Oscars 2022: Final predictions in all 23 categories
LOS ANGELES — This year's Oscars are all about wild swings. At least that's how the show's producer, Will Packer, is putting it, and who am I to argue with the guy who dares to move eight Oscars off Sunday's live telecast to make room for ... well ... who knows. Packer promises a ceremony that will be "vital, kinetic and relevant," and with a skateboarder and snowboarder in the house, it looks like he's got the "kinetic" part covered.
We'll wait and see about the other two buzzwords.
With the Oscar ceremony's traditions being turned upside down, it feels appropriate that the awards themselves are probably going to go their own way this year, bucking precedents left and right. You want a best picture winner with only three total nominations? "CODA" has you covered. How about a director winning an Oscar, but her movie getting nothing else? It might happen with Jane Campion and "The Power of the Dog."
What other surprises are in store? Here are my final predictions for the 94th Academy Awards, making note of the categories that could be ripe for an upset.
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"Belfast"
"CODA"
"Don't Look Up"
"Drive My Car"
"Dune"
"King Richard"
"Licorice Pizza"
"Nightmare Alley"
"The Power of the Dog"
"West Side Story"
Will win: "CODA"
Should win: "Drive My Car"
Could surprise: "The Power of the Dog"
When I saw "The Power of the Dog" shortly before the Telluride Film Festival, I wrote that Campion could win the director Oscar, but the movie itself would fall short. At the time,
