Reel Corner: Predicting all 23 Oscar categories

As the long awards season comes to a close, the fight for Hollywood’s top prize ends this Sunday with the 95th Academy Awards.

It’s been a historic year for the film industry. We got to see beloved actors such as Brendan Fraser and Ke Huy Quan make comebacks and finally begin to be recognized for their work.

Michelle Yeoh looks poised to win the best lead actress award for her performance in the strong best picture contender “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” The question for the Academy remains: will they do the right thing?

Best Picture

• Nominees: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Women Talking.”
• Will Win: Everything Everywhere All At Once
• Could Win: All Quiet on the Western Front
• Should Win: The Fabelmans

This past September, the best picture category appeared to be up in the air. With highly anticipated films from Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” to the always Oscar friendly war genre addition “All Quiet on the Western Front” that is being strongly campaigned by Netflix, it looked like a wide open race. Although, there was a little indie distributed by A24 that remains the most universally beloved: “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”

Premiering in March of last year, the film has been the subject of constant discussion and hasn’t lost an ounce of passion from its supporters. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” achieved a sweep of every major guild award (PGA, DGA, WGA, SAG), becoming the fifth film to ever do this. All previous sweepers went on to win the top prize at the Oscars. This race is over.

Best Director

• Nominees: Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”), Todd Field (“Tár”), Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)
• Will Win: The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schinert)
• Could Win: Steven Spielberg
• Should Win: The Daniels

Over the course of the awards season, many thought Steven Spielberg was poised to win another Oscar. This changed quickly, as the love for “Everything Everywhere All At Once” continued to grow. The Daniels visionary talent was too strong to overlook, as they won the highly coveted, important precursor for the Oscar, the Directors Guild Award. It would be unwise to predict anyone besides The Daniels for this award.

Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Nominees: Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”), Bill Nighy (“Living”)
• Will Win: Austin Butler
• Could Win: Brendan Fraser
• Should Win: Paul Mescal

This category has been an absolute battle. After all the precursors, this has become a two-horse race between Austin Butler and Brendan Fraser. Fraser’s comeback narrative is strong, and many want to give him the award for such an emotionally charged performance in “The Whale.” On the flip side, Austin Butler has been a beloved performance since the summer in his portrayal of Elvis Presley, and remains in the stronger film as “Elvis” was nominated for eight Academy Awards including best picture. Due to the divisive reactions to “The Whale,” I’m predicting Austin Butler as he appears in the stronger film.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Nominees: Cate Blanchett (“Tár”), Ana de Armas (“Blonde”), Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”), Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”), Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
• Will Win: Cate Blanchett
• Could Win: Michelle Yeoh
• Should Win: Cate Blanchett

Much like the lead acting category, this has become a two-horse race between Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett. Taking home the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) award, Michelle Yeoh put herself in reach of the Oscar with her iconic speech and complete momentum shift. Although, Cate Blanchett still remains a strong contender after taking the BAFTA, Critics Choice Award and Golden Globe. The BAFTA remains an important precursor for the Oscar, but will the love for “Everything Everywhere All At Once” break this narrative? I’m not so sure.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

An incredibly strong category, but this award already has Ke Huy Quan’s name on it. Combined with the love for “Everything Everywhere All At Once” and his charming performance, this is one of the biggest locks of the night.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

A three-horse race, this is more difficult to predict. “The Banshees of Inisherin” remains a strong contender overall, so I’m going with Kerry Condon as a consolation prize for the looming “Everything Everywhere All At Once” sweep.

Best Original Screenplay:

This is a toss up between “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” but considering the latter is looking to sweep, it’s best to go with the Daniels for this one.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Sarah Polley just won the WGA (Writers Guild Award) for “Women Talking” all but securing her this award. Although, I could see an “All Quiet on the Western Front” upset in this category.

Best Animated Feature Film:

There are some strong contenders in this category, such as “Puss in Boots” and the highly acclaimed “Marcel The Shell,” but this has always been Guillermo Del Toro’s to win for his beautiful stop motion animated retelling of “Pinocchio”.

Best International Feature Film:

Another massive lock of the night. It’s gonna be “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

Best Original Score:

This award should easily go to Justin Hurwitz for his bombastic score for “Babylon,” but Volker Bertelmann’s haunting score for “All Quiet” could pose a threat… I’ll still go with “Babylon” but this is a close call.

Best Film Editing:

The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” train rolls on as this remains one of the best editing achievements of the year, but “Top Gun: Maverick” could still pose a threat in this category.

Best Original Song:

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”

Best Cinematography:

“Elvis”

Best Production Design:

“Babylon”

Best Makeup & Hairstyling:

“Elvis”

Best Costume Design:

“Elvis”

Best Sound:

“Top Gun: Maverick”

Best Visual Effects:

“Avatar: The Way of Water”

Best Documentary Feature Film:

“Navalny”

Best Documentary Short Film:

“Stranger at the Gate”

Best Short Film (Live Action):

“Le Pupille”

Best Short Film (Animated):

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

The 95th Academy Awards air Sunday, March 12 at 8 p.m. E.T. on ABC.

Wyatt Allison is a senior at UT this year studying business. He can be reached at walliso2@vols.utk.edu. You can find him on Twitter @filmwyatt and on Letterboxd @wyattisthegoat.