Leanna’s predictions and who deserved it:
| Category | Most Deserved | Prediction |
| Best Actor | Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown |
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist |
| Best Actress | Demi Moore – The Substance | Demi Moore – The Substance |
| Best Supporting Actor | Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain | Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain |
| Best Supporting Actress | Felicity Jones – The Brutalist | Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez |
| Best Animated Feature Film | Flow | The Wild Robot |
| Cinematography | Jarin Blaschke – Nosferatu or Greig Fraser – Dune: Part 2 | Lol Crawley – The Brutalist |
| Costume Design | Paul Tazewell – Wicked | Paul Tazewell – Wicked |
| Directing | Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Bonus: Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two |
Sean Baker – Anora |
| Editing | Nick Emerson – Conclave
Bonus: Coralie Fargeat and Jérôme Eltabet – The Substance |
Nick Emerson – Conclave |
| Makeup and Hair | Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli – The Substance | Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli – The Substance |
| Picture | The Substance or Dune: Part 2 | The Brutalist |
| Production Design | Craig Lathrop – Nosferatu | Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales – Wicked |
| Score | David Blumberg – The Brutalist
Bonus Pick: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Challengers |
David Blumberg – The Brutalist |
| Screenplay (Adapted) | Peter Straughan – Conclave
Bonus Pick: Denis Villeneuve & John Spaihts – Dune: Part 2 |
Peter Straughan – Conclave |
| Screenplay (Original) | Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Bonus Pick: Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw The TV Glow |
Sean Baker – Anora |
| Sound | Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill – Dune: Part Two
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Tod Maitland – A Complete Unknown
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| VFX | Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer – Dune: Part Two
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Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer – Dune: Part Two
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Leanna’s Reactions:
| Best Actor – Adrien Brody took home the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in The Brutalist. His speech breaks the record for the longest acceptance speech in the history of the Academy Awards, with a whopping 5-minute and 37-second speech. Timothée Chalamet lost yet another chance at being the youngest Best Actor Oscar Winner ever; a title currently held by Adrien Brody who won for The Pianist when he was 29. Timothée Chalamet’s performance in A Complete Unknown should have won him the Oscar, but as he said in his SAG Award acceptance speech last month he is “in pursuit of greatness” so I’m sure we will see him accept an award on that stage one day.
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| Best Actress – Mikey Madison received the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Anora. I did not expect this, but I’m not mad about it. Madison proved her dedication to the role through her performance. Demi Moore should have won for her career-defining performance in The Substance, but Mikey Madison is the reason Anora works, and the reason it took home Picture.
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| Best Supporting Actor – To no one’s surprise, Keiran Culkin accepted the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in A Real Pain. If Keiran hadn’t been nominated, Jeremy Strong or Edward Norton would have taken the award home for their portrayals of real people; Roy Cohn and Pete Seeger.
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| Best Supporting Actress – As I predicted, Zoe Saldaña took home the Oscar for her performance in Emilia Pérez. My picks would have been Felicity Jones for her role in The Brutalist or Monica Barbaro for her role as Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown. Felicity Jones served as the heart of the depressing world of The Brutalist, and Barbaro stole every scene she shared with Chalamet in A Complete Unknown.
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| Best Animated Feature Film – Flow was the surprise winner of the Oscar for animated feature. I predicted The Wild Robot, given the widespread praise the film got from general audiences; but I did not anticipate the artistry of Flow to be recognized by The Academy. Flow made history winning this category as an international independent silent film. The film was made on Blender, a free open-source software. I am ecstatic about this Oscar win.
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| Cinematography – Lol Crawley took the Oscar for his work on The Brutalist. The cinematography of The Brutalist is its most outstanding craft work. This film was shot on Vista Vision, the first time this film format has been used since 1961. The Brutalist was made on a ten-million-dollar budget, a micro budget for a 3-and-a-half-hour epic. The dedication and budget allocated to the cinematography alone is worthy of a win. Despite this, I still would have liked to see Jarin Blaschke win for his collaboration on Nosferatu, or Greig Fraser for Dune: Part 2. Nosferatu had the most unique and artistic cinematic style of any cinematography nominee; and Dune: Part 2’s cinematography is a grand achievement for science fiction filmmaking.
