Oscar Contest 2024

[Randall]

Poor Things is on D+ Canada now, so I'll give it a look. Sounds fascinating.

[Ben]

Oh, hey! It’s on D+ here too! So much for the trouble I went through to borrow a screener!

Very interested to know what you think…

[James]

I think next year, maybe we need to end the contest earlier than usual. It always feels like int the last few days some people might be trying to game the game but entering more than once with very tiny changes to their picks. I can't 100% prove it, but I do log IP addresses and timestamps so the circumstantial evidence is compelling.

[Ben]

The only reason I leave mine so late is that I’m literally trying to cram in screeners and the final few biggies that I haven’t seen yet, but I did just enter once, last night. I'm sure there would be people trying to rig it somehow…such is the sad way of things it seems…

[James]

I wasn't accusing you!

[James]

The contest is closed! Thanks to all who entered.

Be sure to join us for a live chat tonight where we'll discuss the show... and keep tabs on our contest leaders.

View, download, or print your Oscar ballot here.

You can see what everyone else chose here, and tonight this page will keep a live running tally of the score during the show.

Finally, you can see the consensus results of our voters in each category here.

[Ben]

Now that it’s closed and ballots are in, here’s my thinking…

So this has been the most interesting year since Covid because all the releases have been so fragmented, which I guess has been a good thing — more eclectic choices — and a bad thing — you need to retain various services and keep taking trips to the cinema to catch them all.

I ended up seeing most of the big categories, and have to say there are some preeeeety close calls here, which is always good as everyone likes a surprise. Oppenheimer is the clear favorite in many of its 13 noms, so I won't explain the reasonings there, but thought I’d be fun to share my thinking again…


BEST PICTURE
Oppenheimer


BEST LEADING ACTOR
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer


BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Annette Bening had been picking up good notices for Nyad, but I think it remained too niche, as did Sandra Huller for Anatomy Of A Fall. Carey Mulligan was very good in the otherwise not very good at all Maestro, but this is down to two people: Lily Gladstone for Killers Of The Flower Moon and Emma Stone in Poor Things. It could be a year to go PC, giving Gladstone the win, but personally I thought Scorsese’s film dropped the ball on an incredible story and outside of one or two impassioned moments, all she really needed to do was stay in bed looking sick. Stone, however, who I’ve loved since Easy A and Zombieland way back when, really just loses all inhibitions and not only throws herself but catapults into the role with total and utter conviction. It could well be an acknowledgment to the worthy content of Killers, but I’m going to hope for Em on this one.


BEST DIRECTOR
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emily Blunt largely looks like she just Emily Blunts in Oppenheimer, so this is one I don’t think will win there. I didn’t really favor Da'Vine Joy Randolph much against who was left, but then we ran The Holdovers and she’s really fantastic, so I hope she repeats some other wins here.


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
I would love to see The Holdovers acknowledged here, but other wins tell me this is likely to be Anatomy Of A Fall.


BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Another very interesting one, with no clear winner. American Fiction got good frontrunner word of mouth, but then could Barbie at least take something here? Oppenheimer seems too "obvious" (and so could win), as perhaps do Poor Things and The Zone Of Interest. It could literally be any of them, but American Fiction did seem to always remain in the conversation.


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Boy And The Heron keeps putting up a good fight, but the Academy is going to Academy and I’m willing to bet that Spidey repeats a win here, with the caveat that it could also easily go Miyazaki's way. Nothing else is really in the contest.


BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
20 Days In Mariupol, because, timing.


BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
As the only one also nominated elsewhere, and somewhat also because of timing again, The Zone Of Interest.


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Sorry Johnny, but unless there’s a groundswell of "career appreciation", Williams won’t win for Indy, which was a slow and lethargic score that simply and often repeated many motifs from the previous films or sounded like his music for others, particularly Tintin. Just because of momentum, this’ll like be another Oppenheimer opportunity.


BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Two noms for Barbie might split the vote, but I’ll go with one of these winning. I'm Just Ken was a big reason people liked the film, and would also be a way to nod to Ryan's deserved Actor nom, so I’m tempted to go there, since it seemed to be more of a "moment" in and outside of the film, but What Was I Made For? seems to have had more pop-friendly airplay recently.


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Oppenheimer


BEST FILM EDITING
Oppenheimer


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Had Poor Things been in here — a somewhat surprise winner at the Baftas last month — then this might have been more split, and I’d also be tempted to lean towards the invisible effects of Mission: Impossible, but The Creator is the more showy and heralded film, VFX-wise, even if it didn’t really work in its story. And it was almost an original, too, which can’t really be said for any other on the list, so it’s a way to reward Gareth Edwards for pushing the boat out a bit. Then again, Godzilla has been a surprise, also on a tinier than "usual" budget, so could prove to be the stomper that crashes through to take it…


BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
I just don’t get some of the titles here (Killers, Napoleon, Oppenheimer) that merely recreated periods. Even Barbie has generations of play sets to draw from, although it was a bold and audacious choice. Poor Things got all the "look" awards at the Baftas, which means a split between the last two, but I think it could just go Barbie's way.


BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Very much the same deal here: Barbie has wardrobes and wardrobes of clothes to pick from, while the rest, including Poor Things, really, were all period recreations. I think, as the one that’s just different, Barbie might nab this too.


BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Maestro and Bradley Cooper's nose got a lot of unnecessary attention on release, but the film has somewhat rightfully faded from the awards spotlight more recently (it’s long, boring, and we learn nothing about its subject, which isn’t Leonard Bernstein anyway, it’s his wife). Poor Things needs to pick something up for one of its much-awarded "look" noms, and since Barbie is likely to win elsewhere, but not an option here, I’ll go for that.


BEST SOUND
I actually didn’t think the sound for The Creator was that hot, to be honest, though was blown away — literally — by Mission: Impossible. The Zone Of Interest is getting nods for being more subtle, but I do think, however, it’s another win for Oppenheimer, even though many people always complain about the "lack of being able to hear any dialogue" in a Nolan film.


BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
These are always tough, so a good bet is to go for the ones that most people have heard of, and this year it’s Letter To A Pig. The Lennon factor and timing might just nudge War Is Over!, to a win, though.


BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The ABCs Of Book Banning got the best early word of mouth, but The Last Repair Shop seems to be getting the most love and second looks…


BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Wes Anderson’s name and the fact this is easily accessible on Netflix suggests his The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar has the edge here.


While I’d like to see Poor Things recognised wherever it can, there’s also just rewards to be had for Barbie. Whatever else, though, this is going to be an interesting evening!

See you tonight!

[Farerb]

Some of my selections are not in the consensus

[Ben]

How do you mean? The noms are the noms, man!

[Randall]

Oppenheimer seems to be the consensus choice for Best Pic, and Nolan also likely takes it. I don't like the idea of Cillian winning, as it really wasn't a showy role, but the Oppie train may be hard to stop. Personally, I'd love to see Giamatti take home a trophy.

I like Stone to win for Best Actress, just from the clips I've seen.

I could see Poor Things take other awards - yes, in the "design-y" categories - but also maybe Adapted Screenplay.

BAF is really a toss-up between Heron and Spidey, but I guessed that the sequel gets pushed out in favour of Miyazaki-san.

[Ben]

As much as I love Giamatti, and liked The Holdovers enough (though very interested in the sudden "scandal" that’s cropped up around it!), I will say that Giamatti is very Giamatti in it. I’m not a particular Murphy fan, but momentum has it this year.

[Ben]

Congrats to Jafar as our winner, with only two noms down!

JLFM comes second, losing out on just three, and AlexK, myself and a few others picking just four wrong nods, which I think is my best placing in terms of our staff picks!

Thanks for playing, guys, and for our very small but merry band of Chat friends that dropped by to have fun with the live show.

See you next year!