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Predictions for the 97th Annual Academy Awards

These are my Oscar predictions. I’m probably going to live-tweet the Endy Award winners during the ceremony again this year. Nominees listed in whatever order the page I copied them from had them, predicted winners are in bold. Guaranteed to get 16-18 correct, no more, no less.

BEST PICTURE

Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked

BEST DIRECTOR

Anora, Sean Baker
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet
A Complete Unknown, James Mangold
Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat

BEST ACTOR

Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

BEST ACTRESS

Demi Moore, The Substance
Mikey Madison, Anora
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Yura Borisov, Anora
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Anora
The Brutalist
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Conclave
A Complete Unknown
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Brutalist
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Maria
Nosferatu

BEST FILM EDITING

Conclave
Anora
The Brutalist
Emilia Pérez
Wicked

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Dune: Part Two
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Wicked
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Wicked
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

The Substance
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
Wicked

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight
“Like a Bird” from Sing Sing
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late

BEST SOUND

A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

No Other Land
Black Box Diaries
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

I’m Still Here
The Girl With the Needle
Emilia Pérez
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Flow

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Incident
Death by Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

Anuja
A Lien
I’m Not a Robot
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Yuck!
Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder

 

This Week in Rankings

Since the last update, I handed out the 2023 Endy Awards. Over at the Criterion Collection’s online magazine Current, I wrote about Hou Hsiao-hsien’s early films. And for InReview Online I reviewed Ann Hui’s latest film, Elegies, which played at the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

At The Chinese Cinema, I reviewed: Onlookers, The Heroic Trio and Executioners, Death Notice, Eye for an Eye 2, The Mystery of Chess Boxing, Beach of the War Gods, Visible Secret, Dancing with the Dead, The Mad Monk, Art College 1994, The Roundup: Punishment, Sailor Suit and Machine Gun, and Casino Raiders. You can get all those and much much more for the low price of only $1/month or $10/year.

These are the movies I’ve watched and rewatched over the last few months, and where they place on my year-by-year rankings.

Seven Samurai (Kurosawa Akira) – 1, 1954
Lawrence of Arabia (David Lean) – 6, 1962
The Taming of the Shrew (Franco Zeffirelli) – 26, 1967
The Italian Job (Peter Collinson) – 13, 1969
Beach of the War Gods (Jimmy Wang Yu) – 24, 1973

Cloud of Romance (Chan Hung-lit) – 22, 1977
The Fall of Ako Castle (Fukasaku Kinji) – 18, 1978
Lover on the Wave (Chen Kun-hou) – 30, 1978
The Mystery of Chess (Joseph Kuo) – 13, 1979
Chu Lien (Lai Cheng-ying) – 27, 1979

Cute Girl (Hou Hsiao-hsien) – 18, 1980
Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Somai Shinji) – 17, 1981
Cheerful Wind (Hou Hsiao-hsien) – 38, 1981
Conan the Barbarian (John Milius) – 6, 1982
The Green, Green Grass of Home (Hou Hsiao-hsien) – 21, 1982
The Boys from Fengkuei (Hou Hsiao-hsien) – 7, 1983

Bull Durham (Ron Shelton) – 2, 1988
Les sièges des l’Alcazar (Luc Moullet) – 15, 1989
Major League (David S. Ward) – 37, 1989
Casino Raiders (Wong Jing & Jimmy Heung) – 50, 1989
Hamlet (Franco Zeffirelli) – 28, 1990

Backdraft (Ron Howard) – 47, 1991
Basic Instinct (Paul Verhoeven) – 25, 1992
Noises Off… (Peter Bogdanovich) – 34, 1992
Wayne’s World (Penelope Spheeris) – 59, 1992
When Cinema Reflects the Times: Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang (Kore-eda Hirokazu) – 30, 1993

Executioners (Johnnie To & Ching Siu-tung) – 33, 1993
The Heroic Trio (Johnnie To) – 43, 1993
The Mad Monk (Johnnie To) – 93, 1993
Loving You (Johnnie To) – 38, 1995
Get Shorty (Barry Sonnenfeld) – 44, 1995

Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrmann) – 10, 1996
Twister (Jan de Bont) – 44, 1996
Lifeline (Johnnie To) – 22, 1997
Expect the Unexpected (Patrick Yau) – 10, 998
Out of Sight (Steven Soderbergh) – 18, 1998
Shakespeare in Love (John Madden) – 47, 1998

The Matrix (Lilly and Lana Wachowski) – 2, 1999
Help!!! (Johnnie To & Wai Ka-fai) – 29, 2000
Center Stage (Nicholas Hytner) – 43, 2000
Visible Secret (Ann Hui) – 10, 2001

