Best Picture Black Panther Kevin Feige, Producer BlacKkKlansman Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, Producers Bohemian Rhapsody Graham King, Producer The Favourite Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos, Producers Green Book Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, Producers Roma Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón, Producers A Star Is Born Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers Vice Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers 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 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? Actor in a Supporting Role Mahershala Ali Green Book Adam Driver BlacKkKlansman Sam Elliott A Star Is Born Richard E. Grant Can You Ever Forgive Me? Sam Rockwell Vice 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 Animated Feature Film Incredibles 2 Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle Isle of Dogs Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson Mirai Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito Ralph Breaks the Internet Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Clark Spencer Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Cinematography Cold War Łukasz Żal The Favourite Robbie Ryan Never Look Away Caleb Deschanel Roma Alfonso Cuarón A Star Is Born Matthew Libatique Costume Design The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Mary Zophres Black Panther Ruth Carter The Favourite Sandy Powell Mary Poppins Returns Sandy Powell Mary Queen of Scots Alexandra Byrne Directing BlacKkKlansman Spike Lee Cold War Paweł Pawlikowski The Favourite Yorgos Lanthimos Roma Alfonso Cuarón Vice Adam McKay Documentary (Feature) Free Solo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill Hale County This Morning, This Evening RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim Minding the Gap Bing Liu and Diane Quon Of Fathers and Sons Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert RBG Betsy West and Julie Cohen Documentary (Short Subject) Black Sheep Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn End Game Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman Lifeboat Skye Fitzgerald and Bryn Mooser A Night at The Garden Marshall Curry Period. End of Sentence. Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton Film Editing BlacKkKlansman Barry Alexander Brown Bohemian Rhapsody John Ottman The Favourite Yorgos Mavropsaridis Green Book Patrick J. Don Vito Vice Hank Corwin Foreign Language Film Capernaum Lebanon Cold War Poland Never Look Away Germany Roma Mexico Shoplifters Japan Makeup and Hairstyling Border Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer Mary Queen of Scots Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks Vice Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney Music (Original Score) Black Panther Ludwig Goransson BlacKkKlansman Terence Blanchard If Beale Street Could Talk Nicholas Britell Isle of Dogs Alexandre Desplat Mary Poppins Returns Marc Shaiman Music (Original Song) "All The Stars" from "Black Panther" Music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe "I'll Fight" from "RBG" Music and Lyric by Diane Warren "The Place Where Lost Things Go" from "Mary Poppins Returns" Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born" Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt "When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" from "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch Production Design Black Panther Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart The Favourite Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton First Man Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas Mary Poppins Returns Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim Roma Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez Short Film (Animated) Animal Behaviour Alison Snowden and David Fine Bao Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb Late Afternoon Louise Bagnall and Nuria González Blanco One Small Step Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas Weekends Trevor Jimenez Short Film (Live Action) Detainment Vincent Lambe and Darren Mahon Fauve Jeremy Comte and Maria Gracia Turgeon Marguerite Marianne Farley and Marie-Hélène Panisset Mother Rodrigo Sorogoyen and María del Puy Alvarado Skin Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman Sound Editing Black Panther Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker Bohemian Rhapsody John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone First Man Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan A Quiet Place Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl Roma Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay Sound Mixing Black Panther Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin Bohemian Rhapsody Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali First Man Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis Roma Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio García A Star Is Born Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow Visual Effects Avengers: Infinity War Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick Christopher Robin Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould First Man Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm Ready Player One Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk Solo: A Star Wars Story Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy Writing (Adapted Screenplay) The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen BlacKkKlansman Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee Can You Ever Forgive Me? Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty If Beale Street Could Talk Written for the screen by Barry Jenkins A Star Is Born Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters Writing (Original Screenplay) The Favourite Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara First Reformed Written by Paul Schrader Green Book Written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly Roma Written by Alfonso Cuarón Vice Written by Adam McKay
Only sure things I know of are Alfonso Cuarón for Director and "Shallow" for original song. I imagine Christian Bale is way ahead for Vice, and Spiderman: Spiderverse better win for animation. And, I get First Man, A Quiet Place and Bohemian Rhapsody for sound, but did anybody watch Black Panther and think, now that was some great sound editing?
