It’s crunch time for the Oscars. Less than a week away from the ceremony, Gold Derby senior editor Daniel Montgomery and contributors Sam Eckmann and Christopher Tsang join Charlie Bright and Tony Ruiz on the third episode of the podcast “Gold Derby Roundtable with Charlie and Tony” to reveal their final predictions in all 23 categories, as well as recap the Independent Spirit Awards and discuss the effect of the infamous Will Smith slap on the upcoming Oscar ceremony. Watch the in-depth slugfest above.
Quickly discussing what has made headlines last year at the Oscars with Smith slapping Chris Rock, along with the release of Rock’s new Netflix stand-up special, all parties agree that the awards cycle has come full circle with this incident and while it will likely be mentioned in host Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue, it’s had its moment in the sun for quite some time. Montgomery reveals, “I want it to be kind of done with.” As far as the Indie Spirits go, a lot of focus was on host Hasan Minhaj and his bit on sister site Deadline. “I think someone on Deadline hurt him,” Eckmann jokes, while the winners were fairly expected with frontrunner “Everything Everywhere All At Once” sweeping the categories.
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Going into final Oscar predictions, everyone is predicting a great night for “Everything Everywhere All At Once” winning either 5 or 6 Oscars, including Best Picture, Director for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan, and Editing, with Bright, Tsang, and Montgomery predicting an Original Screenplay victory and Ruiz, Montgomery, and Eckmann predicting Michelle Yeoh for Best Actress. Eckmann is also going out on a limb to predict SAG winner Jamie Lee Curtis for Best Supporting Actress, where the panel is divided between her, Angela Bassett, and Kerry Condon. Ruiz theorizes that there “is a large enough percentage of Academy voters that respect [Bassett]…that don’t care that it’s for a Marvel film” and flashes back to Heath Ledger’s Oscar win for playing a comic book character. Bright explains that along with Condon’s BAFTA win, viewers of “The Banshees of Inisherin” can easily “identify with [her] character…the way that she views the whole situation of the movie.”
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When it comes to the technical categories, mostly everyone is predicting a spread of the wealth with “Elvis” taking Costume and Makeup/Hairstyling, “All Quiet on the Western Front” taking Cinematography and Score, “Top Gun: Maverick” winning Sound, and “Avatar: The Way of Water” winning Visual Effects. But the lead acting categories are more of a head scratcher with everyone examining the potential and timing for Yeoh and Brendan Fraser fresh off their SAG wins against BAFTA winners Cate Blanchett and Austin Butler. Ruiz points out that Yeoh “has developed this goodwill that has happened at just the right time,” while Montgomery doesn’t “feel that enthusiasm for [Blanchett] especially right now as Oscar voting is taking place.” The same sentiment is also felt for Fraser, though it is agreed that Butler has the biographical performance in “Elvis” and Eckmann thinks that “the personal narrative of Fraser is better, but I think ultimately the passion for [Elvis] coupled with an amazing performance will put Butler over the edge.”
And though all of them are predicting a Best Picture victory for “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” they all acknowledge that “All Quiet on the Western Front” could upset it, with Tsang stating, “there are seeds that [Everything Everywhere All At Once] might lose, given [their losses at the] BAFTAs…we don’t know how it performs with international voters on a preferential ballot.” Bright points out the key categories to look out for the night are Original Screenplay, which has been more of a correlation with Best Picture in the past years, and Editing, where the movie has swept all the precursors. Montgomery also remembers “no Best Picture has won more than 4 Oscars since “The Artist” [in 2012].”
PREDICT the 2023 Oscar winners through March 12
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