A Reel Opinion: Oscar Picks, Part 2

The 96^th Academy Awards are just a few days away, and every film writer, blogger, cinephile, and movie nerd is out there reading the signs and reaching out through the Force to pick the winners. In Part 1 (HERE), this Blogger made his picks in the acting categories. In this second and final part, picks will be made in the elemental categories leading to Best Picture. 

 

This year much of the drama is out of the room, as the entire season has been dominated by one film. Although anything can happen, the race for Best Picture has been over since July of last year. We know this from pre-cursers this Awards Season: the Screen Actors Guild awards (SAG), Producers Guild awards (PGA), Directors Guild (DGA), the Golden Globes, and the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA). These guilds and awards bodies are the best indicator, and feed our gut-instincts when making our own picks. 

 

Here now are Reel Speak’s picks for the major categories honoring the best in film of 2024. 

 

 

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

This year, the screenplay categories are tricky. Not just because the nominees are deserving (they all are), but with the Writers Guild (WGA) pushing their awards to after the Oscars due to last year’s strike, we don’t have our standard indicators. Christopher Nolan’s behemoth OPPENHEIMER should be the favorite, but it did notwin here at BAFTA or at the Globes. The favorite here just may be AMERICAN FICTION, which is has been heralded for its screenplay in many Hollywood circles. AMERICAN FICTION is a story about writing and creating, and Hollywood does love those types of stories. 

 

Winner: AMERICAN FICTION

 

 

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 

The French legal drama ANATOMY OF A FALL has so far won this category at the Globes and BAFTA, and has also been awarded for its screenplay in other awards circuits. Always pick the film that has momentum.  

 

Winner: ANATOMY OF A FALL  

 

 

 

 

BEST FILM EDITING

In 96 years, two-thirds of all Best Picture winners were also nominated for editing, including a streak of 33 consecutive years from 1981 to 2013. Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER won this at BAFTA, and just this week won at the all-important American Cinema Editors (ACE). This Oscar was basically won in that breathtaking scene of the first atomic bomb detonation…edited into a shocking presentation.  

 

Winner: OPPENHEIMER

 

 

 

 

BEST DIRECTOR

No contest here. Christopher Nolan has been winning this category all year, including the vital win from the Directors Guild, and will win the last directing honor of the year. 

 

Winner: Christopher Nolan for OPPENHEIMER

 

 

 

 

BEST PICTURE

As this Blogger has been saying all season, this race has been over since last July. OPPENHEIMER has won all the major awards; Globes, BAFTA, PGA, and the all-important SAG ensemble. No other film has dominated the cinema conversation, won more, and accomplished more. It was all we’ve talked about since the beginning of the year, and it’s what we’ll be talking about at the end of Oscar Night. 

 

Winner: OPPENHEIMER

 

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The 96^th Academy Awards are this Sunday at 7pm.