‘Oppenheimer’ won the most Oscars at the 96th Academy Awards including ‘best picture’.

Hollywood’s biggest night, the 96th Academy Awards (aka the Oscars) took place on March 10, 2024. ‘Oppenheimer’, Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic about a man who invented the first nuclear weapon came into the evening with 13 nominations, the most among all the other nominated films this year. It went home as the biggest winner too with 7 wins unsurprisingly, including the coveted best picture honour.

‘Oppenheimer’ has been the heavy favourite and clear frontrunner after a long awards season that began few months ago to celebrate the best of 2023 films. The film had swept all the top prizes from Golden Globes, BAFTA, Critics Choice, PGA, DGA, SAG and various other associations that handed out awards annually. Hence, the film winning best picture at the Oscars last evening was no surprise at all. I personally do not really enjoy the film. I find it too long and has too much talking. I wasn’t engaged to the story unfortunately. Preferred Christopher Nolan’s other past works more such as ‘The Dark Knight’, ‘Inception’ and ‘Interstellar’.

As for the acting races, before the Oscars, the race was seemingly over for supporting actor and supporting actress categories. Robert Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph made clean sweep respectively at all the major televised awards. As for lead actor, Cilian Murphy slowly raced to the front despite losing Critics Choice to Paul Giamatti. He has an advantage by starring in a likely best picture winner and ride on the movie’s momentum at the awards season. He ended up prevailing at the Oscars too. He is a good actor by the way.

As for the lead actress, it was all about the battle between the two ‘Stones’; Emma Stone and Lily Gladstone. Both won at Golden Globes, and then Emma won at Critics Choice and BAFTA, but then Lily won at SAG. Hence, the race is too tight to call leading up to the Oscars. In the end, Emma Stone won and that’s her second best actress win at the Oscars. That’s impressive! Her film ‘Poor Things’ also did surprisingly well at the Oscars by winning 4 awards (becoming the second film with most wins for the night…only behind ‘Oppenheimer’ with 7 wins). Now, it makes me want to watch ‘Poor Things’.

Japanese animated film ‘The Boy and the Heron’ won animated feature over ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’, another favourite in the category. On other hand, ‘Godzilla Minus One’ made history by becoming the first ever Godzilla film to win an Oscars (the film won best visual effects). I haven’t watch ‘Godzilla Minus One’ yet (I need to watch it!).

Here below are the full list of winners for the 96th Academy Awards:

Best Picture

“American Fiction,”

“Anatomy of a Fall,” 

“Barbie,” 

“The Holdovers,” 

“Killers of the Flower Moon,” 

“Maestro,” 

“Oppenheimer,” (WINNER)

“Past Lives,” 

“Poor Things,” 

“The Zone of Interest,” 

Best Director 

Justine Triet — “Anatomy of a Fall”  

Martin Scorsese — “Killers of the Flower Moon”  

Christopher Nolan — “Oppenheimer” (WINNER)

Yorgos Lanthimos — “Poor Things” 

Jonathan Glazer — “The Zone of Interest”  

Actor in a Leading Role 

Bradley Cooper — “Maestro”  

Colman Domingo — “Rustin” 

Paul Giamatti — “The Holdovers”  

Cillian Murphy — “Oppenheimer” (WINNER)

Jeffrey Wright — “American Fiction”  

Actress in a Leading Role 

Annette Bening — “Nyad”  

Lily Gladstone — “Killers of the Flower Moon”  

Sandra Hüller — “Anatomy of a Fall”  

Carey Mulligan — “Maestro” 

Emma Stone — “Poor Things” (WINNER)

Actor in a Supporting Role

Sterling K. Brown — “American Fiction”  

Robert De Niro – “Killers of the Flower Moon”  

Robert Downey Jr. — “Oppenheimer” (WINNER)

Ryan Gosling — “Barbie”  

Mark Ruffalo — “Poor Things”  

Actress in a Supporting Role 

Emily Blunt — “Oppenheimer”  

Danielle Brooks — “The Color Purple”  

America Ferrera – “Barbie”