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| Costume Design – Paul Tazewell made history as the first black man to win the Oscar for costume design for Wicked. This win was well deserved. Although Wicked was not among my favorite movies of the year, the costume design was undeniable.
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| Directing – As I expected, Sean Baker took the Oscar for directing Anora. This win was well deserved; Baker’s artistic style is baked into Anora’s writing, directing, and editing. This year, he was not the only nominated director who involved themselves in both pre and postproduction, he shares this title with Coralie Fargeat; director, writer, and co-editor of The Substance. Fargeat was my pick for this category.
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| Editing – To my great surprise, Sean Baker took home the Oscar for best editing for Anora. The editing of Anora was solid, but it did not astound me in the way that Conclave or The Substance’s editing did. Anora winning this category signaled that Academy voters maybe aren’t paying attention to editing in these films. This win felt like an excuse to add to Anora’s sweep, with five wins; the most of any nominated film.
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| Makeup and Hairstyling – The Substance, nominated for five Academy Awards, took home one Oscar on Sunday for makeup and hair. If The Substance lost this category to either of the nominated musicals, I would be fuming. However, if Nosferatu had won this category for its decomposing Count Orlok makeup, I would have been happy to see Nosferatu’s artistry recognized.
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| Picture – Anora, the film that dominated this awards show took home Best Picture. I expected Anora to be a front-runner to win, but another part of me just did not believe this. I think this year was a solid year for cinema; with horror, sci-fi, comedy, thrillers, and musicals dominating film conversations. Anora represents the growth of independent filmmaking, but the film doesn’t stand out as the best of the best this year. Although I did not predict The Substance would win, I would have loved to see it win as a nod to the incredible impact it has had already on the horror film industry. The same goes for Dune: Part 2, which was my favorite film of the year, and was a testament to the capabilities of science fiction. I expected The Brutalist to win this category, based on what the Academy typically recognizes as great filmmaking; but I was mistaken. The Academy’s taste has changed; they went for the indie dramedy with a sex work as the protagonist, over the 3-and-a-half-hour historical drama epic about an architect who survived the Holocaust.
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| Production Design – Wicked’s second Oscar win of the night was well deserved, even though it wasn’t my favorite of the nominees. The stunning sets seen in the film were real for the most part, and that alone considering the scale of Wicked is a feat. That being said, my pick is Nosferatu, which also featured real sets; but instead of massive whimsical set pieces, the production design team build an entire historically accurate small 1830s German village; not to mention the interiors of Orlok’s castle and 5,000 real rats. The attention to detail and historical accuracy in Nosferatu pays off, giving the sets life and authenticity amongst the macabre and depravity of the film.
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| Score – David Blumberg took home the Oscar for his score of The Brutalist. This is what I predicted, and it is what I hoped would win out of the nominees. I also enjoyed the score of Conclave, but the score of The Brutalist is what kept me engaged throughout the film’s three-and-a-half-hour runtime. I wish that the Academy would have recognized Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’s Challengers score, which won at The Golden Globe Awards. This snub was very disappointing. Challenger’s score had a huge impact on pop culture, more than any other score in 2024. The score is also a big part of why Challengers works so well. Another snub in this category is Hans Zimmer’s Dune: Part 2 score. The last time Dune was at the Oscars, Zimmer won for his score of the film. Why not nominate him this time?
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| Screenplay (Adapted) – Conclave took home one Oscar on Sunday for its adapted screenplay. I predicted this would win, and it was my pick out of the nominees. On paper, Conclave, a film about the process of selecting a new pope could be terribly boring. However, it is thanks to the writing of the film that makes Conclave juicy and a riveting watch. I wish Dune: Part 2 would have been nominated for its screenplay. Somehow, Dune: Part 2 manages to encapsulate the action, headiness, and peril of the second half of the novel Dune. This is a massive feat that should be recognized.
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| Screenplay (Original) – Unsurprisingly, Anora won the Oscar for original screenplay. Anora has solid and clear writing, which I think is a large part of why it did so well at the Oscars. Anora did not have the most impressive original screenplay, this title would be for The Substance, one of the most original and profound horror concepts of the 21st century.
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| Sound – The Academy recognized Dune: Part Two for its sound design, and I could not be happier. Dune took home the Oscar for Best Sound in 2022. The sound design of Dune is a key aspect of the audience’s immersion in both films. Hearing Dune: Part 2’s sound design in theaters felt like a privileged experience. This incredible layered and otherworldly sound design is unmatched by any other film at the Oscars, and any recent sci-fi film.
