My thoughts on the 2019 Academy Award nominees
At 5:38am Pacific Time on Tuesday, January 22nd, the nominations for the 91st annual Academy Awards was announced. The were no-brainer nominees, surprises, and “snubs”. Here are my thoughts on some of the nominations.
Mahershala Ali: Green Book
Adam Driver: BlackKklansman
Sam Elliott: A Star is Born
Richard E. Grant: Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Rockwell: Vice
My thoughts: The obvious name left off this list is Timothee Chalamet for Beautiful Boy, but while the performance was great, the movie as a whole was just okay. Michael B. Jordan for Black Panther is also a name deserving of consideration, but these five are all solid nominees.
Who should win: Richard E. Grant
Who will win: Mahershala Ali
Amy Adams: Vice
Marina de Tavira: Roma
Regina King: If Beale Street Could Talk
Emma Stone: The Favourite
Rachel Weisz: The Favourite
My thoughts: Best supporting actress was though to be one of the more predictable categories, with Claire Foy being in the spot Marina de Tavira received for First Man. Foy gave the best performance in that film, but given the fact that First Man has lost steam heading into nominations, de Tavira received the nomination. While she was an emotional lynchpin in Roma, I would have given her spot to Emily Blunt for A Quiet Place, but much like supporting actor, these are five strong nominees.
Who should win: Regina King
Who will win: Regina King
The Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
My thoughts: These were the five strongest animated features released this year, and the closest film I would consider is Teen Titans go to the Movies. That being said, there isn’t a film I would take off this list to replace it. Disney/Pixar typically dominate this category winning twelve out of seventeen years. This year, there’s a webslinger who is going to break that trend.
Who should win: Into the Spider-Verse
Who will win: Into the Spider-Verse
Alfonso Cuaron: Roma
Yorgos Lanthimos: The Favourite
Spike Lee: BlackKklansman
Adam McKay: Vice
Pawel Pawlikowski: Cold War
My thoughts: Pawlikowski was the surprise nominee for Cold War, and given there are eight best picture nominees and five best director spots, some directors were going to be left out. I would have given Pawlikoswki and McKay’s spots to Bradley Cooper for A Star is Born and Lynne Ramsay for You Were Never Really Here. Kudos to the Academy for finally giving Spike Lee his first nomination.
Who should win: Yorgos Lanthimos
Who will win: Alfonso Cuaron
Yalitza Aparicio: Roma
Glenn Close: The Wife
Olivia Colman: The Favourite
Lady Gaga: A Star is Born
Melissa McCarthy: Can You Ever Forgive Me?
My thoughts: Another category where four out of the five were givens, and several deserving leads deserving the fifth spot. Aparicio, alongside Nicole Kidman for Destroyer, Emily Blunt for Mary Poppins Returns, Rosamund Pike for A Private War, and Toni Collette for Hereditary are all names that could have claimed that spot.
Who should win: Olivia Colman
Who will win: Glenn Close
Christian Bale: Vice
Bradley Cooper: A Star is Born
Willem Dafoe: At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek: Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen: Green Book
My thoughts: Like best actress, four out the five spots were shoe-ins, with the fifth spot going to Dafoe. I would have swapped out Dafoe and Mortensen for Ethan Hawke for First Reformed and Joaquin Phoenix for You Were Never Really Here, but the force is too strong with Toni Lipp. As of right now, this is a three-man race between Cooper, Bale, and Malek.
Who should win: Bradley Cooper
Who will win: Christian Bale
Black Panther
BlackKklansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star is Born
Vice
My thoughts: Looking at goldderby.com the night before nominations were announced, these were the top eight films. There are a lot of questions about whether a film like Vice or Bohemian Rhapsody are actually best picture material, or are they favoring these two films for great performances? Also, the Academy had the opportunity to nominate up to ten films, and they only nominated eight. Here are the films I would have nominated for this award.
Black Panther
BlackKklansman
Cold War
The Favourite
First Reformed
Green Book
If Beale Street Could Talk
A Quiet Place
Roma
A Star is Born
If you have ten spots, you might as well use them…
Who should win: The Favourite or Roma
Who will win: Black Panther
I plan on doing a secondary list for my thoughts on some other nominations once I see the films that I missed. What are your thoughts? Give me a follow at http://instagram.com/moviebirb.
I am always looking for feedback, so please leave a comment below with your thoughts and as alway, be civil.
-birb
