2026 Oscar Predictions: The Awards Alchemist’s Updates Following Venice and Telluride
For Oscar pundits, phase one is now complete. The “way too early” stretch when predictions are stitched together from Sundance or Cannes crumbs is in... Read More
Mark Johnson
Mark Johnson has been a prominent voice in film coverage and the Oscar race since 2009. He launched his career with his own website, Award Contenders, before joining forces with Clayton Davis at Awards Circuit from 2011 to 2020. After continuing his insightful work at Awards Daily from 2020 to 2024, Mark now contributes to both The Contending and AwardsWatch. His renowned Oscar predictions column, The Awards Alchemist (formerly Good As Gold), has solidified his reputation in the industry. A member of the Critics Choice Association, Mark regularly attends major film festivals, including Telluride, Nantucket, and Middleburg, offering in-depth analysis and predictions throughout awards season.
Telluride Dispatch #4: ‘Cover-Up,’ ‘Tuner,’ and the Friends We Made Along the Way
The final day of the 52nd Telluride Film Festival, September 2, always hits with a bittersweet pang. The cinematic highs are tempered by the looming... Read More
Telluride Dispatch #3: Dad Mode with ‘Sentimental Value,’ ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Frankenstein’
Day three of the 52nd Telluride Film Festival has revealed a striking theme woven through its lineup: imperfect fathers. Across many of the films I... Read More
Telluride Dispatch #2: Parties Galore, ‘Bugonia’ and ‘Jay Kelly’
Yesterday was an easygoing two-film day, bookended by parties. I kicked things off at the Focus Features event, where Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal dropped... Read More
Telluride Dispatch #1: ‘La Grazia,’ ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,’ ‘Ballad of a Small Player’
The 52nd Telluride Film Festival began yesterday, August 29, and my ninth journey to this cinematic mecca started with a drive that felt like plunging... Read More
2026 Oscar Predictions: The Awards Alchemist Previews the Historic Debut of the Casting Category and Fall’s Early Contenders
Film festival season is nearly here, and some of the mystery around separating contenders from pretenders will begin to lift once we’re in the mountains... Read More
2026 Oscar Predictions: The Awards Alchemist Frames the Cinematography Landscape
As the cinematic landscape of 2025 slowly begins to take shape, I’m diving back into my Oscar predictions, this time with a focus on the... Read More
2026 Oscar Predictions: The Awards Alchemist’s First Look at the Acting Races
Back in March, I kicked off my early predictions for the 98th Academy Awards with a preview of potential Best Picture contenders. That was more... Read More
2026 Oscar Predictions: The Awards Alchemist’s First Look at the 98th Academy Awards
Every year, post-Oscar Sunday, I experience a familiar cycle: a brief withdrawal, a period of reflection on what I got right (or wrong) in my... Read More
2025 Oscar Predictions: The Awards Alchemist’s Final Forecast in All 23 Categories – Cannes You Feel the Love Tonight?
“Alchemy is a kind of philosophy: a kind of thinking that leads to a way of understanding” – Marcel Duchamp Alchemy goes beyond the simple... Read More
‘Wishful Thinking,’ ‘Over Your Dead Body’ Among 2026 SXSW Film & TV Festival Juried and Audience Award Winners 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 144 – ‘A Matter of Life and Death (Powell and Pressburger, 1946) with Special Guest Jesse Nussman 
Association of Motion Picture Sound (AMPS) Television and Nonfiction Nominations Announced: ‘Adolescence,’ ‘Black Mirror,’ ‘Slow Horses’ and More 
Trailer Watch: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ ‘Dune: Part Three,’ Disclosure Day,’ ‘Wild Horse Nine’