Oscar thoughts - category by category

Apologies if this is too soon, too late or too much (or in the wrong place.) I don't know if there's an annual Oscars thread here, and I feel like I might be missing something, so if this should be redirected or delayed, let me know. I just wanted to get all my Oscar thoughts and updates down, since I've seen quite a few of the films so far.

BEST PICTURE - Seen 9/10 - Still need to see Women Talking

Wouldn't mind seeing win in bold. Probable winners/favourites in red.

Ranked in order of preference

1. The Banshees of Inisherin
2. Tár
3. Triangle of Sadness
4. All Quiet on the Western Front
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once
6. The Fabelmans
7. Top Gun: Maverick
8. Avatar: The Way of Water
9. Elvis

It's unusual for me to have 5 films which I'd love to see win Best Picture - normally it would be 3 at most. Triangle of Sadness getting nominated days after I saw it, thinking it was amazing, was a bonus. I love Tár and The Banshees of Inisherin. While The Fabelmans was great, I'd prefer one of my top 5 get it. There's no way Top Gun or Avatar could win, but I liked them as well. Elvis is the only film there I don't like that much.

BEST ACTOR - Seen 3/5 - Need to see Living and Aftersun

Ranked

1. Colin Farrell (Banshees)
2. Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
3. Austin Butler (Elvis)

Ever since seeing Colin Farrell's performance in Banshees, I've wanted him to win the Oscar - but when I saw Brendan Fraser's performance in The Whale (and the kind of role it was) I knew he had stiff competition. There's serious talk about Butler winning for Elvis, but I'd hate to see that. Must see those other two films.

BEST ACTRESS - Seen 4/5 - Need to see To Leslie

Ranked

1. Michelle Williams (Fabelmans)
2. Cate Blanchett (Tár)
3. Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere)
4. Ana de Armas (Blonde)

It's all between Blanchett and Yeoh for this one, but I thought Michelle Williams' beautifully understated performance in The Fabelmans was the best. Ana de Armas was terrible in Blonde, but that wasn't her fault I feel - still, a nom for her in that film is just plain weird.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR - Seen 4/5 - Need to see Causeway

Ranked

1. Barry Keoghan (Banshees)
2. Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere)
3. Brendan Gleeson (Banshees)
4. Judd Hirsch (Fabelmans)

I liked Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere, and he's an unbackable favourite to win, but I personally fancied Keoghan in Banshees.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - Seen 5/5

Ranked

1. Hong Chau (The Whale)
2. Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere)
3. Angela Bassett (Wakanda)
4. Kerry Condon (Banshees)
5. Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere)

Angela Bassett's to lose - she's almost the safest bet in 2023. I thought Hong Chau was brilliant in The Whale, and I've put Jamie Lee Curtis a little high on the list, but it's her first nomination and that tickles me.

BEST DIRECTOR - Seen 5/5

Ranked

1. Ruben Östlund - Triange of Sadness
2. Todd Field - Tár
3. Martin McDonagh - The Banshees of Inisherin
4. Daniels - Everything Everywhere All at Once
5. Steven Spielberg - The Fabelmans

He'll miss out on Best Picture for the great Triangle of Sadness (coming out on Criterion already) so I really want Ruben Östlund for Best Director. All 5 noms are super, with Spielberg and the Daniels favourites.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Seen 5/5

Ranked

1. The Banshees of Inisherin - Martin McDonagh
2. Tár - Todd Field
3. Triangle of Sadness - Ruben Östlund
4. Everything Everywhere All at Once - Daniels
5. The Fabelmans - Steven Spielberg

McDonagh's story and screenplay was the best of all listed, so I sure hope he wins this. Everything Everywhere and Tár stand in his way. I nearly can't lose in this category - a list of pure quality.


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Seen 3/5 - Need to see Living and Women Talking

Ranked

1. All Quiet on the Western Front - A whole heap of people
2. Glass Onion - Rian Johnson
3. Top Gun : Maverick - About 100 people

Could Glass Onion actually win an Oscar? I have no idea with this category, but I'm missing two of the films so perhaps it will be clearer later. I'm hearing strong stuff about Women Talking.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Seen 4/5 - Need to see Empire of Light

Ranked

1. Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths - Darius Khondji
2. All Quiet on the Western Front - James Friend
3. Tár - Florian Hoffmeister
4. Elvis - Mandy Walker

So hard to pick - but I thought Bardo had the best by a squeak. I'm missing a strong contender in the Deakins one, plus Western Front and Elvis are the favourites.

BEST EDITING - Seen 5/5

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once
2. Tár
3. Top Gun : Maverick
4. Elvis
5. The Banshees of Inisherin

The sheer insanity of Everything Everywhere All at Once and the way it lives up to it's title makes this quite a contender for Editing. Top Gun : Maverick outdid it's predecessor, and Tár had much invention. Elvis is in the mix.

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN - Seen 5/5

1. All Quiet on the Western Front
2. Babylon
3. Elvis
4. Avatar : The Way of Water
5. The Fabelmans

The buzz is Elvis, and the more I think about it I possibly agree, but those are my preferences as far as Production Design go.

COSTUME DESIGN - Seen 4/5 - Need to see Mrs Harris Goes to Paris

1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
2. Elvis
3. Babylon
4. Everything Everywhere All at Once

If you've got a film about someone going to Paris and mixing with clothing designers, chances are your film will win. I thought the costumes in Wakanda were terrific though. Elvis is another strong chance.

