This year’s Best Picture nominees lineup is the strongest in recent memory, ranging from a soul-reaching vampire musical film, to a character study of a self-mythologising hustler, to a spell-bindingly beautiful tribute to man’s interaction with nature. The horror genre sees its greatest recognition in an awards season ever, with Sinners leading in the number of nominations, and multiple horror performances leading the race for the Best Supporting categories.

As always, the Oscars race is riddled with controversies, though none as drastic as last year’s race. What made the headlines this year was Best Actor frontrunner Timothée Chalamet’s comments about ballet and opera being dying art forms that “no one cares about,” which triggered an uproar, particularly among those communities. Whether you agree with his statement or not, there is, however, a parallel to be drawn for the movie industry, especially cinemas and theaters, which are at risk of the same fate that befalls once-popular art forms that end up becoming niche.

Here are my predictions for some key categories this year - who will win, who should win, and who should have been nominated.

Best Picture

Nominees

• Will win: Sinners
• Should win: Train Dreams
• Should’ve been nominated: 28 Years Later

Best Director

Nominees

• Will win: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another
• Should win: Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another
• Should’ve been nominated: Clint Bentley for Train Dreams

Best Actor

Nominees

• Will win: Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme
• Should win: Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme
• Should’ve been nominated: Joel Edgerton for Train Dreams

Best Actress

Nominees

• Will win: Jessie Buckley for Hamnet
• Should win: Jessie Buckley for Hamnet
• Should’ve been nominated: Sally Hawkins for Bring Her Back

Best Supporting Actor

Nominees

• Will win: Sean Penn for One Battle After Another
• Should win: Sean Penn for One Battle After Another
• Should’ve been nominated: Paul Mescal for Hamnet

Best Supporting Actress

Nominees

• Will win: Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners
• Should win: Teyana Taylor for One Battle After Another
• Should’ve been nominated: Ariana Grande for Wicked: For Good

Best Original Screenplay

Nominees

• Will win: Sinners - Ryan Coogler
• Should win: Sinners - Ryan Coogler
• Should’ve been nominated: Weapons - Zach Cregger

Best Adapted Screenplay

Nominees

• Will win: One Battle After Another - Paul Thomas Anderson
• Should win: Hamnet - Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell
• Should’ve been nominated: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery - Rian Johnson

Best Animated Feature

Nominees

• Will win: KPop Demon Hunters
• Should’ve been nominated: Ne Zha 2

Best Cinematography

Nominees

• Will win: Sinners - Autumn Durald Arkapaw
• Should win: One Battle After Another - Michael Bauman
• Should’ve been nominated: Hamnet - Łukasz Żal

Best Editing

Nominees

• Will win: F1 - Stephen Mirrione
• Should win: One Battle After Another - Andy Jurgensen
• Should’ve been nominated: Weapons - Joe Murphy

Best Production Design

Nominees

• Will win: Frankenstein
• Should win: Frankenstein
• Should’ve been nominated: Wicked: For Good

Best Costume Design

Nominees

• Will win: Frankenstein - Kate Hawley
• Should win: Sinners - Ruth E. Carter
• Should’ve been nominated: Wicked: For Good - Paul Tazewell

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Nominees

• Will win: Frankenstein
• Should win: Frankenstein
• Should’ve been nominated: Marty Supreme

Best Original Score

Nominees

• Will win: Sinners - Ludwig Göransson
• Should win: Sinners - Ludwig Göransson
• Should’ve been nominated: 28 Years Later - Young Fathers

Best Original Song

Nominees

• Will win: Golden, from KPop Demon Hunters
• Should win: I Lied to You, from Sinners
• Should’ve been nominated: The Girl in the Bubble, from Wicked: For Good

Best Sound

Nominees

• Will win: F1
• Should win: F1
• Should’ve been nominated: Ne Zha 2

Author: Chia Jing Heng (andreusjh99)