“Get Elvis Presley’s name out of your mouth!”: My Picks & Predictions for the 2023 Academy Awards
(Photo/The Guardian)
It was the slap heard around the world.
But it’ll take a little more than a bandaid to patch up the rise and fall of The Academy Awards.
Can’t you take a G.I. Jane joke, Will?! It’s been almost a year since the slap heard around the world— and no, I’m not talking about Will Smith’s controversial altercation with comedian Chris Rock. We ALL know that several worthy nominees were robbed of that Best Actor award in 2022 due to nepotism and Hollywood bribery, but I digress— maybe 2023 will prove to be the year of redemption (that is, if certain “Susicious Minds” don’t get in the way of it— I’m looking at you, Austin Butler).
Before we dive into my opinions, I first want to differentiate a “pick” versus a “prediction”. There are always the candidates that may not necessarily perform up to the standards that the Academy are looking for, but in all of our hearts, are deserving of that little golden man more than anyone in the audience: this is called a “pick”. A “prediction” is who you think will take home the award, despite their acting ability and/or performance in their respective film. I wanted to put this disclaimer out there because as you will notice, many of my predictions for the 2023 Oscars do not reflect my true opinions, but rather, who I anticipate the Academy will choose (and trust me, we cannot get those twisted). Here are my picks and predictions for the shindig that will become of the 2023 Oscars:
Actor in a Leading Role
AUSTIN BUTLER
Elvis
COLIN FARRELL
The Banshees of Inisherin
BRENDAN FRASER
The Whale
PAUL MESCAL
Aftersun
BILL NIGHY
Living
My Pick: BRENDAN FRASER
My Prediction: BRENDAN FRASER
Actor in a Supporting Role
BRENDAN GLEESON
The Banshees of Inisherin
BRIAN TYREE HENRY
Causeway
JUDD HIRSCH
The Fabelmans
BARRY KEOGHAN
The Banshees of Inisherin
KE HUY QUAN
Everything Everywhere All at Once
My Pick: BRENDAN GLEESON
My Prediction: KE HUY QUAN
Actress in a Leading Role
CATE BLANCHETT
Tár
ANA DE ARMAS
Blonde
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH
To Leslie
MICHELLE WILLIAMS
The Fabelmans
MICHELLE YEOH
Everything Everywhere All at Once
My Pick: MICHELLE YEOH
My Prediction: MICHELLE YEOH
Actress in a Supporting Role
ANGELA BASSETT
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
HONG CHAU
The Whale
KERRY CONDON
The Banshees of Inisherin
JAMIE LEE CURTIS
Everything Everywhere All at Once
STEPHANIE HSU
Everything Everywhere All at Once
My Pick: HONG CHAU
My Prediction: STEPHANIE HSU
Animated Feature Film
GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO
Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey
PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH
Joel Crawford and Mark Swift
THE SEA BEAST
Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger
TURNING RED
Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins
My Pick: MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
My Prediction: GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO
Cinematography
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
James Friend
BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS
Darius Khondji
ELVIS
Mandy Walker
EMPIRE OF LIGHT
Roger Deakins
TÁR
Florian Hoffmeister
My Pick: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
My Prediction: ELVIS
Costume Design
BABYLON
Mary Zophres
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Ruth Carter
ELVIS
Catherine Martin
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Shirley Kurata
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS
Jenny Beavan
My Pick: BABYLON
My Prediction: BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Directing
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Martin McDonagh
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
THE FABELMANS
Steven Spielberg
TÁR
Todd Field
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
Ruben Östlund
My Pick: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
My Prediction: THE FABELMANS
Film Editing
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
ELVIS
Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Paul Rogers
TÁR
Monika Willi
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Eddie Hamilton
My Pick: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
My Prediction: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Makeup and Hairstyling
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová
THE BATMAN
Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Camille Friend and Joel Harlow
ELVIS
Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti
THE WHALE
Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley
My Pick: THE WHALE
My Prediction: ELVIS
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Screenplay - Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY
Written by Rian Johnson
LIVING
Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
WOMEN TALKING
Screenplay by Sarah Polley
My Pick: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
My Prediction: GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY
Music (Original Score)
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Volker Bertelmann
BABYLON
Justin Hurwitz
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Carter Burwell
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Son Lux
THE FABELMANS
John Williams
My Pick: THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
My Prediction: ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Best Picture
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Malte Grunert, Producer
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
ELVIS
Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers
THE FABELMANS
Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers
TÁR
Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers
WOMEN TALKING
Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers
My Pick: EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
My Prediction: AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
For the full list of nominees from past years of The Oscars, you can visit https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2023. This article is not affiliated with the Academy nor the Oscars.