Guessing Games

If you ever thought I was winging it before in Mike's and my 15th Annual Academy Award Guessing Games® you haven't seen anything yet. For better or worse. 

I might officially be old, but Mike is older, so I'll always have that. 

I'm not sure what movies (if any) he has seen. I have seen a whopping zero. Some I haven't heard of; ditto with the actors, music or costumes. Hence the old comment. But to be fair, staying away from media has me at a huge disadvantage here. In the past I'd have heard about some of this shit. 

2026 really puts "guessing" into the spotlight here - for both of us, I'd assume. 

Let's just say, I already know what cookies Mike will be getting when I lose this thing. I could easily go to websites to see who favours whom / what, but I might just go with my gut. 

While I will try to have fun quips below, it's gonna be tough going into this totally blind. 

Best picture "Bugonia" "F1" "Frankenstein" "Hamnet" "Marty Supreme" "One Battle After Another" "The Secret Agent" "Sentimental Value" "Sinners" "Train Dreams" 

I haven't even heard of three of these. Maybe I've seen the clips somewhere. Maybe. You gotta figure it comes down to Sinners or One Battle. The latter didn't do that well at the box office, but it had great buzz for a while. Still, I'm gonna pick the former. 

Best supporting actress Elle Fanning, "Sentimental Value" Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, "Sentimental Value" Amy Madigan, "Weapons" Wunmi Mosaku, "Sinners" Teyana Taylor, "One Battle After Another" 

If I'm being honest, I'm going with my friend Jon's take on Taylor's performance. And I know Amy Madigan plays a freakish character, but she has done such great work over the years, I wouldn't be mad if she won this and I lost the category. 

Best actor Timothée Chalamet, "Marty Supreme" Leonardo DiCaprio, "One Battle After Another" Ethan Hawke, "Blue Moon" Michael B. Jordan, "Sinners" Wagner Moura, "The Secret Agent" 

Ya know, opera / ballet comment aside, Chalamet's demeanor has just become exhausting. He's quite full of himself. Maybe he's been dating a Kardashian for too long. I just want him to lose. 

Best actress Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet" Rose Byrne, "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" Kate Hudson, "Song Sung Blue" Renate Reinsve, "Sentimental Value" Emma Stone, "Bugonia" 

Emma Stone shaving her head won't let her win this time. 

Best supporting actor Benicio Del Toro, "One Battle After Another" Jacob Elordi, "Frankenstein" Delroy Lindo, "Sinners" Sean Penn, "One Battle After Another" Stellan Skarsgård, "Sentimental Value" 

Again, my friend Jon said Penn was great. And if I can look past his personal persona, he is a great actor. As must as I'd like to see Elordi {sigh} up there......just to look at.....it probs won't be he. 

Best director Chloé Zhao, "Hamnet" Josh Safdie, "Marty Supreme" Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another" Joachim Trier, "Sentimental Value" Ryan Coogler, "Sinners" 

Best makeup and hairstyling "Frankenstein" "Kokuho" "Sinners" "The Smashing Machine" "The Ugly Stepsister" 

Jacob Elordi {sigh} says his make-up took up to 12-14 hours for this movie. That alone should get them something. And who wants to cover up all that beauty???

Best original score "Bugonia" -- Jerskin Fendrix "Frankenstein" -- Alexandre Desplat "Hamnet" -- Max Richter "One Battle After Another" -- Jonny Greenwood "Sinners" -- Ludwig Göransson 

Best live action short film "Butcher's Stain" "Jane Austen's Period Drama" "A Friend of Dorothy" "The Singers" "Two People Exchanging Saliva" 

I adore Miriam Margolyes, so I hope Dorothy wins. I'm sure the others are good too. 

