Weren’t we just here? It feels like it was just last year that I was spitballing and just plain bawling about who might win what Oscars for the year in film that was 2021. And now it’s time to do it all over again for 2022. True, this year’s ceremony and nominations announcement don’t take place quite a year to the corresponding dates last year, but as we ease back into a new normal, the Academy is seeking to get things on track. Can they? Stick around once Tuesday sees the nominations announced. Until then, here’s my hunch as to what we can see, based on no real insight at all:
Best Picture
All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
TÁR
Top Gun: Maverick
The Whale
Alternates: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, RRR, Triangle of Sadness, Women Talking
Best Director
James Cameron – Avatar: The Way of Water
Todd Field – TÁR
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
Alternates: Edward Berger – All Quiet on the Western Front, Damien Chazelle – Babylon, Joseph Kosinski – Top Gun: Maverick
Best Actor
Austin Butler – Elvis
Colin Farrell – The Banshees of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Bill Nighy – Living
Alternates: Possibly Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick, Jeremy Pope– The Inspection, Adam Sandler – Hustle
Best Actress
Ana de Armas – Blonde
Cate Blanchett – TÁR
Viola Davis – The Woman King
Margot Robbie – Babylon
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Alternates: Danielle Deadwyler – Till, Andrea Riseborough – To Leslie, Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans
Best Supporting Actor
Paul Dano – The Fabelmans
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees of Inisherin
Brad Pitt – Babylon
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Eddie Redmayne – The Good Nurse
Alternates: Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin (a gamble, I know!), Brian Tyree Henry – Causeway, Judd Hirsch – The Fabelmans, Ben Whishaw – Women Talking
Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Kerry Condon – The Banshees of Inisherin
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Carey Mulligan – She Said
Alternates: Jessie Buckley – Women Talking; Hong Chau – The Whale, Dolly de Leon – Triangle of Sadness
Best Original Screenplay
Todd Field – TÁR
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Ruben Östlund – Triangle of Sadness
Best Adapted Screenplay
Edward Berger, Lesley Patterson, and Ian Stokell – All Quiet on the Western Front
Samuel D. Hunter – The Whale
Kazuo Ishiguro – Living
Rian Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Sarah Polley – Women Talking
Best Cinematography
Roger Deakins – Empire of Light
Greig Fraser – The Batman
James Friend – All Quiet on the Western Front
Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick
Mandy Walker – Elvis
Best Costume Design
Jenny Beavan – Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Catherine Martin – Elvis
Gersha Phillips – The Woman King
Mary Zophres – Babylon
Best Film Editing
David Brenner, James Cameron, John Refoua, and Stephen E. Rivkin – Avatar: The Way of Water
Sven Budelmann – All Quiet on the Western Front
Eddie Hamilton – Top Gun: Maverick
Paul Rogers – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond – Elvis
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Jason Baird, Mark Coulier, Louise Coulston, and Shane Thomas – Elvis
Anne Marie Bradley, Judy Chin, and Adrien Morot – The Whale
Naomi Donne, Mike Marino, and Zoe Tahir – The Batman
Heike Merker – All Quiet on the Western Front
Heba Thorisdottir and Jaime Leigh McIntosh – Babylon
Best Original Score
Carter Burwell – The Banshees of Inisherin
Alexandre Desplat – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Women Talking
Justin Hurwitz – Babylon
John Williams – The Fabelmans
Best Original Song
“Carolina” – Where the Crawdads Sing
“Ciao Papa” – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
“Hold My Hand” – Top Gun: Maverick
“Lift Me Up” – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
“Naatu Naatu” – RRR
Best Production Design
Hannah Beachler (Production Design) and Lisa Sessions Morgan (Set Decoration) – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Dylan Cole and Ben Procter (Production Design) and Vanessa Cole (Set Decoration) – Avatar: The Way of Water
Jason Kisvarday, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Catherine Martin (Production Design) and Beverley Dunn (Set Decoration) – Elvis
Florencia Martin (Production Design) and Anthony Carlino (Set Decoration) – Babylon
Best Sound
Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Julian Howarth, Gary Summers, and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle – Avatar: The Way of Water
Chris Burdon, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Mark Taylor, and Mark Weingarten – Top Gun: Maverick
Alexander Fehrman, Brent Kiser, Stephen Nelson, and Andrew Twite – Everything Everywhere All at Once
Lars Ginzel, Frank Kruse, Viktor Prášil, and Markus Stemler – All Quiet on the Western Front
Michael Keller, David Lee, Andy Nelson, and Wayne Pashley – Elvis
Best Visual Effects
Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri, and Eric Saindon – Avatar: The Way of Water
Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, Dan Sudick, and Hanzhi Tang – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Russell Earl, Anders Langlands, Dan Lemmon, and Dominic Tuohy – The Batman
Scott R. Fisher, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson, and Ryan Tudhope – Top Gun: Maverick
Theo Bialek, Chris Corbould, Janek Sirrs, and Erik Winquist – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Best Animated Film
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
My Father’s Dragon
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Turning Red
Best Documentary Feature
All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Descendant
Fire of Love
Navalny
Best International Feature Film
All Quiet on the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Close
Decision to Leave
EO
Best Animated Short Film
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse
The Flying Sailor
My Year of Dicks
New Moon
Save Ralph
Best Documentary Short Film
38 at the Garden
The Elephant Whisperers
The Flagmakers
Holding Moses
How Do You Measure a Year?
Best Live Action Short Film
An Irish Goodbye
Le Pupille
Nakam
The Red Suitcase
Warsha
Fingers crossed! Let me know what you think!
