Duran Duran Co-Founder Nick Rhodes Unveils His 2024 Oscars Picks

The 96th Academy Awards ceremony is this Sunday, and film buffs have by now weighed in on which actors and films will win their respective categories. Among those fans is Duran Duran co-founder and keyboardist Nick Rhodes. Like the Oscars themselves, the predictions by Rhodes and longtime Duran Duran associate Katy Krassner about Hollywood’s biggest night have become an annual tradition. And this upcoming ceremony is no different as both Rhodes and Krassner have recently shared their thoughts on what was a strong 2023 for cinema.

“When I looked at all the films that were coming, there wasn’t anything that looked sort of terribly inspiring on paper to me,” says Rhodes in a recent interview. “But once I started watching them, I thought, ‘Wow, this is such a great movie’ — The Holdovers being a great example of that. When I read the brief synopsis, I just thought, ‘Oh, really? Kids getting left over at school. This is not the kind of movie I’m going to want to watch.’ And it turned out to be one of the greatest movies of the year. Katy and I had been discussing what an amazing year – from Oppenheimer being the big sparkling star that everybody’s banking on to win everything, to some really amazingly touching, clever films.”

So without further ado, here is what Rhodes (whose band will perform tour dates this year, including an appearance at the Cruel World festival in May) and Krassner have to say about the following Academy Awards categories. This interview, which was conducted on March 1, has been edited for length and clarity.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

BRADLEY COOPER

Maestro

COLMAN DOMINGO

Rustin

PAUL GIAMATTI

The Holdovers

CILLIAN MURPHY

Oppenheimer

JEFFREY WRIGHT

American Fiction

Rhodes: [Cillian Murphy] is definitely going to win. I won’t be sad to see him win because it was an incredibly complex role. He really was believable on every level, did all the things he should have done.

There’s another little part of me that would just love to see Paul Giamatti win because he’s such an extraordinary character actor. As I said, [The Holdovers at first] sounded so unappealing to me. And then when I saw it, I realized how foolish I had been to just try and judge something from a paragraph. I also wanted to see it because [director] Alexander Payne and Giamatti together are a good combination – I loved [their 2004 film] Sideways. In any other year, I think he would have won everything. This year, it’s a bit tough. And I think Cillian will win.

Krassner: If you’re going off of whose performance I like better, I liked Paul Giamatti. But I think the way the Academy votes is going to be like how hard the role was. So Nick and I agree on [Murphy] for sure.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

STERLING K. BROWN

American Fiction

ROBERT DE NIRO

Killers of the Flower Moon

ROBERT DOWNEY JR.

Oppenheimer

RYAN GOSLING

Barbie

MARK RUFFALO

Poor Things

Rhodes: I liked most of the performances for sure. Poor Things was one of my favorite movies of the year. As much as I like Mark Ruffalo in it, he’s got tough competition this time. I think Downey’s going to win. And nothing will make me happier because I’ve been a big fan for many years. He’s also a friend of [Duran Duran]; he inducted us into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [in 2022], which was great. So of course, I want him to win. And I think he was fantastic in the movie too. De Niro was great in Killers of the Flower Moon.

Krassner: Nick really loved Sterling K. Brown in American Fiction. He liked the whole movie better than me, but he loved Sterling.

Rhodes: In other years, he would have won. But it’s gonna go to Downey…He’s waited a long time for it.

Krassner: So I agree with Nick that Robert will win, and I think he probably should win. My husband was dying to see Oppenheimer. So we saw it before we saw Barbie. We saw it the first weekend it came out. And I was really blown away by Downey then. I said, “Oh, he’s totally going to win the Oscar.”

