I’m excited for the Oscars! Here are
the nominees in each category. The gold star indicates the nominee that I
think will win, and the red heart is for the one I think is most deserving.
BEST PICTURE
· BlacKkKlansman
· Black Panther
· Bohemian Rhapsody
· The Favourite ♥
· Green Book
· Roma ★
· A Star is Born
· Vice
This category is wide open,
with all of the nominees except A Star is
Born and Vice having a real
chance to win. My favorite/favourite
movie of the year is The Favourite,
but I would also be happy to see Roma
or BlacKkKlansman win. Should have been nominated: Leave No Trace.
DIRECTING
· Alfonso Cuaron, Roma ★
· Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
· Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite ♥
· Adam McKay, Vice
· Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War
I think there’s a chance that
Spike Lee could be the surprise winner, which would be very cool. Too bad that the Academy voters couldn’t make
room on this list for a deserving female director like Marielle Heller (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) or Debra
Granik (Leave No Trace).
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
· Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
· Glenn Close, The Wife
★
· Olivia Colman, The
Favourite
· Lady Gaga, A Star is Born
· Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me? ♥
Colman is a potential upset
winner, but the biggest suspense is over what Lady Gaga will be wearing!
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
· Amy Adams, Vice
· Marina de Tavira, Roma
· Regina King, If Beale
Street Could Talk ★ ♥
· Emma Stone, The Favourite
· Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
Vote-splitting could lead to a
surprise victory for Amy Adams, which would be unfortunate; while she is
overdue for an Oscar, her Vice
performance is nothing special. So I’m
hoping that Regina King prevails for her unforgettable portrait of a determined
mother. Should have been nominated:
Nicole Kidman, perfection in Boy Erased,
and Emily Blunt, for that terrifying bathtub scene in A Quiet Place.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
· Christian Bale, Vice
· Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
· Willem Dafoe, At
Eternity’s Gate
· Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody ★♥
· Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
Rami Malek was mesmerizing in Bohemian Rhapsody. I’m excited to see what he does next.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
· Mahershala Ali, Green
Book ★
· Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
· Sam Elliot, A Star is Born
· Richard E. Grant, Can You Every Forgive Me? ♥
· Sam Rockwell, Vice
Ali did fine work in Green Book, but he just won an Oscar two
years ago for an even better performance in Moonlight. It would be great if this award could go to
Richard E. Grant, a revelation in Can You
Ever Forgive Me? Two fantastic
overlooked supporting performances: Nicholas Hoult as the crafty opposition
leader in The Favourite, and Bryan
Tyree Henry, heartbreaking in If Beale
Street Could Talk.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
· Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
· Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite ★ ♥
· Adam McKay, Vice
· Paul Schrader, First Reformed
· Nick Vallelonga et al, Green
Book
Should have been nominated: Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal
for the brilliant Blindspotting.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
· Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
· Bradley Cooper et al, A Star is Born
· Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me? ♥
· Barry Jenkins, If
Beale Street Could Talk
· Spike Lee et al, BlacKkKlansman
★
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Can You Ever Forgive Me? team steals
this one from Spike Lee. Barry Jenkins
would also be a deserving winner for the beautiful screenplay for If Beale Street Could Talk.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
· Incredibles 2
· Isle of Dogs
· Mirai
· Ralph Breaks the Internet
· Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ★♥
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
· Animal Behaviour
· Bao ★
· Late Afternoon ♥
· One Small Step
· Weekends
I liked all of these short
films, especially the very funny Animal
Behaviour and the creative, unique Weekends. Late
Afternoon won my heart with its lyrical, beautiful treatment of dementia.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
· Alfonso Cuaron, Roma ★
· Caleb Deschanel, Never Look Away
· Matthew Libatique, A Star is Born
· Robbie Ryan, The Favourite ♥
· Lukasz Zal, Cold War
There’s something off-putting
about the idea of Alfonso Cuaron winning ALL the awards, so I’m rooting for
Robbie Ryan, king of the fish-eye lens.
COSTUME DESIGN
· Alexandra Byrne, Mary Queen
of Scots
· Ruth E. Carter, Black Panther ★ ♥
· Sandy Powell, The Favourite
· Sandy Powell, Mary Poppins
Returns
· Mary Zophres, The Ballad of
Buster Scruggs
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
· Free Solo ♥
· Hale County This Morning, This Evening
· Minding the Gap
· Of Fathers and Sons
· RBG ★
If you haven’t seen Free
Solo yet, hurry out and catch it while it’s still in theaters. It wouldn’t be as thrilling on the small
screen.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
· Black Sheep
· End Game ★
· Lifeboat ♥
· A Night at the Garden
· Period. End of Sentence
Period might
win because it is the only optimistic entry, but I think voters will respond
best to the excellent End Game, about
end-of-life decisions. The film that
stuck with me the most, though, was Lifeboat,
about the harrowing voyage across the Mediterranean by people seeking a better life
in Europe.
FILM EDITING
· BlacKkKlansman
· Bohemian Rhapsody ★
· The Favourite ♥
· Green Book
· Vice
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
· Capernaum
· Cold War
· Never Look Away
· Roma ★
· Shoplifters ♥
Roma will win,
but I encourage everyone to seek out the extraordinary Capernaum, Cold War, and Shoplifters, as well as the non-nominated The Guilty and The Cakemaker.
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
· Border ♥
· Mary Queen of Scots
· Vice ★
ORIGINAL SCORE
· Terence Blanchard, BlacKkKlansman
· Nicholas Britell, If
Beale Street Could Talk ★ ♥
· Alexandre Desplat, Isle
of Dogs
· Ludwig Goransson, Black
Panther
· Marc Shaiman, Mary
Poppins Returns
I’m torn between the jazzy genius of Terence Blanchard
and the emotional brilliance of Nicholas Britell.
ORIGINAL SONG
· Lady Gaga et al, “Shallow,” A Star is Born ★ ♥
· Kendrick Lamar et al, “All the Stars,” Black Panther
· Marc Shaiman and Scott Whitman, “The Place Where Lost
Things Go,” Mary Poppins Returns
· Diane Warren, “I’ll Fight,” RBG
· Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, “When A Cowboy Trades His
Spurs For Wings,” The Ballad of Buster
Scruggs
Would have loved to have seen a
nomination for Troye Sivan’s stirring “Revelation” from Boy Erased.
PRODUCTION DESIGN
· Black Panther ♥
· The Favourite ★
· First Man
· Mary Poppins Returns
· Roma
Some traditionalist older
voters may be reluctant to honor production design for a film that incorporates
CGI, as if that is somehow cheating. But
the glorious design of Black Panther
deserves recognition.
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
· Detainment ♥
· Fauve
· Marguerite ★
· Mother
· Skin
Such a depressing bunch. I think Oscar voters will pick the only
nominee that is not about children in peril.
SOUND EDITING
· Black Panther
· Bohemian Rhapsody ★
· First Man
· A Quiet Place
· Roma ♥
SOUND MIXING
· Black Panther
· Bohemian Rhapsody ★
· First Man
· Roma ♥
· A Star is Born
VISUAL EFFECTS
· Avengers: Infinity War
· Christopher Robin
· First Man ★
· Ready Player One ♥
· Solo: A Star Wars Story