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| VFX – Dune: Part 2’s second Oscar win was well deserved. The visual effects achieved by bringing the scale of sandworms, explosions, and machinery to the screen are unmatched. An honorable mention goes to Alien: Romulus, which used practical effects and some CGI to create spaceships, weapons, and various forms of the Xenomorph. Alien: Romulus does not have nearly the scale of Dune: Part 2, but the visual effects are detailed and perfected.
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Danielle’s Predictions and Who deserved it:
| Category | Most Deserved | Prediction |
| Best Actor | Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown | Adrien Brody – The Brutalist |
| Best Actress | Demi Moore – The Substance or Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here | Demi Moore – The Substance |
| Best Supporting Actor | Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain | Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain |
| Best Supporting Actress | Isabella Rossellini – Conclave or Margaret Qualley – The Substance | Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez |
| Best Animated Feature Film | Flow | The Wild Robot |
| Cinematography | Greig Fraser – Dune: Part Two | Lol Crawley – The Brutalist |
| Costume Design | Paul Tazewell – Wicked | Paul Tazewell – Wicked |
| Directing | Brady Corbet – The Brutalist or Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
Bonus: Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two |
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist |
| Editing | David Jansco – The Brutalist
Fantasy pick: Marco Costa for Challengers |
Nick Emerson – Conclave |
| Makeup and Hair | Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli – The Substance | Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli – The Substance |
| Picture | Dune: Part Two | Emilia Pérez or The Brutalist |
| Production Design | Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales – Wicked | Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales – Wicked |
| Score | Volker Bertelmann – Conclave
Bonus Pick: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross – Challengers |
Daniel Blumberg – The Brutalist |
| Screenplay (Adapted) | Peter Straughan – Conclave | Peter Straughan – Conclave |
| Screenplay (Original) | Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain or Coralie Fargeat – The Substance | Jesse Eisenberg – A Real Pain |
| Sound | Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill – Dune: Part Two | Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill – Dune: Part Two |
| VFX | Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer – Dune: Part Two | Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer – Dune: Part Two |
In this hypothetical: Anora gets none of these categories and Emilia Pérez gets one.
Danielle’s Reactions:
| Best Actor – Adrien Brody surprised nobody with his second Oscar win but exhausted audiences with his lengthy yet overall unsubstantial speech. While I obviously preferred Timothée Chalamet’s portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, I will not discredit Brody’s performance. However, if there was an Oscar for campaigns, Chalamet would be the clear winner.
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| Best Actress – When a category has two clear standout performances, such as Demi Moore in The Substance and Fernanda Torres in I’m Still Here, it’s shocking to see the Academy prefer mediocrity. Mikey Madison was good in Anora, but nowhere near worthy of an Oscar nomination, much less the accolade itself. She simply was not the best actress of the year, and that is fine, so I do not see why the Academy is committed to this narrative.
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| Best Supporting Actor – Kieran Culkin’s heartfelt performance in A Real Pain was the clear winner for the Oscar, both in terms of predictions and who genuinely deserves it. His career in the past few years has flourished, and it is exciting to see an actor who has been in the industry his entire life reaching new heights in his art and profession.
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| Best Supporting Actress – While Zoe Saldaña was the best part of Emilia Pérez, she still was not enough to save the movie. Especially when such subtle, yet powerful performances, such as Felicity Jones’ role in The Brutalist were up for the award, the Academy’s insatiable need to not let Emilia Pérez go home empty-handed is confusing at best.
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| Best Animated Feature Film – Flow had a pleasant awards season that came as a welcome surprise. I was between Flow and The Wild Robot for my final prediction, but I would have ultimately been happy with either. The acceptance speech was also one of the best of the night.
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| Cinematography – I accepted several months ago that Dune: Part Two would be almost entirely ignored during this awards season, which is one of the more unfortunate anecdotes about the 97th Academy Awards as a whole. I can appreciate Lol Crawley’s exquisite work on The Brutalist but there is a significant part of me that prefers Greig Fraser’s work.
