SuperStuff

The 92nd Academy Awards have been disbursed! How did I do in my prognostication this year?

Well, as usual, I did not get to watch anywhere near enough of the nominees to make the best decisions for this. I did knock down quite a few of the major ones though, so take from that what you will.

So, how did I do? 14/24! I picked 58% this year, which is not too shabby. 

As in previous years, my picks will be BOLD. If the winner is GREEN, that means I guessed correctly. If it is RED, that means I chose poorly. I average 50% on these things, not expecting much. Here we go!

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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”

Parasite does it! Wow! The first non english film to take best picture!

 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”

No brainer. His performance is inspiring real life revolutionaries.

Lead Actress

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

I think they played it safe. I’m sure Zellweger did a fine job, but this movie has no impact of any kind. It is already forgotten.

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”

Pitt’s had this thing sewn up for months. 

Supporting Actress

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

I was hoping for Johansson, but Dern is deserving.

Director

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

Yay for Bong Joon Ho! Quite an achievement!

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

Never bet against Toy Story.

Animated Short

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

A lovely film.

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

I am SO happy that Taika Waititi is now an oscar winner. Awesome.

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

No brainer.

Cinematography

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

Deakins can win! yay!

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

Blind guess – boo!

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

Blind guess – yay!

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

Blind guess – boo!

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

Wow, this must be something. 

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 think I need to see Ford v Ferrari, lol.

Sound Mixing

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

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

Pleasantly surprised!

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 wanted Johnny to win one last Oscar, but I have no issues here. That score was haunting.

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”

When picking, I said “Never go against Randy Newman”. I’d forgotten that Elton John has NEVER lost a nomination.

Makeup and Hair

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

I’m a bit surprised at this one.

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

Always go with the period piece here. It was tougher this year as EVERYTHING was a period piece! Little women was the OLDEST setting, so it seemed the safe bet. lol.

Visual Effects

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

I figured this would win, as SFX was used to create the “one take” style of the film.

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