AU’s Oscar Ballot – How Did We Do?

84 AU community members entered our Oscar Ballot contest. Our winner got 16 correct, while one ballot only got 4 correct. There were some good surprises during the ceremony Sunday night (like Olivia Colman winning her well-deserved best actress statuette), and some not so-great surprises (Green Book winning Best Picture? Really?), overall our entrants were pretty accurate in predicting the outcomes of each category. Here’s a look at AU’s picks to win (the nominees with the majority of your votes), and how we did in each category.

Best Picture

AU Pick: Roma

The Academy Pick: Green Book

I’m with Spike Lee on this one— I was not expecting Green Book to walk away with this award. In fact, only 6 of our 82 ballots picked Green Book. Roma was far and away the favorite, with 39 votes, followed by Black Panther with 14.

Actor in a Leading Role

AU Pick: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Academy’s Pick: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Actress in a Leading Role

AU Pick: Glenn Close, The Wife

Academy Pick: Olivia Colman, The Favourite

I’ve never been happier to be wrong in my life. All the buzz was around Glenn Close, and I picked her for my ballot, but I really, really wanted Olivia Colman to win. Her performance as Queen Anne in The Favourite blew me away. Overall, Colman only received 15 votes (tied with Yalitza Aparicio) to Glenn Close’s 31. Lady Gaga was the second overall pick with 26.

Actor in a Supporting Role

AU Pick: Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Academy Pick: Mahershala Ali, Green Book

No surprises here, as Ali received more than double the number of votes than our second-place pick Adam Driver.

Actress in a Supporting Role

AU Pick: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Academy Pick: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Again, no surprises, as Regina King was a force to be reckoned with in Beale Street. Her dress was also probably my favorite of the night.

Animated Feature Film

AU Pick: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Academy Pick: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

This should have been nominated for Best Picture, just saying. 67 of you chose Spider-Man, a whopping 77 % of our total voters.

Cinematography

AU Pick: Roma

Academy Pick: Roma

Costume Design

AU Pick: Ruth Carter, Black Panther

Academy Pick: Ruth Carter, Black Panther

See my blog post from a few weeks ago. A very, very well-deserved win for Ruth Carter.

Directing

AU Pick: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma

Academy Pick: Alfonso Cuaron, Roma

I picked Spike Lee (the second overall pick at AU), but the majority of you got it right. 44 votes for Cuaron, and 28 votes for Lee.

Documentary (Feature)

AU Pick: RBG

Academy Pick: Free Solo

Of all the ones the AU voices got wrong, this was the most off. 49 of you voted for RBG, and Free Solo, the actual winner, only got 16 of your votes, just edging out Minding the Gap in third with 14.

Documentary (Short Subject)

AU Pick: Black Sheep

Academy Pick: Period. End of Sentence.

This race was actually very close.

Film Editing

AU Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Academy Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Foreign Language Film

AU Pick: Roma

Academy Pick: Roma

Makeup and Hairstyling

AU Pick: Mary, Queen of Scots

Academy Pick: Vice

AU was more wowed by the ornate (though historically inaccurate) hairdos on display in Mary, Queen of Scots than Christian Bale’s transformation into Dick Cheney.

Music (Original Score)

AU Pick: Ludwig Goransson, Black Panther

Academy Pick: Ludwig Goransson, Black Panther

Music (Original Song)

AU Pick: Lady Gaga, Shallow (A Star is Born)

Academy Pick: Lady Gaga, Shallow (A Star is Born)

Lady Gaga blew away her nearest competition (Kendrick Lamar’s All the Stars) 68-14.

Production Design

AU Pick: Black Panther

Academy Pick: Black Panther

Hannah Beachler is the first African-American to win this award. She essentially built Wakanda from the ground up.

Animated Short Film

AU Pick: Bao

Academy Pick: Bao

Live Action Short Film

AU Pick: Mother

Academy Pick: Skin

Skin was AU’s third pick overall, behind Mother and Marguerite.

Sound Editing

AU Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Academy Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Sound Mixing

AU Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Academy Pick: Bohemian Rhapsody

Visual Effects

AU Pick: Avengers: Infinity War

Academy Pick: First Man

First Man was AU’s second overall choice with 16 votes. Avengers garnered 44.

Adapted Screenplay

AU Pick: BlacKkKlansman

Academy Pick: BlacKkKlansman

If Spike Lee jumping into Samuel L. Jackson’s arms doesn’t bring you joy, I don’t know what will.

Original Screenplay

AU Pick: Roma

Academy Pick: Green Book

Roma just narrowly edged out Green Book with AU voters 27-25.

So, how did we do?

Overall, AU voters selected 16/24 of the winners. Given some of the night’s surprises, I’d say that’s a pretty good record.

Posted in Academy Awards.