Oscar voting is officially over for the 98th Academy Awards, and now we are just patiently waiting until the awards are handed out on March 5th. As we do every year, Will Mavity and I spoke with several Academy voters about what they are voting for and why. We’ll be posting some of those thoughts for your amusement in the lead-up to the Oscars (because that’s all this is at the end of the day). Remember, as you read these, they represent only a tiny fraction of the 11,000+ people who vote on the Oscar winners. While these may help provide some insight into how voters make their selections, they are far from the be-all and end-all of what will eventually win and should always be taken with a grain of salt.
Best Picture:
I love “Sinners” across the board. I think Ryan Coogler made such a brilliant film that works on several levels. I’ll be voting for it with all my heart down the line, so I’m sorry if I’m boring this year.
Best Director:
What Coogler accomplished here is a massive achievement on the storytelling and filmmaking fronts. It was a huge gamble, mixing so many different genres like that, and it paid off and was immensely successful. I also think the video he did explaining all the different formats was smart marketing.
Best Actress:
I’m going to vote for Emma Stone even though I know Jessie Buckley is going to win. Stone keeps re-creating what acting is with each performance. We’re living through the era of an all-time great in her prime, like Meryl Streep or Katherine Hepburn.
Best Actor:
To me, this is the weakest acting category this year. I may vote for Michael B. Jordan by default. I wasn’t particularly blown away by his work in the film, but he at least was able to portray the differences between the two brothers, and that’s no easy feat. I found Chalamet’s portrayal of Marty loud and annoying, and I just didn’t care for him. On the other end of that, I wish Wagner had done more with his performance. It was too quiet and subtle for me. DiCaprio is doing great work as always, but he feels more like part of a larger ensemble than standing out as the lead, as some of these others did. And I was bored out of my mind by “Blue Moon,” which made it hard for me to appreciate what Hawke was doing.
Best Supporting Actress:
I’m voting for Amy Madigan. Teyana Taylor is great, but she’s not in the film enough. Wunmi Mosaku was pretty good as well, but Amy has created a character that will be considered the most memorable and will endure well past this year. She’s also had a fascinating career and is well-liked by everyone in town.
Best Supporting Actor:
Delroy Lindo. Easy. All of these actors are wonderful. But Lindo brought such a human core to this horror, fantastical movie. That monologue he gives in the car was so moving. He deserved to be nominated before for “Da 5 Bloods,” and this should finally be his moment.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
I was thrilled by how original and thought-provoking “Bugonia” felt, even though I know it’s not going to win. I don’t understand the love for “Hamnet.” I find it unfolds very slowly and is extremely manipulative.
Best Original Screenplay:
“Sinners.” The idea is so original, and it has such a profound ending. It masterfully gets you invested with all the characters early on so that the ending can hit you.
Best Animated Feature:
I have to unfortunately abstain this year as I didn’t see all the nominees.
Best Documentary Feature:
Sadly this one too. I didn’t see all the nominees in time.
Best International Feature Film:
This category is so important to me this year. It’s the one I feel the most passionate about and am doing everything I can to get the word out there. It seems like “Sentimental Value” is the acknowledged winner already. All five are really good films, but the hell Jafar Panahi went through and the balls it took to make “It Was Just an Accident” at that level of quality, is just astounding to me. The courage and talent of everyone involved, I’m just floored by it the more I think about it. I’m asking all my friends to vote for it too.
Best Casting:
Francine is going to win for “Sinners.” Discovering Miles Caton should seal the deal for her alone, but also how well that ensemble interacts with one another and how distinctive each character feels, which will make for a good first winner for this new category. How is “Sentimental Value” not here, given that all its actors were nominated?
Best Cinematography:
Autumn winning here will not only make history, but she was very bold in her decision-making throughout the film. “Train Dreams” is very good but derivative of Terrence Malick’s movies. “Marty Supreme” and “Frankenstein” are flashy, but nothing that I haven’t seen before. And “One Battle After Another” was shot on VistaVision, which is impressive, but I think it was also overhyped.
Best Costume Design:
“Sinners.” You just can’t go against Ruth E. Carter. The blue and red for the two brothers alone and how she was able to distinguish them should give her the win alone.
Best Film Editing:
“F1” is very well edited. “Marty Supreme” has some well-edited individual scenes and sequences, but to me, they never fully came together as a whole. I’m honestly not sure why “Sentimental Value” is here. “One Battle After Another” is fine, but “Sinners” is the clear editing achievement of this year. All those musical sequences, how the film takes its time to set up its characters, and then, when all hell breaks loose in the finale.
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
I have not seen “Kokuho” or “The Ugly Stepsister,” so out of respect and because I take my duties as a voter seriously, I will have to abstain. But if I could vote, I would’ve voted for “Frankenstein.”
Best Production Design:
I was not a fan of “Frankenstein,” but the design elements are impeccable.
Best Original Score:
This may sound odd considering how much I adore “Sinners” but Jonny Greenwood’s main theme for “One Battle After Another” deserves to win. Those opening notes and the big blaring sound wave of those strings in the theater has stayed with me.
Best Original Song:
Ugh, I absolutely hate “Golden.” It’s such an annoying song. All the songs are underwhelming this year, yes, even “Sinners,” so I’m just defaulting to Diane Warren this year. Her time is coming, and it may finally be this year.
Best Sound:
“Sinners” because of how well they mixed the music in and how that environment sounded in such a confined space with so many characters.
Best Visual Effects:
I know the winner will be “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” Everyone knows it. But there are some impressive effects in “Sinners” involving the twins that I think are just as worthy of recognition.
**This voter, a member of the director’s branch, abstained from voting in the shorts as they didn’t get around to them in time this year.**
Please let us know your thoughts on our X account and be sure to listen to our final Oscar predictions podcast episode coming this Sunday. Please click here for more important upcoming dates this awards season, here for our most recent Oscar predictions, and here for the most recent tally of awards season winners for the current year.
You can follow Matt & Will and hear more of their thoughts on the Oscars & Film on Twitter at @NextBestPicture& @mavericksmovies
