The 92nd Academy Awards: Predictions

It's Oscar time again! Albeit a bit earlier than I'm used to, which certainly throws me off in several categories. Usually the Oscars are in late February or early March. I'm not sure why they decided to have them in early February this year. Perhaps they just wanted to move the Oscars closer to the actual year they are honoring as opposed to getting too far into the year. For me, though, that throws me off because I usually spend a decent percentage of February catching up on some of the Oscar nominated movies that I missed. I tried to do the same this year, but I simply just ran out of time, especially since January was a bit of a busy month for me. But oh well. It is what it is. Life moves on. Even though said ceremony is a bit earlier than normal, I'm still here making my annual predictions post. As always, I'm also going to make my personal selections as to what I think should win. And that's the part that's going to be affected most by this early date. I'm going to have to abstain in more categories than I would like. As far as the predictions go, I honestly think this is going to be a straightforward year with few surprises. But if I'm wrong and I end up doing terrible with these predictions, all the better. A crazier night is often more exciting. So let's dive into these predictions!

Documentary Short Subject:

Nominations:

- "In the Absense" - Yi Seung & Gary Byung-Seok Kam
- "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) - Carol Dysinger & Elena Andreicheva
- "Life Overtakes Me" - John Haptas & Kristine Samuelson
- "St. Louis Superman" - Smriti Mundhra & Sami Khan
- "Walk Run Cha-Cha" - Laura Nix & Charlotte Sandstedt

Will Win:

- "In the Absense" - Yi Seung & Gary Byung-Seok Kam

Should Win:

- "In the Absense" - Yi Seung & Gary Byung-Seok Kam

With these predictions, we start with the smaller awards and progress forward to the bigger awards. So we start with the shorts. The short film categories I always enjoy, so it's advantageous putting them first because I can raise awareness. If you have some time to watch them, which you should since they're all fairly short, you should do so. With these documentary shorts, I've only seen three of them because "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone" and "St. Louis Superman" were two that I didn't have any access to. So of the three I've seen, "Walk Run Cha-Cha" was kinda boring, while "In the Absence" and "Life Overtakes Me" were both quite educational. I choose "In the Absence" as my personal winner because that's the one that shocked me the most and is thus the one I'm going to tell people to watch. As far as the predicted winner, I went by IMDb score last year and that worked out quite well, so I'm trying that again. With that in mind, "In the Absence" also had the highest score.

Animated Short Film:

Nominations:

- "Dcera (Daughter)" - Daria Kashcheeva
- "Hair Love" - Matthew A. Cherry & Karen Rupert Toliver
- "Kitbull" - Rosana Sullivan & Kathryn Hendrickson
- "Memorable" - Bruno Collet & JeanFrançois Le Corre
- "Sister" - Siqi Song

Will Win:

- "Kitbull" - Rosana Sullivan & Kathryn Hendrickson

Should Win:

- "Hair Love" - Matthew A. Cherry & Karen Rupert Toliver

The only two I've seen in this category are "Kitbull" and "Hair Love." The others are nowhere to be found on the internet at the moment. So it's a bit unfair for me to pick a personal favorite of the bunch. Although the two that I have seen come from Sony Pictures Animation and Pixar and that's what I'm guessing the winner is going to come down to. Kitbull is one of Pixar's SparkShorts and it as a rather adorable and emotional story about a pitbull and a black cat. "Hair Love" was shown at the beginning of "The Angry Birds Movie 2" and it was the only good part of that theatrical experience for me. Both are also on YouTube. I think voters might resonate more with the Pixar short. And it has the highest IMDb score. But "Hair Love" is a really emotional story about a dad, a daughter and their sick mom/wife. It resonated with me a little more than "Kitbull," but both are solid.

Live Action Short Film:

Nominations:

- "Brotherhood" - Meryan Joobeur & Maria Gracia Turgeon
- "Nefta Football Club" - Yves Piat & Damien Megherbi
- "The Neighbor's Window" - Marhsall Curry
- "Saria" - Bryan Buckley & Matt Lefebvre
- "A Sister" - Delphine Girard

Will Win:

- "A Sister" - Delphine Girard

Should Win:

- n/a

This is where I need to practice what I preach. I tell people to watch the shorts, but I haven't seen any of these, even though three of them are on either YouTube or Vimeo. I blame the early Oscar date for why I wasn't able to get around to these. So that makes predicting a bit hard and picking a favorite impossible. With the prediction, I'm going off my IMDb strategy here and predicting "A Sister" to win, even though I'm not quite sure what it's about. Although there's a part of me that wants to break my strategy and go for "Nefta Football Club" because I feel that one is the most accessible to people and also has a good audience reaction. But despite that, I'm sticking with "A Sister."  

International Feature Film:

Nominations:

- "Corpus Christi" - Poland
- "Honeyland" - North Macedonia
- "Les Misérables" - France
- "Pain and Glory" - Spain
- "Parasite" - South Korea

Will Win:

- "Parasite" - South Korea

Should Win:

- n/a

They changed the name of this category from best foreign film to best international feature film this year. In case you were curious. And I'm abstaining from making a pick for my personal favorite because the only one I've seen is "Parasite." Given that "Parasite" is my No. 2 film of the year, the other three would have to be quite phenomenal for me to claim in retrospect that they are better. I do want to see "Les Misérables" and "Pain and Glory," but neither have expanded far enough for me to even give them a chance, which is usually the case with this category. And "Honeyland" is going to come up again in the documentary section. I meant to watch it as it's on Hulu, but I ran out of time. "Parasite" is going to win this award, though. That's a done deal.  

Documentary Feature:

Nominations:

- "American Factory" - Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert & Jeff Reichert
- "The Cave" - Feras Fayyad, Kristine Barford & Sigrid Dyekjaer
- "The Edge of Democracy" - Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris & Tiago Pavan
- "For Sama" - Waad al-Kateab & Edward Watts
- "Honeyland" - Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska & Atanas Georgiev

Will Win:

- "For Sama" - Waad al-Kateab & Edward Watts


Should Win:

- n/a

This category sees the most immediate consequences of the early Oscar date. I didn't get around to watching any of them and they're all accessible except for "The Cave." "Honeyland" is on Hulu. "American Factory" and "The Edge of Democracy" are on Netflix. And "For Sama" is on PBS's YouTube channel. And probably also their main site. I'll get to them. I promise. But not before posting this. As far as my prediction, this one is a bit difficult as none of them jump out at me as a front runner. I can see any of them sneaking out a win. I was going to go for "Honeyland" because of the double nomination. Maybe that's a sign that the Academy really likes it? But then I looked up the reviews of all of them. I wasn't planning on using that as my method of predicting, but the reaction to "For Sama" is through the roof, so that seems like the most obvious selection. And it did win the BAFTA award for best documentary, so that's what I'm going with. Mostly, though, I'm a bit annoyed that "Apollo 11" didn't get nominated. Did the people nominating simply think that it was less of a documentary and more of some archival footage thrown together? That's the only explanation I can come up with. That's a silly reason to not nominate it, but whatever. 

Original Song:

Nominations:

- "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" - Randy Newman ("Toy Story 4")
- "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" - Elton John & Taron Egerton ("Rocketman")
- "I'm Standing with You" - Chrissy Metz ("Breakthrough")
- "Into the Unknown" - Idinia Menzel & AURORA ("Frozen 2")
- "Stand Up" - Cynthia Erivo ("Harriet")

Will Win:

- "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" - Elton John & Taron Egerton ("Rocketman")


Should Win:

- "Stand Up" - Cynthia Erivo ("Harriet")

The Academy is going to give Elton John his Oscar. That seems like a done deal. And I have no problem with that, especially since I want "Rocketman" to get recognition in some way and this was the only category where it got nominated. But when I pick my favorite from this category, I often lean on the song that made the biggest impact in its movie and "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" was only in the end credits. So what do I go with? The "Toy Story 4" song is a bit weird, so that's out. I'm a bit shocked that a little Christian film in "Breakthrough" got anything in terms of nominations, so it's not winning. Solid song, though, and good movie. So that leaves us with two. I love "Into the Unknown," but I'm not sure if it's the song from "Frozen 2" that had the biggest impact. That leaves me with "Stand Up," which is a strange selection since I haven't even seen "Harriet." But YouTube exists. And even if I throw out my philosophy of the song that had the biggest impact, this song is the best song of the bunch. Plus, in listening the the lyrics, I feel that it had to have had a big impact as the message is strong and the singer is the lead actress in the movie. Those who have seen "Harriet," am I right?

