Oscar Picks: 2026

By FilmZ and Guy S. Malone, Film Researcher, with contributions from Hawley Smoot, Financial Advisor, Dragan Armansky, Milton Security 

Welcome to our highly prejudiced and sometimes uninformed or misinformed picks for the 98th Academy Awards. Please note that these are PICKS, not predictions. In other words, don't look to us for answers to your betting pools or contest entries, unless, of course, you agree with us, in which case your opinions are in serious doubt. We have had our good years, the best being 21 out of the 24 categories, but on average, we've gotten around 17 correct. 

The ceremony takes place on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 7:00 PM ET (4:00 PM PT) from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Conan O’Brien is the host. Yoju can find the show on ABC, with Hulu streaming for subscribers.

So, here we go. After each category title and narrative, our pick will appear in Bold, followed by a list of the other contenders:

Best Picture

We won't beat around the bush; Sinners is our favorite film of the year, and it doesn't even matter if it doesn't win Best Picture. The genre-buster is a true original, and in our opinion, a future classic. The closest competitors are One Battle After Another, arguably Paul Thomas Anderson's best film—which is saying a lot—and Hamnet, thanks to Shakespeare, Chloé Zhao, and Jessie Buckley. Frankenstein will earn its place in the pantheon of Mary Shelley's descendants, though we have to wonder why Guillermo del Toro thought it necessary to try to improve on a classic. Marty Supreme shook the film world, but it's already showing signs of fading. Sentimental Value, with its impressive performances, and The Secret Agent, with the magnetic Wagner Moura, are treasured international films, but unlikely to repeat Parasite's groundbreaking rise to the Oscar throne. The category also includes Bugonia, by auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, with his muse Emma Stone and the overlooked Jesse Plemons; the stunning, meditative Train Dreams; and the intense Formula One racing sequences in F1: The Movie. And the winner is:        

Sinners

Other Contenders:

    Bugonia

    F1: The Movie 

    Frankenstein

    Hamnet 

    Marty Supreme 

    One Battle After Another

    The Secret Agent

    Sentimental Value 

    Train Dreams 

Director                                                                                                                                              Anderson, Coogler, Trier, and Zhao are all top contenders (Safdie's reputation has taken a hit recently, so we'll count him out). Let's say Ryan Coogler deservedly gets the call for wrangling all of that talent and what could have been a cumbersome plot and making a masterpiece.                                                                                                                                

Ryan Coogler — Sinners

Others:

    Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another

    Josh Safdie — Marty Supreme

    Joachim Trier — Sentimental Value

    Chloé Zhao — Hamnet

Actress                                                                                                 Rose Byrne and Renate Reinsve have garnered strong support, and it would not be shocking or disappointing if either were awarded the Oscar. The feeling here, though, is that Jessie Buckley, for her role as the mystically gifted and ultimately tragic Agnes Shakespeare, is the one who strikes deepest in the hearts of Oscar voters. The winner:

Jessie Buckley — Hamnet

Others:

    Rose Byrne — If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

    Kate Hudson — Song Sung Blue

    Renate Reinsve — Sentimental Value

    Emma Stone -- Bugonia

Actor                                                                                                                                                           A two-horse race. Timothée Chalamet came out of the gate fast, and he has pushed hard, pitching a clothing line, hitting all of the talk shows, and enlisting the support of friends, but his raps on opera and ballet and (maybe) wanting it too much have seen his star descend a bit. Meanwhile, the much-deserving and overdue Michael B. Jordan, in his dual role of brothers Smoke and Stack in Sinners, has shot upward.  