I saw The Favourite last night. It was not good, mostly because of the Director. I don't know why he was nominated or how that got a Best Picture nom. It won't win either of the those. Rachel Weisz is solid, as was Olivia Colman, so either of them could win. The costumes were worth the nomination. But, the film itself is in no way remarkable, has various unconnected scenes that labor without purpose (including a literal Chekhov's gun), has a random ending, and is just weird in a dumb way. It also has, without a doubt, the worst closing credits font / titles I've ever scene, including ones I typed in white for a high school project on VHS over 30 years ago.
Yeah, the cynic in me can't help but think the award shows are getting more and more political and just a marketing device. I'm less and less inclined to have Oscar-worthiness or awards influence my movie-watching decisions. Same thing happened for me with the music awards, but I happened to see it from within. It was no fluke that Sarah McLachlan won awards around the time that her big album dropped and her big Lilith Fair tour was on.
It's just weird. I know there will be some sure thing performances / scripts / Directors that push all the buttons for an easy nomination. And, several on that list are deserving, no matter how political or self-congratulatory the nods are. But, Emma Stone in The Favourite? I mean, I love her (and enjoyed getting to see her boobs in The Favourite - so brave, Emma! clap, clap, clap), but Oscar worthy? Off the top of my head, Rebecca Ferguson in Mission Impossible, Millicent Simmonds in A Quiet Place, Isabela Moner in Sicario: Soldado, Claire Foy in First Man, and Lupita Nyong'o in Black Panther all gave better performances.
Yeah, I hear ya. Regardless of whether they're just becoming out of touch with "the common movie-goer" or if it's some internally rigged quid pro quo, the end result is still the same... they're becoming less and less legitimate for a lot of us. The only real "value" that the Oscars have with anyone I know is the pomp and ceremony... my mother and sister get together every year to watch the red carpet interviews, look at dresses, talk fashion scandal, etc. They could care less about any of the movies.
Based on the precursor awards, Rami Malek, Glenn Close, Mahershala Ali, and Regina King appear to be the frontrunners for the acting awards. Ali recently won an Oscar, so I'd bet on him being the one that gets upset since Regina King can satisfy the soon-to-be-required minority winner. Bet money on Sam Elliott: if voters want to recognize A Star Is Born for something other than Best Original Song (Lady Gaga will get a statue for that), giving an old-timer a win here seems like a good pick. But what the fuck do I know this year? Because of illegal immigrants spilling over the fucking fence here in San Diego like a biblical plague, I haven't seen most of the nominated films/performances. I'll be as curious as anyone about who actually wins.
Christian Bale is outstanding in Vice, but the rest of it didn't quite live up to the hype. For everything outside of Bale you can say "I liked it... but McKay did it better in The Big Short." Bohemian Rhapsody was enjoyable, but mostly because you could play Queen's catalogue over paint drying and it'd be at least watchable. Malek was great in isolation, but the writing never quite got there and Malek's performance wasn't as powerful as it could have been as a result. Black Panther was a lot of fun, but they'll never give Best Picture to a comic book movie. Logan remains the best comic book movie ever made, and it only got a best adapted screenplay nomination (while ignoring two best-turn-as-this-character performances from a pair of legit heavyweights, as well as the film as a finished product).
I really think you are ignoring the woke factor of Black Panther at the Oscars. With their new mission of all minorities all the time in the Academy, I don't see how it doesn't have a legitimate chance to win. These people are dying to virtue signal. I wouldn't count it out.
Once again the Academy is wrong and sucks because “Mandy” isn’t nominated for best Picture and Director. Black Panther? Get the fuck out of my office. Over. Rated.
Black Panther was good, but certainly not Oscar worthy. Vice just wasnt good. Sicario 2 was the best movie I saw this year.
Green Book and Roma are far and away better than the other nominees. Green Book is solid, old-fashioned filmmaking done perfectly and anchored by two magnetic lead performances. If you’re in a bad mood, it will cheer you up.
