My Academy Award Picks
By Lucas Battista
The Academy Awards have always cast their little golden men in the air on arbitrary criteria, with picks often finding themselves situated amidst politics, (plummeting) ratings, popular demand, and possibly a shrivel of critical acclaim somewhere. For this year, I’ve put together a guide with my predictions and opinions, along with context as to why some films or people may be chosen and others may not. It will be in two parts. This week, I will touch on what I personally think should win, and next week, I will list predictions for what I think will win.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: PAUL GIAMATTI, “The Holdovers”
Paul Giamatti brings an explosive performance to “The Holdovers” as the reclusive and erudite professor Paul Hunham, which he captures with as much vivace as one would expect of Giamatti. His performance is loud with a bit of schmaltz, and certain to find itself up there with the John Adams miniseries or “Sideways.”
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: ROBERT DOWNEY JR., “Oppenheimer”
Robert Downey Junior’s portrayal of Lewis Strauss, a conniving and paranoid New Deal bureaucrat, is on point. This is a man who had people refer to him as “Admiral” despite having never served on a ship at sea.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: SANDRA HÜLLER, “Anatomy of a Fall”
Sandra Huller leads us through a twisting series of revelations regarding a murder, and we as the audience are meant to discern whether she is or is not guilty. There is nothing more indicative of good acting than her deceptively timid performance and our total inability to really lay down the truth against it.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: JODIE FOSTER, “Nyad”
Jodie Foster’s chemistry with Annette Bening is insane; it’s literally an acting stand-off between two really powerful performances.
CINEMATOGRAPHY: “KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON,” Rodrigo Prieto
“Killers of the Flower Moon” presented some truly tactical cinematography with, for instance, Ernest Burkhart’s (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) arrest, as the camera winds in and out of characters we at first believe are just part of the background, before they slowly reveal themselves to be bureau agents out for him.
DIRECTING: “OPPENHEIMER,” Christopher Nolan
Christopher Nolan has always derived his greatest strength from a cohesive film that wraps up through time-jumps and a seemingly disjointed narrative that slowly reveals itself to be entirely by careful design. “Oppenheimer” is arguably his greatest venture yet in that regard, as he applies what he has typically done with say “Memento” or “Inception” to a three-hour biopic, and it works.
FILM EDITING: “ANATOMY OF A FALL,” Laurent Sénéchal
“Anatomy of a Fall” is carefully, and cleverly edited to confuse us, and play with our overconfidence, confabulating memories until we haven’t got a clue as to what originally happened at the film’s start.
Other Personal Picks:
COSTUME DESIGN: “POOR THINGS,” Holly Waddington
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM: “THE ZONE OF INTEREST,” United Kingdom
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: “POOR THINGS,” Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE): “OPPENHEIMER,” Ludwig Göransson
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG): “I’M JUST KEN” from “Barbie,” Music and Lyrics by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
BEST PICTURE: “OPPENHEIMER,” Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers
PRODUCTION DESIGN: “KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON,” Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
SOUND: “OPPENHEIMER,” Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O’Connell
VISUAL EFFECTS: “GODZILLA MINUS ONE,” Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY): “AMERICAN FICTION,” Cord Jefferson
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY): “PAST LIVES,” Celine Song