Ocean’s Eleven (Steven Soderbergh) – 24, 2001
Ocean’s Twelve (Steven Soderbergh) – 40, 2004
Red Eye (Wes Craven) – 32, 2005
Classic Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind (Bob Smeaton) – 66, 2005
Ocean’s Thirteen (Steven Soderbergh) – 54, 2007

Burn After Reading (Joel & Ethan Coen) – 35, 2008
The Lone Ranger (Gore Verbinski) – 20, 2013
Gyeongju (Zhang Lü) – 34, 2014
The Intern (Nancy Meyers) – 53, 2015
Love and… (Zhang Lü) – 126, 2015

Everybody Wants Some!! (Richard Linklater) – 26, 2016
A Quiet Dream (Zhang Lü) – 31, 2016
Table 19 (Jeffrey Blitz) – 147, 2017
Ode to the Goose (Zhang Lü) – 12, 2018
Fukuoka (Zhang Lü) – 25, 2019
Sound! Euphonium the Movie: Our Promise – A Brand New Day (Ishihara Tatsuya) – 57, 2019
Yanagawa (Zhang Lü) – 34, 2021

Evil Does Not Exist (Hamaguchi Ryusuke) – 5, 2023
Death Notice (Herman Yau) – 41, 2023
Onlookers (Kimi Takesue) – 44, 2023
Sound! Euphonium: Ensemble Contest (Ishihara Tatsuya) – 49, 2023
Art College 1994 (Liu Jian) – 56, 2023
Self-Reliance (Jake Johnson) – 76, 2023
The Marvels (Nia DaCosta) – 78, 2023

Eye for an Eye 2 (Yang Bingjia) -2, 2024
The Roundup: Punishment (Heo Myeong-haeng) – 3, 2024
Steve! (Morgan Neville) – 4, 2024

Predictions for the 96th Annual Academy Awards

These are my Oscar predictions. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to live-tweet the Endy Award winners during the ceremony again this year. Maybe. Nominees listed in alphabetical order, predicted winners in bold. Guaranteed to get 16-18 correct, no more, no less.

BEST PICTURE

American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro 
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest 

BEST DIRECTOR

Anatomy of a Fall
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest 

BEST ACTOR

Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

BEST ACTRESS

Annette Bening, Nyad
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Emma Stone, Poor Things

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
Past Lives 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

American Fiction
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things 
The Zone of Interest 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things 

BEST FILM EDITING

Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things 

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things 

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot
“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie
“It Never Went Away” from American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)”
from Killers of the Flower Moon
“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie 

BEST SOUND

The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger 
20 Days in Mariupol 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Io Capitano
Perfect Days
Society of the Snow
The Teachers’ Lounge
The Zone of Interest 

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between 
The Last Repair Shop 
Nai Nai & Wai Po

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar 

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko 

Predictions for the 95th Annual Academy Awards

These are my Oscar predictions. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to live-tweet the Endy Award winners during the ceremony again this year. Maybe.

BEST PICTURE

All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick
Triangle of Sadness
Women Talking

BEST DIRECTOR

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
Todd Field, Tár
Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness

BEST ACTOR

Austin Butler, Elvis
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Paul Mescal, Aftersun
Bill Nighy, Living

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett, Tár
Ana de Armas, Blonde
Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie
Michelle Williams, The Fablemans
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

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

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Todd Field, Tár
Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer, and Christopher McQuarrie from a story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks, Top Gun: Maverick
Kazuo Ishiguro, Living
Rian Johnson, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Sarah Polley, Women Talking
Edward Berger, Ian Stokell, and Lesley Paterson, All Quiet on the Western Front

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

All Quiet on the Western Front
Bardo
Elvis
Empire of Light
Tár

BEST FILM EDITING

The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Black Panther
Top Gun: Maverick

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
Babylon
Elvis
The Fabelmans

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Babylon
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

All Quiet on the Western Front
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis
The Whale

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

All Quiet on the Western Front
Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Applause – Tell It Like a Woman (Diane Warren)
Hold My Hand – Top Gun: Maverick (Lady Gaga, BloodPop)
Naatu Naatu – RRR (MM Keeravaani, Chandrabose)
Lift Me Up – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Tems, Ludwig Göransson, Rihanna and Ryan Coogler)
This Is A Life – Everything Everywhere All at Once (Ryan Lott, David Byrne, Mitski)

BEST SOUND

All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Elvis
Top Gun: Maverick

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
A House Made of Splinters
Navalny

