2026 Oscar Predictions – What we want vs what we think will win
Hosted by
KT & Oti
Show Notes
This week we vote across categories on what we want to win and what we think will win. We believe in a Sinners sweep and share our thoughts on what we hope won’t happen.
Episode Details
- Duration
- 0:00
- Released
- March 10, 2026
- Category
- Episode
- Hosts
Transcript
Transcript (7,139 words)
Full transcript of 2026 Oscar Predictions – What we want vs what we think will win.
KT: It's another week in the For Your Reference household, and it's a—can you guess what that is, Oti?
Oti: Sinners? Sinners?
KT: Well, yeah, that's probably more The Harder They Fall, and no, that's us getting back on the wagon, my love! Hopefully you've all been well, thank you for all of the love and support, we continue to see you loving on our catalog that we have. How are you, Oti?
Oti: Yeah, I'm alright. Yeah, getting there.
KT: Mm-hmm, getting there. Our schedule is where our schedule is; however, we thought we would have a nice little bonus episode while we reboot our discombobulation—The Miseducation of Oti Hill, if you will.
Oti: Mm.
KT: Yeah, we're gonna do an Oscars prediction! Who knew? In this time we haven't watched all of the Best Pictures, we've watched a good chunk, and we are kind of unfortunately aware of the opera and ballet discourse, aren't we, Oti?
Oti: Sure.
KT: So grab your ballot, friends and lovers, grab a snack, and yeah, we'll be going through the predictions today. Are you excited?
Oti: Happy as can be.
KT: I don't know if we've done one officially on our main podcast feed—this is to keep you fed and watered, friends and lovers—and when we did the predictions last year, you guessed Anora and we hadn't watched it, so maybe you are the oracle, my love.
Oti: You can tell which way the wind is blowing.
KT: Okay, watch out, it was just International Women's Day the other day, watch out! Let's get on with the show. Hey, friends and fanfare lovers. Welcome back to the For Your Reference podcast. You got your host, KT
Oti: And Oti.
KT: Welcome, welcome. We are doing Oscars predictions on main, we are getting predicting on main, friends and lovers. Do you have an idea—are we going to do two different types, are we gonna do what we want and what we think? How do you want to do this, my love?
Oti: Stand on your decision: what you think will win is what you put up there, and you've gotta have a poll and a tally and it's gotta be a whole thing.
KT: Okay, Mr. Politician! So what does that mean? Are you saying you are only going to say what you think's gonna win?
Oti: Yeah, what I think is gonna win.
KT: So it's not necessarily what you want to win.
Oti: Yeah, I'm a realist.
KT: Okay, Mr. BAFTA.
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: Alright. Well, let's start off with Actor in a Leading Role, we're starting off very strong: Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme—friends and lovers, we did a Ref Max, go and check out our Marty Supreme Ref Max; Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another, which we also did a Ref Max on as well; Blue Moon—for my birthday we went and watched Blue Moon—Ethan Hawke; Michael B. Jordan, Michael B. Jordan—they say there's two and a half performances, so half of Michael B. Jordan as well—in Sinners; and Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent. Full disclosure, friends and lovers: we have a full review on Sinners, so we've watched Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, Blue Moon, and Sinners—actually, we watched 'em all except for The Secret Agent in this particular category. Let's have some lively discourse, my love. You're only giving yourself one vote; I might give myself two—
Oti: Alright, let me—
KT: —in two different—so you changed your mind!
Oti: Yeah, I changed my mind.
KT: Let the record show, friends and lovers, I know you so well! Okay, so we are gonna have two: what we want to win and what we think's gonna win.
Oti: Yep.
KT: Okay, beautiful. So what do you want to win?
Oti: I want Michael B. to win.
KT: Woo! Based on that category, Leonardo's in there—
Oti: I don't think Leonardo's gonna win for this.
KT: Because it took him so long, like The Revenant, to get one?
Oti: No, not even, I don't think the performance was that strong to warrant—
KT: Can we agree it doesn't really have anything to do with the performance?
Oti: Yeah.
KT: Okay.
Oti: I think Wagner Moura, just because I think he got awarded Best Actor in—what was it?
KT: There's been so many award shows.
Oti: Yeah, I think he's won a couple. I feel like he is sort of the dark-horse pick.
KT: Okay.
Oti: He might surprise us during the Oscars, bam, he wins it. I think Timothée Chalamet is not winning; it's either Wagner or Michael B. Jordan.
KT: Wow, you were just at the continental breakfast buffet 'cause you took a bite out of all of those!
Oti: I just said the others don't stand a chance apart from—
KT: So who you want to win and who's gonna win is both Michael B. Jordan?
Oti: Michael B. Jordan is who I want to win, and I'm sort of cautious that Wagner might get it.
KT: Oh, okay, interesting!
Oti: Understand me, fam.
