Well, my friends, another Oscar season is upon us. This was certainly an interesting, and pivotal year in movie history. Not only are more people returning to their multiplexes but people are also finally starting to break away from super hero movies and formulaic franchises and embracing different kinds of movies, be they quirky, off-beat comedies like Barbie (admittedly a franchise in the making, but a very subversive one) or more serious films like Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon. While I’m thrilled that people are returning to theaters and embracing different kinds of movies, I can’t help but personally feel a little underwhelmed because while I credit all three of the before mentioned films for breaking the mold and doing something different and original, I just didn’t think any of them were great films, just good ones. This is just my opinion, of course, but I can’t help but feel disappointed in this year’s output.
Regardless, the show must go on and the Oscars will take place on March 10th. So here’s what I’m rooting for, what I think will win and what I think was overlooked:
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES
AMERICAN FICTION:Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers
ANATOMY OF A FALL: Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers
BARBIE: David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers
THE HOLDOVERS: Mark Johnson, Producer
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers
MAESTRO: Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
OPPENHEIMER: Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers
PAST LIVES: David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers
POOR THINGS: Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers
THE ZONE OF INTEREST: James Wilson, Producer
MY CHOICE: Poor Things was a wonderfully weird and original take on the Frankenstein legend, by way of Peter Greenway. Off-beat, surreal and often hilarious, it gets my vote.
WHAT WILL WIN: All signs lead to an Oppenheimer fest. Pretty sure that’s what will win.
OVERLOOKED: I know it was silly but I loved Cocaine Bear.
DIRECTING NOMINEES:
ANATOMY OF A FALL: Justine Triet
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: Martin Scorsese
OPPENHEIMER: Christopher Nolan
POOR THINGS: Yorgos Lanthimos
THE ZONE OF INTEREST: Jonathan Glazer
MY CHOICE: Movies don’t direct themselves so I usually think whatever gets Best Picture should also get Best Director. This year is no exception. Let’s go Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things.
WHO WILL WIN: Some voters might want to see Martin Scorsese, now in his eighties, win a second Oscar in his lifetime, but I think Christopher Nolan has the upper hand and then some on this one.
OVERLOOKED: Cord Jefferson for American Fiction.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE NOMINEES:
BRADLEY COOPER: Maestro
COLMAN DOMINGO: Rustin
PAUL GIAMATTI: The Holdovers
CILLIAN MURPHY: Oppenheimer
JEFFREY WRIGHT: American Fiction
MY CHOICE: I’ve been a fan of Jeffery Wright ever since I saw him in Bring in Da’ Noise, Bring in Da’ Funk. He’s a true master thespian and his shot at an Oscar is long overdue.
WHO WILL WIN: Both Paul Giamatti and Cillian Murphy have Golden Globes and while yes, it’s a crying shame that Giamatti has never been nominated until now (did the Academy even see the 2010 masterpiece Barney’s Version?), and while some may think it’s a long overdue honor that he deserves, I still think Cillian Murphy has the edge.
OVERLOOKED: Coleman Domingo for The Color Purple.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: NOMINEES
ANNETTE BENING: Nyad
LILY GLADSTONE: Killers of the Flower Moon
SANDRA HÜLLER: Anatomy of a Fall
CAREY MULLIGAN: Maestro
EMMA STONE: Poor Things
MY CHOICE: Poor Things may be my favorite film this year and Emma Stone’s performance was certainly a major factor. Still, Lily Gladstone undeniably gave a star-making, breakout performance in Killers of the Flower Moon and I hope she’ll win.
WHO WILL WIN: I think Ms. Gladstone is a lock.
OVERLOOKED: It may have been perfect type casting, but typecasting doesn’t matter if the actor doesn’t deliver. Yes, Margot Robbie should have been nominated for Barbie. Also Fantasia Barrino in The Color Purple.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: NOMINEES
STERLING K. BROWN: American Fiction
ROBERT DE NIRO: Killers of the Flower Moon
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.: Oppenheimer
RYAN GOSLING: Barbie
MARK RUFFALO: Poor Things
MY CHOICE: Sterling K. Brown as the substance abusing yet wise gay brother in American Fiction.
WHO WILL WIN: This is a tough one. Still, I’m predicting an Oppenheimer fest, so Robert Downey Jr. is who I predict.
OVERLOOKED: Willem Dafoe in Poor Things.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – NOMINEES
EMILY BLUNT: Oppenheimer
DANIELLE BROOKS: The Color Purple
AMERICA FERRERA: Barbie
JODIE FOSTER: Nyad
DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH: The Holdovers
MY CHOISE: In a film as campy as Barbie, America Ferrera kind of grounded the film. She’d get my vote.
WHO WILL WIN: Da’Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers.
OVERLOOKED: Kathryn Hunter in Poor Things.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM – NOMINEES
THE BOY AND THE HERON: Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
ELEMENTAL: Peter Sohn and Denise Ream
NIMONA: Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary
ROBOT DREAMS: Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE: Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal
MY CHOICE: I’ve only seen The Boy and the Heron and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. I vote for Spider-Man if for no other reason than it has one of the most original visual styles of any animated film I’ve seen in a long time.
WHAT WILL WIN: I think The Boy and the Heron has the edge.
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) – NOMINEES
AMERICAN FICTION: Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson
BARBIE: Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
OPPENHEIMER: Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan
POOR THINGS: Screenplay by Tony McNamara
THE ZONE OF INTEREST: Written by Jonathan Glazer
MY CHOICE: American Fiction.