Jodie Foster — “Nyad”  

Da’Vine Joy Randolph — “The Holdovers” (WINNER)

Da’Vine Joy Randolph wins Best Supporting Actress for “The Holdovers” at the 96th Annual Oscars held at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

Adapted Screenplay

“American Fiction,” written for the screen by Cord Jefferson (WINNER)

“Barbie,” written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach

“Oppenheimer,” written for the screen by Christopher Nolan

“Poor Things,” screenplay by Tony McNamara

“The Zone of Interest,” written by Jonathan Glazer

Original Screenplay

“Anatomy of a Fall,” screenplay by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari (WINNER)

“The Holdovers,” written by David Hemingson

“Maestro,” written by Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer

“May December,” screenplay by Samy Burch; story by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik

“Past Lives,” written by Celine Song

Cinematography 

“El Conde” – Edward Lachman

“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Rodrigo Prieto

“Maestro” – Matthew Libatique

“Oppenheimer” – Hoyte van Hoytema (WINNER)

“Poor Things” – Robbie Ryan

Original Song 

“The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot,” music and lyric by Diane Warren

“I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie,” music and lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt

“It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony,” music and lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson

“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon,” music and lyric by Scott George

“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie,” music and lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (WINNER)

Costume Design 

“Barbie” – Jacqueline Durran

“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Jacqueline West

“Napoleon” – Janty Yates and Dave Crossman

“Oppenheimer” – Ellen Mirojnick

“Poor Things” – Holly Waddington (WINNER)

Sound

“The Creator,” Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic

“Maestro,” Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

“Oppenheimer,” Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O’Connell

“The Zone of Interest,” Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn (WINNER)

Original Score 

“American Fiction” – Laura Karpman

“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” John Williams

“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Robbie Robertson

“Oppenheimer” – Ludwig Göransson (WINNER)

“Poor Things” – Jerskin Fendrix

Live Action Short Film

“The After,” Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham

“Invincible,” Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron

“Knight of Fortune,” Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk

“Red, White and Blue,” Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane

“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” Wes Anderson and Steven Rales (WINNER)

Animated Short Film 

“Letter to a Pig,” Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter

“Ninety-Five Senses,” Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess

“Our Uniform,” Yegane Moghaddam

“Pachyderme,” Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius

“War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko,” Dave Mullins and Brad Booker (WINNER)

Documentary Feature Film 

“Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek

“The Eternal Memory”

“Four Daughters,” Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha

“To Kill a Tiger,” Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim

“20 Days in Mariupol,” Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath (WINNER)

Documentary Short Film 

“The ABCs of Book Banning,” Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic

“The Barber of Little Rock,” John Hoffman and Christine Turner

“Island in Between,” S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien

“The Last Repair Shop,” Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers (WINNER)

“Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó,” Sean Wang and Sam Davis

International Feature Film 

“Io Capitano” (Italy)  

“Perfect Days” (Japan)  

“Society of the Snow” (Spain)  

“The Teachers’ Lounge” (Germany) 

“The Zone of Interest” (United Kingdom) (WINNER)

Animated Feature Film 

“The Boy and the Heron,” Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki (WINNER)

“Elemental,” Peter Sohn and Denise Ream

“Nimona,” Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary

“Robot Dreams,” Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal

Makeup and Hairstyling 

“Golda,” Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue

“Maestro,” Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell

“Oppenheimer,” Luisa Abel

“Poor Things,” Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston (WINNER)

“Society of the Snow,” Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé

Production Design 

“Barbie,” production design: Sarah Greenwood; set decoration: Katie Spencer

“Killers of the Flower Moon,” production design: Jack Fisk; set decoration: Adam Willis

“Napoleon,” production design: Arthur Max; set decoration: Elli Griff

“Oppenheimer,” production design: Ruth De Jong; set decoration: Claire Kaufman

“Poor Things,” production design: James Price and Shona Heath; set decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek (WINNER)

Film Editing

“Anatomy of a Fall” – Laurent Sénéchal

“The Holdovers” – Kevin Tent

“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Thelma Schoonmaker

“Oppenheimer” – Jennifer Lame (WINNER)

“Poor Things” – Yorgos Mavropsaridis

Visual Effects

“The Creator,” Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould

“Godzilla Minus One,” Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima (WINNER)

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould

“Napoleon,” Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

My final prediction to the 95th Oscars.

