2023 Oscars Nominations, Predictions, Thoughts, and Preferences
The Oscars are a pretty special time for any cinephile. Though throughout the years there has been more reason to criticize the award show, it always feels nice seeing the occasional cinderalla story emerge. Watching your favorite filmmaker get his dues infront of the largest stage is a sight to see. With the upcoming Oscars very close by, I thought I would come on here and share my thoughts on all the categories and let you know my predictions as well as my personal opinions on the matter. For this year I’ve seen 49 out of 54 nominated films. The films that I have not seen are: Living, Bardo, Empire of Light, Tell it like a Woman, The Sea Beast. Without further ado, here are all my thoughts on this year’s oscars (get ready for alot of All Quiet on the Western Front hate)
Best Sound
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges
“The Batman,” Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson
“Elvis,” David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
Who Will Win: Top Gun Maverick
Who Should Win: Top Gun Maverick
Would not mind if: The Batman
Who should have been nominated: NOPE
Who I DONT want to win: All Quiet on the Western Front
Pulling hard for Top Gun, the sound is amazing in that film and it really deserves recognition for it. If All Quiet wins it will be a tragedy, that film is basically my enemy this season, I really think its overly hyped and not worth all of these nominations
Best Original Score
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann
“Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux
“The Fabelmans,” John Williams
Who Will Win: Babylon?
Who Should Win: Don’t Really Care
Wouldn’t mind if: Anything except All Quiet
Who Should’ve been nominated: Trent Reznor for Bones and All
This is an absolute crapshoot. No clue who will take it, I just know who I dont want to take it. Trent should have been nominated and won, best score of 2022 hands down
Best Makeup And Hairstyling
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová
“The Batman,” Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Camille Friend and Joel Harlow
“Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti
“The Whale,” Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley
Who Will Win: Elvis
Who Should Win: The Batman
Would not mind if: The Whale
Who should have been nominated: The Northman
Who I DONT want to win: All Quiet
It is either Elvis or The Whale taking it, doubt they will give it to Batman.
Best Costume Design
“Babylon,” Mary Zophres
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Ruth Carter
“Elvis,” Catherine Martin
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Shirley Kurata
“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Jenny Beavan
Who Will Win: Elvis
Who Should Win: Babylon
Would not mind if: Any of them
Who should have been nominated: The Northman
Who I DONT want to win: N/A
They love biopics, so probably Elvis. Though Babylon deserves it more
Best Production Design
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole
“Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
“Elvis,” Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn
“The Fabelmans,” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
Who Will Win: Babylon
Who Should Win: Babylon
Would not mind if: Avatar
Who should have been nominated: The Northman, NOPE, The Batman
Who I DONT want to win: All Quiet
So many other films should have been nominated for this. Anyway Babylon and its not even close.
Best Visual Effects
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
“The Batman,” Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher
Who Will Win: Avatar
Who Should Win: Avatar
Would not mind if: The Batman
Who should have been nominated: NOPE
Who I DONT want to win: All Quiet
I mean? It’s avatar, they did a brilliant job
Best Original Song
“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler
“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne
Who Will Win: Naatu Naatu
Who Should Win: Naatu Naatu
Would not mind if: N/A
Who should have been nominated: N/A
Who I DONT want to win: Anyone else, RRR is the only correct choice
This is the one and only choice. I am already pissed that they weren’t nominated for best international film. If anyone else wins this it will be a tragedy.
Best Documentary Short
“The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga
“Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev
“How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt
“The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison
“Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
Who Will Win: The Elephant Whisperers
Who Should Win: Haulout
Would not mind if: N/A
Who should have been nominated: N/A
Who I DONT want to win: Stranger at the gate or How do you measure a year
No strong opinions on this category overall, Oscars will take the bait on Elephant Whisperers but Haulout is the better documentary in its simplicity in driving across its point
Best Live Action Short
“An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White
“Ivalu,” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan
“Le Pupille,” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón
“Night Ride,” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen
“The Red Suitcase,” Cyrus Neshvad
Who Will Win: An Irish Goodbye
Who Should Win: Le Pupille
Would not mind if: The Red Suitcase
Who should have been nominated: N/A
Who I DONT want to win: Night Ride or Ivalu
Voters love sappy stories when it comes to the shorts, but my God does Le Pupille deserve it. Alice Rohrwacher is brilliant and she deserves all the praise. I really hope she gets it but I don’t think they will give it to her.
Best Animated Short Film
“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud
“The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
“Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano
“My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon
“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon
Who Will Win: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Who Should Win: Ice Merchants
Would not mind if: N/A
Who should have been nominated: N/A
Who I DONT want to win: N/A
Dont mind them giving it to the The Boy, The Mole, the Fox and the Horse. It was a cute film. Though Ice Merchants is something special. Everything about it oozes passion. If you want to give any short a try watch Ice Merchants and Le Pupille, they are both top tier
Best Documentary Feature
“All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov
“Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman
“A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström
“Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris
Who Will Win: All The Beauty and the Bloodshed
Who Should Win: All The Beauty and the Bloodshed or Fire of Love
Its a toss up between All the beauty and Fire of love, I don’t think anything else has a chance, unless voters are absolutely delusional.
Best Animated Feature
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley
“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Joel Crawford and Mark Swift
“The Sea Beast,” Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger
“Turning Red,” Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins
Who Will Win: Del Toro’s Pinocchio
Who Should Win: Marcel the Shell with shoes on
Would not mind if: Puss in boots
Who should have been nominated: Mad God
Who I DONT want to win: Turning Red
Honestly Pinocchio, Puss in Boots, and Marcel are all quality films. I know it will go to Pinocchio but I would be so happy if Marcel got it. But let’s be honest, its Pinocchio
Best International Feature
“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany)
“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina)
“Close” (Belgium)
“EO” (Poland)
“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland)
Who Will Win: All Quiet on the Western Front (unfortunately)
Who Should Win: Anything else, my preference would be Close
Would not mind if: Argentina, 1985
Who should have been nominated: DECISION TO LEAVE, BROKER, RRR (GAH!)