Original Score:

Nominations:

- "Joker" - Hildur Guðnadóttir
- "Little Women" - Alexandre Desplat
- "Marriage Story" - Randy Newman
- "1917" - Thomas Newman
- "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" - John Williams

Will Win:

- "Joker" - Hildur Guðnadóttir

Should Win:

- "Joker" - Hildur Guðnadóttir

This one is a tough choice. Hildur Guðnadóttir has been winning all of the precursors here, so I feel this is close to being a done deal, although I wouldn't be surprised if Thomas Newman snuck in a win given that I'm predicting a big night for "1917." As far as a personal choice, the scores for "Marriage Story" and "Little Women" are good, but feel like more traditional movie scores. And "The Rise of Skywalker" score is one of John Williams' least impressive Star Wars scores. With the other two, I've been listening to both of the scores for "Joker" and "1917" as I type up this post and I'm having a hard time choosing. Both scores made a huge impact on their movie and both scores are phenomenal. But I'm leaning ever so slightly to "Joker" here because it is the score that stands out as more unique. As great as the "1917" score is, you could probably plug that into any intense war movie and it would fit well. Hildur Guðnadóttir's score fits more specifically to "Joker." When you play it, I do feel it's one of the scores that will be immediately recognizable as coming from "Joker."  

Visual Effects:

Nominations:

- "Avengers: Endgame" - Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken & Dan Sudick
- "The Irishman" - Pable Helman, Leandro Estebecorna, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser & Stephane Grabli
- "The Lion King" - Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones & Elliot Newman
- "1917" - Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler & Dominic Tuohy
- "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" - Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach & Dominic Tuohy

Will Win:

- "1917" - Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler & Dominic Tuohy

Should Win:

- "The Lion King" - Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones & Elliot Newman

Typing that up just killed me. This is a category with four great movies and to have something as lifeless as the 2019 remake of "The Lion King" beating them would feel wrong. But I have to be objective here. "The Lion King" may have been a bad movie, but those visual effects were absolutely stunning. It looked like a national geographic documentary at times, but it was all done on a computer. That I have to give props to. As far as the winner, it does feel a bit unfair that Avengers and Star Wars are going to walk away empty handed when "1917" steals this award away as this is usually the only category that the Academy gives love to the big blockbusters. But I do think that "1917" is going to sweep a lot of the technical categories.  

Sound Editing:

Nominations:

- "Ford v Ferrari" - Donald Sylvester
- "Joker" - Alan Robert Murray
- "1917" - Oliver Tarney & Rachael Tate
- "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" - Wylie Stateman
- "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" - Matthew Wood & David Acord

Will Win:

- "1917" - Oliver Tarney & Rachael Tate


Should Win:

- "Ford v Ferrari" - Donald Sylvester

These sound categories should go to "Ford v Ferrari" simply because of the racing sequences. I'm not the best judge of sound mixing and sound editing, but when I do my best to think about the sound, "Ford v Ferrari" is the only one that really jumps out to me. But like I said with the previous category, I feel "1917" is going to walk away with most of the technical categories. And I can't get mad at that in this instance. Creating the sound for a war film is one of the more critical elements of the genre.    

Sound Mixing:

Nominations:

- "Ad Astra" - Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson & Mark Ulano
- "Ford v Ferrari" - Pual Massey, David Giammarco & Steven A. Morrow
- "Joker" - Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic & Tod Maitland
- "1917" - Mark Taylor & Stuart Wilson
- "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" - Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler & Mark Ulano

Will Win:

- "1917" - Mark Taylor & Stuart Wilson

Should Win:

- "Ford v Ferrari" - Pual Massey, David Giammarco & Steven A. Morrow

See my comments in the sound editing category. It's a bit redundant typing it up twice. As far as why "Ad Astra" got in on mixing while "The Rise of Skywalker" got in on editing is a bit of a mystery to me. But it's whatever. "Ad Astra" is one of the year's overlooked films, so I'm happy it got something. I think more people should go see it.  

Makeup and Hairstyling:

Nominations:

- "Bombshell" - Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan & Vivian Baker
- "Joker" - Nicki Ledermann & Kay Georgiou
- "Judy" - Jeremy Woodhead
- "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil" - Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten & David White
- "1917" - Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis & Rebecca Cole

Will Win:

- "Bombshell" - Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan & Vivian Baker

Should Win:

- "Bombshell" - Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan & Vivian Baker

I mean, do I even have to have seen "Bombshell" in order to say it deserves this win? If so, I'm sorry. Because that's what I'm doing. I haven't seen the movie, but when I saw the trailers, all the makeup and hair work done on our lead ladies was impressive. I imagine that was a lot of hard work that had to be done everyday on set in order to make the movie work. And I think that the Academy is going to award it for that because otherwise I don't see what else takes this one home. Granted, this is the category that won "Suicide Squad" an Oscar, so you never know. Maybe they'll do something crazy and give this to "Maleficent." Or maybe "1917" takes this, too, in it's sweep of Oscar night. And if you're curious, this is the first year that they went five nominees in this category. I'm not sure why they didn't do that before. 

Film Editing:

Nominations:

- "Ford v Ferrari" - Michael McCusker & Andrew Buckland
- "The Irishman" - Thelma Schoonmaker
- "Jojo Rabbit" - Tom Eagles
- "Joker" - Jeff Groth
- "Parasite" - Yang Jinmo

Will Win:

- "Ford v Ferrari" - Michael McCusker & Andrew Buckland

Should Win:

- "Ford v Ferrari" - Michael McCusker & Andrew Buckland

Why in the name of all things good is "1917" not in this category? Granted, I don't think the filmmakers are going to be feeling left out as I feel it's going to win a lot. But the editing in this movie was pure wizardry. The whole concept of giving the illusion of this being done in one shot is what made the movie. "Birdman" also missed out on a nomination here, too, so maybe the editing branch of the Oscars don't like this technique or think it's not worth editing. That's an absolute shame. But with "1917" out of the way, I have to give this one to "Ford v. Ferrari." The editing work in the race sequences was breathtaking. And I think that's the way the Academy goes, too. I have no idea what else they would give it to. Now sometimes this category reflects on best picture, so if "Parasite" is in for a big night, it could steal this award.     

Costume Design:

Nominations:

- "The Irishman" - Sandy Powell & Christopher Peterson
- "Jojo Rabbit" - Mayes C. Rubeo
- "Joker" - Mark Bridges
- "Little Women" - Jacqueline Duran
- "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" - Robert Richardson

Will Win:

- "Little Women" - Jacqueline Duran


Should Win:

- "Little Women" - Jacqueline Duran

Can this please be the category where we all agree to give "Little Women" an Oscar? Maybe I'm a sucker for period pieces, but there's a lot of work done in dressing these ladies up. Although as I think about it, "Jojo Rabbit" and "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" also had to have good costume work to give the feel of their specific time periods, but I feel more work was probably done each day for "Little Women." And honest question. Why is "Joker" nominated here? There was ONE good costume made. The rest were normal people. Why not take out "Joker" and put in "Rocketman" instead? Dressing up Taron Egerton as Elton John in each sequence was probably the most impressive costume work of the year. "Joker" had 11 nominations total. No one working on that movie would lose any sleep if they had one less.  

Cinematography:

Nominations:

- "The Irishman" - Rodrigo Prieto
- "Joker" - Lawrence Sher
- "The Lighthouse" - Jarin Blaschke
- "1917" - Roger Deakins
- "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" - Robert Richardson

Will Win:

- "1917" - Roger Deakins

Should Win:

- "1917" - Roger Deakins

Need I even elaborate here? If we're not giving "1917" an editing nomination, at least we're making up for it and giving it cinematography. Roger Deakins gets his second Oscar and we go home happy. If I had to pick a second favorite here, "The Lighthouse" is it.  

