Documentary Short Subject:
Nominations:
- "Black Sheep" - Ed Perkins & Jonathan Chinn
- "End Game" - Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman
- "Lifeboat" - Skye Fitzgerald & Bryn Booser
- "A Night at the Garden" - Marshall Curry
- "Period. End of Sentence." - Rayka Zehtabchi & Melissa Berton
Will Win:
- "Period. End of Sentence." - Rayka Zehtabchi & Melissa Berton
Should Win:
- "Period. End of Sentence." - Rayka Zehtabchi & Melissa Berton
Trying to predict the short categories is often like picking a name out of a hat. I have no idea where the Oscars are going to go with this. My best guess this time around is that it might come down to "End Game" vs. "Period. End of Sentence." simply because those are the two movies that are on Netflix, so they're most accessible to voters. And of those, I think I've seen more advertising for "Period. End of Sentence." on Netflix, so I'm closing my eyes, throwing that dart at the wall, and seeing if that works out. Personally this is a category I love. I think the shorts often get super overlooked when it comes to the Oscars. I've seen all five of these. The other three not on Netflix are on YouTube. Go search them and give them a watch. Personally I was most weary about "Period. End of Sentence." because the subject matter is a bit awkward, but I love it most because it left me feeling the happiest.
Animated Short Film:
Nominations:
- "Animal Behavior" - Alison Snowden & David Fine
- "Bao" - Domee Shi & Becky Neiman-Cobb
- "Late Afternoon" - Louise Bagnall & Nuria Gonzalez Blanco
- "One Small Step" - Andrew Chesworth & Bobby Pontillas
- "Weekends" - Trevor Jimenez
Will Win:
- "Bao" - Domee Shi & Becky Neiman-Cobb
Should Win:
- "Bao" - Domee Shi & Becky Neiman-Cobb
"Bao" is the Pixar short that played in front of "Incredibles 2." I'm not going to lie, that was one of the best Pixar shorts I've seen because it presented every emotion from happiness to sadness to laughter to huge shock value. In fact, I'd almost dare to say that it was more memorable than the ensuing Pixar feature length film that came after it. The Pixar or Disney shorts don't always win, but when they were this memorable, they're hard to pick against. This is also a category where I believe all of the other short films outside the Pixar one were on YouTube at one point, but got taken down, so it's hard to make a perfect judgment. I did manage to find "One Small Step," which was excellent, and "Late Afternoon," which was solid. "Weekends" and "Animal Behavior" I watched the trailers for and they look interesting. But I still comfortably am saying that none of them would come as close as "Bao" for me. If they're a spoiler for the win, I think "One Small Step" might've pulled at enough heartstrings to take votes away from "Bao," so I wouldn't be surprised to see it win.
Live Action Short Film:
Nominations:
- "Detainment" - Vincent Lambe & Darren Mahon
- "Fauve" - Jeremy Comte & Maria Gracia Turgeon
- "Marguerite" - Marianne Farley & Marie-Helene Panisset
- "Mother" - Rodgrigo Sorogoyen &Maria del Puy Alvarado
- "Skin" - Guy Nattiv & Jaime Ray Newman
Will Win:
- "Skin" - Guy Nattiv & Jaime Ray Newman
Should Win:
- "Marguerite" - Marianne Farley & Marie-Helene Panisset
I've only seen one of these and that was "Fauve." The others weren't available anywhere. So normally this is a situation where'd I'd put "n/a" in the should win section and throw a dart at the wall on the will win. But I'm putting "Marguerite" as my personal pick because the other four are all super depressing shorts about young kids. Spoiler alert, but "Fauve" is about a kid who watches his friend drown in quicksand. It was either that or cement, I'm actually not sure which one. It was well acted and well put together, but I'm not sure what the point of it was. And watching the trailers or looking up the premises for the others, they're all like that. Except "Marguerite," which is the only happy one and has nothing to do with young kids. So because of that, I want it to win. Yet my very unscientific way of predicting this one is looking at the IMDb scores and seeing "Skin" having a much higher score than the other four. So maybe that's the one people are responding to most?
Foreign Language Film:
Nominations:
- "Capernaum" - Lebanon
- "Cold War" - Poland
- "Never Look Away" - Germany
- "Roma" - Mexico
- "Shoplifters" - Japan
Will Win:
- "Roma" - Mexico
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "Capernaum" - Lebanon
- "Cold War" - Poland
- "Never Look Away" - Germany
- "Roma" - Mexico
- "Shoplifters" - Japan
Will Win:
- "Roma" - Mexico
Should Win:
- n/a
I love the foreign films category. They're usually always extremely well-made films that fly under everyone's radars. I like seeking out the hidden gems like that. The problem with them in pertaining to this post is that they usually don't become available until several months AFTER the Oscars, making it impossible for me to make my pick as to what I want to win. I will say after watching the trailers that I am most excited about "Cold War." I have a strong feeling that would end up being my personal favorite, but I can't say at this point. However, as far as a prediction goes, it would be one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history if "Roma" were to lose this category. It's the front runner for best picture and got nominated for 10 Oscars.
I love the foreign films category. They're usually always extremely well-made films that fly under everyone's radars. I like seeking out the hidden gems like that. The problem with them in pertaining to this post is that they usually don't become available until several months AFTER the Oscars, making it impossible for me to make my pick as to what I want to win. I will say after watching the trailers that I am most excited about "Cold War." I have a strong feeling that would end up being my personal favorite, but I can't say at this point. However, as far as a prediction goes, it would be one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history if "Roma" were to lose this category. It's the front runner for best picture and got nominated for 10 Oscars.
Documentary Feature:
Nominations:
- "Free Solo" - Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes & Shannon Dill
- "Hale County This Morning, This Evening" - RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes & Su Kim
- "Minding the Gap" - Bing Liu & Diane Quon
- "Of Fathers and Sons" - Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme & Tobias N. Siebert
- "RBG" - Betsy West & Julie Cohen
Will Win:
- "Free Solo" - Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes & Shannon Dill
Should Win:
- "Free Solo" - Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes & Shannon Dill
This category makes me upset because of the fact that "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" got snubbed. I have no idea where to find "Of Fathers and Sons," but the others I have all seen and none of them are even that close to as good as our Mr. Rodgers documentary, which was also the highest grossing documentary of the year. So why did we leave it out? Oh well. Nothing we can do moving forward. We've just gotta look at the next two, "Free Solo" and "RBG." The two PBS documentaries, "Hale County" and "Minding the Gap" I thought were quite boring. But "Free Solo" and "RBG" were both excellent for very different reasons. "Free Solo" is an documentary about a crazy dude who did a crazy thing while "RBG" explores the life of an American hero. So how do I pick between those two? I think Oscar voters are having the same challenge, which is why I can see either of these winning. But "Free Solo" has been taking home most of the precursors when it comes to the documentary awards, so I think the theatrical experience of "Free Solo" is swaying people a bit more and I'm thinking that I'm being swayed for the same reasons. "Free Solo" gives you quite the insane rush of adrenaline and is surprisingly emotional, making it unique. So that's my pick.