Finally, the 95th Academy Awards is around the corner. It will be happening this evening in the US (will be on Monday’s morning in Asia due to time difference). I’m a keen follower of the Oscars (Hollywood’s biggest awards and one of the world’s most famous awards) every year. For this 95th edition, I have watched 7 out of the 10 nominated films in the best picture category. That’s considered a lot.

After over two months of reviewing results from the precursor awards (Golden Globes, Critics Choice, BAFTA, SAG, PGA, DGA, WGA, Independent Spirit, etc) and observing the recent momentum, here comes my final prediction for all the 23 categories for the Academy Awards this year before the ceremony takes place in less than a day.

(Image source: Deed News)

Best Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert, Producer

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

“The Fabelmans,” Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

“Tár,” Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

“Triangle of Sadness,” Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

“Women Talking,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Will win: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Should win: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Opinion: Out of the 10 nominated films above, I didn’t watch ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, ‘Women Talking’ and ‘Triangle of Sadness’. Several films may be the underdog and pulls of a shocking upset (The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Top Gun Maverick and All Quiet on the Western Front) to the clear frontrunner, EEAAO. Some said EEAAO is a polarizing film and may not be relevant to the more traditional styles of the voters but I still think it will still stay on top on preferential ballot system.

Best Director 

Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) 

Todd Field (“Tár”) 

Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)

Will win: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Should win: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Opinion: The famed director, Steven Spielberg may pull off an upset here if the Academy is truly wasn’t keen on EEAAO. However, it is really undeniable to ignore how amazing the Daniels are when they can pull it off from their crazy vision in EEAAO and then even made it a masterpiece.

Best Lead Actor

Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) 

Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) 

Bill Nighy (“Living”) 

Will win: Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Should win: Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) 

Opinion: It’s between those two. Colin Farrell may pull off an upset if there’s significant splitting of votes between Brendan and Austin. Austin put a lot of effort on his role as Elvis but I still find his performance not memorable. However, I do felt the Academy loves to reward actor portraying as someone famous in a biopic.

Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 

Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) 

Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)

Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) 

Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Will win: Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Should win: Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 

Opinion: This is a two-person race as well (Cate and Michelle). While many said that Cate’s performance is the best even for the entire past decade, I find that her movie ‘Tar’ is very boring and slow and is made solely as a show-off to Cate’s acting capabilities. Yes, Cate is wonderful in it but she has already won two Oscars and will have many more Oscar-bait roles in the future. Michelle’s performance in EEAAO is equally outstanding and it’s about time for the Academy to make history by rewarding the first ever Asian woman as best actress not solely because of her race but because of her performance and legendary career from Asia to Hollywood over the span of few decades.

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) 

Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)

Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Will win: Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Should win: Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Opinion: It will be very shocking if others beside than Ke Huy Quan win this. He is the favourite from the very beginning of the awards season. Similarly to Michelle, he is phenomenal in EEAAO.

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 

Hong Chau (“The Whale”) 

Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Will win: Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) or Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 

Should win: Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 

Opinion: This is a very tough race. Angela won Golden Globes and Critics Choice. Kerry won BAFTA. Jamie Lee won SAG. I have a feeling that Academy would want to reward ‘The Banshees..’ a trophy and this category may be their pick. On the other hand, I still feel that Angela has the edge to pull this off. Jamie Lee is unlikely to win as her performance isn’t really that spectacular and that she would suffer vote-splitting with her co-star, Stephanie who is also contending from EEAAO.

Best Adapted Screenplay

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson

“Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

“Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Will win: “Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Should win: “Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Opinion: Should be an easy call. The only category to reward ‘Women Talking’. It all depends on whether the Academy are really mad in love with ‘All Quiet…’ like the BAFTA. If that’s the case, ‘All Quiet…’ may win this and even the best picture.

