Most years, I publish my predictions for the Oscar nominations the day before. This year, I’m able to publish two days before. I’ve been better this year than in previous years in being up to date on who received what accolades. The Golden Globes, Critics Choice, the various film critics circles and the respective Guild awards have been giving their nominees and some have even decided winners. Very good timing especially since the nominations are coming later in the year than expected.

Again this year, I will decide ten predictions for Best Picture nominees, five predictions for the other categories and possible upsetters that I sense could be surprise nominees. Interesting that there is a new category added this year, bringing the total back to twenty-four. The category is Best Casting. For that category, it makes you wonder who the nominees will be ? The top cast? Or the casting director?

So here are my predictions:

BEST PICTURE

• Bugonia
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Jay Kelly
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• The Secret Agent
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners
• Train Dreams

BEST DIRECTOR

• Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
• Ryan Coogler – Sinners
• Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
• Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
• Chloe Zhao – Hamnet

BEST ACTOR

• Timothee Chalamet – Marty Supreme
• Leonardo di Caprio – One Battle After Another
• Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
• Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent
• Jesse Plemons – Bugonia

BEST ACTRESS

• Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
• Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
• Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
• Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
• Emma Stone – Bugonia

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another
• Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
• Delroy Lindo – Sinners
• Paul Mescal – Hamnet
• Stellan Skarsgard – Sentimental Value

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Ariana Grande – Wicked: For Good
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleas – Sentimental Value
• Amy Madigan – Weapons
• Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
• Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
• Ryan Coogler – Sinners
• Kleber Mendonca Filho – The Secret Agent
• Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
• Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another
• Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar – Train Dreams
• Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein
• Will Tracy – Bugonia
• Chloe Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Arco
• The Bad Guys 2
• Kpop Demon Hunters
• Little Amelie Or The Character Of Rain
• Zootopia 2

BEST CASTING

• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners
• Wicked: For Good

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Autumn Durald Arkapaw – Sinners
• Michael Bauman – One Battle After Another
• Darius Khondji – Marty Supreme
• Claudio Miranda – F1: The Movie
• Adolpho Veloso – Train Dreams

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Miyako Bellizzi – Marty Supreme
• Ruth E. Carter – Sinners
• Kate Hawley – Frankenstein
• Paul Tazewell – Wicked: For Good
• Malgosia Turganska – Hamnet

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• 2000 Metres To Andriivka
• Cover-Up
• Mr. Nobody Against Putin
• My Undesirable Friends: Part 1
• The Perfect Neighbor

BEST FILM EDITING

• Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme
• Affonso Goncalves and Chloe Zhao – Hamnet
• Andy Jurgenson – One Battle After Another
• Stephen Mirrione – F1: The Movie
• Michael P. Shawver – Sinners

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

• Belen – Argentina
• It Was Just An Accident – France
• The Secret Agent – Brazil
• Sentimental Value – Norway
• Sirat – Spain

BEST MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING

• Frankenstein
• Marty Supreme
• Sinners
• The Smashing Machine
• Wicked: For Good

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Alexandre Desplat – Frankenstein
• Ludwig Goransson – Sinners
• Jonny Greenwood – One Battle After Another
• Kangding Ray – Sirat
• Max Richter – Hamnet

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• “Dream As One” – Avatar: Fire and Ash
• “The Girl In The Bubble” – Wicked: For Good
• “Golden” – KPop Demon Hunters
• “I Lied To You” – Sinners
• “No Place Like Home” – Wicked: For Good

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• Sinners
• Wicked: For Good

BEST SOUND

• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• F1: The Movie
• Frankenstein
• One Battle After Another
• Sinners

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• F1: The Movie
• Frankenstein
• Jurassic World Rebirth
• The Lost Bus

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

• Autokar
• Butterfly (Papillon)
• Eiru
• The Girl Who Cried Pearls
• Snow Bear

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

• All The Empty Rooms
• Armed Only with a Camera
• Classroom 4
• The Devil Is Busy
• We Were The Scenery

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

• Ado
• Beyond Silence
• The Boy with White Skin
• Extremist
• A Friend of Dorothy

Once again, I’ll be giving my predictions for the most likely upsetters. Sometimes these award shows and their nominees will hint as to who will upset the favorites and some may come out of nowhere. So here’s my take:

BEST PICTURE

• F1: The Movie
• It Was Just An Accident
• Wicked: For Good

BEST DIRECTOR

• Jafar Panahi – It Was Just An Accident
• Joachim Trier – Sentimental Value

BEST ACTOR

• Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams
• Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon

BEST ACTRESS

• Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
• Tessa Thompson – Hedda

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
• Adam Sandler – Jay Kelly

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Odessa A’Zion – Marty Supreme
• Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Zach Cregger – Weapons
• Jafar Panahi – It Was Just An Accident

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Park Chan-Wook, Lee Kyoung-Mi, Don McKellar and Lee Ja-Hye – No Other Choice
• James Vanderbilt and Jack El-Hai – Nuremberg

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

• Demon Slayer: The Movie
• Elio

BEST CASTING

• Frankenstein
• Sentimental Value

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Dan Lautsen – Frankenstein
• Lukasz Zal – Hamnet

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• Jennifer Johnson – Bugonia
• Lindsay Hugh – Hedda

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Apocalypse In The Tropics
• Seeds

BEST FILM EDITING

• Kirk Baxter – A House Of Dynamite
• Evan Schiff – Frankenstein

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

• Left-Handed Girl – Taiwan
• No Other Choice – South Korea

BEST MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING

• One Battle After Another

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• Daniel Lopatin – Marty Supreme
• Hans Zimmer – F1: The Movie

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• “Drive” – F1: The Movie
• “Train Dreams” – Train Dreams

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Avatar: Fire and Ash
• The Fantastic Four: First Steps

BEST SOUND

• Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning
• Wicked: For Good

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Sinners
• Superman

And there you go. Those are my predictions for the nominees for the 98th Academy Awards and the possible upsetters to my main predictions. It should make for an interesting morning on Thursday the 22nd. Even with Oscar nominations, nothing is sacred.