Nominations:
- "Free Solo" - Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes & Shannon Dill
- "Hale County This Morning, This Evening" - RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes & Su Kim
- "Minding the Gap" - Bing Liu & Diane Quon
- "Of Fathers and Sons" - Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme & Tobias N. Siebert
- "RBG" - Betsy West & Julie Cohen
Will Win:
- "Free Solo" - Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes & Shannon Dill
Should Win:
- "Free Solo" - Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes & Shannon Dill
This category makes me upset because of the fact that "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" got snubbed. I have no idea where to find "Of Fathers and Sons," but the others I have all seen and none of them are even that close to as good as our Mr. Rodgers documentary, which was also the highest grossing documentary of the year. So why did we leave it out? Oh well. Nothing we can do moving forward. We've just gotta look at the next two, "Free Solo" and "RBG." The two PBS documentaries, "Hale County" and "Minding the Gap" I thought were quite boring. But "Free Solo" and "RBG" were both excellent for very different reasons. "Free Solo" is an documentary about a crazy dude who did a crazy thing while "RBG" explores the life of an American hero. So how do I pick between those two? I think Oscar voters are having the same challenge, which is why I can see either of these winning. But "Free Solo" has been taking home most of the precursors when it comes to the documentary awards, so I think the theatrical experience of "Free Solo" is swaying people a bit more and I'm thinking that I'm being swayed for the same reasons. "Free Solo" gives you quite the insane rush of adrenaline and is surprisingly emotional, making it unique. So that's my pick.
Original Song:
Nominations:
- "All the Stars" - Kendrick Lamar & SZA ("Black Panther")
- "I'll Fight" - Jennifer Hudson ("RBG")
- "The Place Where Lost Things Go" - Emily Blunt ("Mary Poppins Returns")
- "Shallow" - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper ("A Star is Born")
- "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" - Willie Watson & Tim Blake Nelson ("The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Will Win:
- "Shallow" - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper ("A Star is Born")
Should Win:
- "Shallow" - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper ("A Star is Born")
Solid category here. Five great songs. However, when it comes to "A Star is Born" and "Mary Poppins Returns," in both cases I personally prefer the other songs that weren't nominated, namely "Always Remember Us This Way" and "Trip a Little Light Fantastic." So the fact that the Oscars got it wrong in both cases makes me extremely tempted to split the difference and choose "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings," which is an absolutely hilarious song. But then I have to come back down to Earth and also consider the impact that each of these songs had on their individual movie and on that note it's not even close. "Shallow" is a huge part of "A Star is Born." And yeah, even though I personally prefer "Always Remember Us This Way," both songs made my list of favorite songs of 2018. So I'm not complaining too much. The spoiler here as far as what could win is "All the Stars" from "Black Panther." Even though that's a great song, that has no impact on the movie itself, so I'd be disappointed if it wins. Especially since if "A Star is Born" loses this category, it could go home completely empty.
Nominations:
- "All the Stars" - Kendrick Lamar & SZA ("Black Panther")
- "I'll Fight" - Jennifer Hudson ("RBG")
- "The Place Where Lost Things Go" - Emily Blunt ("Mary Poppins Returns")
- "Shallow" - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper ("A Star is Born")
- "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" - Willie Watson & Tim Blake Nelson ("The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Will Win:
- "Shallow" - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper ("A Star is Born")
Should Win:
- "Shallow" - Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper ("A Star is Born")
Solid category here. Five great songs. However, when it comes to "A Star is Born" and "Mary Poppins Returns," in both cases I personally prefer the other songs that weren't nominated, namely "Always Remember Us This Way" and "Trip a Little Light Fantastic." So the fact that the Oscars got it wrong in both cases makes me extremely tempted to split the difference and choose "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings," which is an absolutely hilarious song. But then I have to come back down to Earth and also consider the impact that each of these songs had on their individual movie and on that note it's not even close. "Shallow" is a huge part of "A Star is Born." And yeah, even though I personally prefer "Always Remember Us This Way," both songs made my list of favorite songs of 2018. So I'm not complaining too much. The spoiler here as far as what could win is "All the Stars" from "Black Panther." Even though that's a great song, that has no impact on the movie itself, so I'd be disappointed if it wins. Especially since if "A Star is Born" loses this category, it could go home completely empty.
Original Score:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Ludwig Goransson
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Terence Blanchard
- "If Beale Street Could Talk" - Nicholas Britell
- "Isle of Dogs" - Alexandre Desplat
- "Mary Poppins Returns" - Marc Shaiman
Will Win:
- "Black Panther" - Ludwig Goransson
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Ludwig Goransson
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Terence Blanchard
- "If Beale Street Could Talk" - Nicholas Britell
- "Isle of Dogs" - Alexandre Desplat
- "Mary Poppins Returns" - Marc Shaiman
Will Win:
- "Black Panther" - Ludwig Goransson
Should Win:
- "Isle of Dogs" - Alexandre Desplat
I re-listened to all of these scores in preparation for this post and there's five great scores here, so this is an excellent category. As far as my personal pick, "Mary Poppins Returns," "BlacKkKlansman" and "If Beale Street Could Talk" are all traditional film scores while "Black Panther" and "Isle of Dogs" were super unique, so they stood above the others. Picking between the two was really tough. With "Black Panther," a big part of the movie was introducing us to Wakanda and the score does an excellent job at that as it is filled with traditional African themes that makes this far superior when compared to your average superhero movie score. But Desplat's score in "Isle of Dogs" IS the movie. Out of these five movies, this is the one score where I walked out specifically thinking of how amazing the score was and how it set the tone for the whole film, so that's why I'm giving it the very slight edge. As far as who's going to win, this usually goes to a best picture nominee, which makes me believe that it's "Black Panther" vs. "BlacKkKlansman." I'm giving the edge here to "Black Panther" because I have a hard time believing that it goes home empty. If it doesn't get this win, that's exactly what could happen. The MCU has never won an Oscar. Does that continue?
I re-listened to all of these scores in preparation for this post and there's five great scores here, so this is an excellent category. As far as my personal pick, "Mary Poppins Returns," "BlacKkKlansman" and "If Beale Street Could Talk" are all traditional film scores while "Black Panther" and "Isle of Dogs" were super unique, so they stood above the others. Picking between the two was really tough. With "Black Panther," a big part of the movie was introducing us to Wakanda and the score does an excellent job at that as it is filled with traditional African themes that makes this far superior when compared to your average superhero movie score. But Desplat's score in "Isle of Dogs" IS the movie. Out of these five movies, this is the one score where I walked out specifically thinking of how amazing the score was and how it set the tone for the whole film, so that's why I'm giving it the very slight edge. As far as who's going to win, this usually goes to a best picture nominee, which makes me believe that it's "Black Panther" vs. "BlacKkKlansman." I'm giving the edge here to "Black Panther" because I have a hard time believing that it goes home empty. If it doesn't get this win, that's exactly what could happen. The MCU has never won an Oscar. Does that continue?