KT: A quote-unquote international foreign film nominee, interesting. They have diversified the committee, and I think you're leaning very much on the diversification. Also, friends and lovers, apparently the voters were prompted to watch all the films in the portal before they could even vote on a category, so I guess we'll see whether that changes the voting powers and that sort of thing. You know what's so interesting about this? If you had asked me months and months ago, it would've just been a dream, and I am living for a Sinners sweep, baby! Who I want to win: Michael B. Jordan for Sinners; and who I'm saying is gonna win: Michael B. Jordan for Sinners. If you had asked me months ago, I would've been like, "Ah, this Academy, you know," and I'm feeling the full power. When you talk about the big award shows—you can also include BAFTA in there as well, you've got the Golden Globes, even the SAG, which is now the Actor Awards—there is a formula and usually it gives you an indication, sometimes it doesn't. From film critic circles, from the American Black Film Festival, from the Spirit Awards, Gotham, I feel it as strongly as I've ever felt: it's a Sinners sweep, baby! I don't know if I'm gonna say it for every category—actually, I'm looking at the next category, so there's a spoiler ahead—yes, I want Michael B. Jordan to win, and I predict he is gonna win. Okay, who's your daddy?
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: Actor in a Supporting Role: Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another; Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein—I'm pretty sure we've said it on the podcast, we got 15 minutes into the film, didn't finish the film; access isn't a problem, some films are only playing in cinemas, and this one's on Netflix; Delroy Lindo, Sinners, woo!; Sean Penn, One Battle After Another; Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value. So Frankenstein and Sentimental Value we haven't watched.
Oti: Mm.
KT: So let's get into the rigmarole, my love.
Oti: I think Stellan Skarsgård is gonna win it, and of course I want Delroy to win it, and it's gotta be Stellan, or they might throw us a curveball with Sean Penn.
KT: Take that curve somewhere else! I want Delroy Lindo to win, I predict Delroy Lindo to win.
Oti: I don't think it works like that, okay.
KT: Well, I was wrong last year when I thought I was voting in the mindset of a committee member, so I'm voting how I want! In the comfort of our cushy seats, I am saying Delroy for my pick and Delroy for the Academy's pick.
Oti: You know what, it'll be fun: we'll throw this in Patreon and get everyone to pick their winner, and whoever has the most points, we'll give them a year of Dropout or something. We will put something out on the poll because it'll be interesting to see how much you'll lose.
KT: So you created a whole scenario just to watch me lose? That's very mean.
Oti: It's very kind.
KT: No, that's very—okay. Actress in a Leading Role: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet—I don't know if I've actually watched a Chloé Zhao film and I apologize, specifically Hamnet we haven't had a chance to watch; Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You—friends and lovers, I did a Ref Max and I loved, loved, loved it, I gave all the praise, I'm glad she's winning awards; Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue; Renate Reinsve for Sentimental Value; and Emma Stone for Bugonia. So in this category I've watched If I Had Legs I'd Kick You as well as Bugonia. Wow, Oti, the category you haven't watched a film in! Can you please, right after we just finished International Women's Day—which apparently was too long for you—can you please tell me which category you haven't watched any of the films in?
Oti: Actress in a Leading Role.
KT: Is it?
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: Who do you predict?
Oti: Man, Emma Stone is an Oscar darling—
KT: She is, 'cause of Yorgos.
Oti: Yeah. Hamnet has been getting a lot of love—
KT: Jessie specifically?
Oti: Actually, not her particularly, hey? I think Renate will win it for Sentimental Value, and I want Renate to win it.
KT: Okay. Oh, sorry, me! I know I've done this for the third time in a row: I want Rose Byrne for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You, and I also predict that Rose Byrne will win for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You. I know it's three lottery—
Oti: If I Had Legs has not gotten a lot of accolades like that!
KT: Are you kidding?
Oti: Has it?
KT: Rose Byrne has at least won three awards in the big award shows!
Oti: Oh, shit. Alright, I was closing my eyes, clearly.
KT: If I Had Eyes I'd Kick You too, Oti, come on now! Not too much on my Rose Byrne, who I've recently and will forever love: the Golden Globes she won, lots of film critic circles, as well as the Independent Spirit Awards as well. We on, baby, we on!
Oti: My bad, my bad.
KT: Actress in a Supporting Role: Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value; Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas for Sentimental Value; Amy Madigan for Weapons—loved her, the film, I guess; Wunmi Mosaku, woo, Sinners!; and Teyana Taylor for One Battle After Another. I do wanna have a little bit of a chit-chat about this specifically—not talking about our picks, I just wanna talk about this specifically. Again, friends and lovers, we haven't watched Sentimental Value yet, and we have watched Weapons, Sinners, and One Battle After Another. Friends and lovers, we love Lupita. I've said this throughout our years on the podcast: to me, the film has to be great, and when the film's great, then we start talking about Best Actor, Best Actress. That's just me personally, and who am I to gatekeep, I'm not even in the industry. So while I really loved Lupita's performance in Us, I don't necessarily feel like Us was very cohesive outside of real-world commentary, just in regards to the narrative, right? So applying that in the same way, I don't think Weapons was that great in regards to cohesion—"It wasn't political," and you had a whole—I don't even know what the difference is between automatic, semi-automatic, whatever—you had a whole gun on top of a house with a number on it, and you're saying it's not political? Fuck off! So I don't think the film was that cohesively fulfilling, so in my world I don't see it, and I know Amy Madigan's been winning a lot, so by that virtue I'm not gonna speak too much on that. Do you have any thoughts on Amy Madigan? 'Cause we've seen her, she's been winning all of it.