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)
Close (Belgium)
EO (Poland)
The Quiet One (Ireland)

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The Elephant Whisperers
Haulout
How Do You Measure a Year
The Martha Mitchell Effect
Stranger at the Gate

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

An Irish Goodbye
Ivalu
Le Pupille
Night Ride
The Red Suitcase

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse
The Flying Sailor
Ice Merchants
My Year of Dicks
An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It

This Week in Rankings

I’ve reviewed a bunch of movies since the last update: Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time, Licorice Pizza, The Eternals and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, The Card Counter, Cloudy Mountain, Limbo, Inside the Red Brick Wall, and In Front of Your Face. I also put all my reviews of the Once Upon a Time in China films in one convenient place.

If you like what I do here or at Seattle Screen Scene, The Chinese Cinema, or anywhere else, please consider donating at my kofi page. Every little bit helps.

These are the movies I’ve watched or rewatched over the last few weeks, and where they place on my year-by-year rankings.

The Skeleton Dance (Walt Disney) – 7, 1929
Frankenstein (James Whale) – 5, 1931
Lonesome Ghosts (Burt Gillett) – 16, 1937
Porky in Wackyland (Bob Clampett) – 9, 1938

Trick or Treat (Jack Hannah) – 20, 1952
Ali Baba Bunny (Chuck Jones) – 26, 1957
The Abominable Snow Rabbit (Chuck Jones & Maurice Noble) – 14, 1961
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (Bill Melendez) – 2, 1966

The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy) – 21, 1973
The Iron Rose (Jean Rollin) – 22, 1973
Michael Jackson’s Thriller (John Landis) – 7, 1983
Something Wicked This Way Comes (Jack Clayton) – 28, 1983

Clue (Jonathan Lynn) – 19, 1985
Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola) – 7, 1992
Jumanji (Joe Johnston) – 66, 1995
Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion (David Mirkin) – 37, 1997

Resident Evil (Paul WS Anderson) – 19, 2002
School of Rock (Richard Linklater) – 18, 2003
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (Alexander Witt) – 38, 2004
Corpse Bride (Tim Burton & Mike Johnson) – 37, 2005
The Holiday (Nancy Meyers) – 27, 2006

Resident Evil: Extinction (Russell Mulcahy) – 13, 2007
Resident Evil: Afterlife (Paul WS Anderson) – 12, 2010
Resident Evil: Retribution (Paul WS Anderson) – 7, 2012
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (Paul WS Anderson) – 7, 2016

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse (Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti, Rodney Rothman) – 15, 2018
The Fable (Eguchi Kan) – 38, 2019
Inside the Red Brick Wall (Honk Kong Documentary Filmmakers) – 12, 2020
Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (Yamaguchi Junta) – 19, 2020

Drive My Car (Hamaguchi Ryūsuke) – 1, 2021
In Front of Your Face (Hong Sangsoo) – 3, 2021
Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson) – 4, 2021
Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Hamaguchi Ryūsuke) – 5, 2021
The French Dispatch (Wes Anderson) – 6, 2021

The Velvet Underground (Todd Haynes) – 7, 2021
Bergman Island (Mia Hansen-Løve) – 8, 2021
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion) – 13, 2021
Limbo (Soi Cheang) – 17, 2021
Dune (Denis Villeneuve) – 18, 2021

Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time (Robert Weide) – 22, 2021
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Andy Serkis) – 25, 2021
The Witches of the Orient (Julien Faraut) – 26, 2021
Cliff Walkers (Zhang Yimou) – 27, 2021
The Fable: The Killer Who Doesn’t Kill (Eguchi Kan) – 32, 2021

Muppets Haunted Mansion (Kirk Thatcher) – 33, 2021
The Many Saints of Newark (David Chase) – 35, 2021
Eternals (Chloé Zhao) – 36, 2021
Cloudy Mountain (Li Jun) – 39, 2021

Predictions for the 93rd Annual Academy Awards

These are my Oscar predictions. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to live-tweet the Endy Award winners during the ceremony again this year. Maybe.

