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    Fearless Oscar Predictions, 2022

    by Hope Madden and George Wolf

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    It was a short year. It didn’t feel short, but in Oscar terms, it was unusually brief. In 2020, the Academy extended the awards window to make up for the fact that so few films were distributed during the beginning of the pandemic. Fair enough, but that meant the window for 2021 films was only nine months long.

    Plus, because the industry still hasn’t fully recovered, fewer films were released than had been between the months of March and December in pre-pandemic years. However you count it, the Academy had far fewer films to choose from than normal.

    Still, some great movies emerged, and they generated some great Oscar nominations. Here’s who we think will take home gold.

    Best Film

    Nominees

    • Belfast
    • CODA
    • Don’t Look Up
    • Drive My Car
    • Dune
    • King Richard
    • Licorice Pizza
    • Nightmare Alley
    • The Power of the Dog
    • West Side Story

    Should Win

    Hope: Licorice Pizza
    George: West Side Story

    Will Win

    Hope: CODA
    George: The Power of the Dog

    Best Director

    Nominees

    • Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
    • Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
    • Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
    • Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
    • Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

    Should Win

    Jane Campion

    Will Win

    Jane Campion

    Best Actress

    Nominees

    • Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
    • Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
    • Penelope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
    • Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
    • Kristen Stewart, Spencer

    Should Win

    Jessica Chastain

    Will Win

    Jessica Chastain

    Best Actor

    Nominees

    • Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
    • Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
    • Andrew Garfield, Tick…Tick…Boom!
    • Will Smith, King Richard
    • Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

    Should Win

    Benedict Cumberbatch

    Will Win

    Will Smith

    Best Supporting Actor

    Nominees

    • Ciarán Hinds, Belfast
    • Troy Kotsur, CODA
    • Jesse Plemons, The Power of the Dog
    • J.K. Simmons, Being the Ricardos
    • Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

    Should Win

    Kodi Smit-McFee

    Will Win

    Troy Kostur

    Best Supporting Actress

    Nominees

    • Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
    • Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
    • Judi Dench, Belfast
    • Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
    • Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

    Should Win

    Kirsten Dunst

    Will Win

    Ariana DeBose

    Best Animated Feature

    Nominees

    • Encanto
    • Flee
    • Luca
    • The Mitchells vs. The Machines
    • Raya and the Last Dragon

    Should Win

    Flee

    Will Win

    Encanto

    Best Documentary

    Nominees

    • Ascension
    • Attica
    • Flee
    • Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
    • Writing with Fire

    Should Win

    Flee or Summer of Soul

    Will Win

    Summer of Soul

    Best International Film

    Nominees

    • Drive My Car, Japan
    • Flee, Denmark
    • Hand of God, Italy
    • Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Bhutan
    • The Worst Person in the World, Norway

    Should Win

    Drive My Car

    Will Win

    Drive My Car

    Best Adapted Screenplay

    Nominees

    • CODA
    • Drive My Car
    • Dune
    • The Lost Daughter
    • The Power of the Dog

    Should Win

    The Power of the Dog

    Will Win

    The Power of the Dog

    Best Original Screenplay

    Nominees

    • Belfast
    • Don’t Look Up
    • King Richard
    • Licorice Pizza
    • The Worst Person in the World

    Should Win

    Licorice Pizza

    Will Win

    Licorice Pizza (although we wouldn’t count out Don’t Look Up)

    Best Original Song

    • “No Time to Die” from No Time to Die
    • “Dos Oruguitas”from Encanto
    • “Down to Joy” from Belfast
    • “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days
    • “Be Alive” from King Richard

    Should Win

    “Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up (but it wasn’t even nominated, so seems pretty unlikely…)

    Will Win

    “Dos Oruguitas”

    Catch the 94th Academy Awards March 27 on ABC.

    Catch Hope and George each week for a rundown of new movie reviews on THE SCREENING ROOM PODCAST.

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    Hope Madden
    Hope Maddenhttps://columbusunderground.com
    Hope Madden is a freelance contributor on Columbus Underground who covers the independent film scene, writes film reviews and previews film events.
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