š¬ Robert Downey Jr. Will Have an Irritatingly Charming Speech, and Other Oscar Predictions
Let's talk about this Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony
The Academy Awards are like all the best parts of my birthday and Christmas: a special day that only comes once a year, everyone is celebrating, a day where I will randomly cry (birthday), throw a tantrum (days leading up to my birthday), or both (Christmas).Ā
I am snug as a bug in a rug with Oppenheimer's near-certain chance of winning Best Picture, and also best actor, and it really deserves makeup and hairstyling too.1 May December deserved more; Anatomy of a Fall is owed much less. The race Iām most uncertain about is ā¦ production design! Barbieland was elastic and ecstatic, but Poor Things conjured a funhouse of freaky fantasies. I know Robert Downey Jr. will have an irritatingly charming speech. The man gives good bemused appreciation. I canāt wait to hear Da'Vine Joy Randolphās ā The Holdovers was fine, but I rewatched a few episodes of High Fidelity the other day and God, sheās so good. Iād join the Weekndās Idol season two prayer circle if that show pivoted to being only about Randolph.
Not to get all saccharine: but the real winners in this whole awards season are all of us! Not in a āfriends you make along the wayā sense, but in a ātheyāre bringing back the nominee presentation from 2009ā sense. All my life Iāve had to fight!Ā
Obviously there will be a live Hung Up chat about the carpet and the awards. But until then: what are your no guts no glory predictions, the who should win and the who will win, the uncomfortable opinions circulating in your group chats and at your dinner tables (Emma Stoneās La La Land Oscar was premature! She does career-best work in Poor Things!), and any other Oscar night-related ephemera.
A special shoutout to my sister
and her hilarious and mostly correct (she didnāt like Oppenheimer) should win-will win Oscar ballot: āIām just going to say the thing youāre not supposed to say: I love you, but I love me more (if you donāt hear Samantha Jonesā voice in your head right now, burn in hell). What Iām trying to say is that Ryan Gosling should win for Barbie.ā These are the kind of thoughts Iām looking for here ā not because theyāre right, but because theyāre fun.Best Picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a FallĀ
BarbieĀ
The HoldoversĀ
Killers of the Flower MoonĀ
MaestroĀ
OppenheimerĀ
Past Lives
Poor ThingsĀ
The Zone of InterestĀBest Directing
Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)
Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)Best Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)Best Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Sandra HĆ¼ller (Anatomy of a Fall)
Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
Emma Stone (Poor Things)Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)
Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
America Ferrera (Barbie)
Jodie Foster (Nyad)
DaāVine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)Best Adapted Screenplay
American Fiction (Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson)
Barbie (Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach)
Oppenheimer (Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan)
Poor Things (Screenplay by Tony McNamara)
The Zone of Interest (Written by Jonathan Glazer)Best Original Screenplay
Anatomy of a Fall (Screenplay by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari)
The Holdovers (Written by David Hemingson)
Maestro (Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer)
May December (Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik)
Past Lives (Written by Celine Song)Best Animated Feature
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-VerseĀBest Documentary Feature Film
Bobi Wine: The Peopleās President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in MariupolBest International Feature Film
Io Capitano (Italy)
Perfect Days (Japan)
Society of the Snow (Spain)
The Teacherās Lounge (Germany)
The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)Best Animated Short Film
Letter to a PigĀ
Ninety-Five SensesĀ
Our Uniform
PachydermeĀ
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & YokoBest Live-Action Short Film
The AfterĀ
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and BlueĀ
The Wonderful Story of Henry SugarĀBest Documentary Short Film
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
NĒi Nai & WĆ i PĆ³ĀBest Cinematography
El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor ThingsĀBest Costume Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor ThingsĀBest Makeup and Hairstyling
Golda
MaestroĀ
OppenheimerĀ
Poor Things
Society of the SnowĀBest Original Song
āThe Fire Insideā from Flaminā Hot (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)
āIām Just Kenā from Barbie (Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt)
āIt Never Went Awayā from American Symphony (Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson)
āWahzhazhe (A Song for My People)ā from Killers of the Flower Moon (Music and Lyric by Scott George)
āWhat Was I Made For?ā from Barbie (Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas OāConnell)Best Original Score
American FictionĀ
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor ThingsBest Production Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor ThingsBest Film Editing
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor ThingsBest Sound
The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible ā Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of InterestĀBest Visual Effects
The Creator
Godzilla: Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible ā Dead Reckoning, Part OneĀ
Napoleon
One more thing if youāve scrolled this far: I was on CBCās Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud setting very low expectations for any winnersā speeches š
Emma Stoneās Poor Things bussdown be damned!
Also itās a crime that Charles Melton was not nominated!
Iām most excited for Goslingās epic musical performance and Gladstone joining the noble ranks of āhistoricā winners the Denzel way and not the Cuba Gooding Jr way (IYKYK) As for my should/will: āKillersā was in every way the greater cinematic achievement of this year but I accept that the giant boom filmed with the giant camera will win!