What makes an award ceremony special? Who decides what gets nominated at the end of the year? Every award season, there is an endless stream of online debates on who deserved the award the most. Let us ease your keyboard warrior worries with the Foscars, the highest honor a piece of media can hope to achieve. Our staff each awarded their own favorite movies, music, and more to commemorate the end of the school year. Instead of Best Picture, get ready for…
Best Lesbian Murder Mystery With Crocodile Justice: “Deadloch,” Season 2.
If you haven’t seen the first season of “Deadloch,” run, don’t walk: it’s a near-perfect TV series about a series of murders in a small Australian town and the queer women who solve them. It brilliantly explores race, gender, sexuality, and Aboriginal rights while keeping a light touch and also crafting a compelling murder mystery. The second season has our characters back on the case in a new small Australian town, and in addition to all the issues the first season tackles, they take on animal rights vis-à-vis illegal crocodile hunting and exploitation. If you’re not sold yet: there are multiple shots of a hacked-off “dick-butt” — a murder victim’s butt and penis, which is discovered (you guessed it) near a crocodile.
— Sophie Goalson
Editorial Advisor
Best Video Essay: “Dog Food” by Michael Sorensen.
Sorensen, better known by his YouTube channel name Horses, is probably the only video essayist online today who manages to make a ten-minute-long video feel like an hour and a half — in the best way possible. His essay “Dog Food,” a measly 22 minutes, in a world of two-hour-plus essays, broaches the topics of capitalism, systemic poverty, and drug abuse in such a way that evokes in me the response, “Goddamnit, I hate talented writers.” A reaction like this (as well as copious rewatches, it’s truly excessive) is only deserving of the best video essay.
— Anath Infazon
Multimedia Editor
Most-Needed Movie Considering the State of The World RN: “Project Hail Mary.”
Amid the U.S.’s soul-crushing descent into fascism and the sheer amount of genocides we keep sponsoring, “Project Hail Mary” is a movie about humanity (yes, EVERYONE) pulling together for a common cause and letting hope prevail. Also aliens and cool alien technology. Man, they really just let Ryan Gosling fuck around on set with a puppet made of rocks and it was SO FUNNY.
Ten out of 10, no genocides and only a little fascism.
— Alex Lee
Web Editor
The Best Way to Capture the Passage of Time: 365 Buttons.
TikTok User Tamara’s New Year’s resolution to get “365 buttons, one for each day” because she wanted “to do more stuff” and “is scared of time” might be the most iconic social media moment of the year. What did she do with the buttons? Don’t worry about it. How much did it cost her to get all the buttons? Don’t worry about that either. Why did “Saturday Night Live” decide to read out her posts word-for-word? Because Tamara and her buttons are iconic. If it doesn’t make sense to you, then this just isn’t for you, because, in the words of Tamara, “Hey, so, it actually only has to make sense to me for me to do it, and I don’t feel like explaining it to anyone else.”
— Sidne K. Gard
Managing Editor
Most Whimsical Comedy Special: “Color Theories by Julio Torres.”
Torres is a once-in-a-generation visionary, and his newest comedy special, “Color Theories by Julio Torres” does not disappoint. Similarly to his first special, “My Favorite Shapes by Julio Torres” (2019), Torres pulls you into his vibrant, dream-like imagination, where he untangles the personalities and behaviors of each color in the rainbow. All the while, comedy is never forgotten, as he pulls joke after joke out of the surrealist swirling abyss of his inventive mind.
— Cameron Newell
Engagement Editor
Hungriest Song: “Baby, I’m Not a (Werewolf)” by Neko Case.
Case’s 2025 album “Neon Gray Midnight Green” has a lush, dark atmosphere, perfect for chasing something through the woods, and “Baby, I’m Not a (Werewolf)” is its bloodiest text. Case’s appetite is front and center as she sings, “I ate every story, I ate every myth. When I finished with the Minotaur, I ate the labyrinth.” Full to the brim with wanting, the song is three minutes of suspiciously upbeat body horror and a great soundtrack for those who cannot stop.
— Anna Strzepek
Staff Cartoonist
Most Devastating Song About Breaking Up With Your Bandmate: “Parachute” by Hayley Williams.
Williams wrote about the subtle cracks that inevitably destroyed her relationship with Paramore bandmate Taylor York. She created one of the most devastating tracks for those who’ve gone through a breakup of any kind, with a bandmate or otherwise. It’s a song so heartbreaking that you’ll find yourself dissociatively staring into the distance or screaming at the top of your lungs when you listen to it.
— Kit Montgomery
Associate Editor
Best Surrealist Filmmaker Who Almost Died in 2024: David Lynch.
From his first feature film, “Eraserhead,” to the lyrical and haunting TV series “Twin Peaks,” Lynch captivated audiences for decades with his dream-chasing and his taste for the weirdly sublime. He died in January of 2025, but, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, has only become more powerful since his death.
— Gabriel Piemonte
Opinions Editor
Best Bug of the Year: Hornet in “Silksong.”
Wow, look at that bug! Hornet attacks with her needle and flips three times in the air, and immediately wins because no other bug is doing all that. She exhibits both elegance and chaos in one single moment, which is honestly aspirational. I love this bug! Give her the trophy before she stabs it.
— Nat Toner
Comics Editor
Best Motivation to Get Weirder: “ENA – Dream BBQ” by Joel Guerra.
I have loved Guerra’s animations for years, so I was ecstatic when I heard that he was making a game! Chapter one is the only chapter out yet, but it has been such a surreal treat. The weird story and characters, along with the beautifully fluid animation, have really inspired me to get weirder with my art!
— Camryn Woods
Staff Designer
Best Heavy Metal Post-Apocalypse Performance: Ralph Fiennes in “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.”
Fiennes is notorious for his versatility as an actor, and his impromptu heavy metal performance impersonating Satan is a feast for the eyes. I watched with glee as he performed pyrotechnics and hellish choreography to a group of cultists. A standout performance in his acting career and the best post-apocalyptic concert I’ve ever seen.
— Diego Jiménez
Entertainment Editor
Film With the Most Religious Guilt: “Wake Up, Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.”
It’s a well-written murder mystery comparable to the rest within the trilogy, but the message on religion — especially how it’s portrayed through the character Jud — is interesting. They never make him seem naive or stupid for following his faith in earnest or trying to help the congregation. The film shows why people follow religions like Christianity and Catholicism, for the possibility of community. But it still shows the harmful effects on our most vulnerable demographics — i.e., women, people of color, and queer folks. The film balances the commentary of faith well, and you get the feeling that the writers reflected deeply on the topic.
— Toby Brogsdale
Staff Writer
