My 2021 Oscar Predictions
The 93rd Oscars: 2021
Wendy’s Predictions
And then I’ll come back after the awards ceremony and post how I did…
(Even though, in this crappy quarantine year, I hardly saw any movies)
Best Picture
THE FATHER
David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers
MANK
Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
MINARI
Christina Oh, Producer
NOMADLAND
Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers
SOUND OF METAL
Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers
Who should win: NOMADLAND, for its consistent if low key tone & use of nonactors
Who will win: Probably THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 will sweep many categories
Who won: NOMADLAND
Actor in a Leading Role
Riz Ahmed in SOUND OF METAL
Chadwick Boseman in MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Anthony Hopkins in THE FATHER
Gary Oldman in MANK
Steven Yeun in MINARI
Who should win: Chadwick Bozeman (so sad he’s gone)
Who will win: They’ll do the right thing: Bozeman
Who won: Anthony Hopkins, WTH?? Everybody assumed it was going to Bozeman; the end of the awards ceremony was weird & flat because of it & because Hopkins didn't send anyone to accept for him
Actor in a Supporting Role
Sacha Baron Cohen in THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Daniel Kaluuya in JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Leslie Odom, Jr. in ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI...
Paul Raci in SOUND OF METAL
Lakeith Stanfield in JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Who should win: Either of the amazing actors from JUDAS…
Who will win: One of the two actors from JUDAS…
Who won: Daniel Kaluuya from JUDAS, yep
Actress in a Leading Role
Viola Davis in MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Andra Day in THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY
Vanessa Kirby in PIECES OF A WOMAN
Frances McDormand in NOMADLAND
Carey Mulligan in PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Who should win: While the plot was lame, Carey Mulligan did a great job in that movie
Who will win: Frances McDormand is almost certain
Who won: Frances McDormand, yep
Actress in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova in BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM: DELIVERY OF PRODIGIOUS BRIBE TO AMERICAN REGIME FOR MAKE BENEFIT ONCE GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
Glenn Close in HILLBILLY ELEGY
Olivia Colman in THE FATHER
Amanda Seyfried in MANK
Yuh-Jung Youn in MINARI
Who should win: Maria Bakalova played a female Borat & pranked Giuliani IRL
Who will win: Expecting the well-respected Olivia Colman
Who won: Surprise! It was the Korean Grandma played by Yuh-Jung Youn & she was so witty!
Animated Feature Film
ONWARD
Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae
OVER THE MOON
Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou
A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON
Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley
SOUL
Pete Docter and Dana Murray
WOLFWALKERS
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants
Who should win: Was intrigued with Celtic tone & art of WOLFWAKERS
Who will win: SOUL, for sure, because it’s Pixar and it’s got a PoC & great music
Who won: SOUL, which has captured all the awards...
Cinematography
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH - Sean Bobbitt
MANK - Erik Messerschmidt
NEWS OF THE WORLD - Dariusz Wolski
NOMADLAND - Joshua James Richards
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 - Phedon Papamichael
Who should win: NEWS OF THE WORLD with its wonderful central Texas landscape
Who will win: MANK because it’s arty b&w
Who won: MANK, I called it
Costume Design
EMMA - Alexandra Byrne
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM - Ann Roth
MANK - Trish Summerville
MULAN - Bina Daigeler
PINOCCHIO - Massimo Cantini Parrini
Who will win: EMMA is the only one for which I saw articles about the clothes (but the same Taylor-Joy actress in QUEEN’S GAMBIT wore amazing period outfits that developed her character arc, though no noms)
Who won: Ann Roth for MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Directing
ANOTHER ROUND - Thomas Vinterberg
MANK - David Fincher
MINARI - Lee Isaac Chung
NOMADLAND - Chloé Zhao
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN - Emerald Fennell
Who should win: Chloe Zhao
Who will win: Chloe Zhao
Who won: Chloe Zhao
Documentary (Feature)
COLLECTIVE
Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
CRIP CAMP
Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
THE MOLE AGENT
Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER
Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
TIME
Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn
Who should win: OCTOPUS
Who will win: CRIP CAMP because it’s got mobility challenged kids
Who won: MY OCTOPUS TEACHER, which made me cry
Film Editing
THE FATHER - Yorgos Lamprinos
NOMADLAND - Chloé Zhao
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN - Frédéric Thoraval
SOUND OF METAL - Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 - Alan Baumgarten
Who should win: Chicago 7 had multiple protags, timelines overlapping; people cheer this story
Who will win: Chicago 7
Who won: SOUND OF METAL, which I know nothing about!
