Best Visual Effects

Nominees: "Avengers: Endgame," "The Irishman," "The Lion King," "1917," "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."

What a tough crowd in this tight race. Although Netflix's "The Irishman" uses de-aging technology to send its actors back in time and "Star Wars" infamously has fantastic effects, "Avengers: Endgame" is a front runner. It's a popular choice for popcorn audiences, but it's hard to deny feeling chills when viewers take their first look at the Avengers' friends teleporting into battle. But it's not too late to dismiss "The Lion King" with realistic effects that ruffle every strand of fur in the wind.

Though a fantastic movie (as mentioned in my review), "1917" is a dark horse to take home Best Visual Effects. It's a technologic marvel that's beautiful to look at, but it makes more sense to win a cinematography award for its visually pleasing looks.

Who should win: "Avengers: Endgame"

Who will win: "Avengers: Endgame"

Best Sound Mixing

Nominees: "Ad Astra," "Ford v Ferrari," "Joker," "1917," "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood."

World War I period movie "1917" will most likely win the Best Sound Mixing award. The gunfire and explosions sound solid when mixed together, especially during the sniper scene with George. It places viewers in the dangerous scenes with these soldiers, as if one-shot filming didn't do that already. But space film "Ad Astra" or "Ford v Ferrari" has a shot of taking the award, too.

To be honest, I'm surprised "Joker" got into both of the sound nominations.

Should win: "1917"

Will win: "1917"

Best Sound Editing

Nominees: "Ford v Ferrari," "Joker," "1917," "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood," "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."

For the past two years in a row, the "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Dunkirk" both received the Sound Mixing and Sound Editing awards. This year, I'm predicting that "1917" also takes home both awards, for the same reasons I mentioned above. In fact, I believe "1917" will take home a chunk of the technical awards. Although "Star Wars" or "Ford v Ferrari" could give me a run for my money.

Should win: "1917"

Will win: "1917"

Best Documentary Feature

Nominees: "American Factory," "The Cave," "The Edge of Democracy," "For Sama," "Honeyland."

Beautifully filmed over three years and edited for one year, "Honeyland" is my front runner to win Best Documentary Feature. Not only does it deliver an urgent message about conserving nature and limited resources, but it's also about finding the humanity in each other.

Should win: "Honeyland"

Will win: "Honeyland"

Best Adapted Screenplay

Nominees: "The Irishman," "Jojo Rabbit," "Joker," "Little Women," "The Two Popes."

Honestly, all nominees have a horse in this race. But in my mind, “Jojo Rabbit" will win this award. Taika Waititi (who also plays Hitler in the movie) is the director and screenplay writer who creates a dark yet emotional movie with hard tonal shifts that pace well. However I'd love to see “The Two Popes" win, too. The script humanizes its central characters with admirable pacing, and writer Anthony McCarten always makes the conversation between two historical Catholic leaders engaging with witty writing.

Should win: “The Two Popes"

Will win: “Jojo Rabbit"

Best International Feature

Nominees: "Corpus Christi," "Honeyland," "Les Misérables," "Pain and Glory," "Parasite."

“Parasite" blows away critics and movie-goers alike. The South Korean film's cinematography is symbolic and thoughtful, the ensemble cast is enchanting and the deeper message is awfully creepy. For any film buff, "Parasite" is a must-see and one of the best movies of the year.

Should win: "Parasite"

Will win: "Parasite"

Best Director

Nominees: Martin Scorsese "The Irishman," Todd Phillips "Joker," Sam Mendes "1917," Quentin Tarantino "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood," Bong Joon Ho "Parasite."

It's too bad there couldn't be more diversity in this category, but here it goes. All of the nominees artfully directed their own styles, but Sam Mendes is likely to win. He's already highly acclaimed for his one-take movie filming style, and people love extreme untraditional filmmaking. Sure it's ambitious, but what matters is that he directed the movie successfully to his vision. However I think "Parasite" has a great shot at landing this win, too.

Should win: Bong Joon Ho, "Parasite"

Will win: Sam Mendes, "1917"

Best Picture

Nominees: "Ford v Ferrari," "The Irishman," "Jojo Rabbit," "Joker," "Little Women," "Marriage Story," "1917," "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood," "Parasite."

Sometimes I wonder if it was a blessing or a curse that The Academy increased the pool of Best Picture nominees in 2009. A Best Picture winner is chosen after voters rank the nominees and one movie gets over 50 percent of the votes through run-off voting, according to Vox. Based on this method and dark, gritty trends from the past, I predict that "The Irishman" will win. It's a film that with legendary director Martin Scorsese leading the holy trinity of actors from past steely movies: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. It might not have been the favorite for a lot of movie-goers and critics, but it could rank enough second or third place votes to launch it to the top.

Yes, Hollywood loves movies about Hollywood. So don't be surprised if "Once Upon a Time ... In Hollywood" ends up taking the big award home. But I don't know if it ramps up enough votes compared to other movies.

Having said all this, I'd really love to see "Parasite" win. If it would win, it would be the first international film to win this category. And I think this movie deserves to break that mold.

Should win: "Parasite."

Will win: "The Irishman."

RELATED LINK: 'Marriage Story' film review from Brandon King