Quote from NebraskaTrevor85 on January 22, 2025, 9:36 pm

Hi again! It’s that time where I make my predictions for the Oscar nominees. All I can say is who expected a wildfire to come to Los Angeles? It’s awful. The Academy even delayed their Oscar deadlines for ballot submissions and delayed their nominee reveal for the Oscars this year. It was originally to be sometime two weeks ago but they moved it to this Thursday.

In the meantime, here are my predictions for this year’s Academy Award nominees. Once again, I predict the nominees, a dark horse (DH) or two who could upset and a For Your Consideration (FYC) pick for long shots that deserve it:

BEST PICTURE

• Anora
• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part 2
• Emilia Perez
• Nickel Boys
• Sing Sing
• The Substance
• Wicked

DH1: September 5
DH2: A Real Pain
FYC: All We Imagine As Light

There may be ten Best Picture nominees, there may be eight or even less. We'll see. Some have already been made clear by how heavy they're favored.

BEST DIRECTOR

• JACQUES AUDIARD/Emilia Perez
• SEAN BAKER/Anora
• EDWARD BERGER/Conclave
• BRADY CORBET/The Brutalist
• CORALIE FARGEAT/The Substance

DH1: JAMES MANGOLD/A Complete Unknown
DH2: DENIS VILLENEUVE/Dune Part 2
FYC: PAYAL KAPADIA/All We Imagine As Light

Not only is it an interesting mix of directors but an interesting mix of film styles. Also those of you remember the 2003 film Thirteen will recognize Brady Corbet as he played Tracy's older brother Mason. He's also known for 2004's Thunderbirds for playing Alan Tracy.

BEST ACTOR

• ADRIEN BRODY/The Brutalist
• TIMOTHEE CHALAMET/A Complete Unknown
• COLMAN DOMINGO/Sing Sing
• RALPH FIENNES/Conclave
• SEBASTIAN STAN/The Apprentice

DH1: DANIEL CRAIG/Queer
DH2: HUGH GRANT/The Heretic
FYC: JESSE EISENBERG/A Real Pain

The Best Actor category has often had many with a good chance of winning. It's hard to pick who will be the 'final five' tomorrow.

BEST ACTRESS

• CYNTHIA ERIVO/Wicked
• KARLA SOFIA GASCON/Emilia Perez
• MIKEY MADISON/Anora
• DEMI MOORE/The Substance
• FERNANDA TORRES/I'm Still Here

DH1: PAMELA ANDERSON/The Last Showgirl
DH2: ANGELINA JOLIE/Maria
FYC: MARIANNE JEAN-BAPTISTE/Hard Truths

This category has a good mix of the old and a good mix of the new. The most interesting thing of the 'old,' if you can truly call it that, is that a lot of performances from actresses that were huge stars 20 years ago or more.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• YURA BORISOV/Anora
• KIERAN CULKIN/A Real Pain
• GUY PEARCE/The Brutalist
• EDWARD NORTON/A Complete Unknown
• JEREMY STRONG/The Apprentice

DH1: DENZEL WASHINGTON/Gladiator II
DH2: CLARENCE MACKLIN/Sing Sing

Interesting that Kieran Culkin had almost as much screen time as Jesse Eisenberg but is making a running in the supporting category. Sometimes supporting nominations are a case of politicking.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• JAMIE LEE CURTIS/The Last Showgirl
• ARIANA GRANDE/Wicked
• SELENA GOMEZ/Emilia Perez
• ISSABELLA ROSSELLINI/Conclave
• ZOE SALDANA/Emilia Perez

DH1: FELICITY JONES/The Brutalist
DH2: MARGARET QUALLEY/The Substance
FYC: DANIELLE DEADWYLER/The Piano Lesson

This category is notable for having two pop stars among the favorites for nomination. Mind you this is a year for musicals.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• SEAN BAKER/Anora
• BRADY CORBET & MONA FASTVOLD/The Brutalist
• JESSE EISENBERG/A Real Pain
• CORALEE FARGEAT/The Substance
• JUSIN KURITZKES/Challengers

DH1: ALEX GARLAND/Civil War
DH2: PAYAL KAPADIA/All We Imagine As Light

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• JACQUES AUDIARD/Emilia Perez
• CLINT BENTLEY & GREG KWEDAR/Sing Sing
• WINNIE HOLZMAN & DANA FOX/Wicked
• JAMES MANGOLD & JAY COCKS/A Complete Unknown
• PETER STRAUGHAN/Conclave

DH1: RAMEMM ROSS & JOSLYN BARNES/Nickel Boys
DH2: DENIS VILLENEUVE & JON SPAIHTS/Dune Part 2

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Flow
• Inside Out 2
• Moana 2
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

DH1: That Christmas
DH2: Memoirs Of A Snail

A favorite category among many of the message boarders here. Interesting how one of the favorites to win doesn't have a single word of dialogue! Only animal noises!