Visual Effects:
Nominations:
- "Avengers: Infinity War" - Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl & Dan Sudick
- "Christopher Robin" - Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones & Chris Corbould
- "First Man" - Paul Lambert, Grady Cofer, Matthew Butler & David Shirk
- "Ready Player One" - Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew Butler & David Shirk
- "Solo: A Star Wars Story" - Bob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan & Dominic Tuohy
Will Win:
- "Avengers: Infinity War" - Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl & Dan Sudick
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "Avengers: Infinity War" - Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl & Dan Sudick
- "Christopher Robin" - Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones & Chris Corbould
- "First Man" - Paul Lambert, Grady Cofer, Matthew Butler & David Shirk
- "Ready Player One" - Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew Butler & David Shirk
- "Solo: A Star Wars Story" - Bob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan & Dominic Tuohy
Will Win:
- "Avengers: Infinity War" - Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl & Dan Sudick
Should Win:
- "Avengers: Infinity War" - Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl & Dan Sudick
I mentioned in the most recent category that the MCU has not won an Oscar. I think this could be the perfect opportunity for the Academy to redeem that by finally giving them an Oscar. It's going in as the front runner, so that's why I'm picking. But this also means this is far from being set in stone as I could see them giving this to "Ready Player One" or "First Man." I remember a few years back that "Ex Machina" came out of nowhere to win best visual effects, which proves that the Academy kinda does their own thing here, so I'm not even counting out a surprise win from "Christopher Robin" or "Solo." But come on. "Avengers: Infinity War" was one of the most monumental movie events in the history of cinema. The least the Oscars could do is give it a visual effects win, right?
I mentioned in the most recent category that the MCU has not won an Oscar. I think this could be the perfect opportunity for the Academy to redeem that by finally giving them an Oscar. It's going in as the front runner, so that's why I'm picking. But this also means this is far from being set in stone as I could see them giving this to "Ready Player One" or "First Man." I remember a few years back that "Ex Machina" came out of nowhere to win best visual effects, which proves that the Academy kinda does their own thing here, so I'm not even counting out a surprise win from "Christopher Robin" or "Solo." But come on. "Avengers: Infinity War" was one of the most monumental movie events in the history of cinema. The least the Oscars could do is give it a visual effects win, right?
Sound Editing:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Benjamin A. Burtt & Steve Boeddeker
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - John Warhurst & Nina Hartstone
- "First Man" - Ai-Ling Lee & Mildred Latrou Morgan
- "A Quiet Place" - Ethan Van der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
- "Roma" - Sergio Diaz & Skip Lievsay
Will Win:
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - John Warhurst & Nina Hartstone
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Benjamin A. Burtt & Steve Boeddeker
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - John Warhurst & Nina Hartstone
- "First Man" - Ai-Ling Lee & Mildred Latrou Morgan
- "A Quiet Place" - Ethan Van der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
- "Roma" - Sergio Diaz & Skip Lievsay
Will Win:
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - John Warhurst & Nina Hartstone
Should Win:
- "A Quiet Place" - Ethan Van der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
My gut is saying that "Black Panther" could have a great night and sneak in a bunch of wins in the technical categories, but my brain is saying "Bohemian Rhapsody" based on the momentum from previous awards ceremonies. Specifically in regards to sound editing, the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) recently gave "Bohemian Rhapsody" two awards, one for best sound editing in a musical feature and one for best dialogue/ADR in a dramatic feature. It's also been sneaking in other sound awards in various places, so I'm going to trust in that and predict "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the win. But as far as my personal pick, I mean come on. The sound editing is what MADE "A Quiet Place" the horror phenomenon that it is. Unless you're a huge cinephile, you rarely walk out praising the sound design in a movie. But everyone praises the sound design in "A Quiet Place." That IS the movie.
My gut is saying that "Black Panther" could have a great night and sneak in a bunch of wins in the technical categories, but my brain is saying "Bohemian Rhapsody" based on the momentum from previous awards ceremonies. Specifically in regards to sound editing, the Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) recently gave "Bohemian Rhapsody" two awards, one for best sound editing in a musical feature and one for best dialogue/ADR in a dramatic feature. It's also been sneaking in other sound awards in various places, so I'm going to trust in that and predict "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the win. But as far as my personal pick, I mean come on. The sound editing is what MADE "A Quiet Place" the horror phenomenon that it is. Unless you're a huge cinephile, you rarely walk out praising the sound design in a movie. But everyone praises the sound design in "A Quiet Place." That IS the movie.
Sound Mixing:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Stevee Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor & Peter Devlin
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin & John Casali
- "First Man" - Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, Ai-Ling Lee & Mary H. Ellis
- "Roma" - Skup Lievsay, Craig Henighan & Jose Antonio Garcia
- "A Star is Born" - Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Rudeer & Steve Marrow
Will Win:
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin & John Casali
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Stevee Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor & Peter Devlin
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin & John Casali
- "First Man" - Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano, Ai-Ling Lee & Mary H. Ellis
- "Roma" - Skup Lievsay, Craig Henighan & Jose Antonio Garcia
- "A Star is Born" - Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Rudeer & Steve Marrow
Will Win:
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin & John Casali
- "A Star is Born" - Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Rudeer & Steve Marrow
Again with "Bohemian Rhapsody," like in the sound editing category, the Cinema Audio Society gave it their top award for outstanding sound mixing. Recently the Oscars have giving both of the sound awards to the same movie, so it seems like the safe thing to do here is bet that "Bohemian Rhapsody" wins both. If they do split, at least I got one of them right. Also, if there is a split, I'm hearing buzz that sound mixing is the safest bet for "Bohemian Rhapsody." So "Black Panther" could win editing while "Bohemian Rhapsody" wins mixing. Or "Black Panther" could surprise and win both. Now I'm the least qualified person to actually judge this category, but in my little brain it does make sense to give this to a concert movie. I imagine there's a lot of mixing to make sure all the sound is balanced from the singing to the band to the crowd, and what not. Which is why I felt like giving this to "A Star is Born" because if a concert movie has to win, I'd rather see that one win than "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Makeup and Hairstyling:
Nominations:
- "Border" - Goran Lundstrom & Pamela Goldammer
- "Mary Queen of Scots" - Jenny Shicore, Marc Pilcher & Jessica Brooks
- "Vice" - Greg Cannom, Kate Bisco & Patricia Dehaney
Will Win:
- "Vice" - Greg Cannom, Kate Bisco & Patricia Dehaney
Should Win:
- "Mary Queen of Scots" - Jenny Shicore, Marc Pilcher & Jessica Brooks
I haven't seen "Mary Queen of Scots" or "Border." In fact, I don't think I had even heard of "Border" before Oscar nomination morning as it was a foreign film that didn't even make the foreign film category. But do I need to see the movies to judge the makeup and hairstyling? It was a difficult choice for me to make, both in terms of predicting and what I think is best. With my personal pick, if you look at side by side photos of the political figures that were portrayed in "Vice," they did a great job of making them look as close to the real people as possible. But if you watch the trailer for "Mary Queen of Scots," there are a lot of human beings in that movie and they all had to look authentic to the time period, so I feel that there was a lot more work done there as opposed to just getting a handful of people in "Vice" looking accurate. So that's why I'm picking "Mary Queen of Scots" as my personal pick. As far as my prediction, I do think they'll go with the best picture nominee here, especially since the Academy seems to love "Vice" a lot more than they should. But hey, Margot Robbie has pulled an upset here before with the Academy Award winning "Suicide Squad," so could she do it again?
