BOOM! Predicting Some Poor Gold Things This Tuesday Morning
There’s little doubt that Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece Oppenheimer is going to lead the pack when the Oscar nominations are announced this Tuesday, Jan. 23. The question is, wait for it, how much of an impact it’s going to make. It’s obviously going to score nods for Picture, Lead Actor (Cillian Murphy), Supporting Actor and Actress (respectively Robert Downey, Jr. and Emily Blunt), Director (Nolan), Cinematography, Score and a boatload of technical nominations, but it’ll be interesting to see if any outside-the-box picks get thrown in. I’m talking to you Matt Damon and Florence Pugh.
Aside from Oppenheimer, critic darlings like Poor Things, Barbie, The Holdovers, and Killers of the Flower Moon should all resonate but I’m hoping films that haven’t been shown any love at all sneak in. Zac Efron demands attention for The Iron Claw. I feel like no one saw The Creator but me. Barry Keoghan is a revelation in Saltburn as is Jacob Elordi but I simply don’t see them landing nods here. Ditto for Dominic Sessa’s starmaking turn in The Holdovers or Matt Damon or Viola Davis for Air. As a matter of fact, if Air was released in December I think we’d be talking about it a lot more. Anyway, blah blah blah, here’s my attempts at where the nominations will go…
Best Picture
American Fiction
Barbie
The Holdovers
Poor Things
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
The Color Purple
Maestro
Past Lives
The Zone of Interest
Possible Upset
Anatomy of a Fall or Saltburn could quite easily displace The Color Purple. I’m going out on a limb on this one because no one is reading this but me.
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper — Maestro
Colman Domingo — Rustin
Paul Giamatti — The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy — Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright — American Fiction
Possible Upset
Keoghan ousts Wright or Leonardo DiCaprio slides in for Killers of the Flower Moon.
Best Actress
Lily Gladstone — Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller — Anatomy of a Fall
Emma Stone — Poor Things
Margot Robbie — Barbie
Carey Mulligan — Maestro
Possible Upset
Don’t count on it but Annette Bening of Nyad or Fantasia Barrino for The Color Purple could displace Hüller.
Supporting Actress
Da’Vine Joy Randolph — The Holdovers
Rosamund Pike — Saltburn
Emily Blunt — Oppenheimer
Penelope Cruz — Ferrari
Danielle Brooks — The Color Purple
Possible Upset
I could easily see Jodie Foster getting a nod for Nyad. It’s been quite awhile since she’s been nominated and she could slide in for Pike or Cruze.
Supporting Actor
Robert De Niro — Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr. — Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling — Barbie
Paul Mescal — All of Us Strangers
Sterling K. Brown — American Fiction
Possible Upset
Few are predicting Mescal but I think he slides in place of Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe for Poor Things though either or both could take slots here.
Best Director
Jonathan Glazer — The Zone of Interest
Christopher Nolan — Oppenheimer
Alexander Payne — The Holdovers
Martin Scorsese — Killers of the Flower Moon
Yorgos Lanthimos — Poor Things
Possible Upset
Barbie’s Greta Gerwig or Andrew Haigh could slide in for All of Us Strangers. I think Bradley Cooper is going to get snubbed for Maestro. For some reason, the Academy hates him despite him have a billion nominations.
