Which Best Picture Deserves the Oscar

Dana Stevens, film critic at Slate.com, co-host of the Slate Culture Gabfest podcast and the author of Camera Man: Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century (Atria Books, 2022), weighs in on Timothée Chalamet's comments about the importance of movie-going vs streaming for the future of the industry, plus the social/political meaning of two of the best picture frontrunners.

Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images: Timothée Chalamet speaks during the Valentine's Day weekend special screening of "Call Me By Your Name", hosted by Cinespia, at Los Angeles Theatre on February 13, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.