Production Design:

Nominations:

- "The Irishman" - Bob Shaw & Regina Graves
- "Jojo Rabbit" - Ra Vincent & Nora Sopková
- "1917" - Dennis Gassner & Lee Sandales
- "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" - Barbara Ling & Nancy Haigh
- "Parasite" - Lee Ha Jun & Cho Won Woo

Will Win:

- "1917" - Dennis Gassner & Lee Sandales

Should Win:

- "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" - Barbara Ling & Nancy Haigh

Again, I think "1917" is going to walk away with most of the technical categories. If it doesn't, we might have an upset on our hands when it comes to best picture. This one is certainly deserved. Recreating World War I was an impressive feat. I actually had to sit and ponder for a second for my personal pick because recreating World War I and 1960s Hollywood were both quite impressive. But in this case I'm leaning more towards 1960s Hollywood and giving Tarantino's team my personal vote. With the other three, I'm not sure the sets in the movie really stood out that much in comparison to the aforementioned two.

Animated Feature Film:

Nominations:

- "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" - DreamWorks Animation
- "I Lost My Body" - Xilam Animation
- "Klaus" - Sergio Pablos Animation Studio
- "Missing Link" - LAIKA
- "Toy Story 4" - Pixar Animation Studios

Will Win:

- "Toy Story 4" - Pixar Animation Studios

Should Win:

- "Toy Story 4" - Pixar Animation Studios

I am not confident in predicting this category. All the precursors have been all over the map. And even though Disney and Pixar often do quite well here, the one kryptonite for both studios on Oscar night is the sequels. Even if the sequels are well liked, the Academy often doesn't reward them. And I think it would be great if "Klaus" or "Missing Link" walked away with an Oscar in an upset. And I think it's highly likely that it happens. But the fact that "Frozen 2" completely missed out on a nomination I think gave this one to "Toy Story 4" because all the big Disney voters in the Academy no longer had to be split in their vote. They can all team together to give "Toy Story 4" the Oscar. As far as my personal choice, "Toy Story 4" was my favorite animated movie of the year and was the top honorable mention when it came to my end of year list. I was the biggest and most stubborn doubter leading up to its release. But it turned out to be the Toy Story finale that I didn't know I needed.   

Adapted Screenplay:

Nominations:

- "The Irishman" - Steven Zaillian
- "Jojo Rabbit" - Taika Waititi
- "Joker" - Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
- "Little Women" - Greta Gerwig
- "The Two Popes" - Anthony McCarten

Will Win:

- "Jojo Rabbit" - Taika Waititi

Should Win:

- "Jojo Rabbit" - Taika Waititi

I sometimes get confused with this category. Is it best adaptation of the source material or is it the best screenplay that just happened to be adapted? I always lean towards the latter. In which case, it's not about the movie itself. It's about the movie that had the best screenplay. And even though I put th lieks of "Joker" and "Little Women" higher on my end of year list, the idea behind "Jojo Rabbit" was absolutely genius. Who would've thunk that doing a comedy that makes light of Hitler and Nazi Germany would work so well? But lest you think that's all there is to it, the journey that Jojo goes through in thinking that Nazis are the greatest ever to learning the truth about them is quite brilliant. And the movie's commitment to following his point of view is magical. Thus of course I have to pick it as the best screenplay in this category. And it's been winning all the major precursors, so I feel quite confident in my selection. If there's a spoiler here it's Greta Gerwig with "Little Women." 

Original Screenplay:

Nominations:

- "Knives Out" - Rian Johnson
- "Marriage Story" - Noah Baumbach
- "1917" - Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
- "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" - Quentin Tarantino
- "Parasite" - Bong Joon Ho & Han Jin Won

Will Win:

- "Parasite" - Bong Joon Ho & Han Jin Won

Should Win:

- "Parasite" - Bong Joon Ho & Han Jin Won

Another solid list of screenplays here. I like all of these. The screenplays in each of these movies go a long way in making the final product work. But in dissecting this category, "Parasite" was just off the walls bonkers. The concept of doing a socially relevant heist film was great. But the directions the movie goes in the final half had me absolutely stunned. So I think it's by far the best screenplay and I think this is where the Academy gives Bong Joon Ho his Oscar. If there's a spoiler here, I think it would go to Tarantino. Although if Rian Johnson took it for "Knives Out," I would love that.  

Actress in a Supporting Role:

Nominations:

- Kathy Bates - "Richard Jewell"
- Laura Dern - "Marriage Story"
- Scarlett Johansson - "Jojo Rabbit"
- Florence Pugh - "Little Women"
- Margot Robbie - "Bombshell"

Will Win:

- Laura Dern - "Marriage Story"

Should Win:

- Scarlett Johansson - "Jojo Rabbit"

The acting categories I think are going to be pretty straight forward here. Laura Dern has been winning everything up to this point and I don't think there's much of a chance that there's an upset. But the fun part of this conversation is my personal selection because there's four excellent performances here. And I'm sure there's also a fifth with Margot Robbie. She's always great. But I haven't seen "Bombshell." I'm really happy that Kathy Bates got in because "Richard Jewell" was great and the best actor category was too crowded to put in Paul Walter Hauser. Florence Pugh also had a great year with three solid performances via "Fighting with My Family," "Midsommar" and "Little Women." In the latter, she was a great highlight and I wasn't sure if she was getting in, so I'm happy that she did. But my favorite performance here comes down to the Laura Dern and Scar-Jo. And although Laura Dern was fantastic in "Marriage Story," and I'm glad we'll be honoring the movie is some way, she was such an awful character in terms of how despicable she was that I think I learn more towards Scar-Jo giving a performance that left more of an impact for me. It's a quiet and a subtle performance, but it's honestly one of her best. And even when she's not in the movie, she's making a huge impact. 

Actor in a Supporting Role:

Nominations:

- Tom Hanks - "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"
- Anthony Hopkins - "The Two Popes"
- Al Pacino - "The Irishman"
- Joe Pesci - "The Irishman"
- Brad Pitt - "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood"

Will Win:

- Brad Pitt - "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood"


Should Win:

- Al Pacino - "The Irishman"

This category is tough to pick a favorite because I'm honestly not the biggest fan of these performances. I don't think there's a performance that screams Oscar win, especially since there were a lot of other performances that would've been great, like Sam Rockwell for "Richard Jewell." Brad Pitt is, of course, winning this Oscar. And I'm happy about that. He's one of today's legendary actors and this will be his first Oscar win for acting. But it's between him and Al Pacino for my favorites in the category. Honestly, both of them are essentially playing themselves in their respectively films. But I think there's a slight bit more energy and passion from Al Pacino, which is why he's my choice.

Actress in a Leading Role:

Nominations:

- Cynthia Erivo - "Harriet"
- Scarlett Johansson - "Marriage Story"
- Saoirse Ronan - "Little Women"
- Charlize Theron - "Bombshell"
- Renée Zellweger - "Judy"

Will Win:

- Renée Zellweger - "Judy"

Should Win:

- Saoirse Ronan - "Little Women"

This is another category wherein the early Oscars ceremony killed me. I know that Renée Zellweger is winning. She's been sweeping the board here. But I have not seen three of these movies, that being "Judy," "Harriet" and "Bombshell." I was going to at least watch "Judy" and "Harriet" this week. But again, I ran out of time. So I'm picking between Scar-Jo and Saoirse. Although honestly, knowing my personal history, I tend to lean more towards acting performances wherein a historical figure is perfectly portrayed. So had I been diligent, I think I may have gone with Renée Zellweger. But between the two I have seen, I lean ever so slightly towards Saoirse. She's honestly one of my favorite actresses today and she gives a passionate, powerful and relevant performance in "Little Women." So did Scar-Jo in "Marriage Story." But in that movie, I think I'd say Adam Driver is the one that made the biggest impact on me. And since Scar-Jo is a double nominee this year, I gave her the Oscar for "Jojo," so it's love across the board here. Although the bigger story here is why the frack did Lupita Nyongo not get in for "Us"? That was easily the best performance by an actress this year.  

