OSCARS 2020: The Nominees

The 92nd Academy Awards are 3 weeks away and today they announced the nominees!

I was not very invested in the Oscars last year. As a whole, 2019 was a bust for me and that should have been a sign of what was to come. 2020 is looking far better as my favorite film of 2019 is leading the pack with 11 Nominations!!!

I will now, as is tradition, spend the next 21 days cramming in as many of these films as is humanly possible. The Academy often receives criticism for selecting films that are considered too obscure for general audiences. I, myself, cannot agree with that assessment as I am normally quite familiar with all of the nominees, aside from foreign language or short subject/ documentaries. Although I would appear to be one of “the elites” in this case, the selections this year all seem fairly accessible. Many were widely released and quite popular. Others are readily available on Netflix. I think I have a good shot  at seeing most of these films in the time I have left.

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Best Picture

• “Ford v Ferrari”
• “The Irishman”
• “Jojo Rabbit”
• “Joker”
• “Little Women”
• “Marriage Story”
• “1917”
• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
• “Parasite”

A good list this year, no real surprises. I’ve seen Once Upon a Time and Joker. Irishman and Marriage Story are on Netflix. Jojo Rabbit and Parasite are playing at my local independent theater this week and the others are all in theaters right now. I will tick all of these off the list by the end of next weekend.

Early thoughts: My favorite film of 2019 was Joker, and it is kicking butt with 11 nominations. I have to admit though, Once upon a time is slowly creeping up the list for me. Now that I have it on 4K at home it is growing on me. It might have a shot at this.

 Lead Actor

• 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”

Joaquin has this locked. Leo was good, but Brad Pitt stole that movie. Adam Driver is supposed to be excellent in marriage story and Pryce was great as Pope Francis (watched it yesterday), but Joaquin has it. I am mildly surprised that Driver was nominated over Eddie Murphy. I guess they felt he did not go far enough out of his normal character acting to justify? not sure. Pain and Glory is on Netflix, I believe, so that should be easy to catch.

Lead Actress

• Cynthia Erivo “Harriet”
• Scarlett Johansson “Marriage Story”
• Saoirse Ronan “Little Women”
• Charlize Theron “Bombshell”
• Renee Zellweger “Judy”

I’ve seen none of these, so i can’t really comment.

Supporting Actor

• 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”

As always, Supporting Actor is one of the most loaded categories. I’ve seen Once upon and Two popes. Its never wise to be against Tom Hanks or Al Pacino. Joe Pesci has been mostly retired for 20 years so a win wouldn’t be surprising. My money, right now, is on Pitt. As stated above, he stole that movie right away from Leo.

Supporting Actress

• Kathy Bates, “Richard Jewell”
• Laura Dern, “Marriage Story”
• Scarlett Johannson, “Jojo Rabbit”
• Florence Pugh, “Little Women”
• Margot Robbie, “Bombshell”

Again, I’ve not seen any of these. No Comment at this time.

Director

• Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman”
• Todd Phillips, “Joker”
• Sam Mendes, “1917”
• Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
• Bong Joon Ho, “Parasite”

This one could be interesting. All are at the top of their game. Scoresese is a God, Phillips made the best comic film ever, Mendes apparenly brought WWI to life in epic fashion, and Tarantino is said to be nominated for his masterpiece. Bong Joon Ho might win it though. It all depends on how Parasite does in Foreign Language and Best Picture. It’s got a legitimate shot at both of those awards. I am almost certain it takes Foreign film. If he wins Best Director then this lowers it’s chances for best picture. If Ho loses here, it might take the top prize.

Animated Feature

• “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” Dean DeBlois
• “I Lost My Body” Jeremy Clapin
• “Klaus” Sergio Pablos
• “Missing Link” Chris Butler
• “Toy Story 4”  Josh Cooley

I’ve not seen any. Probably Toy Story 4.

Animated Short

• “Dcera,” Daria Kashcheeva
• “Hair Love,” Matthew A. Cherry
• “Kitbull,” Rosana Sullivan
• “Memorable,” Bruno Collet
• “Sister,” Siqi Song

No Comment

Adapted Screenplay

• “The Irishman,” Steven Zaillian
• “Jojo Rabbit,” Taika Waititi
• “Joker,” Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
• “Just Mercy” Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Lanham
• “Little Women,” Greta Gerwig
• “The Two Popes,” Anthony McCarten

Too early to tell. Two Popes was an excellent adaptation of the play.

