The 95th Academy Awards will come from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday March 12th 2023. The full list of nominees has just been released so let’s go through some of the biggies and see who we think will get the W, and if we think the person who’ll get it is the same as the person we think deserves it.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

AUSTIN BUTLER – Elvis

COLIN FARRELL – The Banshees of Inisherin

BRENDAN FRASER – The Whale

PAUL MESCAL – Aftersun

BILL NIGHY – Living

For me I’d like to see Bill Nighy get this, at 73 years old he’s won many awards for his craft but this is his first Oscar nod, and what an actor he is. Everything is nuanced and you get that “Oh Bill Nighy’s in this it’ll be decent” feeling from all of his films so to finally get an Academy recognition is fantastic.

I think, however, that everyone’s mate Brendan Fraser will get the win on this one for his emotionally destroying performance in The Whale.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

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

Well, this is a stacked section isn’t it?!

I won’t be upset with any of these guys winning the Oscar for this.

Brendan Gleeson in Banshees is fantastic as the thoroughly fed up friend.

Judd Hirsch’s performance as Uncle Boris in The Fabelmans is beautiful, he comes in and takes over the screen.

Barry Keoghan, well, what a story this kid’s had. I personally hope he gets it, great actor who puts real emotion into all of the characters he plays.

Ke Huy Quan, another lovely personal story behind him, I think he may get the win on this. Perfectly timed nomination for the comeback kids to clean up and make us all feel good about the world.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

CATE BLANCHETT – Tár

ANA DE ARMAS – Blonde

ANDREA RISEBOROUGH – To Leslie

MICHELLE WILLIAMS – The Fabelmans

MICHELLE YEOH -Everything Everywhere All at Once

For me, Michelle Williams for The Fabelmans but I think Blanchett or Yeoh will get the statue

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

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

Being a horror fiend, I have to hope Jamie Lee Curtis, the Queen of Scream Queens gets this for EEAAO even though I didn’t rate the film personally her performance was very good, and funny.

DIRECTING

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN – Martin McDonagh

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

THE FABELMANS – Steven Spielberg

TÁR -Todd Field

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS -Ruben Östlund

For the sheer scope of the film Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert may get this, however I’d love Spielberg to get it. The Fabelmans is a lovely film and the very last frames brought a massive smile to my face.

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

APPLAUSE – from Tell It like a Woman; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

HOLD MY HAND – from Top Gun: Maverick; Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

LIFT ME UP -from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

NAATU NAATU -from RRR; Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose

THIS IS A LIFE – from Everything Everywhere All at Once; Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

O.K. I think we can all agree Naatu Naatu HAS to get the win here, it’s the only Oscar the amazing RRR is up for so just yes.

BEST PICTURE

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT – Malte Grunert, Producer

AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER -James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN -Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

ELVIS -Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE -Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

THE FABELMANS – Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

TÁR -Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

TOP GUN: MAVERICK – Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS – Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

WOMEN TALKING – Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

The best film out of all of these, for me, was Top Gun: Maverick. It’s the first time I’ve felt like I’ve been in the cinema watching a proper cinematic movie for many years. However I know it’s probably extremely unlikely to win the Academy’s vote. All Quiet may be the sleeper winner here.

So, what do you think? Do you agree with my choices or do you think I’ve lost the plot? Let me know and we’ll all find out on March 12th.

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