My way being… weird. It’s not about what I think is the best or what I think is my favorite, but what win would be most beneficial culturally. You’re smart, you’ll figure it out as we go.

I did cut some categories, because I just didn’t have a clue, but I tried to leave as many as possible. Also, I know some of these have basically no chance of winning, but that is not the point.

Actor in a Leading Role

Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle after Another
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent

Fuck Leo for his Zionism, Timmy will get his sooner or later, so why not just try to belong to the international community and give it to the Brazilian guy? This will be a recurring theme.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Benicio Del Toro – One Battle after Another
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo – Sinners
Sean Penn – One Battle after Another
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value

This might be my pettiest pick. Just give it to del Toro to spite Leo and Sean Penn (who is a violent asshole and a weirdo transphobe who’s transphobia seems to come from deep, deep misogyny). I would love to give this to Lindo or Skarsgård but del Toro is a fine choice as an actor as well. His character was much better in the movie than the other two major male characters as well, so he deserves it.

Actress in a Leading Role

Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value
Emma Stone – Bugonia

I’m a big fan of Lanthimos and clearly Stone is a good partner for him. So, maybe we’ll get even more Lanthimos films if she gets an Oscar.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan – Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners
Teyana Taylor – One Battle after Another

This is difficult because I would gladly give the award to any of them. I mean, maybe spite Leo and Penn a little more by giving this to Taylor? But I already did the petty thing, so just to legitimize horror further, Amy Madigan. When was the last time the villain of a horror movie won an Oscar? Anthony Hopkins in the early 90s, maybe (if you count Silence of the Lambs as horror)?

Animated Feature Film

Arco – Ugo Bienvenu, Félix de Givry, Sophie Mas and Natalie Portman
Elio – Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina and Mary Alice Drumm
KPop Demon Hunters – Maggie Kang, Chris Appelhans and Michelle L.M. Wong
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain – Maïlys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago and Henri Magalon
Zootopia 2 – Jared Bush, Byron Howard and Yvett Merino

We are getting to categories that are a bit more difficult, since I haven’t seen that many of these, so I’ll just choose the one I’ve seen. Although, I can also argue for it from other perspectives: One reason to choose KPop Demon Hunters is the legitimization argument. In this case, we are legitimizing another aspect of Korean culture. Does it need it? Not really, but KPop is often seen as like single-use culture. Not having lasting value. Just prove them wrong. Do it. You know you want to. (They probably will.)

Casting

Hamnet – Nina Gold
Marty Supreme – Jennifer Venditti
One Battle after Another – Cassandra Kulukundis
The Secret Agent – Gabriel Domingues
Sinners – Francine Maisler

Another international win. Sadly, I haven’t seen it yet, unlike all the other movies in this category.

Cinematography

Frankenstein – Dan Laustsen
Marty Supreme – Darius Khondji
One Battle after Another – Michael Bauman
Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Train Dreams – Adolpho Veloso

Something I don’t see talked about enough regarding this movie: Shooting scenes with one person playing two characters has it’s challenges, but when those two wrestle, that’s a whole another ballpark and they pulled that off in Sinners. I can’t really say, but I would guess they had to invent new tools to do that.

Costume Design

Avatar: Fire and Ash – Deborah L. Scott
Frankenstein – Kate Hawley
Hamnet – Malgosia Turzanska
Marty Supreme – Miyako Bellizzi
Sinners – Ruth E. Carter

I don’t really have any strong feelings here, but by choosing the Avatar, which is mostly digital, they would be acknowledging not just Scott, but a whole art form.

Directing

Hamnet – Chloé Zhao
Marty Supreme – Josh Safdie
One Battle after Another – Paul Thomas Anderson
Sentimental Value – Joachim Trier
Sinners – Ryan Coogler

Another international choice, although from this point of view, giving Zhao another one would be historic, so you could do that as well.

Documentary Feature Film

The Alabama Solution – Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman
Come See Me in the Good Light – Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro and Stef Willen
Cutting through Rocks – Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
Mr. Nobody against Putin – David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin, Helle Faber and Alžběta Karásková
The Perfect Neighbor – Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu and Sam Bisbee

This was a hard choice, but I went with this one based on this line in the Wikipedia synopsis: “Sara Shahverdi aims to break long-held patriarchal traditions by training teenage girls to ride motorcycles and stopping child marriages.” One might not think letting girls ride motorcycles would be a priority, but then again, there is a strong cultural association between motorcycles and freedom.

