Best Supporting Actor: Brendan Gleeson, “The Banshees of Inisherin”; Brian Tyree Henry, “Causeway”; Judd Hirsch, “The Fabelmans”; Barry Keoghan, “The Banshees of Inisherin”; Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
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| Ke Huy Quan in "Everything Everywhere All at Once" Photo Credit: Imdb.com |
Will Win and Should Win: Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” - Although all of the comeback-story discussions this award season seem to have mostly revolved around Brendan Fraser, Quan is another actor who has experienced quite a year in terms of excelling in a great role that relaunched his career, which helped him become one of this year’s many first-time acting nominees. As the shy, yet endearing husband of the film’s main character, Quan is supremely entertaining to watch as he succeeds in both the film’s quieter emotional moments and its extravagantly choreographed sci-fi action sequences. Out of all of the acting categories this year, he’s the one who has his Oscar sewn up. Although he lost to Keoghan at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, that was barely a stumble, seeing as Quan has won countless accolades from critics groups, as well as wins at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Golden Globes, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. At this point, it’s safe to say his comeback year will deservedly end with an Oscar.
Best Supporting Actress: Angela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”; Hong Chau, “The Whale”; Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin”; Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”; Stephanie Hsu, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
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| Jamie Lee Curtis in "Everything Everywhere All at Once" Photo Credit: Imdb.com |
Will Win: Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” - This is definitely one of the trickier categories to predict. Condon has received most of the attention from critics groups and Best Supporting Actress at the BAFTAs; Bassett won the Critics’ Choice Award and the Golden Globe, and Curtis won the SAG Award. At this point, either of these three could end up winning. However, the one who has the slight edge is Curtis. Seeing as this is her first Oscar nomination in a decades-long career, many people might want to reward her performance as the lead character’s enigmatic IRS inspector. Again, this race could go either way, but don’t be surprised if all of this good will pushes Curtis to the stage on Oscar night.
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| Kerry Condon in "The Banshees of Inisherin" Photo Credit: Imdb.com |
Should Win: Kerry Condon, “The Banshees of Inisherin” - Although Condon’s facing some equal competition, it would be great to see her take home the trophy. As the caring and humorous sister of Colin Farrell’s main character, Condon offered a glowing presence as someone who’s protective of those whom she loves, but won’t hold back if she needs to straighten them out. The recognition that she’s received so far for her performance could help her win on Oscar night. It isn’t guaranteed, but it would be a terrific win for the first-time nominee.
Best Actor: Austin Butler, “Elvis”; Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin”; Brendan Fraser, “The Whale”; Paul Mescal, “Aftersun”; Bill Nighy, “Living”
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| Austin Butler in "Elvis" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
Will Win and Should Win: Austin Butler, “Elvis” - When you watch this movie, you’ll see how this is the latest example of someone who disappears into a role. As the iconic rock ‘n’ roll legend, Butler has been dominating awards season with his screen-busting performance. While Butler hasn’t had much luck with the critics groups and lost the SAG Award to Fraser (who received a lot of love from critics groups), he’s fared much better with the big awards ceremonies, coming out on top at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Golden Globes, and BAFTAs. When you mix that with the film being a box office smash, this could very well end up being a win for the first-time nominee.
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Tár”; Ana de Armas, “Blonde”; Andrea Riseborough, “To Leslie”; Michelle Williams, “The Fabelmans”; Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
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| Cate Blanchett in "Tár" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
Will Win and Should Win: Cate Blanchett, “Tár” - Just how Best Actor has come down between Butler and Fraser, this race has come down between Blanchett and Yeoh. While Yeoh won Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Comedy at the Golden Globes and Best Actress at the SAG Awards, Blanchett won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival (where the film premiered), the Critics’ Choice Award, Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama at the Golden Globes, and the BAFTA, as well as a slew of wins from the many critics groups. As an acclaimed composer and conductor who’s placed under the microscope after some startling allegations come out against her, Blanchett delivers one of her best performances as a cold, understatedly unsettling individual who takes her fame too far. Yeoh could pull off a last-minute win after her triumph at the SAGs and the film’s overall success during the awards season, but this award will likely go to Blanchett.
Best Director: Todd Field, “Tár”; Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”; Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”; Ruben Östlund, “Triangle of Sadness”; Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans”
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| Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, directors of "Everything Everywhere All at Once" Photo Credit: Imdb.com |
Will Win: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” - Given how inventive and ambitious this movie is, it isn’t any surprise that Kwan and Scheinert have been picking up some major wins during this award season for directing their sci-fi multiverse odyssey. While they lost the BAFTA to Edward Berger for his remake of “All Quiet on the Western Front” and the Golden Globe to Spielberg, that won’t stop their momentum. Aside from gaining a lot of love from critics groups, they won at the Critics’ Choice Awards and picked up the coveted Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing - Feature Film. At this point, it’s safe to say they’ll take home the gold.
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| Todd Field, director of "Tár" Photo Credit: Imdb.com |
Should Win: Todd Field, “Tár” - As much as I loved Kwan and Scheinert’s work this year, my personal favorite is Field, who made an explosive return to the director’s chair following a 16-year gap between his second film and his latest. He hasn’t had any luck from neither the critics groups nor the major awards shows, which is unfortunate because of how astounding it is that he made an epic-length, disquieting, and layered character study that’s his most ambitious film yet, both in its themes and technical aspects. Despite this being only his third movie in over 20 years, he shows that he has too much talent to become rusty after extensive breaks between movies. Field exhibits a dynamite command of his biggest canvas yet, and if he somehow pulled off a win, he’d deserve it 110-percent.
Best Picture: “All Quiet on the Western Front”; “Avatar: The Way of Water”; “The Banshees of Inisherin”; “Elvis”; “Everything Everywhere All at Once”; “The Fabelmans”; “Tár”; Top Gun: Maverick”; “Triangle of Sadness”; “Women Talking”
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"Everything Everywhere All at Once" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
Will Win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once” - Although this movie isn’t my personal pick for the biggest award of the night, it’s hard to ignore how much of a success this movie was. Aside from its superb reviews, it’s an original, out-of-the-box story that became the breakout indie hit of the year, which is now a difficult feat for smaller-budgeted films, given how most movie theaters these days are inundated with franchise films. Despite it losing Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy to “The Banshees of Inisherin” and the BAFTA to “All Quiet on the Western Front,” it’s found tremendous success elsewhere. It received quite a bit of Best Picture recognition from critics groups, while also winning at the Critics’ Choice Awards, the SAG award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and the Producers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Producer for Theatrical Motion Pictures, the latter of which is a good indicator of who’ll win Best Picture at the Oscars. While there’s still some room for another nominee to come out on top, expect the award to go to 2022’s biggest indie success story.
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| "Tár" Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com |
Should Win: “Tár” - Although “Tár” hasn’t had any Best Picture success at the major awards shows, it has fared very well with the critics groups, particularly being only the seventh film in history to win the top honor from the nation’s three foremost critics groups: National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Unfortunately, that most likely won’t be enough to have it capture a win from the Academy. With a masterful performance from Cate Blanchett, accomplished direction from Todd Field, a discussion-worthy screenplay, and disquieting atmospherics, this is a movie that deserves multiple viewings as you study the film and go deeper into the narrative’s themes and what the movie says about its titular character. Everyone involved with this movie is working at their peak, and I wasn’t able to take my eyes off of it.
The 95th Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 12, at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC.
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