Actor in a Leading Role:

Nominations:

- Antonio Banderas - "Pain and Glory"
- Leonardo DiCaprio - "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood"
- Adam Driver - "Marriage Story"
- Joaquin Phoenix - "Joker"
- Jonathan Pryce - "The Two Popes"

Will Win:

- Joaquin Phoenix - "Joker"

Should Win:

- Joaquin Phoenix - "Joker"

If we didn't live in a world where Joaquin Phoenix's performance as Joker wasn't a part of this category, this would be a tough one to pick. There's a huge part of me that wants Adam Driver to win an Oscar. And Leo was also great, as always. Antonio Banderas I'm sure was great, too, but "Pain and Glory" didn't expand fast enough for me to see it. I do like the sentiment of him finally getting an Oscar. He's done so many great things that I was surprised to learn that this was his very first. So I can accept that. Jonathan Pryce did fine in "The Two Popes," but with so many great options in this category, he might've been 20th on my personal list. I wanted Adam Sandler to get in for "Uncut Gems" and/or Taron Egerton for "Rocketman." But all of that is moot both in terms of predictions and in personal picks. Joaquin Phoenix gave a legendary performance in "Joker" and I'm glad that he's been unanimously selected for this category.  

Directing:

Nominations:

- Martin Scorsese - "The Irishman"
- Todd Phillips - "Joker"
- Sam Mendes - "1917"
- Quentin Terantino - "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood"
- Bong Joon Ho - "Parasite"

Will Win:

- Sam Mendes - "1917"

Should Win:

- Bong Joon Ho - "Parasite"

I often have a tough time judging the directing of a movie because most of that work is behind the scenes stuff that you aren't always privy to as an audience. But if I do my best anyways, I think "Parasite" had a lot more moving pieces that required the director's hands on work to make it all come together. With Martin Scorsese, Todd Phillips and Quentin Tarantino, I feel we had actors doing a big portion of the heavy lifting to make those movies work. And with "1917," it was a lot of the technical marvels that made it special. Which is why I lean towards Bong Joon Ho as my personal choice. But I think all five did great work in their movies, so I won't be upset at whoever wins. But based on the buzz I'm hearing, this seems like it's coming down to Sam Mendes and Bong Joon Ho, with Mendes as the front runner. But I think the Academy is going to give Bong Joon Ho the Oscar for best original screenplay, which is why I'm saying Sam Mendes gets best director. A split could happen, though.

Best Picture:

Nominations:

- "Ford v Ferrari" - 20th Century Fox
- "The Irishman" - Netflix
- "Jojo Rabbit" - Fox Searchlight Pictures
- "Joker" - Warner Bros.
- "Little Women" - Columbia Pictures
- "Marriage Story" - Netflix
- "1917" - Universal Pictures
- "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" - Columbia Pictures
- "Parasite" - NEON

Will Win:

- "1917" - Universal Pictures

Should Win:

- "Joker" - Warner Bros.

In terms of all of these best picture nominees, I honestly think this is one of the best years for this category in recent memory. There's nine nominees and seven of them made my top 10 list of the year. In all of the years that I've done top 10 lists, which dates back to 2011, I've never been so in sync with the Academy. And I'm not sure if this will ever be repeated. So really, I'm happy with any of these movies winning best picture. As far as my prediction goes, I just think "1917" has all of the momentum right now and it's been winning most of the important precursors. When it comes to the best picture category at the Oscars, the voting is done my preferential ballot, which means it's often less about the movie that people love the most, but rather the one that they hate the least. And I think that also helps "1917" because it seems like the safest choice. With every one of the others, I could come up with a reason as to why people wouldn't like that. That's harder to do with "1917." At this point, I think "Parasite" is the spoiler with an off chance that "Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood" gets the win. The other six I think are out of the race. Given that I'm picking "1917," don't be surprised if "Parasite" pulls it off because I've actually been wrong on my best picture prediction for several years straight. As far as my personal choice, "Joker" was my favorite movie of the year. So do I really need to do any elaborating there? I think that pick is pretty straightforward.   

Movie Preview: February 2020

The first month of the new decade is in the books and it was a bit of a doozie. At least for most of the new arrivals. "Bad Boys for Life" was the one exception as it broke out in a big way with the second largest January weekend ever, behind only "American Sniper." It totaled $135.6 million in January alone and will end up with a lot more than that before its run is over. Outside that, there were four horror releases that were all almost dead on arrival, "Dolittle" earned just $50 million domestically in January despite a reported $175 million production budget, while "The Rhythm Section" set the record for worst opening weekend ever for a movie to open in at least 3,000 theaters. Although as is often the case for Januaries, holdovers from the previous year dominated, with "1917," "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" and "Jumanji: The Next Level" being main contributors in that category, leading the month to a respectable $897 million total. And now as we turn the corner to February, 2020 looks like it's going to finally kick into gear with a few notable titles hitting theaters this month before things really take off starting in March and moving consistently big throughout the summer. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's stop here and take a close look at February.

February 7th - 9th-

First up is what's most likely going to be the biggest hit of the month with DC's Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). After a bit of a rocky start to DC's attempted cinematic universe, which culminated in the glorious failure of the "Justice League" movie, DC has actually had a solid run of late when they decided to give up on this idea of copying Marvel and instead focus on simply making good, individual movies. What they've sacrificed in the process is an overarching timeline that now makes no sense, especially with Jared Leto's Joker making a big offscreen presence in "Birds of Prey" as the movie sees Harley Quinn dealing with her separation from him. This coming only a few months after Joaquin Phoenix's new Joker was introduced in October. So DC has two Jokers running around somewhere. But if the quality of the movies is strong, does the consistency across the timeline really matter? For "Birds of Prey," Margot Robbie returns as Harley Quinn, while notable additions include Mary Elizabeth Winstead as The Huntress and Jurnee Smollett-Ball as Black Canary, with Ewan McGregor playing the villainous Black Mask. The movie is expected to open around $50 million, which is about on par with last year's "Shazam!"

February 14th - 17th-

After only one new wide release during the fist weekend of February, the second weekend of February will have three new wide releases all hoping to take advantage of the double holiday weekend with Valentine’s Day on Friday and President’s Day on Monday. Leading the way will be the arrival of the live-action adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s been quite the unique production for this movie as it was originally on the calendar for November 2019. However, after the initial trailer was released in May 2019 and met with widespread hatred, director Jeff Fowler announced that they have listened to the response and postponed the movie in order to completely redesign Sonic. Upon the release of the redesigned trailer a few months later, fans generally speaking seemed to be impressed with the new design. All of this might ultimately help Sonic at the box office. Not only does the movie get avoid competing with the likes of “Frozen 2” at the November box office, but the market is currently wide open for the family market in part due to the underperformance of “Dolittle” in January. At about this exact time two years ago, “Peter Rabbit” debuted to $25 million, which seems like a fair mark for Sonic. Although some reports say this could pop as high as $40+ million.

As previously mentioned, January was a rough month for the horror genre as it was overstuffed with four horror movies, all of which failed miserably, partially due to the lack of quality and partially due to them cannibalizing each other. However, despite this, 2020 is not done trying as the fifth horror movie of the year, that of Fantasy Island, will look to buck this trend. Despite the recently sour trend being a bad omen for “Fantasy Island, there are a few things in this movie’s favor that could help it out. First off, there is some brand name recognition as this is based off of the 1970s TV series of the same name that had a similar concept. People would be brought to a mysterious island where they would granted a wish of their choice, which seems all fine and dandy until they realize all their wishes are being twisted into becoming more of a nightmare than a dream come true. In addition to said brand name recognition, this is also a horror movie produced by Blumhouse, which is a studio that has a habit of releasing a lot of low-budget horror movies to a good profit. Said budget of “Fantasy Island” is only $7 million, meaning the bar here for success is quite low. Finally, the movie stars Michael Pena as the mysterious Mr. Roarke, which adds some star power.

