The 93rd Annual Academy Awards: Head vs. Heart

We made it guys. We bloody MADE it. In a year that somehow managed to last more than a decade (or so it feels), the COVID-19 pandemic has not managed to curtail the Academy Awards in the same way that it laid waste to so many different ceremonies across 2020. In suck in just before the hit the fan last year, and it’s sneaking back in after (hopefully) the worst is behind us. It’s been a wild year for cinema, with theatres pretty much completely shut since last March, but nevertheless, we persisted! A terrible year has actually managed to turn out some terrific films, and at this point in the Oh! That Film Blog game, you know what I’m here to do! Without further ado, here are my head vs. heart predictions for the 92nd Annual Academy Awards.

Best Picture

Head says: Nomadland / Heart says: Nomadland

There’s some stiff competition for Best Picture this year, but Nomadland has both my head and my heart. The film seems to have picked up all the most important trophies along the way, and regardless of how it was received by everyone else, the thing that mattered most to me is that it blew me away with its poignant tone, stunning cinematography and bittersweet melancholy. A truly special movie that I think deserves to take home the top prize this Sunday.

Best Actor

Head says: Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) / Heart says: Anthony Hopkins (The Father)

This year the Best Actor award seems to be fated to go to the late, great Chadwick Boseman, and to be honest I’m completely fine with that as an overall gesture for the actor’s career. The Academy are prone to opting for someone’s ‘moment’, and seeing as Boseman is unable to produce any future moments after the admittedly brilliant Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, then that’s fine. My heart, however, was unexpectedly stolen late in the game by what I think is one of Anthony Hopkin’s career best performances. His turn as a dementia sufferer in The Father is an unforgettable one. It’s a tragedy that these two are up against each other, and it’s an even bigger tragedy that one of them is no longer with us in his prime.

Best Actress

Head says: Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) / Heart says: Frances McDormand (Nomadland)

If you read my review from the time of release, you’ll see that I wasn’t as in love with Promising Young Woman as so many others seemed to be. Ever since, however, I’ve found myself slowly coming round to a deeper appreciation of the film, and in a Best Actress category that is as fully stacked and wide open as it has ever been, I think that the flow of the voters might just be with Carey Mulligan right now. Frances McDormand gets my personal vote, but with two Oscars already in her cabinet, I think she might miss out. Special mention also to Viola Davis in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, who gives an outstanding performance but one that I’m not quite sure is ‘leading’ enough to warrant the Best Actress statuette in this instance.

Best Supporting Actor

Head says: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah) / Heart says: Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)

Best Supporting Actor s the closest thing the Oscars has to a forgone conclusion this year. Daniel Kaluuya is head and shoulders above the rest in this category, including the odd inclusion of his costar LaKeith Stanfield who, if anything, should have been placed on the Best Actor list instead. Kaluuya’s Fred Hampton was absolutely breathtaking, a masterclass in raw charisma and electric energy, so much so that you physically miss his presence when off screen. I have no doubt in my mind that he’ll win the Oscar on Sunday, and it will be fully deserved.

Best Supporting Actress

Head says: Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari) / Heart says: Olivia Colman (The Father)

I have no problem with admitting to a case of impartiality on this one, because whilst I accept that Yuh-Jung Youn is more than worthy of picking up the prize for her memorable performance as the cheeky grandmother in Minari, I cannot express to you how invested I am in the prospect of Olivia Colman becoming a two time Oscar winner! In a category with some questionable inclusion this year, there is no doubt that Youn and Colman are the cream of the crop, and although I’ll be happy to see the South Korean actress take to the stage on Sunday, I can’t help that my heart belongs to Colman!