Nominations:
- "Border" - Goran Lundstrom & Pamela Goldammer
- "Mary Queen of Scots" - Jenny Shicore, Marc Pilcher & Jessica Brooks
- "Vice" - Greg Cannom, Kate Bisco & Patricia Dehaney
Will Win:
- "Vice" - Greg Cannom, Kate Bisco & Patricia Dehaney
Should Win:
- "Mary Queen of Scots" - Jenny Shicore, Marc Pilcher & Jessica Brooks
I haven't seen "Mary Queen of Scots" or "Border." In fact, I don't think I had even heard of "Border" before Oscar nomination morning as it was a foreign film that didn't even make the foreign film category. But do I need to see the movies to judge the makeup and hairstyling? It was a difficult choice for me to make, both in terms of predicting and what I think is best. With my personal pick, if you look at side by side photos of the political figures that were portrayed in "Vice," they did a great job of making them look as close to the real people as possible. But if you watch the trailer for "Mary Queen of Scots," there are a lot of human beings in that movie and they all had to look authentic to the time period, so I feel that there was a lot more work done there as opposed to just getting a handful of people in "Vice" looking accurate. So that's why I'm picking "Mary Queen of Scots" as my personal pick. As far as my prediction, I do think they'll go with the best picture nominee here, especially since the Academy seems to love "Vice" a lot more than they should. But hey, Margot Robbie has pulled an upset here before with the Academy Award winning "Suicide Squad," so could she do it again?
Film Editing:
Nominations:
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Barry Alexander Brown
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - John Ottman
- "The Favourite" - Yorgos Mavropsaridis
- "Green Book" - Patrick J. Don Vito
- "Vice" - Hank Corwin
Will Win:
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - John Ottman
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Barry Alexander Brown
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - John Ottman
- "The Favourite" - Yorgos Mavropsaridis
- "Green Book" - Patrick J. Don Vito
- "Vice" - Hank Corwin
Will Win:
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - John Ottman
Should Win:
- "Vice" - Hank Corwin
If "Bohemian Rhapsody" is going to win in all of the technical categories that it's nominated for, it could easily come and and sweep away this one, too. And to back that up, the American Cinema Editors (ACE) gave it their Eddie award for best film editing, so it's looking like a good bet. However, the BAFTAs gave it to "Vice," so I don't think it's as quite as cut and dry. And given the eight Oscar nominees that "Vice" has, the Academy does seem to love "Vice" more than others, so they could easily give "Vice" this award, too. And as much as I don't want to see "Vice" win any awards because I have serious problems with that movie, its one saving grace was Adam McKay's quirky editing style, so I'll give it props for that, especially since the other four don't stand out to me in regards to editing. Which probably means they did their job perfectly. The best editing is the editing you don't notice, which makes it hard to judge.
If "Bohemian Rhapsody" is going to win in all of the technical categories that it's nominated for, it could easily come and and sweep away this one, too. And to back that up, the American Cinema Editors (ACE) gave it their Eddie award for best film editing, so it's looking like a good bet. However, the BAFTAs gave it to "Vice," so I don't think it's as quite as cut and dry. And given the eight Oscar nominees that "Vice" has, the Academy does seem to love "Vice" more than others, so they could easily give "Vice" this award, too. And as much as I don't want to see "Vice" win any awards because I have serious problems with that movie, its one saving grace was Adam McKay's quirky editing style, so I'll give it props for that, especially since the other four don't stand out to me in regards to editing. Which probably means they did their job perfectly. The best editing is the editing you don't notice, which makes it hard to judge.
Costume Design:
Nominations:
- "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" - Mary Zophres
- "Black Panther" - Ruth Carter
- "The Favourite" - Sandy Powell
- "Mary Poppins Returns" - Sandy Powell
- "Mary Queen of Scots" - Alexandra Byrne
Will Win:
- "The Favourite" - Sandy Powell
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" - Mary Zophres
- "Black Panther" - Ruth Carter
- "The Favourite" - Sandy Powell
- "Mary Poppins Returns" - Sandy Powell
- "Mary Queen of Scots" - Alexandra Byrne
Will Win:
- "The Favourite" - Sandy Powell
Should Win:
- "Black Panther" - Ruth Carter
When it doubt, give costume design to a period piece, right? It's certainly not a bad philosophy and we've got two of them here with "The Favourite" and "Mary Queen of Scots." We also have "Mary Poppins Returns" taking us back to the 1930's and an interesting nomination with "Buster Scruggs" being a Western with six different short films to provide costumes for. But I mean, have y'all seen Wakanda? I may have problems with "Black Panther" as a film, but those problems are in regards to story, not the design. And the Wakandians look awesome. So that's my personal pick. But I do think the Academy will give this to Sandy Powell again. Counting the two this year, she's been nominated 14 times for her costume design work, winning three of those. Plus, "The Favourite" is a movie that comes into the night with 10 nominations, so this seems like an easy win for it. And it'll certainly be a deserved win.
When it doubt, give costume design to a period piece, right? It's certainly not a bad philosophy and we've got two of them here with "The Favourite" and "Mary Queen of Scots." We also have "Mary Poppins Returns" taking us back to the 1930's and an interesting nomination with "Buster Scruggs" being a Western with six different short films to provide costumes for. But I mean, have y'all seen Wakanda? I may have problems with "Black Panther" as a film, but those problems are in regards to story, not the design. And the Wakandians look awesome. So that's my personal pick. But I do think the Academy will give this to Sandy Powell again. Counting the two this year, she's been nominated 14 times for her costume design work, winning three of those. Plus, "The Favourite" is a movie that comes into the night with 10 nominations, so this seems like an easy win for it. And it'll certainly be a deserved win.
