Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Universal Pictures/Everett Collection, Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures
After a rush of post-strike campaigning, awards season will power down for the holidays, returning with the Golden Globes on January 7. So rather than deliver our usual up-down judgments, let’s get into the Christmas spirit by running down the 12 awards ho-ho-hopefuls with the best chance of nabbing Oscar’s Best Picture.
A somber, Oscar-friendly biopic that also happens to be a big honking hit, Oppenheimer has occupied the top spot in pundits’ predictions since the late summer. Still, it’s not always beneficial to be the front-runner this early, especially in the era of the preferential ballot, in which “most…