Michael B. Jordan — Sinners

Others:

    Timothée Chalamet — Marty Supreme

    Leonardo DiCaprio — One Battle After Another

    Ethan Hawke — Blue Moon

    Wagner Moura — The Secret Agent

Supporting Actress                                                                                                                          Perhaps the most difficult acting category to call. Let's go out on a limb and guess Amy Madigan's most bizarre and brave performance (if for no other reason than her hairstyle) as Aunt Gladys in Weapons is the choice.  The winner:                                                      

Amy Madigan in Weapons

Others:

    Elle Fanning — Sentimental Value

    Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas — Sentimental Value

    Wunmi Mosaku — Sinners

    Teyana Taylor — One Battle After Another

Supporting Actor                                                                                                                              Another tough one to call. The most striking was Sean Penn's Col. Lockjaw; the most charismatic interpretation was Jacob Elordi's Creature in Frankenstein; the most overdue, Delroy Lindo; and, of course, the weirdly ironic Del Toro is always worthy. Still, it has to be muted, nuanced Stellan Skarsgård, doesn't it? 

Stellan Skarsgård — Sentimental Value

Others:

    Benicio Del Toro — One Battle After Another

    Jacob Elordi — Frankenstein

    Delroy Lindo — Sinners

    Sean Penn — One Battle After Another

Original Screenplay                                                                                                                        If Ryan Coogler's action/crime/musical/horror/drama Sinners doesn't win, we will be shocked. Its brilliant, creative energy was truly inspirational.

Sinners — Ryan Coogler

Others:

    Blue Moon — Robert Kaplow

    It Was Just an Accident — Jafar Panahi; with Nader Saïvar, Shadmehr Rastin, Mehdi Mahmoudian

    Marty Supreme — Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie

    Sentimental Value — Eskil Vogt & Joachim Trier

Adapted Screenplay                                                                                                                        Paul Thomas Anderson's treatment of One Battle After Another was bound to be divisive, though the guess here is that more people will agree with its revolutionary sentiments. Hamnet and Train Dreams hew to the humanity in all of us, and will be sentimental favorites. The feeling here is that, as beautiful as this version of Frankenstein is, it strays too far from the classic, and Bugonia is probably too far out there for most voters.

One Battle After Another — Paul Thomas Anderson

Others

    Bugonia — Will Tracy

    Frankenstein — Guillermo del Toro

    Hamnet — Chloé Zhao & Maggie O’Farrell

    Train Dreams — Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Animated Feature                                                                                                                            Animated features develop passionate followings, and each of these films has them, though Zootopia 2 and KPop Demon Hunters are probably the favorites. We'll just go with the one our family loved.                                                                                                                             

KPop Demon Hunters

Others:

    Arco

    Elio

    Little Amélie or the Character of Rain

    Zootopia 2

International Feature Film                                                                                                     A close battle between The Secret Agent and Sentimental Value. I'll go with the one that set the record for the most nominations ever for any Norwegian film (nine).

Sentimental Value — Norway

Others:

    The Secret Agent — Brazil

    It Was Just an Accident — France

    Sirāt — Spain

    The Voice of Hind Rajab — Tunisia

Documentary Feature                                                                                                                  Florida's "stand your ground" laws are examined in this gripping study             

The Perfect Neighbor

Others:

    The Alabama Solution

    Come See Me in the Good Light

    Cutting Through Rocks

    Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Casting                                                                                                                                                        The first-ever Oscar for this brand new category goes to the winner of the "Actor Award" for the same category.

Sinners — Francine Maisler

Others:

    Hamnet — Nina Gold

    Marty Supreme — Jennifer Venditti

    One Battle After Another — Cassandra Kulukundis

    The Secret Agent — Gabriel Domingues

Cinematography                                                                                                                                 Train Dreams is the most cinematically artistic film this side of Terrence Malick. We hate to be those guys, but if it doesn't win, it's because not enough voters bothered to watch it.

Train Dreams — Adolpho Veloso

Others:

    Frankenstein — Dan Laustsen

    Marty Supreme — Darius Khondji

    One Battle After Another — Michael Bauman

    Sinners — Autumn Durald Arkapaw

Film Editing                                                                                                                                          Head-to-head battle between the two heavyweight contenders, but Paul Thomas Anderson's film pace of action and intensity noses out Ryan Coogler's gem.

