Well, the Oscars have come and gone, thus concluding the award season for 2022. It had its ups and downs, and had quite possibly one of the craziest moments we’ve ever seen at the awards to date. We gave our predictions early, and left them unchanged even as the race ramped up and the campaigns seemed to shift the general consensus from actor to actor, movie to movie. Those unchanged predictions definitely had an effect on our final results, so let’s take a look at how each of the Nerdbot staff did with their early predictions vs the actual results!
MAB – 3 out of 6 Correct
Shooting 50% ain’t bad, and there were some pretty big upsets in some of these categories. “Coda” snagging the best picture after an incredible campaign for victory is surprising, but still very much deserved. It was the little film that could, and snuck up on us all. The other misses were for both Best Actor and Actress, with Jessica Chastain‘s surge paying dividends in the end. MAB did nail the Best Costume Design, as I think we can all agree that “Cruella” had some of the best costumes of the year.
DHK – 1 out of 6 Correct
Tough break, only getting best director and missing the rest of the big 6. To be fair, DHK admitted that she didn’t watch many of the films and took some big shots in the dark despite not being as invested in the season. The nominees seemed to be much more competitive, and what was hot at the time of our picks changed drastically in the remaining month leading up to the Oscars. There were definitely some heart picks in there, and sticking to the performances from “Power of the Dog” isn’t a bad barometer to base your picks on. Valiant effort!
Derrick – 4 out of 6 Correct
If I had changed my picks at the last minute, I may have gone 6 for 6. I knew that Stewart was a heart pick, and I was closely tracking the rise of Chastain as the show neared closer. That miss I’m ok with, but the most surprising one was “Coda” beating “The Power of the Dog.” Throughout the night, it became more and more clear that “Dog” was not going to be the sweep train we all thought it would, striking out in every single technical and acting category. It was only able to snag Best Director, and I get the sense that if Denis Villeneuve had made it into nominees,
“Dog” would’ve come up completely empty handed. “Coda” winning Best Picture is a real treat, and really proves that we all, even the academy, needs a little feel good in our lives. I’ll have to settle for 66% this year.
Honorable Mention Win or Lose
MAB – Dune had one of the best showings of the ceremony, sweeping the early technical awards and ending the night with a whopping (blank) awards! Rightly so, MAB picked Dune to win Best Score in hopes that Han Zimmer would finally earn his first Oscar in 28 years. It was a historic award that sadly no one got to see. Hopefully The Academy never, ever makes this mistake again and shows all 23 awards!!! Congrats on the bonus win, MAB!
DHK – In a shocking turn of events, the leading front runner of “Encanto” somehow misses the mark, with Billie Eilish taking home the gold for “No Time To Die.” I don’t think many people thought that this particular category had any kind of competition, given the strength and strong campaign by the animated film. But I guess we all kind of forgot that the academy generally loves James Bond and their theme songs more than any songs your kids won’t stop playing on repeat.
Derrick – Well, we can’t win ’em all. Sometimes picking with your heart costs you some wins, but I’m ok taking this L for Original Screenplay. It was a tough category, packed with a number of nominees deserving of winning. Losing to “Belfast” doesn’t feel all that bad, as it was a wonderful film and I’m glad it took home the gold. Kenneth Branaugh certainly deserves an Oscar, and I’m glad he was finally able to take one home.