Best Original Screenplay

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

“The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

“Tár,” Written by Todd Field

“Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund

Will win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

Should win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

Opinion: No one can overpowers the originality of EEAAO script. ‘The Banshees…’ may pull off an upset here since these two are quite neck-to-neck in this category.

Best Cinematography 

“All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Darius Khondji

“Elvis,” Mandy Walker

“Empire of Light,” Roger Deakins

“Tár,” Florian Hoffmeister

Will win: “All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend

Should win: “All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend

Best Documentary Feature Film 

“All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

“Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

“A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

“Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Will win: “Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Opinion: No ‘should win’ as I have not watched any of these documentary films.

Best Documentary Short Film 

“The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

“Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

“How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt

“The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

“Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Will win: “The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

Opinion: No ‘should win’ as I have not watched any of these documentary short films.

Best Film Editing

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

“Elvis,” Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers

“Tár,” Monika Willi

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Eddie Hamilton

Will win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers

Should win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers

Best International Feature Film 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany) 

“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina) 

“Close” (Belgium)

“EO” (Poland) 

“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland) 

Will win: “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany) 

Opinion: No ‘should win’ as I have only watched ‘All Quiet…’ out of the five nominees. It’s a lock for ‘All Quiet…’ as it also competes in best picture category.

Best Original Song 

“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose  

“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne 

Will win: “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose  

Should win: “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

Best Production Design 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole

“Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

“Elvis,” Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn

“The Fabelmans,” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Will win: “Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

Should win: “Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

Best Visual Effects

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

“The Batman,” Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Will win: “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

Should win: “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

Opinion: One of the easiest picks this year.

Best Animated Feature Film 

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

“The Sea Beast,” Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

“Turning Red,” Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Will win: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

Should win: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

Opinion: Also another one of the easiest and obvious picks this year.

Best Animated Short Film

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

“The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

“Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

“My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon

Will win: “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

Opinion: No ‘should win’ as I have not watched any of the nominated animated short films above.

Best Costume Design 

“Babylon,” Mary Zophres

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Ruth Carter

“Elvis,” Catherine Martin

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Shirley Kurata

“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Jenny Beavan

Will win: “Elvis,” Catherine Martin

Should win: “Elvis,” Catherine Martin

Best Live Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White

“Ivalu,” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

“Le Pupille,” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

“Night Ride,” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

“The Red Suitcase,” Cyrus Neshvad

Will win: “An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White

Opinion: No ‘should win’ as I have not watched any of the live action shorts above.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

“The Batman,” Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

“Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

“The Whale,” Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Will win: “Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

Should win: “Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

Best Original Score 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann

“Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux

“The Fabelmans,” John Williams

Will win: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann

Should win: “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux

Best Sound

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

“The Batman,” Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

“Elvis,” David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

Will win: “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

Should win: “Top Gun: Maverick,” Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

That’s all for my final prediction. I wonder how many of my predictions above are correct after the awards ceremony.

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ making sweep at PGA and SAG in the past weekend!

It’s less than 2 weeks away to the Oscars and we are now in the midst of plenty of major precursor awards from the critics and the guilds in recognizing the best of Hollywood films released in 2022. In fact, most of the precursor awards have passed including the Producers Guild of America Awards (PGA) and Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) which took place just in the past weekend.

‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ made history as the first ever film to win 4 awards at the SAG. Before the ceremony, the film has 5 nominations in 4 categories and won in all the 4 categories including the coveted best cast ensemble award. Actors do really love and adore this film, particularly its cast. Who doesn’t love them? Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie-Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu and several others including the legendary 94-years old James Hong. The acceptance speech at the final award (cast ensemble) which is turned into a tribute to James Hong is momentous. James himself was quite funny too on his speech.

Very well deserved win to everyone (well maybe except for Jamie-Lee Curtis as the other nominees in her supporting actress category are more superior than her in terms of performances). The film really wins everything everwhere all at once! Haha (except for BAFTA where it only managed to win editing to everyone’s shock!. British academy had poor taste in judging films). It is also very rare seeing that the 4 acting winners at the BAFTA are totally different with the 4 acting winners at the SAG. It’s going to be an exciting race at the Oscars. Close calls in all the acting categories except for maybe the supporting actor where Ke Huy Quan is the most solid frontrunner.