Who I DONT want to win: All Quiet on the Western Front
This is the most disappointing category. Not only will they give it to the most mid film of the year, they absolutely snubbed my favorite film of the year, decision to leave. RRR was also forgotten as well as Koreeda’s brilliant broker. It is so disappointing that everyone is taking the bait with All Quiet. It is a film with a tired out trope after another with nothing to add to the genre.
Here’s to all the amazing international features that were forgotten, you will always be special to me.
Best Editing
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
“Elvis,” Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers
“Tár,” Monika Willi
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Eddie Hamilton
Who Will Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Who Should Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Would not mind if: Top Gun, Tar, Banshees
Who should have been nominated: Aftersun
Who I DONT want to win: Elvis
If voters have any sense in them, they will give it to EEAAO or Top Gun. Aftersun was such a big snub because the editing is actually what made that film so effective, but the Oscars like flashy way more than subtlty unfortunately.
Best Cinematography
“All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend
“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Darius Khondji
“Elvis,” Mandy Walker
“Empire of Light,” Roger Deakins
“Tár,” Florian Hoffmeister
Who Will Win: All Quiet on the Western Front
Who Should Win: Tar
Would not mind if: N/A
Who should have been nominated: The Banshees of Inisherin
Who I DONT want to win: All Quiet on the Western Front
uff, All Quiet really is the enemy this year. Can’t believe Banshees was not nominated, the cinematography was beautiful. Just look at this:
Best Adapted Screenplay
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson
“Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
“Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley
Who Will Win: Women Talking
Who Should Win: Women Talking
Would not mind if: Top Gun
Who should have been nominated: Bones and All
Who I DONT want to win: Anything other than Women Talking
This is the only option. It has the best writing out of all of the other nominees. This is a no brainer
Best Original Screenplay
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
“The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
“Tár,” Written by Todd Field
“Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund
Who Will Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Who Should Win: The Banshees of Inisherin
Would not mind if: Tar
Who should have been nominated: Decision to Leave, Nope
Who I DONT want to win: N/A
This is a toss up as well. I feel like EEAAO will win but I really want Banshees to take it. It had such impactful writing that hit all the right notes. All of the other nominees are comparable, I wouldn’t be really sad if any of them won if I’m being honest
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”)
Who Will Win: Kerry Condon?
Who Should Win: Kerry Condon
Would not mind if: Jamie Lee Curtis
Who should have been nominated: KEKE PALMER, IU
Who I DONT want to win: N/A
This is the one of the most confusing categories. If you asked me a couple of months ago I would have said Bassett would be taking it 100%. But it seems like recently she is losing steam. I feel like Curtis and Hsu will split the votes among voters which leaves Condon which is my choice as well. Her performance was incredibly impactful and deserves the prize. Though if it was just me I would give it to KEKE PALMER, she had the best performance and I cant believe she was snubbed
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”)
Who Will Win: Key Huy Quan
Who Should Win: Key Huy Quan
Would not mind if: Gleeson, Keoghan, Henry
Who should have been nominated: N/A
Who I DONT want to win: N/A
Its Ke Huy Quan’s award. Dont see it going anywhere else, nor do I want it to
Best Lead Actress
Cate Blanchett (“Tár”)
Ana de Armas (“Blonde”)
Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)
Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”)
Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Who Will Win: Michelle Yeoh
Who Should Win: Cate Blanchett
Would not mind if: N/A
Who should have been nominated: Tang Wei
Who I DONT want to win: Armas, Riseborough
If you asked me a couple of months ago I would have said that Blanchett would be taking this award. However, Yeoh has been gaining momentum quickly and Ifeel like she can’t be stopped. Blanchett’s performance though is one for the ages, a true character study.
Best Lead Actor
Austin Butler (“Elvis”)
Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)
Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”)
Bill Nighy (“Living”)
Who Will Win: Austin Butler
Who Should Win: Paul Mescal or Colin Farrell
Would not mind if: Fraser
Who should have been nominated: Alexander Skarsgard
Who I DONT want to win: Bill Nighy
Honestly I want to see Fraser winning just so that I can see how the internet breaks from that win. But The Oscars really love biopics, so its probably going to go to Butler. Mescal and Farrell really deserve it in my eyes but they will never get it, which is sad.
Best Director
Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”)
Todd Field (“Tár”)
Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)
Who Will Win: The Daniels
Who Should Win: The Daniels
Would not mind if: Todd Field, or Martin McDonagh
Who should have been nominated: Park Chan Wook, Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, Charlotte Wells, Koreeda
Who I DONT want to win: N/A
Pretty clear pick, I dont see anyone else winning this. So many great picks were snubbed, but what to do.
Best Picture
“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert, Producer
“Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers
“The Fabelmans,” Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers
“Tár,” Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers
“Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
“Triangle of Sadness,” Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers
“Women Talking,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers
Who Will Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
Who Should Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once, or Banshees of Inisherin
Would not mind if: Tar, Top Gun, Women Talking
Who should have been nominated: Nope, Decision To Leave, The Northman, Bones and All, The Batman
Who I DONT want to win: All Quiet on the Western Front
The only two films I’m fully rooting for are EEAAO and Banshees of Inisherin. It’s never going to Banshees, and I’m hoping things will go right abd EEAAO will get it. Top Gun might have a slight chance. All Quiet I hope is ruled out due to the Best Picture and Best Editing “curse”. Regardless, I feel like its EEAAO’s year and I hope they win, it will be a fitting end
