The 2023 Academy Awards are rapidly approaching, as they will be aired on March 12th. As such, it becomes tradition each year to predict the winners and inevitably get them correct. 

The Oscars have become a bit monotonous recently, as most of the winners are spoiled through other award shows such as the Golden Globes, or Screen Actor Guild awards. 

However, this year is a bit different. For the first time in a very long time, there is no clear indicator on who the winners will be. Jamie Lee Curtis recently won Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which was a complete shock to everyone predicting Angela Bassett. 

Subsequently, the race for Best Actress was thrown into turmoil when Andrea Riseborough was nominated for To Leslie, which was seen as an utterly left-field pick. 

To summarize, this year’s “Oscar Race” has been chaotic. It has been a long time since there have been so many frontrunners in categories such as Best Picture, so predicting these categories for once was tremendously difficult…but I did it anyway. 

To be clear, these picks are not necessarily what I want to win but rather what I think will win. I am something of a person with too much free time, so I often browse a lot of different award show winners and these are just the picks I feel are most realistic. If it were up to me in terms of winners, Pearl would’ve won every category. 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS – AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

This is potentially the easiest category to predict, simply due to the narrative. Considering Avatar: The Way of Water invented underwater motion capture in order to achieve its breathtaking visual effects, it is a no-brainer that it wins Best Visual Effects. The competition simply is not fierce enough. 

BEST FILM EDITING – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

I feel the only real risk Everything Everywhere All at Once has in this category is Elvis. Both have been endlessly praised for their insanely quick and erratic editing, however, in terms of award season, this film has scored most of the editing awards. It recently won a British Film Academy Award (BAFTA), as well as a Critic’s Choice Award for editing which I feel adds credence to the idea of this film also winning the Oscar. 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

This is considered a bit of a “left-field” pick. For some, the clear winner in this category is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. However, I feel that EEAAO’s recent wins at the Costume Designer Guild Awards and the Critic Choice Awards in this category help solidify it as the front winner for the Academy Award for Costume Design. 

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING – ELVIS

Elvis has been absolutely sweeping the Hairstyling awards this season, and for good reason. Though Butler’s performance is unforgettable, there’s something to be said about the look and vibe of Presley that was enunciated by the makeup on Butler. I would say The Whale also has a moderate shot at this category but I believe if Elvis is going home with any award, it is this one. 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

For me personally, I would choose Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths for Best Cinematography. That film looked absolutely blissful in just about every moment. However, All Quiet on the Western Front is poised to win after its BAFTA win. Cinematography had a great year in general in 2022, as a multitude of films boasted wonderful framing and composition. If it were up to me, the nominees would be completely different. The cinematography in Aftersun, Babylon, Banshees of Inisherin, Decision to Leave, The Eternal Daughter, X, amongst others, deserve to be recognized but for what it is worth: the ones nominated here are not too bad. 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER

This year, Production Design proved to be one of the hardest categories to predict. This is simply because winners have fluctuated so frequently, this is why this season has been so tense. The frontrunner seemed to be Everything Everywhere All at Once but it is not even nominated, so I feel like there is credence in The Way of Water taking this. Considering 2009’s Avatar also won Production Design, I feel as if the Academy is not a stranger to awarding the sequel the same thing. 

BEST SOUND – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

If I am being honest, this is a total guess. I do not have a constructed argument, I just feel that the Academy will give the war film Best Sound simply because…they always tend to give the war film Best Sound. Top Gun: Maverick could potentially win this, same with Elvis, but I feel like All Quiet has the highest chance. But, it is not like this movie does not deserve it, the sound is incredibly crisp in that film. 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – BABYLON

Babylon was one of my favorite films of last year, and though it is extremely divisive there is unanimous praise towards the film’s soundtrack composed by Justin Hurwitz. It is one of the most bombastic soundtracks I think I ever heard, and solidifies Babylon’s denial to be slow or precise. It chooses to be an extremely messy film, and the soundtrack ignites this interest with a complete clash of instruments. Considering Hurwitz has been awarded endlessly for this soundtrack, I have no doubt that he will receive his third Academy Award with Babylon. (Side Note: to have 3 academy awards before the age of 40 is absolute insanity.)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

General rule of thumb, if an international film in this category is also nominated for Best Picture, that is the one that is going to win. 

