Tiger’s Oscar Predictions

The 95th Oscar Awards are being hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, to be presented on Sunday, March 12. With a vast array of nominations for several acclaimed flms, Tiger predicts the winning candidates for seven of the categories.

Best Actor Best Actress

Brendan Fraser’s empathetic and emotional portrayal of Charlie in The Whale is likely to secure him the win in the category of best actor. Fraser’s character examines an overweight English teacher who is grieving after the passing of his lover as he tries to repair his broken relationship with his daughter for a last chance at redemption.

Charlie’s self-consciousness leads him to stay in his home teaching online writing courses, but he keeps his webcam off, afraid to show others his true face. Fraser’s role could be overlooked due to the restricted movement his character has and the use of practically one set, but he conveys the nuances of Charlie through vivid expression and a bold command of the screen, facial expressions, and his tone of voice.

The audience can feel the regret and sadness reflected through Fraser’s portrayal of Charlie. With a transformative performance worthy of an Oscar, he explores Charlie’s character on a deeper level than perhaps The Whale called for.

Michelle Yeoh delivers a showstopping performance as lead actress in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yeoh conveys the dynamic and complex relationship between a first generation immigrant and their seemingly never enough daughter brilliantly. Her authenticity embeds grit and passion into her character, evocative, moving, and oftentimes forcing the audience to tears.

She allows her character to fall naturally into a guarded perspective, cold and disapproving to all around her, enabling the balance of her more vulnerable moments to be all the more impactful. Her effort is only enhanced by actress Stephanie Hsu, who plays Yeoh’s daughter.

While fellow nominee Cate Blanchett offers strong competition in Tár, Yeoh’s talent demands the attention and ultimately the respect of an award. Her feat is only made more commendable as should she win, she would be the first Asian woman to do so. While this recognition is long overdue, Yeoh’s nomination embodies pure talent.

Best Picture Best Director

Steven Spielberg has stacked up awards in the past and this year, his movie The Fablemans will have him adding another award to his collection. This movie explores Spielberg’s own childhood growing up in a post-war Arizona and follows the journey and healing process of a broken marriage of Spielberg’s parents through a young depiction of himself, Sammy Fableman. He falls in love with films after seeing The Greatest Show on Earth

After his revelation, he begins making his own movies at home. Spielberg’s directing of The Fablemans was excellent and Oscar worthy. In the movie, the camera pans around the characters and the setting of the film, making audiences feel like they are truly in the scene with the cast.

His collaboration with the actors and producers made this production outstanding. Spielberg directed this movie with poise that was the knot in tying this film together. His personal additions combined with his vulnerability in this movie will have him taking home yet another Oscar.

Best Animated Feature

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has been a game changer to the world of animated film as the industry knows it since its release, with the acclaimed film garnering support from fans across the world. Directed by Joel Crawford, the movie serves as a spinoff sequel to the beloved Dreamworks franchise that takes a known character to create an engaging story.

The stylistic aesthetic, despite being produced with the same 3D animation programs, allows the movie to shine in comparison to its other animated counterparts. The movie is set apart from the competitors with the vibrant colors and sketchbook look, paying homage to the typical 2D animation look from prior films.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is a heartwarming story detailing how Puss in Boots restores his passion and vigor for adventure; the exhilarating plot and action scenes, textured art style, and innovative approach to animated film that contrasts prior contenders and winners for this award make the movie a strong contender to take the Oscar home.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is the winning contender for this year’s packed nominations for Best Picture. This film is a strong candidate in the category based on the cast’s stellar acting paired with the riveting and ingenious plot. Stephanie Hsu, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, and Ke Huy Quan’s acting ties the plot along with the storyline together.

The film’s score and directing pulled the production together like no other movie in the running. The movie traverses an aging Chinese immigrant who begins a quest to save all the universes. Along the way, she finds and connects with her other lives she could have led in other universes and truly answers the question of what could have been.

The story of Yeoh’s character, Evelyn, and her journey explores her relationships with her children and her husband along with the challenges immigrants continue to face. With the excellent direction, production, and acting, this movie will likely take home the award for Best Picture.

Best Original Score

Son Lux’s work in Everything Everywhere All at Once transcends typical genres of music to create a cinematic masterpiece that directly builds off of the film’s cinematography and action. Lux, in true fashion of cultural appreciation, utilized the Chinese sound and adapted it to further the plotline.

From traditional opera singing to gongs, the film was able to play off of the heavy hitting sounds that reminisce Lux’s older albums and EPs that the group has released. Heightening the action through synthetic beats, the movie was able to further raise tensions and emotions through a collaboration of a cultural sound with modern elements.

Closing the score with Byrne and Mitski on “This Is A Life,” the score does what the other competitors for the Oscar this year fail to do: appreciate the beauty in culture and create a haunting chill down the listener’s spine that causes the audience to think further than the film’s plot and cinematography.