BEST PICTURE

The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR

Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
David Fincher, Mank
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Chloe Zhao, Nomadland
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari

BEST ACTRESS

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami…
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Father
Nomadland
One Night in Miami…
The White Tiger

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST FILM EDITING

The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Emma
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Fight For You,” Judas and the Black Messiah
“Hear My Voice,” The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik,” Eurovision Song Contest
“Io Sì (Seen),” The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)
“Speak Now,” One Night In Miami…

BEST SOUND

Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Another Round
Better Days
Collective
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Colette
A Concerto Is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes-People

Books of 2020

This is a ranked list of the books I finished reading in 2020:

1. Middlemarch, George Eliot
2. Stoner, John Williams
3. The Postman Always Rings Twice, James M. Cain
4. The Dharma Bums, Jack Kerouac
5. Train Dreams, Denis Johnson
6. The Girls of Slender Means, Muriel Spark
7. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin
8. Angels & Saints, Eliot Weinberger
9. Oranges, John McPhee
10. What Hath God Wrought, Daniel Walker Howe
11. A Distant Mirror, Barbara Tuchman
12. They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, Horace McCoy
13. The Tombs of Atuan, Ursula K. Le Guin
14. A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf
15. Bartleby, the Scrivener, Herman Melville
16. Jesus’s Son, Denis Johnson
17. My Life in Middlemarch, Rebessa Mead
18. Hong Kong Cinema: The Extra Dimensions, Stephen Teo
19. The Siamese Twin Mystery, Ellery Queen
20. Big Sur, Jack Kerouac
21. The Earth Dies Streaming, AS Hamrah
22. Highbrow/Lowbrow, Lawrence W. Levine
23. The Farthest Shore, Ursula K. Le Guin
24. Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
25. Coming Into the Country, John McPhee
26. Thieves Like Us, Edward Anderson
27. Saga Book One, Brian K. Vaughn
28. Saga Book Two, Brian K. Vaughn
29. Saga Book Three, Brian K. Vaughn
30. The Pine Barrens, John McPhee
31. Complete Short Stories of Lew Archer, Ross MacDonald
32. Call for the Dead, John LeCarre
33. Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, Daniel Warren Johnson
34. Kingdom Come, Mark Waid
35. Bollywood: The Films! The Songs! The Stars!, Various Authors
36. The Mighty Thor, Vol 1, Walter Simonson
37. Tao Te Ching: A Book About the Way and the Power of the Way, Ursula K. Le Guin
38. This Isn’t Happening, Stephen Hyden
39. All Star Superman Vol 1, Grant Morrison
40. All Star Superman Vol 2, Grant Morrison
41. Answers in the Form of Questions, Claire McNear
42. Batman Year One, Frank Miller
43. The Sprawl, Jason Diamond
44. The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman
45. We’ve Got People, Ryan Grimm
46. Death in the Air, Agatha Christie
47. Batman: Arkham Asylum, Grant Morrison
48. A Murder of Quality, John LeCarre
49. No Time to Spare, Ursula K. Le Guin
50. Superman: Red Son, Mark Millar
51. Murder in Three Acts, Agatha Christie
52. Heir to the Empire, Timothy Zahn
53. Steering the Craft, Usula K. Le Guin
54. We3, Grant Morrison
55. Superman: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, Alan Moore
56. Slugfest, Reed Tucker
57. Montaigne: Philosopher of Life, Sarah Bakewell
58. Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury
59. Secrets of the Buzzer, Fritz Holznagel
60. More Sex, Better Zen, Faster Bullets, Stefan Hammond

And here are the books I’m still working on, in order of how long I’ve been reading them:

  1. Against the Day, Thomas Pynchon
  2. The Fourth World Omnibus, Jack Kirby
  3. The Path to Power, Robert Caro
  4. The Republic for Which it Stands, Richard White
  5. City of Quartz, Mike Davis
  6. Emerson: The Mind on Fire, Robert D. Richardson
  7. The History of Jazz, Ted Gioia
  8. Moby-Dick, Herman Melville
  9. Don Quixote, Cervantes
  10. Crabgrass Frontier, Kenneth T. Jackson
  11. American Renaissance, FO Matthiessen
  12. The Ramayana: A New Retelling, Linda Egenes & Kumuda Reddy
  13. James Joyce, Richard Ellman
  14. Shakey: Neil Young’s Biography, Jimmy McDonough
  15. Before the Storm, Rick Perlstein
  16. Debt: the First 5000 Years, David Graeber
  17. Crisis on Infinite Earths (plus Crossovers), Marv Wolfman, etc
  18. The Stand, Stephen King
  19. Bach: The Learned Musician, Christoph Wolff
  20. The Dragon Waiting, John M. Ford
  21. Ghosts of My Life, Mark Fisher
  22. Libra, Don DeLillo
  23. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë

Predictions for the 92nd Annual Academy Awards

These are my Oscar predictions. During the ceremony Sunday night, as I’ve done for the past couple of years, I’ll be live-tweeting the winners of the 2019 Endy Awards, the nominees for which can be found here. Follow along on twitter @TheEndofCinema.

