Oscar nominations were released on Jan. 17 2025, highlighting accomplishments across the film industry. As the award show approaches on March 2, I see some clear front runners for Best Picture, Best Animated Feature, and Best Original Score.
Best Picture
Best Picture is considered the highest award that can be given to a movie at the Oscars. The clear winner in this category should be “Wicked” directed by Jon M. Chu. While there are a lot of heavy competitors such as “Anora” and “The Brutalist” which are some of my favorites, “Wicked” has won my heart. “Wicked” is based on the movie “The Wizard of Oz” and the broadway play “Wicked”. This film blew me away with its CGI and special effects. The opening scene is a particular highpoint, with Ariana Grande floating in a bubble that looked incredibly realistic. The special effects in this movie gives it a great shot at winning Best Picture.
Best Animated Feature
This year’s picks for Best Animated Feature are some of the best animated films I’ve seen in awhile. My personal favorite on the list is “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”. Although I do not have high hopes for it to win, I was happy to see it get nominated. I was disappointed to see that “Moana 2” was not nominated for best animated feature. Most movies don’t do a great job on their sequels but “Moana 2” upped the story line, and left me on the edge of my seat. There are two movies on this list I think have a head to head shot of winning: “Inside Out 2” and “The Wild Robot”.
“The Wild Robot” animations were out of this world and the plot was even better, giving it a good shot at winning. Chris Sanders, the director of “The Wild Robot” and co-director of “How To Train Your Dragon” and “Lilo & Stitch,” made a film that wrapped you in an emotional story of a robot finding himself in the midst of an adventure-filled plot. Although the other animated films were great, I was able to connect with “The Wild Robot” on another level as Sanders focused on connecting with the audience through the robot’s characterization.
Best Original Score
The Best Original Score highlights the specific music written for the movies nominated. The soundtrack from “Wicked” was one of the best I’ve heard in awhile. The music from the Broadway show gave me high hopes that the music in the movie would be just as good, and it did not disappoint. I am impressed with Cynthia Erivo’s voice, not knowing much about her prior to seeing “Wicked,” this movie really showed off her musical talent. Ariana Grande has the perfect voice for Glinda because of her cheery manor hitting the high notes Glinda requires. Some of my favorite songs from that movie are “Popular” and “I’m Not That Girl,” which really highlight each of these characters’ ranges, and they were able to really bring out their personality in these songs. When the actors are not only a good fit for the musical aspect of a movie but also their character’s persona, it makes the songs so much better. The background music can really make or break a song and I think in “Wicked” it definitely made all the songs a hit. With everyone able to sing along to their favorite “Wicked” song, this movie definitely wins Best Original Score.