WE BOTH FELT THE SAME WAY about the current situation with the Oscar nominations. Ever since streaming came up alongside movie theaters, our joy in watching the Academy Awards telecast has lessened. I was telling my relative how I loved hearing the nominations being announced then checking off how many of them I had already seen. Those that I had not yet seen came to the forefront of my movie viewing jaunts. It was nothing for me to go to a movie theater and watch three nominated films in a row, so I could check them off the list when I returned home. By the time of the awards show, I had seen every nominated movie, and I had all my top choices picked. Now I must traverse in a much different landscape. Some films are produced and shown only on a company’s streaming service. With the variety of streaming services available, they start to add up to more than any cable bill I ever had before; it is crazy. I cannot justify signing up for every streaming service being offered that shows movies. And let us face it, not every movie coming out on streaming is a winner.      MAYBE I AM MORE NOSTALGIC THIS year, but I am a little sad that I have not seen every nominated picture. I would have thought the streaming companies that have an Oscar nominated film would allow it to be released at the theaters, even if it were for a brief time, but alas no such luck. The yearly contest among the relatives has been retired for the past couple of years because I am not the only one who was not able to see all the nominees. With this in mind, I was thinking about my predictions, and I have decided I am going to follow the rule on some of the testing we were required to do in our school years; it is better to guess an answer than skip the question. So, please keep in mind the only categories where I have seen all the nominees are Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Makeup and Hairstyling. With the remainder, it runs the gamut from seeing only one nominee in a category to all but one. I will try to do my best and as always, list what I think should get the award compared to what the Academy will do. Let us all hope that we have a fun and exciting show to watch this year. Good luck.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORT ROLE:

MY CHOICE: Da’Vine Joy Randolph—The Holdovers

ACADEMY PICK: Da’Vine Joy Randolph—The Holdovers

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Robert Downey Jr—Oppenheimer

ACADEMY CHOICE: Robert Downey Jr—Oppenheimer

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Carey Mulligan—Maestro

ACADEMY CHOICE: Lily Gladstone—Killers of the Flower Moon

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:

MY CHOICE: Paul Giamatti—The Holdovers

ACADEMY CHOICE: Cillian Murphy—Oppenheimer

BEST DIRECTOR: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Christopher Nolan—Oppenheimer

ACADEMY CHOICE: Christopher Nolan—Oppenheimer

CINEMATOGRAPHY: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: El Conde

ACADEMY CHOICE: Oppenheimer

COSTUME DESIGN: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Barbie

ACADEMY CHOICE: Poor Things

FILM EDITING: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Oppenheimer

ACADEMY CHOICE: Oppenheimer

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING: 

MY CHOICE: Poor Things

ACADEMY CHOICE: Poor Things

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY): (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Barbie

ACADEMY CHOICE: Oppenheimer

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY): (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Past Lives

ACADEMY CHOICE: The Holdovers

VISUAL EFFECTS: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Godzilla Minus One

ACADEMY CHOICE: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE-DEAD RECKONING PART ONE

ORIGINAL SONG: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: What Was I Made For—Barbie

ACADEMY CHOICE: What Was I Made For—Barbie

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: The Boy and the Heron

ACADEMY CHOICE: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Oppenheimer

ACADEMY CHOICE: Oppenheimer

BEST PICTURE: (INCOMPLETE)

MY CHOICE: Oppenheimer

ACADEMY CHOICE: Oppenheimer

Well, there you have the choices for this year. To tell you the truth I am not noticeably confident since there were several films with multiple nominations that I have not seen this past year. I am grateful after the pandemic and the writers’ strike; we were able to get enough films to be nominated. I hope everyone has a wonderful time watching the show and let us hope next year will provide even better and more film choices for us to see. Be well and thank you.