Early tomorrow morning, the nominees for the longest Oscars award season of all-time will be announced by Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. At 5:19AM PST nonetheless. An unprecedented year for everyone will finally answer some questions about what has been deemed the best movie of the year? There are some solid “locks” in some categories. “Nomadland” and Chloé Zhao were the darlings of the award season so far. And “The Trial of the Chicago 7” is the only film to win all the precursors that it usually takes to win Best Picture. Chadwick Boseman is the favorite to win Best Leading Actor, with his lovely widow standing in the wings, waiting, with the perfect things to say. Daniel Kaluuya is the favorite to win Best Supporting Actor despite his run-time being a few minutes shy of the “lead” Lakeith Stanfield’s. Will the Academy love “The Father” or “Da 5 Bloods” more than I think they will? Will they like something like “News of the World” less?
One thing’s for sure, not everyone will be happy. I can see the “Cancel” tweets now. Predicting these things is never easy for me, but I gave it my best shot. Having seen more of these films than usual and following many Oscar pundits, these picks are a mix of due diligence and gut feelings. Every year when I put these predictions out, I feel like they could be all completely or wrong or end up being entirely right. Tomorrow morning we’ll see.
BEST PICTURE
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
Warner Bros. Pictures
“Mank”
Netflix
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Netflix
“Minari”
A24
“News Of The World”
Universal Pictures
“Nomadland”
Searchlight Pictures
“One Night In Miami…”
Amazon Studios
“Promising Young Woman”
Focus Features
“Sound Of Metal”
Amazon Studios
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Netflix
ALT: “The Father” — Sony Pictures Classics
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Riz Ahmed
“Sound Of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Anthony Hopkins
“The Father”
Delroy Lindo
“Da 5 Bloods”
Gary Oldman
“Mank”
ALT: Steven Yeun — “Minari”
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Viola Davis
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Andra Day
“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
Vanessa Kirby
“Pieces of a Woman”
Frances McDormand
“Nomadland”
Carey Mulligan
“Promising Young Woman”
ALT: Amy Adams — “Hillbilly Elegy”
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Chadwick Boseman
“Da 5 Bloods”
Sacha Baron Cohen
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Daniel Kaluuya
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
Leslie Odom Jr.
“One Night In Miami”
Bill Murray
“On The Rocks”
ALT: Paul Raci — “Sound Of Metal”
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Maria Bakalova
“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
Glenn Close
“Hillbilly Elegy”
Olivia Colman
“The Father”
Amanda Seyfried
“Mank”
Youn Yuh-jung
“Minari”
ALT: Helena Zengel — “News of the World”
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Onward
Pixar Animation
“Over The Moon”
Netflix
“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”
StudioCanal UK
“Soul”
Pixar Animation
“Wolfwalkers”
GKIDS
ALT: “The Croods: A New Age”
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Judas And The Black Messiah”
Sean Bobbitt
“Mank”
Erik Messerschmidt
“News of the World”
Dariusz Wolski
“Nomadland”
Joshua James Richards
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Phedon Papamichael
ALT: “Tenet” — Hoyte Van Hoytema
COSTUME DESIGN
“Emma.”
Alexandra Byrne
“Mank”
Trish Summerville
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Ann Roth
“Mulan”
Bina Daigeler
“News Of The World”
Mark Bridges
ALT: “The Glorias” — Sandy Powell
DIRECTING
Emerald Fennell
“Promising Young Woman”
David Fincher
“Mank”
Regina King
“One Night in Miami”
Aaron Sorkin
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Chloé Zhao
“Nomadland”
ALT: Lee Isaac Chung — “Minari”
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
“Collective”
Magnolia Pictures
“Dick Johnson Is Dead”
Netflix
“My Octopus Teacher”
Netflix
“Time”
Amazon Studios
“The Truffle Hunters”
Sony Pictures Classics
ALT: “Welcome to Chechnya” or “Boys State”
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
“Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa”
“Colette”
“Do Not Split”
“Hunger Ward”
“A Love Song for Latasha”
ALT: “The Speed Cubers”
FILM EDITING
“Mank”
Kirk Baxter
“Nomadland”
Chloé Zhao
“Promising Young Woman”
Frédéric Thoraval
“Sound Of Metal”
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Alan Baumgarten
ALT: “The Father” — Yorgos Lamprinos
INTERNATIONAL FILM
“Another Round”
Denmark
“Dear Comrades!”
Russia
“La Llorona”
Guatemala
“Quo Vadis, Aida?”
Bosnia and Herzegovina
“Two Of Us”
France
ALT: “Night of the Kings” (Ivory Coast)
MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
“Emma”
“Hillbilly Elegy”
“Mank”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Pinocchio”
ALT: “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn”
ORIGINAL SCORE
“Mank”
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
“The Midnight Sky”
Alexandre Desplat
“News Of The World”
James Newton Howard
“Soul”
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, & Jon Batiste
“Tenet”
Ludwig Göransson
ALT: “Minari” — Emile Mosseri
ORIGINAL SONG
“Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”
Music and Lyrics by Savan Kotecha, Rickard Goransson & Fat Max Gsus
Performed by Molly Sandén and Will Ferrell
“Never Break” from “Giving Voice”
Written by John Legend, Nasri Atweh, Benjamin Hudson McIldowie, Greg Wells
Performed by John Legend
“Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Written by H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, Tiara Thomas
Performed by H.E.R.
“Io Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead”
Written by Diane Warren
Performed by Laura Pausini
“Speak Now” from “One Night In Miami”
Written by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth
Performed by Leslie Odom Jr.
ALT: “Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Mank”
Donald Graham Burt
“The Midnight Sky”
James D. Bissell
“Mulan”
Grant Major
“Rebecca”
Sarah Greenwood
“Tenet”
Nathan Crowley
ALT: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” — Mark Ricker
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
“Burrow”
Pixar Animation
“If Anything Happens I Love You”
Netflix
“Kapaemahu”
Kanaka Pakipika
“Opera”
Beasts and Natives Alike
“Out”
Pixar Animation
ALT: “Genius Loci” — Kazak Productions
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
“Bittu”
“The Human Voice”
“The Letter Room”
“The Present”
“Two Distant Strangers”
ALT: “Feeling Through”
SOUND
“Greyhound”
“News of the World”
“Soul”
“Sound Of Metal”
“Tenet”
ALT: “Nomadland”
VISUAL EFFECTS
“The Midnight Sky”
“Mulan”
“The One and Only Ivan”
“Soul”
“Tenet”
ALT: “Bloodshot”
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
“The Father”
Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Ruben Santiago-Hudson
“Nomadland”
Chloé Zhao
“One Night In Miami”
Kemp Powers
“The White Tiger”
Ramin Bahrani
ALT: “News Of The World” – Paul Greengrass & Luke Davies
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
Will Berson & Shaka King
“Mank”
Jack Fincher
“Palm Springs”
Andy Siara
“Promising Young Woman”
Emerald Fennell
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Aaron Sorkin
ALT: “Sound of Metal” — Darius and Alexander Marder
