Best Cinematography
- Cold War
- The Favourite
- Never Look Away
- Roma
- A Star is Born
While I wasn't impressed with Cold War as a whole, the cinematography was outright breathtaking — it could spoil. It also won the American Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography. But that might actually indicate it won't win — just 44% of winners repeat at the Oscars. BAFTA winner Roma will probably be the 8th film in a row to win both prizes. Although, funny enough, the last movie to win at the BAFTAs and lose at the Oscars was black-and-white film The Artist.
Will win: Roma
Could win: Cold War
Should win: Cold War
Should have been nominated: If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Film Editing
- BlacKkKlansman
- Bohemian Rhapsody
- The Favourite
- Green Book
- Vice
This is one of the hardest categories to predict this year. Truly, any of the nominees could win. Bohemian Rhapsody and The Favourite won at the ACE Eddie Awards, Vice won at BAFTA, and Green Book and BlacKkKlansman are strong Best Picture contenders.
Going by the rule that the most editing wins, Vice should win. However, we said this about Adam McKay's last movie The Big Short in 2015 — it ultimately lost to Mad Max: Fury Road at the Oscars. This is a coin flip. I'm going with Bohemian Rhapsody extremely unsure.
Will win: Bohemian Rhapsody
Could win: Vice
Should win: The Favourite
Should have been nominated: Widows
Best Costume Design
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
- Black Panther
- The Favourite
- Mary Poppins Returns
- Mary Queen of Scots
The Costume Designers Guild gives out three motion picture awards. And, of course, the two frontrunners in this category both won. Black Panther won Sci-Fi/Fantasy category while The Favourite won the Period category. While the period film usually wins, two fantasy movies won in recent years: Mad Max: Fury Road and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
On top of that, Black Panther won the Critics Choice Award, which has predicted the winner of this category 8 of the 9 years it has existed.
Will win: Black Panther
Could win: The Favourite
Should win: Black Panther
Should have been nominated: A Simple Favor or Crazy Rich Asians
Best Production Design
- Black Panther
- The Favourite
- First Man
- Mary Poppins Returns
- Roma
I'm pretty confident that Black Panther and The Favourite are going to split Production Design and Costume Design. But I'm not completely sure which way they'll split. I also don't think Black Panther will go home empty handed, so I'm gonna predict it here too.
Will win: Black Panther
Could win: The Favourite
Should win: Roma
Should have been nominated: Hereditary
Best Original Score
- Black Panther
- BlacKkKlansman
- If Beale Street Could Talk
- Isle of Dogs
- Mary Poppins Returns
After frontrunner Justin Hurwitz was snubbed for his work in La La Land, the category was blown wide open. While If Beale Street Could Talk is the clear critics pick, it's rare to win this category without a Best Picture nomination — it has happened only twice since 2000.
This race is Black Panther versus BlacKkKlansman. Spike Lee's longtime collaborator Terence Fletcher should win this by a hair.
Will win: BlacKkKlansman
Could win: Black Panther
Should win: If Beale Street Could Talk
Should have been nominated: First Man
Best Visual Effects
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Christopher Robin
- First Man
- Ready Player One
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
This race is Avengers: Infinity War versus First Man. The big-budget blockbuster versus the practical effect driven drama. Typically the more practical driven film wins, so I'm going with First Man even though Infinity War should win for Thanos alone.
Will win: First Man
Could win: Avengers: Infinity War
Should win: Avengers: Infinity War