Sherri makes her Oscars predictions, will she be correct?

I was going to write an Oscar predictions post, but then I remembered that Oppenheimer is set to run the table the way the precursor awards have been conferred this year. It’s an incredible movie in a year of excellent Oscar-nominated films. There are two categories Oppenheimer won’t win: Best Actress, which so far has gone to Emma Stone for Poor Things, and Best Supporting Actress, which has gone to Da’vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers. I expect few surprises this year, so I’m prepared to hear all these names again on Oscar night.

So, I have decided to make the case of who I would like to see win in the top six categories because that is where the fun is. I have more to say in some categories than others.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Danielle Brooks for The Color Purple. Brooks’ Sofia owns the screen whenever she appears. This character has a complicated story arc, and Brooks hits every beat.

I sat with this for a moment. I could see America Ferrera being high on voters’ ballots, but I think the faction that dislikes Barbie will be louder.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Any of these actors could win and I wouldn’t be mad. They all gave strong performances, however in this category is one of two upsets I could see happening:

I’m torn about who I’d like to see win: Ryan Gosling for Barbie, or Mark Ruffalo for Poor Things. Both roles called for exaggerated caricatures of men and both exceeded expectations. They were essential to their respective movies and deserved recognition for their work.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

This is the second category I could see having an upset as all of the actresses are fantastic but one has the underdog love…

It’s possible that Lily Gladstone could nab it for Killers of the Flower Moon and go home with the trophy. Besides being a robust and quiet performance, Gladstone would be the first, First Nations actor to win this award. While Emma Stone’s performance in Poor Things is brilliant, I can see the Academy taking this opportunity to make history.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

I’d be happy if four of these actors won this award with my preference being Jeffrey Wright, in American Fiction. His performance as a frustrated writer dealing with publishers who don’t appreciate his writing is phenomenal. When Wright’s character tries to embody the pen name for the ‘black’ book he wrote is an absolute chef’s kiss of a performance.

DIRECTING

Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things. This movie is a historical fantasy and looks fantastic. The performances are outstanding.

BEST PICTURE

In a year without Oppenheimer, Poor Things wins. It is everything you want from a movie. The story, acting, set design and production design combine to make this gorgeous dark comedy. It’s an ordinary film and deserves praise.

Finally, I watched all the Best Picture nominated movies except for one. Here are my rankings.

Film	Streaming	Ranking
Past Lives	Showtime/Paramount+	1
American Fiction	MGM+	2
Poor Things	Hulu	3
Barbie	HboMax	4
Killers of the Flower Moon	AppleTV	5
Oppenheimer	Peacock	6
The Holdovers	Peacock	7
Anatomy of a Fall	$6.00 rental	8
Maestro	Netflix	9
The Zone of Interest	$20 purchase	n/a

If you have some time and any of these streaming services, I recommend any of the top seven films.

As I said at the start of this article, I don’t expect any surprises, but I also wanted to praise the other nominees.

The Academy Awards will air on Sunday, March 10^th starting at 7 pm.