BEST ANIMATED FILM – GUILLERMO DEL TORO’S PINOCCHIO

With the recent appraisal, I honestly think Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has an opportunity to steal this award at the last second. However, considering the talent behind it, I still believe Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinnochio is pinned to win this category. I think it absolutely deserves it too, Del Toro’s rendition of the classic tale is one of the best adaptations of the iconic story in some time.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT

I was torn between this and Women Talking, but with the recent appraisal of All Quiet on the Western Front, it is positioned to win. There is one thing I will say with confidence: if Top Gun: Maverick wins Best Adapted Screenplay I am suing everyone at the Academy. 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

This is also considered a bit of an unpopular pick. From my personal discussions, the popular choice in this category is (once again) Everything Everywhere All at Once. However, I think the Academy wouldn’t let Martin McDonagh leave without something in his hand, and the screenplay of Banshees of Inisherin is confidently the best part of the film. Considering it has also won the Screenplay award at the Golden Globes, I am confident Banshees of Inisherin will win in this category. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – ANGELA BASSETT

Despite Jamie Lee Curtis’ shocking win at the Screen Actor Guild Awards, I still think Angela Bassett has no major competition in this category. A part of me feels as if Kerry Condon has a slight chance of stealing the award (and honestly I wouldn’t be upset with that) but I think Bassett is a confident choice. 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – KE HUY QUAN

This is the only category in which I think there is no argument to be had. Huy Quan has swept just about every Supporting Actor category besides the BAFTA Awards, and everyone is rooting for him to win the Academy Award. The choice is quite obvious. 

BEST ACTOR – BRENDAN FRASER

Believe it or not, I am not super passionate about the Oscars. I like discussing them, but I am not outwardly passionate about any specific category. If I were to get all of these wrong, I would not be in a dampened mood. However, this one I’m passionate about. I will be decently upset if Fraser does not win. That is not to say Colin Farrell or Paul Mescal don’t deserve it, I would actually be pretty joyous if Mescal specifically won for Aftersun, but Fraser’s performance in The Whale made me feel things I haven’t felt in quite some time. It was a performance that absolutely defined the film more than any other performance nominated this year. Not to mention, the amount of turmoil Fraser has been through to get to this point. There is nothing that can convince me that Fraser does not deserve Best Actor. 

BEST ACTRESS – CATE BLANCHETT

It is a tight race between Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh for Best Actress, but I am still leaning on Blanchett for this category. I would be really happy if Yeoh wins, or even Michelle Williams, but Blanchett seems more likely to win this year. She has a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award under her belt, and she has been a critical darling for Academy Awards since the 2000s. I will reiterate, Michelle Yeoh could absolutely still win this but something feels likely about Blanchett walking away with her third Oscar. 

BEST DIRECTOR – STEVEN SPIELBERG 

I am a little upset that The Fabelmans will not get much love this year, despite how cheesy it is. Spielberg’s emotional pseudo-autobiographical film is something that he has been hinting at for quite some time, and something that he has poured so much love and effort into. Other likely contenders include Daniel Kwan and Sceinert for Everything Everywhere All at Once, which I admit is very likely but I feel like this is most likely Spielberg’s last Oscar nomination and the Academy would want to give him one last showcase of admiration before he goes. Not to mention, he actually deserves it for this film. 

BEST PICTURE – EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

It is a rare instance where the most popular film is also poised to win Best Picture. Personally, I would’ve chosen Triangle of Sadness or Tár to win but Everything Everywhere All at Once has absolutely swept most of the Best Picture categories throughout several other award shows. At first, I was confident that The Fabelmans would most likely win but after the amount of praise this film has received, I have a change of heart and am now very positive about EEAAO winning Best Picture. 

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