3.20-97th Academy Awards Preview-Part 4

Today is the third of a five episode preview of the 97th Academy Awards where I will be breaking down each and every category throughout the week. Today I am joined by Kevin Pettit from the See You at the Movies newsletter to break down all four acting categories, both screenplay categories, and Best Director. I've listed the nominees below along with a few other films mentioned throughout the episode.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get all the preview episodes this week, and head over to my Substack to submit your guesses for my annual Oscar prediction contest.

The nominees for each category are listed below.

Best Original Screenplay:

• Anora
• The Brutalist
• A Real Pain
• September 5
• The Substance 

Best Adapted Screenplay:

• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez
• Nickel Boys
• Sing Sing

Best Supporting Actor:

• Yura Borisov – Anora as Igor
• Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain as Benji Kaplan
• Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown as Pete Seeger
• Guy Pearce – The Brutalist as Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr.
• Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice as Roy Cohn

Best Supporting Actress:

• Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown as Joan Baez
• Ariana Grande – Wicked as Galinda "Glinda" Upland
• Felicity Jones – The Brutalist as Erzsébet Tóth
• Isabella Rossellini – Conclave as Sister Agnes
• Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez as Rita Mora Castro 

Best Actress:

• Cynthia Erivo – Wicked as Elphaba Thropp
• Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez as Emilia Pérez / Juan "Manitas" Del Monte
• Mikey Madison – Anora as Anora "Ani" Mikheeva
• Demi Moore – The Substance as Elisabeth Sparkle
• Fernanda Torres – I'm Still Here as Eunice Paiva 

Best Actor:

• Adrien Brody – The Brutalist as László Tóth
• Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown as Bob Dylan
• Colman Domingo – Sing Sing as John "Divine G" Whitfield
• Ralph Fiennes – Conclave as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence
• Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice as Donald Trump 

Best Director:

• Sean Baker – Anora
• Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
• James Mangold – A Complete Unknown
• Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
• Coralie Fargeat – The Substance 

Other media mentioned in this episode include:

• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Seinfeld
• Conclave by Robert Harris
• Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
• Succession
• The Onion: A Knives Out Mystery directed by Rian Johnson
• Fight Club directed by David Fincher
• The Wizard of Oz directed by Victor Fleming
• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
• Ferrari directed by Michael Mann
• Oppenheimer directed by Christopher Nolan
• Schindler's List directed by Stephen Spielberg
• Grand Budapest Hotel directed by Wes Anderson
• The English Patient directed by Anthony Minghella
• Walk the Line directed by Jam