BEST PICTURE

Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood
Parasite

BEST DIRECTOR

Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Todd Phillips, Joker
Sam Mendes, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood
Bong Joon Ho, Parasite

BEST ACTOR

Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

BEST ACTRESS

Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renée Zellweger, Judy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Knives Out, Rian Johnson
Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach
1917, Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino
Parasite, Bong Joon Ho & Han Jin Won

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Irishman, Steven Zaillian
Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi
Joker, Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
Little Women, Greta Gerwig
The Two Popes, Anthony McCarten

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Irishman, Rodrigo Prieto
Joker, Lawrence Sher
The Lighthouse, Jarin Blaschke
1917, Roger Deakins
Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood, Robert Richardson

BEST FILM EDITING

Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Parasite

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avengers: Endgame
The Irishman
The Lion King
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
1917
Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood
Parasite

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Bombshell
Joker
Judy
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Joker, Hildur Guðnadóttir
Little Women, Alexandre Desplat
Marriage Story, Randy Newman
1917, Thomas Newman
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from Toy Story 4, Randy Newman
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman, Elton John & Bernie Taupin
“I’m Standing With You” from Breakthrough, Diane Warren
“Into The Unknown” from Frozen II, Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez
“Stand Up” from Harriet, Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo

BEST SOUND EDITING

Ford v Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

BEST SOUND MIXING

Ad Astra
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

American Factory
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Corpus Christi (Poland)
Honeyland (North Macedonia)
Les Misérables (France)
Pain and Glory (Spain)
Parasite (South Korea)

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

In The Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
Life Overtakes Me
St. Louis Superman
Walk Run Cha-Cha

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

Brotherhood
Nefta Football Club
The Neighbors’ Window
Saria
A Sister

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Sister

Predictions for the 91st Annual Academy Awards

These are my Oscar predictions. During the ceremony Sunday night, as I’ve done for the past couple of years, I’ll be live-tweeting the winners of the 2018 Endy Awards, the nominees for which can be found here. Follow along on twitter @TheEndofCinema.

BEST PICTURE

Black Panther
Blackkklansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star Is Born
Vice

BEST DIRECTOR

Spike Lee, Blackkklansman
Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Adam McKay, Vice

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale, Vice
Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

BEST ACTRESS

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
Glenn Close, The Wife
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Rockwell, Vice

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, Vice
Marina De Tavira, Roma
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Emma Stone, The Favourite
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Favourite
First Reformed
Green Book
Roma
Vice

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
BlacKkKlansman
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
If Beale Street Could Talk
A Star Is Born

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cold War
The Favourite
Never Look Away
Roma
A Star Is Born

BEST FILM EDITING

BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Vice

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
First Man
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Black Panther
The Favourite
First Man
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Border
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“All The Stars,” Black Panther
“I’ll Fight,” RBG
“The Place Where Lost Things Go,” Mary Poppins Returns
“Shallow,” A Star Is Born
“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings,” The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

BEST SOUND EDITING

Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma

BEST SOUND MIXING

Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
Roma
A Star Is Born

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Free Solo
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Capernaum
Cold War
Never Look Away
Roma
Shoplifters

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden
Period. End of Sentence.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

Detainment
Fauve
Marguerite
Mother
Skin

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Animal Behaviour
Bao
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends

Predictions for the 90th Annual Academy Awards

These are my Oscar predictions. During the ceremony tomorrow night, as I’ve done for the past couple of years, I’ll be live-tweeting the winners of the 2017 Endy Awards, the nominees for which can be found here. Follow along on twitter @TheEndofCinema.

BEST PICTURE

Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Florida Project
Get Out
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST DIRECTOR

Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan
Get Out, Jordan Peele
Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig
Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro

BEST ACTOR

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

BEST ACTRESS

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Call Me by Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly’s Game
Mudbound

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water

BEST FILM EDITING

Baby Driver
Dunkirk
I, Tonya
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
The Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Victoria & Abdul

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

Darkest Hour
Victoria & Abdul
Wonder

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Mighty River,” Mudbound
“Mystery of Love,” Call Me by Your Name
“Remember Me,” Coco
“Stand Up for Something,” Marshall
“This is Me,” The Greatest Showman

BEST SOUND EDITING

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST SOUND MIXING

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boss Baby
Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places
Icarus
Last Men In Aleppo
Strong Island

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body and Soul
The Square

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

Edith+Eddie
Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Heroin(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

DeKalb Elementary
The Eleven O’Clock
The Silent Child
All of Us
My Nephew Emmett

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Dear Basketball
Garden Party
Negative Space
Lou
Revolting Rhymes