Oti: Yeah.
KT: Do you feel like—she's had a whole career, so I'm not gonna distill her to this—it feels like she's the safe win, not to ruffle any feathers, isn't it?
Oti: Yeah.
KT: Friends and lovers, we also did a review—and if you have Apple TV+, it has Number One on the Call Sheet, right? And they talked about actors and actresses, so there were two different films for that, and specifically for Black women that have been nominated in Actress in a Supporting Role—'cause Leading Role, we'll talk about that in another discussion—for Black women nominated in Actress in a Supporting Role, that montage of all of these gorgeous Black actresses losing to not just white actresses, when you compare the performances, when you compare the films that they were winning for that no one's even thinking about anymore, that don't stay in the zeitgeist the way that other films perhaps would. Actually, saying that, maybe Amy Madigan is the one. And it is interesting, 'cause say for example, Parasite won Best Picture and none of the actors and actresses got nominated, right?
Oti: That's only applicable for international foreign films.
KT: Well, here you go: Sentimental Value is foreign!
Oti: With white people!
KT: You see what I'm saying, if you can pick up what I'm putting down, friends and lovers! And One Battle After Another, even specifically in regards to Teyana Taylor's Perfidia character, we had a discussion about that in our Ref Max episode. Where are you sitting at the moment just in regards to how you think this is going to go?
Oti: I think they're gonna give it to Amy Madigan for Weapons, and I want Wunmi Mosaku to win. Granted, I've not seen Elle Fanning and Inga in Sentimental Value, and I want what I want.
KT: And you think Amy Madigan—you don't think Teyana Taylor has got a chance?
Oti: Nah.
KT: She has won as well.
Oti: All for the hypey-hypey ones, and when it comes down to it, she is barely in One Battle After Another for more than 15 minutes! Like, bro, what are we talking about?
KT: Fair. The lens on that film I do not agree with.
Oti: Yeah, there's a lot we can say about that, which I think we've said some privately.
KT: Yeah. Four for four, baby, I'm doing it again! I want Wunmi to win, and I predict Wunmi is gonna win.
Oti: Yeah, that's a good bet.
KT: A great bet! Animated Feature Film: Arco; Elio; we have not watched KPop Demon Hunters—who are we to call ourselves film critics and we still haven't watched it? I have nothing against it, we just haven't had the time—KPop Demon Hunters; Little Amélie or the Character of Rain; or Zootopia 2.
Oti: Zootopia 2 has made the most money of any Hollywood animated movie, I think it's the second one.
KT: Yeah, and that's 'cause KPop Demon Hunters wasn't theatrical! Because KPop Demon Hunters appeals not just to children, to adults as well.
Oti: Yeah, it was a whole thing.
KT: Unless you wanna see Shakira in animal form, you're not really going to watch Zootopia 2.
Oti: It's made bank, though, so you can't slight it for anything. I think it's between KPop Demon Hunters and Zootopia 2. I feel like KPop Demon Hunters will win just because of the pop-cultureness of it all, and I wouldn't be surprised if Zootopia 2 came out of nowhere.
KT: I think KPop Demon Hunters is gonna win, and I want KPop Demon Hunters to win. How about that?
Oti: Fair enough.
KT: Animated Short Film—also, to make it clear, we haven't watched any Animated Feature Film or Animated Short Film, by the looks of it: Butterfly, Forevergreen, The Girl Who Cried Pearls, Retirement Plan, and The Three Sisters. What you got?
Oti: The Girl Who Cried Pearls is going to win.
KT: Okay!
Oti: Pulling that out of nowhere.
KT: Fair, fair, fair! Well, I'm pulling it out of nowhere too, and where do I want to yank it? Retirement Plan.
Oti: Mm.
KT: Casting—new category, friends and lovers, I believe, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong: Hamnet, Nina Gold; Marty Supreme, Jennifer Venditti; One Battle After Another, Cassandra Kulukundis; The Secret Agent, Gabriel Domingues; and Sinners, Francine Maisler. Francine! You know what? This whole press run, this whole awards run, this whole Sinners Q&A, I've gotten to know the names of everyone involved in the making of Sinners. And that's first off to the credit of—no one cared about fucking aspect ratios until Ryan Coogler started talking about it to that level of depth, and probably no one really cared about people behind the scenes that make a film, aside from the actors, until they make you care about it.
