The Oscars 2019: My Wishes and Predictions

Hey Guys x

This is the third year in a row that I've done this post, and I'm no less excited to watch the award show on Sunday night/morning.

So, as I've done before, in this post I'll be giving my opinions and predictions on who should and will win the big awards come Sunday night. And I'll be talking about the films that I've seen at least a majority of the films, so some categories are getting left out.

I've seen and reviewed all the Best Picture nominees, so I'll be ranking them here and, if you click each one, you can go to my review of it.

8. Vice

7. Roma

6. Bohemian Rhapsody

5. BlacKkKlansman

4. Black Panther

3. The Favourite

2. A Star Is Born

1. Green Book

This was really hard because in all honesty, 6-1 could have been in any order because I really loved all of those films!

Best Picture

Prediction: Roma

Wish: Green Book, A Star Is Born or The Favourite

I picked three because I couldn't decide. To be honest, Roma, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite and Green Book have all won 'Best Picture' accolades at various award shows, so I feel like the race for Best Picture is wide open.

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron, 'Roma'
Yorgos Lanthimos, 'The Favourite'
Spike Lee, 'BlacKkKlansman'
Adam McKay, 'Vice'
Pawel Pawlikowski, 'Cold War'

Prediction: Alfonso Cuaron

Wish: Yorgos Lanthimos or Spike Lee

In all honesty, this is a really weird category this year. So many great directors, such as Bradley Cooper and Ryan Coogler, were left off in favour of films that weren't particularly praised for their direction. Nevertheless, both 'The Favourite' and 'BlacKkKlansman' (and Roma, for that matter) were wonderfully directed, so hopefully one of them wins!

Best 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?'

Prediction: Glenn Close or Olivia Colman

Wish: Olivia Colman or Lady Gaga

I haven't seen the film that Glenn Close is nominated for but I think that Olivia Colman and Lady Gaga are both amazing in their roles, and I really do hope that one of them wins.

Best Actor

Christian Bale, 'Vice'
Bradley Cooper, 'A Star Is Born'
Willem Defoe, 'At Eternity's Gate'
Rami Malek, 'Bohemian Rhapsody'
Viggo Mortensen, 'Green Book'

Prediction: Rami Malek

Wish: Rami Malek or Bradley Cooper 

This isn't to say that Christian Bale wasn't amazing in his role, because he was. But if I got the choice, one of these two would be my pick. Rami Malek completely became Freddie Mercury. But at the same time, Bradley Cooper completely embodied his role and sacrificed so much to make sure that he was completely perfect as Jackson Maine. It would have been nice to see John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman) nominated too, though.

Best Supporting Actress

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

Prediction: Regina King

Wish: Amy Adams or Emma Stone

This is a category where I wouldn't mind any of the nominees winning. Amy Adams was great in 'Vice', but I guess a part of my bias towards her comes from her many other roles, she's just an amazing actress and deserves all the accolades! And I feel like people haven't been talking about Emma Stone's role in 'The Favourite' enough - she was phenomenal.

Best Supporting Actor

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

Prediction: Mahershala Ali

Wish: Mahershala Ali, Adam Driver or Sam Elliot

Again, I wouldn't mind any of the nominees winning this category, particularly Mahershala who was much closer to 'Best Actor' than 'Best Supporting' in my opinion. But I loved Sam Elliot in 'A Star Is Born', he was such an underrated component of its success. And then there's Adam Driver, who's an amazing actor, and was so good in 'BlacKkKlansman'!

Best Original Screenplay

The Favourite (Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara)
First Reformed (Paul Schrader)
Green Book (Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie and Peter Farrelly)
Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
Vice (Adam McKay)

Prediction: Roma

Wish: Green Book

As I've already said, I thought 'Green Book' was amazing, and a lot of that is down to the screenplay. The way that the two men spoke to each other, and the way that this formed their friendship was amazing. And I really really hope it wins.

Best Adapted Screenplay

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

Prediction: BlacKkKlansman

Wish: BlacKkKlansman, A Star Is Born or If Beale Street Could Talk

There's not much to say about this one, I would be happy if any of those three won because they're all equally great but very different stories that were extremely well-written.

Best Cinematography

The Favourite (Robbie Ryan)
Never Look Away (Caleb Deschanel)
Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
A Star Is Born (Matty Libatique)
Cold War (Lukasz Zal)

Prediction: Roma

Wish: A Star Is Born

If I'm honest, the best thing about 'Roma' was its cinematography. Visually, it's a beautiful film, and that's down to the expert cinematography that Cuaron displays. However, cinematography is rarely something that's talked about when it comes to 'A Star Is Born', and I think that that's an injustice because every single shot was well thought-out and planned and they all have a significant meaning to the plot of the film. Whether that's the lighting choices, the fact that the camera (and therefore the audience) are on stage for every single performance, whatever it is, it was thought about and crafted in such a way that a lot of people don't notice why they loved certain shots so much. So because of that, I would really love 'A Star Is Born' to take this one.

Best Original Song

All The Stars - Black Panther
I'll Fight - RBG
The Place Where Lost Things Go - Mary Poppins Returns
Shallow - A Star Is Born
When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Prediction: Shallow

Wish: Shallow

This is the easiest choice I've made so far. I love Shallow. In fact, I love every song in 'A Star Is Born' and truly believe that almost every song could have been nominated for this award. Not only do they mean a lot in the context of the film, but they're amazing just as an album too.

Best Production Design

Black Panther (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart)
The Favourite (Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton)
First Man (Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas)
Mary Poppins Returns (John Myhre and Gordon Sim)
Roma (Eugenio Caballero and Barbara Enriquez)

Prediction: Roma

Wish: Black Panther

I haven't seen 'First Man' yet, but I'd like to see that get this award if 'Black Panther' doesn't - just from the trailer, the production design looks incredible. But of the films I've seen, 'Black Panther' was the most stunning in terms of the visuals in my opinion - though 'Roma' is a close second.

Best Film Editing

BlacKkKlansman (Barry Alexander Brown)
Bohemian Rhapsody (John Ottman)
The Favourite (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
Green Book (Patrick J. Don Vito)
Vice (Hank Corwin)

Prediction: The Favourite or Green Book

Wish: Green Book or BlacKkKlansman

Editing is so important for the end result of the film, and I'm really glad that the academy are actually broadcasting this award, rather than having it in a commercial break like they were planning. But I would love 'Green Book' or 'BlacKkKlansman' to win, I thought they were edited really well and the editing was an important component of the film.

So those are my opinions on this year's Academy Awards.

Do you agree or disagree with me? Comment your thoughts below.

Lou