"Best" Oscar Predictions

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Our "Best" Oscar Predictions

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By Ben Elliott

March 8th, 2024

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Understanding what the word “best" means to the Oscars requires going back to the beginning.

After a series of scandals in the 1920s, Hollywood was desperate to ward off looming government regulation and censorship. They created the Academy to promote the legitimacy of the film industry, and the Oscars eventually became their most effective marketing tool. The awards celebrated the best parts of the industry and recognized people who filmmakers wanted to be synonymous with filmmaking.

This is still the case 96 years later, and it’s why you should expect to hear the name “Oppenheimer” over and over again on Sunday night.

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Oppenheimer is a movie Hollywood is eager to celebrate. It's an R-rated, adult-oriented biopic that managed to gross close to a billion dollars at the box office. It features career-best performances from veteran performers like Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr, who are both likely to win. And it's an opportunity for the Academy to finally recognize director Christopher Nolan and his collaborators, who have been making critically acclaimed blockbusters for almost 20 years.

Outside of team Oppenheimer, look for the Academy to shine a light on Killers of the Flower Moon’s Lily Gladstone and The Holdover’s Da’Vine Joy Randoplh for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively. American Fiction and Anatomy of a Fall will be recognized in the screenplay categories. Barbie and Poor Things will win the technical categories that Oppenheimer doesn’t.

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But what makes the Oscars more enjoyable than a contest like our current presidential primaries is that there is room for surprise. Paul Giamatti, Emma Stone, or Ryan Gosling could all pull off upsets for their broader, more comedic work. The support of the international voting bloc could provide unexpected wins for Anatomy of a Fall or The Zone of Interest.

Whatever happens on Sunday, I hope you’ll join us at the Triplex to watch it with your fellow movie lovers. We recommend you come early to enjoy pizza from Roberto’s and take your photo with an actual Oscar on loan from our friends at Scout House. We’ll also be handing out prizes for Oscar trivia, the best costume inspired by one of this year’s nominees, and to whoever picks the most winners on their Oscar ballot.

Please believe me when I say we’re going to have the best time.

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