by
Julien Faddoul
Below is the full list of nominees for the 91st Academy Awards with my written reactions.
A few notes:
Did well in terms of predicting this year, which just speaks to how boring this set of nominees truly is.
Nomination Tally:
10 (The Favourite, Roma),
A few notes:
Did well in terms of predicting this year, which just speaks to how boring this set of nominees truly is.
Nomination Tally:
10 (The Favourite, Roma),
8 (A Star is Born, Vice),
7 (Black Panther),
6 (BlackKklansman),
5 (Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book),
4 (First Man, Mary Poppins Returns),
3 (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Can You Ever Forgive Me, Cold War, If Beale Street Could Talk),
2 (Isle of Dogs, Mary Queen of Scots, Never Look Away, RBG)
I predicted 6 categories 100%, or to put it another way I predicted 96/121. I did poorest in the Live-Action and Animated Short categories.
The biggest surprises this year occurred in the Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Film Editing, Original Score and Documentary Feature categories.
Roma’s 10 nominations make it the first time a foreign-language film has received the most nominations in a given year.
Black Panther is the first superhero movie ever nominated for Best Picture.
Roma is the first streaming-release to be nominated for Best Picture. Overall, Netflix nabbed 15 nominations, including 3 surprise appearances from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
Alfonso Cuaron ties for the record for most nominations for a single person in a single year, with four.
Pawel Pawlikowski is the second director to be nominated without a Best Pic nomination since the category expand to more than five. The first was Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher) in 2014.
The Academy still won't let Emily Blunt into their club.
Favourite inclusions: Regina King, Paul Schrader, Barry Jenkins (for writing, at least), Mary Zophres, Nicholas Britell.
Worst exclusions: Ethan Hawke, Claire Foy, Debra Granik, Armando Iannucci, Bo Burnham, Mary E. Vogt and If Beale Street Could Talk.
Hardest to swallow: Virtually any nomination for Green Book, Vice and especially Bohemian Rhapsody.
BEST PICTURE
Black Panther
BlackKklansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star is Born
Vice
8/8 correct.
I was even correct on what number they would settle on.
It’s a pretty sad lineup. For my money, there’s not a single great film in the bunch.
DIRECTOR
BlackKklansman – Spike Lee
Cold War – Pawel Pawlikowski
The Favourite – Yorgos Lanthimos
Roma – Alfonso Cuaron
Vice – Adam McKay
3/5, missing Pawlikowski and McKay, for Peter Farrelly and Bradley Cooper.
Didn’t do so hot on this one, though they were my alternates. Cooper’s omission is the best evidence we have that AMPAS was less high on A Star is Born and a little higher on Vice than the internet was with both films.
ACTOR
At Eternity’s Gate – Willem Dafoe
Bohemian Rhapsody – Rami Malek
Green Book – Viggo Mortensen
A Star is Born – Bradley Cooper
Vice – Christian Bale
4/5 correct, missing Dafoe for John David Washington.
Ethan Hawke missing here hurts. He is the only actor of at least the last 10 years to nab Best Actor at over 30 critics awards to miss.
ACTRESS
Can You Ever Forgive Me – Melissa McCarthy
The Favourite – Olivia Coleman
Roma – Yalitza Aparicio
A Star is Born – Lady Gaga
The Wife – Glenn Close
5/5 correct.
I went with Aparicio for that elusive fifth slot here. The rest was expected.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
BlackKklansman – Adam Driver
Can You Ever Forgive Me – Richard E. Grant
Green Book – Mahershala Ali
A Star is Born – Sam Elliott
Vice – Sam Rockwell
5/5 correct.
Once again, predicting the Chalamet snub was a good bet. Though I have to say, this is a pretty anemic set of nominees.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
The Favourite – Emma Stone
The Favourite – Rachel Weisz
If Beale Street Could Talk – Regina King
Roma – Marina de Tavira
Vice – Amy Adams
4/5 correct, missing Marina de Tavira for Claire Foy.
Of the year’s biggest surprises (I didn’t even have Marina in my alternates list). It’s a shame it was at the expense of Claire Foy, who is terrific in First Man. But other than the blatant category misplacement of Stone and Weisz, these are all lovely performances.
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Favourite – Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
First Reformed – Paul Schrader
Green Book – Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly
Roma – Alfonso Cuaron
Vice – Adam McKay
4/5, missing Schrader in favour of Bo Burnham for Eighth Grade.
My pessimism got the best of me there, as I was skeptical of First Reformed making any mark whatsoever (a single nomination still isn’t great, though). Schrader’s work is head and shoulders above his competitors here.
