It’s another year, so the Oscars are here for Hollywood to pat themselves on the back. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences loves to celebrate those who have continued to push forward cinema, and we’re always here for it. Every year has great and questionable nominees, but it’s still entertaining. That’s why here at ScreenGeek, we give out our annual choice: who should win and who’ll likely be chosen at the Oscars.
Many of the nominees given this year have already won big in some form or fashion, but an Oscar is the one that puts a final touch on the year’s award season. The nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards are an eclectic bunch with a perfect mixture for many filmgoers to check out leading up to the event. However, short attention span is all the rave in today’s world, and that’s where our job comes in.
We’ve decided to cover the top categories everyone will discuss for the next few days to save as much time as possible. Hopefully, our magic dartboard of choices will correctly predict who will win at this year’s Academy Awards.
Animated Feature Film – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
One thing that makes this film the top contender in winning is that it pushed the limit of what animation can do. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse challenged itself by cohesively incorporating different styles of animation that made the act essential to the story. The film had so many opportunities to fail but didn’t, thanks to the people behind the scenes. Their hard work helped revolutionize the art form, yet they didn’t stop there.
The film’s underlying message about choosing your destiny and discovering your identity made the movie deep on so many levels. Consequently, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is easily accessible for children because the film is also fun to watch—basically, an excellent movie for any age.
The Academy Will Probably Choose: The Boy and the Heron because Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki’s style of animation is something the members of the Academy are more accustomed to.
Adapted Screenplay – Poor Things / Tony McNamara
The movie is weird…I mean, it’s bizarre. However, that’s what makes the adapted script so unique. Poor Things holds many layers when it comes to its storytelling. The film follows our protagonist as she goes through a sexual awakening, the beauty of her surroundings, everyday observations that should be questioned, and self-identity. The precise level of writing was needed to pull a fantastic performance from the cast and succeed on all fronts.
Smart and unbelievably funny, the writing from McNamara knew not to treat the audience like idiots while also making the story a meditation on life. The Oscars should recognize that.
The Academy Will Probably Choose: Oppenheimer because it’s a good script, and the Academy has an affinity for biopics. Ie. Oscars gold.
Original Screenplay – Anatomy of a Fall / Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
The screenplay written by Triet and Harari is another example of writing on multiple levels. The story of a man falling to his death and circling whether he did it out of his free will is an intriguing concept alone. However, the movie goes deeper than that. The story is a dissection of a marriage and accepting that someone might be who they say they are. Anyone can see the story’s perspective from the mother, played by Sandra Hüller, the son, played by Milo Machado-Graner, or even the lawyer, played by Swann Arlaud. Either way, it will give viewers a new outlook on the movie every time, which helps make it an award-winning script.
The Academy Will Probably Choose: The Holdovers by David Hemingson because it harkens back to the familiar style of 70s scriptwriting, and who doesn’t like nostalgia for the Oscars?
Actor in a Supporting Role – Robert Downey Jr. / Oppenheimer
Downey Jr. was fully immersed in the role of Lewis Strauss. The guy transformed into the role and was tasked with carrying out the opposing weight of the movie. He succeeded in every way and ate up every morsel of dialogue. The performance is a reminder that Downey has always been a great actor and much more than a comic book character. I couldn’t believe how much he fully engulfed all the nuance of the character and perfectly matched those he shared the screen with.
All his talent as an actor and the energy put into the role amounted to an incredible monologue in the 3rd Act that cemented his win at the Oscars.
The Academy Will Probably Choose: Robert Downey Jr. because we all would be shocked if he didn’t win.
Actress in a Supporting Role – Da’ Vine Joy Randolph / The Holdovers
Randolph is the soul of The Holdovers. She helped uplift the leads during the character arcs while holding her own. Every scene that featured the actor opened the door in the story for a new perspective, and Randolph handled the role with expertise. The story of a teacher and his student became so much more because of Randolph’s talent in making her character so much more and bringing the role to life. She could even add her flair to the role and elevate the more serious portions of the story.
I couldn’t get enough of the performance because of the actor’s talent to carry a scene on her own while adding so much more with the lead actors—a fantastic feat, not everybody can accomplish.
The Academy Will Probably Choose: Emily Blunt because someone at the Oscars will spin the wheel, and that’s who it’ll land on.
Actress in a Leading Role – Emma Stone / Poor Things
Many choices for this year’s category are good, but Emma Stone is the most deserving. Her performance as someone who discovers all the wonders of life is realistic, insightful, and funny to watch. She was able to carry the movie because of her ability to adapt to the wild nature of the script by McNamara and never missed a step in the process. Stone brought the right combination of drama and comedy best suited for the role and never took anything away from her co-stars.
The actor gave a solid performance throughout the entirety of the movie and only continued to elevate her performance during the character’s arc. Not every actor can do it, but Stone handled it with ease.
The Academy Will Probably Choose: Lilly Gladstone because she did just as great of a performance in Killers of the Flower Moon. However, the Academy will feel more obligated to give it to her because everyone says they should.
Actor in a Lead Role – Colman Domingo / Rustin
Not enough people are talking about Domingo’s performance as Bayard Rustin, but his work should be noted. Domingo’s role is the movie’s heart, and the story gets better with each fantastic scene with the actor. He brought the character to life while leaving room for wanting more. I felt that this role was very personal for the actor and that he wanted to do right by the legacy of an influential activist. Domingo carried the movie with ease, grace, love, and compassion. Honestly, it’s inspiring to watch the man work.
The Academy Will Probably Choose: Cillian Murphy because the Academy got swept up by Barbenheimer.
Directing – Yorgos Lanthimos / Poor Things
As previously mentioned, the screenplay for Poor Things is bizarre but could’ve lost much substance in translation from script to screen. However, Director Yorgos Lanthimos was able to bring the script to life in a way that was unexpected and a fantastic feat to accomplish. He took the surreal to make it real and something worth watching. The world the film inhabits is fully accessible with its nuance and ways to dissect. It allowed Lanthimos to showcase his raw talent as a director ahead of his time.
Poor Things is like watching a Salvador Dalí painting come to life with a story driven by Mary Shelley’s soul. The skillful hand of Lanthimos brought all the madness needed to tell a story that is intriguing, funny, and very entertaining from the cast.
The Academy Will Probably Choose: Christoper Nolan because the members of the Academy like to watch things go boom.
Best Picture – Poor Things
The writing is perfect. Directing is perfect. Acting is ideal (for the most part). Poor Things is another considerable feat in cinema, telling an engaging story with amazing lessons to take from it. The movie is entertaining but doesn’t fall back on certain tired-out tropes. This category is hard to choose because most of the nominations are excellent in their own right, but Poor Things stands above the rest. Yorgos Lanthimos and writer Tony McNamara worked together perfectly in bringing this story about life and death to the big screen and showcasing the art of film at its finest.
The Academy Will Probably Choose: Oppenheimer because sometimes an epic biopic gets all the awards, and that’s fine in this case of the Oscars.