2022 OSCAR PREDICTIONS!!!



 

2021 has delivered some really unique and interesting films. Some have moved me to tears, like the amazing CODA, and others have left me dumfounded, inspired, and shaken. So, after much deliberation and many, many viewings, here are my predictions for this year's winners! Like always, I play to win. But, it's also hard not voting with my heart. For instance, the main front-runner for Best Picture is The Power of the Dog, but CODA has gained some serious traction, and with a sure-fire win for directing, The Power of the Dog may lose out to CODA, which is what I'm hoping. So, the choices below are mostly the ones I THINK will win, not necessarily what I WANT to win. The only one I've really voted with my heart is Best Picture. I'll note the one's I'd like to see win if you're curious. So, let's see how many I can get right this year! Check back Monday for the results!

*UPDATE - The Oscars have aired, and boy were they a doozy! I managed to guess 21 out of 23 this year, which is one of my best outings yet! Correct choice are in BLUE, incorrect choices are in RED. What a night!

BEST PICTURE

BELFAST
CODA
DON'T LOOK UP                         
DRIVE MY CAR
DUNE                                             
KING RICHARD
LICORICE PIZZA                         
NIGHTMARE ALLEY
THE POWER OF THE DOG       
WEST SIDE STORY
OPTIMIST'S PICK: CODA 



BEST DIRECTOR

BELFAST, Kenneth Branagh
DRIVE MY CAR, Ryusuke Hamaguchi
LICORICE PIZZA, Paul Thomas Anderson
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Jane Campion
WEST SIDE STORY, Steven Spielberg
OPTIMIST'S PICK: Jane Campion, THE POWER OF THE DOG






BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

JAVIER BARDEM, Being the Ricardos
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, The Power of the Dog
ANDREW GARFIELD, tick, tick...BOOM!
WILL SMITH, King Richard
DENZEL WASHINGTON, The Tragedy of Macbeth
OPTIMIST'S PICK: WILL SMITH, King Richard (But I really want Andrew Garfield to take it!)





BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE


JESSICA CHASTAIN, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
OLIVIA COLMAN, The Lost Daughter
PENÉLOPE CRUZ, Parallel Mothers
NICOLE KIDMAN, Being the Ricardos
KRISTEN STEWART, Spencer
OPTIMIST'S PICK: JESSICA CHASTAIN, The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Though, it would be cool to see Kristen Stewart win)





BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

CIARÁN HINDS, Belfast
TROY KOTSUR, CODA
JESSE PLEMONS, The Power of the Dog
J.K. SIMMONS, Being the Ricardos
KODI SMIT-MCPHEE, The Power of the Dog
OPTIMIST'S PICK: TROY KOTSUR, CODA







BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

JESSIE BUCKLEY, The Lost Daughter
ARIANA DEBOSE, West Side Story
JUDI DENCH, Belfast
KIRSTEN DUNST, The Power of the Dog
AUNJANUE ELLIS, King Richard
OPTIMIST'S PICK: ARIANA DEBOSE, West Side Story (Although, I wouldn't be mad to see Kirsten Dunst win this; she was awesome in The Power of the Dog)






BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

ENCANTO, Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer
FLEE, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
LUCA, Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren
THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht
RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho
OPTIMIST'S PICK: ENCANTO, Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvette Merino and Clark Spencer
(Disney has this in the bag, but I would really love it if The Mitchells vs. The Machines takes this!)





BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

DUNE, Greig Fraser
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Dan Laustsen
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Ari Wegner
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Bruno Delbonnel
WEST SIDE STORY, Janusz Kaminski
OPTIMIST'S PICK: DUNE, Greig Fraser 
(I wouldn't be mad if Nightmare Alley won this; it's a gorgeous movie)






BEST COSTUME DESIGN

CRUELLA, Jenny Beavan
CYRANO, Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran
DUNE, Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Luis Sequeira
WEST SIDE STORY, Paul Tazewell
OPTIMIST'S PICK: CRUELLA, Jenny Beavan






BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

ASCENSION, Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell
ATTICA, Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry
FLEE, Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
SUMMER OF SOUL (...OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED), Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein
WRITING WITH FIRE, Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh
OPTIMIST'S PICK: SUMMER OF SOUL (...OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED), Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein




BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

AUDIBLE, Matt Opens and Geoff McLean
LEAD ME HOME, Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk
THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL, Ben Proudfoot
THREE SONGS FOR BENAZIR, Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei
WHEN WE WERE BULLIES, Jay Rosenblatt
OPTIMIST'S PICK: THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL, Ben Proudfoot





BEST FILM EDITING

DON'T LOOK UP, Hank Corwin
DUNE, Joe Walker
KING RICHARD, Pamela Martin
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Peter Sciberras
TICK, TICK...BOOM!, Myron Keratin and Andrew Weisblum
OPTIMIST'S PICK: DUNE, Joe Walker





BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

DRIVE MY CAR, Japan
FLEE, Denmark
THE HAND OF GOD, Italy
LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM, Bhutan
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, Norway
OPTIMIST'S PICK: DRIVE MY CAR, Japan





BEST MAKE UP & HAIRSTYLING

COMING 2 AMERICA, Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer
CRUELLA, Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon
DUNE, Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE, Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh
HOUSE OF GUCCI, Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras
OPTIMIST'S PICK: THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE, Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh




BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

DON'T LOOK UP, Nicholas Britell
DUNE, Hans Zimmer
ENCANTO, Germaine Franco
PARALLEL MOTHERS, Alberto Iglesias
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Jonny Greenwood
OPTIMIST'S PICK: DUNE, Hans Zimmer






BEST ORIGINAL SONG

BE ALIVE, from King Richard; Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
DOS ORUGUITAS, from Encanto; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
DOWN TO JOY, from Belfast; Music and Lyric by Van Morrison
NO TIME TO DIE, from No Time to Die; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell
SOMEHOW YOU DO, from Four Good Days; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
OPTIMIST'S PICK: NO TIME TO DIE, from No Time to Die; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell





BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

DUNE, Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos
NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH, Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
WEST SIDE STORY, Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo
OPTIMIST'S PICK: DUNE, Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos





BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

AFFAIRS OF THE ART, Joanna Quinn and Les Mills
BESTIA, Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz
BOXBALLET, Anton Dyakov
ROBIN ROBIN, Dan Ojari and Mikey Please
THE WINDSHIELD WIPER, Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez
OPTIMIST'S PICK: ROBIN ROBIN, Dan Ojari and Mikey Please





BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

ALA KACHUU - TAKE AND RUN, Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger
THE DRESS, Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki
THE LONG GOODBYE, Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed
ON MY MIND, Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson
PLEASE HOLD, K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse
OPTIMIST'S PICK: THE LONG GOODBYE, Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed






BEST SOUND
BELFAST, Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri
DUNE, Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett
NO TIME TO DIE, Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb
WEST SIDE STORY, Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy
OPTIMIST'S PICK: DUNE, Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett




BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

DUNE, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer
FREE GUY, Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick
NO TIME TO DIE, Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS, Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick
OPTIMIST'S PICK: DUNE, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer




BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BELFAST, Written by Kenneth Branagh
DON'T LOOK UP, Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota
KING RICHARD, Written by Zach Baylin
LICORICE PIZZA, Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
OPTIMIST'S PICK: LICORICE PIZZA, Written by Paul Thomas Anderson





BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

CODA, 
Screenplay by Siân Heder
DRIVE MY CAR, Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
DUNE, Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
THE LOST DAUGHTER, Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal
THE POWER OF THE DOG, Written by Jane Campion
OPTIMIST'S PICK: CODA, Screenplay by Siân Heder

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