The Circuit’s 94th Oscars Reactions

Now that we’ve all had a week to decompress after one of the wildest nights in live television history, it’s time to take a look back at what I got right, and more important, what I got wrong about the 94th Oscars!

Circuit Artwork

You can listen to my Oscars Preview! Podcast with Kieran from the Best Picture Cast podcast where we break down all the major awards in a really engaging discussion here.

You can also check out the Oscars reaction pod I did with Kieran here.

Now let’s dive into the fun stuff; my predictions! I’ll go over each category to see how I did in predicting all 23 Oscars. You can go and check out earlier posts that I made that had me list my personal Oscars nominations, as well as my preview post predicting all the awards. Let’s get started:

Best Picture

Prediction: CODA

Winner: CODA

Not only did I predict this award correctly, I also cashed out on a bet that made me quite happy. A deserving film that was the best of the year.

Best Director

Prediction: Jane Campion

Winner: Jane Campion

While I’m not a huge fan of Campion or this movie, she did direct the hell out of it.

Best Actor

Prediction: Will Smith

Winner: Will Smith

Slapstick jokes aside, Smith deserved this award. A (should be) triumphant moment for one of the biggest movie stars ever.

Best Actress

Prediction: Nicole Kidman

Winner: Jessica Chastain

This was a toss-up. I could have easily seen any of the five nominees win, but ultimately I predicted with my heart and not my head. Damn.

Best Supporting Actor

Prediction: Troy Kotsur

Winner: Troy Kotsur

While I thought Kodi Smit-McPhee was actually better, Kotsur delivered the best moment of the night so I was happy to see him win.

Best Supporting Actress

Prediction: Ariana DeBose

Winner: Ariana DeBose

Did anyone not predict this?

Best Cinematography

Prediction: Dan Lausten (Nightmare Alley)

Winner: Greg Fraser (Dune)

I have no clue what I was thinking here.

Best Production Design

Prediction: West Side Story

Winner: Dune

And I liked Dune too. Clearly I underestimated how much other people liked it.

Best Original Screenplay

Prediction: Paul Thomas-Anderson (Licorice Pizza)

Winner: Kenneth Brannagh (Belfast)

I thought PTA would take this award because of his name, but I can’t argue with Brannagh. Plus, it made our buddy Kieran happy so that makes me happy.

Best Adapted Screenplay

Prediction: Maggie Gyllenhal (The Lost Daughter)

Winner: Sian Hader (CODA)

Well I was rolling for a minute there, huh? Again, glad CODA won, but sad I didn’t predict it.

Best Animated Feature

Prediction: Encanto

Winner: Encanto

There we go! Got one right, although I would have much rather seen Mitchell’s vs. the Machine’s win.

Best Animated Short

Prediction: Robin Robin

Winner: The Windshield Wiper

I don’t have all that much to say about the shorts categories. But I got it wrong. What’s new?

Best International Feature

Prediction: Drive My Car

Winner: Drive My Car

Again, I don’t think this was the best international film (shout out Flee!), but given it was nominated for Best Picture, it’s not surprising it won this.

Best Documentary Feature

Prediction: Summer of Soul

Winner: Summer of Soul

Again, Flee should have won this award as well. But I got it right! Woot.

Best Documentary Short

Prediction: Audible

Winner: The Queen of Basketball

Now this is one I picked against who I was rooting for. Damnit!

Best Live-Action Short

Prediction: The Long Goodbye

Winner: The Long Goodbye

Boo-yah.

Best Costume Design

Prediction: Jenny Beavan (Cruella)

Winner: Jenny Beavan (Cruella)

The movie is about a crazy fashion designer. Was there a world where this didn’t win?

Best Editing

Prediction: Joe Walker (Dune)

Winner: Joe Walker (Dune)

Finally I got one of their countless wins right!

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Prediction: The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Winner: The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Another highlight for me during the Oscars was Jessica Chastain skipping the red carpet to be there for her team (since the Oscars decided to cut 8 awards for time and STILL went 40 minutes over… what a slap in the face). THAT is what stars are supposed to do; be there for the people that help make them immortal. Good on you Jessica Chastain, good on you.

Best Sound

Prediction: Dune

Winner: Dune

DUUUUUUUNE!!!!!

Best Visual Effects

Prediction: Dune

Winner: Dune

With all these wins for Dune, you might say they maybe should have won Best Picture? Or maybe had the director nominated? Who do these people think made this movie??? Just saying.

Best Original Score:

Prediction: Hans Zimmer (Dune)

Winner: Hans Zimmer (Dune)

It’s about damn time this man won another one of these.

Best Original Song

Prediction: Lin-Manuel Miranda (Dos Oruguitas-Encanto)

Winner: Billie Eilish (No Time to Die-No Time to Die)

Couldn’t be happier to be wrong about this. HOT TAKE ALERT: Not a fan of Encanto.

In total, I got 15 out of 23 awards correct, for a hit rate of 65%... yeesh. BUT, I did hit 2 of my 3 bets for quite a nice little payday, so I can’t complain too much. Make sure to check out all of our pods on the 94th Academy Awards, and I hope you enjoyed all of our Oscars coverage; we’ll see you next awards season!