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: So anyway, I don't even know why I asked for a distinction 'cause I keep voting Sinners this year: I want Sinners to win, and I predict Sinners is gonna win.
Oti: Yeah, I want Sinners to win, and I think Sinners will win it.
KT: Nice! Cinematography: Frankenstein, Dan Laustsen; Marty Supreme, Darius Khondji; One Battle After Another, Michael Bauman; Sinners, woo, Autumn Durald Arkapaw! First woman to shoot on IMAX film cameras, very exciting; Train Dreams, Adolpho Veloso—they've been winning too.
Oti: Yeah. I want Sinners to win it, and I feel like One Battle After Another will win Cinematography.
KT: Okay. I want Autumn to win and I need Autumn to win, so she's going to win! Costume Design: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Deborah L. Scott; Frankenstein, Kate Hawley; Hamnet, Malgosia Turzanska; Marty Supreme, Miyako Bellizzi—do you think they're the reason why Tyler, The Creator had the hair he had in Marty Supreme?
Oti: Yeah.
KT: And Sinners, Ruth E. Carter! Two Oscar wins for both Black Panthers; are we looking for a third Oscar win? Woo-woo!
Oti: We're getting a hat trick with this one. I want Sinners to win, and I think Sinners will win it.
KT: I want Sinners to win, and I think Sinners—you know, I might wanna make this interesting, and no: Sinners, Sinners, Sinners! Directing: Hamnet, Chloé Zhao; Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie, ugh; One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson, ugh; Sentimental Value, Joachim Trier; and Sinners, Ryan "Ratio" Coogler.
Oti: Oh, I think Sinners is gonna win it, and I want Sinners to win it.
KT: Okay, real talk: that's who you got on winning, like the Academy voting, not even Paul Thomas Anderson, 'cause he's been winning as well?
Oti: I don't think he deserves to win, especially after the comments he's making, I don't want him to win.
KT: "Hollywood isn't political"—
Oti: How the fuck did he make that movie then? Fuck him!
KT: He's able to make it because he is not fucking political!
Oti: Bro, I'm going there with my B.D.E. energy and yelling at him, "Shame!"
KT: Be honest, no one really wants to have real conversations in Hollywood. Spike's an outlier, Coogler is an outlier; you don't really have directors that are able to do that unless they get the pedigree to have that creative control. Friends and lovers, let's put our tinfoil hats on—we haven't even had this discussion—it looks like the Kendrick Lamar, pgLang, Matt and Trey South Park-produced film, I hope it doesn't disappear forever. My tinfoil-hat conspiracy, 'cause this whole Paramount shit is going on right now, is these creatives are so strong on their creative control that they have it in their contract that they can do whatever the fuck they want with their movie. It was rumored that it would have to be a theatrical release and they get final say on the film, so my tinfoil-hat conspiracy is this movie that they're working on, they're probably gonna take it out of Paramount and they're probably gonna independently distribute it or do it outside of the big major studios, 'cause you see the Rat King that's going on right now—yeah, that's a 30 Rock reference, we love Dean Winters as well, by the way, friends and lovers. In regards to Directing, you know what I'm doing now, Oti? I think it's called rationalizing, 'cause in my head there's many more categories that Ryan Coogler can and should be winning, so I just wonder if this is gonna offset it, right? Because there's the writing and there's also Best Picture—unless we say Ryan gets Directing and Best Picture goes to another film, or—
Oti: He probably wins writing.
KT: Are you devil's-advocating this?
Oti: No, he probably wins writing and then someone else gets Directing.
KT: You see what I'm saying?
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: That's why I am like, if we have to game the game, I feel like it's somewhere around here. Jordan Peele, I'm pretty sure—
Oti: It'll be a very annoying One Battle After Another win, and what can you do?
KT: What can you do? Chloé Zhao has also won two Oscars for Nomadland, for Best Picture, I believe, as well as Directing, so I guess that's the mindset where I am. No, I was wrong: Jordan Peele got Best Original Screenplay, he was nominated for Best Director. That's why I don't know if Ryan Coogler is gonna win Director; like we said, maybe the writing. So what did you say of who you want and who you think's gonna win?
Oti: I want Ryan Coogler to win it—
KT: Me too.
Oti: —and I feel like it'll lean towards One Battle After Another.
KT: I agree. Okay. Documentary Feature Film: The Alabama Solution, we haven't watched; Come See Me in the Good Light, we haven't watched; Cutting Through Rocks; Mr. Nobody Against Putin; The Perfect Neighbor. We haven't watched any of them. Do you wanna guess?
Oti: The Perfect Neighbor.
KT: I am guessing Come See Me in the Good Light. Film Editing: F1—that's wild; Marty Supreme; One Battle After Another; Sentimental Value; Sinners.
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: Editing: when you think editing and you look at these films, we've watched Marty Supreme, we've watched F1, we've watched One Battle After Another, we haven't watched Sentimental Value, we have watched Sinners.