WHAT WILL WIN: Oppenheimer.
OVERLOOKED: Killers of the Flower Moon.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) – NOMINEES
ANATOMY OF A FALL: Screenplay – Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
THE HOLDOVERS: Written by David Hemingson
MAESTRO: Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer
MAY DECEMBER: Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik
PAST LIVES: Written by Celine Song
MY CHOICE: May December.
WHAT WILL WIN: Maestro.
OVERLOOKED. Bottoms.
CINEMATOGRAPHY – NOMINEES
EL CONDE: Edward Lachman
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: Rodrigo Prieto
MAESTRO: Matthew Libatique
OPPENHEIMER: Hoyte van Hoytema
POOR THINGS: Robbie Ryan
MY CHOICE: Killers of the Flower Moon.
WHAT WILL WIN: Oppenheimer.
COSTUME DESIGN – NOMINEES
BARBIE: Jacqueline Durran
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: Jacqueline West
NAPOLEON: Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
OPPENHEIMER: Ellen Mirojnick
POOR THINGS: Holly Waddington
MY CHOICE: Poor Things.
WHAT WILL WIN: Barbie.
FILM EDITING – NOMINEES
ANATOMY OF A FALL: Laurent Sénéchal
THE HOLDOVERS: Kevin Tent
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: Thelma Schoonmaker
OPPENHEIMER: Jennifer Lame
POOR THINGS: Yorgos Mavropsaridis
MY CHOICE: I thought Killers of the Flower Moon and Oppenheimer were both too damn long. By virtue of being my favorite film of the year, I vote for Poor Things.
WHO WILL WIN: Oppenheimer.
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING – NOMINEES
GOLDA: Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue
MAESTRO: Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell
OPPENHEIMER: Luisa Abel
POOR THINGS: Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW: Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé
MY CHOICE: Poor Things.
WHAT WILL WIN: Poor Things.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE) – NOMINEES
AMERICAN FICTION: Laura Karpman
INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY: John Williams
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: Robbie Robertson
OPPENHEIMER: Ludwig Göransson
POOR THINGS: Jerskin Fendrix
MY CHOICE: American Fiction.
WHAT WILL WIN: Oppenheimer.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG) – NOMINEES
THE FIRE INSIDE from Flamin’ Hot; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
I’M JUST KEN from Barbie; Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
IT NEVER WENT AWAY
from American Symphony; Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
WAHZHAZHE (A SONG FOR MY PEOPLE) from Killers of the Flower Moon; Music and Lyric by Scott George
WHAT WAS I MADE FOR? from Barbie; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
MY CHOICE: “IT NEVER WENT AWAY” from American Symphony.
WHAT WILL WIN: “WAHZHAZHE” from Killers of the Flower Moon.
PRODUCTION DESIGN – NOMINEES
BARBIE: Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
NAPOLEON: Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Elli Griff
OPPENHEIMER: Production Design: Ruth De Jong; Set Decoration: Claire Kaufman
POOR THINGS: Production Design: James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek
MY CHOICE: Poor Things.
WHAT WILL WIN: Barbie.
SOUND – NOMINEES
THE CREATOR: Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
MAESTRO: Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE: Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
OPPENHEIMER: Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O’Connell
THE ZONE OF INTEREST: Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn
MY CHOICE: Zone of Interest.
WHAT WILL WIN: Oppenhimer.
VISUAL EFFECTS – NOMINEES:
THE CREATOR: Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould
GODZILLA MINUS ONE: Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3: Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE: Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould
NAPOLEON: Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould
MY CHOICE: The Creator.
WHAT WILL WIN: Mission Impossible.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM – NOMINEES
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT: Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek
THE ETERNAL MEMORY
FOUR DAUGHTERS: Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha
TO KILL A TIGER: Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath
MY CHOICE: Sadly, I didn’t see any of these so I have no idea.
WHAT WILL WIN: N/A.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM – NOMINEES
THE ABCS OF BOOK BANNING: Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic
THE BARBER OF LITTLE ROCK: John Hoffman and Christine Turner
ISLAND IN BETWEEN: S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien
THE LAST REPAIR SHOP: Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
NǍI NAI & WÀI PÓ: Sean Wang and Sam Davis
MY CHOICE: N/A.
WHAT WILL WIN: I didn’t see any of them so I really don’t know but I’ll guess that The ABC’s of Book Banning sounds like pretty good Oscar bait.
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM – NOMINEES
IO CAPITANO: Italy
PERFECT DAYS: Japan
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW: Spain
THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE: Germany
THE ZONE OF INTEREST: United Kingdom
MY CHOICE: I’ve only seen Zone of Interest which I found very disappointing. I’ll abstain.
WHAT WILL WIN: Given that it also got a Best Picture nod, I think Zone of Interest has an edge.
ANIMATED SHORT FILM – NOMINEES
LETTER TO A PIG: Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter
NINETY-FIVE SENSES: Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess
OUR UNIFORM: Yegane Moghaddam
PACHYDERME: Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius
WAR IS OVER! INSPIRED BY THE MUSIC OF JOHN & YOKO: Dave Mullins and Brad Booker
MY CHOICE: N/A.
WHAT WILL WIN: N/A.
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM – NOMINEES
THE AFTER: Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham
INVINCIBLE: Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron
KNIGHT OF FORTUNE: Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk
RED, WHITE AND BLUE: Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane
THE WONDERFUL STORY OF HENRY SUGAR: Wes Anderson and Steven Rales
MY CHOICE: N/A.
WHAT WILL WIN: N/A.
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