We are over a month removed from the 96th Academy Awards airing so that means it’s time to start speculating on the 97th. These are my initial glimpses at the four acting races, Director, and Picture and they will unfold on the blog over the next few days. I already posted my first takes on the acting derbies and they can be perused here:
We now move to Director. When I did my first picks on the competition in 2023, it yielded the winner with Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer as well as Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon). Under the 10 other possibilities, I named Yorgos Lanthimos of Poor Things. I did not identify Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) or Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall) at the early juncture.
Let’s start with an obvious caveat… it’s early. Some movies listed are likely to be pushed back or simply not turn out as awards contenders.
In 2021, one of the biggest shockers of nomination morning was Denis Villeneuve being left out of Best Director for Dune. I don’t have history repeating itself as the filmmaker makes my initial quintet for the sequel. So does Edward Berger, who was surprisingly snubbed in 2022 for All Quiet on the Western Front.
Here’s the first snapshot…
TODD’S FIRST OSCAR PREDICTION FOR BEST DIRECTOR AT THE 97TH ACADEMY AWARDS:
Edward Berger, Conclave
Steve McQueen, Blitz
Rachel Morrison, The Fire Inside
Joshua Oppenheimer, The End
Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two
Other Possibilities:
Ali Abbasi, The Apprentice
Andrea Arnold, Bird
Francis Ford Coppola, Megalopolis
Alex Garland, Civil War
Luca Guadagnino, Queer
Greg Kwedar, Sing Sing
Yorgos Lanthimos, Kinds of Kindness
George Miller, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie à Deux
Sean Wang, Dídi
Best Picture is up next!
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