Friday, January 23, 2026

Hey, welcome back to Wolmania. I have nothing to say by way of introduction this week.

Item 1: a link

You're a pretty smart person, you're familiar with commerce, currency, numbers. All that stuff. So let me ask you a simple question. What's five bucks? Nick Kamen, co-creator of the video game Peak, explains:

“In a player’s mind, what does it mean to spend five bucks? Well, that’s five bucks. But six bucks? Well, that’s still five bucks.

“Four bucks is also kind of five bucks,” he continued. “Three bucks is two bucks. And two bucks is basically free.

“So we’ve got these tiers: You know, twelve bucks… that’s ten bucks. But thirteen bucks is fifteen bucks.

“And we found that eight bucks is still five bucks. It doesn’t become ten bucks. Seven ninety nine, that’s five bucks, right?

“So, eight bucks going to five bucks is the biggest differential we could find in pricing, so we found it very optimal.”

This is airtight logic and I have no notes.

Item 2: a list

2026 Oscar Winners (if I were the only voter):

Best picture

• Bugonia
• F1
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• The Secret Agent
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners
• Train Dreams

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
• Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
• Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
• Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
• Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another
• Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
• Delroy Lindo, Sinners
• Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
• Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
• Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
• Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
• Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
• Emma Stone, Bugonia

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
• Amy Madigan, Weapons
• Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners
• Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best animated feature film

• Arco
• Elio
• KPop Demon Hunters
• Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
• Zootopia 2

Best animated short film

• Butterfly
• Forevergreen
• The Girl Who Cried Pearls
• Retirement Plan
• The Three Sisters

Achievement in cinematography

• Frankenstein
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• Train Dreams

Achievement in costume design

• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• Sinners

Achievement in directing

• Chloé Zhao, Hamnet
• Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
• Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
• Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
• Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Best documentary feature film

• The Alabama Solution
• Come See Me in the Good Light
• Cutting Through Rocks
• Mr. Nobody Against Putin
• The Perfect Neighbor

Best documentary short film

• All the Empty Rooms
• Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
• Children No More: Were and Are Gone
• The Devil Is Busy
• Perfectly a Strangeness

Achievement in film editing

• F1
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners

Best international feature film

• The Secret Agent, Brazil
• It Was Just an Accident, France
• Sentimental Value, Norway
• Sirāt, Spain
• The Voice of Hind Rajab, Tunisia

Achievement in casting

• Hamnet, Nina Gold
• Marty Supreme, Jennifer Venditti
• One Battle after Another, Cassandra Kulukundis
• The Secret Agent, Gabriel Domingues
• Sinners, Francine Maisler

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

• Frankenstein, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
• Kokuho, Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
• Sinners, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
• The Smashing Machine, Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
• The Ugly Stepsister, Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg

Original Score

• Bugonia, Jerskin Fendrix
• Frankenstein, Alexandre Desplat
• Hamnet, Max Richter
• One Battle after Another, Jonny Greenwood
• Sinners, Ludwig Goransson

Original Song

• "Dear Me" from Diane Warren: Relentless; music and lyric by Diane Warren
• "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters; music and lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seon and Teddy Park
• "I Lied to You" from Sinners; music and lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
• "Sweet Dreams of Joy" from Viva Verdi!; music and lyric by Nicholas Pike
• "Train Dreams" from Train Dreams; music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; lyric by Nick Cave

Achievement in production design

• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners

Best live action short film

• Butcher's Stain
• A Friend of Dorothy
• Jane Austen's Period Drama
• The Singers
• Two People Exchanging Saliva

Achievement in sound

• F1
• Frankenstein
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• Sirāt

Achievement in visual effects

• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• F1
• Jurassic World Rebirth
• The Lost Bus
• Sinners

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• Bugonia, screenplay by Will Tracy
• Frankenstein, written for the screen by Guillermo del Toro
• Hamnet, screenplay by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell
• One Battle after Another, written by Paul Thomas Anderson
• Train Dreams, screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• Blue Moon, written by Robert Kaplow
• It Was Just an Accident, written by Jafar Panahi; script collaborators: Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian
• Marty Supreme, written by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
• Sentimental Value, written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
• Sinners, written by Ryan Coogler

Item 3: a media recommendation

Item 4: word of the week

Horripilation

What's the worst thing about having alopecia? Probably just that nobody knows I also have horripilation.

Item 5: an image

See ya!

What an exciting issue, huh? Same time next week?