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The 2026 Matt Awards (Nominations)


Those of you who really like movies and follow awards season probably have your own ideas about what were the best (or at least your favorite) films of the past year. 

Yours truly does, as well. Enter The 2026 Matt Awards!

Like the Oscars, these nominations and awards are for movies from the year before (so the 2026 Matt Awards are honoring films from 2025).

This all started in 1998. I was a huge fan of Leonardo DiCaprio at the time (still appreciate his work to this day). Titanic was released in December 1997, and I saw it 5 times at the theater. In early 1998, the Oscar nominations were announced, and Leo was nowhere to be found. Salty at the perceived snub of my crush favorite actor, I decided I could do better than the Oscars, and so the first Matt Awards were born. DiCaprio was nominated for Titanic and, of course, he won.

Over the years, the Matt Awards have allowed me to recognize (if only for myself) the best in cinema of the preceding year. Quite often -- though not always -- my nominations will bear some similarity to the Oscar nominees, though less seldom have my winners aligned with theirs. And that's ok - it's why these awards exist in the first place.

With that bit of history out of the way, here are the nominees for the 29th annual Matt Awards...


Best Picture
The Ballad of Wallis Island
Marty Supreme
Materialists
Twinless
Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Director
Rian Johnson, for Wake Up Dead Man 
Josh Safdie, for Marty Supreme 
Steven Soderbergh, for Black Bag 
Celine Song, for Materialists
James Sweeney, for Twinless

Best Actor
Timothee Chalamet, for Marty Supreme 
Chris Evans, for Materialists 
Michael B. Jordan, for Sinners  
Dylan O'Brien, for Twinless 
Josh O'Connor, for Wake Up Dead Man 

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, for Black Bag
Jessie Buckley, for Hamnet 
Sally Hawkins, for Bring Her Back
Dakota Johnson, for Materialists 
Amanda Seyfried, for The Housemaid

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, for Weapons 
Tyler, the Creator, for Marty Supreme  
Benicio del Toro, for One Battle After Another 
Tim Key, for The Ballad of Wallis Island 
James Sweeney, for Twinless 

Best Supporting Actress
Glenn Close, for Wake Up Dead Man 
Amy Madigan, for Weapons 
Wunmi Mosaku, for Sinners 
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, for Eternity 
Emily Watson, for Hamnet 

Best Screenplay
Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, for Marty Supreme 
Rian Johnson, for Wake Up Dead Man 
Robert Kaplow, for Blue Moon 
Celine Song, for Materialists
James Sweeney, for Twinless 

Best Editing
Brett W. Bachman and Josh Ethier, for Companion 
Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, for Marty Supreme 
Bob Ducsay, for Wake Up Dead Man 
Keith Fraase, for Materialists
Joe Murphy, for Weapons

Best Cinematography
G. Magni Agustsson, for The Ballad of Wallis Island 
Autumn Durald Arkapaw, for Sinners
Par M. Ekberg, for Black Phone 2 
Darius Khondji, for Marty Supreme
Shabier Kirchner, for Materialists 

Best Score
Zach Cregger, Hays Holladay and Ryan Holladay, for Weapons 
Ludwig Goransson, for Sinners
Nathan Johnson, for Wake Up Dead Man 
John Lunn, for Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale 
Daniel Pemberton, for Materialists 

Best Special Effects
Mickey 17
Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning
Paddington in Peru 
Predator: Badlands 
Tron: Ares 

Best Horror Film
Black Phone 2
28 Years Later
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Until Dawn
Weapons

 

For those keeping track, the top 5 nominees are as follows:

Materialists - 8 nominations
Marty Supreme - 7 nominations
Twinless - 5 nominations
Wake Up Dead Man - 5 nominations
Weapons - 5 nominations


This was a tough year for nominations. I had difficulty choosing between certain people in various categories. A few of those who made the shortlist but weren't nominated are:

Daniel Craig, for Wake Up Dead Man
Julia Garner, for Weapons 
Gwyneth Paltrow, for Marty Supreme 
Harish Patel, for A Nice Indian Boy
Tim Robinson, for Friendship 

The winners will be announced next month, likely before the Oscars ceremony on March 15th. Until then, I'll see you at the movies!


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