with Alastair Sim delivering an unforgettable performance as Ebenezer Scrooge, a spiteful and miserly man, who encounters three spirits on Christmas Eve who show him the folly of his ways. Director: Brian Desmond Hurst

Our first Christmas selection for the podcast this year is one of Izzy's all-time favourite films, The Holiday, the romantic comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as Amanda and Iris, two lovelorn women from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, who arrange a home exchange to escape heartbreak during the Christmas and holiday season.  Director: Nancy Meyers

Hal's next choice is the 2011 black comedy film directed by Roman Polanski, based on the Tony Award-winning 2006 play by Yasmina Reza.  Two pairs of parents hold a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a fight, though as their time together progresses, increasingly childish behaviour throws the discussion into chaos. Starring: Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, & John C. Reilly Director: Roman Polanski

Izzy's latest selection is a highly-rated Swedish drama that marks not only our first film directed by the renowned filmmaker Ingmar Bergman but the final acting role for the exquisite Ingrid Bergman. The tale of Autumn Sonata depicts a world-renowned pianist (Ingrid Bergman) who visits her estranged daughter, Eva (Liv Ullmann), for the first time in seven years. Upon her arrival, she is confronted with suppressed bitterness which Eva has been harbouring for years. Director: Ingmar Bergman