Best Picture
Who Will Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Who Should Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Aftersun
Comments/Quips:
It will be Top Gun: Maverick, because we’ve got to appease Fox News somehow. (Sofia)
Everything Everywhere is the most likely to win. As a result, it will not win. (Jeremy)
Best Director
Who Will Win: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Daniels)
Who Should Win: Steven Spielberg
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Charlotte Wells
Comments/Quips:
Spielberg has to win for plot. (Jeremy)
He’s already won twice—give it to the Daniels! (Syed)
Best Actress
Who Will Win: Cate Blanchett
Who Should Win: Michelle Yeoh
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Viola Davis, Danielle Deadwyler, Guslagie Malanda
Comments/Quips:
I love how we’re calling a campaign orchestrated by two PR firms and lots of A-list actor pals “grassroots.” (Vanessa)
I’d be equally happy if Andrea Riseborough wins just to piss off the Academy. (Arjan)
Best Actor
Who Will Win: Brendan Fraser
Who Should Win: Austin Butler
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Diego Calva
Comments/Quips:
As long as it’s not Austin Butler. (Sulakshi, Sofia)
Ricardo Darin would be here if the Academy weren’t so terrified of awarding non-English performances. (Sofia)
Say what you like about the Elvis movie, but Austin Butler was nothing short of phenomenal – still, wouldn’t mind if Brendan Fraser won, thrilled about his comeback. (Arjan)
Having Paul Mescal here is such a pleasant surprise! (Syed)
All well acted but all so milquetoast (sorry). (Vanessa)
Best Supporting Actress
Who Will Win: Angela Bassett
Who Should Win: Angela Bassett
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Dolly De Leon
Comments/Quips:
Angela Bassett must win so I can sleep at night. (Jeremy)
Best Supporting Actor
Who Will Win: Ke Huy Quan
Who Should Win: Ke Huy Quan
Who Should Have Been Nominated: David Lynch, Paul Dano
Comments/Quips:
The David Lynch snub! SO thrilled that Brian Tyree Henry is being recognised for his beautiful performance in Causeway though! (Vanessa)
Would just like Brendan Gleeson to win so that he gets some long overdue awards recognition. (Arjan)
Best Original Screenplay
Who Will Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Who Should Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Saint Omer, Nope
Best Adapted Screenplay
Who Will Win: Women Talking or All Quiet on the Western Front
Who Should Win: Women Talking
Who Should Have Been Nominated: After Yang
Comments/Quips:
The thought of Glass Onion receiving an award for its screenplay makes me want to throw up. Top Gun: Maverick isn’t my pick to win but my love for the film is well-documented and I do feel like I need to jump in and defend it from the people making fun of its nomination. We tend to focus on dialogue but a big part of screenplays is story – and Top Gun: Maverick structured its story pretty much to perfection. (Vanessa)
As a fellow Top Gun: Maverick fan, I wouldn’t mind if it won, and I really appreciate Vanessa’s defence of it. It’s just good old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing escapism of the kind the Academy haven’t recognised for any of the big prizes in donkey’s years. That’s why so many ordinary cinema-goers loved it, and that’s why, sadly, it’s probably not going to win Best Picture or Best Adapted Screenplay. I’m also agreed on Glass Onion – enjoyed it enough when I watched it, but the plot holes are glaring. (Arjan)
Let’s calm down on all the Top Gun riding! (Jeremy)
All Quiet being nominated here is a little puzzling—its screenplay I felt was its weakest aspect. The camaraderie between the characters is, I feel, an integral part of the novel, but wasn’t given much emphasis here. They instead shoehorned in the plotline about ceasefire negotiations? (Syed)
Best Cinematography
Who Will Win: All Quiet on the Western Front
Who Should Win: Empire of Light
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Top Gun: Maverick, Nope
Comments/Quips:
Lots of interesting omissions here: Kim Ji-yong (Decision to Leave), Claudio Miranda (Top Gun: Maverick), and Janusz Kaminski (The Fabelmans), to name a few. But here comes my hot take: having seen all of these films, I think the nominees (barring Elvis, lol) were all very beautifully shot and deserving of recognition. I would love to see Roger Deakins win it – the man had me bawling thirty seconds into the film. (Vanessa)
Did everyone forget that The Northman and Nope came out this year? (Sulakshi)
The fact that Nope was not nominated is one of the biggest snubs I can remember. (Jeremy)
Best International Feature Film
Who Will Win: All Quiet on the Western Front
Who Should Win: Argentina, 1985
Who Should Have Been Nominated: Saint Omer, Decision to Leave, The Blue Caftan
Comments/Quips:
I would be a lot happier with the list of nominees if we swapped out All Quiet and Close for Saint Omer and Decision to Leave. Also so upset that Leila’s Brothers wasn’t eligible. (Vanessa)
The thought of All Quiet inevitably winning over Argentina makes me upset. Also, The Blue Caftan, Holy Spider and BARDO would have all been right at home here. (Syed)
It’s not right for Argentina to win an Oscar and the World Cup at the same time. (Jeremy)
Best Original Song
Who Will Win: RRR
Who Should Win: RRR
Comments/Quips:
If they don’t perform “Nattu Nattu” during the ceremony is there any point even watching? And they better not give it the “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” treatment. (Sulakshi)
Best Animated Feature Film
Who Will Win: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Who Should Win: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Comments/Quips:
Guillermo del Toro talking about how animation isn’t a genre for kids, “it’s a medium that can explore beauty and sadness and tragedy” when Puss in Boots captures all of that better than Pinocchio does (lol). But overall, this really is a strong line-up of films. (Vanessa)
Best Film Editing
Who Will Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Who Should Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Best Documentary
Who Will Win: Navalny
Who Should Win: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Who Should Have Been Nominated: The Territory, Bad Axe, Descendant or Last Flight Home
Comments/Quips:
My favourite category!!! (Will the Academy ever nominate a documentary for Best Picture?) Absolutely devastated The Territory, Bad Axe, Descendant, and Last Flight Home didn’t make it from the shortlist. Fire of Love? Please. I was asleep ten minutes in. (Vanessa)
On the subject of Fire of Love, Werner Herzog did a much better documentary about the same couple called The Fire Within, which I highly recommend. (Arjan)
