Oscar Wrap Up 2020

While some of the awards were predictable, I was pleasantly surprised that Parasite took home the big prize. I tied my 2014 record of 21 out of 24 categories. The acting winners were pretty easy to predict but I think this was the first time ever I got all three short films right. Loved Best Director Winner Bong Joon-ho’s shout out to fellow nominee Martin Scorsese. I found it touching. On the other end of the spectrum, Joaquin and Renee, just say ‘thank you’ and get off the stage. Why were they allowed to talk so long and then the Parasite Best Picture winners got the lights turned off? Thank goodness for the front row. When Tom Hanks tells you to keep the lights on, you better listen. I was worried about the nomination packages this year. When they played the long Supporting Actor package, I was worried they were going to short change the Best Actor and Actress packages due to time, like every year. Luckily, they remained consistent. While there were some fun presenters like Maya Rudolph & Kristen Wiig ‘acting’, Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Will Ferrell’s cinematographer ignorance; and James Corden & Rebel Wilson mocking their Cats debacle, this show still need a host. Chris Rock & Steve Martin starting off the show with monologue banter proved how nice it is to have someone ring lead instead of having younger actors introduce another actor who in turn introduces another actor with an award. Let’s get a host and ignore their Twitter feed from ten years ago. Rant over. Anyway, here’s who won:

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

THE NEIGHBOR’S WINDOW (predicted)

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

HAIR LOVE (predicted)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (If You’re a Girl) (predicted)

SOUND EDITING

FORD V FERRARI

SOUND MIXING

1917 (predicted)

ORIGINAL SCORE

JOKER (predicted)

ORIGINAL SONG

(I’M GONNA) LOVE ME AGAIN (predicted)

VISUAL EFFECTS

1917 (predicted)

MAKE-UP

BOMBSHELL (predicted)

COSTUME DESIGN

LITTLE WOMEN (predicted)

PRODUCTION DESIGN

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

FILM EDITING

FORD V FERRARI (predicted)

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1917 (predicted)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

AMERICAN FACTORY (predicted)

ANIMATED FEATURE

TOY STORY 4 (predicted)

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

PARASITE (predicted)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

JOJO RABBIT (predicted)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

PARASITE (predicted)

BEST DIRECTOR

BONG JOON-HO [PARASITE] (predicted)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

LAURA DERN [MARRIAGE STORY] (predicted)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BRAD PITT [ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD] (predicted)

BEST ACTRESS

RENEE ZELLWEGER [JUDY] (predicted)

BEST ACTOR

JOAQUIN PHOENIX [JOKER] (predicted)

BEST PICTURE

PARASITE

How did you do?

Oscar Predictions

It’s that time of year again for my fearless Oscar predictions. Only confident in the acting categories this year. That worries me. Just as a reminder, I’m not predicting who I want to win but who I think the Academy will vote for. From smaller to bigger, here we go:

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

THE NEIGHBOR’S WINDOW

(It’s the only one in English. I think that matters to voters.)

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

HAIR LOVE

(Going the non-Pixar route this year. It’s a touching little gem.)

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL)

(Best title. Also about a skating school for girls in Afghanistan. Interesting)

SOUND EDITING

1917

(War movies often do well in this category.)

SOUND MIXING

1917

(It’s this one or Ford v Ferrari, but I’ll stick with the war film)

ORIGINAL SCORE

JOKER

(The Icelandic soloist has been getting some good recognition for this one.)

ORIGINAL SONG

I’M GONNA LOVE ME AGAIN [ROCKETMAN]

(This will be to make up for Egerton not get nominated like Malek was.)

VISUAL EFFECTS

1917

(I think they’ll go the classy route instead of Avengers or Lion King.)

MAKE-UP & HAIRSTYLING

BOMBSHELL

(Charlize as Megyn Kelly is a pretty impressive transformation.)

COSTUME DESIGN

LITTLE WOMEN

(Costumes usually favours the dresses. Period dresses at that.)

PRODUCTION DESIGN

1917

(The intricate maze of trenches alone should help it win.)

FILM EDITING

FORD V FERRARI

(I’ll go with the high-speed car races this time around.)

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1917

(No one is beating this single shot masterpiece.)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

AMERICAN FACTORY

(Since Apollo 11 wasn’t nominated, will go with Obama backed doc.)

ANIMATED FEATURE

TOY STORY 4

(Nervous about this one. Think it might go to Klaus.)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

PARASITE

(This is a no-brainer. Look at its other nominations.)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

JOJO RABBIT

(Waititi pulls of a comedy-drama with imaginary Hitler friend. Sold.)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

PARASITE

(As much as I like Tarantino’s work, this film is pretty twisty.)

BEST DIRECTOR

BONG JOON HO [PARASITE]

(I think he’ll edge Mendes on pure momentum for his film.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

LAURA DERN [MARRIAGE STORY]

(She’s on a roll with these types of roles.)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BRAD PITT [ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD]

(Love Pitt. He’s deserving but wishing Pesci could get it.)

BEST ACTRESS

RENEE ZELLWEGER [JUDY]

(Her face annoys me. Just sayin’. She’s keeps winning though.)

BEST ACTOR

JOAQUIN PHOENIX [JOKER]

(Expect a weird speech. This is pretty much a lock.)

BEST PICTURE

1917

(Even though Parasite is close, I think this is Oscar bait.)

Only got 14 right last year. Hope I do better on Oscar night this Sunday.