I’m so happy for Michelle Yeoh. She deserved this lead actress award and need to win this to stay on the race to win best actress at the Oscars. Her main competitor, Cate Blanchett had beaten her in many previous major precursor awards. Let’s hope the momentum stays on for her to become the first ever Asian to win best actress at the Academy Awards. I knew; many are saying Cate’s performance in ‘Tar’ is the best. I personally felt both Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett are equal in their respective performances. After that, I am thinking who is overdue and in need of this recognition? Cate has won Oscars twice and she would have many more future opportunities to get awards. That’s not the case for Michelle. This is her once-in-a-lifetime chance. Hence, I’m rooting for her (also partly because she is a Malaysian and I’m of course supporting my own country along the way!).

I like the way this year’s SAG Awards is being presented. The ceremony was available for live streaming on YouTube so everyone is able to watch it easily online. No commercial ads. No music playoff to cut short the time for the award’s winners to speak. Clips of all nominees are presented. And lastly…the result are so much more exciting and great!

Here’s below the result only for the film categories for the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards (didn’t bother the television categories as I do not watch any US television series):

Motion Picture Cast

Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Women Talking

Male Actor in a Leading Role — Motion Picture

Austin Butler, Elvis
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Bill Nighy, Living
Adam Sandler, Hustle

Female Actor in a Leading Role — Motion Picture

Cate Blanchett, Tár
Viola Davis, The Woman King
Ana de Armas, Blonde
Danielle Deadwyler, Till
WINNER: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Male Actor in a Supporting Role — Motion Picture

Paul Dano, The Fabelmans
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

Female Actor in a Supporting Role — Motion Picture

Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau, The Whale
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
WINNER: Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Avatar: The Way of Water
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
WINNER: Top Gun: Maverick
The Woman King

Brendan Fraser also needed this best actor win to stay in the race for the Oscars as Austin Butler had prevailed at the Golden Globes and the BAFTA. So for best actor it will be battle between Brendan and Austin. Colin Farrell has lost a lot of momentum at this point. For best actress, it’s just between Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh (sorry for the other nominees!). Supporting actor is likely a lock for Ke Huy Quan. Supporting actress is a bit more crowded with a three-way race between Kerry Condon, Angela Bassett and Jamie-Lee Curtis (I’m still picking Angela Bassett for the Oscars win).

A24 dominated the SAG this year (as both ‘The Whale’ and ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ are from A24 studio). ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ is now a clear frontrunner for best picture at the Oscars after winning SAG ensemble on top of the previous major win at Producers Guild of America Awards (PGA), Directors Guild of America Awards (DGA) and Critics Choice Awards. It is also set to win at the upcoming Writers Guild Awards (WGA) and Independent Spirit Awards which are to be held on this coming weekend.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

93rd Academy Awards: Surprises in lead acting categories while ‘Nomadland’ took best picture and director as expected.

The 93rd Academy Awards (aka the Oscars) concluded a moment ago and I am glad that I was able to find an online platform to watch the live broadcast of the whole ceremony that ran a little over 3 hours. ‘Nomadland’ took the top honor by winning the best picture. The movie which I find mediocre also won for best director and best actress. Here are the full list of winners along with my opinions for several categories (the winners are in bold):

Best Picture
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Opinion: Expected. ‘Nomadland’ have had a clean sweep in the major precursor awards in this category. I don’t get the hype of this movie and I also do not enjoy it thoroughly (I find it dull). I would have prefer ‘The Father’ or ‘Minari’.

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari

Opinion: Wow…I’m actually very happy for Anthony Hopkins. His performance in ‘The Father’ is fantastic and I’m glad that he won it which may came as a shock to many people. First, he won it before. Secondly, many felt that this should be awarded to Chadwick Boseman posthumously. Fortunately, most Academy members didn’t think that way (same goes to me). Hopkins delivered the best performance out of the five.

