Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Visual Effects

The competition: Dune (Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer), Free Guy (Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis, and Daniel Sudick), No Time to Die (Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner, and Chris Corbould), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker, and Dan Oliver), Spider-Man: No Way Home (Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein, and Daniel Sudick)

Previous winners: Tenet, First Man, Blade Runner 2049, The Jungle Book, Ex Machina, Interstellar
My winner: Coming soon!
The facts: Lambert has gone two for two, winning for “First Man” and “Blade Runner 2049.” Nefzer and Myles also won for the former and latter films, respectively. Gillberg was previously nominated for “Real Steel.” Grill was previously nominated for “Hereafter” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” Sudick, a double nominee this year, has ten previous nominations, eight of which were for Marvel movies. Fawkner was nominated for “Guardians of the Galaxy” and its sequel. Corbould won for “Inception” and has four additional previous nominations. Townsend was nominated for “Iron Man 3” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.” Farrell was nominated for “Hereafter.” Oliver was nominated for “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Port was nominated for “Avengers: Infinity War.” I had the chance to speak with Walker about “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” – watch that conversation here. At the Visual Effects Society Awards, “Dune” cleaned up and “Spider-Man: No Way Home” won one prize. Despite a six-year stretch from 2008 to 2013, this award has only gone to a Best Picture nominee twenty-three times since the inception of the Oscars.
Who should win: This is a good list, but it’s hard to compete with “Dune.”
Who will win: I don’t imagine there’s anything, even the ultra-popular “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” that could beat Dune.