2022…

Another year has gone by and once again I have run the Oscar Gauntlet. I have seen, rated and spoken about every single nominated film. That doesn’t mean that I know who will win, in fact I think my opinions often outright clash with who I believe will take home a little gold statue, but I at least feel qualified to tell you who I think SHOULD win every award.

But first…

5 FILMS THAT WERE ROBBED AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED INSTEAD:

TITANE (BEST FOREIGN FILM AND/OR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR)

THE GREEN KNIGHT (BEST PICTURE, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, PRODUCTION DESIGN)

THE SPARKS BROTHERS (BEST DOCUMENTARY)

C’MON C’MON (BEST PICTURE, BEST SCREENPLAY, BEST ACTOR)

ZOLA (BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS)

Now for the Oscar nominated films and picks:

BEST PICTURE

NOMINEES 

(SORTED AS PREFERENTIAL BALLOT)

(Heart Chooses…) 1. Drive My Car 

Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer

(It won’t win, but I would choose Drive My Car as the Best Picture. It has lingered in my memory second most of these nominees (I mean, Dune has chiseled it’s own chunk out). Ethereal, powerful, lyrical, and effortlessly gorgeous. Marquee filmmaking.)

2. DUNE

Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers

3. THE POWER OF THE DOG

Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers

(Head Predicts…) 4. CODA

Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers

5. LICORICE PIZZA

Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers

6. NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers

7. WEST SIDE STORY

Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

8. BELFAST

Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, Producers

9. DON'T LOOK UP

Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers

10. KING RICHARD

Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers

DIRECTING

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) THE POWER OF THE DOG

Jane Campion

(Jane Campion deserves the win no matter what any face cowboy might say)

BELFAST

Kenneth Branagh

DRIVE MY CAR

Ryusuke Hamaguchi

LICORICE PIZZA

Paul Thomas Anderson

WEST SIDE STORY

Steven Spielberg

CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) DUNE

Greig Fraser

(Fraser and Denis do an immaculate job of visually capturing magic. Every shot would be welcome on my wall)

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Dan Laustsen

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Ari Wegner

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

Bruno Delbonnel

WEST SIDE STORY

Janusz Kaminski

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) CODA

Screenplay by Siân Heder

(Honestly, every single nominee would be a welcome winner here, but from what I have heard & seen a bit of, CODA does a great job taking the original french film and improving on it)

DRIVE MY CAR

Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe

DUNE

Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth

THE LOST DAUGHTER

Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Written by Jane Campion

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

(Heart Chooses…) THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

(The most unique and vibrantly rebellious of the films here. The standout for me.)

(Head predicts…) LICORICE PIZZA

Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

BELFAST

Written by Kenneth Branagh

DON'T LOOK UP

Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota

KING RICHARD

Written by Zach Baylin

FILM EDITING

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) DUNE

Joe Walker

(The immersion within prophetic visions, playing off these multiple fantastic worlds while keying on action & intrigue - all with the rhythm and magic… the other nominees aren’t bad, but I have to put my money on Dune here)

DON'T LOOK UP

Hank Corwin

KING RICHARD

Pamela Martin

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Peter Sciberras

TICK, TICK...BOOM!

Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

(Heart Chooses…) BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH

The Power of the Dog

(Pure acting that didn’t feel like a melodramatic lob to the Oscar voters, none of these other nominees performed with the same turmoil and simmering passion as BC here.)

JAVIER BARDEM

Being the Ricardos

ANDREW GARFIELD

tick, tick...BOOM!

(Head predicts…) WILL SMITH

King Richard

DENZEL WASHINGTON

The Tragedy of Macbeth

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) OLIVIA COLMAN

The Lost Daughter

(Nobody knows who will win this one, so I went with who I thought actually did the best job and who I liked the most. She probably won’t win, but your guess is as good as anyone’s)

JESSICA CHASTAIN

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

PENÉLOPE CRUZ

Parallel Mothers

NICOLE KIDMAN

Being the Ricardos

KRISTEN STEWART

Spencer

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) TROY KOTSUR

CODA

(Kodi was in the lead for a while, but Troy seems to be the sure fire pick here, and I am pleased with that as well. Most everyone in CODA does a tremendous job and I am 1000% in favor of getting behind these brilliant actors and a charming film.)

