This is your turn for a “No Guts, No Glory” out of the whim prediction. Which category do you believe will have a surprise winner? It could just be a hunch, and doesn’t mean it will actually happen, but it’s all part of the fun.
As for me, I don’t believe we’ll be getting many, if any, surprises, but I’ve decided to stick with my original prediction that Paul Giamatti will be crowned Best Actor for “The Holdovers.” I’ve noticed many pundits have settled with Cillian Murphy as their #1, but I just have this hunch that the ultra-likable Giamatti will win it.
Giamatti, 56, has been around for over three decades now as an actor, and in his best work (“Sideways,” “The Holdovers,” “American Splendor,” “Private Parts”) has managed to cement himself as one of those rare performers capable of excelling in both leading and supporting roles. The narrative for him to finally win is definitely on his side.
Awards Daily’s Sasha Stone concurs with me that the Best Actress race is currently “too close to call”. It’s, by far, the most interesting category this year and I tackled it earlier in the week. I’m finally settling with Stone winning her second Oscar, but only because a) Gladstone was BAFTA snubbed and b) she appears in less than 1/3 of ‘Killers’ runtime (56 minutes).
What might be detrimental to Stone’s chances is that she’s already won a statuette and Gladstone clearly has the better narrative going for her, no matter how much of a sham it is to see her supporting performance included in the lead category.
For the main categories, I have Oppenheimer, Nolan, Stone, Giamatti, Randolph and Downey Jr picking up statuettes. I’m still undecided on the animation category, but leaning more towards Miyazaki, especially since the animated branch sees him as a a total God of the medium. Adapted Screenplay is also up in the air, it’s down to three films (“Oppenheimer,” “American Fiction” and “Poor Things”).
Overall, I haven’t really been covering the Oscars as much as in previous years because, quite frankly, it’s just been an incredibly dull year to predict. “Oppenheimer” has zero competition. Ditto Nolan. There’s also been barely any controversy, which resulted in social media dubiously proclaiming Bradley Cooper the “villain” of awards season. Poor guy.
The 96th Oscars will be airing live on ABC and broadcast outlets worldwide on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the new time of 7 p.m. EDT/4 p.m. PDT. This means we’ll be able to go to bed before midnight. Rejoice!