OSCAR Prediction Results - not that bad!

Another Oscar season has now passed and obviously I did pretty well when I stopped really paying attention to anything. It was in general a ceremony that didn't fill me with rage, either! There wasn't really a single win that's upsetting, but I don't know if I'd take no wins for Maestro for no wins for Killers of the Flower Moon. Let's get into everything:

Best Picture

American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

Predicted Winner: Oppenheimer

Actual Winner: Oppenheimer

1/1

Got it! Now this was the easiest call in recent memory. There were some close calls, but looking back, none really seem like they could have been a credible threat.

Best Actress

Annette Bening, Nyad
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Emma Stone, Poor Things

Predicted Winner: Gladstone

Actual Winner: Stone

1/2

Hey, this was our toss-up and I failed it. I wouldn't have gone for the double young white girl winner over what could have been a great moment for American Indian actors, but oh well. To be fair, Stone knocks this out of the park, probably better than Lily, and it was way better than La La Land (2016).

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

Predicted Winner: Murphy

Actual Winner: Murphy

2/3

I was so close to picking Giamatti, but I'm glad I went with my guy for Cillian. Well deserved, phenomenal work, no gripes here.

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Predicted Winner: Randolph

Actual Winner: Randolph

3/4

I don't know what this role is even about but a clear cut predicted winner. Easy.

Best Supporting Actor

Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

Predicted Winner: RDJ

Actual Winner: RDJ

4/5

I don't think Gosling was ever a real contender. This is a great win for Robert Downey, Jr. What a career, what a turn around for this guy.

Best Director

Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

Predicted Winner: Nolan

Actual Winner: Nolan

5/6

Finally, Academy Award winning director Chris Nolan. Righteous. The best is still to come!

Best Original Screenplay

Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
Past Lives

Predicted Winner: Anatomy of a Fall

Actual Winner: Anatomy of a Fall

6/7

This turned out to be easy, even if I was skeptical that this could actually pull it off. But it ended up being the heavy favorite. I have no real issues, glad to get the nod.

Best Adapted Screenplay

American Fiction
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

Predicted Winner: American Fiction

Actual Winner: American Fiction

7/8

BAM! I never get these right. This just really felt like an American Fiction category, but I'm always wrong about that stuff, so this is great.

Best Cinematography

El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Predicted Winner: Killers of the Flower Moon

Actual Winner: Oppenheimer

7/9

So Oppenheimer ended up just crushing everything, I really wasn't thinking Flower Moon would walk away with nothing, but that's that, I guess. It was a really clear sweep instead of any even distribution. I hedged my bets a bit because it's rare that the favorite actually does win everything, but hey - it did!

Best Original Score

American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Predicted Winner: Oppenheimer

Actual Winner: Oppenheimer

8/10

I mean, thanks Oppenheimer for making it generally easy. I through it out for Cinematography but thought it would get the score still, and I nailed that one.

Best Original Song

"The Fire Inside," Flamin' Hot
"I'm Just Ken," Barbie
"It Never Went Away," American Symphony
"Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)," Killers of the Flower Moon
"What Was I Made For?" Barbie

Winner: "I'm Just Ken," Barbie

Actual Winner: The other song from Barbie

8/11

Alright, whatever. I shouldn't have missed this open lay-up. Bonehead, but c'mon, even the performance at the ceremony was mind-blowing. Why are we going with the sappier ballad? I know, I know, we all knew what they'd choose. I suck.

Best Editing

Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Predicted Winner: Oppenheimer

Actual Winner: Oppenheimer

9/12

Got 'em.

Best Production Design

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Predicted Winner: Barbie

Actual Winner: Poor Things

9/13

Poor Things had a very good night and while this is deserved, I still think Barbie should have had the edge, but ultimately despite a lot of fanfare throughout the night, Barbie didn't really pull down that many accolades. Poor Things did and it was an easy clean up here. I don't think I would have ever picked this, so oh well.

