Next Sunday, it will be time to play the music and to light the lights for the 98th Academy Awards. Once again, my woeful predictions are back, despite not having seen, let alone heard of the majority of the nominated films. But I’m not going to let that stop me, so, with less basis in fact than most years, here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards.
Best Original Screenplay
Robert Kaplow, Blue Moon
Jafar Panahi; in collaboration with Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, and Mehdi Mahmoudian, It Was Just an Accident
Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
I’ve heard of a whopping two of these films but only seen one, so I will go with Ryan Coogler and Sinners.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Will Tracy, Bugonia
Guillermo del Toro, Frankenstein
Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell, Hamnet
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, Train Dreams
I’ve actually seen two of these films and heard of one other, so I’ll go with Bugonia.
Best Animated Feature
Arco
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2
Taking a shot in the dark as I haven’t seen any of these and have only heard of two of them.
Best Cinematography
Dan Laustsen, Frankenstein
Darius Khondji, Marty Supreme
Michael Bauman, One Battle After Another
Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sinners
Adolpho Veloso, Train Dreams
Of the two of these that I’ve seen, I’m going with the more classic one.
Best Costume Design
Deborah L. Scott, Avatar: Fire and Ash
Kate Hawley, Frankenstein
Malgosia Turzanska, Hamnet
Miyako Bellizzi, Marty Supreme
Ruth E. Carter, Sinners
This seems like another win for Sinners.