Makeup and Hairstyling
EMMA
Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze
HILLBILLY ELEGY
Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson
MANK
Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff
PINOCCHIO
Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti
Who should win: EMMA did have good Regency hair, clothes, bonnets
Who will win: MANK because Hollywood loves Hollywood glamour
Who won: MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, which was the period piece combined with PoC
Music (Original Score)
DA 5 BLOODS - Terence Blanchard
MANK - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
MINARI - Emile Mosseri
NEWS OF THE WORLD - James Newton Howard
SOUL - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
Who Should Win: SOUL (but, OMG, NIN Trent Reznor did MANK??)
Who Will Win: SOUL
Who won: SOUL, it was a lock
Production Design
THE FATHER
Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara and Diana Stoughton
MANK
Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
NEWS OF THE WORLD
Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan
TENET
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
Who should win: TENET
Who will win: TENET, because the backwards time laps is the whole reason for that movie…
Who won: MANK, because it's a period piece + about Hollywood
Sound
GREYHOUND
Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman
MANK
Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin
NEWS OF THE WORLD
Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett
SOUL
Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
SOUND OF METAL
Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh
Who should win: SOUL, for its music and its sound
Who will win: MANK maybe
Who won: SOUND OF METAL, again, I don't know about this one
Visual Effects
LOVE AND MONSTERS
Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox
THE MIDNIGHT SKY
Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins
MULAN
Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram
THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN
Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez
TENET
Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher
Who should win: TENET
Who will win: TENET, again, backwards time laps …
Who won: TENET, like I said
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM: DELIVERY OF PRODIGIOUS BRIBE TO AMERICAN REGIME FOR MAKE BENEFIT ONCE GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad
THE FATHER
Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller
NOMADLAND
Written for the screen by Chloé Zhao
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI...
Screenplay by Kemp Powers
THE WHITE TIGER
Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani
Who should win: I would say NOMADLAND, but Zhao didn’t write so much as record ad-libbed dialog in many places
Who will win: ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI, which I think is good as it’s a vivid combination of real and narrative for Black history
Who Won: THE FATHER, mehhh
Writing (Original Screenplay)
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King; Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas
MINARI - Written by Lee Isaac Chung
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN - Written by Emerald Fennell
SOUND OF METAL - Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 - Written by Aaron Sorkin
Who should win: The group who wrote JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (and they will if this year’s voters are woke)
Who will win: Aaron Sorkin gets all the writing awards, and at least this was about a woke topic
Who won: Wow, it was Emerald Fennell, who is also an actress & was filming THE CROWN at the time she was writing this!
Wendy’s Predictions
And then I’ll come back after the awards ceremony and post how I did…
(Even though, in this crappy quarantine year, I hardly saw any movies)
Best Picture
THE FATHER
David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers
MANK
Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
MINARI
Christina Oh, Producer
NOMADLAND
Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers
SOUND OF METAL
Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers
Who should win: NOMADLAND, for its consistent if low key tone & use of nonactors
Who will win: Probably THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 will sweep many categories
Who won: NOMADLAND
Actor in a Leading Role
Riz Ahmed in SOUND OF METAL
Chadwick Boseman in MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Anthony Hopkins in THE FATHER
Gary Oldman in MANK
Steven Yeun in MINARI
Who should win: Chadwick Bozeman (so sad he’s gone)
Who will win: They’ll do the right thing: Bozeman
Who won: Anthony Hopkins, WTH?? Everybody assumed it was going to Bozeman; the end of the awards ceremony was weird & flat because of it & because Hopkins didn't send anyone to accept for him
Actor in a Supporting Role
Sacha Baron Cohen in THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Daniel Kaluuya in JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Leslie Odom, Jr. in ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI...
Paul Raci in SOUND OF METAL
Lakeith Stanfield in JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Who should win: Either of the amazing actors from JUDAS…
Who will win: One of the two actors from JUDAS…
Who won: Daniel Kaluuya from JUDAS, yep
Actress in a Leading Role
Viola Davis in MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Andra Day in THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY
Vanessa Kirby in PIECES OF A WOMAN
Frances McDormand in NOMADLAND
Carey Mulligan in PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Who should win: While the plot was lame, Carey Mulligan did a great job in that movie
Who will win: Frances McDormand is almost certain
Who won: Frances McDormand, yep
Actress in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova in BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM: DELIVERY OF PRODIGIOUS BRIBE TO AMERICAN REGIME FOR MAKE BENEFIT ONCE GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
Glenn Close in HILLBILLY ELEGY
Olivia Colman in THE FATHER
Amanda Seyfried in MANK
Yuh-Jung Youn in MINARI
Who should win: Maria Bakalova played a female Borat & pranked Giuliani IRL
Who will win: Expecting the well-respected Olivia Colman
Who won: Surprise! It was the Korean Grandma played by Yuh-Jung Youn & she was so witty!
