2020 Oscar Nominations: Final Predictions

Oscar nomination day is one of my favorite days of the year. When I lived in LA, I used to get up at 5 am to prepare for the early morning announcements – an UNHEARD of hour for me, as someone who had just graduated college and was way more used to going to bed at 5 in the morning then waking up at that time. (The nominations are announced live at 8:30 am on the east coast, so I have at least gotten a bit of a break since moving back.)

The nominations are way more exciting to me than the ceremony itself. Even though we can mostly predict who will be honored, the Academy always throws in a few surprises that keep things interesting. By the time the awards come up, the novelty of guessing who will win or lose is has faded away, as dark horses rarely surprise us. (Adrien Brody’s Best Actor win was… 16 years ago. Let’s not even get into the Moonlight v. La La Land fiasco.)

Here are my major category final predictions for the 2020 Academy Award nominations:

Best Picture

1. 1917

2. The Farewell

3. The Irishman

4. Jojo Rabbit

5. Joker

6. Knives Out

7. Little Women

8. Marriage Story

9. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

10. Parasite

Directing

1. Bong Joon-ho (Parasite)

2. Greta Gerwig (Little Women)

3. Sam Mendes (1917)

4. Martin Scorsese (The Irishman)

5. Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

Actor in a Leading Role

1. Leonard DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

2. Adam Driver (Marriage Story)

3. Taron Egerton (Rocketman)

4. Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)

5. Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems)

Actress in a Leading Role

1. Awkwafina (The Farewell)

2. Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story

3. Saoirse Ronan (Little Women)

4. Charlize Theron (Bombshell)

5. Renée Zellweger (Judy)

Actor in a Supporting Role

1. Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood)

2. Al Pacino (The Irishman)

3. Joe Pesci (The Irishman)

4. Bratt Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

5. Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes)

Actress in a Supporting Role

1. Laura Dern (Marriage Story

2. Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit)

3. Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers)

4. Florence Pugh (Little Women)

5. Margot Robbie (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)

Writing (Original Screenplay)

1. Booksmart (Emily Halpern & Sarah Haskins and Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman)

2. The Farewell (Lulu Wang)

3. Knives Out (Rian Johnson)

4. Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach)

5. Parasite (Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

1. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster)

2. The Irishman (Steven Zaillian)

3. Jojo Rabbit (Taika Waititi)

4. Joker (Todd Phillips and Scott Silver)

5. Little Women (Greta Gerwig)

Cinematography 

1. 1917 (Roger Deakins)

2. Ford v Ferrari (Phedon Papamichael)

3. The Irishman (Rodrigo Prieto)

4. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Robert Richardson)

5. Joker (Lawrence Sher)

Editing

1. The Irishman (Thelma Schoonmaker)

2. Jojo Rabbit (Tom Eagles)

3. Joker (Jeff Groth)

4. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Fred Raskin)

5. Parasite (Jinmo Yang)

Animated Feature Film 

1. Frozen 2

2. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

3. I Lost My Body

4. Missing Link

5. Toy Story 4

International Feature Film

1. Atlantics (Senegal)

2. Beanpole (Russia)

3. Pain and Glory (Spain)

4. Parasite (South Korea

5. Les Miserables (France)

Documentary (Feature)

1. American Factory

2. Apollo 11

3. For Sama

4. Honeyland

5. One Child Nation

Music (Original Song)

1. “Into The Unknown” (Frozen II)

2. “Stand Up” (Harriet)

3. “A Glass of Soju” (Parasite)

4. “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” (Rocketman)

5. “Glasgow” (Wild Rose)