2020 Oscars Predictions: Who Will Win vs. Who We Want to Win

The Academy Awards are upon us! Join us as we discuss our Oscar picks and those nominees who we think deserve to win the most!

There are currently almost 6,000 members in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). These people are professionals who have worked in the film industry and every year it is their votes which decide the films and individuals which receive Oscar nominations. Each member will select 5 nominees in the category of their work, and they also select nominees for best picture. These votes are tabulated and the people and films that get the most votes end up with the nominations, which are then voted on again by the Academy to select the winners.

It’s not an easy task to sift through hundreds of films a year to determine which ones are the “best”. Consider that each of the nearly 6,000 voters this year brings their own unique experiences and perspectives to the process. Films that may appeal to one person, may not appeal to another. Some voters may be more in tune with current filmmaking trends, whereas others prefer traditional techniques and styles. From this procedure, you can also see how word-of-mouth popularity, film advertising, and even bad publicity can come into play. This process has been in place now for 9 decades, and during that time it’s no surprise that a few great films and filmmakers have been left without a deserving Oscar nomination. Likewise, it’s no surprise that there have been some nominees and winners that just seem out of place.

This year’s nominees weren’t without their controversies. But despite some of the surprises, this year’s ceremony may have more certainties than we have seen in a while. There are two major questions heading into this ceremony, and it looks like we will get answers to both. The first is whether or not the Academy is ready to start acknowledging movies from streaming platforms. Netflix has two strong contenders with many nominations each, but there is skepticism on whether or not those will actually turn into wins. At the same time, we have a foreign film which is heralded in many circles as the best film of the year. Is the Academy ready to crown a film not made for English-speaking audiences? This is what makes Oscar season so exciting!

Here we try our best to get inside of the minds of voters based on the events of the last couple months. Below are our Oscar predictions, contrasted with the picks we want to win. Rarely do we agree, and rarely is the film we think will win the film we want to win in a given category. Who will make the most correct picks and be named “Oscar King” for this year?

For each category each of us has noted our pick for the winner with an “X”. If our pick for the winner is not the same as the film we want to win, we have noted the film we want to win with an “O”.

For an overview of the major nominees, check out our Oscars Preview.