After a year of toiling over what films would get nominated for the 97th Academy Awards and which would miss out on, the day we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. So, how did we do? Edging in slightly better than last year, I predicted 89 of the 120 nominees. My most egregious faults were thinking “Dune: Part Two” and “Challengers” were stronger contenders, with “Challengers” getting entirely shut out, missing Film Editing, Original Score, and Original Song, while “Dune: Part Two,” which had Best Director buzz for awhile this awards season, only grabbed four awards, missing out on Costume Design, Film Editing, and Adapted Screenplay. “Emilia Pérez” overperformed across the board, getting Cinematography and Sound, which I wasn’t predicting. I also wondered if “The Apprentice” would get overlooked, but it ended up overperforming as well, garnering nominations for both Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong.
A surprise that few saw coming was “I’m Still Here” getting a Best Picture nomination. Many had hoped Fernanda Torres would get Actress in a Leading Role, and those wishes paid off. I had predicted Angelina Jolie for “Maria,” which also missed a few places. Actress in a Supporting Role was one of my worst categories, as I only predicted the two frontrunners, missing Monica Barbaro, Felicity Jones, and Isabella Rossellini. Heartbreakingly, Margaret Qualley missed her nomination, and Danielle Deadwyler got skipped for another year. “The Last Showgirl” missed altogether, despite a late push at some of the different guilds and awards bodies. I aced the Animated Feature and Production Design categories and would have aced the International category had I stuck to my guns with thinking “Flow” would be a double nominee. I was happy to be wrong about one of the picks in Documentary, as “Porcelain War” was one of my favorite documentaries of the year. And despite not wanting them to get nominated, “Better Man” and “September 25” ended up with one nomination each.
BEST PICTURE
“Anora”  |
| “The Brutalist” |
| “A Complete Unknown” |
| “Conclave” |
| “Dune: Part Two” |
| “Emilia Pérez” |
“I’m Still Here”  |
| “Nickel Boys” |
 |
| “The Substance” |
| “Wicked” |
9/10
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
| Adrien Brody – “The Brutalist” |
| Timothée Chalamet – “A Complete Unknown” |
|
| Colman Domingo – “Sing Sing” |
| Ralph Fiennes – “Conclave” |
| Sebastian Stan – “The Apprentice” |
4/5
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
| Cynthia Erivo – “Wicked” |
| Karla Sofía Gascón – “Emilia Pérez” |
|
| Mikey Madison – “Anora” |
| Demi Moore – “The Substance” |
| Fernanda Torres – “I’m Still Here” |
4/5
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
| Yura Borisov – “Anora” |
| Kieran Culkin – “A Real Pain” |
|
| Edward Norton – “A Complete Unknown” |
| Guy Pearce – “The Brutalist” |
| Jeremy Strong – “The Apprentice” |
4/5
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
| Monica Barbaro – “A Complete Unknown” |
|
|
| Ariana Grande-Butera – “Wicked” |
| Felicity Jones – “The Brutalist” |
|
| Isabella Rossellini – “Conclave” |
| Zoe Saldaña – “Emilia Pérez” |
2/5
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
| “Flow” |
| “Inside Out 2” |
| “Memoir of a Snail” |
| “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” |
| “The Wild Robot” |
5/5
CINEMATOGRAPHY
| “The Brutalist” – Lol Crawley |
|
| “Dune: Part Two” – Greig Fraser |
| “Emilia Pérez” – Paul Guilhaume |
| “Maria” – Edward Lachman |
| “Nosferatu” – Jarin Blaschke |
4/5
COSTUME DESIGN
| “A Complete Unknown” – Arianne Phillips |
| “Conclave” – Lisy Christl |
|
| “Gladiator II” – David Crossman|Janty Yates |
|
| “Nosferatu” – Linda Muir |
| “Wicked” – Paul Tazewell |
3/5
DIRECTING
| Jacques Audiard – “Emilia Pérez” |
| Sean Baker – “Anora” |
|
| Brady Corbet – “The Brutalist” |
| Coralie Fargeat – “The Substance” |
| James Mangold – “A Complete Unknown” |
4/5
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
| “Black Box Diaries” |
|
| “No Other Land” |
| “Porcelain War” |
| “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” |
| “Sugarcane” |
4/5
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
| “Death by Numbers” |
| “I Am Ready, Warden” |
| “Incident” |
| “Instruments of a Beating Heart” |
|
|
| “The Only Girl in the Orchestra” |
|
2/5
FILM EDITING
| “Anora” – Sean Baker |
| “The Brutalist” – Dávid Jancsó |
|
| “Conclave” – Nick Emerson |
|
| “Emilia Pérez” – Juliette Welfling |
| “Wicked” – Myron Kerstein |
3/5
INTERNATIONAL FILM
| Brazil, “I’m Still Here” |
| Denmark, “The Girl with the Needle” |
| France, “Emilia Pérez” |
| Germany, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” |
|
| Latvia, “Flow” |
4/5
MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
|
| “A Different Man” |
| “Emilia Pérez” |
| “Nosferatu” |
| “The Substance” |
| “Wicked” |
4/5
ORIGINAL SCORE
| “The Brutalist” – Daniel Blumberg |
|
| “Conclave” – Volker Bertelmann |
| “Emilia Pérez” – Clément Ducol & Camille |
| “Wicked” – John Powell|Stephen Schwartz |
| “The Wild Robot” – Kris Bowers |
4/5
ORIGINAL SONG
|
| “Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late” |
| “El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez” |
| “Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez” |
| “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight” |
| “Like A Bird” from “Sing Sing” |
|
3/5
PRODUCTION DESIGN
| “The Brutalist” |
| “Conclave” |
| “Dune: Part Two” |
| “Nosferatu” |
| “Wicked” |
5/5
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
|
| “Beautiful Men” |
|
| “In the Shadow of the Cypress” |
| “Magic Candies” |
| “Wander to Wonder” |
| “Yuck!” |
3/5
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
| “A Lien” |
| “Anuja” |
|
| “I’m Not a Robot” |
| “The Last Ranger” |
| “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent” |
|
3/5
SOUND
|
| “A Complete Unknown” |
| “Dune: Part Two” |
| “Emilia Pérez” |
| “Wicked” |
| “The Wild Robot” |
4/5
VISUAL EFFECTS
| “Alien: Romulus” |
| “Better Man” |
| “Dune: Part Two” |
|
| “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” |
|
| “Wicked” |
3/5
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
| “A Complete Unknown” |
| “Conclave” |
|
| “Emilia Pérez” |
| “Nickel Boys” |
| “Sing Sing” |
4/5
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
| “Anora” |
| “The Brutalist” |
|
| “A Real Pain” |
| “September 5” |
| “The Substance” |
4/5
TOTAL:
89/120
74%
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