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| Costume Design – As much as I disliked Wicked as a film, the costumes were beautiful, and Paul Tazewell deserved to be recognized. My primary gripe with the costumes in the film is that the misguided directing and lighting choices made the costumes look a fraction of how beautiful they were, which is not Tazewell’s doing.
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| Directing – The undeserved Anora sweep continues with another ludicrous pick from the Academy voters. In a category featuring Brady Corbet and Coralie Fargaet, how Sean Baker became the 2025 standard of directing is beyond me. Anora is not even his most well-directed film, so choosing to highlight him now feels odd. While he is certainly the key creative force behind Anora, that also means the blame of the movie not being great falls mostly on him. If Anora were as good as the Academy makes it out to be, then perhaps Baker would be deserving.
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| Editing – Yet another Oscar statuette for Sean Baker that baffles the mind. While Anora was generally unexceptional as a film, believing the editing is particularly worthy of any praise is an odd hill to die on. There were multiple nominees who easily could have won over Baker and select editors who could have been nominated over Baker, such as my personal bonus pick of Marco Costa for Challengers.
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| Makeup and Hairstyling – It was unfortunate that The Substance only walked away with one win, but it was more than deserved. For a story so focused on appearances and the impact beauty standards have on society, an incredible makeup and hair team is required to portray both the glamorous and the disgusting.
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| Picture – My live reaction to hearing Anora’s name be called by Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal was one fueled by disgust, embarrassment, and contempt. I am aware the 2024-2025 film season was not the best, especially in comparison to last year, but it certainly was not this terrible. To claim Anora is a better film than Dune: Part Two, The Brutalist, I’m Still Here, The Substance, or most of the other nominees is simply not true, and one would have to be severely deluded to think such a thought. While Anora was the projected winner, I refused to believe every poll due to my faith in Academy voters and the hope that they would acknowledge the greatness in some of the incredible films of the season. This was not the case. While I acknowledge Anora has many fans and has resonated with some, there is nothing that artistically elevates it past these other nominees, and this will be a decision that a decade down the line people will look down on in confusion. Maybe if every Academy voter actually watched every movie nominated during the voting process, this award could have worked out differently, gone to a more deserving person. As it stands, I refuse to acknowledge Anora as a top ten or even top twenty movie of the year, both from a technical and casual moviegoing standpoint. Uplifting mediocrity will only hold the rest of the industry back, and it is not fair to some of the other outstanding nominees to have such a highly regarded title stripped and stolen from them.
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| Production Design – The second of the two Wicked wins did not come as a surprise either, and happened to fall under another category where it was deserved. The behind the scenes images of the sets were so beautiful and it is admirable how much of the film was filmed on actual sets rather than entirely computer-generated backgrounds. Again, it is simply a shame that these sets appear so diluted in the final product.
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| Score – While Daniel Blumberg’s score for The Brutalist was certainly a standout, I cannot help but prefer Volker Bertelmann’s work on Conclave. I saw both movies in theaters, and felt more transported by and invested in Bertelmann’s score in comparison to Blumberg’s, but I will not say this win is undeserved. In this case, I understand it is a matter of preference.
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| Screenplay (Adapted) – Peter Straughan’s engaging and riveting screenplay for Conclave was the clear winner this season. The story of Conclave may be a hard sell for some but Straughan’s focus on the drama and pettiness of these Cardinals is what separates his script from other, more standard religious dramas.
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| Screenplay (Original) – Sean Baker already has so many undeserved Oscars this season, why not add another? To say that Anora’s screenplay was better than any other nominee this year is absurd. It was not as gripping, unique, interesting, emotional, or revolutionary as scripts such as Fargeat’s or Eisenberg’s. Going through these scripts through both a technical and personal lens can easily prove that which leaves this victory in poor taste.
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| Sound – The sound team for Dune: Part Two was so skilled that the Academy voters actually remembered the movie which is a win for me and the rest of the Dune fans. As someone who experienced this film in IMAX, I can safely say the sound in this movie is enough to fully immerse oneself in the world of the film. Furthermore, the sound team being played off early was diabolical, especially since other winners (Adrien Brody) were able to talk well over their time.
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| VFX – Dune: Part Two’s other Oscar of the night is just as worthy of praise and acclaim as their Sound counterparts. As a science fiction franchise, the Dune films require significant visual effects to create a new world for the viewers, and that feat was certainly accomplished by this team. |