After three festivals just dropped a ton of titles aside from ones we got from Caanes, SXSW, and Sundance, you might be wondering who I would pick if predictions ended today. It’s tough, because some movies are still unseen, and too many people seem set on frontrunners.

BEST PICTURE:

1) Oppenheimer

2) Killers Of The Flower moon

3) Poor Things

4) The Holdovers

5) Past Lives

6) Maestro

7) Anatomy Of A Fall

8) The Color Purple

9) Barbie

10) May/December

That 10th spot is a bitch to predict right now. I think whaat the festivals showed is how strong the films are this year. I think for that 10th spot, May/December is almost even with Rustin, Saltburn, American Fiction, Origin, The Zone of Interest,Dumb money, The burial, and maybe still even Air. I’m 100% certain it won’t be across The Spider-Verse.

BEST DIRECTOR:

1) Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

2) Martin Scorsese (Killers Of The Flower Moon)

3) Yorgos Lanthrimos (Poor Things)

4) Jonathan Glazer (The Zone Of Interest)

5) Ava Duvernay (Origin)

There are quite a few female directors who had some boss level films this year, and I was on the fence about all of them. There’s something about Duvernay’s Origin and how it’s been described that intrigues me and I think the directors might like her swing. If not, I’d put Greta Gerwig there. She’s the reason Barbie made so much money.

BEST ACTRESS:

1) Carey Mulligan (Maestro)

2) Annette Bening (Nyad)

3) Emma Stone (Poor Things)

4) Sandra Hueller (Anatomy Of A Fall)

5) Fantasia Barrino (The Color purple)

I know that statistically, the award Kaley won at Venice should mean she gets in, but this category is stacked. Bening gets Oscar buzz for some of the weirdest films, so her being nominated for Nyad tracks. Being Julia was a small movie, and she recently got far more attention than she deserved for The Report. She has fans, and her and Mulligan both are well liked and never have won. A lot of people think Stone will get her second win, and I think either Mulligan or Bening will end their losing streak.

BEST ACTOR:

1) Paul Giamatti (The holdovers)

2) Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

3) Coleman Domingo (Rustin)

Bradley Cooper (Maestro)

5) Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)

DiCaprio has quite a few snubs in his career, and he still has 7 nominations to his name. I’ve heard he’s brilliant, but there’s no way that every single person has been predicting the same five people since June all the way until the nominations. Someone is getting snubbed. Murphy and Domingo have both never been nominated. Domingo has the added benefit of being in The Color Purple (and possibly Sing Sing). I think Giamatti is winning right now. That leaves either Cooper or DiCaprio as the snub. I think Jeffrey Wright sneaks in for his first nomination.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

1) lily Gladstone (Killers of The Flower Moon)

2) Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)

Divine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

4) Jodie Foster (Nyad)

5) Julianne Moore (May December)

I’m not sure this category is strong enough for both Henson and brooks. I also think penelope Cruz could be a surprise nomination. I think Emily Blunt doesn’t have enough screentime. However, Rosamund Pike just might.

SUPPORTING ACTOR:

1) Robert Downey jr (Oppenheimer)

2) Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)

3) Robert DeNiro (Killers Of The Flower moon)

4) Charles Melton (May December)

5) Coleman Domingo (The Color Purple)

People may vote for Domingo as he seems to be having the best year of his life and give him the Jamie Foxx experience. I think Dominic Sessa might be a little too green. And in the battle of dual nominations, I can’t decide if Matt Damon sneaks in for Oppenheimer (due to increased exposure from Air), or Willem Dafoe. So, I’ll stick with Domingo in 5th place for now.

The festivals put some new players on the table, and also narrowed others down to the maybe one or two nominations they might get.