Well that was a great show… albeit a very eventful one. The last hour was a bit of a trainwreck, but I had fun throughout the whole night. I loved the trio of hosts – Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes. All three of them were hilarious from the get-go and filled the room with laughter every time they took the stage. It just goes to show the strength of having a good Oscars host. There were a couple of missteps, the obvious one being the cutting down of 8 awards – a terrible decision that didn’t change much since the show ran long anyway. Also, the Twitter fan polls were an absolute joke – a terrible addition that fell completely flat. Then of course, there’s the big drama that completely derailed the show – Will Smith slapping Chris Rock and swearing at him. It had the entire room and everyone watching at home shook, taking the limelight away from the award winners that followed.
All that being said, let’s get into the results. Dune is the big winner for the night, taking home 6 awards from all of the technical categories (as expected). Then you have CODA, which walks away with all 3 awards it was nominated for, including the achievement of Best Picture. The Power of the Dog came in with 12 nominations and walked away with only 1… another expected result. In the end, they were deserving wins all round and we say farewell to another year of celebrating cinema. I got 21 out of 23 predictions correct, which is a big win on my end. Check out all the results below!
The winner will be highlighted in RED
My prediction will be highlighted in GREEN.
If you don’t see an option highlighted in GREEN that’s because it’s the same as the winner.
Best Picture
Belfast
CODA
Don’t Look Up
Drive My Car
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
This is it. The big moment. The award for Best Picture goes to… CODA!!!!!! With all the momentum going into this night, my second favourite film of the year, CODA, has won!! This is a fantastic moment and has me so damn excited. What a way to cap off an incredibly eventful night – it’s like all of a sudden I just forgot about the big slap. CODA is now recognised as the best film of the year – a perfectly well-deserved win.
Actor in a Leading Role
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
We just going to pretend that slap didn’t happen? I guess not… this is an emotionally-fuelled speech. This is and always was Will Smith’s award to lose. His performance was the best part of King Richard and he bought tonnes of heavy emotion to so many scenes throughout the movie. It’s a masterclass of acting, so congratulations to Will for the win. He also delivered a brilliant emotional speech that may or may not have been fuelled by the slap moment. By far the best and most real speech of the night!
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz, Parallel Mothers
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart, Spencer
This was by far the most unpredictable award of the night – it could have gone to any of the nominees. In the end, Jessica Chastain brings it home for what is regarded as an incredible performance in The Eyes of Tammy Fays. She’s a fantastic actor so to see her win her first Oscar is a great sight.
Actor in a Supporting Role
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
With this win, Troy Kotsur joins his co-star Marlee Matlin as being the only 2 deaf actors to win an Oscar in the history of the awards. He’s phenomenal in CODA and elevates the emotion of the film tenfold. Without speaking a word, the way he brings a sombre, heartwarming and comedic touch to so many moments is absolutely amazing. It’s one of the best on-screen performances I’ve seen and is very well deserved. A truly beautiful Oscars moment!
Actress in a Supporting Role
Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Judi Dench, Belfast
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard
Amazing to see Ariana DeBose bring this one home for a radiating performance in West Side Story. Delivering a performance that’s emotional, heartwarming and lightly comedic, she’s truly irreplaceable in this film – enhancing every single scene by a country mile. It’s also nice to see her win for the role of Anita exactly 60 years after Rita Moreno won for the same role.
Directing
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Drive My Car
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog
Steven Spielberg, West Side Story
Well, The Power of the Dog gets its first Oscar of the night, as expected. Depending on what happens with Best Picture, this could be its only award of the night. Jane Campion’s directing talents were on full show in The Power of the Dog, so this is a very expected and deserving win. It also makes her the third woman to win for Best Director, a feat that’s now been seen for the last 2 years in a row.
Cinematography
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
No question about it, the cinematography in Dune is some of the most breathtaking visual work I’ve ever seen on the big screen. Greig Fraser is an immensely talented artist and has crafted something truly spectacular, so it’s amazing to see him get his first Oscar win. Also, it’s great to see an Australian cinematographer take home this big award.
Animated Feature Film
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
Absolutely no surprises here – Encanto took the world by storm with its viral music and spectacular animation. It’s yet another win for the powerhouse that is Disney – a trend thats sure to continue for years going forward. It’s a shame we couldn’t get Raya and the Last Dragon to cause an upset.
Film Editing
Don’t Look Up
Dune
King Richard
The Power of the Dog
tick, tick…BOOM!
Just like all the other technical elements of this film, the editing in Dune is absolutely fantastic. Despite other strong contenders in this category, this is a very well-deserved win for the sci-fi epic.
Music (Original Score)
Don’t Look Up
Dune
Encanto
Parrallel Mothers
The Power of the Dog
This played out exactly as expected – Hans Zimmer has won his second Oscar, the first being his win for 1995’s The Lion King. Dune’s score is phenomenal, so it’s great to see it take home this win.
Music (Original Song)
“Be Alive”, King Richard
“Dos Oruguitas”, Encanto
“Down To Joy”, Belfast
“No Time To Die”, No Time to Die
“Somehow You Do”, Four Good Days
This award was down to 3 of the nominees, “No Time To Die“, “Be Alive” and “Dos Oruguitas“, and in the end it’s Billie Eilish (and FINNEAS) who bring it home for “No Time To Die“. It’s unquestionably a fantastic song and a very well-deserved win.
Sound
Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
Along with the Academy Awards for Editing, Original Score and Production Design, Dune has secured 4 awards before the show has even started. The way sound is used in this film to enhance the grandiose of the narrative is incredible. Another well-deserved win for one of the best films of the year.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
CODA
Drive My Car
Dune
The Lost Daughter
The Power of the Dog
BIG YES! This is it folks, at the time of writing this CODA has won both awards it was nominated for, all that’s left is Best Picture. With this win, CODA’s chances of winning Best Picture have certainly increased. This heartfelt story is spectacular and should absolutely be celebrated. Get ready for a huge Best Picture win.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Belfast
Don’t Look Up
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
The Worst Person in the World
As much as I personally didn’t think the narrative of Belfast was all too spectacular, this is a great first win for Kenneth Branagh. He crafted a very personal and heartfelt narrative that hit with a number of people.
Visual Effects
Dune
Free Guy
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home
I mean, did we expect anything else? The announcement of this award means Dune has now won 6 Oscars – a huge haul for a phenomenal film. The visual effects feel incredibly real and memorable, and that’s the reason it has secured this win. This is most likely the last win we’ll see it get tonight, but it’s a great result that all the creatives should be proud of.
Predictions in Additional Categories
Production Design
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Costume Design
Cruella
Cyrano
Dune
Nightmare Alley
West Side Story
Documentary (Feature)
Ascention
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul
Writing with Fire
Documentary (Short Subject)
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
International Feature Film
Drive My Car
Flee
The Hand of God
Lunana: The Yak in the Classroom
The Worst Person in the World
Makeup and Hairstyling
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
The House of Gucci
Short Film (Animated)
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper
Short Film (Live Action)
Ala Kachuu – Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold
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