Final Academy Award Predictions: “1917” Or “Parasite” For Best Picture?

It all comes down to this. On Sunday night, the 92nd Academy Awards will be held. This long road (though shorter than ever) ends with Oscar. For weeks now, the question every pundit, myself included, has been trying to figure out is this one: which film will take home Best Picture? 1917 or Parasite? Is there room for a Jojo Rabbit shocking upset? What about Joker or Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood? Well, I think it’s a two horse race now, barring Jojo Rabbit’s passion vote somehow surprising the world. I’ve contemplated Parasite for a few weeks, always keeping 1917 in the pole position, once it overtook Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. Well, after a couple of days thinking about it, I pulled the trigger and am picking an upset special.

In the end, I went with gut feeling over statistics and chose Parasite for Best Picture. Now, Bong Joon-Ho’s movie, if it wins, will likely do so by an eyelash over Sam Mendes’ 1917. The same could be said for the latter film. This is an all-time close race in Picture. The other close categories? Both Screenplays seem safe, but are hardly locked up (Best Original Screenplay is one to watch out for too if you’re looking to see if Parasite is pulling this upset), while Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, and of course, the Shorts, are almost pick ems. My picks are locked in and I’m as sure I’ll be mostly right as I am that I’ll be mostly wrong. It’s just been that kind of a year. Why stop now, right?

Here are my final predictions for the Academy Awards:

BEST PICTURE

1. Parasite
2. 1917
3. Jojo Rabbit
4. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
5. Joker
6. The Irishman
7. Little Women
8. Marriage Story
9. Ford v Ferrari

BEST DIRECTOR

1. Sam Mendes – 1917
2. Bong Joon-Ho – Parasite
3. Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
4. Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
5. Todd Phillips – Joker

BEST ACTOR

1. Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
2. Adam Driver – Marriage Story
3. Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory
4. Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
5. Jonathan Pryce – The Two Popes

BEST ACTRESS

1. Renée Zellweger – Judy
2. Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
3. Charlize Theron – Bombshell
4. Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
5. Cynthia Erivo – Harriet

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood
2. Joe Pesci – The Irishman
3. Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
4. Al Pacino – The Irishman
5. Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Laura Dern – Marriage Story
2. Scarlett Johansson – Jojo Rabbit
3. Margot Robbie – Bombshell
4. Florence Pugh – Little Women
5. Kathy Bates – Richard Jewell

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Parasite
2. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
3. Marriage Story
4. 1917
5. Knives Out

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Jojo Rabbit
2. Little Women
3. The Irishman
4. Joker
5. The Two Popes

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

1. Toy Story 4
2. Klaus
3. Missing Link
4. I Lost My Body
5. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

1. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
2. 1917
3. Parasite
4. Jojo Rabbit
5. The Irishman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. 1917
2. Joker
3. The Irishman
4. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
5. The Lighthouse

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

1. Jojo Rabbit
2. Little Women
3. Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood
4. Joker
5. The Irishman

BEST FILM EDITING

1. Parasite
2. Ford v Ferrari
3. The Irishman
4. Jojo Rabbit
5. Joker

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

1. Bombshell
2. Judy
3. Joker
4. 1917
5. Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

BEST SOUND MIXING

1. 1917
2. Ford v Ferrari
3. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
4. Joker
5. Ad Astra

BEST SOUND EDITING

1. 1917
2. Ford v Ferrari
3. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
4. Joker
5. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

1. 1917
2. The Lion King
3. Avengers: Endgame
4. The Irishman
5. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

1. Joker
2. 1917
3. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
4. Little Women
5. Marriage Story

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

1. Rocketman (I’m Gonna Love Me Again)
2. Breakthrough (I’m Standing With You)
3. Toy Story 4 (I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away)
4. Harriet (Stand Up)
5. Frozen II (Into the Unknown)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. American Factory
2. Honeyland
3. For Sama
4. The Cave
5. The Edge of Democracy

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

1. Parasite
2. Pain and Glory
3. Les Miserables
4. Honeyland
5. Corpus Christi

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

1. Hair Love
2. Sister
3. Kitbull
4. Decera
5. Memorable

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

1. Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
2. In the Absence
3. Walk Run Cha-Cha
4. St. Louis Superman
5. Life Overtakes Me

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

1. The Neighbors’ Window
2. Saria
3. Brotherhood
4. Hefta Football Club
5. A Sister

Stay tuned to see how these predictions fare on Sunday night!