And finally, hoping to specifically cash in on date night for Valentine’s Day on Friday will be The Photograph. The plot of this movie is pretty straightforward. It follows the estranged daughter of a famous photographer who falls in love with the journalist assigned to cover her late mother. Those wanting to watch two people fall in love on Valentine’s Day have the potential to swarm in and see this romance drama, especially the teenage girl crowd. The two lovers are played by Issa Rae (“Little,” “The Hate U Give”) and Lakeith Stanfield (“Straight Outta Compton,” “Sorry to Bother You”), two fairly well known up-and-coming stars. Now despite this being a well-timed movie with two likable lead stars, the marketing of the movie hasn’t necessarily been through the roof, nor does the excitement level seem to be too high. There’s been plenty of examples of huge Valentine’s Day romance films. This does not look to be one of them. Instead, one might look to director Stella Meghie’s 2017 film “Everything, Everything,” which opened to $11. 7 million. Granted, that movie opened in May and not on Valentine’s Day,” but that still might be around the same mark that “The Photograph” is look at. Best case scenario might be an opening close to $15 million for the three-day.

February 21st - 23rd-

After what could be a busy double holiday weekend in the second weekend of February, the third weekend of February should be a bit more quiet, giving whatever wins the previous weekend a chance to repeat. But of our two newcomers, Disney and Fox's The Call of the Wild should comfortably come out on top, landing somewhere in the top five. We've had a lot of dog movies in the past few years, but this one does seem a bit different as it's not a movie narrated by a dog. It's just simply a movie about a man and his dog, with Harrison Ford being said man. "The Call of the Wild" is, of course, based on the book written by Jack London, which was published in 1903 and is considered classic literature. The book has been adapted numerous times, with film adaptations coming in 1923, 1935, 1972 and 1997. The original novel follows a dog named Buck who is stolen from his California home and sold into service as a sled dog in Alaska. This takes place in the 1890s during the Klondike Gold Rush where sled dogs were in high demand. How closely this specific adaptation follows the novel remains to be seen, but we are showcased plenty of scenes with Harrison Ford and the dog out in the wild trying to survive. It's expected to open to about $10-15 million.

The other movie of the weekend is horror movie No. 6 of the year with Brahms: The Boy II. Unlike horror movie No. 5 and the upcoming horror movie No. 7 that we'll get to in a bit, "The Boy II" doesn't look to be quite as promising. Its predecessor was the 2016 movie "The Boy," which opened in January of that year to just $10.8 million. It wound up making $35.8 million domestically and $64.1 million worldwide on a budget of just $10 million, so it pulled a decent profit. However, that wasn't the type of profit that screams sequel, so it's a bit curious that they came up with one anyways and took four years to get it released. That's not a good formula for success when it comes to horror sequels. To add to the trouble, "The Boy II" has been pushed around the schedule quite a bit before finally settling here in February 2020. What's worse is that STX didn't release the trailer until early January. Based on the commentary in the trailer, there also seems to be a bit of confusion as to why the trailer seems to be leaning so heavily on a supernatural doll when, SPOILER ALERT, "The Boy" was a movie where a man in the wall was secretly moving the doll around. Said man was named Brahms, hence the title here. Needless to say, this is probably not going to do super well.

February 28th - March 1st-

Yes. Horror movie No. 7 on the year. At least in terms of wide releases. This latest horror movie is The Invisible Man and it is also the only wide release of the final weekend of February, which dips into March a bit. Despite being the seventh horror movie of the year, "The Invisible Man" could arguably be called the first high profile horror movie as the story behind this movie stems all the way back to 1933. Although perhaps not quite as popular as titles like "Dracula" or "Frankenstein," "The Invisible Man" was nevertheless one of Universal's original monster movies. The reason why a modern remake currently exists is partially due to Universal's recent attempt to set up their new Dark Universe. They had all sorts of plans to remake old monster movies, but all of that got thrown in the trash when Tom Cruise's "The Mummy" failed spectacularly. However, Jason Blum stepped in and said he wanted to do this one, so here we are. This 2020 remake is a modern take on the story with Leigh Whannell, director of 2018's "Upgrade," helming the project. Trailer reaction has led to strong buzz that suggests this could be a breakout hit that opens with at least $20 million. Considering the production budget is just $9 million, that would be great news for Universal.

Sundance 2020 Recap

The month of January is now in the rear view mirror and you may have noticed the lack of January movie reviews on this blog. In fact, the only movies I even saw in a regular theater were "1917" and "Just Mercy," two 2019 releases that were expansions, not new releases. That means I didn't see any new January releases. But don't worry, it's not because I'm slacking. Yes, it's true that there was a huge lack of quality releases, but I was mostly preoccupied by the Sundance Film Festival. As such, I didn't get around to "Bad Boys for Life," "Dolittle," "The Gentlemen," or any of the four horror movies that were released. And I don't really know if or when I will. Regarding Sundance, I've lived most of my life within an hour of the festival, yet never even went to a single showing prior to this year, which is a huge injustice. My friend and I tried to remedy that last year, but failed epically. So we learned from the experience and remedied it this year, meaning I have four movies that I saw that I want to talk about. Also, since I researched a whole ton of Sundance films in order to figure out which ones I wanted to see, I do want to quickly mention a handful that I didn't get tickets for that I am looking forward to seeing whenever they get their regular theatrical or streaming releases.

WORTH

The first of four movies is honestly the one that I'm the least ecstatic about, but it's still a fairly interesting film that gives a perspective on 9/11 that I hadn't considered. It tells the story of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and all the controversies surrounding it when Kenneth Feindberg first set it up. Michael Keaton stars as Feindberg, with Amy Ryan playing one the people who helped him out and Stanley Tucci playing perhaps his biggest critic. All three of these people do an excellent job in their roles, yet it's Stanley Tucci that was the standout for me. He's adamantly against everything Feindberg is setting up, yet his approach is so calm and civil that catches everyone off guard, both the characters in the movie and me watching the movie. I think the biggest issue for me here is that the movie drags on quite a bit as it tries to fill two hours of run time, despite the content being better suited for a 45-60 minute documentary instead of a feature-length drama, so a lot of the sequences felt a bit repetitive. But it does also touch on the interesting subject of what the value of life is. Is it even morally right to assign a number value? Personally I'm used to stuff like life insurance and whatnot, so I didn't get the huge fuss. But the questions raised were still provocative. 

KAJILLIONAIRE 

This here was the highlight of my Sundance experience. It's funny, though. After my initial research, there was a reason why I put this on my list, but after we got the tickets and were waiting in line, I forgot what that reason was. Given that no reviews to these movies are available prior to their release here, I had literally no idea what I was getting myself into. And after seeing the movie, I have no idea how to properly describe this to you. The movie is just so wacky and bizarre that giving a brief summary doesn't do it justice. The initial setup involves a family of three who live by committing small heists and scams just to get by. All three are somewhat disconnected from reality in terms of their mental state. From that initial setup, the movie goes in so many strange directions, none of which I saw coming. Yet I loved every second of it as I was hysterically laughing the entire time. With this type of summary, "Parasite" is actually the best comparison I can come up with, although it is more comedy and less thriller, making something like "Napoleon Dynamite" another good comparison. The wackiness is infectious and there's enough heart in there to make you actually care. A24 purchased the rights to this. As soon as they release this, I will let you all know.

RELIC

If you've ever watched "The Babadook," this next film is the one you need to see. "The Babadook" is an excellent horror film because it's not just a creepy and intense ride, but it also has a lot to say about mental illness. Casual audiences complained about "The Babadook" not being scary enough or not revealing the monster. But I claim anyone who says that completely missed the whole point. I bring up "The Babadook" here because "Relic" is a horror film that follows the exact same formula. It's about a mother and daughter visiting their grandmother, who is not well. This old lady is both charming and sweet, yet extremely scary and crazy when she loses it. While the sequences of her chasing the two younger girls around the house do make for some classic horror sequences as it also combines reality with the supernatural, the movie is essentially a metaphor for dementia, meaning the themes here will last a lot longer than your average horror film if you give yourself enough time to digest it. The movie does leave some things open to interpretation, but lucky for me the director walked on stage afterwards and talked all about her movie, which helped make everything click. Gothic horror and some Eastern, Asian horror were some of her influences.

