This is the second time I’ve made a massive Oscars’ winner predictions. Last time I did it for myself in a text editor, no one saw my notes, and no one saw that I guessed absolutely all the winners (9/9) in the main categories. Maybe one day I will pick up and publish those archives. Right here I write about who I consider the best in 2023 Oscar.
Although I took the time to see as many works as possible, I was not physically able to appreciate all the films, there was very little time left before the ceremony.
Foremost, I turned my attention to the tapes performing in the main nominations, and tried to guess the rest. I am writing this text after ceremony, but I kept the predictions themselves unchanged, they were made much earlier. Believe it or not, it’s up to you. I don’t have such phenomenal results to go for outright cheating.
If I had full power, I would award statuettes to the following films and people (in brackets is marked “+” if I guessed the winner and “-” if not):
(+) Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All at Once
In this category, I admit, I hesitated between several actresses, so I just decided to guess. Hesitations have a reason, almost all nominees deserve to win.
(-) Costume Design
Babylon – Mary Zophres
Choosing the best, I had to go through all the entries, but I couldn’t, so I just didn’t guess the winner.
(+) The best Sound
Top Gun: Maverick – Mark Weingarten, James Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor
In my opinion, it is a logical victory, because the sound in Top Gun is simply phenomenal. The theme of the film and definitely high-quality team work contributed to this.
(-) Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Im Westen nichts Neues – Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell
There were doubts between several films, but I especially like this one better.
(+) Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a real firework, so it was not difficult for me to choose a winner.
(+) Best Short Film (Animated)
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – Matthew Freud, Charlie Mackesy
I just guessed. Didn’t watch any animated short film.
(+) Best Short Film (Live Action)
An Irish Goodbye – Tom Berkeley, Ross White
I didn’t watch either. I chose the winner intuitively. Guessed.
(-) Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees of Inisherin
I liked both the film and Gleason’s performance, but another one takes the Oscar.
(+) The best Film Editing
Everything Everywhere All at Once – Paul Rogers
The only competitor to the winner could have been Avatar, if not for a total failure at the editing stage.
(+) The best Makeup and Hairstyling
The Whale – Adrien Morot, Judy Chin, Annemarie Bradley-Sherron
I hesitated between several options, but as it turned out, my choice coincided with the majority of votes.
(-) Best Animated Feature Film
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – Joel Crawford, Mark Swift
I didn’t watch, so I just didn’t guess.
(-) Best Music (Original Song)
Lady Gaga – Hold My Hand (From “Top Gun: Maverick”), Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
To be honest, it will remain a mystery to me why exactly the song won “Naatu Naatu” from RRR (Music by M.M won. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose). In my opinion, this is a complete disgrace to the music and the genre. Three words repeating for several minutes? Seriously? Maybe the video and the dances in it deserve attention, the editing is not bad, but the best song? Not for anything.
(+) The best Music (Original Score)
Im Westen nichts Neues – Volker Bertelmann
I don’t remember any other movie for a musical sequence. So I just made the logical choice.
(+) Best Documentary Short Film
The Elephant Whisperers – Kartiki Gonsalves, Guneet Monga
I didn’t watch any of them, so I managed to guess the winner.
(-) Best Documentary Feature Film
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed – Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John S. Lyons, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov
I haven’t watched a single movie from this category, so I tried to guess, but it didn’t work out.
(+) The best Visual Effects
Avatar: The Way of Water – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett
Here, I think no comments are needed. The other nominees simply had no chance of winning.
(+) The best Cinematography
Im Westen nichts Neues – James Friend
Of course, there were other worthy works, but “Im Westen nichts Neues” was especially memorable for me as an exceptional visual feast. One of the best films I’ve seen, and its main attraction is also due to the excellent work of the cinematographer.
(+) Best International Feature Film
Im Westen nichts Neues – Germany
This film won 5 statuettes in “my Oscar”, so it is not surprising that it received an award in this nomination.
(+) The best Production Design
Im Westen nichts Neues – Christian M. Goldbeck, Ernestine Hipper
I just guessed, because I don’t know how to correctly evaluate the nominees.
(+) Best Actor in a Leading Role
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Great movie, perfect transformation, fantastic performance by Brandon Fraser. He has no competition this year, so guessing the winner here was not a difficult task.
(-) Best Actress in a Leading Role
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans
Here I hesitated and tried to guess, because several beautiful actresses and their performances were immediately in contention for the Oscar. It didn’t work out.
(-) The Best Directing
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
It was my prediction that didn’t come true. “The Fabelmans” movie is really great, and I could see Spielberg’s award for the film adaptation of his own journey would be a logical step. But the winner is the director of the film “Everything Everywhere All at Once”.
All the nominees could have taken the statuette, because each work is powerful and deserves the highest award, but the choice was made just like that.
(-) The Best Picture
The most prestigious nomination, in which 10 films are presented at once. I watched every tape carefully and can make my prediction. First, let me remind you who is claiming the Best Picture Statuette in 2023:
- All Quiet on the Western Front / Im Westen nichts Neues
- Avatar: The Way of Water
- The Banshees of Inisherin
- Elvis
- Everything Everywhere All at Once
- The Fabelmans
- Tar
- Top Gun: Maverick
- Triangle of sadness
- Women Talking.
Some of these films will be reviewed on my site, so look for more information about each of them: “All Quiet on the Western Front“, “The Banshees of Inisherin”, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022)
I made my prediction ahead of time, although the article itself and the text are already written after: The Best Picture is “All Quiet on the Western Front” / Im Westen nichts Neues.
I admit that I couldn’t guess the best movie, although both the real winner and “my winner” have the highest score from me – 10/10.
I bet on “All Quiet on the Western Front”. In second place, I put “The Banshees of Inisherin”, and then “Everything Everywhere All at Once”.
Yes, I did not guess, but each of these three films is wonderful and good in its own way, each of them deserves attention and watching.
Conclusions
In total, I guessed 14 winners among 23 nominations, this is 61%. Considering I’ve just played the lottery a lot, I think that’s a pretty good result.
In main nominations, I managed watching all films and had certain reasons for a clear choice (directing, picture, actor, actress, screenplay, cinematography, sound, editing, visual effects). And here I have a result 6/9 (66%). I didn’t guess the winner in the nominations “Best Picture”, “Best Actress in a Leading Role” and “Best Directing”. It does not upset me at all, because I like “my winners” and they had every chance to win, it’s just the majority decided otherwise.
I don’t consider the Oscars a standard of cinema in the world. It has its own history, traditions, and peculiarities. But there are also many tapes outside the borders of an award.
For me, it’s more excitement and practice in criticizing and evaluating films and their authors.
I got mine: I watched a lot of high-quality films, enjoyed the image, music, acting, and scripts.
In my Universe, in 2023, the film “All Quiet on the Western Front” took 5 Oscars. The real winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” also received the highest score from me, so I congratulate it on its well-deserved victories in several nominations.
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