Oscar voting is officially over for the 98th Academy Awards, and now we are just patiently waiting until the awards are handed out on March 5th. As we do every year, Matt Neglia and I spoke with several Academy voters about what they are voting for and why. We’ll be posting some of those thoughts for your amusement in the lead-up to the Oscars (because that’s all this is at the end of the day). Remember, as you read these, they represent only a tiny fraction of the 11,000+ people who vote on the Oscar winners. While these may help provide some insight into how voters make their selections, they are far from the be-all and end-all of what will eventually win and should always be taken with a grain of salt.
Best Picture:
1. “Hamnet” – That was such an unusual type of movie in terms of its storytelling, and I found it very moving.
2. “One Battle After Another” – I enjoyed it, but it didn’t move me as much as “Hamnet.”
3. “Train Dreams” – I really liked it, but it did feel kind of one-note. Thankfully, it was short.
4. “Sinners” – I hate scary movies, so I almost turned this one off, but I’m glad I didn’t because I liked what it was saying on top of the scary parts about music and race.
5. “Frankenstein” – This was very good, but nothing we haven’t seen before from Guillermo del Toro.
6. “Marty Supreme” – I was pretty surprised they were able to make a movie this exciting about an unexciting sport like table tennis.
*Pauses*
Voter: “I have a confession to make. I know we were supposed to watch all the movies before we voted, and I just didn’t have time. I chose not to vote in some categories where I hadn’t seen them all, but I didn’t want to skip voting in some others, like Best Picture. So I just put “Bugonia” at 7, “The Secret Agent” at 8, “Sentimental Value” at 9, and “F1” at 10. What does Jeff Bridges say? “I’m trying to be righteous?” Well, I didn’t feel very righteous doing that. I’ll try to be better next year.”
Me: “Ah, so you didn’t watch any of those?”
Voter: “I certainly watched “F1,” that’s why I put it last. It was a great editing job, but it just didn’t really hold my interest otherwise. You know, I didn’t see it on the big screen, and maybe I would have liked it more if I had. The Academy has stopped showing the movies on the big screen after they’re nominated. I read that only like seven people were showing up per screening, so they stopped, which is too bad, because I would’ve shown up for some of these. I really do think it makes a big difference for some movies if you see them on a big screen.
Best Director:
Chloe Zhao. I liked what I heard in interviews about her process, how she runs her set, and how she’s able to control it without being heavy-handed. She had them all doing meditations and stuff on set. I guess it worked. I liked the end result I saw up on the screen. Because, as I said, it moved me the most, especially how she handled that ending. I thought some of her choices were really interesting, too, like she always was putting the actors in the center of the frame and finding ways for your to connect with them on a spiritual level.
Best Actress:
Jessie Buckley. That movie made me so emotional, and she is a big part of that, if not THE reason for that.
Best Actor:
I thought Timothée Chalamet’s dedication to his role was amazing. I read that he was studying and playing table tennis for years for this. Apparently, he had a table tennis table on set with him while he was making “Dune” so he could keep training. But I voted for Michael B. Jordan. We didn’t really see Timothée change during the film… maybe that’s just who the character is, but I thought there should’ve been something that showed he wasn’t the same by the end. I liked what Michael was doing playing the twins and felt there was a real change in him by the end.
Best Supporting Actress:
I had to unfortunately abstain because I didn’t see “Sentimental Value” or “Weapons,” and the women nominated for “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” didn’t really stand out to me.
Best Supporting Actor:
Delroy Lindo. He was good in this, and he’s been good in a lot of things. It feels like it’s his time to receive proper acknowledgment.
Best Adapted Screenplay:
“Hamnet.” Apparently, the book had a really vague ending, and they added another 20 pages to the movie to make it work onscreen.Best Original Screenplay:
“Sinners.” It seemed so unusual to have a horror movie that’s also about so much beyond the genre, and any time you can pull that off, it’s impressive.
Best Animated Feature:
Abstained because I didn’t see all of the nominees this year and I’m not just going to vote for that “Kpop” movie.
Best Documentary Feature:
I abstained from this one too for the same reason.
Best International Feature Film:
I abstained because as I said before, I didn’t get a chance to see either “The Secret Agent” or “Sentimental Value,” and seeing as how they’re both nominated for Best Picture, it didn’t feel right to me to cast a vote here.
Best Casting:
“Hamnet.” I thought they did such a good job casting those kids.
Best Cinematography:
Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s work in “Sinners” was really striking. Plus, if she wins, it will be historic. No woman cinematographer has ever won before. I voted for “Sirāt” for Best Sound for kind of the same reason. They’re the first all-women team nominated which is both sad that we’re discussing “firsts” nearly a hundred years into this organization but also amazing.
Best Costume Design:
I realize I’m voting for “Hamnet” in a lot of places, but this is one where I’ll go for “Sinners.” “Frankenstein” had great craft all throughout as well but I just liked these movies a bit more.
Best Film Editing:
I thought “F1” was very well edited, even if I didn’t think the film should’ve been nominated for Best Picture.Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
Abstain. Didn’t get to see all of the nominees this year.
Best Production Design:
“Hamnet.” It was between this and “Sinners” for me. That Globe theater set really impressed me. So, I decided to give “Sinners” Costumes instead. Why was “Wicked” shut out in both of these, though? I would’ve voted for that in a heartbeat. I don’t really know what happened there.
Best Original Score:
“Hamnet.” I honestly don’t often notice scores in movies, but that music there at the end was so perfect for the moment. Maybe it’s bad if you find yourself thinking about how good the music is instead of being immersed in the moment, but I thought it was so beautiful. I overheard that it had been used in other projects after I had voted. Well, I wish I had known that beforehand haha.
Best Original Song:
Diane Warren…I’ll keep voting every time she’s nominated until she wins. This is the first one of her songs in a while that was very different and personal, so maybe the 17th time is the charm. I didn’t like “Kpop Demon Hunters.” I watched “Viva Verdi!” and was like “What’s the song? Where’s the song they’re talking about?” and had to look it up afterwards. I guess it was the one at the end, I don’t know.
Best Sound:
“Sirāt,” as I said before.
Best Visual Effects:
Abstained because I didn’t see all of the nominees this year. I’m saying this a lot, aren’t I? Haha
Best Animated Short:
Abstain.
Best Documentary Short:
*Sigh* Sorry, I abstained.
Best Live Action Short:
I actually watched all these! I voted for “The Singers.” It was based on this 1850 Russian short story, and the director is like 33, and he had to read it for a class at AFI or something, and it stuck with him, and he developed it, did a lot of casting of non-actors, and you could see he took a lot of care with it. And I liked the message. “Butcher’s Stain” was great too. A great story about prejudices. “Jane Austen’s Period Drama” was really funny. I think “A Friend of Dorothy” will win, though. It got a lot of publicity and it’s charming. And I hated “Two People Exchanging Saliva.”
**This voter is a member of the producer’s branch**
Please let us know your thoughts on our X account and be sure to listen to our final Oscar predictions podcast episode coming this Sunday. Please click here for more important upcoming dates this awards season, here for our most recent Oscar predictions, and here for the most recent tally of awards season winners for the current year.
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