LOST GIRLS

Last but not least, the final movie I saw was perhaps the one I was most looking forward to. When I created my list of movies I wanted to see, this was at the top of the list and I was happy that we got tickets to it as it seemed right up my alley. The movie is a crime thriller focusing on the true story of the Long Island serial killer, a yet to be apprehended (or even identified) killer who preyed mainly on female prostitutes over a span of nearly 20 years from 1996 to the mid-2010s. What makes this movie fascinating, and quite somber, is that it tells the story from the perspective of the families who are missing their daughters/sisters. A huge injustice took place in this investigation because law enforcement didn't seem to care too much due to the victims being prostitutes. Yet the movie attempts to show that, even though perhaps these girls' lifestyles aren't the greatest, they are still human beings with families and lives who deserved better. In the previous three showings I saw, a loud round of applause ensued when the credits rolled. With "Lost Girls," no such applause took place because we were all in stunned silence with how sad and somber this is, which is a powerful sentiment in its own right. Netflix has the rights to this one and they will be releasing it in the U.S. on March 13.

OTHER MOVIES TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

As I said in my introduction, in addition to talking about the four movies I saw, I also wanted to bring up some movies that I didn't see that I am looking forward to. There were 118 movies that played, making it impossible to see all of them, even if I was rich enough to do so. When you choose to see a Sundance movie, you're taking a big chance because you don't know which movies are the ones to see. I think my friend and I made four good selections, especially with "Kajillionaire," but here are some other ones that I will anxiously waiting their release.

- "Minari" -- This one wasn't on my radar at all, but it won the Grand Jury Prize, Sundance's top award, so it is on my radar now.

- "Promising Young Woman" -- This is the movie that I thought was going to win the Grand Jury Prize because this is the movie I was hearing the most buzz from. This is a thriller starring Carey Mulligan that apparently has a lot of crazy twists or some sort of shocking events that had audiences floored. So it now has my attention.

- "Palm Springs" -- This is a comedy led by Andy Samberg that broke the record for biggest purchase out of Sundance... by 69 cents. $17,500,000.69 was the official price tag. The movie is also a time loop movie surrounding a wedding. I'm a sucker for that type of movie. And this seems like a unique take on it with the romcom time loop angle.

- "Save Yourselves!" -- A movie about a couple who decide to disconnect from the world and ditch their phones for a weekend, causing them to completely miss an alien invasion that happens. That premise alone is crazy enough for me to be intrigued. 

- "Shirley" -- I'm not exactly sure what this movie is or the genre it belongs in, but the premise involves a couple who moves in with a 1900s horror and mystery writer named Shirley Jackson, intending on starting a new life, only to be caught in a psycho-drama that inspires her next novel.

- "Zola" -- A movie that is based on a tweet thread that went viral. That right there is enough to grab my attention as that's not often a source for movies. But said tweet thread was 148 tweets long and was about this girl's trip she took in Florida with a stripper named a stripper named Jessica. I need to make sure the content is safe enough before jumping right in, but I'm intrigued by the idea and the source material it came from.

- "Ironbark" -- This was a movie on the top of our lists when we were researching and planning out, perhaps because of the presence of Benedict Cumberbatch. It was also one that was really hard to get tickets to, which is part of the reason why we didn't see it. So the popularity factor seemed positive. It's also a true story about a man who helped the CIA penetrate the Soviet nuclear program during the Cold War, so there's potential there.

- "Tesla" -- A biopic of Nicola Tesla. Biopics can go either way, but this has a good cast, led by Ethan Hawke in the lead role and is currently at 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. That's an extremely early score, but it suggests that the reaction was positive.

- "Amulet" -- My friend and I knew that we wanted to see a horror film given how many good ones have come out of Sundance. I think we made an excellent choice with "Relic," but "Amulet" seemed to be the other horror film that was getting strong buzz, so it's on my radar whenever it comes out.

- "Bad Hair" -- This movie is another horror film we considered, although this one is more of a horror comedy about someone whose hair is haunted. I broke up in laughter when I read that premise and wanted to see it right away. The reaction was mixed, but the buzz was that it's a self-aware, B-movie type of horror film. So it makes sense that not everyone is on board.

- "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" -- This is a movie that is coming to theaters pretty quickly. Focus Features is releasing it on March 13. It's about two teenage cousins who embark on a journey to New York City following an unplanned pregnancy. Reading the premise made me think this could go either way in terms of quality, which is why we didn't pursue getting tickets, but so far it's among the large handful of Sundance films that have an early 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, so it's looking quite positive at the moment.

- "The 40-Year-Old Version" -- This will be the last movie I bring up, but there's obviously a lot more. Feel free to search them out on your own and get excited for their releases. In regards to "The 40-Year-Old Version," it's about a New York playwright who becomes a rapper at age 40. It also took home the award for best directing at Sundance and also carries a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment, so that tells me it's worth looking out for.

DrogeMiester's Top 10 BEST Movies of 2019

We have come to the end of another year, which means it's time to reveal my favorite list I do each year. My personal favorite movies of the year. No room for objectivity here. There's no system or formula for how I rank these. This is just my completely biased, subjective favorites. And as I've said when I've come to the end of the last several years, this list was hard to make because there were so many good movies that came out. Although what made this year a bit unique is that it was the last three months where we got bombarded with a whole ton of quality movies. Prior to October, I had only given out one perfect score and things were seeming like they were pretty quiet. There were still plenty of good movies from the first nine months, but the flood gates opened in the final three months and it almost became too much for me to handle. Because of this, there were a lot of unfortunate movies that got left on the chopping block. You'll be quite shocked at some choices that I was raving about that didn't make it. There were around 50 movies I considered for this list and well over 25 that deserved a spot in the top 10. My list of honorable mentions would make a solid top 10 on its own right. But there could only be 10 and after much deliberation, here are those final 10.

10- Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

The Academy loves movies about movies, which is why "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" walked away with 10 Oscar nominations and is one of the two or three movies with a legit shot at actually winning best picture on February 9. And I will admit that the retro 60s Hollywood vibe was rather entertaining, led by great performances from Leo and Brad Pitt, the latter of whom is about to win an Oscar for essentially being himself in a movie, which I'm cool with. But despite all this, it's not the retro 60's Hollywood stuff that caused me to fall in love with this. It's a bit of a hard thing to describe without it sounding a bit strange, but I have a fascination with studying serial killers and "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" is all about the Manson Family. The more you know about them and what they did in the late 60s, the better this experience will be. I've talked to a lot of people who were confused about why Brad Pitt was hanging out with hippies or who Sharon Tate even was and thus a large portion of this movie was lost on them. Meanwhile, I was sitting back in my chair, loving every minute of it. I was more than a bit nervous about how Tarantino was going to handle all of this, but the final 30 minutes of this movie was absolutely phenomenal and even therapeutic.

9- Rocketman

After getting burned hard by "Bohemian Rhapsody" in late 2018, I was not ready for "Rocketman." Even when the movie started getting a lot of hype, I wasn't sold because "Bohemian Rhapsody" just got nominated for best picture and that movie was a smelly pile of overrated junk. Yet it didn't take me long at all to be completely won over by "Rocketman." It had nothing to do with any sort of attachment I had to Elton John, which is honestly not very much. I know and love Queen a whole lot more. I think what it comes down to here is narrative structure. This wasn't some sort of generic highlight reel of Elton John's life. This was a fascinating film with a lot of depth and emotion. It's a movie where you can know nothing about Elton John and walk out being very moved as the movie chooses to focus on specific themes from Elton John's life rather than choosing to do a two hour synopsis of everything that happened to happen. It's also one of the most entertaining and unique films I've seen. Yes, it is a musical biopic, but it's also equally a musical fantasy as well as a straight-up musical at times. In a strange way, it reminded me more of "Mama Mia!" than "Bohemian Rhapsody" as it built a musical around the songs. Elton John just happened to be the subject matter.