Cinematography:
Nominations:
- "Cold War" - Luzask Zal
- "The Favourite" - Robbie Ryan
- "Never Look Away" - Caleb Deschanel
- "Roma" - Alfonso Cuaron
- "A Star is Born" - Matthew Libatque
Will Win:
- "Roma" - Alfonso Cuaron
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "Cold War" - Luzask Zal
- "The Favourite" - Robbie Ryan
- "Never Look Away" - Caleb Deschanel
- "Roma" - Alfonso Cuaron
- "A Star is Born" - Matthew Libatque
Will Win:
- "Roma" - Alfonso Cuaron
Should Win:
- "Roma" - Alfonso Cuaron
How often do we have a cinematography lineup that includes three foreign films? That means I haven't seen "Cold War" or "Never Look Away." Again with "Cold War," had I even had the opportunity to watch that, it looks the the type of movie that I would pick. Based on the trailers alone, the cinematography looks gorgeous and it's also a black and white film, just like "Roma." But I haven't seen it, so I can't pick it. Thus between "The Favourite," "A Star is Born" and "Roma," the first two in that don't have cinematography that jumps out to me. I may have felt a disconnect to "Roma" as a whole, but I can't deny that the movie was beautifully shot and I'm impressed that Alfonso Cuaron did the cinematography himself, so I'm giving it to him. And he's going to win. This feels like one of the easiest categories to pick on the night.
Production Design:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Hannah Bleachler, Jay Hart
- "The Favourite" - Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
- "First Man" - Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas
- "Mary Poppins Returns" - John Myhre, Gordon Sim
- "Roma" - Eugenio Caballero, Barbara Enriquez
Will Win:
- "The Favourite" - Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Hannah Bleachler, Jay Hart
- "The Favourite" - Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
- "First Man" - Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas
- "Mary Poppins Returns" - John Myhre, Gordon Sim
- "Roma" - Eugenio Caballero, Barbara Enriquez
Will Win:
- "The Favourite" - Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
Should Win:
- "The Favourite" - Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
I think this is another category that "The Favourite" is going to run away with. And if you pay attention to all of the set designs in the queen's palace, or wherever this takes place, it's well deserved. I was tempted again to go with "Black Panther" on this one because this is specifically giving an award to Wakanda. However, I shied away from that a bit simply because I don't know how much of Wakanda was visual effects work vs. set design, so that's why I defaulted to "The Favourite" instead. But the other sets are pretty interesting, too. "Roma" took us to Mexico, "Mary Poppins Returns" took us to the 1930's and "First Man" took us to the moon. But out of all that, I still think "The Favourite" had the best set designs.
Animated Feature Film:
Nominations:
- "Incredibles 2" - Pixar Animation Studio
- "Isle of Dogs" - American Empirical Pictures, Indian Paintbrush & Studio Babelsberg
- "Mirai" - Studio Chizu
- "Ralph Breaks the Internet" - Walt Disney Animation Studios
- "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" - Sony Pictures Animation
Will Win:
- "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" - Sony Pictures Animation
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "Incredibles 2" - Pixar Animation Studio
- "Isle of Dogs" - American Empirical Pictures, Indian Paintbrush & Studio Babelsberg
- "Mirai" - Studio Chizu
- "Ralph Breaks the Internet" - Walt Disney Animation Studios
- "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" - Sony Pictures Animation
Will Win:
- "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" - Sony Pictures Animation
Should Win:
- "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" - Sony Pictures Animation
This one was really hard for me to decide when it comes to which I think is best. But not for this post. I decided this last month when I did my end of year list. I gave the edge to "Spider-Verse" over "Isle of Dogs," but only by one spot, so the two of them are pretty dead even in terms of how much I enjoyed them. Both are very excellent films for very different reasons. Both also have excellent animation with "Spider-Verse" implementing several different animation styles and "Isle of Dogs" being a rather complex stop motion film. Leading up to this award, "Spider-Verse" has literally been winning everything that has an animated film category, so it seems like an easy pick to make. But I can't help but thinking that the Oscars are going to somehow screw this one up because they have an anti-superhero bias. Imagine how awful it would be if "Infinity War," "Black Panther" and "Spider-Verse" ALL went home blank? I mean, "Incredibles 2" is a solid choice. But not when it's up against "Spider-Verse" or "Isle of Dogs." Also, I should mention that I have every intention of watch "Mirai" when it comes to my corner of the world, which it has yet to do.
Adapted Screenplay:
Nominations:
- "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" - Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
- "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" - Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty
- "If Beale Street Could Talk" - Barry Jenkins
- "A Star is Born" - Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters
Will Win:
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" - Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
- "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" - Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty
- "If Beale Street Could Talk" - Barry Jenkins
- "A Star is Born" - Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters
Will Win:
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
Should Win:
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
Recently the screenplay categories have been an opportunity for the Academy to reward a best picture nominee that's not necessarily one of the top contenders to actually win best picture, which is certainly the case in this adapted screenplay category this year since the biggest three contenders are in the original screenplay category, so the door is wide open for them to give Spike Lee his Oscar win for "BlacKkKlansman." The thing that's throwing me off is that the Writer's Guild gave this to "Can You Ever Forgive Me?," so I'm not 100 percent locked in. But "BlacKkKlansman" did win the BAFTA, so that gives me more confidence. As far as my personal pick, if I'm trying to analyze the screenplay itself and not the movie as a whole, it comes down to "A Star is Born" vs. "BlacKkKlansman." I'm thinking "A Star is Born" was an easier screenplay to come up with since the movie had been made three times previously. The execution was what sold me, not necessarily the screenplay itself. So that's why I'm going "BlacKkKlansman" for my personal choice. It's a fascinating story that translated very well to the screen, so let's go ahead and give Spike Lee his Oscar!
Recently the screenplay categories have been an opportunity for the Academy to reward a best picture nominee that's not necessarily one of the top contenders to actually win best picture, which is certainly the case in this adapted screenplay category this year since the biggest three contenders are in the original screenplay category, so the door is wide open for them to give Spike Lee his Oscar win for "BlacKkKlansman." The thing that's throwing me off is that the Writer's Guild gave this to "Can You Ever Forgive Me?," so I'm not 100 percent locked in. But "BlacKkKlansman" did win the BAFTA, so that gives me more confidence. As far as my personal pick, if I'm trying to analyze the screenplay itself and not the movie as a whole, it comes down to "A Star is Born" vs. "BlacKkKlansman." I'm thinking "A Star is Born" was an easier screenplay to come up with since the movie had been made three times previously. The execution was what sold me, not necessarily the screenplay itself. So that's why I'm going "BlacKkKlansman" for my personal choice. It's a fascinating story that translated very well to the screen, so let's go ahead and give Spike Lee his Oscar!
