Awards Spotlight: Final 2023 Oscar Nomination Predictions

Well, the time has come for a new round of Oscar nominations to be revealed. On January 24th, AMPAS will unveil its 95th Academy Awards nominations. The nominations will be announced by Oscar winner Riz Ahmed (The Sound of Metal, The Long Goodbye) and Allison Williams (Get Out, M3GAN). You can watch the nominations on the Academy's YouTube page, where they will do a live-stream event. The Oscars will be held on March 12th on ABC and will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

It has been a while since I have written about the Oscars, but what better way to start the year than going all in on my predictions? Nearly 9,600 members will pick their favorites and let us know if we are in a year where the blockbuster is in contention for the most significant award of the night - Best Picture. It has been a few weeks and months since the consensus behind seven films has solidified for the Best Picture lineup, but who is the next in line? Are we in for some surprises? And what will happen in other races like acting, screenplay, and techs?

I am expecting nominations to bring in excellent news for movies like “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “Top Gun Maverick,” “Banshees of Inisherin,” and others. But who will lead? What will be the biggest shock, snub, and surprise of the day? Honestly, I have no idea, but after days of agonizing over who will get in, I have made my final Oscar nomination predictions. I feel confident in many of these, but I also feel the heartburn over so many others, just like Sgt Schultz (Hogan Heroe’s reference) famously said, “I know Nothing.”

Here are my final predictions…

Best Picture

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

Babylon

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Fablemans

TÁR

Top Gun: Maverick

The Whale

Possibilities: Triangle of Sadness, RRR, Women Talking, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Director

Todd Field (TÁR)

Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)

Steven Spielberg (The Fablemans)

Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front)

Possibilities: James Cameron (Avatar: The Way of Water), Baz Luhrmann (Elvis), S.S. Rajamouli (RRR), Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King)

Best Actor

Austin Butler (Elvis)

Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)

Brenda Fraser (The Whale)

Bill Nighy (Living)

Tom Cruise (Top Gun: Maverick)

Possibilities: Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Hugh Jackman (The Son)

Best Actress

Ana de Armas (Blonde)

Cate Blanchett (TÁR)

Viola Davis (The Woman King)

Danielle Deadwyler (Till)

Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Possibilities: Michelle Williams (The Fablemans), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie)

Best Supporting Actor

Paul Dano (The Fablemans)

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)

Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)

Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse)

Possibilities: Brad Pitt (Babylon), Judd Hirsch (The Fablemans), Ben Wishaw (Woman Talking)

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)

Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Hong Chau (The Whale)

Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Possibilities: Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness), Jesse Buckley (Woman Talking)

Best Original Screenplay:

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Fablemans

TÁR

Triangle of Sadness

Possibilities: Aftersun, Decision to Leave

Best Adapted Screenplay

All Quiet on the Western Front

Living

She Said

The Whale

Women Talking

Possibilities: Top Gun: Maverick, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio

Best Animated Feature

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio

Marcel The Shell with Shoes On

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

The Sea Beast

Turning Red

Possibilities: Wendell and Wild, My Father’s Dragon, Apollo 10 ½

Best International Feature Film

All Quiet on the Western Front

Argentina, 1985

Decision to Leave

EO

The Quiet Girl

Possibilities: Close, Bardo, Saint Omer

Best Documentary Feature

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

All That Breathes

Fire of Love

Navalny

The Territory

Possibilities: Descendant, Moonage Daydream

Best Film Editing

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Top Gun: Maverick

Possibilities: The Fablemans, Elvis, Babylon

Best Cinematography

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Batman

Empire of Light

Top Gun: Maverick

Possibilities: The Fablemans, Elvis, Babylon, Bardo

Best Costume Design

Babylon

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Woman King

Possibilities: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, The Fablemans, Corsage

Best Production Design

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

Babylon

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinnochio

Possibilities: Elvis, Black Panther Wakanda Forever, The Fablemans, Glass Onion

Best Make-up & Hairstyling

All Quiet on the Western Front

The Batman

Blonde

Elvis

The Whale

Possibilities: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Babylon, Crimes of the Future

Best Sound

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Top Gun: Maverick

Possibilities: Babylon, The Batman, Black Panther Wakanda Forever

Best Original Score

All Quiet on the Western Front

Babylon

Everything Everywhere All At Once

The Fablemans

Women Talking

Possibilities: The Banshees of Inisherin, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Best Original Song

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Lift Me Up)

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Ciao Papa)

RRR (Naatu Naatu)

Tell It Like a Woman (Applause)

Top Gun: Maverick (Hold My Hand)

Possibilities: Till (Stand Up), Where the Crawdads Sing (Carolina), Avatar: The Way of Water (You Give Me Strength)

Best Visual Effects

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Batman

Nope

Top Gun: Maverick

Possibilities: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Jurrasic World: Dominion

Best Animated Short Film

An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fak and I Think I Believe It

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

The Flying Sailor

New Moon

Save Ralph

Possibilities: My Year of Dicks, Ice Merchants, The Garbage Man

Best Documentary Short Film

The Elephant Whisperers

The Flagmakers

Holding Moses

How Do You Measure a Year?

Nuisance Bear

Possibilities: 38 at the Garden, As Far as They Can Run

Live Action Short Film

An Irish Goodbye

Le Pupille

The Lone Wolf

The Red Suitcase

Warsha

Possibilities: Nakam, Ivalu, Almost Home