The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”

That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.

Or to put it really simply:

For true accountability, an oppressor must lose power. But their victims must also see every harm repaired.

I don’t want to hear anything from an elected official unless it’s a plan to defund the DHS and impeach Noem, Bovino, etc. No texts. No emails. No talk about the economy. Step up or step off.

Not able to physically get out and protest?

Participate in mutual aid opportunities.

Call your senators and representatives. Be loud and PERSISTENT about defunding ice and resisting any action by the Trump administration.

Support only businesses resisting. Protect your neighbors.

Repeat.

So much of life does not have a tidy ending. So, films provide us catharsis to pretend we do, that things will work out, that evil will be defeated.

Others rip back the curtain and force us to sit with the uncomfortable truth that perhaps sometimes, most of the time, that isn't true.

Like The Secret Agent, perhaps film is a tribute to every person we have lost and all the moments we never truly get resolution or closure on.

Or, perhaps, it is not resilience we're documenting, but a record of every evil humanity commits, there for everyone to see, and to know we seem determined to repeat it.

When done right, film isn't just art, but a witness to atrocities, a call to action, a hand held through grief, and a testament to humanity's resilience.

Does it feel weird to be thinking like this as everything falls apart around me? Yes, yes it does.

Film is how I understand the world, it always has been, and right now I personally need it more than ever.

With all this said, this is shaping up to be on the most interesting Oscars in years. Many categories are tight and it isn't just the same 5 movies over and over, which is nice.

I didn't think Park Chan-Wook would get in anywhere besides international, but I am still sad not to see him there. No Other Choice is still at the top of my list to see.

His past work has been utterly incredible but largely ignored by the academy, and I'd love to see that change someday.

Kate Hudson getting in over Chase Infiniti or Amanda Seyfried is baffling to me, though.

I'd heard more buzz about her the past few weeks, but it felt like it had come out of nowhere.

Still, this category is Jessie Buckley's to lose, with her only strong competition right now being Rose Byrne.

The acting in Sinners amazing, the cinematography was tight, and the music spellbinding.

The script was funny and heartbreaking and there was so much world building and lore happening that I wanted to explore even deeper. I craved more, and that is always a good sign at the end of a movie.

Also, a seriously impressive record set by Sinners with 16 nominations.

Even with some small notes about tone and the (multiple) endings of the film, I loved this movie and I'm thrilled to see it get so many noms.

There are more nominations for non-english language films across categories, as well as more racial diversity across categories.

There can always be more (seriously, so much more) but this does show that more diversity in the voting body does positively impact who gets nominated and recognized.

I am genuinely excited to see the oscars begin to shake things up, though. Multiple horror films getting nominations across almost all categories is impressive and unheard of.

It Was Just an Accident was one of the best films I saw last year, and I am devastated it is not up for Best Picture.

F1? Really? F1 TOOK ITS PLACE? IWJAA is emotionally raw and devastating and funny and relevant and it lost to Brad Pitt's zoom zoom movie?!

Not to ignore the world being a horrible place right now, but oscars season is upon us and that is one of my only brief distractions.

With that said, these nominations are CRAZY.

Shout out to the Criterion Collection for single-handedly maintaining my sanity.