Oscar Picks and Preferences 2026

 After having viewed all the Oscar nominees in the following categories, I offer my picks and predictions for the 2026 Oscar Awards:

Best Picture:

Out of the ten films nominated, a few stand out for me in terms of their total achievement, including directing, screenwriting, acting, and cinematography. Those are Sinners, Frankenstein, and Sentimental Value. Frankenstein is a great subject for Guillermo del Toro to explore the fate of an extreme social outsider, as the director did in The Shape of Water. The personal sacrifices that occur in the pursuit of art that perceptively explores the human condition are present in Sentimental Value. The film deftly displays the balance between intimacy and generality. However, Sinners rises above the rest in capturing the impact on American society through the African American experience by way of great characters and metaphorical horror, (Thank you Jordan Peele for developing this venture). The Producers Guild has awarded its honor to One Battle After Another, which has some great satirizing of both the left and right political factions. However, I found it to be uneven in tone, and I could not buy the relationship between Sean Penn’s character and that of the revolutionary one played by Teyana Taylor.

Pick: One Battle After Another

Preference: Sinners

 

Best Actress:

Very good performances here, but the choice comes down to two actresses. Jessie Buckley in Hamnet is the favorite, having received most of the pre-Oscar awards. She does demonstrate power and emotion in her performance. I found that Rose Byrne carried  If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and exhibited incredible range in emotion and vulnerability.

Pick: Jessie Buckley

 Preference: Rose Byrne

 

Best Actor:

Timothee Chalamet in Marty Supreme is the favorite and has won awards for his performance. He presents a hyperenergetic individual who is manically focused on being the table tennis champion of the world, no matter the collateral damage he causes. Don’t discount Michael B. Jordan for being the winner here. He won the Screen Actors Guild Award. If he takes home the trophy, he will join Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou as the only other actor to win by playing dual roles. I believe that the actor that awed in showing wit, arrogance, and pain is Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon, the performance of a rich career.

Pick: Timothee Chalamet

Preference: Ethan Hawke

 

    

Best Supporting Actress:

Again, it comes down to two performances for me. Teyana Taylor commands the screen in One Battle After Another. Her portrait of a flawed revolutionary is riveting. However, I think Amy Madigan’s weird witch in Weapons is scary and hilarious.

Pick: Teyana Taylor

Preference: Amy Madigan

 

Best Supporting Actor:

I don’t believe Benicio Del Toro’s role in One Battle After Another stands out. It looks too laid back and one-note for me. Sean Penn put a lot of effort into his acting here, but the character has too many distracting quirks. I have always been a fan of Delroy Lindo and would be glad if he won. I am torn between Jacob Elordi for his sorrowful monster in Frankenstein and Stellan Skarsgard’s torn director in Sentimental Value. This category is a toss-up.

Pick: Stellan Skarsgard

Preference: Jacob Elordi

Best Director:

The Director’s Guild has chosen Paul Thomas Anderson for its award. He did have to oversee a project with many characters and points of view. I think leaving out Guillermo del Toro here for his mesmerizing and fantastical Frankenstein and the inclusion of Josh Safdie for the messy Marty Supreme is a mistake. I have to go with Ryan Googler for Sinners for his complex and convincing directing.

Pick: Paul Thomas Anderson

Preference: Ryan Googler

 

Best Original Screenplay:

I am a sucker for good dialogue, so if the choice was on that aspect alone, I would go with the smart writing in Blue Moon. Sentimental Value is a terrific study of multiple characters. But screenwriting must incorporate the display of character and image, and that is why Sinners soars, and the Writers Guild agrees.

Pick: Sinners

Preference: Sinners

 

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Train Dreams is a cinematic achievement and Hamnet provides a fascinating take on the inception of a literary masterpiece. The Writers Guild chose One Battle After Another in this category. I think that Frankenstein deserves the prize as it takes the original story by Mary Shelley and transforms it into a tale about who the true monsters are.

Pick: One Battle After Another

Preference: Frankenstein