Mike's Fearless Oscar Picks

 

As always these are who I think are going to win on Sunday night, not who I think should win.  If I have a Spoiler listed, it's a someone/film that I think has a chance to win.

Winners in blue!  I got 21 out of 24.

Best Picture:  One Battle After Another               Spoiler: Sinners

Best Director:     Paul Thomas Anderson (One  Battle After Another)                             

Best Actress:   Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)

Best Actor:  Michael B. Jordan (Sinners                                      Spoiler:   Timothee Chalamet (Marty Supreme)

Best Supporting Actress:  Amy Madigan (Weapons)                 Spoiler:  Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners)

Best Supporting Actor:  Sean Penn (One Battle After Another)

                                                                                             Spoiler: Stellan Skarsgard (Sentimental Value)

Best Adapted Screenplay:  One Battle After Another

Best Original Screenplay:   Sinners   

Best Casting:  One Battle After Another                                    Spoiler:    Sinners                    

Best Cinematography:  One Battle After Another                Spoiler: Sinners

Best Costume Design:  Frankenstein

Best Film Editing:   One Battle After Another                                           Spoiler:  Sinners

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:   Frankenstein

Best Production Design:   Frankenstein                                     Spoiler:   Sinners

Best Score:  Sinners

Best Song:   Golden (KPop Demon Hunters)                                    

Best Sound:   F1                                            Spoiler: Sinners

Best Visual Effects:  Avatar: Fire and Ash                             Spoiler: F1

Best Animated Feature:   KPop Demon Hunters

Best Documentary Feature:  The Perfect Neighbor                Spoiler:  Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Best International Film:   Sentimental Value                      Spoiler:   The Secret Agent

Best Animated Short:    Butterfly                      Spoiler: The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Best Documentary Short:  All the Empty Rooms                Spoiler: Armed Only with a Camera

Best Live Action Short:  Two People Exchanging Saliva                  Spoiler:  A Friend of Dorothy 

Mike’s Fearless Oscar Picks for 2025

As always these are who I think are going to win on Sunday night, not who I think should win.  If I have a Spoiler listed, it's a film that I think has a chance to win

Winners in Green.

Best Picture:  Anora                                              Spolier:  Conclave

Best Director:  Sean Baker - Anora                                  Spoiler:  Brady Corbet - The Brutalist

Best Actress:   Demi Moore - The Substance

Best Actor:  Adrien Brody - The Brutalist                Spoiler:  Timothee Chalamet - A Complete Unknown

Best Supporting Actress:  Zoe Saldana - Emilia Perez

Best Supporting Actor:  Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain

Best Adapted Screenplay:  Conclave

Best Original Screenplay:  Anora                                   Spoiler:  A Real Pain

Best Cinematography:   The Brutalist

Best Costume Design:  Wicked

Best Film Editing:  Conclave                                               Spoiler: Anora

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:  The Substance            Spoiler:  Wicked

Best Production Design:  Wicked                                   Spoiler:  The Brutalist

Best Score:  The Brutalist

Best Song:  El Mal - Emilia Perez                                       Spoiler:  The Journey - The Six Triple Eight

Best Sound:  Dune: Part Two                                             Spoiler:  Wicked

Best Visual Effects:  Dune: Part Two

Best Animated Feature:  The Wild Robot                     Spoiler: Flow

Best Documentary Feature:  Porcelain War                 Spoiler: No Other Land  

Best International Film:  Emilia Perez                           Spoiler:   I’m Still Here 

Best Animated Short:  Yuck!                                            Spoiler:  Wander to Wonder

Best Documentary Short:  I Am Ready, Warden     Spoiler:  The Only Girl in the Orchestra

Best Live Action Short:  The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent         Spoiler:  A Lien

Mike's Fearless Oscar Picks 2024

 

As always these are who I think are going to win on Sunday night, not who I think should win.  If I have a Spoiler listed, it's a film that I think has a chance to win. 

Winners in Green.

Best Picture:  Oppenheimer

Best Director: Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon     Spoiler: Emma Stone - Poor Things

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy - Oppenheimer     Spoiler: Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers

Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers

Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. - Oppenheimer

Adapted Screenplay: Cord Jefferson - American Fiction     Spoiler: Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer

Original Screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari - Anatomy of a Fall      Spoiler: David Hemingson - The Holdovers

Animated Feature Film: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse      Spoiler: The Boy and the Heron

Documentary Feature Film: 20 Days in Mariupol

International Feature Film: The Zone of Interest

Original Score: Ludwig Göransson - Oppenheimer       Spoiler: Robbie Robertson - Killers of the Flower Moon

Original Song: Billie Eilish and Finneas: What Was I Made For? - Barbie      Spoiler: Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt: I’m Just Ken - Barbie

