Call For Comments: Oscar Predictions and Baiting

From Mav: It’s Oscar time! I love Oscar time. You have no idea how much I love Oscar Time! The answer is… well, a lot! Usually I put a list of predictions up on my regular blog. Last year I went 20 for 24. Pretty good, I think. I even nailed both Sounds Mixing and Sound Editing (both went to Dunkirk as I knew they would), which I’m always proud of because I maintain that most people don’t know what they mean or which is which… including many of the people who vote for it. But everyone likes a good Oscar pool, right? Well, if not you should. They’re fun! And unlike our Box Office Fantasy game, which is going to take months before we know how we did, Oscar pools we’ll know in a couple weeks.

Back on episode 40: Favourite RoyalTV (and movies), we had a whole big unresolved (duh) discussion about what makes a movie Oscar bait. So now is the time to put that to the test. So let us know… What do you think makes a movie Oscar bait? What do you look for when you want to choose what movie/person should win an Oscar and what do you think the Academy looks for? What categories should be added? What should be dropped? Do the Oscars even make sense anymore? And what are your predictions (all the categories are listed below or you can download a sample ballot here)? Let us know your thoughts and join us as we make our predictions are try to help you win your own Oscar pool.

Nominees:

Here is the full list of 2019 Oscar nominations: 

Best Picture:

• “Black Panther”
• “BlacKkKlansman”
• “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• “The Favourite”
• “Green Book”
• “Roma”
• “A Star Is Born”
• “Vice”

Lead Actor:

• Christian Bale, “Vice”
• Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
• Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
• Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”

Lead Actress:

• Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
• Glenn Close, “The Wife”
• Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
• Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
• Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Supporting Actor:

• Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
• Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
• Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
• Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
• Sam Rockwell, “Vice”

Supporting Actress:

• Amy Adams, “Vice”
• Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
• Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
• Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
• Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”

Director:

• Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
• Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
• Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
• Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
• Adam McKay, “Vice”

Animated Feature:

• “Incredibles 2,” Brad Bird
• “Isle of Dogs,” Wes Anderson
• “Mirai,” Mamoru Hosoda
• “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston
• “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Animated Short:

• “Animal Behaviour,” Alison Snowden, David Fine
• “Bao,” Domee Shi
• “Late Afternoon,” Louise Bagnall
• “One Small Step,” Andrew Chesworth, Bobby Pontillas
• “Weekends,” Trevor Jimenez

Adapted Screenplay:

• “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Joel Coen , Ethan Coen
• “BlacKkKlansman,” Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee
• “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
• “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins
• “A Star Is Born,” Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters

Original Screenplay:

• “The Favourite,” Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
• “First Reformed,” Paul Schrader
• “Green Book,” Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly
• “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
• “Vice,” Adam McKay

Cinematography:

• “Cold War,” Lukasz Zal
• “The Favourite,” Robbie Ryan
• “Never Look Away,” Caleb Deschanel
• “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
• “A Star Is Born,” Matthew Libatique

Best Documentary Feature:

• “Free Solo,” Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
• “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” RaMell Ross
• “Minding the Gap,” Bing Liu
• “Of Fathers and Sons,” Talal Derki
• “RBG,” Betsy West, Julie Cohen

Best Documentary Short Subject:

• “Black Sheep,” Ed Perkins
• “End Game,” Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
• “Lifeboat,” Skye Fitzgerald
• “A Night at the Garden,” Marshall Curry
• “Period. End of Sentence.,” Rayka Zehtabchi

• Best Live Action Short Film: 
• “Detainment,” Vincent Lambe
• “Fauve,” Jeremy Comte
• “Marguerite,” Marianne Farley
• “Mother,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen
• “Skin,” Guy Nattiv

Best Foreign Language Film:

• “Capernaum” (Lebanon)
• “Cold War” (Poland)
• “Never Look Away” (Germany)
• “Roma” (Mexico)
• “Shoplifters” (Japan)

Film Editing:

• “BlacKkKlansman,” Barry Alexander Brown
• “Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Ottman
• “Green Book,” Patrick J. Don Vito
• “The Favourite,” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
• “Vice,” Hank Corwin

Sound Editing:

• “Black Panther,” Benjamin A. Burtt, Steve Boeddeker
• “Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Warhurst
• “First Man,” Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou Morgan
• “A Quiet Place,” Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl
• “Roma,” Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay

Sound Mixing:

• “Black Panther”
• “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• “First Man”
• “Roma”
• “A Star Is Born”

Production Design:

• “Black Panther,” Hannah Beachler
• “First Man,” Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas
• “The Favourite,” Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
• “Mary Poppins Returns,” John Myhre, Gordon Sim
• “Roma,” Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enrı́quez

Original Score:

• “BlacKkKlansman,” Terence Blanchard
• “Black Panther,” Ludwig Goransson
• “If Beale Street Could Talk,” Nicholas Britell
• “Isle of Dogs,” Alexandre Desplat
• “Mary Poppins Returns,” Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman

Original Song:

• “All The Stars” from “Black Panther” by Kendrick Lamar, SZA
• “I’ll Fight” from “RBG” by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson
• “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman
• “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice
• “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Makeup and Hair:

• “Border”
• “Mary Queen of Scots”
• “Vice”

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

Visual Effects:

• “Avengers: Infinity War”
• “Christopher Robin”
• “First Man”
• “Ready Player One”
• “Solo: A Star Wars Story”