Oti: Oh, I want Sinners to win pretty much every—if Sinners has been nominated for 16 awards, it needs to walk out—
KT: Wasn't The Color Purple nominated for a lot and didn't get any?
Oti: So this is the new Color Purple!
KT: Yes!
Oti: Oh, of course.
KT: We love Danielle Brooks and Halle. So this is where I start to ease up a bit: I want Sinners to win always—Michael P. Shawver, you know Ryan Coogler wrote that heartfelt note including all of the shout-outs, and he specifically talked about Michael P. Shawver because they've been longtime collaborators, so I would put love there—and this is where I have to tell myself, let's shake it up a bit, even though I want Sinners to win by default, let's put that on the record. Do you think Marty Supreme leaves with anything? 'Cause if it's not Sinners, it's One Battle After Another.
Oti: I don't think Marty Supreme walks out with anything. I feel like all the other movies have been far more superior to Marty Supreme—
KT: Again, it doesn't matter whether the quality is there or not, that's not why these are here, because On Becoming a Guinea Fowl should be nominated if we're being very, very honest, or My Father's Shadow, not even here! I'm gonna say Marty Supreme just because of the Safdie signature; if it has to be somewhere, I'm gonna say Film Editing.
Oti: I'd say Sentimental Value.
KT: Okay, you've got such a sentiment for Sentimental Value! International Feature Film: Brazil, The Secret Agent; France, It Was Just an Accident—love, love, love to Jafar Panahi; Norway, Sentimental Value—see, I told you it was international and foreign! Oh, they don't even call it "Foreign" anymore, you're right, Oti!
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: That's how they get ya. Spain, Sirāt; Tunisia, The Voice of Hind Rajab. Okay, so we have watched It Was Just an Accident, and then I have watched Sirāt as well as The Voice of Hind Rajab.
Oti: The Secret Agent has been winning a lot. It Was Just an Accident hasn't won anything from my memory, which is surprising because I thought it was one of the stronger ones—it won in the more independent ones, and not in the major ones. And the fact that Sentimental Value is there—
KT: Are you in this film? Are you the lost Skarsgård son or what?
Oti: Yeah! Why is it in International Feature Film?
KT: Because it's not American, I guess! You know what, I know the committee is changing, becoming more reflective and not just old and white and crusty and middle-aged, I get that, and the Oscars—you made a good point with Panahi's It Was Just an Accident—I feel like the Oscars is one of the last semblances of, not necessarily pop culture, a grandparent knows what these are, you know what I mean? We know 'cause we watch award shows all the time to see Panahi accept awards and win awards for It Was Just an Accident specifically, and I feel like it's recognition: if people have heard of it, then it's probably gonna win. Maybe that's gonna change now that the voting body has to actually watch the films before they vote on it. Based on that virtue—I don't think we had the time to do Sirāt yet, just very quickly: I didn't enjoy Sirāt, and I think it's a cop-out just to say because I'm not a raver, because I don't go partying like that, it's "not for me," because I watch a lot of films that are quote-unquote "not for me," and if the story's there, I can still have a good time and I can enjoy it. That just looked like sweaty, stinky people dancing for three hours, big whoop, I can see people do that on public transportation, I don't need to watch these people, and they weren't even dancing in interesting ways!
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: They were just bopping along. And politically, The Voice of Hind Rajab, that was a very well-made film; I don't think it's going to win awards. We saw how Jonathan Glazer was treated for The Zone of Interest, and he is not even Palestinian, he just loves Palestinians and understands humanity.
Oti: Didn't The Zone of Interest win stuff?
KT: Yes, and then people started writing letters because he is Jewish and he's like, "I oppose the apartheid and genocide that's going on," and then Jewish people in Hollywood signed letters, they were like, "No, how dare he, take his award back!" It was weird and messy and gross.
Oti: I didn't like that movie, though.
KT: It don't matter, that's not the point! People should be able to voice their expression, and I understood the messaging, 'cause we're literally living that now: on our phones, countries are being bombed, et cetera, and it is kind of like that Zone of Interest 'cause we're aware of it, maybe to enjoy a sweet treat we're trying to ignore it, and it's still there simmering, right? And also I agree, I didn't enjoy the film either; however, we support the freedom of expression and we support humanity and freedom. And I didn't like Sirāt, so yeah, I'm gonna say The Secret Agent is gonna win.
Oti: I think The Secret Agent's gonna win as well.
KT: I want It Was Just an Accident to win, and I'm gonna say The Secret Agent is gonna win that one.
Oti: I'm with you on that.
KT: Live Action Short Film: Butcher's Stain, A Friend of Dorothy, Jane Austen's Period Drama, The Singers, Two People Exchanging Saliva. Ugh!
Oti: I think Two People Exchanging Saliva will win just because of how raunchy the title is.