Sound: Oppenheimer       Spoiler: The Zone of Interest

Makeup and Hairstyling: Maestro       Spoiler: Poor Things

Costume Design: Jacqueline Durra - Barbie      Spoiler: Holly Waddington - Poor Things

Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema - Oppenheimer       Spoiler: Killers of the Flower Moon

Production Design: Poor Things       Spoiler: Barbie

Film Editing: Jennifer Lane - Oppenheimer      Spoiler: Anatomy of a Fall

Visual Effects:  Godzilla Minus One   Spoiler:  The Creator

Short Subject Documentary: The Last Repair Shop        Spoiler: The ABCs of Book Banning

Short Subject Live Action:  The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar       Spoiler: Red, White and Blue

Short Subject Animation: WAR IS OVER!         Spoiler: Letter to a Pig

Mike's Fearless 2023 Oscar Picks

These are who I think will win the Academy Awards, not who I think should win.

Best Picture:  Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Director:  Daniel Kwan & Daniel Schreinert - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Actor: Austin Butler - Elvis   Could Win:    Brendan Fraser - The Whale

Best Actress: Michelle Yeoh - Everything Everywhere All at Once  Could Win: Cate Blanchett - Tar

Best Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Supporting Actress:  Jamie Lee Curtis - Everything Everywhere All at Once   Could Win: Angela Bassett - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Original Screenplay:  Daniel Kwan & Daniel Schreinert - Everything Everywhere All at Once  Could Win:  Martin McDonagh -  The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Adapted Screenplay: Sarah Polley - Women Talking

  Could Win: Edward Berger, Ian Stokell & Lesley Paterson - All Quiet on the Western Front

Best International Pictures:  All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)

Best Animated Feature:  Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

Best Documentary: Navalny  Could Win:  Fire of Love

Best Original Score:  Volker Bertelmann - All Quiet on the Western Front   Could Win:  Justin Hurwitz - Babylon

Best Original Song: M.M. Keeravaani & Chandrabose, “Naatu Naatu” - RRR   Could Win:   Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna & Tems, “Lift Me Up” - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 

Best Cinematography:  James Friend - All Quiet on the Western Front   Could Win:    Mandy Walker - Elvis

Best Editing:  Paul Rogers - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Costume Design: Catherine Martin -  Elvis  Could Win:  Shirley Kurata - Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Production Design:  Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy & Bev Dunn - Elvis   Could Win: Florencia Martin & Anthony Carlino - Babylon 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:  Elvis   Could Win:  The Whale

Best Visual Effects:  Avatar: The Way of Water  Could Win:  Top Gun: Maverick

Best Sound: Top Gun: Maverick  Could Win:  Elvis 

Best LIve-Action Short:  Le Pupille  Could Win:  The Red Suitcase

Best Animated Short:  The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse    Could Win:  My Year of Dicks

Best Documentary Short:  Stranger at the Gate   Could Win: The Elephant Whisperers

Mike's Fearless Oscar Picks

As with past years I am picking who I think will win, not who I want to win.  I will also give you a possible winner if I feel that the category isn’t a lock.  Actual winners highlighted in green.

Best Picture:  Nomadland

Best Achievement in Directing:  Chloé Zhao - Nomadland

Best Actor:  Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom   Could win:  Anthony Hopkins - The Father

Best Actress:  Viola Davis - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom    Could win:  Frances McDormand - Nomadland

Best Supporting Actor:  Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah    Could win:  Sacha Baron Cohen - The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Supporting Actress:  Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari   Could win:  Olivia Coleman - The Father

Best Original Screenplay:  Promising Young Woman - Emerald Fennell    Could win:  Aaron Sorkin - The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Father - Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller

  Could win:  Nomadland - Chloé Zhao 

Best Animated Feature:  Soul    Could win:  Wolfwalkers

Best Production Design:   Mank - Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale

Best Cinematography:  Nomadland - Joshua James Richards   Could win:  Mank - Erik Messerschmidt

Best Costume Design:  Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom - Ann Roth   Could Win: Mank - Trish Summerville

Best Film Editing:   Sound of Metal - Mikkell E. G. Nielsen

Best Makeup and Hair:  Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Mia Neal, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Jamika Wilson

Best Sound:  Sound of Metal – Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés, Phillip Bladh    Could win:  Soul – Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker

Best Visual Effects:  Tenet – Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, Santiago Colomo Martinez

Best Original Score:  Soul – Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

Best Original Song:  Speak Now from One Night in Miami – Leslie Odom Jr., Sam Ashworth  Could win:  Húsavík from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga - Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson  (Fight For You - Judas and the Black Messiah)