Best Costume Design

Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Predicted Winner: Poor Things

Actual Winner: Poor Things

10/14

I nailed this one, it was in the right zone of period piece, but also really weird and distinctive.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow

Predicted Winner: Maestro

Actual Winner: Poor Things

10/15

So I had mentioned Poor Things as being the most deserving, and I can't believe it actually pulled this off. I didn't think it'd get past Maestro or Oppenheimer. Poor Things is so bizarre because it calls so much attention to its artificiality and not to mention that it is so damn deeply, deeply weird. Oscars are going for these boffo pics lately, which is amazing.

Best Sound

The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest

Predicted Winner: Oppenheimer

Actual Winner: The Zone of Interest

10/16

I would have definitely never picked this one. Like how? I mean, I know it's good but amazing that Oppie dropped this one of all categories, and to a really small scale film. It's all really cool and great for cinema but just surprising as hell. This always goes to war or action films.

Best Visual Effects

The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon

Predicted Winner: Godzilla Minus One

Actual Winner: Godzilla Minus One

11/17

Yay! Such a good win. Good for Godzilla, great for action figures. I love it.

Best International Feature

Io Capitano
Perfect Days
Society of the Snow
The Teachers' Lounge
The Zone of Interest

Precited Winner: The Zone of Interest

Actual Winner: The Zone of Interest

12/18

Another very easy one, simple win.

Best Animated Feature

The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Predicted Winner: The Boy and the Heron

Actual Winner: The Boy and the Heron

13/19

I literally fist-pumped. Not that I didn't like AtSV, I adored that film, but it never felt as real of a contender as the Heron. I'm just happy I got a rogue pick for once.

Best Animated Short

Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

Predicted Winner: John and Yoko

Actual Winner: John and Yoko

14/20

Yeah, I guess. Can't believe I actually won this. When you get the shorts, it just seals it as a good year.

Best Live-Action Short

The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Predicted Winner: Sugar

Actual Winner: Sugar

15/21

Thank you Wes Anderson for definitely guaranteeing an easy Oscar prediction in a category that is usually stupid as hell.

Best Documentary Feature

Bobi Wine: The People's President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol

Predicted Winner: Mariupol

Actual Winner: Mariupol

16/22

Again, easy one. I'm happy with it!

Best Documentary Short

The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó

Winner: Book Burning

Actual Winner: Repair Shop

16/23

Ok, whatever.

Anyway, 16/23 is the most I've ever gotten in the modern, 23-category era, and ties my second highest best years ever. And I should have probably gotten 17 with the right Barbie song. I maybe could have picked Poor Things for make-up and hairstyling I wasn't a bitter, jaded guy who was convinced I'd lose, but I don't think I would have changed anything else. I'm happy with the haul, so let's update the annual records:

First, our annual records:

2024: 16/23

2023: 11/23

2022: 12/23

2021: 12/23

2020: 13/24 

2019: 13/24 

2018: 16/24 

2017: 13/24 

2016: 14/24 

2015: 13/24 

2014: 20/24 

2013: 14/24 

2012: 16/24 

2011: 14/24 

2010: 12/24 

2023 at Eternium's Gate: Movie Moments, Songs, and THRILLS

It's time here now, at the end of all things to talk about whatever else there is to talk about this year. 2023 wasn't too bad, right? I mean, the world always sucks. In terms of film and art we were stricken with the writers and actor's strikes and are really at the crux of art and technology. I don't know what's going to happen with the studio system, we're seeing a lot of what had been working over the last few years completely melt down. I mean, who cares, these movies are terrible. We really need to burn the entire industry down and start again.

Let's get into the fun! And of course we here at NMW have some boffo picks.

Comedic Performance of the Year

Kid Cudi in House Party (2023). That's right, I've been sitting on this for a year. There aren't even good clips of this shit. House Party was actually decent, although it assuredly did not push its premise far enough. The Kid Cudi scenes offer a glimpse into this much more out there film and it's fun to think of this dude carrying a whole movie. He's great!

