The Oscars 2025: My Wishes and Predictions
It's Oscar day!
I'm always so excited for this night, and this year I've seen more nominees than I usually would so I'm really excited to write this post and see them laid out!
As usual, I'll go through the categories where I've seen most or all of the nominees and highlight what I think will win, what I want to win, and why. But I'll start by ranking the Best Picture nominees.
9. Dune: Part 2
8. Emilia Perez
6. Conclave
4. Nickel Boys
3. Anora
2. Wicked
This ranking is mostly based on my initial ratings after seeing each of these films for the first time, rather than what I think should win Best Picture. The only change I've made is moving Anora up a spot after rewatching it and really loving it. If I was reviewing it today the score would definitely be higher!
I also put Dune above A Complete Unknown despite not giving Dune a rating because I felt that the visuals, cinematography and performances were too good for me to have it in last place.
Best Picture
Prediction: The Brutalist, Conclave or Anora
Wish: The Substance, Anora or Nickel Boys
This year has been so up in the air that I really can't pick or predict a winner! I've been lucky this year in that I've at least liked the vast majority of nominees, so I wouldn't be mad if any of these win. The Brutalist seems more like a typical Best Picture winner, but Conclave and Anora have won some major awards, so it seems more likely it will be one of them. For me personally, I connected the most to The Substance, I loved Anora, and I thought Nickel Boys was an amazing feat of filmmaking (though it definitely won't win), so any of those three would be my picks. I loved watching Wicked, but I don't know if I'd pick it for Best Picture above these three.
Best Actor
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
Prediction: Adrien Brody
Wish: Adrien Brody or Colman Domingo
This is the category that I probably care the least about, in terms of picking a winner. I thought they all gave great performances and I wouldn't mind seeing any of them take the award home, but for me Brody and Domingo were a small step above the other nominees.
Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I'm Still Here
Prediction: Demi Moore
Wish: Demi Moore or Mikey Madison
I thought Torres and Erivo were fantastic in their roles, but for me the performances that I loved the most were Moore's and Madison's, so I'd love either of them to win. Moore seems to be the front-runner but I loved seeing Madison win her BAFTA!
Best Supporting Actor
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Prediction: Kieran Culkin
Wish: Kieran Culkin
I think it's clear that Culkin has this one in the bag. He was great in the movie so I'm more than happy for him to take the award.
Best Supporting Actress
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Prediction: Zoe Saldaña
Wish: Any
This is another category where I don't mind who wins, but for the opposite reason to the Best Actor nominees. I wasn't really moved by any of these performances, and while I loved what Grande did in Wicked, I don't know if I'd say it was an Oscar winning performance. So I don't really mind who wins.
Best Director
Anora, Sean Baker
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet
A Complete Unknown, James Mangold
Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat
Prediction: Brady Corbet or Sean Baker
Wish: Brady Corbet, Sean Baker or Coralie Fargeat
I'd be happy with any of these three winning. Based on previous awards I think Corbet or Baker has this locked, but Fargeat did an amazing job with The Substance, so I had to throw her in the mix too!
Adapted Screenplay
A Complete Unknown, Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks
Conclave, Screenplay by Peter Straughan
Emilia Pérez, Screenplay by Jacques Audiard; In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
Nickel Boys, Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
Sing Sing, Screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John "Divine G" Whitfield
Prediction: Conclave
Wish: Nickel Boys
I said in my review of Nickel Boys that I think it's the best written screenplay of the nominees in this category and I completely stand by that. The film isn't going to win any other awards (even though it deserved nominations in cinematography and directing) so I'd really love it to take this home.
Original Screenplay
Anora, Written by Sean Baker
The Brutalist, Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
A Real Pain, Written by Jesse Eisenberg
September 5, Written by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; Co-Written by Alex David
The Substance, Written by Coralie Fargeat
Prediction: A Real Pain
Wish: A Real Pain or Anora
I'm pretty sure A Real Pain has got this locked and deservedly so, but the Anora screenplay is so brilliant that if A Real Pain didn't win for any reason, I'd really want Anora to take this.
Cinematography
The Brutalist, Lol Crawley
Dune: Part Two, Greig Fraser
Emilia Pérez, Paul Guilhaume
Maria, Ed Lachman
Nosferatu, Jarin Blaschke
Prediction: The Brutalist or Dune: Part Two
Wish: Nosferatu
I know it's a long shot but I really want Nosferatu to walk away with something, and the cinematography was amazing, so it would definitely be a worthy winner.
Costume Design
A Complete Unknown, Arianne Phillips
Conclave, Lisy Christl
Gladiator II, Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
Nosferatu, Linda Muir
Wicked, Paul Tazewell
Prediction: Wicked
Wish: Wicked
I definitely think Wicked should win for their costume design. The costumes were done so well and were a fundamental part of the story.
Editing
Anora, Sean Baker
The Brutalist, David Jancso
Conclave, Nick Emerson
Emilia Pérez, Juliette Welfling
Wicked, Myron Kerstein
Prediction: Anora or The Brutalist
Wish: Anora or The Brutalist
I think either Anora or The Brutalist have this in the bag and I'd be happy to see either of them win it.
Make-up and Hairstyling
A Different Man, Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado
Emilia Pérez, Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
Nosferatu, David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne Stokes-Munton
The Substance, Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli
Wicked, Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth
Prediction: The Substance or Wicked
Wish: The Substance, A Different Man or Nosferatu
For me, my three picks not only had the best make-up design in terms of the prosthetics used, but their make-up designs were completely integral to their films, which I don't think can be said for the other nominees. I'd particularly love A Different Man to take this just because it's the only award it could win, but the other two were exceptional.
Score
The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg
Conclave, Volker Bertelmann
Emilia Pérez, Clément Ducol and Camille
Wicked, John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
The Wild Robot, Kris Bowers
Prediction: The Brutalist
Wish: The Brutalist or The Wild Robot
I mentioned in my review of The Brutalist that the score was beautiful and definitely deserves to win, but I watched The Wild Robot last week and was completely flawed by it. I want it to win every award it's up for and more. I didn't end up reviewing it, so I'll just say here that it's a 9/10 near-perfect beautiful movie that I'd definitely recommend.
Original Song
El Mal, Emilia Pérez; Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
The Journey, The Six Triple Eight; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
Like A Bird, Sing Sing; Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
Mi Camino, Emilia Pérez; Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
Never Too Late, Elton John: Never Too Late; Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Prediction: No idea
Wish: Like A Bird
I have no idea what will win this award. I listened to all the songs before picking a favourite and from the first bars of Like A Bird I was completely in love with the song. I'm guessing a song from Emilia Pérez will win just because there's two of them nominated, but if I'm honest I don't think either of them would be worthy winners.
Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus, Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan
Better Man, Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs
Dune: Part Two, Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke
Wicked, Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould
Prediction: Dune: Part Two
Wish: Better Man
This is purely from an enjoyment standpoint. I think Dune probably had the best effects, but I recently watched Better Man and I really loved it. It was such a creative idea, and the effects were really well done, so I'd love to see it win this award.
And those are my wishes and predictions for this year's Oscars! I really hope some of my favourites walk away with deserved awards.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thank you so much for your comment xx