Best Documentary Feature:  My Octopus Teacher  Could win:  Collective

Best International Feature:  Another Round    Could win:  Quo Vadis, Aida 

Best Live Action Short:  Two Distant Strangers   Could win:  Feeling Through

Best Animated Short:  If Anything Happens I Love You   Could win:  Opera

Best Documentary Short:  A Concerto Is a Conversation   Could win: Colette

Alita: Battle Angel

My View:  Alita: Battle Angel  (2019)  PG-13  In the distant future, a man (Christoph Waltz) finds a deactivated female cyborg (Rosa Salazar) and repairs her. He treats her as his daughter but she doesn’t remember her life before she was deactivated. She goes on a quest to find out just who she was. The CGI in this film is impressive and well done. The action sequences are amazing and the choreography of the action sequences are amazing. The problem with this film is that they put way too much into the plot. There are way too many sub-plots in this film, that make the film feel slow and cumbersome. I did like Rosa Salazar’s performance but she can’t overcome the script (co-written by James Cameron).   My Rating: Bargain Matinee    Alita: Battle Angel Website

My View:  Isn’t It Romantic  (2019)  PG-13  A young woman (Rebel Wilson), down on love and hating romantic comedies, hits her head and passes out. When she wakes up, she is in an alternate universe and is in her own romantic comedy. Go see this hilarious movie, especially if you are a fan, like I am, of rom-coms. I laughed throughout this film and there are a couple of amazing reoccurring jokes that are really funny. This is not the normal Rebel Wilson part, she is much softer in her performance. Adam Devine is perfect as her best friend and Liam Hemsworth is great as the love interest. There are even a couple of song and dance numbers in the film. The director, Todd Strauss Schulson, watched 65 rom-com films before making this one and so you see bits and pieces from a lot of your favorite films. I can’t recommend this delightful film more.  My Rating:  Full Price    Isn't It Romantic Facebook Page

My View:  Arctic  (2018)  PG-13  A man (Mads Mikkelsen) is stranded in the Arctic after a plane crash. After months of surviving the tough environment, he must decide to stay or embark on a possibly deadly trek through unknown territory. I was cold watching this film so you might want to bring a jacket to the theatre when you see this film. A great performance by Mads Mikkelsen makes this film so watchable. The film is almost a silent film as Mads says very little throughout the film. The film is beautifully shot and the editing is top notch. The story moves along at a nice pace and this tale of adventure and survival is exciting and moving.   My Rating: Full Price    Arctic Website

Indiefest:  Never Look Away  (2018)  German artist Kurt Barnert (Tom Schilling) has escaped East Germany and he now lives in West Germany. He continues to be tormented by his childhood under the Nazi’s and the East German government. The film follows the adventures of Tom from his childhood during WW II to his art career in his 30’s.  First I will warn you that this movie is a little over three hours long but it worth seeing. Tom Schilling is dazzling as the artist who feels repressed by his East German communist government. I loved Paula Beer as the headstrong fashion major who falls for Kurt and supports his efforts to become an artist. The film’s cinematography is gorgeous and worthy of its Academy Award nomination for Cinematography. This is a deeply moving film that shows us just how important art is in the world.    My Rating: I Would Pay to See it Again    Never Look Away Website

My View:  Happy Death Day 2U  (2019)  PG-13  Tree (Jessica Rothe) has experienced this before, she is reliving the same day over and over as she and her friends are being killed. I loved the first film, which I thought was funny and fun. I liked the first Happy Death Day, which I thought was fun because of all the ways Tree died and it had a sense of humor to it. Unfortunately, this storyline of this film isn’t quite as much fun, though there are a couple of scenes where Tree kills herself that are funny. It also isn’t a scary as the first one and it tries too hard to hit the heartstrings. Overall, a disappointment. Note that there is a bonus scene after the first end credits that set up the third movie in the series.   My Rating: Cable    Happy Death Day 2U Website

Forgotten Film:  The Pink Panther  (1963)  Sir Charles Litton (David Niven) is a jewel thief known as ‘The Phantom.’  He goes to a deluxe Alpine resort under the guise of a vacation, but he is really there to steal a jewel known as ‘The Pink Panther’ which is owned by a princess (Claudia Cardinale). On the Phantom’s trail for years, a bungling policeman named Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers). It may surprise you that the film isn’t about Clouseau, its main character is The Phantom but Peter Sellers is so great and funny in the Inspector role that he steals the film. Probably the best film in the Pink Panther series, mostly because all the other films in the series went overboard on the silliness.  My Rating: Full Price    The Pink Panther Info

Weird Credits: From the credits of Alita: Battle Angel:  Picture Car Fabricator

Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You:  Captain Marvel  (2019)  PG-13  Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes and she will need that power when Earth is caught in the middle of a battle between to alien races.  You had me at Brie Larson!     Captain Marvel Website

Until Next Time!