Animated Feature Film
ONWARD
Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae
OVER THE MOON
Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou
A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON
Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley
SOUL
Pete Docter and Dana Murray
WOLFWALKERS
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants
Who should win: Was intrigued with Celtic tone & art of WOLFWAKERS
Who will win: SOUL, for sure, because it’s Pixar and it’s got a PoC & great music
Who won: SOUL, which has captured all the awards...
Cinematography
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH - Sean Bobbitt
MANK - Erik Messerschmidt
NEWS OF THE WORLD - Dariusz Wolski
NOMADLAND - Joshua James Richards
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 - Phedon Papamichael
Who should win: NEWS OF THE WORLD with its wonderful central Texas landscape
Who will win: MANK because it’s arty b&w
Who won: MANK, I called it
Costume Design
EMMA - Alexandra Byrne
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM - Ann Roth
MANK - Trish Summerville
MULAN - Bina Daigeler
PINOCCHIO - Massimo Cantini Parrini
Who will win: EMMA is the only one for which I saw articles about the clothes (but the same Taylor-Joy actress in QUEEN’S GAMBIT wore amazing period outfits that developed her character arc, though no noms)
Who won: Ann Roth for MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Directing
ANOTHER ROUND - Thomas Vinterberg
MANK - David Fincher
MINARI - Lee Isaac Chung
NOMADLAND - Chloé Zhao
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN - Emerald Fennell
Who should win: Chloe Zhao
Who will win: Chloe Zhao
Who won: Chloe Zhao
Documentary (Feature)
COLLECTIVE
Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
CRIP CAMP
Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
THE MOLE AGENT
Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER
Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
TIME
Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn
Who should win: OCTOPUS
Who will win: CRIP CAMP because it’s got mobility challenged kids
Who won: MY OCTOPUS TEACHER, which made me cry
Film Editing
THE FATHER - Yorgos Lamprinos
NOMADLAND - Chloé Zhao
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN - Frédéric Thoraval
SOUND OF METAL - Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 - Alan Baumgarten
Who should win: Chicago 7 had multiple protags, timelines overlapping; people cheer this story
Who will win: Chicago 7
Who won: SOUND OF METAL, which I know nothing about!
Makeup and Hairstyling
EMMA
Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze
HILLBILLY ELEGY
Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson
MANK
Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff
PINOCCHIO
Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti
Who should win: EMMA did have good Regency hair, clothes, bonnets
Who will win: MANK because Hollywood loves Hollywood glamour
Who won: MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM, which was the period piece combined with PoC
Music (Original Score)
DA 5 BLOODS - Terence Blanchard
MANK - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
MINARI - Emile Mosseri
NEWS OF THE WORLD - James Newton Howard
SOUL - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
Who Should Win: SOUL (but, OMG, NIN Trent Reznor did MANK??)
Who Will Win: SOUL
Who won: SOUL, it was a lock
Production Design
THE FATHER
Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara and Diana Stoughton
MANK
Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
NEWS OF THE WORLD
Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan
TENET
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
Who should win: TENET
Who will win: TENET, because the backwards time laps is the whole reason for that movie…
Who won: MANK, because it's a period piece + about Hollywood
Sound
GREYHOUND
Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman
MANK
Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin
NEWS OF THE WORLD
Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett
SOUL
Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
SOUND OF METAL
Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh
Who should win: SOUL, for its music and its sound
Who will win: MANK maybe
Who won: SOUND OF METAL, again, I don't know about this one
Visual Effects
LOVE AND MONSTERS
Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox
THE MIDNIGHT SKY
Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins
MULAN
Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram
THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN
Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez
TENET
Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher
Who should win: TENET
Who will win: TENET, again, backwards time laps …
Who won: TENET, like I said
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM: DELIVERY OF PRODIGIOUS BRIBE TO AMERICAN REGIME FOR MAKE BENEFIT ONCE GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad
THE FATHER
Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller
NOMADLAND
Written for the screen by Chloé Zhao
ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI...
Screenplay by Kemp Powers
THE WHITE TIGER
Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani
Who should win: I would say NOMADLAND, but Zhao didn’t write so much as record ad-libbed dialog in many places
Who will win: ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI, which I think is good as it’s a vivid combination of real and narrative for Black history
Who Won: THE FATHER, mehhh
Writing (Original Screenplay)
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King; Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas
MINARI - Written by Lee Isaac Chung
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN - Written by Emerald Fennell
SOUND OF METAL - Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 - Written by Aaron Sorkin
Who should win: The group who wrote JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (and they will if this year’s voters are woke)
Who will win: Aaron Sorkin gets all the writing awards, and at least this was about a woke topic
Who won: Wow, it was Emerald Fennell, who is also an actress & was filming THE CROWN at the time she was writing this!