8- Shazam!

After a rough start to the DCEU where DC spent their entire focus trying to copy Marvel rather than do their own thing, DC is now on fire. The key moment here is when DC stopped trying to set up a cinematic universe and started simply making movies. Yes, their timeline is now all sorts of screwed up, but I don't even care because the individual movies are stellar. I hope they continue to simply hire directors who have a vision to make individual movies and are given the creative freedom to do so. Because then we get wildly entertaining movies like "Shazam!," a character whose history is too long and complicated for me to go over right now, but is nevertheless one of the earliest superheros created. And this film adaptation is absolutely hilarious, led by an excellent performance from Zachary Levi, who perfectly encapsulates what it would feel like if a young teenager was given superhero powers and could transform into the body of an adult male in the process. With that comes a lot of honesty with Billy Batson acting in a very immature way as he's forced to learn the hard way what life is like and what his priorities should be like. The movie cuts deep when it delves into themes of family, making it emotional powerful while also being off-the-wall hilarious.

7- Avengers: Endgame

You all know that "Avengers: Endgame" was going to be on this list. The big surprise here is how high it isn't. "Avengers: Infinity War" was easily my favorite movie of 2018 and this finale was the perfect cap to a 10-year, 22-movie story arc with this Infinity Saga. "Avengers: Endgame" is the ultimate fan experience as it rewards people like me, and thousands of others, who have been on the bandwagon from day one. Because of this, the movie has some of the best moments in cinema history, or at least in comic book movie history, with the likes of the "Avengers Assemble!" moment, Iron Man's heroics and Steve Rogers' dance. It also gave us some emotional farewells to characters we have come to absolutely love. But in ranking this movie among the movies of 2019, I had a hard time placing it because I'm not ranking and rewarding the entire Infinity Saga. I didn't want to do a lifetime achievement award. I'm just ranking the final movie in said saga. And if I'm being bluntly honest, it's not as polished as an individual movie as the likes of "Avengers: Infinity War" or even "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" or the original "Avengers." It's a very long movie that can drag at times and has no idea how to properly do time travel. But it still belongs on this list.

6- Jojo Rabbit

On the surface it might seem like a movie that makes light of Hitler and Nazi Germany is inappropriate and uncalled for. Which is why I was a bit skeptical going in because I didn't even know what this movie was. Now I'm no German or Jew, but in my American perspective, I think Taika Waititi has created one of the most genius pieces of film that approaches the subject of Nazi Germany. Obviously Hitler was one of the worst men to walk this Earth, but would a brainwashed 10-year-old boy know that? The reason why this movie is so genius is that it looks at Nazi Germany from the perspective of this young boy who has been raised up thinking that Nazis are the good guys and Hitler is the ultimate hero. And instead of taking a dark and dreary tone like most Nazi Germany movies,  the tone in this movie parallels that of what the boy is going through. It's not afraid to be lighthearted and comedic when the boy thinks Hitler is his hero. But Taika Waititi has proven time and again that he knows how to properly shift tones drastically. When our young protagonist takes an honest does or reality, the movie takes a dagger and jabs it into the hearts of everyone watching this movie as it suddenly becomes one of the most heart-wrenching films of the year.

5- Little Women 

If you had told me at the beginning of 2019 that I would end up putting "Little Women" ahead of "Avengers: Endgame" on this year-end list, I would tell you... duh. This is Gretta freaking Gerwig and she's brought my girl Saoirse Ronan along with her yet again. The combination of the two elevated the 2017 film "Lady Bird" above every movie that year in my eyes. So of course I was excited for this follow-up. And I knew absolutely nothing about "Little Women" as I had not read the book or seen any of the 10,000 adaptations. And as of this moment, this is still the only "Little Women" exposure I've had, but it was a phenomenal ride. I saw this in a sold-out screen wherein 99 percent of the people were female and they were all sobbing the entire time. And so was I along with them. Based on this movie and this movie alone, "Little Women" is not a girly chick flick about four sisters searching for their husbands. It's a movie about life wherein Greta juxtaposes the fantasies of childhood with the reality of adulthood in a beautifully edited and directed film that takes the two timelines and scrambles them together in a way that squeezes out every drop of emotion. With "Lady Bird" and "Little Women," Greta has proven herself to be a powerful force to be reckoned with.

4- Marriage Story

Scarlett Johansson had quite the year in 2019. Without giving too much away, between this, "Avengers: Endgame" and "Jojo Rabbit," let's just say I'm ready for Scar-Jo to be in a movie where she's given a happily ever after. And that's absolutely not the case here in "Marriage Story" as this is one of the most traumatizing films of the year. Starring right alongside Scar-Jo is Adam Driver himself and the two of them are the absolute perfect couple who know and love each other so well. And I wanted nothing more than for them to talk things out and become a happy family. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I like marriages to work out. I want people to be happy, especially when their oozing in positive chemistry. But that's just not the reality of life sometimes and "Marriage Story" is one of those films that decides to tread down the honest and brutal part of life as Adam Driver and Scar-Jo are going through a bitter divorce. Now I haven't gone through a divorce before. I haven't even done the marriage thing yet. But I imagine that this might be a bit too real for those who have gone through a divorce. Even without that experience, I finished this movie feeling absolutely shaken. I was a complete emotional wreck. For accomplishing that, of course I give this major props.

3- 1917

Here's a movie that exploded onto the scene last second. Due to it getting a limited release in December, I didn't even see this until the year was already 2020 and it was an absolute surreal experience. There's been nearly a countless number of war films, but "1917" immediately puts itself into the top echelon of this genre as it delivers a surreal experience like none other. There's been a few movies that have used the camera trick of stitching scenes together to give the illusion that it was filmed in one shot, but "1917" might be the most effective use of this as doing so immediately inserts the audience into the film. You're not just watching these two young men sneak their way through enemy territory during World War I to deliver an important message, you're walking along with them in a movie that feels like it's done in virtual reality. And that adds a whole new level to the horrors of war, especially when it comes to how brutal that first world war was. But "1917" is not only a movie with wizardry camera work, magical editing and stunning cinematography, it's also a movie that gives you a deep emotional connection to our two leads, which I think is a key element to a successful war film. All in all, this is a movie that deserves to be seen. Preferably on the biggest screen possible.

2- Parasite

When Bong Joon Ho, director of "Parasite," won the award for best foreign language film at the Golden Globes, he gave a speech that I think is one of the most memorable speeches I've heard at an awards show. And his message is very simple. If you can overcome the one-inch barrier of subtitles, then you'll be introduced to a whole new world of opportunity when it comes to cinema. As crazy as it may seem, the United States isn't the only country making movies. If you're sick of that status quo here, then you need to go outside your comfort zone and watch some of these foreign films. If you absolutely refuse to read subtitles, one of the experiences you'll be missing out on is "Parasite," which is an absolute stunning work of art with so much to say and so many different elements to it. The movie starts out as a heist film or a con film with a poor family taking advantage of a rich family in a very amusing and entertaining way. But halfway through, the tables turn in an extreme manner that I don't even want to get into. I was on the edge of my seat for nearly the entire second half of the movie as it became a super intense thriller, excellently acted and perfectly paced. I don't know if this is about to make history at the Oscars for a foreign film, but if it does, it's well deserved.

1- Joker

As I said before, DC is on fire. And as one who's always been more of a DC fan when it comes to the comic book world (although I don't know why we can't enjoy both), this has made me extremely happy. The concept behind this film was an extremely risky one. The Joker is arguably the most iconic villain in the history of comics. Part of the reason why he works so well is that is past is shrouded in mystery and he's just an agent of chaos in Batman's world. Yet we're going to take this and give the Joker an origin story? Yep. That's what they did. In this case, high risk becomes high reward as Todd Phillips created a beautiful and haunting picture of a man who was completely rejected by society, despite trying his hardest to fit in and make things work. Yet time and time again, he gets completely betrayed and thrown to the curb that he just snaps. And as he snaps, he gains a level of confidence and poise that he hadn't previously attained, turning him into the monster that is the Joker while inspiring a whole new level of crime and violence in Gotham. But in this case, is it really his fault? As one who loves psychological movies and DC comics, this was the perfect blend for me. In an extremely competitive field in 2019, "Joker" rather easily took the crown.