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

ANNETTE BENING

Nyad

LILY GLADSTONE

Killers of the Flower Moon

SANDRA HÜLLER

Anatomy of a Fall

CAREY MULLIGAN

Maestro

EMMA STONE

Poor Things

Krassner: I think that Lily Gladstone will win [for Killers of the Flower Moon]. I don’t think she deserves to win, certainly not in this category. I mean, Lily was terrific in a supporting role. She was definitely not the best actress. That was probably Sandra Hüller [for Anatomy of a Fall] or Carey Mulligan in Maestro. Carey Mulligan blew me away. I didn’t love that movie, but I sure loved her. Emma was great. Everyone was great.

Rhodes: I got a feeling Lily Gladstone might win, but there could be a surprise here, and it would make me very happy. I thought Lily Gladstone was great in it. So I disagree with Katy somewhat. But my favorite performance by far this year was Emma Stone [in Poor Things]. It’s just so delightfully eccentric and beautiful and crazy and unique and unexpected. I’d really like to see her win. Those kinds of parts don’t come along very often. I did love Anatomy of a Fall as well. It was certainly one of the best movies. So if for any reason Sandra Hüller won, I would be delighted with that too.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

EMILY BLUNT

Oppenheimer

DANIELLE BROOKS

The Color Purple

AMERICA FERRERA

Barbie

JODIE FOSTER

Nyad

DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH

The Holdovers

Rhodes: I think [Randolph] deserves it. I thought she was extraordinary in it. I loved that movie [The Holdovers]. As I keep saying, it was one of the surprises of the year for me. And there’s no reason why it should have been with the cast and the pedigree that it had. It was so human. A lot of the movies are larger than life – Oppenheimer is such a big story. But this was such a tiny little heartfelt story and so beautifully written. And I thought she was amazing. So yes, she should win.

Krassner: If anyone’s a shoo-in for the evening, it’s [Randolph]. I think she should win. She made me cry. She made me laugh. And then I guess if I was going to have a second choice, the only one I could see would be Jodie Foster as a true supporting performer. But I think it’s maybe Da’vine Joy. I think she’s unbeatable. I saw all of these movies, and everybody’s performance was good, but nothing like hers.

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

IO CAPITANO (Italy)

PERFECT DAYS (Japan)

SOCIETY OF THE SNOW (Spain)

THE TEACHERS’ LOUNGE (Germany)

THE ZONE OF INTEREST (United Kingdom)

Rhodes: It was such a great year for international movies. This is always my favorite category because while I love many of the movies that come out of America and the U.K., there are so many other places around the world that produce outstanding cinema. And this shows it all.

Io Capitano is incredible. I’ve never felt that anxious in years watching something. The two young guys that play, well their teenagers are as good as you could ever get. It’s harrowing, but it does bring to it does sort of bring to the front of one’s mind exactly what things are like. It’s easy for people to brush things aside with refugees and people trying to find a better life. When you see this movie, it really shows you the other side of the coin and what they go through and how horrific some of the situations are. I thought it was spellbinding.

Perfect Days – that’s a Wim Wenders movie. He did some of my favorite movies, certainly not least Wings of Desire. And I also love Paris, Texas. He’s an incredible director. He’s always had that subtlety and that ability to just find the right balance between human relationships. And again, another one on paper that I would never have probably watched: a toilet cleaner in Japan didn’t sound terribly appealing. But it was actually so touching. The lead actor [Kōji Yakusho] was amazing.

Society of the Snow – again, another harrowing one but loved it. The performances were amazing. The look of it was incredible, and the fact that it was overseen by some of the people that were involved and survived [the 1972 Andes plane crash]. The Teacher’s Lounge was great too.

The Zone of Interest is probably going to win this. I loved that too, incredibly poignant, a sort of harsh reminder of the hatred and unnecessary shocking way that people have treated each other in the past and the consequences of it I think The Zone of Interest will win. But Io Capitano and Society of the Snow – wow. If either of those won, that would be a fantastic moment too.

Krassner: I did see The Zone of Interest. Nick saw it before me, and I said, I really didn’t want to see it. I’m like, “I don’t need anything else to be aggravated about.” And Nick said, “No, it’s brilliant.” OIt was probably my favorite movie of the year, full stop. I know it will win. I can’t say that it should win because I didn’t see all the others yet. But I will see the rest before the Oscars.

