And The Nominees Are…

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.

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The Nominees Are

side_oscarThe 96th Academy Awards are going down next Sunday night and that means it is time for another go-around of my woeful predictions.  I don’t know that I’ve heard of many of these movies let alone seen them, so, with less basis in fact than most years, here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards.

Best Original Screenplay

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Maestro
Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik, May December
Celine Song, Past Lives

I’ve seen a whopping two of these films, so I’m going to pick my favorite of the two, The Holdovers.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Tony McNamara, Poor Things
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

I’m assuming this will be the start of a big night for Nolan and Oppenheimer.

Best Animated Feature

The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Once again, I’ll go with the one I’ve seen.

Best Cinematography

Edward Lachman, El Conde
Rodrigo Prieto, Killers of the Flower Moon
Matthew Libatique, Maestro
Hoyte van Hoytema, Oppenheimer
Robbie Ryan, Poor Things

Seems like I’m going all in with the atomic bomb movie.

Best Costume Design

Jacqueline Durran, Barbie
Jacqueline West, Killers of the Flower Moon
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman, Napoleon
Ellen Mirojnick, Oppenheimer
Holly Waddington, Poor Things

This seems like as good a place as any for Barbie to get on the board.

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And The Nominees Are

side_oscarThe 95th Academy Awards are going down Sunday night and, after a year break, my woeful predictions are back.  I don’t know that I’ve heard of many of these movies let alone seen them, so, with less basis in fact than most years, here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards.

Best Original Screenplay

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Steven Spielberg and Tony Kusher, The Fablemans
Todd Field, Tár
Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness

I’ve seen none of these films, but Everything Everywhere All at Once seems to be the hot property, so I’m going to go with that.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, and Ian Stokell, All Quiet on the Western Front
Rian Johnson, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Kazuo Ishiguro, Living
Screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, Top Gun: Maverick
Sarah Polley, Women Talking

Who doesn’t love a good war movie?

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

My best guess, having seen none of these fine films, is that Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio wins the day.

Best Cinematography

James Friend, All Quiet on the Western Front
Darius Khondji, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
Mandy Walker, Elvis
Roger Deakins, Empire of Light
Florian Hoffmeister, Tár

Seems like I’m going all in with the war movie.

Best Costume Design

Mary Zophres, Babylon
Ruth Carter, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Catherine Martin, Elvis
Shirley Kurata, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Jenny Beavan, Mrs. Hamm Goes to Paris

Well, I’ve seen one of these films, so let’s go with that one.

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The Envelope Please

side_oscarThe 91st Academy Awards are going down Sunday night, so here’s my uneducated predictions for the non-acting awards. I have seen a couple of these movies, so I will still mostly be going on gut feel and word of mouth with just a little bit of personal experience.

Best Original Screenplay

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite
Paul Schrader, First Reformed
Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, and Peter Farrelly, Green Book
Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Adam McKay, Vice

I’ve seen none of these films, so this is a total shot in the dark, but I’m going The Favourite, hoping it is the favorite.  (See what I did there?)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, and Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk
Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, and Will Fetters, A Star Is Born

Again, I haven’t seen any of these, but my guess is that Barry Jenkins will take home the award, based on word of mouth.

Best Animated Feature

Incredibles 2
Isle Of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks The Internet
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Hey, I finally saw one of the nominated films, but not the one I’m picking to win.  By all accounts, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is a sensational film, one which I need to see sooner or later, and it should take home this prize.

Best Cinematography

Lukasz Zal, Cold War
Robbie Ryan, The Favourite
Caleb Deschanel, Never Look Away
Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Matthew Libatique, A Star Is Born

Well, again I’ve seen none of these, so I will go with the latest remake of A Star Is Born.

Best Costume Design

Mary Zophres, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther
Sandy Powell, The Favourite
Sandy Powell, Mary Poppins Returns
Alexandra Byrne, Mary Queen of Scots

Typically, I would go for one of the historical films to take home this prize, but I’m hoping that Black Panther breaks through and scores a well-deserved win.

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