Just Mercy Review

We’re now onto my final review of a 2019 release before I dive into my list of favorite movies of 2019. That’s not to say I’m never going to go back and watch more movies I missed from 2019. There’s actually several of them that I plan on catching up on before the Oscars on February 9. This is just the last full review of a 2019 release that I’ll write on this blog. Once this is done, it’s time to dive into my favorite movies of 2019, a list I’m super excited to get into, even though it does make me slightly intimidated due to the large number of quality films that flooded in the last few months. Case in point. Most recently I posted my review of “1917.” Prior to seeing that, it was already a crowded field, but that is going to end up as one of my favorites. And then we have this one. “Just Mercy.” While the movie didn’t cash in on Oscar morning, audiences gave the movie an A+ on Cinemascore, which typically means people are responding very well. Once the credits rolled on my personal screening, after a few seconds of processing what we just saw, someone started clapping and immediately all of us joined, giving the movie a resounding round of applause, the likes of which you might get from a popular Marvel movie. So yeah, this is yet another movie that came to play.​

The story of "Just Mercy" is about Walter McMillan and his attorney Bryan Stevenson. Walter, whose nickname is Johnny D, was arrested in June 1987 for the murder of 18-year-old Ronda Morrison, who was shot and killed at a dry cleaner in November 1986. Upon his arrest, Walter was sent straight to death row pre-trail, where he stayed for over a year until his trial in August 1988. Following his trail, a jury of mostly white people found Walter guilty and recommended life in prison, which the judge overruled and gave the death penalty. All this despite no physical evidence, no motivate, and multiple witnesses testifying that Walter was at a fish fry for his church at the exact time of the murder. The only evidence that they had against Walter was the coerced testimony of a convicted felon that was given several months after the actual murder. So essentially Walter, a black man living in Alabama, was given the death penalty due to the horrendous actions of the blatantly racist justice system, led by a corrupt sheriff and other law officials who probably had no right being at those positions. The movie is mainly told from the perspective of Bryan Stevenson, a young black lawyer from Delaware who came in to fight this corrupt system. The movie is based on his memoir.

Given this premise, you know what you're getting into with this movie. And when I describe this premise to you, I'm actually describing the real life events of what happened to Walter McMillan. From my personal research on the situation, the movie does an uncanny job at portraying what actually happened. While watching the movie, having no idea what happened beforehand as I did my research afterwards, there was a part of me that wondered if there were some fictionalized elements to this because this story was so crazy and upsetting. Certainly there was a bit more ambiguity in this case, right? Maybe the sheriff wasn't an evil monster and maybe the judge and jury in charge weren't so blind with racism to give this honestly innocent man the death penalty. But no, this is not a movie that fictionalizes some life events in order for it to better fit into a narrative. All of the things portrayed in this movie actually happened. It made my skin crawl and my blood boil. At times while watching and researching the events, I wanted to lash out and hate the state of Alabama. We're over 120 years after the Civil War and 20-30 years after the Civil Rights movement and yet racism this strong was still happening?

But yes, I know. Racism still existed in the 80's and 90's. And stories from more recently unfortunately reveal that racism also is still very prevalent today. But racism isn't the only thing this very politically-charged film lashes out against. In fact, it's more of a side note to the main agenda of the film, which is unashamedly attacking the death penalty. And if this isn't the type of movie that you're interested in getting yourself into, you're more than welcome to go watch some escapism films like Star Wars or Jumanji instead. And while there's certainly nothing wrong with the latter type of films, I find myself rather enjoying the type of film that actually makes you think about real world issues because those are the type of films that actually mean something and can make a difference as audiences see them and discuss with their friends the issues presented. One thing that annoys me is when people tell me that they hate political movies and that politics have no place in movies. I strongly disagree with that. Granted, it's something that should be a case-by-case scenario, but there's certainly a place for politics in movies. Movies aren't just here to entertain us. Many movies are here to be educational and I think that element of filmmaking is very important.

I also don't like the unfair generalization of saying that one doesn't like politics in movies. What people really mean to say is that they don't like movies that disagree with their political opinion. Or instead of addressing the specific issue that's presented in the movie they watch, they'd rather have an easy out by saying they don't like political movies. But yet when a movie comes around about a subject they feel strongly, suddenly you don't see them hating the movie because of the politics. You see the double standard there? Now of course, I do understand the frustrations when you go into a movie specifically wanting some escapism and you get preached to instead. But "Just Mercy" is a movie where you should absolutely be well aware of what you're getting yourself into. The purpose of the movie is to make you upset. And there's a lot of sequences that are beyond heartbreaking. And not just with Walter's story. There's plenty of moments where Bryan interacts with other Death Row inmates, giving him more motivation to fight harder and stronger, despite the city officials not making things easy for him. They want their prisoner locked up and killed. They don't care about what evidence may or may not be there. Their reputations are on the line and that's their priority.

Now most of the details I've given you about this case is actually the background. The movie isn't about the murder of this girl, the arrest of Walter, or the initial trial. The movie is about Bryan's fight against the system to try to get Walter free. I thought the way in which the plot was constructed did a great job of keeping this flowing smoothly, despite it being a long process. There are plenty of movies out there that tell important stories, but do so in a way that fails to engage the audience, which is why I have to give a lot of credit to director Destin Daniel Cretton. If you don't know his name, you will before too long. In addition to "Just Mercy," he directed the 2013 film "Short Term 12," which I watched for the first time a few months ago and it is quite excellent. As far as why I say you will know his name eventually, Marvel has pegged him to direct the upcoming blockbuster "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," which is scheduled for release in February 2021. After watching both "Just Mercy" and "Short Term 12," "Shang-Chi" is in very good hands. The man knows how to direct a film. He had an excellent team working for him in "Just Mercy," with a phenomenal cast, but he took all of these tools and made an important film worth paying attention to.

Speaking of said phenomenal cast, we're led here by Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson and Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillan. This is a power duo here, both of whom are able to deliver emotional performances that drive home the poignant themes of the unjust system that was in place in this particular city during this time period. Jamie Foxx especially gives a very strong performance that I think was deserving of a supporting actor nomination. In fact, when I go look at the list of five nominees that got in instead, not a single one of them gave a better performance than Jamie Foxx in "Just Mercy," so that was a definite snub. I can't say that Michael B. Jordan was snubbed because the best actor race is extremely competitive this time around. And although he gave a solid performance that is worthy of recognition, Jamie Foxx is the one who deserved the Oscar nomination. These two performances weren't the only good ones in the movie. There's an excellent supporting cast here, highlighted by great performances from Tim Blake Nelson as Ralph Myers, Rafe Spall as District Attorney Tommy Chapman, Brie Larson as Ava Ansley, and  Rob Morgan as Herbert Richardson. I won't detail their specific roles in the movie, but their names deserved mentioning.

Most important, though, this is a movie that is certain to spark discussions about the death penalty. Due to the nature of the subject matter, as well as some interesting facts mentioned in the credits of the movie, that's the exact conversation that people will be having and I think that's important. Honestly, part of the reason why this movie had such a strong impact on me is that is that I feel very conflicted about the death penalty. While it's a very gray area, I lean towards life in prison over the death penalty. And I'm open to discussion about that in the comments of this post or on social media. If you don't want to comment personally, send me a private message or come talk to me in person. I won't detail all of my opinions and supporting arguments here in this review, but I really liked "Just Mercy" because it not only emphasized certain arguments that I've already had, but it brought additional arguments to the table that I didn't necessarily consider. The only "negatives" I have towards this movie is that there are plenty of other movies, documentaries and docuseries out there that are a bit more powerful in addressing this subject, but this is still an excellent addition to this subgenre of crime/justice movies that is worth seeing. My grade for "Just Mercy" is a 9/10.