My Final Oscar Predictions!!!

Hello true believers and welcome to that annual thing of things - my Oscar Predictions! This year is as predictable as most years, but the funny thing about this year is that Best Picture is the one up in the air. If you had asked me a month ago - hell, a week ago - I would have said The Power of the Dog was a lock for the win. Most Oscar pundits would have said the same. But then the PGA's surprised everyone and awarded their prize to CODA. Add this to their surprise win at the SAG Awards two weeks back and it's beginning to look like a photo finish coming up. The SAG membership is the largest block of voters in The Academy. The PGA is the only other awards, other than The Oscars, that have a preferential ballot, wherein instead of voting on one choice, you list the films in order of preference. These two things combined make CODA suddenly look like a frontrunner. Technically I believe The Power of the Dog is still the frontrunner, but as voting was closing down (and Academy voters are notorious for sending in their ballots at the last minute) CODA was shooting upwards. Anyhoo, here are my predictions. And awaaaaaay we go....

Best Picture

Predicted Winner: CODA

Possible Spoiler: The Power of the Dog (not really a spoiler tho)

If I had a Vote: Licorice Pizza

Should've been Nominated: The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Director

Predicted Winner: Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog

Possible Spoiler: No one really

If I had a Vote: PTA for Licorice Pizza or Branagh for Belfast

Should've been Nominated: Guillermo Del Toro for Nightmare Alley

Best Actress

Predicted Winner: Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Possible Spoiler: Kristen Stewart could surprise

If I had a Vote: Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana

Should've been Nominated: Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza

Best Actor

Predicted Winner: Will Smith in King Richard

Possible Spoiler: Cumberbatch maybe, Garfield maybe, but unlikely

If I had a Vote: Denzel as Macbeth

Should've been Nominated: Peter Dinklage in Cyrano

Best Supporting Actress

Predicted Winner: Ariana DeBose in West Side Story

Possible Spoiler: Kirsten Dunst, but again, not likely

If I had a Vote: Jessie Buckley in The Lost Daughter

Should've been Nominated: Catriona Balfe in Belfast

Best Supporting Actor

Predicted Winner: Troy Hutser in CODA

Possible Spoiler: Kodi Smitt-McPhee in The Power of the Dog

If I had a Vote: J.K. Simmons in Being the Ricardos

Should've been Nominated: Jared Leto in House of Gucci

Best Original Screenplay

Predicted Winner: Belfast

Possible Spoiler: Licorice Pizza or Don't Look Up

If I had a Vote: Licorice Pizza

Should've been Nominated: The French Dispatch

Best Adapted Screenplay

Predicted Winner: CODA

Possible Spoiler: The Power of the Dog

If I had a Vote: The Lost Daughter

Should've been Nominated: Nightmare Alley

Best International Film

Predicted Winner: Drive My Car

Possible Spoiler: The Worst Person in the World

If I had a Vote: The Worst Person in the World

Should've been Nominated: Titane

Best Animated Film

Predicted Winner: Encanto

Possible Spoiler: The Mitchells vs. The Machines

If I had a Vote: The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Should've been Nominated: Cryptozoo

Best Documentary Feature

Predicted Winner: Summer of Soul

Possible Spoiler: Flee

If I had a Vote: Flee

Should've been Nominated: ?????

Best Cinematography

Predicted Winner: Dune

Possible Spoiler: West Side Story

If I had a Vote: The Tragedy of Macbeth

Should've been Nominated: Belfast

Best Production Design

Predicted Winner: Dune

Possible Spoiler: Nightmare Alley

If I had a Vote: Nightmare Alley

Should've been Nominated: The French Dispatch

Best Film Editing

Predicted Winner: Dune

Possible Spoiler: King Richard

If I had a Vote: Tick, Tick... Boom!

Should've been Nominated: West Side Story

Best Costume Design

Predicted Winner: Cruella

Possible Spoiler: Dune maybe

If I had a Vote: Cruella

Should've been Nominated: House of Gucci

Best Hair & Make-Up

Predicted Winner: The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Possible Spoiler: Dune

If I had a Vote: Dune

Should've been Nominated: Last Night in Soho

Best Sound

Predicted Winner: Dune

Possible Spoiler: West Side Story

If I had a Vote: Dune

Should've been Nominated: The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Original Score

Predicted Winner: Dune

Possible Spoiler: Encanto

If I had a Vote: Parallel Mothers

Should've been Nominated: Spencer

Best Original Song

Predicted Winner: No Time to Die

Possible Spoiler: Dos Oruguitas from Encanto (this would give Lin-Manuel Miranda an EGOT

If I had a Vote: Down to Joy from Belfast

Should've been Nominated: We Don't Talk About Bruno, but...

Best Visual Effects

Predicted Winner: Dune

Possible Spoiler: Spider-Man: No Way Home

If I had a Vote: Dune

Should've been Nominated: Eternals

Best Animated Short

Predicted Winner: Robin Robin

Possible Spoiler: The Windshield Wiper

Best Live Action Short

Predicted Winner: The Long Goodbye

Possible Spoiler: On My Mind

Best Documentary Short

Predicted Winner: The Queen of Basketball

Possible Spoiler: Audible

So that gives six Oscars to Dune and it has CODA winning all three it is nominated for. But can Jane Campion really take home Best Director without her film winning anything else? I guess we will see.

That's it gang! See ya 'round the web! ...and At The Movies!!