98th

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: