Ranking the Oscar Nominees

The Oscars are tonight, effectively ending what was a great year for film. There are a few tightly contested races ahead of the ceremony, and this seems like it’ll end up being a fun night. Before I get into some of the categories, I want to shout out some films/individuals that I wish had gotten more recognition during awards season. Firstly, Eva Victor. Sorry, Baby was one of my favorite films of the year and I was blown away by Victor’s directorial debut as well as their performance as the lead in the film. Chase Infinity and Miles Caton both cemented themselves as two of the brightest young stars in Hollywood. No Other Choice was another film I really enjoyed this year and was surprised it wasn’t nominated for best picture despite the language barrier. Jesse Plemmons was amazing in Bugonia. He’s one of the most underrated actors of his generation. I thought Jack O’Connell was great as the antagonist in Sinners and The Bone Temple. He has a unique charisma about him. Lastly, Regina Hall. I knew her from the Scary Movie franchise, and was really impressed with her performance in One Battle After Another. I thought she gave arguably the strongest performance in the film. 

Best Supporting Actress 

1. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value
2. Teyana Taylor – OBAA
3. Elle Fanning – Sentimental Value
4. Wunmi-Mosaku – Sinners
5. Amy Madigan – Weapons 

I was most impressed by Inga in Sentimental Value, but honestly I’d be happy if any of the top four won this category. Amy Madigan is the favorite currently, and while I think she was strong in Weapons I was far more impressed by the other 4 women in their roles. 

Best Supporting Actor 

1. Sean Penn – OBAA
2. Benincio Del Toro – OBAA
3. Delroy Lindo – Sinners 
4. Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein 
5. Stellan Skarsgard – Sentimental Value 

I was very impressed by Elordi’s physical performance in Frankenstein but this was honestly just a really stacked category. I also don’t think it’s fair to look at him as a supporting role. Skarsgard was also great in his role. I loved Del Toro’s as Sensei, but it’s kinda hard to put him above Penn even though Lockjaw was a despicable character. 

Best Actress 

1. Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
2. Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value 
3. Emma Stone – Bugonia 

Unfortunately I didn’t see the other two movies that had a lead actress nominated for this category, but Buckley has swept awards season up to this point and I’d be shocked to see anyone else win this. 

Best Actor 

1. Timothee Chalamet – Marty Supreme 
2. Michal B. Jordan – Sinners
3. Wagner Moura – The Secret Agent 
4. Leonardo DiCaprio – OBAA 

I have yet to see Blue Moon, so I’m excluding Ethan Hawke from my ranking. These were all strong performances, but I’ll be disappointed if Chalamet doesn’t win. He was the heavy favorite until recently, so him losing this category would feel like it was at least slightly influenced by his recent controversial statements. Other than the Dune movies, this was probably the best performance of his that I’ve seen. Also, shoutout Wagner Moura. I feel like he’s been overlooked but he was great in The Secret Agent.

Best Original Screenplay 

1. Sentimental Value
2. Sinners
3. Marty Supreme 

Sinners will likely win this category, but I personally enjoyed Sentimental Value a little bit more. 

Best Adapted Screenplay 

1. One Battle After Another 
2. Bugonia 
3. Train Dreams 
4. Hamnet 
5. Frankenstein 

Hamnet is a dark horse, but I’d be surprised if OBAA didn’t win this one. 

Best Picture 

1. One Battle After Another
2. Sentimental Value
3. Sinners
4. Marty Supreme
5. The Secret Agent
6. Bugonia
7. Train Dreams
8. Hamnet
9. F1
10. Frankenstein 

This was the first year I watched all of the Best Picture nominees, and I enjoyed all of them to an extent. 5-7 were all basically equal to me, I switched the order around multiple times. OBAA was solidly my favorite of the year, but honestly 1-8 are all really great films. Sinners has been building momentum recently so it wouldn’t surprise me if it won this category.