Original Screenplay

• “Knives Out,” Rian Johnson
• “Marriage Story,” Noah Baumbach
• “1917,” Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino
• “Parasite,” Bong Joon-ho, Jin Won Han

Man, another tough one. No idea right now, gotta see them all and think on it.

Cinematography

• “The Irishman,” Rodrigo Prieto
• “Joker,” Lawrence Sher
• “The Lighthouse,” Jarin Blaschke
• “1917,” Roger Deakins
• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Robert Richardson

I never bet against Deakins, but Lighthouse looked beautiful. Once upon a Time was stunning as well.

Best Documentary Feature

• “American Factory,” Julia Rieichert, Steven Bognar
• “The Cave,” Feras Fayyad
• “The Edge of Democracy,” Petra Costa
• “For Sama,” Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts
• “Honeyland,” Tamara Kotevska, Ljubo Stefanov

No Comment

Best Documentary Short Subject

• “In the Absence”
• “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone,” Carol Dysinger
• “Life Overtakes Me,” Kristine Samuelson, John Haptas
• “St. Louis Superman”
• “Walk Run Cha-Cha,” Laura Nix

No Comment

Best Live Action Short Film

• “Brotherhood,” Meryam Joobeur
• “Nefta Football Club,” Yves Piat
• “The Neighbors’ Window,” Marshall Curry
• “Saria,” Bryan Buckley
• “A Sister,” Delphine Girard

No Comment

Best Foreign Language Film

• “Corpus Christi,” Jan Komasa
• “Honeyland,” Tamara Kotevska, Ljubo Stefanov
• “Les Miserables,” Ladj Ly
• “Pain and Glory,” Pedro Almodovar
• “Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho

Parasite all day long.

Film Editing

• “Ford v Ferrari,” Michael McCusker, Andrew Buckland
• “The Irishman,” Thelma Schoonmaker
• “Jojo Rabbit,” Tom Eagles
• “Joker,” Jeff Groth
• “Parasite,” Jinmo Yang

I’ve only seen Joker, and the editing really served that film well. Added to the schizophrenia of it all.

Sound Editing

• “Ford v Ferrari,” Don Sylvester
• “Joker,” Alan Robert Murray
• “1917,” Oliver Tarney, Rachel Tate
• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” Matthew Wood, David Acord

I love Star Wars, but the war movies normally take it. Ford v Ferrari might win if the sound really wowed during the racing scenes.

Sound Mixing

• “Ad Astra”
•  “Ford v Ferrari”
• “Joker”
• “1917”
• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”

See above.

Production Design

• “The Irishman,” Bob Shaw and Regina Graves
• “Jojo Rabbit,” Ra Vincent and Nora Sopkova
• “1917,” Dennis Gassner and Lee Sandales
• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh
• “Parasite,” Lee Ha-Jun and Cho Won Woo, Han Ga Ram, and Cho Hee

Again, I’ve only seen Once upon. Can’t really know. The Academy tends to like period pieces which gives the edge to all but Parasite.

Original Score

• “Joker,” Hildur Guðnadóttir
• “Little Women,” Alexandre Desplat
• “Marriage Story,”Randy Newman
• “1917,” Thomas Newman
• “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” John Williams

I actually think Williams will win this. His final film is his most notable franchise. This may be the Academy’s last chance to honor him. It also happened to be an amazing score.

Original Song

• “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” “Toy Story 4”
• “I’m Gonna Love Me Again,” “Rocketman”
• “I’m Standing With You,” “Breakthrough”
• “Into the Unknown,” “Frozen 2”
• “Stand Up,” “Harriet”

No idea, gotta listed to them.

Makeup and Hair

• “Bombshell”
• “Joker”
• “Judy”
• “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
• “1917”

I never know with this one. I’ll just guess the day of the oscars.

Costume Design

• ”The Irishman,” Sandy Powell, Christopher Peterson
• “Jojo Rabbit,” Mayes C. Rubeo
• “Joker,” Mark Bridges
• “Little Women,” Jacqueline Durran
• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Arianne Phillips

Period pieces tend to dominate which means none have an edge. Little Women is the oldest period, so maybe that will take it.

Visual Effects

• “Avengers Endgame”
• “The Irishman”
• “1917”
• “The Lion King”
• “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”

1917 might win. It used visual effects to make the entire movie seem like one shot. This might also be where they give some props to Endgame.

 

A decent list this year! As I said: Incredibly accessible. I will make regular posts as I watch some of these films. Right before the Oscars I will post my picks. Once the telecast is finished I will make another post to see how I did at guessing! Happy watching!