The Movie Room

August marks 2/3 of the way through the eligibility window for the 97th Academy Awards! Before a lot of the Oscar hopefuls come out in the next few months, here are my current Dream Oscar Nominees, from the 52 films I’ve seen released between 1/1/24 and 8/31/24. Besides the winner, all other nominees will be listed alphabetically.

Best Visual Effects:

• WINNER: Dune: Part Two
• Alien: Romulus
• In a Violent Nature
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Twisters

Best Film Editing:

• WINNER: Monkey Man
• Civil War
• Dune: Part Two
• Evil Does Not Exist
• I Saw the TV Glow

Best Costume Design

• WINNER: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• The Bikeriders
• Dune: Part Two
• Late Night with the Devil
• MaXXXine

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

• WINNER: Dune: Part Two
• The Bikeriders
• In a Violent Nature
• Longlegs
• Sasquatch Sunset

Best Cinematography

• WINNER: Evil Does Not Exist
• Challengers
• Civil War
• Dune: Part Two
• Monkey Man

Best Production Design

• WINNER: Alien: Romulus
• Civil War
• Dune: Part Two
• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• I Saw the TV Glow

Best Sound

• WINNER: In a Violent Nature
• Alien: Romulus
• Dune: Part Two
• Longlegs
• Love Lies Bleeding

Best Original Score

• WINNER: Love Lies Bleeding
• Challengers
• Dune: Part Two
• Evil Does Not Exist
• I Saw the TV Glow

Best Original Song

• WINNER: “Starburned and Unkissed” by Caroline Polachek (I Saw the TV Glow)
• “The 90s” by Proper. (I Saw the TV Glow)
• “Release” by Seleka (Trap)
• “Riding Around in the Dark” by Florist (I Saw the TV Glow)

Best Animated Feature

• WINNER: Inside Out 2
• Orion and the Dark

Best International Film

• WINNER: Evil Does Not Exist (Japan)
• The Beast (France)
• Exhuma (South Korea)

Best Documentary

• WINNER: Girls State

Best Adapted Screenplay

• WINNER: The Bikeriders
• The Beast
• Dune: Part Two
• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• Inside Out 2

Best Original Screenplay

• WINNER: I Saw the TV Glow
• Civil War
• Didi (弟弟)
• Evil Does Not Exist
• Longlegs

Best Supporting Actress

• WINNER: Joan Chen as Chungsing Wang (Didi (弟弟)
• Adria Arjona as Sarah (Blink Twice)
• Cailee Spaeny as Jessie (Civil War)
• Tilda Swinton as Elizabeth (Problemista)
• Anjana Vasan as Gladys Moss (Wicked Little Letters)

Best Supporting Actor

• WINNER: Stephen McKinley Henderson as Sammy (Civil War)
• Nicolas Cage as Longlegs (Longlegs)
• Tom Hardy as Johnny Davis (The Bikeriders)
• George MacKay as Louis (The Beast)
• Richard Roundtree as Ben (Thelma)

Best Actress

• WINNER: Zendaya as Tashi Duncan (Challengers)
• Jodie Comer as Kathy Cross (The Bikeriders)
• Kirsten Dunst as Lee Smith (Civil War)
• Mia Goth as Maxine Minx (MaXXXine)
• June Squibb as Thelma Post (Thelma)

Best Actor

• WINNER: Justice Smith as Owen (I Saw the TV Glow)
• Austin Butler as Benny Cross (The Bikeriders)
• Josh Hartnett as Cooper Adams (Trap)
• Dev Patel as Kid (Monkey Man)
• Julio Torres as Alejandro (Problemista)

Best Director

• WINNER: Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow)
• Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Evil Does Not Exist)
• Jeff Nichols (The Bikeriders)
• Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two)
• Sean Wang (Didi (弟弟))

Best Picture

• WINNER: Civil War
• The Bikeriders
• Didi (弟弟)
• Dune: Part Two
• Evil Does Not Exist
• I Saw the TV Glow
• Longlegs
• Love Lies Bleeding
• Monkey Man
• Problemista