CIARÁN HINDS

Belfast

JESSE PLEMONS

The Power of the Dog

J.K. SIMMONS

Being the Ricardos

KODI SMIT-MCPHEE

The Power of the Dog

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

(Heart Chooses…) JESSIE BUCKLEY

The Lost Daughter

(I personally tend to identify with complexity and swirling emotional depth in my prefered performances, which is something that Buckley brings in spades here. I appreciate Ariana’s performance, which was quite good, but I adored what Jessie brought)

(Head Predicts…) ARIANA DEBOSE

West Side Story

JUDI DENCH

Belfast

KIRSTEN DUNST

The Power of the Dog

AUNJANUE ELLIS

King Richard

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) SUMMER OF SOUL (...OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein

(It’s style, construction, and relevant social impact/appeal - Summer of Soul is the hands down winner)

ASCENSION

Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell

ATTICA

Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry

FLEE

Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

WRITING WITH FIRE

Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) DRIVE MY CAR

Japan

(Despite probably being the best feature film nominated, I don’t see DMC getting the Parasite treatment with the Best Picture win. This will be its consolation, as it will dominate some other very fine films, Flee and Worst Person in the World among them.)

FLEE

Denmark

THE HAND OF GOD

Italy

LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM

Bhutan

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Norway

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

(Heart chooses…) FLEE

Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

(Heart is the far and away best film in this category, but Disney will dominate nonetheless)

(Head predicts…) ENCANTO

Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer

LUCA

Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren

THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES

Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

COSTUME DESIGN

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) CRUELLA

Jenny Beavan

(I mean my true heart of hearts pick would be Dune, in which I thought the costume design choices and production was so meticulous and cool, but I understand and am fine with Cruella getting the W here. The film is essentially all about the costumes and they are pretty spectacular.)

CYRANO

Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran

DUNE

Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Luis Sequeira

WEST SIDE STORY

Paul Tazewell

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh

(Again, I love Dune and thought it would be pretty deserving, but Eyes of Tammy Faye is a film where the Makeup is the backbone and has boosted a performance to a possible Best Actress win.)

COMING 2 AMERICA

Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer

CRUELLA

Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon

DUNE

Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr

HOUSE OF GUCCI

Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) DUNE

Hans Zimmer

(Despite that Vanity Fair article about the unappreciated true makers of these film scores, Zimmer’s Dune score is transformative and stays with you long after you have left the sands of Arrakis.)

DON'T LOOK UP

Nicholas Britell

ENCANTO

Germaine Franco

PARALLEL MOTHERS

Alberto Iglesias

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Jonny Greenwood

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) DOS ORUGUITAS

from Encanto; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

(I didn’t truly care for any of the songs this year, so I am fine with Lin finally getting the EGOT based on the popularity and consistency of his overall total work in 2021 (Encanto, Tick Tick, In the Heights)

BE ALIVE

from King Richard; Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

DOWN TO JOY

from Belfast; Music and Lyric by Van Morrison

NO TIME TO DIE

from No Time to Die; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell

SOMEHOW YOU DO

from Four Good Days; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

PRODUCTION DESIGN

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) DUNE

Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos

(Uhhh, the world of Dune RULES! Give them all the awards!)

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

WEST SIDE STORY

Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAng

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

NOMINEES

(Heart chooses…) BOXBALLET

Anton Dyakov

(I think Boxballet was the best in this “not for kids” animated race this year, but with it being Russian and not being chock full of celebrities & kid friendly, like Robin Robin, it won’t win)

(Head predicts…) ROBIN ROBIN

Dan Ojari and Mikey Please

AFFAIRS OF THE ART

Joanna Quinn and Les Mills

BESTIA

Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz

THE WINDSHIELD WIPER

Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

NOMINEES

(Heart chooses…) ALA KACHUU - TAKE AND RUN

Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger

(This was the most complete and moving of all the Live Action shorts, but the star power and racial politics should put the statue in Riz’s hands)

(Head predicts…) THE LONG GOODBYE

Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed

THE DRESS

Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki

ON MY MIND

Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson

PLEASE HOLD

K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) AUDIBLE

Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean

(The richest and probably finest put together of the Doc shorts, though I could see Queen of Basketball’s feel good story gaining some traction)

LEAD ME HOME

Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk

THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL

Ben Proudfoot

THREE SONGS FOR BENAZIR

Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei

WHEN WE WERE BULLIES

Jay Rosenblatt

SOUND

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) DUNE

Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett

(The possibility of love for West Side Story exist, but I think and want the below the line awards juggernaut of Dune to keep rolling on)

BELFAST

Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri

NO TIME TO DIE

Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb

WEST SIDE STORY

Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

VISUAL EFFECTS

NOMINEES

(Head and Heart agree: Choice/Prediction) DUNE

Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer

(Dune is best)

FREE GUY

Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick

NO TIME TO DIE

Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick