We are entering the final hours of electronic voting for this year’s Oscar nominations, which close at 5 p.m. PT on Tuesday. The Academy’s 9,487 eligible voting members (out of 10,487 total members) have likely already decided on their favorites of the year, but for the last-minute stragglers out there, I’ve put together my own ballot for Below the Line.
My wishlist of nominees doesn’t necessarily reflect my favorite films of the year — that’s a different list — but it represents how I would actually vote for the Oscars if I had that privilege. So I might’ve loved Coming Home in the Dark, but I recognize that the violent genre film isn’t exactly Best Picture material, though I did find a way to honor that film (within reason) below.
If you’re an Academy voter, by all means, you do you, but if you didn’t see all the awards movies this year or you just aren’t sure how to vote, or maybe you don’t quite trust your grandson’s taste, feel free to take some cues from the ballot below.
Without further ado, behold my faux Oscar ballot (sans the short film categories), and remember that an asterisk (*) denotes my personal vote to win as opposed to an actual prediction.
Best Picture
CODA*
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Red Rocket
Shiva Baby
Spencer
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Stillwater
Tick, Tick… Boom!
Worth
Best Director
Sean Baker, Red Rocket
Reinaldo Marcus Green, King Richard
Sian Heder, CODA*
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tick, Tick… Boom!
Joachim Trier, The Worst Person in the World
Best Actor
Nicolas Cage, Pig
Matt Damon, Stillwater
Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick… Boom!
Simon Rex, Red Rocket
Will Smith, King Richard*
Best Actress
Emilia Jones, CODA*
Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza
Kristen Stewart, Spencer
Rachel Sennott, Shiva Baby
Renate Reinsve, The Worst Person in the World
Best Supporting Actor
Anders Danielsen Lie, The Worst Person in the World
Eugenio Derbez, CODA
Daniel Gillies, Coming Home in the Dark
Troy Kotsur, CODA*
Jared Leto, House of Gucci
Best Supporting Actress
Abigail Breslin, Stillwater
Camille Cottin, Stillwater
Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard*
Gaby Hoffmann, C’mon, C’mon
Marlee Matlin, CODA
Best Original Screenplay
Zach Baylin, King Richard*
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch, Red Rocket
Tom McCarthy, Marcus Hinchey, Thomas Bidegain and Noé Debré, Stillwater
Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, The Worst Person in the World
Best Adapted Screenplay
Sian Heder, CODA*
Eli Saslow and Rodrigo García, Four Good Days
John Pollono, Small Engine Repair
Steven Levenson, Tick, Tick… Boom!
Tony Kushner, West Side Story
Best Animated Feature
Cryptozoo
Encanto
Flee*
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machine
Best Documentary Feature
The Alpinist
Flee
The Rescue*
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
Val
Best International Feature
Flee
A Hero
Riders of Justice
Slalom
The Worst Person in the World*
Best Cinematography
Jonathan Griffith, Brett Lowell and Austin Siadak, The Alpinist
Ari Wegner, The Power of the Dog
Ruben Impens, Titane*
Bruno Delbonnel, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Janusz Kaminski, West Side Story
Best Costume Design
Jenny Beavan, Cruella
Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan, Dune
Antoinette Messam, The Harder They Fall
Janty Yates, House of Gucci*
Jacqueline Durran, Spencer
Best Editing
Úna Ní Dhonghaíle, Belfast*
Geraud Brisson, CODA
Sean Baker, Red Rocket
Bob Eisenhardt, The Rescue
Hanna Park, Shiva Baby
Best Makeup/Hairstyling
Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon, Cruella*
Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras, House of Gucci
Stacey Panepinto and Wakana Yoshihara, Spencer
Jean Ann Black and Cydney Cornell, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Best Original Score
Hans Zimmer, Dune
Alexis Grapsas and Philip Klein, Pig
Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog
Stephen McKeon, Rose Plays Julie*
Jonny Greenwood, Spencer
Best Original Song
“So May We Start?” from Annette*
“Down to Joy” from Belfast
“Guns Go Bang” from The Harder They Fall
“Be Alive” from King Richard
“No Time to Die” from No Time to Die
Best Production Design
Patrice Vermette (production design) and Zsuzsanna Sipos (set decoration), Dune*
Arthur Max, House of Gucci
Florencia Martin, Licorice Pizza
Tamara Deverell (production design) and Shane Vieau (set decoration), Nightmare Alley
Guy Hendrix Dyas, Spencer
Best Sound
CODA
Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett, Dune*
The Matrix Resurrections
Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor, No Time to Die
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Best Visual Effects
Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer, Dune*
Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick, Free Guy
Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould, No Time to Die
Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
The Suicide Squad
Best Ensemble (If We Had a Ballot for the SAG Awards)
CODA*
The Harder They Fall
King Richard
Red Rocket
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Winners
CODA – 6 (Picture, Director, Actress, Supporting Actor, Adapted Screenplay, Ensemble)
Dune – 3 (Production Design, Sound, Visual Effects)
King Richard – 3 (Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Screenplay)
Annette – 1 (Original Song)
Belfast – 1 (Editing)
Cruella – 1 (Makeup/Hairstyling)
Flee – 1 (Animated Feature)
House of Gucci – 1 (Costume Design)
The Rescue – 1 (Documentary Feature)
Rose Plays Julie – 1 (Original Score)
Titane – 1 (Cinematography)
The Worst Person in the World – 1 (International Feature)
