The 94th Academy Awards are right around the corner. The show will take place on March 27th at the Dolby Theatre, a return to the venue after last year’s shake-up of a show due to COVID-19. This year’s ceremony will celebrate films released between March 1st and December 31st, 2021, since the previous awards season was changed because of the pandemic as well. Some of the nominees this season, like West Side Story and Dune, were in the conversation for Oscars that season before being delayed like so many other films.
The return to a more normal Oscars ceremony is welcome, though the decision to not include all of the categories live has irked some people, myself included. These artists in all the categories deserve the spotlight more than commercials and song performances of tunes that weren’t even nominated. But that’s show producers for you, always making weird decisions for cutting time.
The nominations this year are quite varied and it’s nice that so many of the categories are unpredictable. The awards season leading up to the Oscars has cast a wide net of winners. The only sure-thing locks, I believe, are Will Smith for Best Actor, Ariana DeBose for Best Supporting Actress, Drive My Car for Best International Feature Film, and Jane Campion for Best Director.
Speaking of Campion, her film The Power of the Dog (with 12 nominations, the most of the films this year) took the Best Picture frontrunner status from Belfast early on in the season. It continued its run with big wins at the Golden Globes, with BAFTA, and with DGA. Recently however, the heartwarmer Coda has positioned itself as a possible underdog winner as it won big at SAG and PGA. It’s an exciting mix-up, but I still think The Power of the Dog will come out on top.
Below are my predictions for what else I think will win Oscars. I have also included what I think should win, being the nominees I would vote for if I got to vote in each category. Let’s gear up for Hollywood’s favorite night.
Best supporting actress
Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) – WILL WIN
Judi Dench (Belfast)
Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard) – SHOULD WIN
Best costume design
Cruella – WILL WIN
Cyrano
Dune
Nightmare Alley
West Side Story – SHOULD WIN
Best sound
Belfast
Dune – WILL WIN
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story – SHOULD WIN
Best original score
Don’t Look Up
Dune – WILL WIN
Encanto
Parallel Mothers
The Power of the Dog – SHOULD WIN
Best adapted screenplay
Coda (Sian Heder) – WILL WIN
Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe)
Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve)
The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion) – SHOULD WIN
Best original screenplay
Belfast (Kenneth Branagh)
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay, David Sirota)
Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson) – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
King Richard (Zach Baylin)
The Worst Person in the World (Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier)
Best animated short
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
The Windshield Wiper
Best live action short
Ala Kachuu – Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
On My Mind
Please Hold
Best supporting actor
Ciarán Hinds (Belfast) – SHOULD WIN
Troy Kotsur (Coda) – WILL WIN
Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
JK Simmons (Being the Ricardos)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)
Best film editing
Don’t Look Up
Dune
King Richard
The Power of the Dog – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
tick, tick… BOOM!
Best makeup & hairstyling
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye – WILL WIN
House of Gucci – SHOULD WIN
Best animated feature
Encanto – WILL WIN
Flee – SHOULD WIN
Luca
The Mitchells Vs the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
Best documentary feature
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
Writing With Fire
Best documentary short
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
Best original song
Be Alive (King Richard)
Dos Oruguitas (Encanto) – WILL WIN
Down to Joy (Belfast)
No Time to Die (No Time to Die) – SHOULD WIN
Somehow You Do (Four Good Days)
Best cinematography
Dune – WILL WIN
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth – SHOULD WIN
West Side Story
Best international feature
Drive My Car – WILL WIN
Flee
The Hand of God – SHOULD WIN
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
The Worst Person in the World
Best production design
Dune
Nightmare Alley – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Best visual effects
Dune – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
Free Guy
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
No Time to Die
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Best actress
Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)
Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)
Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)
Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
Best actor
Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog) – SHOULD WIN
Andrew Garfield (tick, tick … BOOM!)
Will Smith (King Richard) – WILL WIN
Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)
Best director
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
Drive My Car (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)
Best picture
Belfast
Coda
Don’t Look Up
Drive My Car
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog – WILL WIN, SHOULD WIN
West Side Story
