November 2021
I have now caught up with a lot of the movies vying for Oscar glory (believe me, no one will ever see ALL the potential nominees in any given year), and I still more to watch (as of this writing, I finally watched “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” released earlier this year). The clue to accurate predicting of the Oscars is to not let your personal opinions color your Oscar prognostications. Let’s take “Tammy Faye,” the film is a pretty standard biopic, but after watching the movie, I could tell that Jessica Chastain has a pretty good chance with the acting branch. It’s the kind of performance that critics may dismiss but the Academy embraces, similar to say Rene Zellwegger in “Judy” or Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
With that in mind, let’s see where we are with the state of the race at the end of November.
Best Picture
The French Dispatch (c) Searchlight Pictures
Frontrunners:
Being the Ricardos
Belfast
CODA
Dune
The French Dispatch
The Green Knight
King Richard
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Possibilities:
C'mon C'mon
The Hand of God
Licorice Pizza
The Lost Daughter
Nightmare Alley
Parallel Mothers
Passing
Spencer
tick, tick…Boom!
Titane
Give Some Love to:
Encanto
In the Heights
Swan Song
Best Actor
tick, tick...Boom! (c) Netflix
Frontrunners:
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
Possibilities:
Mahershala Ali – Swan Song
Jude Hill – Belfast
Michael Keaton - Worth
Dev Patel – The Green Knight
Joaquin Phoenix – C'mon C'mon
Give Some Love to:
Peter Dinklage – Cyrano
Oscar Issac – The Card Counter
Simon Rex – Red Rocket
Best Actress
Being the Ricardos (c) Amazon Prime
Frontrunners:
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter
Jennifer Hudson – Respect
Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart – Spencer
Possibilities:
Halle Berry - Bruised
Penélope Cruz – Parallel Mothers
Lady Gaga – House of Gucci
Frances McDormand – The Tragedy of Macbeth
Tessa Thompson – Passing
Give Some Love to:
Cate Blanchett – Nightmare Alley
Emilia Jones – CODA
Renate Runsve – The Worst Person in the World
Best Supporting Actor
The Power of the Dog (c) Netflix
Frontrunners:
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
Possibilities:
Jon Berenthal – King Richard
Corey Hawkins – The Tragedy of Macbeth
Jared Leto – House of Gucci
Timothy Spall - Spencer
Jeffrey Wright – The French Dispatch
Give Some Love to:
Ben Affleck – The Tender Bar
Reed Birney – Mass
Stanley Tucci – Worth
Best Supporting Actress
King Richard (c) Warner Bros
Frontrunners:
Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog
Judi Dench – Belfast
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
Marlee Matlin – CODA
Ruth Negga – Passing
Possibilities:
Caitriona Balfe – Belfast
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story
Ann Dowd – Mass
Sally Hawkins – Spencer
Jayne Houdyshell – The Humans
Give Some Love to:
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Rooney Mara – Nightmare Alley
Olga Merediz – In the Heights
Best Director
Parallel Mothers (c) Sony Pictures Classics
Frontrunners:
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog
David Lowery – The Green Knight
Steven Spielberg – West Side Story
Denis Villeneuve – Dune
Possibilities:
Pedro Almodóvar – Parallel Mothers
Wes Anderson – The French Dispatch
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Guillermo del Toro – Nightmare Alley
Reinaldo Marcus Green – King Richard
Give Some Love to:
Julia Ducournau – Titane
Lin-Manuel Miranda – tick, tick…Boom!
Aaron Sorkin – Being the Ricardos
Best Original Screenplay
C'mon C'mon (c) A24
Frontrunners:
Belfast – Kenneth Branagh
C'mon C'mon – Mike Mills
King Richard – Zach Baylin
Licorice Pizza – Paul Thomas Anderson
Parallel Mothers – Pedro Almodóvar
Possibilities:
Being the Ricardos - Aaron Sorkin
Bergman Island – Mia Hansen-Løve
The French Dispatch - Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, Roman Coppola
A Hero – Asghar Farhadi
Titane – Julia Ducournau
Give Some Love to:
Luca – Enrico Casarosa, Jesse Andrews, Simons Stephenson
Red Rocket – Sean Baker
Spencer – Steven Knight
Best Adapted Screenplay
CODA (c) Apple TV+
Frontrunners:
The Green Knight – David Lowery
The Lost Daughter – Maggie Gyllenhaal
Nightmare Alley – Guillermo del Toro, Kim Morgan
The Power of the Dog – Jane Campion
West Side Story – Tony Kushner
Possibilities:
CODA – Siân Heder
Dune – Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth
Passing – Rebecca Hall
tick, tick…Boom! – Steven Levenson
Worth – Max Borenstein
Give Some Love to:
The Humans – Stephen Karam
The Tender Bar – William Monaham
The Tragedy of Macbeth – Joel Coen
If you want to comment on this article, please do so on my Instagram account. All articles have their own post. And please follow to know when new reviews are released.