Tag Archives: Best Picture

2025 Academy Awards, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

2025 Academy Award Predictions — My Oscar Ballot

In previous years, I have taken the time to break down every Oscar race, assess each nominee’s odds, and ultimately give a prediction in each category. This year, time is short, so here we are. Last second predictions.

Here is one film critic’s ballot of Oscar predictions, full of hedged bets, personal opinions, the occasional bold swing, and pauses for halfhearted explanation.

Best Picture

Will Win: Anora
Could Win: The Brutalist
Biased Opinion: The Substance or Nickel Boys should win

I mulled over the possibilities of Continue reading 2025 Academy Award Predictions — My Oscar Ballot →

2025 Academy Awards, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

Academy Awards 2025: Oscar Race Changes Direction after Critics, DGA, and PGA Announce Winners

Heading into this weekend, the 2025 Oscar season was already a complicated conversation. Embroiled in controversy, the one-time favorite from Netflix, Emilia Pérez, found its awards chances slipping through its fingers. The film was already a controversial film when it left Oscar nomination morning with the most nominations (13). The ensuing discovery of not-so-old social media posts from actress Karla Sofia Gascon has added significant baggage to the film’s campaign.

In an attempt to cut Gascon out of the film’s broader Oscar campaign, director Jacques Audiard has distanced himself from the actress and denounced her posts (Audiard himself has received his own share of criticism for some interview faux pas). And Gascon has stopped campaigning alongside the film’s other nominees.

Still, a meaningful rebound for Emilia Pérez will be difficult, and frankly there is not a lot of time left for Netflix and the film’s stable of nominees to convince Academy voters to stick with the film that they gave a baker’s dozen nominations.

The frontrunner status for Emilia Pérez was Continue reading Academy Awards 2025: Oscar Race Changes Direction after Critics, DGA, and PGA Announce Winners →

2024 Academy Awards, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

2024 Academy Awards Nominations Reaction: Is Oppenheimer Set for an Oscars Sweep?

The 2024 Oscar nominations have been announced. Many things played out as expected, with one or two notable omissions (apologies to Margot Robbie) and inclusions (congrats to America Ferrera). The Oscar races, by and large, continue to move toward their likeliest conclusions. But some key nominations (or lack thereof) tip the trajectories of some races in unexpected directions.

Oppenheimer went into nomination morning the current front-runner and the film anticipated to receive the most nominations. It succeeded on that front, scoring 13 noms. With firm aspirations in both above and below the line categories, Christopher Nolan’s Manhattan Project epic is poised to Continue reading 2024 Academy Awards Nominations Reaction: Is Oppenheimer Set for an Oscars Sweep? →

2023 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2023 Academy Awards Predictions — Final Ballot

The Golden Globes are passed. The guild awards have happened. The Indie Spirits are now spirited away. The Oscars are one week away. It’s time to talk Oscar ballots.

We’ve already covered each Oscar category with more words than you’ll see here. But some variables have changed since then. And as much as I am one to tinker with these sorts of things until the very last minute, it’s time to commit in digital ink the site’s final predictions. Hopefully nothing unforeseen happens in the next six days.

Best Picture

  • All Quiet on the Western Front – Malte Grunert
  • Avatar: The Way of Water – James Cameron, Jon Landau
  • The Banshees of Inisherin – Graham Broadbent, Peter Czerin, Martin McDonagh
  • Elvis – Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick, Schuyler Weiss
  • Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang
  • The Fabelman – Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner
  • Tár – Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan, Scott Lambert
  • Top Gun: Maverick – Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison, Jerry Bruckheimer
  • Triangle of Sadness – Erik Hemmendorff, Philippe Bober
  • Women Talking – Jeremy Kleiner, Dede Gardner, Frances McDormand

Will Win: Continue reading 2023 Academy Awards Predictions — Final Ballot →

2023 Academy Awards

2023 Academy Awards Predictions — All Categories

Below, you will find links to predictions for every category at this year’s Oscars. These predictions were published on Feb 25, 2023, prior to some major precursor awards to the Oscars. Our official and final Academy Awards predictions will be released prior to the ceremony in March.

Final Oscar Ballot

Best Picture

Best Director

Best Actress

Best Actor

Best Supporting Actress

Best Supporting Actor

Post SAG Awards Acting Category Update

Best Original Screenplay

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Cinematography

Best Editing

Best Production Design

Best Costume Design

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Best Sound

Best Original Score

Best Original Song

Best Visual Effects

Best Animated Feature

Best Documentary Feature

Best International Feature

Best Live Action Short Film

Best Animated Short Film

Best Documentary Short Subject

As always, thanks for reading!

—Alex Brannan (Twitter, Letterboxd, Facebook)

2022 Academy Awards, Long Reviews (>400 Words)

2022 Academy Awards — Best Picture Nominee Power Rankings

Earlier this week, I put out some admittedly half-hearted Oscar predictions. I have not had my ear to the ground this awards season, but I did want to address the Best Picture race once more. (Mainly, I wanted to give some credit where it was due to CODA for being this year’s awards season darling. But more on that later). I think there are more shades to uncover than my original prediction took into account.

As such, I want to briefly rank the Best Picture nominees, from least likely to most likely to win.

 

10. Don’t Look Up

Netflix and Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up doesn’t have strong legs to stand on. Released to decidedly mixed reception from fans and critics alike, and still looking for Continue reading 2022 Academy Awards — Best Picture Nominee Power Rankings →

2020 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

2020 Academy Awards — Final Predictions Ballot

With the Oscars just hours away, it is time for me to re-evaluate my Oscar predictions and create my final ballot. Having written articles on every category during the past month, I will not elaborate on my choices here. Although some of my picks have changed since writing my initial articles, mainly due to how other awards ceremonies have played out, most of my changes are consistent with the lines of thinking I engage with in those previous articles.

Let’s get into it.

 

Best Picture

Continue reading 2020 Academy Awards — Final Predictions Ballot →

2020 Academy Awards, Lists

2019 CineFiles Awards — Best Films of the Year

I do a lot of awards season coverage on this site (admittedly, much less of it this season). For the amount of attention the Academy Awards is given on CineFiles, I don’t always agree with the choices the Academy makes. As such, in this end-of-year sprint to catch up on as many movies as possible, I decided to put together a ballot of my own personal favorites of the year.

The ballot covers all Oscar categories except the three short film categories, as I have seen only a small number of short films this year. Other films I find noteworthy—including my favorite short film of the year—are given Continue reading 2019 CineFiles Awards — Best Films of the Year →

2019 Academy Awards

2019 Academy Awards Predictions – Final Ballot

In January, I made my Academy Awards predictions for 2019. Since then, a lot has changed. Some of my original predictions should be considered null and void. That said, the following predictions are by no means expert predictions. And most importantly, the Academy Awards are not the end-all be-all of filmmaking achievement in a given year. There are plenty of films that the Academy chose not to honor that are deserving of some attention.

In any case, here are my final predictions for the 2019 Oscars.

emma-stone-2018-the-favourite-movie-review

Legend

Will Win: My pick to win

Upset Watch: A potential spoiler

Could Win: The race is too close to call it an upset, or I am picking against the favorite

Should Win: My personal favorite(s) out of the nominees

 

Best Picture

Continue reading 2019 Academy Awards Predictions – Final Ballot →