KT: Cool, Butcher's Stain, that sounds horny as well! Makeup and Hairstyling: Frankenstein; Kokuho, woo!; Sinners; The Smashing Machine—there's your other Safdie there; and The Ugly Stepsister. Ignoring Frankenstein, we've watched all of them!
Oti: Kokuho was quite something, yeah, it was a sight to behold.
KT: And if the makeup wasn't great in that film, it was a make-or-break.
Oti: Yeah. I feel like Kokuho needs to win this category.
KT: I want Kokuho to win, and I predict Kokuho's gonna win.
Oti: Me too.
KT: And if it ain't, I don't wanna be right! Music (Original Score): Bugonia, Frankenstein, Hamnet, One Battle After Another, Sinners.
Oti: I think Sinners is gonna win, and I want Sinners to win.
KT: You know what—yes!
Oti: Just out of all the movies, I'm not sure I remember anything else that just stuck—
KT: Right, and added to the scene!
Oti: Yeah.
KT: There's a tweet that's going around that's gone viral where there are some people saying that if Michael B. Jordan wins, it's only because of the Timothée Chalamet fiasco, which is so stupid to say. And people just wanna hate on Sinners—aren't you tired? You've been hating on Sinners for a year, and it's still in our fucking front of mind! And people are trying to accuse Ludwig, saying, "Oh, if he wins again, it's gonna be another payola win for Ludwig." What are you talking about?
Oti: Payola?!
KT: Of all people! Wild. Okay, so who do you want and who do you think is gonna win?
Oti: I think Sinners is gonna win this, I think this is relatively easy.
KT: I think it's easy too. Ludwig has deserved all of his accolades, and I think he deserves another one for the shelf. I want Ludwig to win and I predict he's gonna win, so it shall be, amen. Original Song: "Dear Me"; "Golden", which is KPop Demon Hunters; "I Lied to You", Sinners—oh, shout-out Miles Caton and Buddy Guy, it was a very nice Tiny Desk; "Sweet Dreams of Joy"; and "Train Dreams".
Oti: I think "Golden" is gonna win.
KT: Yeah, I don't know. You know what's so interesting? At the time when the award shows started, it felt like KPop Demon Hunters was really on the tip of everyone's tongue; now I feel like it's kind of lost steam, don't you?
Oti: Well, time does that, and it's still one of the biggest things out there.
KT: You know what, if my leg needs to be twisted, then fine: KPop Demon Hunters. Before we go to Best Picture, can we go to the other categories down, down, down, my love? Production Design: Frankenstein; Hamnet; Marty Supreme; One Battle After Another; Sinners—Hannah Beachler is also a name I'm familiar with because of the interviews, because of the shout-outs, also Set Decoration, Monique Champagne.
Oti: I think Hamnet is gonna win this, they love period pieces over there.
KT: Well, I say Sinners for what I want and what I predict—Hannah Beachler, this is for you, baby! Sound: F1, vroom; Frankenstein; One Battle After Another; Sinners; and Sirāt. Bro, if I can believe "Sirāt" is "sound" in Spanish, 'cause that's all Sirāt had, these fucking booming speakers, big whoop!
Oti: I think F1 is gonna win Sound.
KT: Okay, the sound of Brad Pitt aging.
Oti: Wow.
KT: Yeah, I'm allowed. He knows what he did, and so does the world. I'll say I want Sinners to win, and I'm gonna say Sirāt's gonna win, because I didn't enjoy it, and bro, people are fucking wanking all over the desert for this film!
Oti: Watching F1—'cause we didn't get to watch it in the theaters—
KT: Why didn't we? I thought we watched F1—
Oti: We were watching Kokuho!
KT: He knew what I was gonna say!
Oti: Yeah, because watching it at home, I was like, "Oh my God, this would be so, so good watching it in the cinema, it would've been such a massive experience."
KT: In 4DX, if you wanna be immersed.
Oti: Nah, I'm good.
KT: Visual Effects: you know, we said we were going to watch Avatar in IMAX and we got busy, and I've not thought about it, honestly, since.
Oti: I have a little bit.
KT: You've seen one colonizing blue long-fellas movie, you've seen another! Once I lost Lo'ak's brother, I don't need to know about anything else. Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash; F1; Jurassic World Rebirth; The Lost Bus—okay, Matthew McConaughey; and Sinners.
Oti: I want Sinners to win—
KT: Same. I think this is where Avatar wins.
Oti: I don't think Avatar wins awards anymore.
KT: Jimmy Cam!
Oti: Does he win?
KT: Over Jurassic World? That would be wild!
Oti: No, I don't think Jurassic World is winning anything. Yeah, Avatar, just for everything.
KT: Okay, so I want Sinners to win—
Oti: I want Sinners to win too, and I think it's a toss-up between F1 and Avatar; let's do Avatar.
KT: You and your F1, why aren't you in Melbourne right now?
Oti: I need to be.