One Battle After Another — Andy Jurgensen

Others:

    F1: The Movie — Stephen Mirrione

    Marty Supreme — Ronald Bronstein & Josh Safdie

    Sentimental Value — Olivier Bugge Coutté

    Sinners — Michael P. Shawver

Production Design                                                                                                                            Recreating 1930s Mississippi, from sundries shop to juke joint, we can almost smell the dust and booze. The authentic atmosphere and aesthetics of this film establish both its authenticity and its otherworldliness.                                

Sinners — Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Monique Champagne

Others:

    Frankenstein — Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau

    Hamnet — Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton

    Marty Supreme — Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis

    One Battle After Another — Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

Costume Design                                                                                                                                  Period pieces have an edge here, and we'll go with the winner of the Costume Designers Guild winner in that category.                                                               

Frankenstein — Kate Hawley

Others:

    Avatar: Fire and Ash — Deborah L. Scott

    Hamnet — Malgosia Turzanska

    Marty Supreme — Miyako Bellizzi

    Sinners — Ruth E. Carter

Makeup and Hairstyling                                                                                                            Frankenstein aficionados here. We have seen countless versions of Shelley's classic tale, and in Guillermo del Toro's vision, the Creature created is the perfect blend of frightening, sympathetic, and weirdly attractive.

Frankenstein — Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey

Others:

    Kokuho — Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino, Tadashi Nishimatsu

    Sinners — Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Shunika Terry

    The Smashing Machine — Kazu Hiro, Glen Griffin, Bjoern Rehbein

    The Ugly Stepsister — Thomas Foldberg, Anne Cathrine Sauerberg

Original Score                                                                                                                                     Pulse-pounding Delta blues, haunting Irish folk tunes, and background music that sets the time, place, and mood, the Sinners score should win hands down.

Sinners — Ludwig Goransson

Others:

    Bugonia — Jerskin Fendrix

    Frankenstein — Alexandre Desplat

    Hamnet — Max Richter

    One Battle After Another — Jonny Greenwood

Original Song                                                                                                                                        As great as the Sinners overall score is, Golden's is the soaring tune that reveals the aspiration of the characters and sets the overall energy for KPop Demon Hunters.

“Golden” —KPop Demon Hunters (Music and Lyric by EJAE, Mark Sonnenblick, Joong Gyu Kwak, Yu Han Lee, Hee Dong Nam, Jeong Hoon Seo and Teddy Park)

Others:

    “Dear Me” — Diane Warren: Relentless (Music and Lyric by Diane Warren)

    “I Lied To You” — Sinners (Music and Lyric by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson)

    “Sweet Dreams Of Joy” — Viva Verdi! (Music and Lyric by Nicholas Pike)

    “Train Dreams” — Train Dreams (Music by Nick Cave and Bryce Dessner; Lyric by Nick Cave)

Sound                                                                                                                                                        Maybe it's the middle school greaser in us, fixated on cars and speed.  A few years ago, we chose Ford v Ferrari, now we like F1: The Movie. Wanna drag?     

F1: The Movie— Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta

Others:

    Frankenstein — Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern

    One Battle After Another — José Antonio García, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor

    Sinners — Chris Welcker, Benjamin A. Burtt, Felipe Pacheco, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker

    Sirāt — Amanda Villavieja, Laia Casanovas, Yasmina Praderas

Visual Effects                                                                                                                                        Every few years, James Cameron trots out an Avatar movie, just so he can pick up another Visual Effects nomination and Oscar.  He's back, despite many experts thinking the haunting effects of the vampire scenes in Sinners will win.