Original Screenplay:
Nominations:
- "The Favourite" - Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara
- "First Reformed" - Paul Schrader
- "Green Book" - Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly
- "Roma" - Alfonso Cuaron
- "Vice" - Adam McKay
Will Win:
- "The Favourite" - Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "The Favourite" - Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara
- "First Reformed" - Paul Schrader
- "Green Book" - Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie & Peter Farrelly
- "Roma" - Alfonso Cuaron
- "Vice" - Adam McKay
Will Win:
- "The Favourite" - Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara
Should Win:
- "The Favourite" - Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara
This one is a bit trickier to predict since I think our best picture race will come down to "Green Book," "Roma" and "The Favourite," all of which are here in this category. So what direction will they go in this category? Honestly I'm thinking its "Green Book" vs. "Roma" for best picture with "The Favourite" having an outside chance at winning. And that's why I think "The Favourite" will take home original screenplay. For my personal pick, as long as "Vice" doesn't win I'll be happy. Adam McKay didn't even try to tell the true story of Dick Cheney. He even admitted it in the opening credits, with the excuse being that he was such a secretive man, which is total B.S. and everyone knows it. So why should he get any love for not trying? That rant out of the way, it's between "The Favourite" and "Green Book" for me since I found "Roma" a bit boring and I haven't seen "First Reformed." I think "Green Book" is a better film, but that's due to the acting from Vigo and Mahershala. I think "The Favourite" has a screenplay that is so creative and wild that I have to give it all the love here.
This one is a bit trickier to predict since I think our best picture race will come down to "Green Book," "Roma" and "The Favourite," all of which are here in this category. So what direction will they go in this category? Honestly I'm thinking its "Green Book" vs. "Roma" for best picture with "The Favourite" having an outside chance at winning. And that's why I think "The Favourite" will take home original screenplay. For my personal pick, as long as "Vice" doesn't win I'll be happy. Adam McKay didn't even try to tell the true story of Dick Cheney. He even admitted it in the opening credits, with the excuse being that he was such a secretive man, which is total B.S. and everyone knows it. So why should he get any love for not trying? That rant out of the way, it's between "The Favourite" and "Green Book" for me since I found "Roma" a bit boring and I haven't seen "First Reformed." I think "Green Book" is a better film, but that's due to the acting from Vigo and Mahershala. I think "The Favourite" has a screenplay that is so creative and wild that I have to give it all the love here.
Actress in a Supporting Role:
Nominations:
- Amy Adams - "Vice"
- Marina De Tavira - "Roma"
- Regina King - "If Beale Street Could Talk"
- Emma Stone - "The Favourite"
- Rachel Weisz - "The Favourite"
Will Win:
- Rachel Weisz - "The Favourite"
Should Win:
Nominations:
- Amy Adams - "Vice"
- Marina De Tavira - "Roma"
- Regina King - "If Beale Street Could Talk"
- Emma Stone - "The Favourite"
- Rachel Weisz - "The Favourite"
Will Win:
- Rachel Weisz - "The Favourite"
Should Win:
- Emma Stone - "The Favourite"
This is where I'm being a bit bold with my prediction. Regina King is the favorite to win, but out of all four of the acting categories, I think she's the one that's been the most vulnerable this awards season as she's completely missed out on a nomination in some of the categories. Added to that, "Beale Street" missed a best picture nomination, so I don't think the Academy is as wild about it as a whole. So I think this is an opportunity for Rachel Weisz to sneak in an Oscar win here. As far as my personal favorite, I don't think Marina, Amy or Regina gave outstanding Oscar-worthy performances, so I've debated in my head between Rachel and Emma, our two girls from "The Favourite." Honestly I think both of them gave excellent performances, but I think Emma Stone's character left a bit more of a lasting impression for me. She was also the one actress of the trio who had to convince us that she actually belonged in the movie since she's American and not British. But I think she gave a perfect British performance. Granted, that's from an American perspective, so if I have any British friends reading this that want to dispute that, feel free to fire away at me.
This is where I'm being a bit bold with my prediction. Regina King is the favorite to win, but out of all four of the acting categories, I think she's the one that's been the most vulnerable this awards season as she's completely missed out on a nomination in some of the categories. Added to that, "Beale Street" missed a best picture nomination, so I don't think the Academy is as wild about it as a whole. So I think this is an opportunity for Rachel Weisz to sneak in an Oscar win here. As far as my personal favorite, I don't think Marina, Amy or Regina gave outstanding Oscar-worthy performances, so I've debated in my head between Rachel and Emma, our two girls from "The Favourite." Honestly I think both of them gave excellent performances, but I think Emma Stone's character left a bit more of a lasting impression for me. She was also the one actress of the trio who had to convince us that she actually belonged in the movie since she's American and not British. But I think she gave a perfect British performance. Granted, that's from an American perspective, so if I have any British friends reading this that want to dispute that, feel free to fire away at me.
Actor in a Supporting Role:
Nominations:
- Mahershala Ali - "Green Book"
- Adam Driver - "BlacKkKlansman"
- Sam Elliott - "A Star is Born"
- Richard E. Grant - "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
- Sam Rockwell - "Vice"
Will Win:
- Mahershala Ali - "Green Book"
Should Win:
Nominations:
- Mahershala Ali - "Green Book"
- Adam Driver - "BlacKkKlansman"
- Sam Elliott - "A Star is Born"
- Richard E. Grant - "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
- Sam Rockwell - "Vice"
Will Win:
- Mahershala Ali - "Green Book"
Should Win:
- Richard E. Grant - "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
Predicting a winner in this category is super easy. Mahershala is taking home his second Oscar win. He's been winning everything so far, so it seems to be written in stone. And I certainly won't be angry with it. His performance was outstanding. For my personal pick, it was a really tough choice between the four that actually deserved to be there. I'm not sure why Sam Rockwell giving a Saturday Night Live impression of George Bush in "Vice" got him a nomination. That's a complete joke and an embarrassment to the many other actors who actually deserved to be here. But the other four gave great performances. Sam Elliott was fantastic in "A Star is Born," but didn't have that much screen time. I already mentioned that I loved Mahershala's performance, but admittedly its a very Oscar-baity role that we've seen a bunch. Adam Driver quietly pulled off a difficult performance as he had to act as a police offer who had to act racist for half the movie. I almost gave it to him. But in the end, I think Richard E. Grant gave the most memorable performance of the bunch. He played such a crazy, loud character who was easy to love with his brain and his wit, but who was also a complex individual who had quite the arc. He totally stole the show in his movie.
Predicting a winner in this category is super easy. Mahershala is taking home his second Oscar win. He's been winning everything so far, so it seems to be written in stone. And I certainly won't be angry with it. His performance was outstanding. For my personal pick, it was a really tough choice between the four that actually deserved to be there. I'm not sure why Sam Rockwell giving a Saturday Night Live impression of George Bush in "Vice" got him a nomination. That's a complete joke and an embarrassment to the many other actors who actually deserved to be here. But the other four gave great performances. Sam Elliott was fantastic in "A Star is Born," but didn't have that much screen time. I already mentioned that I loved Mahershala's performance, but admittedly its a very Oscar-baity role that we've seen a bunch. Adam Driver quietly pulled off a difficult performance as he had to act as a police offer who had to act racist for half the movie. I almost gave it to him. But in the end, I think Richard E. Grant gave the most memorable performance of the bunch. He played such a crazy, loud character who was easy to love with his brain and his wit, but who was also a complex individual who had quite the arc. He totally stole the show in his movie.
