After listing a few choice Best Oscar nominees in my last pick, I stopped, while trying to nail down a couple of categories. Continuing:
Best Director: Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”)
Other nominees are Kenneth Branagh (“Belfast”);Rysuki Hamaguchi- “Drive My Car”; Paul Thomas Anderson – “Licorice Pizza”‘; Steven Spielberg – “West Side Story.” Of these films, my personal favorite was “West Side Story,” but nobody (except, perhaps, Spielberg’s father, at one time, was clamoring for a remake of the fantastic sixties film.
Best Supporting Actor – Troy Kotsur, “CODA”
Best Supporting Actress – Ariana DeBose – “West Side Story”
Film Editing – “Dune”
Best Adapted Screenplay – “The Power of the Dog”
Best Original Screenplay – “Belfast”
Best Cinematography – “Dune”
Best Animated Feature – “Encanto”
Makeup and Hairstyling – “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
Best Costume Design – “Cruella”
Best International Film – “Drive My Car”
Best Original Song – “No Time to Die” (Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell)
Best Documentary – “Summer of Soul”
Best Visual Effects – “Dune”
Production Design – “Dune”
The film with the most (not counting those that will be announced off the air separately) is “Dune” on my list. I was torn between “Flee,” which was making all the film festivals, and “Summer of Soul,” but, just like “Encanto,” it’s hard to overcome a marketing giant like Disney. I was not convinced that the Best Screenplay Award should go to “Up in the Air” and can’t help but believe that Kenneth Branagh telling his autobiographical life story has to be a winner