As we approach the 96th Academy Awards, and with my own predictions now in place (at least as they stood at time of writing them), now arrives my personal picks from the nominees in each category. In some cases, again, probably picking the favourite to win and in others going for what many view as the complete outsider, here is who I would vote amongst this year’s Oscar nominees.
Best Cinematography – Oppenheimer
There’s something about the look/s of Oppenheimer and the way they slightly shift depending on when we are, and what’s happening, that adds to the haunting nature of the story at hand, particularly when it comes to the fear and regret faced by Cillian Murphy’s titular scientist in the closed hearing segments of the film. I also think that it generally looks great, particularly when capturing the landscapes of and surrounding Los Alamos.
Best Costume Design – Poor Things
There’s a lot going on when it comes to the costumes in Poor Things. In this case it possibly is the case of ‘most’ costume design when it comes to just how big some of them become, but they, alongside the detail of the hair and makeup, help to emphasise the different worlds that Emma Stone’s Bella Baxter finds herself in, and indeed how she sticks out from the lavish looks and styles of the upper classes that she sometimes finds herself surrounded by. Again, there’s a lot going on when it comes to the detail of the various costumes donned throughout Poor Things and what they add to the surreal world which we explore alongside Bella.
Best Makeup And Hairstyling – Poor Things
As with the costume design, there’s a lot within the hair and makeup of Poor Things that adds to the otherwordly nature of the places which Bella ventures through. Yet, while the prominent elements are seen on the likes of Willem Dafoe’s character there are a good number of more subtle elements on those who surround her or accompany her on her journey. The polished looks of more well-to-do characters, or how Mark Ruffalo becomes increasingly dishevelled the more he loses control or how Bella appears as she develops.
Best Production Design – Oppenheimer
2023 was a brilliant year when it came to production design and the way that films looked thanks to their sets and props. There were plenty of films that could have easily been a part of this line-up, Asteroid City just to name one prominent contender, but there’s no denying the strength of this line-up. From surreal landscapes which we explore for the first time alongside the characters to grand palaces and full scale Dream Houses and Mojo Dojo Casa Houses there were so many films that felt so lived in and unique because of the production design which helped to build the worlds. Yet, for me Oppenheimer would just take this award simply because of the detail which goes into the various rooms and environments we find ourselves in. The way in which Los Alamos comes across in particular and the design of each room feels full of attention to detail which just makes the experience even more immersive when it comes to how the drama plays out, and the way in which characters remember events and details. It feels like possibly the outside contender amongst the nominees, but for me it’s the strongest for just what it manages to do with its spaces and making each one feel fully used and detailed.
Best Sound – Oppenheimer
So much about what contributes to the escalating tension, and fear factor, of Oppenheimer is the way in which it mixes and layers sounds at a number of key moments. The build-up to the Trinity test wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for the way in which sounds grow and swell over time, it all adds to the atmosphere which the film successfully creates and, much like I mentioned with the production design, is about the attention to detail which helps to ramp this up further. Balancing a number of clear individual elements to support each other to work together to create a further effective soundscape for the film.
Best Visual Effects – The Creator
This choice isn’t even necessarily about the cost it took to make The Creator, it’s simply the fact that its visuals look as good as they do. While the visual effects help to create an interesting dystopian world what really sells it is how much you buy into the AI characters of all kinds, and indeed the mechanical weapons used throughout – the bomb robots running across the bridge feel authentic, you buy into them because of how real they look, thanks to the effort put into creating them by the visual effects team. Yes, it feels like even more of an achievement because of the lower budget compared to most films of this nature, but in general they are the best visuals in this category.
Best Original Song – It Never Went Away from American Symphony
I was fully ready to go for the joyous anthem that is I’m Just Ken until, while making my way through this year’s Best Original Song nominees, I listened to this particular track. What makes it stand out is just how heartfelt it is, and that’s simply where the punch of it comes from. I’m not going to confess to be able to talk about music (even while trying to expand my listening beyond largely Billy Joel over the last couple of months I still find myself not fully able to explain why or why not I did or didn’t like a track or album), so I’ll simply say that the couple of times I’ve listened to It Never Went Away it’s simply struck me because of the personal passion that’s clearly gone into it. Even without having seen American Symphony when first listening you can tell the personal nature of the song for Jon Batiste. I just think it’s the best song out of the five.
