(MENAFN- AsiaNet News)
With 13 nominations, Nolan's atomic bomb thriller enters the 96th Academy Awards ceremony (airing live on ABC at 7 p.m. EDT/4 PDT) as a firm favourite to win some significant silverware, from below-the-line categories to big-ticket contests like best actor, supporting actor, and film. At the very least, the competition for best actress might be entertaining, with past winner Emma Stone ("Poor Things") facing up against newcomer Lily Gladstone ("Killers of the Flower Moon").
While we hope for enough mayhem to make the night entertaining, here are our predictions for each major category:
Best picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Will win: Oppenheimer
Should win: Barbie
"Oppenheimer" delves into America's past. Still, it also has awards-season history on its side: Nolan's film received top honours from the directors, producers, and actors guilds, and only one film, 1995's "Apollo 13," has won those without also winning best picture. Unless there is a major shock, "Oppy" is likely to win. However, the Oscars' preferential ballot, where voters rank their top selections, leaves room for surprise.
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And if "Barbie" has a shot, we're going for it, because, while "Oppenheimer" is unquestionably a directorial triumph, Greta Gerwig's playful, pink-washed sensation feels more contemporary with its gender dynamics and existential issues.
Best Actress
Annette Bening, (Nyad)
Lily Gladstone, (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Sandra Hüller, (Anatomy of a Fall)
Carey Mulligan, (Maestro)
Emma Stone, (Poor Things)
Will win: Gladstone
Should win: Hüller
Quality victories by Stone and Gladstone throughout this awards season have made this a toss-up: both received Golden Globes, Stone won Critics Choice and BAFTA (where Gladstone was not nominated), but Gladstone has the Oscar advantage, because to her recent Screen Actors Guild victory. (The Oscar winner has only deviated from the SAG winner three times in the last 13 years.)
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Both are excellent, but instead of zigging, we secretly yearn for a large zag since Hüller imbues every courtroom drama "Anatomy of a Fall" scene with mystery and intrigue.
Best actor
Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Paul Giamatti, (The Holdovers)
Cillian Murphy, (Oppenheimer)
Jeffrey Wright, (American Fiction)
Will win: Murphy
Should win: Wright
Murphy, the interesting guy behind the bomb, has rolled through Oscar season, and there's no stopping him now, with a searingly superb, complicated performance and heavy-duty "Oppenheimer" momentum. Fellow first-timer Wright will undoubtedly return in the hunt at some point, but his "Fiction" position perfectly complements all he does well.
As a furious scholar struggling with unexpected success, Wright out-curmudgeons the powerful Giamatti, gives an irascible grump a large heart, and makes the most of his moment as one of our great character performers.
Best supporting actress
Emily Blunt, (Oppenheimer)
Danielle Brooks, (The Color Purple)
America Ferrera, (Barbie)
Jodie Foster, (Nyad)
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, (The Holdovers)
Will win/should win: Randolph
Randolph has paved the way to the Oscars, and she will claim victory on Sunday night as well. She should be proud of herself for such an outstanding performance. Randolph, who has also appeared in "Dolemite Is My Name" and "The United States vs. Billie Holiday," plays Mary Lamb in a hilarious and tragic performance.
She's the tough-love head cook at a boarding school who establishes a mini-family with a crusty professor (Giamatti) and a wayward student (Dominic Sessa) while simultaneously dealing with the heartbreak of her first Christmas without her beloved son.
Best supporting actor
Sterling K. Brown, (American Fiction)
Robert De Niro, (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Robert Downey Jr., (Oppenheimer)
Ryan Gosling, (Barbie)
Mark Ruffalo, (Poor Things)
Will win/should win: Downey
Downey has enjoyed box-office success and ups and downs, but he has yet to win an Academy Award. That changes on Sunday, when he'll tidy up at one final awards event and (maybe) say something intriguing with a live microphone.
He is merited not only in a career "attaboy" sense, but also because Downey has proven himself to be an excellent adversary after portraying a superhero for more than a decade. As Lewis Strauss, he takes Murphy's J. Robert Oppenheimer through a tense wringer fueled by power and pettiness, and in a dismal film, it's nice to see the eventual comeuppance.
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Best director
Justine Triet, (Anatomy of a Fall)
Martin Scorsese, (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Christopher Nolan, (Oppenheimer)
Yorgos Lanthimos, (Poor Things)
Jonathan Glazer, (The Zone of Interest)
Will win/should win: Nolan
It's just Nolan's turn, like with Scorsese's triumph for "The Departed" in 2007. While he has only received two directorial nominations (plus three for best picture, two for original screenplay, and one for adapted screenplay), Nolan's cinematic prowess is on display for everyone to see in "Oppenheimer" - the Trinity test alone is stunning.
But he's constructed out a great famous filmography for himself, from "The Dark Knight" and "Memento" to "Inception" and "Interstellar," and making a blockbuster smash out of a cerebral, three-hour drama about scientists is an accomplishment in and of itself.
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