Ahead of Sunday’s Academy Awards, members of the Dragon Chronicle Staff are offering their complete list of predictions.
There have been so many great films released this past year, and audiences around the world are excited to find out just how The Academy voted. No two people feel the exact same way about any film, creating a lot of mixed emotions when it comes to predictions and opinions about each category’s outcome.
The two biggest categories of the night are widely believed to be won by Oppenheimer. The three-hour film has swept almost every previous award show this season.
With only one voter swaying from the popular opinion, we think the Academy has probably voted the same way.
The Best Actress award is where there’s so disagreement. Both Lily Gladstone and Emma Stone gave phenomenal performances, and we could totally see each of them up on stage accepting the award. Gladstone took our vote by just 10%, but it wouldn’t be shocking if Stone won Best Actress for the second time. Best Actor is much more agreed upon with Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer himself, expecting his first Oscar win.
Another expected Oppenheimer win is in the Best Supporting Actor category, with Robert Downey Jr. winning our vote. Mark Ruffalo also gave a memorable performance in Poor Things, but we anticipate RDJ to take this one home. Newcomer Da’Vine Joy Randolph is our prediction for Best Supporting Actress, having swept the category so far this Awards season. The Holdovers may just be the underdog of the 2024 Academy Awards.
The Best Screenplay award was another close vote for us, with Anatomy of a Fall winning by a small margin.
As for the Adapted Screenplay award, Barbie is widely believed to have the votes. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach did manage to take the concept of Mattel’s Barbie Doll and turn it into a critically acclaimed film, impactful for women all over the world.
The Animated Feature category is widely accepted by most film snobs (like ourselves) to only be between 2 films. The Boy and the Heron and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are two of the best films from last year. It was a close vote, but our voters chose The Boy and the Heron to win.
Best Original Song, however, was a no-brainer. If Billie Eilish doesn’t win with “What Was I Made For?”, it might be the biggest upset of the night.
Speaking of a sweeping vote, Poor Things is anticipated to take home the award for Costume Design. If you haven’t seem Emma Stone’s outfits in this movie, please do yourself a favor and look at the amazing work of Holly Waddington.
As for Best Production Design, it’s another close call between Barbie and Poor Things. However, Barbie’s Mojo Dojo Casa House may have pushed the film over the edge for the win.
Now, let’s move on to some of our staff’s opinions. Keep in mind, these are not predictions!
Dragon Chronicle Advisor Paul Arras (and “Academy Awards Picks Genius”) says…
The Academy Awards! When the stars come out to shine…myself included, for I am a star Oscar prognosticator! In a strong year from movies, I’m predicting a big night for Oppenheimer…but not TOO big—the hardware will be spread around many deserving films.
The Holdovers might be my favorite in the field, though Giamatti was just Giamatti-ing—I’ve seen his schtick before, but I always like it and I think the Academy will reward his body of work in an upset over Cillian Murphy. Opposite Giamatti, Da’Vine Joy Randolph was my favorite performance of the year, so I’m going with her as the chalk pick at Supporting Actress. No surprise at Best Actor, either, where the Academy can’t help but give the charming RDJ a speech, though I do foresee a mild upset with Emma Stone snagging Best Actress.
Plenty of statues left over for Barbie: I’m going Barbie for Production Design but not Costumes (it’s a tough call, but I think it would be funny if Barbie doesn’t win for clothing). Greta Gerwig does get an Oscar for her Barbie script, so ingeniously constructed to make a fun and successful film out of the iconic toy.
Finally, I want to go on the record that Zone of Interest will win Best Sound over Oppenheimer. The brilliant soundtrack for Oppenheimer was da bomb and will win Best Score, and the sound was also critical to the film. But Zone of Interest only works because of its sound, and the experts who actually vote will recognize that fact. Given this intriguing race, I’m very upset that Best Sound wasn’t included in these picks, and the staff of the Dragon Chronicle will see their grades suffer accordingly
Lifestyles Editor Cecile Lessard says…
This awards season has been a tough one for me. 2023 was such a great year for movies, across so many different genres and audiences. Predictions were easy enough to make, but forming my own opinions has proved much harder.
Oppenheimer feels clear for Best Picture, which I think is totally deserved. Christopher Nolan seems like a shoo-in for Best Director as well. Even though I don’t think Greta Gerwig should win in this category, I truly think she at least deserved a nomination for her direction of Barbie.
The Best Actress category is where things get a little tricky for me because of Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone’s phenomenal work. I would love to see either leading lady take home the award, but I think I’m rooting for Gladstone the tiniest bit more.