KT: Okay. Before we get to Best Picture, we got the big ones here. Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Bugonia, Frankenstein, Hamnet, One Battle After Another, Train Dreams. Also, love Joel Edgerton—it's not Sam Worthington, that's Avatar—love Joel Edgerton; in my opinion, that's such a small-scale film, and I know Sentimental Value is such a small-scale film, and we'll get to Best Picture in a second, and I don't understand why If I Had Legs I'd Kick You or Sorry, Baby doesn't get to be in the broader categories. Anyway, Adapted Screenplay, what you got?
Oti: I think One Battle After Another will win this.
KT: The fact that they're in different categories as well—because I feel like the big dogs are Sinners and One Battle After Another. Also, there was a tweet saying, "The fact that Sinners has won so much and is also seen as the underdog is such a funny paradox," and then someone quote-tweeted saying, "It's only funny if you're not Black," because they're diminishing that Sinners has been sweeping and winning everywhere. Anyway, One Battle After Another—I don't want it to win; let's just say I want Hamnet to win, and I believe One Battle After Another will win. Writing (Original Screenplay): Blue Moon, It Was Just an Accident, Marty Supreme, Sentimental Value, Sinners—oh, Ryan Coogler is the only credit, look at that!
Oti: Sinners wins.
KT: Sinners wins!
Oti: Yeah. I feel like, real talk, that's sort of the strongest category it has to walk out with something.
KT: Okay, we can summarize with that, interesting! Let's get to Best Picture, because—
Oti: You know how these people move, man.
KT: We do, they're zigging when they should be zagging. Best Picture: we've been busy, so we've only watched a handful of these, and again, not everyone in the committee watches it before they vote. So for Best Picture we have 10: Bugonia; F1; Frankenstein; Hamnet; Marty Supreme; One Battle After Another; The Secret Agent; Sentimental Value; Sinners—Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Ryan Coogler, producers; and Train Dreams. Who do you want to win, who is gonna win?
Oti: I want Sinners to win Best Picture, and I feel it'll be some oddball like Bugonia—
KT: Nah, I don't think Bugonia for Best Picture, 'cause Best Picture is the crème de la crème!
Oti: It's gonna be One Battle After Another, isn't it? I just feel like for whatever bloody reason, Yorgos and Emma Stone win every bloody time, so there's going to be some upsets because they're going to be in there somewhere lingering.
KT: You know how they did a La La Land to Moonlight? Do you think they're going to do that to Sinners and say One Battle After Another? No, I hope not! Best Picture: for months I've been not having faith in people voting, I was like, "Ah, One Battle After Another's gonna win over Sinners," and I wanna believe in something! I believe at the altar of the beautiful Wunmi Mosaku: I'm gonna say I want Sinners to win, and you bet for fucking sure I predict Sinners is gonna win!
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: So now that we've evaluated everything, if we're acknowledging that the power is not in our hands: you said Original Screenplay, I see what you're saying, 'cause even when we were talking about Jordan Peele, that was screenplay, not directing. So I think we've got Coogler for Original Screenplay, for writing.
Oti: Mm.
KT: Looking at the categories, looking at the nominees, I feel like this is Michael B. Jordan's time. I want it to be Delroy's time, and I feel like this is Michael B. Jordan's time.
Oti: Yeah.
KT: It's always Wunmi time for me, though that category seems a bit more contentious. Ludwig, I think he's cool: Coogler for writing, Ludwig for the score, I think we're pretty cool there. What feels like a toss-up for you, what feels like a definitive for you? Ruth E. Carter's definitely gonna win—I say "definitely," that's 'cause I don't bet, friends and lovers—yes, you go, my love.
Oti: I feel like writing is the only definitive for Sinners.
KT: Not even Ruth E. Carter or Ludwig, previous Oscar winners in collaboration with Ryan Coogler as well?
Oti: Mm, yeah.
KT: Or is that putting too much hope?
Oti: Not really: Score, Sinners is gonna win it; Writing, Sinners is gonna win it. Makeup and Hairstyling—
KT: Toss-up.
Oti: I don't think Sinners is gonna win that one, I think Kokuho just did something else out of this world. Ugh, bro.
KT: What would you be happy with? Say for example, if Ryan Coogler wins for Original Screenplay and if we get Score for Ludwig, and everything else is One Battle After Another, would you be happy?
Oti: Nah, 'cause then you know it's been fucked up.
KT: What if Timothée Chalamet wins Leading Actor?
Oti: Why do people like—what's up with Marty Supreme?
KT: Because it's a mediocre white boy in a world that's making it—
Oti: I was listening to Dan Murrell, and he was talking about how he thought that Marty Supreme is gonna win Best Picture, and he liked Marty Supreme—not thinking as if it's just an opinion, more like he was informed, he loved it, and he liked Sinners too, so he was good to watch Michael B. win—
KT: I heard what he said about Sinners, anyway—
Oti: I'm like, mm, I don't know, the lenses are too different, fam.
