Life has, as usual, been quite a lot to deal with as of late. If you’ve kept up with this blog, you know that my posts have been infrequent. Going into this new year, it’s my intention to remedy that. Even if posts are shorter and/or less polished than I like, then so be it. Better something than nothing.

That said, you all know that Oscars season is my favorite season of the year, and there are several proverbial horses in the race that I’m betting on. I can’t remember feeling this strongly about an awards season since at least 2017. There are several important films I haven’t seen yet, but I intend on remedying that soon as well. The films I have seen have left indelible impressions on me, especially Oppenheimer, Barbie, and Killers of the Flower Moon. I will go ahead and throw the gauntlet down now: If Cillian Murphy and Lily Gladstone walk away without little golden men come Oscars night, I will personally riot.

Without further ado, here are my predictions for who and what will be nominated for some of the major Oscars races:

Best Picture

Anatomy of a Fall

Barbie

The Color Purple

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Maestro

Oppenheimer

Past Lives

Poor Things

Saltburn

Best Director

Greta Gerwig, Barbie

Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Alexander Payne, The Holdovers

Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper, Maestro

Colman Domingo, Rustin

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

Barry Keoghan, Saltburn

Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Best Actress

Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple

Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

Carey Mulligan, Maestro

Margot Robbie, Barbie

Emma Stone, Poor Things

Best Supporting Actor

Willem Dafoe, Poor Things

Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling, Barbie

Charles Melton, May December

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple

Taraji P. Henson, The Color Purple

Rosamund Pike, Saltburn

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Nominations for the 96th annual Academy Awards will be announced on January 23rd at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 a.m. PT by Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid live from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles.

Thanks as always for being a faithful reader of The Voracious Bibliophile. If you like what you see, please like, comment, follow, and subscribe to my email list to get notified of new posts as soon as they drop. You can also email me at fred.slusher@thevoraciousbibliophile.com or catch me on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest @voraciousbiblog. Keep reading the world, one page (or pixel) at a time.