As Sarah just wrote in today’s site intro, Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s You Can See Everything opened big at the box office this weekend, strengthening its case for the Oscars. A24 is campaigning this film to become the first documentary ever to receive a Best Picture nomination; and the timing worked perfectly for them to get in front of Academy voters just as their movie was selling out theatres. Both Nathan and Lance were at the Academy Museum Gala, now considered a stop on the award season circuit, alongside other possible contenders – although, curiously, for as many Oscar hopefuls who did attend the event, there were some key absences.

At this point, if there is a favourite across multiple categories, including Best Picture, it has to be Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Only John Leguizamo was at the Academy Museum Gala from Team Odyssey, in contention for Best Supporting Actor, but none of the leads showed up and neither did his director. Same goes for Dune: Part 3, Wild Horse Nine, Project Hail Mary, and The Debut. Jesse Eisenberg and Julianne Moore were in London last night where their film closed the London Film Festival.

This isn’t just scheduling, it’s strategy – because BAFTA support is a critical asset on the path to Oscar. And also, the Oscar Academy’s Governors Awards are happening in a month, so there’s another opportunity for many, if not most, of the contenders to show up and jockey for position. That’s likely when we’ll see a better representation of the entire field in the race for Oscar nominations this year.

Those who were missing from the Academy Museum Gala are arguably in a more comfortable standing at this point in awards season, if there is such a thing as comfort. The ones who were there still have some work to do or are new to the process and need to stay in the conversation. Like Team Obsession, directed by Curry Barker, starring Inde Navarrette and Michael Johnson. Inde continues to be in the top on prediction lists to make a Best Actress nomination, which would be a huge breakthrough, not only because she was a total unknown a year ago but also because she’s starring in an independent horror film, not usually the kind of story that gets attention from the Academy. Without taking anything away from her performance (she was great in the film), it is a weaker year in the Best Actress category and that definitely improves her chances. But also, the Academy loves an ingenue, and she is playing that role this award season.

The Academy Museum Gala was, no doubt, the most high profile red carpet of Inde’s career so far. And what I like about this look is that she’s obviously not playing it safe, nor should she. But also, clearly with Inde, her stylist Enrique Melendez has some access. This is Schiaparelli – a pretty impressive pull, which tells you how high the industry is on her right now.

La Bola Negra won the People’s Choice Award at TIFF a few weeks ago and is steadily picking up momentum. The film is definitely in play for a Best Picture nomination and Guitarricadelafuente is in consideration for both a supporting actor nomination and a Best Original Song nomination for “La Nieve”. He performed it at a screening in LA the other day.

La Bola Negra and “La Nieve” have picked up significant ground in the race over the last month, making it a super competitive Best Original Song category, because if there is a frontrunner, it’s not Taylor Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You”, it’s Jesse Eisenberg’s “This City May Have Chewed Me Up (But It Hasn’t Spit Me Out”. And that brings us to Taylor…

Who not only attended the Academy Museum Gala but also performed – four songs, including the one she’s campaigning, and “The Fate of Ophelia”, live for the first time.

“Blank Space” and “Love Story” rounded out her setlist, a very smart setlist. Because those two tracks are probably two of the most familiar and recognisable songs from her catalogue so she checked off the crowd-pleasing box on her to-do list, and then some. Which gives you an idea of how much she wants this nomination and, besides, she’s always been willing to campaign, for Grammys and more. This girl has always loved a trophy.

Taylor was accessible during the party, there are all kinds of photos of her with other guests and celebrities, exactly the kind of behaviour expected on the awards circuit. And we’ll likely see more of this as we get deeper into the season. I’m also wondering if we might see some more tweaks to her makeup, specifically how they draw her brows, to account for the timing of her treatments because this is an improvement over last year but this still might be a bit extreme?

Taylor Swift attends the Sixth Annual Academy Museum Gala in LA, October 17, 2026

I wish more people would talk about this because makeup techniques do change depending on how fresh the injections are. They do for me when I’m about three weeks into Xeomin and everything is singing, although I do wonder if whoever Taylor is seeing might still have been slightly too aggressive on this round.

By Sunday Taylor was back in Kansas City to watch Travis Kelce and his team go 5-0. They’re both trophy-hunting right now.

Taylor Swift attends the Sixth Annual Academy Museum Gala in LA, October 17, 2026/Taylor Swift and Caitlin Clark at the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium, October 18, 2026

Inde Navarrette, John Leguizamo attend the Sixth Annual Academy Museum Gala in LA, October 17, 2026/Jesse Eisenberg and Julianne Moore attend a screening of ‘The Debut’ during the 70th BFI London Film Festival at BFI Southbank, London, October 18, 2026

Photo credits: David Fisher/Matt Baron/BEI/Roman Puno/CSM/Shutterstock

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