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• JARIN BLASCHKKE/Nosferatu
• ALICE BROOKS/Wicked
• LOL CRAWLEY/The Brutalist
• STEPHANE FONTAINE/Conclave
• PAUL GUILHAUME/Emilia Perez

DH1: GREG FRASER/Dune Part 2
DH2: PHEDON PAPAMICHAEL/A Complete Unknown

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• LISY CHRISTL/Conclave
• LINDA MUIR/Nosferatu
• PAUL TAZEWELL/Wicked
• JACQUELINE WEST/Dune Part 2
• JANTY YATES & JADE CROSSMAN/Gladiator II

DH1: ARIANNE PHILLIPS/A Complete Unknown
DH2: MASSIMO CANTINI PARRINI/Maria
FYC: COLLEEN ATWOOD/Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

This category is a curious one. Normally it's costuming in timepieces that get favored but you that costuming in sci-fi or fantasy also get rewarded.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Daughters
• No Other Land
• Porcelain War
• Soundtrack For A Coup d'Etat
• Sugarcane

DH1: Black Box Diaries
DH2: Will & Harper

BEST FILM EDITING

• SEAN BAKER/Anora
• NICK EMERSON/Conclave
• DAVID JANSCO/The Brutalist
• JOE WALKER/Dune Part 2
• JULIETTE WELFLING/Emilia Perez

DH1: MYRON KERSTEIN/Wicked
DH2: MARCO COSTA/Challengers

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

• Emilia Perez (France)
• The Girl With The Needle (Denmark)
• I'm Still Here (Brazil)
• The Seed Of The Sacred Fig (Germany)
• Vermiglio (Italy)

DH1: Kneecap (Ireland)
DH2: Flow (Latvia)

The rules of this category always have you wondering what's up. Flow has no human dialogue, just animal noises. Also All We Imagine As Light didn't have India enter it in.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIR

• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• Dune Part 2.
• Emilia Perez
• Nosferatu
• Wicked

DH: The Substance

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• VOLKER BERTELAMM/Conclave
• DANIEL BLUMBERG/The Brutalist
• KRIS BOWERS/The Wild Robot
• CLEMENT DUCOL & CAMILLE/Emilia Perez
• TRENT REZNOR & ATTICUS ROSS/Challengers

DH1: ROBIN CAROLAN/Nosferatu
DH2: HANS ZIMMER/Blitz

Interesting how in this year, big names like Alexandre Desplat and John Williams were not present. Did they take a break this year?

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• "Compress/Repress"/Challengers
• "El Mai"/Emilia Perez
• "Kiss The Sky"/The Wild Robot
• "Mi Camino"/Emilia Perez
• "Winter Coat"/Blitz

DH1: "Never Too Late"/Elton John: Never Too Late
DH2: "Harper and Will Go West"/Harper and Will

Interesting how last year, it was Barbie with the winning songs and this year, it's Emilia Perez. If you've seen Emilia Perez, you will be surprised how they made a great musical out of subject matter you would never think would be in a musical!

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• The Brutalist
• Conclave
• Gladiator II
• Nosferatu
• Wicked

DH1: Dune Part 2
DH2: A Complete Unknown

BEST SOUND

• A Complete Unknown
• Dune Part 2
• Emilia Perez
• Gladiator II
• Wicked

DH: Deadpool & Wolverine

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Better Man
• Dune Part 2
• Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
• Twisters
• Wicked

DH1: Gladiator II
DH2: Mufasa: The Lion King

This is one of the many categories that gets a 'shortlist' of ten some time before the nominations. If you ask me, I think the visual effects shortlist should be more than ten.

And there you have it. Those are my predictions for this year's Oscar nominees. The Oscars are still scheduled to be held on March 2nd, as originally scheduled. One thing I know is there will be some scaling back of the show because of all that's happened. We'll have to wait and see.