2022 Academy Award Predictions That Are Pure Gold
Oscar! Oscar!
This year’s Academy Award nominations have been announced.
The golden girls (that’s for you, Betty White) and boys won’t give their speeches until Sunday, March 27, which gives you plenty of time to make some future wagers through OddsSeeker.com (lots of options out there) and also through the cool site Kalshi.com, where you can put your money where your mouth is and go against fellow prognosticators.
So if you want to bank some side dough and win your remote/home-office pool, follow the advice below and wager accordingly.
There are often “locks” on Academy Awards night, but also some surprises. We’ll look at the best bets in the six major categories.
As for the other categories, “Dune” will definitely dominate the technical ones (Visual Effects, Score and Sound awards for certain; likely Cinematography too), Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”) will finally win his first Oscar, unless Kenneth Branagh does for “Belfast" in the Original Screenplay category. The “The Power of the Dog” will win adapted screenplay, Questlove’s documentary (“Summer Of Soul ...Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised”) should be the winner and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” designer Linda Downds will blush after winning Best Makeup and Hairstyling (my god, Jessica Chastain’s look was shockingly spot-on).
But here are the ones people pay the most attention to:
Best Supporting Actress
Rita Moreno won in this category for her performance as Anita in the original film adaptation of “West Side Story” 60 years ago when she was 30 (she turned 90 last December) and history will repeat itself at the 2022 Academy Awards when 31-year-old rising star Ariana DeBose wins it as well.
Best Supporting Actor
Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”) is the heavy favorite and he was excellent, however, Troy Kostur became the first deaf male performer to be nominated for an Oscar in his role in the 2021 film "CODA." The movie follows Ruby, a child whose parents and brother are deaf. Academy voters love this type of performance (Marlee Matlin won an Oscar 35 years ago for “Children of a Lesser God” so I’m calling an upset here. Smit-McPhee will get other chances.
Best Actress
I kid you not, people, Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) is no longer the lock she appeared to be a few weeks ago, not after Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”) crashed the Academy Award nomination following her marvelous moving work, but Nicole is still the call. Remember, the Oscar voters love when a performer plays a former Hollywood legend (see recently: Renée Zellweger for “Judy”).
Best Actor
More and more pundits are predicting that Will Smith will truly become the prince of Bel-Air on Oscar night by winning this award. It’s not a given, though he’s now the heavy favorite. Benedict Cumberbatch is a Brit (tons of Academy members, remember), he’s respected and well-liked, and his performance in “The Power of the Dog” was mesmerizing and reminded more than a bit of Daniel Day-Lewis’ insanely intense work in “There Will Be Blood” and we all know how that turned out.
Best Director
Don’t even give this next one a second thought. Jane Campion, the first woman to ever be nominated twice in this category, will win for “The Power of the Dog.” Slow burn of a movie, but gorgeously shot and beautifully directed (all four main actors were nominated for Oscars) this one’s a cinch.
Best Picture
This one’s tricky but the movie with the most nominations (“The Power of the Dog” leads the way with 12) rarely loses this award. BUT, “Belfast” seemed more beloved and you can never count out a Steven Spielberg film.