Documentary Short Film

All the Empty Rooms – Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones
Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud – Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo
Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” – Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins
The Devil Is Busy – Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir
Perfectly a Strangeness – Alison McAlpine

The last one seems most interesting, but All the Empty Rooms felt like the most important one of these based purely on vibes, although I could find very little information on these.

Film Editing

F1 – Stephen Mirrione
Marty Supreme – Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
One Battle after Another – Andy Jurgensen
Sentimental Value – Olivier Bugge Coutté
Sinners – Michael P. Shawver

Just for the international thing again, but also because the montage at the beginning of the movie was very beautifully done.

International Feature Film

Brazil – The Secret Agent
France – It Was Just an Accident
Norway – Sentimental Value
Spain – Sirāt
Tunisia – The Voice of Hind Rajab

First, Tunisia and Norway have never won this, the others have (France actually has 12 wins, second only to Italy with 14). However, making more people watch The Voice of Hind Rajab is not a bad idea.

Makeup and Hairstyling

Frankenstein – Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey
Kokuho – Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu
Sinners – Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine and Shunika Terry
The Smashing Machine – Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin and Bjoern Rehbein
The Ugly Stepsister – Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg

Two themes converging here: International movies getting more attention and horror being validated. In this case, body horror. I, for one, would buy a new copy of the movie if it had some kind of an Oscar winner sticker on it. (Yes, I already have it on BluRay.)

Music (Original Score)

Bugonia – Jerskin Fendrix
Frankenstein – Alexandre Desplat
Hamnet – Max Richter
One Battle after Another – Jonny Greenwood
Sinners – Ludwig Goransson

Mostly because how important music is for the movie.

Music (Original Song)

Dear Me – from Diane Warren: Relentless; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
Golden – from KPop Demon Hunters; Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park
I Lied To You – from Sinners; Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
Sweet Dreams Of Joy – from Viva Verdi!; Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike
Train Dreams – from Train Dreams; Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave

Considering that this song is the most memorable sequence in a very memorable movie, and the celebration of a continuum of culture instead of a singular moment, this is truly deserving.

Best Picture

Bugonia – Ed Guiney & Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone and Lars Knudsen, Producers
F1 – Chad Oman, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Joseph Kosinski and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
Frankenstein – Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Scott Stuber, Producers
Hamnet – Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, Producers
Marty Supreme – Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Anthony Katagas and Timothée Chalamet, Producers
One Battle after Another – Adam Somner, Sara Murphy and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
The Secret Agent – Emilie Lesclaux, Producer
Sentimental Value – Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Producers
Sinners – Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Ryan Coogler, Producers
Train Dreams – Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer and Michael Heimler, Producers

Comes down to three options for me: Bugonia for the Lanthimos factor, or either The Secret Agent or Sentimental Value for the international factor. So, I’m pulling out another card here: give it to Bugonia for the pure weirdness.

Production Design

Frankenstein – Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
Hamnet – Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
Marty Supreme – Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
One Battle after Another – Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
Sinners – Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne

If you have trouble wrapping your head around this category, I’m with you. However, if you just look at the previous winners, you’ll soon note what this is about: Wicket, Poor Things, All Quiet on the Western Front, Dune. I don’t mean to demean the people behind this, but this seems to be about who has the most movie. Nothing specific, just a superlative. With that in mind, I decided this should be given to the movie who did that with the least amount of money.

Sound

F1-. Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta
Frankenstein . Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke and Brad Zoern
One Battle after Another – José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio and Tony Villaflor
Sinners – Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor and Steve Boeddeker
Sirāt – Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas and Yasmina Praderas

The international factor again. I would also do this because this movie is very fearless in how it uses sound. I mean, the first twenty minutes or so is just pumping techno.

Visual Effects

Avatar: Fire and Ash – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
F1 – Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington and Keith Dawson
Jurassic World Rebirth – David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan and Neil Corbould
The Lost Bus – Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen and Brandon K. McLaughlin
Sinners – Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter and Donnie Dean

I chose this, because I have no idea what it is, which means that they must have made it on a limited budget.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Bugonia – Screenplay by Will Tracy
Frankenstein – Written for the Screen by Guillermo del Toro
Hamnet – Screenplay by Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell
One Battle after Another – Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
Train Dreams – Screenplay by Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Lanthimos factor again.

Writing (Original Screenplay)

Blue Moon – Written by Robert Kaplow
It Was Just an Accident – Written by Jafar Panahi; Script collaborators – Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian
Marty Supreme – Written by Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie
Sentimental Value – Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
Sinners – Written by Ryan Coogler

Sadly, I haven’t seen it yet (it should open here in a few weeks, but I haven’t seen much information on this), so give it to this movie that seems quite important in our times.