BEST PICTURE

AMERICAN FICTION

ANATOMY OF A FALL

BARBIE

THE HOLDOVERS

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

MAESTRO

OPPENHEIMER

PAST LIVES
IVES

POOR THINGS

THE ZONE OF INTEREST

Rhodes: That’s a hell of a list. That’s at least nine great movies.

Krassner: What do you think wasn’t the great movie, Nicholas?

Rhodes: It’s unfair for me to say. I think they’re just different types of achievements. Anatomy of a Fall is so perfectly written. American Fiction is such a great, unique idea, brilliantly acted. The Holdovers, again, a masterclass in writing and performance. Killers of the Flower Moon – you don’t get much better than Martin Scorsese for telling dark tales of corruption. Maestro, I thought, had wonderful moments in it. And I loved how theatrical it was. Oppenheimer – beautiful, majestic and going to win, no doubt.

Past Lives, I loved. Sometimes those Asian performances are so understated. And that movie had all of it to me. The emotions that just come out with just a few looks and a few gestures. There’s a lot to be learned from that. Poor Things was certainly one of my favorites. Gosh, if that won, I’d be so happy, which, of course, it’s not going to, but just loved it. The Zone of Interest is certainly one of the best movies.

And then there’s Barbie. Which, for me, was the most brilliant marketing campaign product that I think I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. I loved the styling in it, all the plastic stuff. I thought it looked really good. It’s the most successful movie ever at this point, isn’t it? For that alone, you can’t deny it some kind of nomination. I think it’s Hollywood tipping its hat to Hollywood. Of course, it was never going to win in that category against those things, but it’s so successful. They really owned pink didn’t they for a whole season?

Krassner: I think the only film that doesn’t belong in this category is Maestro because it was so flawed to me. And even down to the name of the movie, because it was really about [Leonard Bernstein’s] relationship with his wife more than anything else. And they didn’t really touch on what made him the maestro, what made him such an incredible composer and conductor.

Oppenheimer is pretty unstoppable at this point. My favorite films of the year were The Holdovers, Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall and The Zone of Interest. I wasn’t super, super crazy about Barbie. But like Nick said, it deserves to be in this category because of what it did. It was very empowering to young girls. It was visually stunning. They made it into something very watchable. And it made more money.

And while we’re talking about Barbie, Nick mentioned if we can give a little shout-out to Mark Ronson for “I’m Just Ken” [the Oscar-nominated song from Barbie]. That was my birthday song on [the Siriusxm radio show] WHOOOSH! because [Duran Duran singer and WHOOOSH! co-host] Simon [Le Bon] lets me pick one song a year. And that’s what I picked. Of course, Mark has worked with Duran forever. And Billie [Eilish’s] song [“What Was I Made For,” also Oscar-nominated from Barbie], to me just the most beautiful song–I can’t not cry. I hope she wins.

RANDOM THOUGHTS…

Krassner: Nick got to see The Boy and the Heron, [which is nominated for an Oscar in the Animated Feature category], and I still haven’t seen it. I’m very upset.

Rhodes: Oh, it’s really good. I don’t watch a lot of animation, but it got such interesting reviews. It’s sort of darkly fantastic. At first, it starts quite slowly, and then it opens up. And I loved it. That will win, I would think. I haven’t seen the other ones in that category. It’s not a category that I usually get involved with away. When Katy and I are doing our Oscar picks, I tend to do a little more on the foreign one and she does a little more on animated [fims]. But we both try and see something to talk about it. And I have to say, The Boy and the Heron is worth seeing.

You can read more about Rhodes and Krassner’s Oscars predictions — including their thoughts on the other categories not listed here — via DuranDuran.com. Members of the site’s VIP community can also access an audio podcast featuring Rhodes and Krassner on this year’s event.