In the ever wise words of Moira Rose, awards season is my favorite season. Nothing beats celebrating your favorite movies, TV, and music from the past year, or arguing with your friends over what really deserves to win. And as a chronic second hand crier, this is an incredibly emotional season for me.
On Thursday, January 22, this year’s Oscar nominees will be announced, and as an avid fan of Majestic 10’s $6 Tuesdays I am ready. Here are my hopes for the top categories winners at this year’s Academy Awards.
Best Actress
If Jessie Buckley doesn’t win this award for her work in Hamnet, I might never watch another Oscars ceremony for the rest of my life. Her performance as Agnes, wife to William Shakespeare, was completely captivating. She draws you in for all 126 minutes and leaves you heartbroken in the end. Despite this movie being about grief and art, it is just as much about who Agnes is and what she wants. Buckley’s performance is the heart of this film.
Best Actor
I have much weaker opinions about this category. I would be fine to see this category go to any of the projected nominees. Timothee Chalamet and Leonardo Dicaprio are bound to be nominated for their work this year. However, I would love to see the award go to Michael B. Jordan for his work in Sinners. Two roles in one movie is no small feat.
If it were all up to me, I would not only want Ethan Hawke to be nominated for Blue Moon, but win for it too. Not only was this movie incredible, but Hawke has been in some of the best movies of all time and deserves some recognition for that.
Best Director
This is a hard category for me to choose a favorite. Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another), Ryan Coogler (Sinners), Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein), Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme), and Chloe Zhao (Hamnet) are all predicted to be nominated for this category. And while my favorite film of the year was Hamnet, I would love to see the award go to someone who hasn’t won before. Which leaves Anderson, Coogler, and Safdie. While I loved all of their movies this year, my pick would be Coogler. Sinners is not only technically impressive, but the level of pre-production work that went into this movie will be studied one day.
Best Picture
Unfortunately, the Academy has a nasty habit of being very repetitive with their nominations. So, I suspect that Sinners, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Frankenstein, and One Battle After Another will all be nominated for this category. I also hope that this category includes more international films than it has in the past. Including It Was Just an Accident, a French film by an Iranian director. This film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year.
Another movie I would love to see nominated is Jay Kelly, a Noah Baumbach film starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler. Unfortunately, this film was released straight to Netflix which doesn’t bode well for the film’s chance at a nomination, much less a win.
I don’t even care who else is nominated for Best Original Song and Best Original Score because if both awards don’t go to Sinners we’re going to have some serious issues.
After last year’s underwhelming and disappointing show, I hope the academy won’t let me down again. However, I remain hopeful because last year was a fantastic year for movies.