Avatar: Fire and Ash — Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett

Others:

    F1: The Movie — Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington, Keith Dawson

    Jurassic World Rebirth — David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan, Neil Corbould

    The Lost Bus — Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen, Brandon K. McLaughlin

    Sinners — Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean

For the last three categories, we will make no commentary other than the full disclosure here that we haven't seen enough of them and have to plead nearly total ignorance, other than what we have read. So, in effect, we are going with hearsay and our own personal favor or disfavor over a title or some petty notion, as you will see:

Animated Short Film                                                                                                                   

Butterfly — Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens

Others:

    Forevergreen — Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears

    The Girl Who Cried Pearls — Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski

    Retirement Plan — John Kelly and Andrew Freedman

    The Three Sisters — Konstantin Bronzit

Live Action Short Film                                                                                                                               

Two People Exchanging Saliva — Alexandre Singh and Natalie Musteata

Others:

    Butcher’s Stain — Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi

    A Friend of Dorothy — Lee Knight and James Dean

    Jane Austen’s Period Drama — Julia Aks and Steve Pinder

    The Singers — Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt

Documentary Short Film                                                                                                          

The Devil Is Busy — Christalyn Hampton and Geeta Gandbhir

Others:

    All the Empty Rooms — Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

    Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud — Craig Renaud and Juan Arredondo

    Children No More: “Were and Are Gone” — Hilla Medalia and Sheila Nevins 

    Perfectly a Strangeness — Alison McAlpine

ACADEMY AWARDS  - FilmZ and Guy S. Malone, Researcher

The Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby® Theatre in Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC. It will be hosted by Conan O'Brien, so we can't wait.

First, apologies for my negligence in keeping up with reviews over the past year.  I have been trying to make the manuscript for my second novel more accessible than the Rosetta Stone, no mean feat. 

Also a gripe to the Academy, even though none of them will heed this. The movie The Fall Guy highlights the crying need of an Oscar category for stunt work. Any readers of this column who saw that incredibly fun film are sure to agree with me.

Down to business: the 97th edition of the Oscars is almost here, and maybe it's FilmZ and Guy S. Malone, Researcher, but it seems difficult to see a clear path for any film to cut a swath to Oscar glory this year. Predictions look particularly difficult, not because there are so many good films; rather, the entries look either niche or flawed, or sure to offend some group in some way. Emilia Perez, for example, leads all films with 13 nominations, but it has an IMDb audience rating of 55% and a Metascore (critics) of 70/100. The Brutalist, a film about a European architect who escapes post-WWII Europe for a new life in the U.S., has a longer runtime than a real-time Amish barn raising. Bob Dylan, the subject of A Complete Unknown and a consultant on the film, evidently thought his life story needed punching up, so he insisted on including some fictionalized content. In The Substance, horror is a tough genre to sell to Oscar, even for a film that seems like Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch collaborated on a Jane Fonda workout video. And the frontrunner Anora is a tragedy about the exploitation of the working class billed as raunchy romcom. 

We could go on, but you get the point. The real point: though there may be many smart money predictions out there, ours are probably not among them. In fact, we are going against the grain in our first, and most critical prediction -- Best Picture.

On that optimistic note, let's get to it. The predictions below are based on precursor awards that films and performances have garnered, input from friends and family, and our own personal judgments and biases gleaned from our own viewings.

Below are our predictions, with rationale and commentary in a few places. 

BEST PICTURE

The odds-on favorite is Anora, but we liked several others more, and we believe there could be an upset on Oscar night. We're picking:

CONCLAVE  (Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Michael A. Jackman, Producers) Don't count it out, it did win the Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and SAG is the largest voting bloc in the Academy. It also won BAFTA and Critics Choice, Best Ensemble.

Having said that, if you are a betting person, check out the credentials for the favorite:

ANORA   (Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, Sean Baker, Producers) With the utmost objectivity, I have to predict the raunchy rom-tragicomedycom to win. It won Cannes Palme d'Or, Critics Choice, Directors Guild, Film Independent Spirit, Producer's Guild Darryl F. Zanuck Award, WGA, and a slew of film festivals.