BEST SOUND - Seen 5/5

1. All Quiet on the Western Front
2. Top Gun : Maverick
3. Avatar: The Way of Water
4. Elvis
5. The Batman

Boom! I remember the sound from Western Front - it left an impression, but so did Top Gun's sound. We'll see.

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING - Seen 5/5

1. The Whale
2. The Batman
3. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
4. Elvis
5. All Quiet on the Western Front

This one seems wide open - but by my judgement I thought it should be The Whale. The Batman is a strong chance.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - Seen 5/5

1. The Banshees of Inisherin
2. All Quiet on the Western Front
3. Babylon
4. The Fabelmans
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Banshees score was beautiful I thought, and Western Front's exciting. They're my favourites, and I think the favourites.

BEST SONG - Seen 4/5 - Need to see Tell It Like a Woman (but I listened to the song already)

Ranked

1. Lift Me Up - Rihanna (Wakanda Forever)
2. Naatu Naatu - M.M. Keeravani, Chandrabose (RRR)
3. This is a Life - Son Lux, Mitski, David Byrne (Everything Everywhere)
4. Hold My Hand - Lady Gaga, BloodPop (Top Gun : Maverick)
5. Applause - Diane Warren (Tell it Like a Woman)

I'm not really in love with any of these songs, but thought "Lift Me Up" and "Naatu Naatu" the best, and the latter will probably win.

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS - Seen 5/5

Ranked

1. Avatar: The Way of Water
2. Black Panther (Wakanda Forever)
3. Top Gun : Maverick
4. All Quiet on the Western Front
5. The Batman

How could you look beyond Avatar : The Way of Water as far as effects go?

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE - Seen 2/5 - Need to see A House Made of Splinters, All That Breathes & All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Ranked

1. Fire of Love
2. Navalny

I can't judge yet, having only seen two. Both of those are terrific, but I think Fire of Love has the edge over Navalny. There's some talk about All That Breathes winning - I hope to get to see it.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE - Seen 4/5 - Need to see Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Ranked

1. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
2. Puss in Boots : The Last Wish
3. The Sea Beast
4. Turning Red

It's between Pinocchio and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On from what I hear, and what I've seen so far. Marcel looks great and I look forward to seeing it. I wouldn't mind seeing any film win this category.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT - Seen 0/5

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT - Seen 1/5 - The Pupils

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT - Seen 4/5 - Need to see How Do You Measure a Year?

Ranked

1. The Elephant Whisperers
2. Haulout
3. Stranger at the Gate
4. The Martha Mitchell Effect

The Elephant Whisperers tugged at my heartstrings.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM - Seen 3/5 - Need to see Eo and Close

Ranked

1. The Quiet Girl
2. All Quiet on the Western Front
3. Argentina, 1985

If The Quiet Girl doesn't win it'll be tragic - but it has real competition. All Quiet on the Western Front would be worthy.

__________________

Two categories for me to update, having seen Women Talking

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BEST PICTURE - Seen 10/10

Wouldn't mind seeing win in bold. Probable winners/favourites in red.

Ranked in order of preference

1. The Banshees of Inisherin
2. Tár
3. Triangle of Sadness
4. All Quiet on the Western Front
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once
6. The Fabelmans
7. Women Talking
8. Top Gun: Maverick
9. Avatar: The Way of Water
10. Elvis

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BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY - Seen 4/5 - Need to see Living

Ranked

1. Women Talking - Sarah Polley
2. All Quiet on the Western Front - A whole heap of people
3. Glass Onion - Rian Johnson
4. Top Gun : Maverick - About 100 people

Best Actor:
Paul Mescal, Aftersun


All other categories have absurdly awful nominations as they do every year, except for the foreign language category, in which 'Close' should win but won't.

Big, brash and mainstream - they reflect Western civilization as a whole. Computer generated spectacle for the average man and woman. I wouldn't say "absurdly awful" because it leaves so few descriptors for the likes of Jurassic World: Dominion (third highest grossing film last year) and Uncharted - two films I didn't see (and I'm very unlikely to ever see) but nevertheless, films I'd describe as probably awful. There are a few nominees that I think are genuinely quite good - but I'm an extraordinarily forgiving and accepting film watcher who gladly ignores mistakes and missteps. I'm mostly happy with what I do watch, and if I sink down into lower realms of nonsense it's usually deliberate.

Can you expand on that. Paying close attention on which places make up 'Western civilization' ?

Nope. It has to be a vague, sweeping generalization to work.

Adding Mescal in Aftersun, having seen it today. Paul Mescal is very much deserving to be amongst the five nominees - unfortunately, his chances of winning are shaded by Brendan Fraser. Although, if Fraser and Farrell split the voting he might be a surprise winner.

BEST ACTOR - Seen 3/5 - Need to see Living and Aftersun

Ranked

1. Colin Farrell (Banshees)
2. Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
2. Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
3. Austin Butler (Elvis)

Tightest segment - Animated.


The best picture category is tight, coz there are a lot of good movies. But nothing to the point of being a classic in the future.


Surprise package - All That Breathes, a delightful film just about birds and Bill Nighy, didn't expect a nomination for a 73 year old man for a remake of a classic.

__________________
My Favorite Films

I've seen all the films nominated for Best Cinematography now. There is some fantastic work in Empire of Light, which I just saw, but it's going to have too much competition on Oscar night. In good news though, I've heard some buzz for Bardo and it seems to be in with a chance now.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - Seen 5/5

Ranked

1. Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths - Darius Khondji
2. All Quiet on the Western Front - James Friend
3. Tár - Florian Hoffmeister
4. Empire of Light - Roger Deakins
5. Elvis - Mandy Walker