Actress in a Leading Role:
Nominations:
- Yalitza Aparicio - "Roma"
- Glenn Close - "The Wife"
- Olivia Colman - "The Favourite"
- Lady Gaga - "A Star is Born"
- Melissa McCarthy - Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Will Win:
- Glenn Close - "The Wife"
Should Win:
Nominations:
- Yalitza Aparicio - "Roma"
- Glenn Close - "The Wife"
- Olivia Colman - "The Favourite"
- Lady Gaga - "A Star is Born"
- Melissa McCarthy - Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Will Win:
- Glenn Close - "The Wife"
Should Win:
- Olivia Colman - "The Favourite"
This is also really easy to predict. Glenn Close is finally taking home an Oscar after losing six previous times, five of which came in the 80's. But this is a lifetime achievement award for her. No one is going to say "The Wife" is her best work, nor are many going to say that the movie is all that good. In fact, I would say that Jonathan Pryce and Max Irons out-acted her for most of the movie until we got to the final act, but you don't see them getting nominations. The Academy just feels bad that they rejected her for all these years, so they're making it up to her. I can't get too mad at that, but if I was casting a ballot, I don't give out lifetime achievement awards. I think Olivia Colman easily gave the most memorable performance of the bunch. That's not to say the others were bad. You can say Lady Gaga had an easy time as she is a musician playing a musician, but her character in the movie has a much different style than Gaga in real life, so I give her credit. I just think Bradley cooper was the shining star from "A Star is Born." And I thought hard about Yalitza since she's the best part of "Roma." But Olivia Colman is just so darn memorable that I can't pick against her. Melissa McCarthy is also good, but I would've loved for Emily Blunt to be here instead... for SOMETHING. She was deserving with both "A Quiet Place" AND "Mary Poppins Returns."
This is also really easy to predict. Glenn Close is finally taking home an Oscar after losing six previous times, five of which came in the 80's. But this is a lifetime achievement award for her. No one is going to say "The Wife" is her best work, nor are many going to say that the movie is all that good. In fact, I would say that Jonathan Pryce and Max Irons out-acted her for most of the movie until we got to the final act, but you don't see them getting nominations. The Academy just feels bad that they rejected her for all these years, so they're making it up to her. I can't get too mad at that, but if I was casting a ballot, I don't give out lifetime achievement awards. I think Olivia Colman easily gave the most memorable performance of the bunch. That's not to say the others were bad. You can say Lady Gaga had an easy time as she is a musician playing a musician, but her character in the movie has a much different style than Gaga in real life, so I give her credit. I just think Bradley cooper was the shining star from "A Star is Born." And I thought hard about Yalitza since she's the best part of "Roma." But Olivia Colman is just so darn memorable that I can't pick against her. Melissa McCarthy is also good, but I would've loved for Emily Blunt to be here instead... for SOMETHING. She was deserving with both "A Quiet Place" AND "Mary Poppins Returns."
Actor in a Leading Role:
Nominations:
- Christian Bale - "Vice"
- Bradley Cooper - "A Star is Born"
- Willem Dafoe - "At Eternity's Gate"
- Rami Malek - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
- Viggo Mortensen - "Green Book"
Will Win:
- Rami Malek - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Should Win:
Nominations:
- Christian Bale - "Vice"
- Bradley Cooper - "A Star is Born"
- Willem Dafoe - "At Eternity's Gate"
- Rami Malek - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
- Viggo Mortensen - "Green Book"
Will Win:
- Rami Malek - "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Should Win:
- Bradley Cooper - "A Star is Born"
I thought long and hard about this one. Not about who's going to win. That's Rami Malek, hands done. The spoiler is Christian Bale, but I don't think he's getting it. But what I did think long and hard about is who I would personally pick between Rami Malek and Bradley Cooper. The other three were fine, but just not on the same tier as these two. I have a lot of issues with "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a film, but Rami Malek is not one of them. In fact, I have a lot of respect for actors who can brilliantly pull off a historical character and Rami Malek became Freddie Mercury. That's usually who I go for. But Bradley Cooper's work in "A Star is Born" is timeless. He took a character that we've seen three times before and managed to make it his own in what arguably might be the best male lead performance from any "A Star is Born" movie. Certainly no disrespect to James Mason or Fredric March there. Just high praise for Bradley Cooper. The 2018 version of "A Star is Born" is his movie, whereas the 1937 and 1954 versions belonged to Janet Gaynor and Judy Garland, respectively. And if you've noticed a trend with my personal picks, I've been going for the performance that I personally found most memorable, even if someone like Malek had a bigger undertaking in front of him.
I thought long and hard about this one. Not about who's going to win. That's Rami Malek, hands done. The spoiler is Christian Bale, but I don't think he's getting it. But what I did think long and hard about is who I would personally pick between Rami Malek and Bradley Cooper. The other three were fine, but just not on the same tier as these two. I have a lot of issues with "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a film, but Rami Malek is not one of them. In fact, I have a lot of respect for actors who can brilliantly pull off a historical character and Rami Malek became Freddie Mercury. That's usually who I go for. But Bradley Cooper's work in "A Star is Born" is timeless. He took a character that we've seen three times before and managed to make it his own in what arguably might be the best male lead performance from any "A Star is Born" movie. Certainly no disrespect to James Mason or Fredric March there. Just high praise for Bradley Cooper. The 2018 version of "A Star is Born" is his movie, whereas the 1937 and 1954 versions belonged to Janet Gaynor and Judy Garland, respectively. And if you've noticed a trend with my personal picks, I've been going for the performance that I personally found most memorable, even if someone like Malek had a bigger undertaking in front of him.
Directing:
Nominations:
- Spike Lee - "BlacKkKlansman"
- Pawel Pawlikowski - "Cold War"
- Yorgos Lanthimos - "The Favourite"
- Alfonso Cuaron - "Roma"
- Adam McKay - "Vice"
Will Win:
- Alfonso Cuaron - "Roma"
Should Win:
- Alfonso Cuaron - "Roma"
Directing has always been the hardest category for me to judge. There's just so much behind the scenes work that goes into directing and it's often hard for me to determine how much credit goes to the cast or crew for the movie vs. how much credit should be going to the director for pulling it all together. But when it comes to this category, "Roma" was such a personal project for Alfonso Cuaron and that seeps out into every frame of the movie. The fact that he also wrote, produced, edited and did the cinematography for the film mostly by himself only adds to his case. I also imagine that it took a lot of effort and instruction on his part to be able to get the whole cast, young and old, to perform exactly how he wanted them to in order to get the perfect picture painted whereas I think Yorgos and Spike Lee had an all-star cast who helped do a lot of the heavy lifting, making their job perhaps slightly easier than Cuaron's, so that's why I've chosen Cuaron for my pick here even though it's not my overall favorite movie of the bunch. And yeah, he's winning the award. That's easy. The final thing I'd like to say that is I'm borderline offended that Adam McKay got in instead of Bradley Cooper. That's an absolute travesty that makes the Academy look even more like a joke.