Other Nominees:

THE BRUTALIST (Nick Gordon, Brian Young, Andrew Morrison, D.J. Gugenheim, Brady Corbet, Producers)

A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (Fred Berger, James Mangold, Alex Heineman, Producers)

DUNE: PART TWO (Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe, Denis Villeneuve, Producers)

EMILIA PÉREZ (Pascal Caucheteux, Jacques Audiard, Producers)

I'M STILL HERE (Maria Carlota Bruno, Rodrigo Teixeira, Producers)

NICKEL BOYS (Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Joslyn Barnes, Producers)

THE SUBSTANCE (Coralie Fargeat and Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Producers)

WICKED (Marc Platt, Producer)

DIRECTING

Sean Baker should win for Anora. His inspired handling of a cast of unknowns made us feel as if we were watching real people living a whirlwind slice of life, with all of the humor and pathos and ultimately heart-rending sorrow. 

In some other years, Brady Corbet's wrangling of the sprawling drama The Brutalist would be the frontrunner.

Other Nominees:

Jacques Audiard - Emilia Perez 

Coralie Fargeat - The Substance  

James Mangold - A Complete Unknown 

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Demi Moore in The Substance  Moore is riveting. Many talk about brave performances, but here is more than a platitude. Not only does she immerse herself in her role, but she also faithfully depicts the reality of women of a certain age in modern culture, and her performance is an anguished cry of empowerment.

Mikey Madison is a one-woman tour de force in Anora and a favorite in many corners. Don't count the former unknown out. She was tremendous.

Other Nominees:

Cynthia Erivo in Wicked

Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Perez

Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Perez   Saldaña is receiving the most plaudits of her career. A win here gives the most nominated film a reward in a major category, not a mean feat, considering her competition.

Isabella Rossellini in Conclave has a powerful impact in the few scenes in which she appears.

Other Nominees:

Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown 

Ariana Grande in Wicked

Felicity Jones in The Brutalist

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Adrien Brody in The Brutalist  In a close race, Brody, as the intense, suffering architect who immigrates from post-WWII Europe to the U.S., is at the dramatic center of the film. He won many of the precursors. 

Timothée Chalamet's performance in A Complete Unknown is by all accounts an inspired take on Bob Dylan. He won the important and influential SAG Award. He is the only actor other than James Dean in 1955 to be nominated twice while still in his 20s. Notably, he did all of the singing for the role.

Other Nominees:

Colman Domingo in Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes in Conclave

Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain. This is one of the better bets, not that the other candidates are bad.

Other Nominees:

Yura Borisov in Anora

Edward Norton in A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce in The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong in The Apprentice

WRITING - ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Anora by Sean Baker should win this category, even despite stiff competition. His penchant for depicting society's outcasts and telling stories that bare their souls brings more than just an understanding of the denizens of what many see as America's underbelly, it elicits our empathy.

Other Nominees:

The Brutalist by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

A Real Pain by Jesse Eisenberg

September 5 by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; Co-Written by Alex David

The Substance by Coralie Fargeat

WRITING - ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Conclave by Peter Straughan is our prohibitive favorite here. His adaptation to the screen brings all of the political infighting and tension of a selection process that means the World to its participants, and the intriguing path it draws us along to its astounding conclusion is masterful.

Other Nominees:

A Complete Unknown by James Mangold and Jay Cocks

Emilia Perez by Jacques Audiard; In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi

Nickel Boys by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes

Sing Sing by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John "Divine G" Whitfield

FILM EDITING

Nick Emerson's work in Conclave took a compelling screenplay and drove it forward to its astounding conclusion without a wasted movement of phrase. The same cannot be said for several of its competitors (Ahem, Anora and The Brutalist)

Other Nominees:

Sean Baker, Anora

David Jancso - The Brutalist

Myron Kerstein, Wicked

Juliette Welfling - Emilia Perez

CINEMATOGRAPHY

Lol Crawley, The Brutalist seems the frontrunner, despite its use of AI. That's all we have to say here on the matter.

Other Nominees:  

Dune: Part Two- Greig Fraser

Emilia Perez - Paul Guilhaume

Maria - Ed Lachman

Nosferatu - Jarin Blaschke

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

I'm Still Here - Brazil in a mild upset over Emilia Perez, The story of a family enduring the fascist regime in 1970 Brazil just seems more serious and compelling, which is what the Academy traditionally has favored.