Best Original Score – Poor Things
Like with Best Original Song I was fully ready to say if I was an Academy member I’d vote for another film in this category until in this case revisiting Poor Things. There’s no denying how great Ludwig Göransson’s score is for Oppenheimer, especially in complimenting the film in its build-up of tension at key moments. However, for me the Poor Things score just has the edge. Again, it helps to compliment and work alongside the film to flesh out what’s happening on screen, but it also seems to grow and develop alongside the film’s central character. Also capturing the surreal nature of the world on-screen it feels unique and detailed and I was reminded of just how great I think Jerskin Frendrix’s score for it is.
Best Film Editing – Oppenheimer
With just how much goes on in Oppenheimer, all the jumping around it does between perspectives and times, the fact it’s as easy to follow and compelling as it is, trusts the audience to follow and doesn’t feel as if it’s three hours feels like something of a feat. Helped by the quick pacing (and yes the use of black and white, which isn’t itself down to the editing) it grips you and keeps you in place – even on re-watches – with key sequences building up fear and suspense without ever feeling like montages just for the sake of moving things along. It’s a brilliantly edited film.
Best Documentary Feature – 20 Days In Mariupol
If I had seen this last year it would have absolutely been in my top ten of the year – it might have even been my number one. A deeply harrowing film but one which pulls of the remarkable feat of capturing defiance and hopelessness in equal measure while never itself feeling hopeless. 20 Days In Mariupol is a fantastic, vital piece of work that also manages to highlight the bravery of the journalists capturing the increasingly tragic, shocking and crushing footage over the course of 20 days of growing pain and sorrow. An incomparable piece of work.
Best International Feature – Society Of The Snow
Due to UK release dates I’ve only been able to see two of the nominees in this category, so it’s not exactly the fairest (even if unimpactful, for reasons of not being real) ‘vote’. Having not loved The Zone Of Interest as much as many others have, although liking/ admiring it more on a re-watch, Society Of The Snow has some truly effective moments of struggle in the face of tragedy and uncertainty in trying to survive the seemingly impossible. Each loss and pushback is felt, emphasised by the should-have-been-nominated cinematography (with a landscape dominated by snowy cliffs the film still manages to look great), this is an effective and well done survival tale.
Best Animated Feature – Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
Just as bold and creative as the first film, if not more so. There’s so much imagination on screen when it comes to not just the different universes we’re thrown into, and across, but also the different characters we see – not to mention the range of animation styles, too. The story moves along effectively and there’s a good deal to enjoy about what’s on display in terms of the style, the action and indeed the humour. Like the first film, I may not have loved this as much as many other people have, although I also think this is better than Into The Spider-Verse; but it’s still a great film. One that really sets things up for an exciting third entry while still allowing its own story to move along quickly and with plenty of detail.
Best Original Screenplay – Past Lives
So much about what works with Past Lives is what characters don’t, or can’t, say rather than what they do. The things they hold back and keep to themselves for an inability to say the words, or fear of what might happen to them and the other person. While this is partly down to the performances and Celine Song’s excellent direction this also comes down to Song’s wonderful screenplay. Capturing quiet, relatable nuances of everyday thought and conversation in the wisdom which explores themes of home, belonging and, of course, the ghosts of our past lives. It’s all so subtly contained in a smartly written screenplay which flows with natural events and dialogue.
Best Adapted Screenplay – Oppenheimer
Not just for how much detail it manages to get in without feeling overstuffed, but also for just how well written a number of scenes are. There are a number of quotes which after viewings have echoed around my head as strong summaries of the themes and ideas that the film keeps close – Emily Blunt’s Kitty saying to her husband “you don’t get to commit the sin and have us all feel sorry for you when it has consequences” being a key one since first viewing. There’s so much detail in the dialogue and the way that it manages to construct the worries of the characters, and the conflict which a number of them face – especially when it comes to the clash between Oppenheimer and Robert Downey Jr’s Lewis Strauss, and Oppenheimer’s questioning.
Best Supporting Actor – Ryan Gosling in Barbie
As many have stated over the past few months since Barbie’s initial release, Ryan Gosling absolutely steals the show as the himbo who “only has a good day if Barbie looks at him”. Gosling makes it clear in his performance that not only his is character and his vanity the butt of the joke on a number of occasions but that, more importantly, he is a supporting character. That Margot Robbie as Barbie is the core element of this film and the story is about her, and he in no way tries to overshadow that as Ken, instead throwing himself into a wonderful comedic performance which pushes the satire of someone discovering patriarchy and horses. All while on his way to learning that he is Kenough. It was one of the best performances of last year, and an excellent comedic performance at that.
