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 gotta go with “Sinners.” It’s a good year, but if I take in every department that worked on the film and my experience watching it, this one comes out ahead. It gave me the same feeling I had watching “Jurassic Park” for the first time, or any other euphoric feeling you get when you walk out of the theater, and you realize the power movies can still have.
Best Director:
The degree of difficulty Ryan Coogler had on “Sinners” far outweighs anything everyone else is doing in this category this year.
Best Actress:
Jessie Buckley. If I weren’t voting for Jessie, I’d be voting for Rose, but the emotion that Jessie had to convey in that final scene alone, with all the complexities and the journey that character had undergone, was on a whole other level of performance.
Best Actor:
This one was close, but I gotta go with Ethan Hawke. This is his “Capote” moment. He is so well-liked and respected by his peers within the community. He’s an actor’s actor we all look up to, and he gives so much thought to each role he plays. You can see and feel it up on the screen too. Chalamet will win, in my opinion, even if his campaign wasn’t the greatest. I firmly believe we should be judging what is up there on the screen, though, and not all this other stuff that goes on during awards season.
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Madigan is a choice that is both in alignment with the kind of showy, nutty, crazy performances I like, and I really dug that movie, mostly because of her.
Best Supporting Actor:
This one was down to the wire, between Sean Penn and Delroy Lindo. I’m going with Delroy because I believe he wants it more. Sean was amazing, though. Both actors made their roles unforgettable.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
I felt “Bugonia” was a nice return to form for Yorgos and represented everything I love about his work. It also captures perfectly where we are today as a society in both creative and darkly funny ways.
Best Original Screenplay:
I’m giving a lot to “Sinners,” so I want to spread the love a little bit. Let’s go with “Blue Moon” for this one. It was very verbose, eloquent, and it struck me emotionally.
Best Animated Feature:
“KPop Demon Hunters,” even though my kids love “Zootopia 2.” Sorry kids! I’m the one who is voting, not you!
Best Documentary Feature:
“The Perfect Neighbor,” unfortunately. I say “unfortunately” because living in a world where this happens daily is so infuriating to me, but I feel everyone needs to see this. That sequence near the end, where they showed that harrowing moment where the kids find out that they just lost their mom, will stay with me forever.
Best International Feature Film:
“Sentimental Value.” I just love Stellan, man. Great guy. Great actor. Great movie.
Best Casting:
A casting director is like a chef building the perfect recipe. Each ingredient matters, but the magic happens when the flavors complement each other. That to me is Francine Maisler. And “Sinners” represents everything this category should be, from casting a big-name movie star as the lead, to discovering new talent such as Miles Caton, casting against type, casting more experienced stars and character actors in important parts. It just has everything.
Best Cinematography:
“Train Dreams” was consistently so beautiful to look at. Really helped put you in the character’s headspace, and it aligned with the film’s themes of appreciating life in its greatest and smallest details.
Best Costume Design:
I wasn’t a big fan of “Frankenstein,” but the costumes were gorgeous.
Best Film Editing:
I don’t get why “Sentimental Value” is here, to be honest. “F1“ has very flashy editing, but I voted for “Sinners.“ The way it was structured, taking its time to establish who each of the characters was for the first hour, and the musical sequences were so invigorating
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
“Frankenstein.” Like costumes, not a huge fan, but you can’t deny the work on display.
Best Production Design:
I don’t know if this will surprise you, seeing as how I haven’t mentioned it for anything else yet, and it’s such an unorthodox choice for what this category typically goes for, but “One Battle After Another” has some really cool modern production design from Benicio’s apartment to the nun’s convent.
Best Original Score:
1000% “Hamnet“ by a mile. When it swells at the end, it just got me so good.
*This voter was so enamored with Max Richter’s score, that I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the piece of music at the end was not originally written for the movie*
Best Original Song:
“KPop Demon Hunters” is going to win it no matter what, so I’ll go with Nick Cave for “Train Dreams.” That guy has gone through a lot, and I can only imagine how personal that song and movie were for him.
Best Sound:
“F1” no question. I saw it in Dolby Cinema, and it was the one that has stayed with me the most purely for its sound design.
Best Visual Effects:
Yeah, I just don’t give a shit about these “Avatar” movies. I’m voting for it because it’s so clearly above everything else that’s here, but enough already!
**This voter, a member of the actors’ 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