Other Nominees:

The Girl with the Needle - Denmark

Emilia Perez - France

The Seed of the Sacred Fig - Germany

Flow - Latvia

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

The Wild Robot - Chris Sanders, Jeff Hermann, though we are more intrigued by:

Flow - Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens, Gregory Zalcman, but maybe that's because we like cats.

Other Nominees:

Inside Out 2 - Kelsey Mann, Mark Nielsen

Memoir of a Snail - Adam Elliot, Liz Kearney

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl - Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham, Richard Beek

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

No Other Land - Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham

Other Nominees:

Black Box Diaries- Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari, Hanna Aqvilin

Porcelain War - Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev, Aniela Sidorska, Paula DuPre' Pesmen

Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat - Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety

Sugarcane - Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie and Kellen Quinn

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Wicked, Production Design by Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales is the clear frontrunner, the world building in the film is fantastic, a stunning visual experience that seems as if Oz really exists. 

Other Nominees:

The Brutalist -  Production Design by Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia

Conclave - Production Design by Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter

Dune: Part Two - Production Design by Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau

Nosferatu - Production Design by Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová

COSTUME DESIGN

Wicked's Paul Tazewell brings imagination and fantasy to life.

Other Nominees:

A Complete Unknown - Arianne Phillips

Conclave - Lisy Christl

Gladiator II - Janty Yates and Dave Crossman

Nosferatu - Linda Muir

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

The Substance - Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli. I guess you just have to see it.  Reminiscent of The Fly. 

Other Nominees:

A Different Man - Mike Marino, David Presto, Crystal Jurado

Emilia Perez - Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier, Jean-Christophe Spadaccini

Nosferatu - David White, Traci Loader, Suzanne Stokes-Munton

Wicked - Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, Sarah Nuth

MUSIC - ORIGINAL SCORE

The Brutalist - Daniel Blumberg's soaring score is the favorite, though we are partial to 

Conclave - Volker Bertelmann

Other Nominees:

Emilia Perez - Clément Ducol and Camille

Wicked - John Powell and Stephen Schwartz

The Wild Robot - Kris Bowers

MUSIC - ORIGINAL SONG

"El Mal" - Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard from Emilia Perez is the favorite here. I'll take the experts' word for it.

Other Nominees:

"The Journey" from The Six Triple Eight, Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

"Like A Bird" from Sing Sing, Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada

"Mi Camino" from Emilia Perez, Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol

"Never Too Late" from Elton John: Never Too Late, Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin

SOUND

Dune: Part Two - Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill. Our younger son bought us state of the art speakers for our big screen last year. Take our word for it on this one.

Other Nominees:

A Complete Unknown - Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco

Emilia Perez - Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta

Wicked - Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis

The Wild Robot - Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts

VISUAL EFFECTS

Dune: Part Two - Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer. Our younger son bought us a projection screen for our system. Take our word for it.

Other Nominees:

Alien Romulus - Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan

Better Man - Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke

Wicked -Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Yuck!- Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet

Other Nominees:

Beautiful Men- Nicolas Keppens, Brecht Van Elslande

In the Shadow of the Cypress - Shirin Sohani,  Hossein Molayemi

Magic Candies - Daisuke Nishio, Takashi Washio

Wander to Wonder - Nina Gantz, Stienette Bosklopper

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

The Only Girl in the Orchestra - Molly O'Brien, Lisa Remington

Other Nominees:

Death By Numbers- Kim A. Snyder, Janique L. Robillard

I Am Ready, Warden - Smriti Mundhra, Maya Gnyp

Incident - Bill Morrison, Jamie Kalven

Instruments of a Beating Heart - Ema Ryan Yamazaki, Eric Nyari

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent - Nebojša Slijepčević and Danijel Pek

Other Nominees:

A Lien - Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz

Anuja - Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai

I'm Not A Robot - Victoria Warmerdam and Trent

The Last Ranger - Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw