Some years are just THAT good for movies. (Looking at you 2007, with No Country for Old Men & There Will Be Blood). This year is one of those years. So, of course our office is pooling together our picks and who we think will take home the prized naked statue.

You can join us in watching the 96th Academy Awards this Sunday, March 10th!

Just so we don’t keep you all day, we chose our picks for these 5 categories: Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Lead Actor, Best Lead Actress, and Best Cinematography. 

Best Picture: Past Lives

Tyler: “The Academy in recent years have been focusing more on smaller and important films in the best Picture category. With the bloat of films like Oppenheimer and Barbie in the media, this feels like another year where the Academy might reward a smaller more introspective film. Its definitely the dark horse pick, but I feel like it has the potential to surprise viewers, though I wouldn’t be shocked if Holdovers won, which was my favorite film of the year.”

Best Director: Christopher Nolan

Tyler: “Oppenheimer I personally don’t think he has done anything particularly interesting since Memento, but by most metrics he should have wone for Dunkirk. Even if I don’t like most of his films, he has put in the time and Oppenheimer is a solid film. He deserves the recognition, though I feel his BAFTA win may have doomed his chances at the Academy Awards.”

Best Actor: Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Tyler: “Consistently fantastic, he has never turned in a less that great performance, even when his performance is the only thing good in the movie. That’s not the case here.  Holdovers is fantastic, and Giamatti is at the top of his game.

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Tyler: “Her performance was nuanced, researched, and heartfelt. The academy owes it to her, and the countless native Americans who have worked in the film industry over the years or have been used as nothing more than props to tell a largely anti native American narrative.”

Best Cinematography: Killers of the Flower Moon

Tyler: “I am not a Nolan apologist.  I find his films overthought, and rarely justified spectacles. Shooting Oppenheimer in an imax format while keeping the movie largely over the shoulder closeups is just another example of Nolan stroking his own ego. Prieto has been to the dance four times and was cheated when Silence didn’t win in 2017. He deserves the win.”

Best Picture: Oppenheimer

Jesse: “I think that Oppenheimer will win best picture simply because it’s an epic Nolan film, and I am secretly rooting for it because I can’t get enough of Cillian Murphy’s RBF on the red carpet.”

Best Director: Martin Scorsese

Jesse: “How do you not give it to Scorsese? The man is a legend, and Killers of the Flower Moon is a culmination of all his prior work. Let’s go Marty!”

Best Actor: Bradley Cooper! JK, Paul Giamatti

Jesse: “I want to say Bradley Cooper just to be an anarchist. But my heart would be so happy if it went to Paul Giamatti.”

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone

Jesse: “100% Lily Gladstone. Next question.”

Best Cinematography: El Conde

Jesse: “There’s a reason that this is the only category it’s nominated for. They could not exclude this brilliant cinematography.”

Best Picture: Barbie

Hilary: “I’d like for Killers of the Flower Moon to take Best Picture, but I think the viral mania surrounding Barbie will prove effective in the end (especially with Greta Gerwig’s omission from the Best Director category).”

Best Director: Chris Nolan

Hilary: “While the award could easily go to Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon, I suspect it’s finally time for the Academy to recognize Nolan’s work and vision.”

Best Actor: Cillian Murphy

Hilary: “Cillian Murphy has been giving us incredible performances without fail for the last twenty-something years. It would be fantastic to see the Academy honor Murphy’s dedication to his craft.”

Best Actress: Lily Gladstone

Hilary: “Lily Gladstone is the heartbeat of Killers of the Flower Moon. This is a historic nomination, and her win would be groundbreaking. I hope in the future we have many opportunities to see Gladstone grace the silver screen.”

Best Cinematography: Oppenheimer

Hilary: “Cinema’s past and future blended to bring Oppenheimer to life. Technical achievements that both preserve and progress shooting on film draw the viewer into the intense physical and personal landscapes of Oppenheimer.”

Best Picture: Oppenheimer

Birdie: “Oppenheimer because the world doesn’t have enough material celebrating the boring accomplishments of boring men. Congratulations to all the droll faces involved. $5.99 on Amazon, my ass. So accessible, thank you, Hollywood. 

Best Director: Justine Triet

Birdie: “Justine Triet, but not for the reason you’d think.”

Actor: Paul Giamatti

Birdie: “I think the Academy will realize what they did to him in 2005 was messed up.”

Actress: Sandra Hüller

Birdie: “Sandra Hüller because that one monologue was so by-the-book, but still alive and raw. She is the stand-out in this year’s lineup. 

Cinematography: Poor Things

Birdie: “You really sit in Bella’s fantastical world.”