I rallied to watch a few of the nominees here this weekend before the show tonight. I wasn't able to see Green Book, but you are right on about Roma. Of the seven nominated pictures I did see (no Green Book, no Vice), it was easily the best. It would be a worthy winner if ends up with the top spot, and Alfonso Cuaron's win for Best Director is already pre-ordained (he won the DGA award). Other thoughts: Glenn Close is the only Best Actress nominee I didn't see, so I can't know for sure if she was better than all the others. However, the Oaxacan actress from Roma was obviously bolstered by Cuaron's direction (all the more reason he deserves the award): in and of herself, she didn't do a whole lot. Personally, I loved The Favourite and Olivia Colman was great, but the real champ here is Melissa McCarthy. Absolutely no one should be surprised, either. McCarthy and Steve Carrell are probably the two best examples of comic actors who have incredible chops, and I believe that's because it's much more difficult to pull off the laughs than the other way around. For what it's worth, Lady Gaga was fine too (also no surprise: she's incredibly talented), but she'd probably be better off in the Best Supporting Actress category. I only saw three of the five Best Actor nominees, but Bradley Cooper should be getting more run here than he is. Not too many leading men can pull off clean cut, scruffy, and disgusting like he can. I've actually met Rami Malek in real life through Hollywood Actor Buddy, and I will certainly get plenty of traction out of that story if he ends up winning tonight as expected, but Cooper's performance was far more compelling than Malek's admittedly impressive impression of Freddie Mercury. I love me some Willem Dafoe so much that I re-watched Platoon the other night just to get my fix: if you haven't see The Florida Project yet either, go find it on Amazon Prime. But, oh lord, At Eternity's Gate is so fucking boring and strange that there's no way Dafoe can compete with the other guys. Regina King seems to be favorite for Best Supporting Actress even though the "stats" don't support it. She won the Golden Globe, but not the SAG (Emily Blunt won this but wasn't nominated for an Oscar). Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone (both previous winners) will probably split The Favourite votes. Does that mean Marina de Tavira rides Roma love to an upset win? I'd bet on it. She definitely had a tougher role to play acting-wise than the young Oaxacan did. Speaking of tough...I was really disappointed by Sam Elliott in A Star is Born. There was just...nothing there. Best Supporting Actor has always been a good way to reward old dudes for long careers (James Coburn, Christopher Plummer, etc...), but he was barely in the fucking movie. Adam Driver has successfully made people forget he was ever in Girls, and Richard E. Grant was also very good in the underrated Can You Ever Forgive Me? (see Melissa McCarthy, above). I didn't see Vice, but I have a tough time believing Sam Rockwell can follow up last year's win with a George W. Bush impression. I guess Mahershala Ali lucked out this year. Don't discount the fact that most of the Academy will be DVR'ing True Detective tonight, and that he's got the good fortune of being in the Supporting category for what is apparently a Leading role. Finally, don't be surprised if Alfonso Cuaron goes 5-for-5 tonight himself. He could win Oscars for Best Director (a lock), Best Cinematographer (a lock, and would make history), Best Foreign Language Film (a lock), Best Original Screenplay (the longest shot of any of these), and Best Picture (the leading favorite, as a producer). That would be fucking amazing, all things considered.
I didn't realize Driving Miss Daisy was so problematic. Apparently because Jessica Tandy didn't horse whip Morgan Freeman between cuck scenes at her white husbands grave, it doesn't show the real race relations in America. Thus, it makes Green Book and it's win the worst Oscar debacle since last years envelope mishap. I think all in all it was a decent broadcast without a host. Certainly felt more streamlined not having someone come out and book end every single award and segment.
So they gave best picture to a factually incorrect movie of some gavone driving around a black musician and taking credit for his culinary awakening. What a joke
Infinity War sure as fuck was better than Black Panther. Want to win an Oscar? Remember this: Gay, retarded, crazy or dying. Choose any of the four roles to win one. Then you can vote for yourself, then storm out when you don’t win like some sawed-off whiner who robbed the Purple Rain wardrobe.