16th Annual Academy Awards Contest
We have 15 years in the books. The standings are:Bill 11-3-1
Susan 3-11-1
Here is a listing of the annual winner and the corresponding Best Picture winner.
2007: Susan / The Departed
2008: Bill / No Country for Old Men
2009: Tie / Slumdog Millionaire
2010: Susan / The Hurt Locker
2011: Bill / The King's Speech
2012: Susan / The Artist
2013: Bill / Argo
2014: Bill / 12 Years a Slave
2015: Bill / Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
2016: Bill / Spotlight
2017: Bill / Moonlight
2018: Bill / The Shape of Water
2019: Bill / Green Book
2020: Bill / Nomadland
2021: Bill / Parasite
Yes, I do have a nine-year winning streak on the line this evening. Thank you for noticing.
We have a simple competition. So how does it work? The prior year's winner selects first. We alternate categories and cannot share the same pick. Best Picture is always the final category. Obviously, we have not seen all of the nominated films, so some picks are based solely upon reputation, media hype and a blogger from our old Saturday morning cycling class discussions in the pre-pandemic world. For this awards show, I've seen far more of the nominated films than in recent years. For a while, it appeared as if the only films I'd see were those that starred Zendaya. But that list expanded (with a little cramming in the last 24 hours) to seven and included Dune; Spider-Man: No Way Home; The Power of the Dog; Being the Ricardos; Tick, Tick Boom!; Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised); and Audible.
So without further ado, here are our selections and the winner:
Best Picture
Licorice Pizza (S)
CODA (B)
Winner: N/A
Best Actor
Denzel Washington (S)
Andrew Garfield (B)
Winner: N/A
Best Actress
Kristen Stewart (S)
Olivia Colman (B)
Winner: Title
Supporting Actor
Ciaran Hinds (S)
Troy Kotsur (B)
Winner: Title
Supporting Actress
Kirsten Dunst (S)
Judi Dench (B)
Winner: Title
Animated Feature
Encanto (S)
Flee (B)
Winner: Title
Cinematography
The Power of the Dog (S)
Dune (B)
Winner: Title
Costume Design
Cruella (S)
West Side Story (B)
Winner: Title
Directing
Kenneth Branagh (S)
Jane Campion (B)
Winner: Title
Documentary (Feature)
Flee (S)
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (B)
Winner: Title
Documentary (Short Subject)
The Queen of Basketball (S)
Audible (B)
Winner: Title
Film Editing
King Richard (S)
Tick, Tick ... Boom! (B)
Winner: Title
International Feature
The Worst Person in the World (S)
The Hand of God (B)
Winner: Title
Makeup and Hairstyling
House of Gucci (S)
Cruella (B)
Winner: Title
Music (Original Song)
Down to Joy (S)
Dos Oruguitas (B)
Winner: Title
Music (Original Score)
Parallel Mothers (S)
Dune (B)
Winner: Title
Production Design
The Power of the Dog (S)
West Side Story (B)
Winner: Title
Short Film (Animated)
The Windshield Wiper (S)
Affairs of the Art (B)
Winner: Title
Short Film (Live Action)
Ala Kachuu (S)
The Long Goodbye (B)
Winner: Title
Sound
West Side Story (S)
Dune (B)
Winner: Title
Visual Effects
Dune (S)
Spider-Man: No Way Home (B)
Winner: Title
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
CODA (S)
Dune (B)
Winner: Title
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Belfast (S)
Don't Look Up (B)
Winner: Title