Good day to you. My name is Luis A. Mendez. I’m a film critic based in Central Florida, and these are my PERSONAL Oscars Projections for the 2025 awards season.
Predicted Frontrunner: 1. One Battle After Another
Other Predicted Nominees: 2. Hamnet; 3. Sinners; 4. Marty Supreme; 5. Sentimental Value; 6. It Was Just An Accident; 7. Wicked: For Good; 8. Frankenstein; 9. Jay Kelly; 10. Avatar: Fire And Ash
“On The Bubble” Contenders: 11. No Other Choice; 12. The Secret Agent; 13. Train Dreams; 14. The Testament Of Ann Lee; 15. Is This Thing On?; 16. Rental Family; 17. Song Sung Blue; 18. Bugonia; 19. Blue Moon; 20. Nuremberg
Dark Horses With A Slim Path: 21. F1 The Movie; 22. Weapons; 23. Wake Up Dead Man; 24. A House Of Dynamite; 25. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
BEST DIRECTOR
Predicted Frontrunner: 1. Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
Other Predicted Nominees: 2. Chloe Zhao (Hamnet); 3. Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme); 4. Jafar Panahi (It Was Just An Accident); 5. Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein)
“On The Bubble” Contenders: 6. Ryan Coogler (Sinners); 7. Noah Baumbach (Jay Kelly); 8. Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value); 9. Park Chan-wook (No Other Choice); 10. Kleber Medonca Filho (The Secret Agent)
Dark Horses With A Slim Path: 11. Yorgos Lanthimos (Bugonia); 12. 14. Mona Fastvold (The Testament Of Ann Lee); 13. Kathryn Bigelow (A House Of Dynamite); 14. Jon M. Chu (Wicked: For Good); 15. James Cameron (Avatar: Fire And Ash)
BEST CASTING
Predicted Frontrunner: 1. One Battle After Another
Other Predicted Nominees: 2. Sinners; 3.Wicked: For Good; 4. Sentimental Value; 5. Jay Kelly
“On The Bubble” Contenders: 6. Hamnet; 7. Marty Supreme; 8. Frankenstein; 9. It Was Just An Accident; 10. No Other Choice
Dark Horses With A Slim Path: 11. The Testament Of Ann Lee; 12. Is This Thing On?; 13. Rental Family; 14. Wake Up Dead Man; 15. A House Of Dynamite
BEST ACTOR
Predicted Frontrunner: 1. Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another)
Other Predicted Nominees: 2. Timothee Chalamet (Marty Supreme); 3. George Clooney (Jay Kelly); 4. Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon); 5. Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent)
“On The Bubble” Contenders: 6. Lee Byung-hun (No Other Choice); 7. Joel Edgerton (Train Dreams); 8. Will Arnett (Is This Thing On?); 9. Michael B. Jordan (Sinners); 10. Jesse Plemons (Bugonia)
Dark Horses With A Slim Path: 11. Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere); 12. Hugh Jackman (Song Sung Blue); 13. Brendan Fraser (Rental Family); 14. Dwayne Johnson (The Smashing Machine); 15. Daniel Day-Lewis (Anemone)
BEST ACTRESS
Predicted Frontrunner: 1. Jessie Buckley (Hamnet)
Other Predicted Nominees: 2. Cynthia Erivo (Wicked: For Good); 3. Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value); 4. Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another); 5. Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue)
“On The Bubble” Contenders: 6. Amanda Seyfried (The Testament Of Ann Lee); 7. Emma Stone (Bugonia); 8. Jennifer Lawrence (Die My Love); 9. Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You); 10. Sydney Sweeney (Christy)
Dark Horses With A Slim Path: 11. Laura Dern (Is This Thing On?); 12. Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby); 13. Tessa Thompson (Hedda); 14. Julia Roberts (After The Hunt); 15. Rebecca Ferguson (A House Of Dynamite)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Predicted Frontrunner: 1. Paul Mescal (Hamnet)
Other Predicted Nominees: 2. Sean Penn (One Battle After Another); 3. Stellan Skarsgard (Sentimental Value); 4. Adam Sandler (Jay Kelly); 5. Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another)
“On The Bubble” Contenders: 6. Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein); 7. Delroy Lindo (Sinners); 8. Miles Canton (Sinners); 9. Jeremy Strong (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere); 10. Stephen Graham (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere)
Dark Horses With A Slim Path: 11. Andrew Scott (Blue Moon); 12. Jonathan Bailey (Wicked: For Good); 13. Josh O’Connor (Wake Up Dead Man); 14. Andrew Garfield (After The Hunt); 15. Akira Emoto (Rental Family)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Predicted Frontrunner: 1. Ariana Grande (Wicked: For Good)
Other Predicted Nominees: 2. Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another); 3. Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme); 4. Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value); 5. Amy Madigan (Weapons)
“On The Bubble” Contenders: 6. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value); 7. Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners); 8. Gwyneth Paltrow (Marty Supreme); 9. Regina Hall (One Battle After Another); 10. Glenn Close (Wake Up Dead Man)
Dark Horses With A Slim Path: 11. Hailee Steinfeld (Sinners); 12. Jennifer Lopez (Kiss Of The Spider Woman); 13. Nina Hoss (Hedda); 14. Emily Blunt (The Smashing Machine); 15. Laura Dern (Jay Kelly)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Predicted Frontrunner: 1. Sinners
Other Predicted Nominees: 2. Marty Supreme; 3. Sentimental Value; 4. It Was Just An Accident; 5. Jay Kelly
“On The Bubble” Contenders: 6. Is This Thing On?; 7. Rental Family; 8. Blue Moon; 9. Sorry, Baby; 10. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Dark Horses With A Slim Path: 11. Father Mother Sister Brother; 12. Black Bag; 13. Weapons; 14. A House Of Dynamite; 15. After The Hunt
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Predicted Frontrunner: 1. One Battle After Another
Other Predicted Nominees: 2. Hamnet; 3. Train Dreams; 4. Wake Up Dead Man; 5. Wicked: For Good
“On The Bubble” Contenders: 6. Frankenstein; 7. No Other Choice; 8. Bugonia; 9. Nuremberg; 10. Pillion
Dark Horses With A Slim Path: 11. Hedda; 12. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere; 13. Nouvelle Vague; 14. Highest 2 Lowest; 15. The Roses
A lot of this feels pretty fluid, so I am hoping a few dark horses start popping up. I wonder if the WB sees a chance and decides to push hard for Weapons to get in there for Best Picture.
There's so much I have to see, and I can already feel that my "Best" choices will deviate highly from the Academy, this year more than any in recent history.
Slimmest Best Actor year I've seen in ages.
A lot of this feels pretty fluid, so I am hoping a few dark horses start popping up. I wonder if the WB sees a chance and decides to push hard for Weapons to get in there for Best Picture.
There's so much I have to see, and I can already feel that my "Best" choices will deviate highly from the Academy, this year more than any in recent history.