KT: You know what also puts it into perspective? Martin Scorsese hasn't gotten a lot of Oscars love, so Safdie I don't think is on a level of Scorsese—definitely not on the level of films that Scorsese makes, and even in regards to the pull that he has in the industry. So if Scorsese wasn't getting enough love in the Oscars and Safdie is less than that, I don't think that's enough to pull Best Picture. And then again, I didn't see Anora coming! So this is my very stringent—I'm not a part of the industry, and I'm being very strict with this: to me, Best Picture should be on a big scale. If you are Joel Edgerton, a middle-aged man minding your business in the bush—every time I see a clip of that movie, he's just in the bush by himself—that should not be a Best Picture, respectfully. Sentimental Value, I'm sure it's very emotional—I am an emotional, sad indie gal—and I don't think that should be Best Picture either.
Oti: What are your parameters of Best Picture?
KT: It should be a big-scale film! If the story is insular and it feels like you can watch it as a stage play—
Oti: Yeah.
KT: If it's one of those little films I go sit and watch by myself, I don't think that's a Best Picture. It should be a film that is to be experienced, it should be a film that has all of the theatrics, all of the trimmings—you've bought the deluxe package of the continental breakfast, you've bought the package where you get to go to a private room and you don't even have to sit with the other peoples.
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: If it means so much, then Best Picture should be everything!
Oti: Yeah, I think what it makes in profits as well has to account for something. I think box office means a lot: people took their asses out there to see it. I feel like Sinners did a lot of that with a quite modest—well, 90 mil isn't modest, and it still made a profit, even though we had articles trying to diminish it—
KT: Variety!
Oti: Yeah, so Best Picture needs to take all that into account.
KT: That's what I'm saying! At that point, it shouldn't even matter whether you liked it or it resonated with you; you just understand that this is a contribution to the tapestry of global and life-changing cinema. That's what Best Picture should be in my personal opinion, and Parasite absolutely deserved it. Green Book didn't win, right? Surely—
Oti: No, bro, it won!
KT: I'm just trying to rattle you up!
Oti: Crash won that shit, which is annoying.
KT: Well, Halle Berry won for the role she played, considering the category.
Oti: Mm-hmm.
KT: Anyway, happy International Women's Day!
Oti: Yep.
KT: Woo! Thank you, friends and lovers, for joining us for this bonus episode. Just very quickly, Oti: we said what we want; what's something you absolutely don't want to happen?
Oti: Giving One Battle After Another Best Picture.
KT: Because we don't foresee a circumstance where Sinners doesn't win a good handful, at least, right? I think it deserves it all.
Oti: That's what I want, and I feel like I'd be way more disappointed—I think it'll be a bit spread out.
KT: Every favorite white director—Christopher Nolan in particular has been pounding the pavement, even Tom Cruise as well—
Oti: All that was happening even before the Golden Globes, and the Golden Globes came and Sinners won one out of how many?
KT: The Golden Globes felt very American—and when you hear me say "American," you know what I mean, if you look at the winners, 'cause I think that's where all the Safdies were winning as well, it felt very networky-connection, 'cause I'm like, how do the Safdies keep winning when it's different films? And then you realize that they all have hands in pies and producers and et cetera, et cetera. So I feel like Sinners is gonna win—
Oti: It's gonna win something.
KT: We're gonna sweep, we're gonna win!
Oti: If our stars are aligned, Sinners sweeps; real talk, I don't think that's how it's gonna happen.
KT: Well, you can sit in your feelings while I go and watch Sinners for a seventh time in the cinemas! I will just share a tweet's thoughts saying: "If Timothée Chalamet wins, I'll be like, yeah, okay, whatever; if he loses, I will laugh so hard." And that's how I feel: if there are wins that I didn't necessarily like or agree with, I'll just shrug my shoulders and be like, "Well, that's the fucking Academy." And in my heart, just like Mustard said, get the broom out, we're sweeping!
Oti: Maybe I'm weird because after watching Marty Supreme—'cause we watched it even before it came out—I didn't even take it as if it's gonna be a contender for anything. It's a nothing movie, and I had to see it being nominated all across, I'm like, what the fuck?
KT: It's about a white boy feeling entitled because the world told him the world was his. That's why it's popular, sir!
Oti: Wild.
KT: That's why it's popular. Alright, any other lingering thoughts, my love?
Oti: All the best for Sinners.
KT: All the best for Sinners, Ryan, Zinzi, Sev, Ludwig—
Oti: And fuck One Battle After Another.
KT: Fuck One Battle After Another! And stop transferring your mana if you're not tending to your own garden.
Oti: Yeah, shit's weak.
KT: Well, thank you so much, friends and lovers. Hit us up with all your thoughts on Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky, we're @ForYourRefPod. We're also on It's a Sinners Sweep Baby, I Wanna Feel Alive Again, Please if you'd like to leave a rating and review, and we'll see you guys next week.
Oti: See ya.
KT: Bye.
Related on FYR
Discussion
Loading comments...