Best adapted screenplay "Bugonia" -- Will Tracy "Frankenstein" -- Guillermo Del Toro "Hamnet" -- Maggie O'Farrell and Chloé Zhao "One Battle After Another" -- Paul Thomas Anderson "Train Dreams" -- Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar 

Best original screenplay "Blue Moon" -- Robert Kaplow "It Was Just an Accident" -- Jafar Panahi "Marty Supreme" -- Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie "Sentimental Value" -- Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt "Sinners" – Ryan Coogler 

Best animated short film "Butterfly" "Forevergreen" "The Girl Who Cried Pearls" "Retirement Plan" "The Three Sisters" 

I don't know. 

Best casting "Hamnet" -- Nina Gold "Marty Supreme" -- Jennifer Venditti "One Battle After Another" -- Cassandra Kulukundis "The Secret Agent" -- Gabriel Domingues "Sinners" -- Francine Maisler 

Is this new? Did it replace something? I don't remember a 'casting' category. Lord fuck knows about this. 100% guess. As if the others were more educated ones. 

Best original song "Dear Me" from "Diane Warren: Relentless" "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" "I Lied to You" from "Sinners" "Sweet Dreams of Joy" from "Viva Verdi!" "Train Dreams" from "Train Dreams" 

There must be some law that says Diane Warren MUST have a song in this category. I'm not sure she's ever won - or should. But there she is...........again. (she's had 17. I had to look it up.).  She won't win. 

Best documentary feature film "The Alabama Solution" "Come See Me in the Good Light" "Cutting Through Rocks" "Mr. Nobody Against Putin" "The Perfect Neighbor" 

I dunno. But neither does Mike. Or you. 

Best documentary short film "All the Empty Rooms" "Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud" "Children No More: 'Were and Are Gone'" "The Devil is Busy" "Perfectly a Strangeness" 

Are we really voting for ones that aren't about killing children in school shootings?  Je think not. 

Best international feature film Brazil, "The Secret Agent" France, "It Was Just an Accident" Norway, "Sentimental Value" Spain, "Sirât" Tunisia, "The Voice of Hind Rajab" 

I always pick the one that is also up for Best Picture. It almost ever wins best picture (maybe except Parasite(?).)

Best animated feature film "Arco" "Elio" "KPop Demon Hunters" "Little Amélie or the Character of Rain" "Zootopia 2" 

I've seen Josh Brolin go on and on about this - and how it makes him cry. REALLY cry, well, you kinda gotta love that. 

Best production design "Frankenstein" "Hamnet" "Marty Supreme" "One Battle After Another" "Sinners" 

It's Del Toro. He always goes beyond. 

Best film editing "F1" -- Stephen Mirrione "Marty Supreme" -- Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie "One Battle After Another" -- Andy Jurgensen "Sentimental Value" -- Olivier Bugge Coutté "Sinners" -- Michael P. Shawver 

Best sound "F1" "Frankenstein" "One Battle After Another" "Sinners" "Sirât" 

C'mon. vroom vroom vroom.  Right? 

Best visual effects "Avatar: Fire and Ash" "F1" "Jurassic World Rebirth" "The Lost Bus" "Sinners" 

It seems like another Avatar should get it. I just don't want it. 

Best cinematography "Frankenstein" "Marty Supreme" "One Battle After Another" "Sinners" "Train Dreams" 

Best costume design "Avatar: Fire and Ash" -- Deborah L. Scott "Frankenstein" -- Kate Hawley "Hamnet" -- Malgosia Turzanska "Marty Supreme" -- Miyako Bellizzi "Sinners" -- Ruth E. Carter

Again: Del Toro movie. 

For the record, for the first time ever, I asked AI to generate a pic for me:  Mike (insert last name here) holding an Oscar. 

That is what I got. While a perfectly decent looking man, it's not Mike. This guy has more hair and it's darker. Not the ash blond that real Mike sports.  ....I mean, what's left of it. 

Mike can claim the win of looking better than his AI generated counterpart.  ....but it's not an actual category. 

Check back Tuesday for results. 

Song by: Daryl Hall & John Oates