Voting for the Academy Awards Closes Today!

It ends today. Ballots are due today for Oscar voters. Once the deadline fully passes, it’ll just be a waiting game. The votes will be tabulated, and barring some kind of Oscar night hitch (like that ever happens, right?), we’ll be done. So, if you haven’t finalized your predictions yet, just know that nothing from Wednesday to Sunday matters a lick, vote-wise. It’ll be set in stone tonight. In some ways, that’s comforting, since the X factors will have been eliminated. In other ways, it just raises the anxiety level when trying to figure out what the Academy plans to do. So, here we are, ladies and gentlemen.

Academy members have figured out the categories we’re puzzling over. Namely, the Best Actress, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Editing categories, give or take the Shorts. I’ll reveal my final picks later on in the week, but I will say those are the three spots where my predictions have been flip-flopping a lot in my mind. That being said, speaking to Academy members has revealed, as usual, that they’re hardly a monolith, and what happens is the result of a lot of different voices being culled together. Multiple members, from multiple branches, vote in unique ways. For example, more than one had a clearly favorite film, yet despite voting for it in several categories, left it off of at least one that it was most heavily duking it out for. Others found themselves voting for certain movies more than others in a way that surprised even them. So, assigning any true meaning to the exercise is folly, fun as it is to do.

Oscar has had their say. Now, all that’s left to do is wait. Predictions will be finalized soon and published on Friday, so sit tight there. We’ve had a unique year, and a unique season, one unlike any other. Ruminate on that for a minute. The next Oscar season will be different, though likely not fully back to normal. However, this impending Academy Award ceremony is truly going to be one of a kind. Full steam ahead!

Stay tuned for the Academy Awards on Sunday night!