Wednesday, December 29, 2021

Oscars Outlook 2021: December 2021


The Lost Daughter (c) Netflix

December 2021 

With critics groups weighing in and two major award precursors announced, the Oscar race is getting clearer, although, one shouldn’t shelve hunches just yet. While Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter” is getting more attention than I would have guessed, maybe its win at the Gotham Awards made the movie more of a must see than other screeners for critics and Academy members alike. And while I think it’s still not a shoo-in for Best Picture, Olivia Colman as Best Actress and Gyllenhaal’s screenplay is certainly in play. 


But I am still holding out for my hunches. Here are some predictions I’m hanging onto in each category, most have not gotten any love at all with the precursors: 

Best Picture: The French Dispatch 
Best Actor:
Michael Keaton – Worth 
Best Actress:
Tessa Thompson – Passing 
Best Supporting Actor:
Timothy Spall – Spencer 
Best Supporting Actress:
Marlee Matlin – CODA 
Best Director:
Julia Ducournau – Titane 
Best Original Screenplay:
Bergman Island – Mia Hansen-Løve 
Best Adapted Screenplay:
tick, tick…Boom! – Steven Levenson 

Here are my predictions as of the end of December: 


Best Picture 

tick, tick...Boom! (c) Netflix

Frontrunners: 
Being the Ricardos 
Belfast 
CODA 
Dune 
The French Dispatch 
King Richard 
Licorice Pizza 
The Power of the Dog 
tick, tick…Boom! 
West Side Story

 
Possibilities: 
C'mon C'mon 
Don’t Look Up 
Drive My Car 
The Green Knight 
The Lost Daughter 
Nightmare Alley 
Parallel Mothers 
Passing 
Spencer 
The Tragedy of Macbeth

Longshots: 
Cyrano 
In the Heights 
Spider-Man: No Way Home 


Best Actor 

The Tragedy of Macbeth (c) A24

Frontrunners: 
Javier Bardem – Being the Ricardos 
Benedict Cumberbatch - The Power of the Dog 
Andrew Garfield – tick, tick…Boom! 
Will Smith - King Richard 
Denzel Washington - The Tragedy of Macbeth

 
Possibilities: 
Mahershala Ali – Swan Song 
Nicolas Cage – Pig 
Michael Keaton - Worth 
Dev Patel – The Green Knight 
Joaquin Phoenix – C'mon C'mon

Longshots:
Peter Dinklage – Cyrano 
Jude Hill – Belfast 
Oscar Issac – The Card Counter 


Best Actress 

House of Gucci (c) United Artist Releasing

Frontrunners: 
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye 
Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter 
Penélope Cruz – Parallel Mothers 
Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos 
Kristen Stewart – Spencer 


Possibilities: 
Lady Gaga – House of Gucci 
Alana Haim – Licorice Pizza 
Jennifer Hudson – Respect 
Tessa Thompson – Passing 
Rachel Zegler – West Side Story 


Longshots: 
Emilia Jones – CODA 
Jennifer Lawrence – Don’t Look Up 
Renate Runsve – The Worst Person in the World 


Best Supporting Actor 

The Tender Bar (c) Amazon Studios

Frontrunners: 
Ciarán Hinds – Belfast 
Troy Kotsur – CODA 
Jesse Plemons – The Power of the Dog 
J.K. Simmons – Being the Ricardos 
Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog

 
Possibilities: 
Jon Berenthal – King Richard 
Bradley Cooper – Licorice Pizza 
Jamie Dornan - Belfast 
Jared Leto – House of Gucci 
Timothy Spall - Spencer

 
Longshots: 
Ben Affleck – The Tender Bar 
Stanley Tucci – Worth 
Jeffrey Wright – The French Dispatch 



Best Supporting Actress 

Belfast (c) Focus Features

Frontrunners: 
Caitriona Balfe – Belfast 
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story 
Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog 
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard 
Ruth Negga – Passing

 
Possibilities: 
Judi Dench – Belfast 
Ann Dowd – Mass 
Sally Hawkins – Spencer 
Marlee Matlin – CODA 
Rita Moreno – West Side Story 


Longshots: 
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter 
Jayne Houdyshell – The Humans 
Olga Merediz – In the Heights 


Best Director 

The Power of the Dog (c) Netflix

Frontrunners: 
Pedro Almodóvar – Parallel Mothers 
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast 
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog 
Ryusuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car 
Denis Villeneuve – Dune 


Possibilities: 
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza 
Wes Anderson – The French Dispatch 
Reinaldo Marcus Green – King Richard 
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter 
Steven Spielberg – West Side Story 


Longshots: 
Joel Cohen – The Tragedy of Macbeth 
Julia Ducournau – Titane 
Guillermo del Toro – Nightmare Alley 



Best Original Screenplay 

A Hero (c) Amazon Studios

Frontrunners: 
Being the Ricardos - Aaron Sorkin 
Belfast – Kenneth Branagh 
King Richard – Zach Baylin 
Licorice Pizza – Paul Thomas Anderson 
Parallel Mothers – Pedro Almodóvar 

Possibilities: 
Bergman Island – Mia Hansen-Løve 
C'mon C'mon – Mike Mills 
Don’t Look Up – Adam McKay, David Sirota 
The French Dispatch - Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman, Roman Coppola 
A Hero – Asghar Farhadi 

Longshots: 
Mass - Fran Kranz
Red Rocket – Sean Baker  
Titane – Julia Ducournau 


Best Adapted Screenplay 

Drive My Car (c) Janus Films

Frontrunners: 
Drive My Car – Ryusuke Hamaguci, Takamasa Oe
The Green Knight – David Lowery 
The Lost Daughter – Maggie Gyllenhaal 
The Power of the Dog – Jane Campion 
West Side Story – Tony Kushner

 
Possibilities: 
CODA – Siân Heder 
Dune – Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve, Eric Roth 
Passing – Rebecca Hall 
tick, tick…Boom! – Steven Levenson 
Worth – Max Borenstein 

Longshots: 
Nightmare Alley – Guillermo del Toro, Kim Morgan 
The Tender Bar – William Monaham 
The Tragedy of Macbeth – Joel Coen


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