In typical VHS Graveyard fashion, our first post of 2024 jumps right in with the main event: our selections for the upcoming 2024 Academy Awards!
Although we didn’t get a chance to screen everything this year (I’m not sure that we ever have), we did see most of the nominees with the exceptions of the following:
Io Capitano
The Teacher’s Lounge
The Boy and the Heron
Robot Dreams
Godzilla Minus One
The Eternal Memory
To Kill a Tiger
Letter to a Pig; Our Uniform; War is Over!; Invincible; Red, White and Blue (shorts)
All in all, 2023 was quite the year for cinema as proven by a nominee group that had far more hit than misses. Let’s see what surprises this year holds for us as the golden statues get distributed later today. Stay tuned, boos and ghouls!
In no particular order, I now humbly present our picks, guesses and hopes for tonight’s awards.
Makeup and Hairstyling
The Nominees – Golda; Maestro; Oppenheimer; Poor Things; Society of the Snow
What Will Win: Maestro
What Should Win: Golda
Film Editing
The Nominees – Anatomy of a Fall; The Holdovers; Killers of the Flower Moon; Oppenheimer; Poor Things
What Will Win: Oppenheimer
What Should Win: Oppenheimer
Visual Effects
The Nominees – The Creator; Godzilla Minus One; Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3; Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1; Napoleon
What Will Win: Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1
What Should Win: Napoleon
Original Score
The Nominees – American Fiction; Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny; Killers of the Flower Moon; Oppenheimer; Poor Things
What Will Win: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
What Should Win: Poor Things or American Fiction
Achievement in Sound
The Nominees – The Creator; Maestro; Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1; Oppenheimer; The Zone of Interest
What Will Win: The Zone of Interest
What Should Win: The Zone of Interest
Costume Design
The Nominees – Barbie; Killers of the Flower Moon; Napoleon; Oppenheimer; Poor Things
What Will Win: Napoleon
What Should Win: Barbie
Cinematography
The Nominees – El Conde; Killers of the Flower Moon; Maestro; Oppenheimer; Poor Things
What Will Win: Oppenheimer
What Should Win: Poor Things
Production Design
The Nominees – Barbie; Killers of the Flower Moon; Napoleon; Oppenheimer; Poor Things
What Will Win: Avatar: Oppenheimer
What Should Win: Poor Things
Director
The Nominees – Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest); Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things); Christopher Nolen (Oppenheimer); Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon); Justine Triel (Anatomy of a Fall)
Who Will Win: Christopher Nolen
Who Should Win: Yorgos Lanthimos
Actress in a Leading Role
The Nominees – Annette Bening (Nyad); Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon); Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall); Carey Mulligan (Maestro); Emma Stone (Poor Things)
Who Will Win: Lily Gladstone
Who Should Win: Emma Stone
Actor in a Leading Role
The Nominees – Bradley Cooper (Maestro); Colman Domingo (Rustin); Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers); Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer); Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
Who Will Win: Cillian Murphy
Who Should Win: Colman Domingo
Original Screenplay
The Nominees: Anatomy of a Fall; The Holdovers; Maestro; May December; Past Lives
What Will Win: Anatomy of a Fall
What Should Win: The Holdovers
Adapted Screenplay
The Nominees: American Fiction; Barbie; Oppenheimer; Poor Things; The Zone of Interest
What Will Win: Oppenheimer
What Should Win: Poor Things
Animated Feature Film
The Nominees: The Boy and the Heron; Elemental; Nimona; Robot Dreams; Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse
What Will Win: Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse
What Should Win: Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse
Documentary Feature
The Nominees: 20 Days in Mariupol; Bobi Wine; The Eternal Memory; Four Daughters; To Kill a Tiger
What Will Win: 20 Days in Mariupol
What Should Win: 20 Days in Mariupol
International Feature Film
The Nominees: Io Capitano; Perfect Days; Society of the Snow; The Teacher’s Lounge; The Zone of Interest
What Will Win: The Zone of Interest
What Should Win: Perfect Days
Actor in a Supporting Role
The Nominees: Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction); Robert de Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon); Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer); Ryan Gosling (Barbie); Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
Who Will Win: Robert Downey Jr.
Who Should Win: Mark Ruffalo
Actress in a Supporting Role
The Nominees: Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer); Danielle Banks (The Color Purple); America Ferriera (Barbie); Jodie Foster (Nyad); Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
Who Will Win: America Ferreira
Who Should Win: Da’Vine Joy Randolph
Best Picture
The Nominees: American Fiction; Anatomy of a Fall; Barbie; The Holdovers; Killers of the Flower Moon; Maestro; Oppenheimer; Past Lives; Poor Things; The Zone of Interest
What Will Win: Oppenheimer
What Should Win: Poor Things
Best Animated Short
The Nominees: Letter to a Pig; Ninety Five Senses; Our Uniform; Pachyderm; War is Over!
What Will Win: War is Over!
What Should Win: Ninety Five Senses
Best Live Action Short
The Nominees: The After; Invincible; Knight of Fortune; Red, White and Blue; The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
What Will Win: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
What Should Win: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Best Documentary Short
The Nominees: The ABCs of Book Banning; The Barber of Little Rock; Island in Between; The Last Repair Shop; Nai Nai & Wai Po
What Will Win: The ABCs of Book Banning
What Should Win: The Barber of Little Rock