For Best Supporting Actress, the only choice is Da’vine Joy Randolph. The main trio in The Holdovers all deserve some recognition for their stellar performances. I’ve been secretly hoping Paul Giamatti takes home Best Actor over the fan-favorite Cillian Murphy. Not that Murphy doesn’t deserve it, but there was just something about Giamatti in The Holdovers that made the movie feel that much more special.
Lastly, even though I’m so looking forward to Ryan Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” at the awards show, Billie Eilish should undoubtedly take home the award for “What Was I Made For?” If Gosling wins over Eilish, we’ll see the plot of the Barbie movie play out in real-time (just as it did when Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig were overlooked in the main categories…)
What Staff Writer Mickey Corey says…
The Oscars this year will certainly be interesting. This is by far one of the greatest sets of best picture nominees in the last few years in my opinion, with a wide variety of genres and performances.
Oppenheimer is going to be the biggest star of the night with, in my opinion, guarantees for Best Picture, Director Christopher Nolan, and Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr. I also suspect wins in Best Score and Cinematography. I was really hoping for Robert De Niro or Mark Ruffalo to make a bigger splash in the supporting actor race, as I believe they are more deserving of a win, but RDJ is a beloved name in Hollywood and his career arc and story are far too good for voters to pass up.
The Best Actress and Best Actor race is where things really get interesting. I suspect a win for Cillian Murphy slightly edging out Paul Giamatti. While Giamatti gave one of my favorite lead actor performances this year, excluding the snubbed Leonardo DiCaprio, I wouldn’t be mad to see Murphy snag the statue. Best Actress is going to go to Lily Gladstone. Though I adored both her and Emma Stone’s performances this year, I think a voter split between Stone and international voters going for the fantastic Sandra Huller will leave Gladstone, deservingly, with the Oscar.
In terms of screenplay, I see American Fiction taking Best Adapted and Anatomy of a Fall for Best Original. I would’ve liked to see the snubbed Killers of the Flower Moon nominated in adapted, and the nominated Poor Things have a stronger presence in the same category, but I still really like these wins.
I see both production design and costume design going to my favorite film of the year, Poor Things. I also see hair and make-up giving Maestro its only win of the night, and Best Original Song giving Barbie her only win of the night.
I also believe that Best Animated will go to The Boy and The Heron, but I could also see Spider-Man taking it. As for Best International Feature, I think that The Zone of Interest is a lock. France severely underestimated Anatomy of a Fall and made a mistake choosing another film to represent them this year, as it would have won had it been nominated. I am happy for their mistake, however, and see The Zone of Interest leaving with both Best International Feature and Best Sound.
What Assistant Opinions Editor Andrew Oliva says…
Ah, the Oscars, the award show that keeps Jimmy Kimmel’s bills paid. I am unfortunately expecting a pretty straightforward show this year. I miss it when the Oscars had a sense of mystery going on, but this year definitely feels very predictable except for a few categories. I doubt there’s going to be any big shockers this year, but we can only wait and see.
Starting with Best Picture, Oppenheimer is definitely winning, but in an alternate universe, Past Lives would be taking home the award. Past Lives should have been nominated for many more categories than it was, including Best Director and Best Actress. This is not to say Oppenheimer is undeserving of any of the awards it wins, quite the opposite, but I just enjoyed a few other films more.
Now to Best Animated Feature which is basically a war between Miyazaki and Spider-Man. This category is definitely complicated. Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and The Heron is a very personal and emotional film about death and existence and on the other hand, you have Spider-Man which continues to push the boundaries of animation. I won’t be upset if Spider-Man wins, but there will be a deep hole of despair and despondency in my chest if The Boy and The Heron loses. Then you have poor Nimona in the corner watching innocently as these two beasts battle it out to the death. Man, what if Nimona won? I would not be opposed to the idea.
The acting categories seem pretty straightforward to me except for Best Actress which could go either way. Emma Stone is fantastic in Poor Things, but Lily Gladstone’s performance felt like it ascended the boundaries of this universe, and I think that’s deserving of an Oscar. RDJ is winning Best Supporting Actor, but I kind of want Ryan Gosling to win just because it would be funny.
If Billie Eilish does not win Best Original Song for “What Was I Made For,” I am never watching the Oscars again (This is a big lie. Do not take anything I say seriously).
My prediction for the screenplay awards is that Anatomy of a Fall will win Original Screenplay and Oppenheimer will win Adapted Screenplay. I would love to see Barbie win, but I think Oppenheimer has more of a chance.