The 97th Academy Awards show is this Sunday, March 2, and promises to have some of film’s biggest stars. Hilarious comedian Conan O’Brien is a first-time host of the Oscars this year and looks to pull out all the stops for the award show. Stars like Cynthia Ervio for Wicked and Timothee Chalamet for the Bob Dylan biopic are some of the people looking to take home the Golden Statue. With some controversy over this year’s Oscars, it is hard to tell who will win the significant awards. Here, I will predict what artist will come home with the biggest prizes this year.
Best Actor
Nominees:
Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”
Predict to Win: Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”
Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”
Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”
Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice”
It has been scarce for the Academy to give awards to young stars in recent years. Few winners were born in the 90s or later, with the Academy focusing more on older generations; it seems like a long shot for them to change. However, Chalamet is different, being the main star for two Best Picture films and recently awarded the SAGS Best Actor, the youngest ever to win the award. The Academy also loves to award biopic actors for channeling iconic characters, and with the fact that Chalamet has gained significant traction, it seems it might be his moment again.
Best Actress
Nominees:
Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”
Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”
Mikey Madison, “Anora”
Predict to Win: Demi Moore, “The Substance”
Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”
As I said earlier, the Academy loves to award people who are legacy actors in recent years. For Demi Moore, it seems to finally be her moment to win a significant award for an overall stunning performance in the film “The Substance.” It would feel wrong not to give the award to her, especially since all the controversy surrounding an “Emilia Pérez” actress for previous controversial remarks on social media.
Best Supporting Actor
Nominees:
Yura Borisov, “Anora”
Predict to Win: Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”
Edward Norton, “A Complete Unknown”
Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”
Jeremy Strong, “The Apprentice”
Culkin has been having an impressive award season with numerous significant wins for his fantastic performance in the film “A Real Pain,” telling a heartfelt story of two complicated cousins honoring their grandmother in Poland. It is the kind of movie that is very grounded, but with a shining role with Culkin, it seems like the safest bet. Culkin has consistently risen to fame with the hit show “Succession” and earlier starred in “Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World” and is an actor who seems due for a major award season.
Best Supporting Actress
Nominees:
Monica Barbaro, “A Complete Unknown”
Ariana Grande, “Wicked”
Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”
Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”
Predict to Win: Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”
The film “Emilia Pérez” had multiple controversies. Despite being the most nominated film this year, it seems to have lost many. Still, Saldaña will not lose this award. Like Culkin, she has won many of the other major awards this year, and with the Oscars always loving to award musical performances and an overall good performance from her, it seems the Oscars will not move away from the grain.
Best Director
Nominees:
Predict to Win: Sean Baker, “Anora”
Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist”
James Mangold, “A Complete Unknown”
Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez”
Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”
“Anora” has been one of the biggest surprises of the year in film with an overall massive success with unknown actors; it did very well at the box office with a twist of a love story. It has been a very appealing film credited well by peers. Baker deserves the award for a unique vision of a movie that was told in such an attractive and enjoyable way.
Best Picture
Nominees:
“Anora”
“The Brutalist”
“A Complete Unknown”
Predict to Win: “Conclave”
“Dune: Part Two”
“Emilia Pérez”
“I’m Still Here”
“Nickel Boys”
“The Substance”
“Wicked”
With Best Picture, there are only three to four films that can realistically win the award, those being “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Emilia Pérez,” and my winner, “Conclave.” The two films I have mentioned have been severely criticized due to the controversy of remarks from the actress in “Emilia Pérez” to “The Brutalist’s” use of AI throughout much of the film; it seems like the Academy would like to avoid such troubles. This leaves us with “Conclave” and “Anora.” “Anora” feels like a film the Academy would not award. It does not seem like an Oscar movie to me but rather just an enjoyable film, whereas “Concalve” is a stellar film that has some iconic drama and has been receiving massive praise. It also fits the mold of an Oscar-winning film. Based on recent years, it seems like it will be the Best Picture winner.
You can see if my predictions come true on ABC on March 2 at 7 pm for one of film’s most iconic nights. You can also see many of these nominated films on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and HBO Max streaming services.
