Critic shares her Oscars predictions

The art of predicting Academy Award winners, which will be handed out starting at 5 p.m. Sunday, is a perilous one. Just ask me, a person who spends much of her working life watching movies and writing about movies and thinking about movies, and who last year scored an embarrassing 10 out of 24 on her Oscar ballot. (In my defense I once scored 21 out of 24, a feat I would like noted in my obituary someday. But, to be honest, that was that easy year when the final “Lord of the Rings” movie won everything.)

This year, as often happens, the front-runner keeps switching. “Joker” had the most nominations of any film — 11 — but it seems an unlikely choice for best picture. (Then again, so did “Green Book,” and it won last year.) A Martin Scorsese film is always a safe bet, but does the very lengthy “The Irishman” have any momentum? Are there enough Tarantino fans in the Academy to give the top award to “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”? Is “Parasite” quietly sneaking up into front-runner status? Things seem to be changing daily.

Below, my best guesses — and they are indeed guesses, to be taken with a grain of salted popcorn — on who we might see at the podium Sunday evening in the major categories. As always, I’ve added what my vote would be, if I had one, and what name I wish could be added to the ballot. And a warning: if you’re using my picks in your Oscar pool, may the Force be with you.

Best picture

The only thing I can say with absolute certainty here is that it won’t be “Ford v. Ferrari.” (Which is a fun movie, but I don’t know why it’s here. Or maybe I do, but that’s another story.) The front-runner at the moment is “1917,” Sam Mendes’ masterful World War I drama, which won both the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild top awards — but then again, “Parasite” took the ensemble award from the Screen Actors Guild, often an indicator of major Oscar-night success. (Though not always; “Green Book” wasn’t even nominated in that category last year. You see how messy this gets.) Might “Jojo Rabbit” sneak in? Will “Little Women” fans, angered about Greta Gerwig’s exclusion from the director category, stage a coup? Might there be a tie? Stay tuned!

Prediction: “1917”

My vote: “Parasite”

Wish you were here: “The Farewell”

Best director

Theoretically, this award should go hand-in-hand with Best Picture, but often it doesn’t. Nonetheless, I think the front-runner is Mendes, the Directors Guild winner who won this category in 1999 (for “American Beauty”). Unless the Academy wants to honor Scorsese’s more than 50 years of feature filmmaking (he’s only won this category once, for “The Departed” in 2006) or Tarantino, who’s never won this category. And something tells me not to rule out Bong Joon Ho, director of “Parasite.” Only a Todd Phillips win, nominated for “Joker,” seems entirely unlikely.

Prediction: Mendes

My vote: Bong

Wish you were here: Greta Gerwig, “Little Women”

Best actress

By the time we reach this point in the season, the acting awards seem to be devoid of suspense — so let’s just cut to the chase and say yes, it looks very likely that Renee Zellweger will win her first Oscar in this category (she won supporting actress in 2004, for “Cold Mountain”) for her uncanny turn as Judy Garland in “Judy.” (She won the SAG award, and there’s significant overlap between the SAG votership and the Academy.) There’s a teeny chance that Scarlett Johansson — nominated twice, in this category for “Marriage Story” and in supporting for “Jojo Rabbit” — could surprise, but I doubt it. It’ll be a well-deserved win. Also nominated: Saoirse Ronan for “Little Women,” Charlize Theron for “Bombshell,” and Cynthia Erivo for “Harriet.”

Prediction: Zellweger

My vote: Zellweger

Wish you were here: Lupita Nyong’o, “Us”

Best actor

The Academy has shown itself to like flashy performances involving physical transformation — and what could be flashier than Joaquin Phoenix’s vivid, eerie, makeup-caked performance as the unhinged title character in “Joker”? If voters surprise by turning to a more subtle performance, they might honor one of two beautiful turns by actors playing directors: Antonio Banderas as an aging filmmaker in “Pain and Glory,” or Adam Driver as a theater director facing divorce in “Marriage Story.” But it’s Phoenix’s to lose, and he probably won’t. Also nominated: past winner Leonardo DiCaprio for “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” and Jonathan Pryce for “The Two Popes.”

Prediction: Phoenix

My vote: Banderas

Wish you were here: George MacKay, “1917”

Best supporting actress

Laura Dern, who between “Marriage Story,” “Little Women” and “Big Little Lies” had a great year, is beloved in Hollywood and has never won an Oscar; consensus is that it’s her turn. (And her nominated work in “Marriage Story,” as a sleek barracuda of a lawyer, is delicious.) A possible dark horse is newcomer Florence Pugh, whose performance as Amy March deftly stole “Little Women.” Also nominated: Kathy Bates for “Richard Jewell,” Johansson for “Jojo Rabbit” and Margot Robbie for “Bombshell.”

Prediction: Dern

My vote: Dern

Wish you were here: Zhao Shuzhen, “The Farewell”

Best supporting actor

Hanks, Hopkins, Pacino, Pesci, Pitt … it’s an all-star lineup, with 22 previous acting nominations between them. All have won previously, though Pitt’s never won in an acting category (his earlier Oscar is for best picture, as a producer of “12 Years a Slave”). I’m thinking that might change on Oscar night — just a hunch (and a SAG award) and that voters might reward his work as veteran stunt doubt Cliff Booth in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.” If there’s a sentimental vote at play it might go to Hanks, who hasn’t won in 27 years, and whose performance in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” was charm personified.

Prediction: Pitt

My vote: Hanks

Wish you were here: Daniel Craig, “Knives Out”

Elsewhere, I’m expecting the Academy to toss an award to Greta Gerwig for her “Little Women” screenplay, to reward Roger Deakins for the astonishing cinematography of “1917,” and maybe, somewhere, to hand a statuette to someone entirely unexpected. Here’s hoping for an Oscar night of happy surprises.