Well hello there. It's been a while. Apologies for the radio silence - poor life planning on my part. But the return of the 2019 Academy Awards seemed like a good place to jump back into blogging. So here we go...
It's been an odd year thus far. There's been a lot to see, and lots of strong performances, but no one film that's particularly jumping out at me. Nothing that I'm particularly raving about. Where last year I was recommending Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri to anyone who would stand still long enough, this year doesn't seem to have the same abundance of riches that previous years have offered. That said, it doesn't mean that the films up for nomination are without merit. Also of note is that I don't think there's any categories that are definitely nailed down. Where last year, Best Actor and Best Actress were pretty much nailed down from the outset, this year the competition could go in pretty much any direction.
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| So shiny... |
Best Actor
Christian Bale (Vice), Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) are battling it out in this category. At the start of awards season, it seemed that A Star is Born was due to dominate everywhere, but it's star seems to have waned somewhat as the weeks have gone by. I don't know why. It's certainly not my favourite film, but the acting and directing are strong. And yet, I don't think it will get recognised for it's acting or directing (Bradley Cooper inexplicably missing out on an Oscars nod). Mortensen gives a good performance, but is utterly eclipsed by Mahershala Ali in Green Book. I haven't seen or heard of At Eternity's Gate, and it's distinct lack of buzz suggests Dafoe is out of the running. The competition here will be between Bale and Malek, and my money is on Malek. Christian Bale has given a solid performance as Dick Chaney, and has already scooped a number of awards for his performance. But Malek's combination of mercurial strut and swagger, vulnerability, and giant prosthetic teeth will more than likely be the winner. That's the performance that have really had people talking, which in itself is astonishing given the difficulty there has been in getting Bohemian Rhapsody to the screen at all.
Who do I want to win? Rami Malek
Who will win? Rami Malek
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| I challenge the mighty titan and his troubadours... |
Another strong category which essentially comes down to two. Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Glenn Close (The Wife), Olivia Colman (The Favourite), Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) and Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?). Colman and Close seem to have carved up the awards between them. Colman's nomination is an odd one to me. Not that she shouldn't be nominated - she is tremendous as the damaged and tempestuous Queen Anne - but to my mind, she is not the lead actress in The Favourite. It's a three hander between Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone and Colman, and if anything, Weisz and Stone are more central performances than Colman's. That said, I do want Olivia Colman to win, because I think she's great and I think she'd give a wonderfully accidentally sweary acceptance speech. Glenn Close is on her seventh nomination for an Oscar, and now holds the dubious record for actress with most nominations without a win. For that reason, I think she'll walk away with the statue tonight.
Who do I want to win? Olivia Colman
Who will win? Glenn Close
Best Supporting Actor
I think this is the closest thing to "nailed on". Mahershala Ali will win for Green Book and deservedly so. If/when he wins, it will also be the quickest an actor has won the same Oscar twice since Tom Hanks' wins for Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994).
Personally, I am a little sad for Richard E Grant who has seemed so delighted to be part of the Oscars bandwagon this year on his first nomination for Can You Ever Forgive Me? A really enjoyable performance, which I choose to read as a continuation of Withnail and I where Withnail moves to America, continues to drink copiously and cause mischief with whomever he meets.
Who do I want to win? Richard E Grant
Who will win? Mahershala Ali
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| Bring me the finest wines available to humanity |
Again, a tough call between the two actresses from The Favourite. Neither performance stands without the other, but I think Rachel Weisz just - just - tips it, and should be adding her second Oscar to her mantlepiece. Honourable mention to Regina King for If Beale Street Could Talk.
Who do I want to win? Rachel Weisz
Who will win? Rachel Weisz. But all eyes should be on Olivia Colman who will be freaking delighted about it.
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| Who was your favourite? |
This is where personal choice and critics choice diverges significantly. The critics are very excited about Roma and it's tipped for a lot of the main awards. I'll be honest, I didn't care for it. I thought it was perfectly fine, but when I recently read a review where the reviewer hadn't yet been able to watch the films climactic scene without weeping, I struggled to even identify what the climactic scene actually was. I know it's a pet personal project of Alfonso Cuaron, a director that I have enjoyed a lot. But for me, the award should go to Spike Lee for BlackkKlansmen. The direction in it is arresting and innovative, constantly changing the story up from dreamy fantasy sequences to stark, punchy reality. Cuaron is the master of long, tracking panoramic shots, but they leave me wanting to look away. Lee holds my attention throughout.
Who do I want to win? Spike Lee
Who will win: Alfonso Cuaron
The Favourite should clean up on some of the technical awards (Cinematography, Costume, Production Design) - and rightly so. It's visually stunning, full of sumptuous grandiosity. But the more computer based technical awards - Visual Effects, etc. should go to Black Panther. The spectacle of Wakanda and the world created around it is deserving of at least a few shiny gold trophies.
Best Original Score
Black Panther's score stands above the other soundtracks in the MCU, for being something bombastic and superhero-y, but also entirely of it's own. Which seems to be descriptive of the film itself. Ludwig Goransson has done a tremendous job. But my personal preference would be Nicholas Brittell's score for If Beale Street Could Talk. Sadly, a film that I believe will come away with very little, so I want it to get what it can.
Who do I want to win: If Beale Street Could Talk
Who will win: Black Panther
Best Picture
Which brings us to The Big One. I'm between two - BlackkKlansman and Black Panther.
The Favourite, much as I enjoyed it, looks great, sounds great, has outstanding central performances, but it's storytelling falls away somewhat towards the end. Likewise with A Star Is Born - I would speak about it a lot more favourably if it was half an hour shorter and didn't seem to be (unfortunately) to be a film about a woman being told what to do entirely by men.
I have very mixed feelings about Bohemian Rhapsody - it has led to a resurgence of Queen songs on the radio, which I have no issues with. But for a band that was groundbreaking, controversial and innovative, the story told by Bohemian Rhapsody is too...easy (Queen: "we've decided to write a 6 minute epic song with an operatic middle section and we've invented the music video and our lead singer was gay at a time when it really wasn't considered ok to be so" World according to the film: "No problem to us. We immediately accept this unquestioningly."). Plus, as has been documented extensively elsewhere, the timeline is all over the place and the story is, at times, wildly inaccurate. If so, why is it a biopic?
Roma - as I have mentioned, I just don't get what the hype is about. Although I did like the option of seeing it on Netflix rather than having to go to the cinema. But that isn't enough to get Best Picture.
Green Book would be a "safe" win rather than, say, something more politically contentious like Vice or BlackkKlansman.
Black Panther is arguably the film that caused the discussion about introducing the Favourite Picture category. It's the 9th highest grossing film of all time, the highest grossing film by a black director, highest grossing film for a predominantly black cast, and the first superhero film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. Plus, it's fun. It's a good story, told well. Roma is worthy, but Black Panther is enjoyable. It looks great, it sounds great, and it winning would do a lot to redress some of the damage of #Oscarssowhite.
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| Superhero film up for Best Picture - strange new worlds... |
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| Also a win for best hairstyles |
Who will win: Roma
But: Best Picture for the past few years has always been a surprise. So who knows what this year holds...
