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