The glitz and glamor of Hollywood will be on full display March 27, 2022 at the 94th Academy Awards. After 4 years with no host for the award show, this year’s show will be hosted by Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall, and Amy Schumer, making the event a must watch.

This year’s nominations are stacked and include many “must watches’ you should see before the big day. Overall, if I had to pick 6 movies you must watch before the Oscars they would be Netflix’s The Power of the Dog, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst, Apple TV’s Coda, which follows a girl who is the only hearing member of her deaf family who dreams of singing, Steven Speilberg’s adaptation of the hit classic musical West Side Story, Belfast, a coming of age drama set during the 1960s in Northern Ireland during the ‘Northern Ireland conflict’, tick, tick…BOOM!, Lin Manuel Miranda’s adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s autobiographical musical starring Andrew Garfield about a struggling artist in New York City, and finally, the biopic King Richard starring Will Smith as the father of champion tennis players Serena and Venus Williams and his plan for their success. 

When it comes to who is favored to win, Variety Magazine’s Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis has some predictions. Davis predicts that in the category of Best Supporting Actress the most likely pick will be Ariana Debose in West Side Story. In Steven Speilberg’s adaptation of the 1957 classic musical, Debose plays Anita, a friend of Maria’s. Davis states she is “heading into the ceremony with a Globe win. She’s the only nominee in her category to be recognized at every televised awards ceremony”, making her a likely winner. 

In the category of Best Actress many believe that Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Fae is set to win. Chastain plays Tammy Fae Bakker, a woman in the 1970s who created one of the largest religious broadcasting networks alongside her husband. The film accounts her rise and fall from grace. The Eyes of Tammy Fae proves to be a strong Oscar contender as it has received great reviews since its debut at the Toronto Film Festival. 

In the category of Best Actor, Davis suspects that Will Smith will bring home the Oscar for his role in King Richard. Smith has already won a Screen Actors Guild Award for his role as Richard Williams, and if he wins the Oscar, he will be the fifth Black man to win an Oscar for lead actor. 

However, the most prestigious award of Best Picture is very much up in the air. While some believe that Focus Features’ Belfast will win– as insiders in the Academy said it performed well on preferential ballots–others believe that Netflix’s The Power of the Dog will win, as it has been expected to perform the best among the lineup of films. Finally, there is Apple TV’s Coda which proves to be a strong contender as it took home the award for Best Cast Ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. 

Overall, the lineup of nominees this year is stacked and many of the films are definitely worth a watch in your free time. Tune into ABC at 8:00 pm Sunday, March 27th to see who wins.