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 15th. 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:
“One Battle After Another“ with a bullet. One of the easiest calls I’ve ever made in this category. I didn’t even bother to rank the others. I was shocked when Paul Thomas Anderson said he wrote this 20 years ago. If he had written it 3 years ago I still would’ve been shocked. It’s just so timely. He really has his finger on the pulse.
Best Director:
I think Paul Thomas Anderson could’ve won for 4 or 5 of his other films. “There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece.” I believe he’s the greatest filmmaker of his generation. This should not be seen as a career achievement award. He took his art, made it personal, and created his most commercial film to date and just nailed it from top to bottom.
Best Actress:
Jessie Buckley. Another easy choice for me.
Best Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio should be winning. I don’t know why he isn’t winning. Maybe because we’re praising the other performances over him too much that he’s getting lost? His work isn’t showy like Sean Penn’s, but it’s a low-key Lebowski-stoner type of performance imbued with so much empathy and pathos. One of the greatest depictions of a father-daughter relationship I’ve seen on screen. I thought Chalamet was great and I would’ve voted for him, but I will admit, he turned me off with his campaign, just to be honest. Michael B. Jordan, I was so happy he won at the SAG and it’s very tight between him and DiCaprio for me. They’re both equally deserving but I tip it to Leo.
Best Supporting Actress:
I love the Perfidy Beverly Hills character so much, and I was so happy when Teyana won the Golden Globe. But, and I say this as someone who rarely ever votes for what could be considered a “career achievement,” but I’m doing it this year for Amy Madigan. What a career. What a character. What a performance. She made that film what it is.
Best Supporting Actor:
I love del Toro in “One Battle After Another,” but when he started winning critics’ group awards, I was a little shocked. He nails every moment he’s on screen, but it’s a pretty minor role in relation to Sean’s role. Sean’s performance is one of the all-time great performances. It’s as iconic as it gets for cinema. In a career of great performances, I think this is his masterpiece. He’s revolting, but there’s also humanity there. It’s one of my all-time favorite performances.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
“One Battle After Another,” clearly.
Best Original Screenplay:
“Sinners.” It’s so much more than just a vampire film and I respect the hell out of that.
Best Animated Feature:
I didn’t care for the animated titles this year, so I abstained.
Best Documentary Feature:
I had to abstain this year out of respect to my peers. I don’t go to industry events and screenings. I will only vote for films I can see in the cinema. And I couldn’t with all of these nominees this year sadly.
Best International Feature Film:
“The Secret Agent.” Beyond being the NEON year, this was insanely competitive. Four of the five films would have won in any other year. I really enjoyed “Sentimental Value” but not as much as “The Worst Person In The World.”
Best Casting:
The second time I saw “The Secret Agent,” I was so blown away. You’re not just paying attention to Wagner anymore, but all the secondary characters around him. Everyone is so memorable and natural. The mixture of professional actors and non-professional actors is really well done in that movie.
Best Cinematography:
“One Battle After Another.” The choice of lenses in this movie and how they captured not just the close-ups but also the wide vistas really impressed me, especially how it looked projected in VistaVision.
Best Costume Design:
“Frankenstein.” I didn’t like the film. I didn’t feel for anyone or anything while watching it, but the movie looks amazing. Technically, Guillermo del Toro is on a whole other level compared to so many other filmmakers.
Best Film Editing:
“One Battle After Another“ is a nearly three-hour movie that I could watch several times a day. It locks you in from the start and never lets up in its pacing. There are action sequences, you’re following multiple characters, there’s tension, comedy…It’s got everything an editor dreams of working with and it handles it all very well.
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
“Frankenstein.”
Best Production Design:
“Frankenstein” again.
Best Original Score:
I voted for Jonny Greenwood. I’m confused as to why he hasn’t received more love throughout the season. Ludwig’s work is extraordinary as always. To go from “Oppenheimer” to “Sinners” is just masterful, but Greenwood is overdue at this point. His sound for this movie is so unique and original.
Best Original Song:
Abstain. What is “Viva Verdi!?” Unless you were at a festival I guess, how was anyone supposed to see that?
Best Sound:
Car films are catnip for sound awards, and “F1” didn’t do anything differently from “Ford v Ferrari” or “Top Gun: Maverick” in my opinion. This was between “Sinners“ and “One Battle After Another.” Greenwood’s score in IMAX was the most immersive and satisfying experience I had with sound at the cinema last year, so I’ll give the edge to that.
Best Visual Effects:
Reluctantly, I’m saying “Avatar: Fire and Ash.” It was the greatest achievement in visual effects, but I feel like I’ve already voted for this twice before, and this wasn’t a huge advancement from the second film. The scale of the work was such that I didn’t want to penalize all of the hardworking people on that project for that reason alone. I also feel you should only be able to vote on these if you attended the bake-off because there’s such valuable insight and information provided that you don’t always get from just watching the film.
**This voter, a member of the Documentary 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