Best Supporting Actress – Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers
In The Holdovers Da’Vine Joy Randolph provides such a wonderful portrayal of someone lost in grief. Acting as the midpoint between Paul Giamatti’s emotionally restrained teacher and Dominic Sessa’s student who struggles to contain and control his emotions, Randolph conveys so much understated feeling in her looks and facial expressions throughout. You feel the weight of grief which holds her down throughout the film, and the brief breaks she gets during the Christmas sequences – particularly as she gets to deliver some of the quickest moments of humour in the film with her reactions to Giamatti’s attempts to help make the season at least slightly better for the pair he’s spending it with. Randolph steals the show with her excellent performance which acts as the emotional heart of The Holdovers and the ways in which its characters develop and understand their feelings and mindsets throughout.
Best Leading Actor – Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer
I could argue for any performance in this category winning, and could gladly vote for any of them without any trouble – they’re all brilliant, and as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, this is one of the strongest Oscar categories in years. But, for me, Cillian Murphy’s haunted portrayal of regret would get my vote. Oppenheimer is a film which asks ‘how do you cope with having become death, destroyer of worlds’? Murphy’s performance carries the weight of that moral question increasingly as the film goes on. The nightmares and regret which wash over his face as he goes through questioning contrast with the fascination he has with science and what can be done with it as he leads the creation of the atom bomb. Over time you see him grow through a range of emotions as worry turns to fear and eventually regret and self blame. All of which are restrained and allowed to naturally develop and grow over the course of the film. With so many close-ups on his face a strong performance is needed, and Murphy gives just that, sells it and then some. Part of why the film has such a haunting nature, and the final shots are so effective, is because of his performance as everything from the last three hours washes across his face.
Best Leading Actress – Emma Stone in Poor Things
Perhaps my favourite thing about Poor Things is the way the narrative is led by the development, maturing and mental growth of its central character as she embarks on a journey of many discoveries, both about herself and the world/s around her. Emma Stone sells this in her performance as you buy into Bella Baxter from when we first meet her to the final shot which perfectly demonstrates the journey that she’s been on, and the change that she’s gone through both physically and mentally. From staggering around making slurred animal noises to speaking complete, intelligently thought out sentences – with the odd “I must go punch that baby” in-between – Bella is a rather remarkable character developing “at an accelerated pace” yet one that we still manage to witness the details and natural shifts in as she strides through events with confidence and determination in herself, not allowing anyone to get in her way – in the case of Mark Ruffalo by not really giving him a second, or at times first, thought. All of which is excellently captured by Stone in what I think is her best performance to date with equal confidence, and joy of growth and freedom.
Best Director – Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer
Nolan has made a complex adult drama with plenty of moral questions on a big studio budget and used that money to great success. Crafting a tense piece of work that strays away from being a standard biopic to instead play with themes of dread, regret and indeed point at the current state of the world in the final stages. There’s a grand scale to scenes of men sat in rooms talking about science; cinematic conversations which held to increase the suspense via the stakes at hand. Much of which is down to the highly cinematic way in which Nolan views and captures each instance to truly get the most drama out of each moment and interaction. The specificity of the technical elements and the performances come together under his direction and it all comes together seamlessly.
Best Picture
Due to the fact that Best Picture is voted for via preferential ballot I’ll list what mine would look like below (from best to least best) with my thoughts on my number one pick below.
1. Oppenheimer
2. Past Lives
3. Poor Things
4. Barbie
5. The Holdovers
6. Killers Of The Flower Moon
7. American Fiction
8. Anatomy Of A Fall
9. Maestro
10. The Zone Of Interest
Oppenheimer was, for me, the best film of 2023, so of course it makes the top of my preferential ballot. I’ve repeated myself enough times already in this piece as to why I love it, but just one more time; it’s an excellently constructed adult drama. Straying away from standard biopic it focuses on Oppenheimer’s regrets, asking how you cope with having created the atom bomb, especially in the wake of its use. Suspense, fear, tension and worry play into so many scenes – even when we know how they play out, whether because of re-watches or because history tells us what the case is – and are brought about by each confident element of the film working in unison to create a grand scale, gripping drama that does more than trust its audience as it jumps straight into its proceedings from the opening frames.
Just A Little Bit Random 