The Best Movies You've (Probably) Never Heard Of

Well folks, I’m pretty much getting my Oscar predictions in under the wire this year. I’ve seen all but one of the Best Picture nominees. I didn’t bother with Top Gun: Maverick because I didn’t like the first Top Gun and frankly I don’t think it has a ghosts chance in Hell of winning. Then again, you never know.

I wanted to try to see as many films as I could. As usual I’m behind on the foreign films and documentaries.  I did see a couple of the nominated documentary shorts but I must confess that I’m not as up on things as I’d like to be.  I should also confess that while many people have been calling this a very strong year for movies, I respectfully disagree.  Not that there weren’t any good films this year but I personally couldn’t come up with my annual list of ten best films of the year.

Oh well.  Here are my Oscar predictions.  As usual I give my choice, what I think will actually win and what I think was overlooked.

Okay, here goes: 

Best Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert, Producer

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

“The Fabelmans,” Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

“Tár,” Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

“Triangle of Sadness,” Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

“Women Talking,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

MY CHOICE:  The Fableman’s.  Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical film about his days as a young filmmaker and the disintegration of his family truly was one from the heart and the only one of the nominees that I think approached (if not quite achieved) greatness.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Pretty much all signs point to Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.

OVERLOOKED:  Babylon

Best Director 

Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) 

Todd Field (“Tár”) 

Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)

MY CHOICE:  While one could argue that Spielberg has won enough accolades in his lifetime, I think he deserves to take home the gold for this deeply personal movie.

WHO WILL WIN:  While I predict a big win for Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, I think people will want to honor the grand master Spielberg and I think he might win.

OVERLOOKED:  84 year-old Jerry Skolimowski for his masterful work on Eo.

Best Lead Actor

Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) 

Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) 

Bill Nighy (“Living”) 

MY CHOICE:  I never liked Brendan Fraser, so imagine my surprise when I find myself rooting for him to take home the gold!

WHO WILL WIN:  Oscars really like to give this one to people playing real life people, so I think Austin Butler will win.

OVERLOOKED:  There once was a time when the Academy appreciated young actors.  Gabriel LaBelle should have totally been nominated for The Fabelmans.

Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 

Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) 

Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)

Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) 

Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

MY CHOICE:  I didn’t see Blonde or To Leslie.  I didn’t like Tar and while I think Michelle Williams is one of the best actresses working today, I don’t quite think The Fabelmans is her best work.  I vote for Michelle Yeoh.

WHO WILL WIN:  Michelle Yeoh pretty much has a lock on this one.

OVERLOOKED:  The fact that Aubrey Plaza was overlooked for her performance in Emily the Criminal is, well, criminal.

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) 

Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)

Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

MY CHOICE:  Judd Hirsch for The Fabelmans.

WHO WILL WIN:  Ke Huy Quan for Everything Everywhere All at Once.

OVERLOOKED:  Diego Calva for Babylon.

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 

Hong Chau (“The Whale”) 

Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

MY CHOICE:  Hong Chau for The Whale.

WHO WILL WIN:  Hard to say.  I’ll guess Jamie Lee Curtis.

OVERLOOKED:  Sadie Sink for The Whale.

Best Adapted Screenplay

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson

“Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

“Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

MY CHOICE:  Of the three I’ve seen – All Quiet on the Western Front, Living and Women Talking (the latter being one film that can never be accused of false advertising), I’d have to go with Living.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Glass Oinion.

OVERLOOKED:  The Wale.

Best Original Screenplay

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

“The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

“Tár,” Written by Todd Field

“Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund

MY CHOICE:  The Fabelmans.

WHAT WILL WIN:  The Fabelmas.

OVERLOOKED:  Emily the Criminal

Best Cinematography 

“All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Darius Khondji

“Elvis,” Mandy Walker

“Empire of Light,” Roger Deakins

“Tár,” Florian Hoffmeister

MY CHOICE:  Empire of Light.

WHAT WILL WIN:  All Quiet on the Western Front.

OVERLOOKED:  Masanobu Takayanagi for The Pale Blue Eye.

Best Documentary Feature Film 

“All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

“Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

“A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

“Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

MY CHOICE:  I’ve so far only seen All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, which I wasn’t crazy about.  I shall abstain.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Pretty sure All the Beauty will win.

Best Documentary Short Film 

“The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

“Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

“How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt

“The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

“Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

MY CHOICE:   I’ve only seen The Elephant Whisperers and The Martha Mitchell Effect.  Both were quite excellent but I would vote for The Martha Mitchell Effect.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Of what I’ve seen I’d put my money on The Elephant Whisperers.

Best Film Editing

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

“Elvis,” Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers

“Tár,” Monika Willi

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Eddie Hamilton

MY CHOICE:  Everything Everywhere All at Once.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Everything Everywhere All at Once.

OVERLOOKED:  Babylon.

Best International Feature Film 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany) 

“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina) 

“Close” (Belgium)

“EO” (Poland) 

“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland) 

MY CHOICE:  I’ve only seen All Quiet on the Western Front and Eo.  And while Eo may essentially be a remake of Robert Bresson’s masterpiece Au Hazard Balthazar, it’s still an incredibly moving story and deserves the Oscar.

WHAT WILL WIN:  I think Eo will.

Best Original Song 

“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose  

“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne 

MY CHOICE:  No idea.

WHAT WILL WIN:  No idea.

Best Production Design 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole

“Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

“Elvis,” Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn

“The Fabelmans,” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

MY CHOICE:  Elvis.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Elvis.

OVERLOOKED:  Empire of Light.

Best Visual Effects

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

“The Batman,” Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

MY CHOICE:  All Quiet on the Western Front.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Avatar:  The Way of Water.

Best Animated Feature Film 

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

“The Sea Beast,” Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

“Turning Red,” Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

MY CHOICE:  I’ve only seen Pinocchio, but I doubt that a any of the competitors are better.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Guillermo del Toro’s Pinnochio.

Best Animated Short Film

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

“The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

“Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

“My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon

MY CHOICE:  N/A

WHAT WILL WIN:  N/A

Best Costume Design 

“Babylon,” Mary Zophres

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Ruth Carter

“Elvis,” Catherine Martin

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Shirley Kurata

“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Jenny Beavan

MY CHOICE:  Elvis.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Elvis.

Best Live Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White

“Ivalu,” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

“Le Pupille,” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

“Night Ride,” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

“The Red Suitcase,” Cyrus Neshvad

MY CHOICE:  N/A

WHAT WILL WIN:  N/A

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

“The Batman,” Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

“Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

“The Whale,” Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

MY CHOICE:  The Whale.

WHAT WILL WIN:  The Whale

Best Original Score 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann

“Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux

“The Fabelmans,” John Williams

MY CHOICE:  Babylon.

WHAT WILL WIN:  Pretty wide open.  I think Everything Everywhere will be on a roll and might win.

Best Sound

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

“The Batman,” Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

“Elvis,” David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

MY CHOICE:  Elvis.

WHAT WILL WIN:  All Quiet on the Western Front.