Best Picture

CHICAGO – Usually these Oscar wrap ups are ordinary. But in a shocking event at the 94th Academy Awards, eventual Best Actor winner Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Oh and by the way, CODA wins the Best Picture in a historic honor.

CHICAGO – Happy Oscar Day! The 94th Academy Awards takes place on March 27th, and Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com conducted two major interviews connected to nominees. Actor David Dastmalchian for “Dune” (Best Picture) and Director Jessica Kingdon for “Ascension” (Best Documentary).

CHICAGO – Here we go again. Welcome to the annual Oscar Predictions on HollywoodChicago.com, for 2022 (the 94th Academy Awards). The film/entertainment contributors – Patrick McDonald, Spike Walters and Jon Lennon Espino – are joined by guest Michael Glover Smith, the director of the upcoming film “Relative.”



CHICAGO – The nominees for the 94th Academy Awards … taking place on March 27th, 2022 … were announced on February 8th. 23 categories will be up for Oscar, and the favorites will be will be debated as the Awards season plays out. The 94th Academy Awards will be broadcast on ABC-TV.

CHICAGO – In a surprising sweep, the South Korean film “Parasite” – created through the vision of director Bong Joon Ho – won all the major creative categories, including Best Original Screenplay and Director, as well as securing Best International Film and making Oscar history as the first non-English-speaking Best Picture.

CHICAGO – One of the hottest films from the first half 2019 festival season was an emotional story about family, and scored the Best Picture at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 8th. “The Farewell” is a breakout for both the lead actor Awkwafina (“Crazy Rich Asians”), Zhao Shuzhen (who won the Indie Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress) and their director Lulu Wang. Wang’s story of her grandmother became a universal spirit about our relative connections.

CHICAGO – Let’s make this important! The 92nd Academy Awards are on Sunday, February 9th, 2020, and HC.com film/entertainment contributors Patrick McDonald, Michael “Spike” Walters and Jon Lennon Espino are ready to add their Swami-like powers to eight major categories, plus three wild cards. Let the predicting begin.

CHICAGO – In a sense of deja vu from the recent Golden Globe Awards, the nominees for the 92nd Academy Awards has been named on January 13th, 2020. This breaks a precedent of the last ten years, with the Oscar ceremony moved up to February 9th from it’s usual position in late February to early March.

CHICAGO – Time to fill out the Oscar prediction ballots! The 91st Academy Awards are on Sunday, February 24th, 2019, and HC film critics Patrick McDonald, Michael “Spike” Walters and Jon Lennon Espino are ready to add their prognosticating powers to eight major categories, plus three wild cards. Let the predicting begin.

CHICAGO – Chicago’s Kartemquin Films continues their winning streak, as director Bing Liu’s “Minding the Gap” scores an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary. The 91st Academy Awards will take place on February 24th, 2019.