Nominations:
- Spike Lee - "BlacKkKlansman"
- Pawel Pawlikowski - "Cold War"
- Yorgos Lanthimos - "The Favourite"
- Alfonso Cuaron - "Roma"
- Adam McKay - "Vice"
Will Win:
- Alfonso Cuaron - "Roma"
Should Win:
- Alfonso Cuaron - "Roma"
Directing has always been the hardest category for me to judge. There's just so much behind the scenes work that goes into directing and it's often hard for me to determine how much credit goes to the cast or crew for the movie vs. how much credit should be going to the director for pulling it all together. But when it comes to this category, "Roma" was such a personal project for Alfonso Cuaron and that seeps out into every frame of the movie. The fact that he also wrote, produced, edited and did the cinematography for the film mostly by himself only adds to his case. I also imagine that it took a lot of effort and instruction on his part to be able to get the whole cast, young and old, to perform exactly how he wanted them to in order to get the perfect picture painted whereas I think Yorgos and Spike Lee had an all-star cast who helped do a lot of the heavy lifting, making their job perhaps slightly easier than Cuaron's, so that's why I've chosen Cuaron for my pick here even though it's not my overall favorite movie of the bunch. And yeah, he's winning the award. That's easy. The final thing I'd like to say that is I'm borderline offended that Adam McKay got in instead of Bradley Cooper. That's an absolute travesty that makes the Academy look even more like a joke.
Best Picture:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Walt Disney
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Focus Features
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - 20th Century Fox
- "The Favourite" - Fox Searchlight
- "Green Book" - Universal
- "Roma" - Netflix
- "A Star is Born" - Warner Bros.
- "Vice" - Annapurna
Will Win:
- "Roma" - Netflix
Should Win:
Nominations:
- "Black Panther" - Walt Disney
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Focus Features
- "Bohemian Rhapsody" - 20th Century Fox
- "The Favourite" - Fox Searchlight
- "Green Book" - Universal
- "Roma" - Netflix
- "A Star is Born" - Warner Bros.
- "Vice" - Annapurna
Will Win:
- "Roma" - Netflix
Should Win:
- "BlacKkKlansman" - Focus Features
And last but not least, we have best picture. As long as I've been predicting the Oscars, my personal favorite film has never won best picture. And that's continuing this year because "Avengers: Infinity War" was not nominated. I wasn't expecting it to be, but still. The streak continues. Regarding who will win, the safe pick here is "Roma." It has all the momentum right now, so I'm playing it safe and predicting it to win. However, what I always get caught up on is the idea of preferential voting, something that none of the precursors do. If you don't know what that is, do a quick Google search because I don't want to spend too much time. But in short, a movie needs to win 50 percent of the vote to win best picture. If that doesn't happen on the first ballot, the movie with the least amount of votes will be removed and any ballot with that movie as the No. 1 choice will revert to the No. 2 movie for the next round of votes. This means that the winner is not necessarily the most liked film, but often the least hated. That leads the door wide open for "Green Book" or even "The Favourite" to sneak in a win since "Roma" is not necessarily the most broadly-appealing film. We even have some voters still hesitant to give a Netflix film best picture, so I'm conflicted here.
Regarding my personal choice, it was more of a rough year for me in regards to the best picture candidates. I didn't like "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "Vice." I didn't connect with "Roma" and I thought "Black Panther" was extremely overrated. While I was quite amused by "The Favourite," I'm also not sure that it really belongs in the best picture category over some of the other films that got snubbed. That leaves us with three movie. "BlacKkKlansman," "Green Book" and "A Star is Born" as the only three nominees this year that I think deserve to be nominees. Of those three, only "BlacKkKlansman" and "A Star is Born" made my top 10 favorite movies of 2018 list. Of those two, I give "BlacKkKlansman" the edge. "A Star is Born" is great, but it suffers slightly from not having quite as much emotional weight as the 1937 and 1954 versions of the movie. Meanwhile, "BlacKkKlansman" is the most important movie of the year, in my opinion. Spike Lee not only shows us how awful the KKK was back then, but also how those same issues are the exact same issues that we still have in today's world. If you haven't seen it yet, I'm calling it necessary viewing, so give it a chance.
And last but not least, we have best picture. As long as I've been predicting the Oscars, my personal favorite film has never won best picture. And that's continuing this year because "Avengers: Infinity War" was not nominated. I wasn't expecting it to be, but still. The streak continues. Regarding who will win, the safe pick here is "Roma." It has all the momentum right now, so I'm playing it safe and predicting it to win. However, what I always get caught up on is the idea of preferential voting, something that none of the precursors do. If you don't know what that is, do a quick Google search because I don't want to spend too much time. But in short, a movie needs to win 50 percent of the vote to win best picture. If that doesn't happen on the first ballot, the movie with the least amount of votes will be removed and any ballot with that movie as the No. 1 choice will revert to the No. 2 movie for the next round of votes. This means that the winner is not necessarily the most liked film, but often the least hated. That leads the door wide open for "Green Book" or even "The Favourite" to sneak in a win since "Roma" is not necessarily the most broadly-appealing film. We even have some voters still hesitant to give a Netflix film best picture, so I'm conflicted here.
Regarding my personal choice, it was more of a rough year for me in regards to the best picture candidates. I didn't like "Bohemian Rhapsody" or "Vice." I didn't connect with "Roma" and I thought "Black Panther" was extremely overrated. While I was quite amused by "The Favourite," I'm also not sure that it really belongs in the best picture category over some of the other films that got snubbed. That leaves us with three movie. "BlacKkKlansman," "Green Book" and "A Star is Born" as the only three nominees this year that I think deserve to be nominees. Of those three, only "BlacKkKlansman" and "A Star is Born" made my top 10 favorite movies of 2018 list. Of those two, I give "BlacKkKlansman" the edge. "A Star is Born" is great, but it suffers slightly from not having quite as much emotional weight as the 1937 and 1954 versions of the movie. Meanwhile, "BlacKkKlansman" is the most important movie of the year, in my opinion. Spike Lee not only shows us how awful the KKK was back then, but also how those same issues are the exact same issues that we still have in today's world. If you haven't seen it yet, I'm calling it necessary viewing, so give it a chance.
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