Hero of the Year

It's Rocket in Guardians 3 (2023). I mean, that's the whole point of the movie. I think this third installment lacked the novelty of the first one and the heart of the second, but it's still upper tier stuff. Rocket is sidelined through most of the present film, but we see his origin through extensive flashbacks, a moral code developing that is fulfilled by the end. A close second is Pete Davidson in Transformers! You forgot about that one, didn't you.

Villain of the Year

I'm tempted to go with Mamoa in Fast X, but ultimately we have too little of this kind of insanity, which I guess was on purpose?! How could you? This franchise is so dead in the water, we really could have used some of his chaotic energy to spice it up. But no, let's go with BOWSER from the Super Mario Bros. Movie. They really found the zone between his goofiness and threateningness and of course adding a signature Jack Black song gave us THE Movie song of the year (until "I'm Just Ken" came along). He's monstrous but also totally in character. A great villain.

Actors of the Year

This is tough. The obvious is just Margot Robbie, right? Can we go with Chris Melton or Ayo Edebiri? Chris Pratt was technically in two of the biggest films of the year, but it doesn't feel like he was ubiquitous. Can we go Jonathan Majors? Oof. Kang really should have been the greatest villain, him appearing in multiple platforms as a legit threat could have been a really cool way to show him encroaching on the entire MCU. Some What Ifs would have been great. Whomp-whomp. Creed III, too, but that was a bit of a thud. Is it weird to say Matt Damon had a big year? Same with Joaquin Phoenix, and Nicolas Cage. And Jason Statham was in a ton of movies!

Let's go Dave Bautista. Knock at the Cabin gave him indie cred and Guardians 3 gave him blockbuster cred. He's still a rising star and has a lot more interesting roles in him. I was thinking Florence Pugh or uhhh....Taylor Swift? But I think this is Margot Robbie's year again! Barbie is just a great film, the #1 film of the year somehow, and it doesn't work without Robbie.

Scenes of the Year

In no real order,  here are our favorites:

MCU's First F-Bomb I mean, I laughed out loud, an unreal way to send-off these guys.

I'm Just Ken - probably the #1 scene. The production is insane, I love re-watching and seeing the guys just dancing in the background. It's so incredibly melodramatic and the song is a genuine banger. Also the greatest film of the year climaxes with interpretive dance. Brillian.

All of Saltburn, but let's go with this. No clips exist, but if you know you know.

Jason Statham vs. Shark. The Meg 2 was somehow far superior to its predecessor and deserves a lot of moments here. Let's go with the entire final battle. Also, this movie mostly took place in the Trench, which I guess is the title, but the trailers were totally just this scene.

Oppenheimer crowd Most folks will go with Trinity, but THIS is the scene, man. This is where Oppie realizes the world-ending chain reaction.

Spider-Prowler super ending spoiler but damn is this well crafted

the stop motion alien in Asteroid City man I didn't like this movie but this was rad

John Wick Sacre-Coeur an OK end to two OK films after two great films, but John Wick falling down stairs was funny

DnD glitch I don't think I laughed harder at anything in this fun but not actually well written at all film.

Songs of 2023

This was a big year for music that was Spanish jibberish to my ears, along with Taylor Swift, and female rap artists. What a terrible year for racist uncles. You still got Morgan Wallen.

What do I like? "Paint the Town Red" by Doja Cat or "Hot City" by Bonnie McKee. The Barbie Album was non-stop bangers. "Kill Bill" SZA had a big year. And Olivia Rodrigo might not be an industry plant! Her wit reminds me of like 2017 Taylor Swift. And I'm a Gorillaz fan so it was a lot of fun to get Cracker Island on our butts. "Lil Boo Thing" is fun, feels like an old song.

That's it for 2023! What a wonderful year! Next year will be a big crossroads for Hollywood - mergers, streaming failures, non-superheroes and more! Stay tuned, folks!