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
BlackKklansman – Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel, Kevin Willmott
Can You Ever Forgive Me – Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty
If Beale Street Could Talk – Barry Jenkins
A Star is Born – Bradley Cooper, Eric Roth, Will Fetters
3/5 correct, missing The Coens and A Star is Born for Leave No Trace and The Death of Stalin.
Extremely disappointing, since both the Granik and Iannucci films were superbly written. The Coens making it in is a small consolation. And as I stated yesterday, I’d love for anyone who has seen at least 50 films this year to explain to me, using any form of rubric they like, how A Star is Born is one of the five best adapted screenplays of the year.
ANIMATED FILM
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
5/5 correct.
Nothing else really had a chance.
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Capernaum – Lebanon
Cold War – Poland
Never Look Away – Germany
Roma – Mexico
Shoplifters – Japan
5/5 correct.
I have to say, this has gotta be the most high-profile set of nominees in this category...maybe ever?
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cold War – Lukasz Zal
The Favourite – Robbie Ryan
Never Look Away – Caleb Deschanel
Roma – Alfonso Cuaron
A Star is Born – Matthew Libatique
4/5 correct, missing Deschanel for Linus Sandgren for First Man.
The biggest shock of them all. I can’t think of single person who was predicting Deschanel’s nomination in this category. This is a rare occurrence: Three foreign-language films for Best Cinematography, all three of which are also nominated in the Foreign-Language category.
Sad for James Laxton, who’s work on If Beale Street Could Talk eclipsed what he did on Moonlight (2016).
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Black Panther – Hannah Beachler, Jay Hart
The Favourite – Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
First Man – Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas
Mary Poppins Returns – John Myhre, Gordon Sim
Roma – Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enrı́quez
5/5 correct.
Again, would have been nice for Beale Street to have made it in here.
COSTUME DESIGN
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – Mary Zophres
Black Panther – Ruth E. Carter
The Favourite – Sandy Powell
Mary Poppins Returns – Sandy Powell
Mary Queen of Scots – Alexandra Byrne
4/5 correct, missing Zophres for Bohemian Rhapsody. More than happy to be wrong about that.
The rest was foreseeable (including the Sandy Powell double). Though I have to say that is not Alexandra Byrne’s finest hour; those costumes were desolate.
FILM EDITING
BlackKklansman – Barry Alexander Brown
Bohemian Rhapsody – John Ottman
The Favourite – Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Green Book – Patrick J. Don Vito
Vice – Hank Corwin
3/5 correct, missing The Favourite and Green Book, for A Star is Born and Roma.
Truly perplexing, as the two front-runners (as I saw it) of the category failed to appear. Ugh, I’m getting bored just looking at these names.
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
4/5 correct, missing Blanchard for Justin Hurwitz (First Man).
Remember how I said Hurwitz and Britell (my two favourites) never appeared on the same lineup together...oh well.
SOUND
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
Roma
A Star is Born
4/5 correct, missing Black Panther for A Quiet Place.
SOUND EDITING
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma
3/5 correct, missing Panther and Rhapsody, for A Star is Born and Mission: Impossible - Fallout.
VISUAL EFFECTS
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
First Man
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story
3/5 correct, missing Christopher Robin and First Man, for Black Panther and Welcome to Marwen.
Christopher Robin? Really?
MAKEUP
Border
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice
2/3 correct, missing Margot Robbie Has Smallpox Which Turns Her into a Circus Clown for Stan & Ollie.
ORIGINAL SONG
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings”
Black Panther – “All the Stars”
RBG – “I’ll Fight”
Mary Poppins Returns – “The Place Where Lost Things Go”
A Star is Born – “Shallow”
4/5 correct, missing Scruggs for Dumplin.
Dianne Warren scores again. Will she ever make it to that stage? Not likely, this year.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Free Solo
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG
3/5 correct, missing Hale County and Of Fathers and Sons, for Shirkers and Mr Rogers.
Like everyone else, I’m pretty shocked by the Won’t You Be My Neighbor snub (though I didn’t particularly care for the film) but this category quite frequently seems to dump the apparent front-runner. Has to be a case of voters feeling something is safe and spreading their democratic interests elsewhere.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden
Period. End of Sentence.
3/5 correct.
ANIMATED SHORT
Animal Behaviour
Bao
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends
2/5 correct.
LIVE-ACTION SHORT
Detainment
Fauve
Marguerite
Mother
Skin
2/5 correct.
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