It’s nearly time to play the music and to light the lights. The 97th Academy Awards are going down next Sunday night, and 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
Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Moritz Binder and Tim Fehlbaum; co-written by Alex David, September 5
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
I’ve heard of a whopping two of these films, so I’m going to flip a coin and end up with The Substance.
Best Adapted Screenplay
James Mangold and Jay Cocks, A Complete Unknown
Peter Straughan, Conclave
Jacques Audiard in collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius, and Nicolas Livecchi, Emilia Pérez
RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys
Screenplay by Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley; story by Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley, Clarence Maclin, and John “Divine G” Whitfield, Sing Sing
This is a complete guest, as I’ve seen only one of these films.
Best Animated Feature
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Once again, I’ll take a shot in the dark.
Best Cinematography
Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Greig Fraser, Dune: Part Two
Paul Guilhaume, Emilia Pérez
Ed Lachman, Maria
Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu
Sand seems like the way to go for this award.
Best Costume Design
Arianne Phillips, A Complete Unknown
Lisy Christl, Conclave
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman, Gladiator II
Linda Muir, Nosferatu
Paul Tazewell, Wicked
This seems like as good a place as any for Wicked to get on the board.
Best Documentary Feature
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane
I’ve neither seen nor heard of any of these, so this is a total shot in the dark.
Best Documentary Short Subject
Death By Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
This is a total guess for a category that I know nothing about.
Achievement in Film Editing
Sean Baker, Anora
Dávid Jancsó, The Brutalist
Nick Emerson, Conclave
Juliette Welfling, Emilia Pérez
Myron Kerstein, Wicked
I’ve actually seen two of these but am going with one I haven’t.
Best International Feature Film
Emilia Pérez, France
Flow, Latvia
The Girl with the Needle, Denmark
I’m Still Here, Brazil
The Seeds of the Sacred Flag, Germany
It’s the only one also nominated for Best Picture, so shouldn’t it win here?
Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling
Mike Marino, David Presto, and Crystal Jurado, A Different Man
Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier, and Jean-Christophe Spadaccinil, Emilia Pérez
David White, Traci Loader, and Suzanne Stokes-Munton, Nosferatu
Pierre-Oliver Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli, The Substance
Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, and Sarah Nuth, Wicked
I want to say it will be the crew behind The Substance but instead I’m going with Wicked.
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg
Conclave, Volker Bertelmann
Emilia Pérez, Clément Ducol and Camille
Wicked, John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
The Wild Robot, Kris Bowers
This is just a stab in the dark.
Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
El Mal from Emilia Pérez, Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; lyrics by Clément Ducol, Camille, and Jacques Audiard
The Journey from The Six Triple Eight, Music and lyrics by Diane Warren
Like A Bird from Sing Sing, Music and lyrics by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
Mi Camino from Emilia Pérez, Music and lyrics by Camille and Clément Ducol
Never Too Late from Elton John: Never Too Late, Music and lyrics by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt, and Bernie Taupin
If Elton John can’t win this, then what do I know?
Achievement in Production Design
The Brutalist, Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia
Conclave, Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter
Dune: Part Two, Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
Nosferatu, Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová
Wicked, Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Looks like another opportunity for Wicked to shine.
Best Animated Short Film
Beautiful Men, Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande
In the Shadow of the Cypress, Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi
Magic Candles, Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio
Wander to Wonder, Nina Gantz and Stienette Bosklopper
Yuck!, Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet
Best Live Action Short Film
A Lien, Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz
Anuja, Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai
I’m Not a Robot, Victoria Warmerdam and Trent
The Last Ranger, Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, Nebojša Slijepčević and Danijel Pek
These two picks are based on nothing but pure alchemy.
Achievement in Sound
A Complete Unknown, Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey, and David Giammarco
Dune: Part Two, Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett, and Doug Hemphill
Emilia Pérez, Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz, and Niels Barletta
Wicked, Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson, and John Marquis
The Wild Robot, Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo, and Leff Lefferts
I’m going to go with Dune, for no particular reason.
Achievement in Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus, Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin, and Shane Mahan
Better Man, Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft, and Peter Stubbs
Dune: Part Two, Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, and Gerd Nefzer
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story, and Rodney Burke
Wicked, Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk, and Paul Corbould
I’ve actually seen three of these films, but despite being a category seemingly made for science fiction flicks, I’m going with Wicked.