Best Actress
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Opinion: Looks like BAFTA is a good indicator for the outcome of lead acting categories at the Oscars. Anthony Hopkins and Frances McDormand both won at the BAFTA and the result repeated itself at the Oscars. It is still quite a shock here since many are predicting Carey Mulligan to win (including myself). Frances is good but I don’t think she deserved to win three best actress Oscars for her performances which look more or less the same. Even the legendary Meryl Streep only had won two before (and one supporting). I felt it was too much for Frances.

Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
David Fincher, Mank
Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Opinion: Good. More Asian filmmakers should be recognized (and not just Black or woman or LGBT). Without Chloe’s direction, ‘Nomadland’ would not even be in the spotlight in this awards season.

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

Opinion: Very happy for Yuh-Jung Youn. She deserved it. She also gave the best (and most hilarious) speech for the evening despite not being well versed in English. Such a lovely person. I would want her to become my grandma…haha. Poor Glenn Close…lost again at the Oscars. She needs to get into a brilliant film and win best actress soon.

Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah

Best International Feature
Another Round
Better Days
Collective 
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Animated Feature
Onward
Over the Moon
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon 
Soul
Wolfwalkers

Opinion: No surprise here. ‘Soul’ had a clean sweep just like ‘Nomadland’ in this awards season. A simple yet thought-provoking film, ‘Soul’ captivated me and is no doubt the best animated film in 2020.

Best Documentary Feature
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time

Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul

Opinion: ‘Soul’ winning score is expected. As soon as the movie started, I already knew this score is going to get some trophies. The score is simply amazing.

Best Original Song
“Fight for You,” Judas and the Black Messiah
“Hear My Voice,” The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik,” Eurovision Song Contest
“Io Si (Seen),” The Life Ahead
“Speak Now,” One Night in Miami

Best Original Screenplay
Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Opinion: Didn’t watch ‘Promising Young Woman’ but I have heard of the many positive words for the daring debut of the writer of this film (who is also the film’s director) with her unconventionally wild and fresh script.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Father
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The White Tiger

Opinion: Some predicted ‘Nomadland’ to win in this category too but I’m rooting for ‘The Father’. Looks like most Academy members had the same opinion as mine. The screenplay for this film is beautiful!

Best Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Opinion: Most predicted ‘Nomadland’ too but ‘Mank’ prevailed in the end. Well, I agree too as I believe there are a lot more works on black-and-white film in terms of capturing the light to complement and enhance the film. On the other hand, lighting work from ‘Nomadland’ mostly comes from the nature itself only (the beautiful backdrop sceneries) and doesn’t require much effort.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio

Best Costume Design
Emma
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio

Best Film Editing
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Opinion: Would have prefer ‘The Father’ but ‘Sound of Metal’ is fine for me too.

Best Sound
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal

Opinion: It is so obvious that the movie centered on sound (and even part of its title is called ‘sound’) will win this.

Best Live-Action Short
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye

Best Animated Short
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes-People

Best Documentary Short
Colette
A Concerto is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha

Best Visual Effects
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet

Opinion: Expected. The visual effects of ‘Tenet’ are splendid especially on its extensive use of backward shots which are critical to the story of the film (which also got the audiences confused too..haha).

Best Production Design
The Father 
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet

Opinion: Not much to comment but I have read many positive words on the production values in ‘Mank’ which delivered successfully to match the look and feel of the old Hollywood era intended in the film.

That’s all; the conclusion of the awards season for Hollywood films in 2020. Congratulations to all the winners! Most of the results are very much predictable while there are still some surprises especially in the lead acting categories as mentioned earlier. I find it weird that the Academy decided to announce best picture winner first before the best actor and actress categories. The arrangement felt weird.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

‘Nomadland’ dominating the Hollywood awards season so far for this year.

I seem to have not discuss much on the major Hollywood awards season for this year which is happening right now. It is most probably because I didn’t watch most of the films that are getting various nominations. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the awards season has been pushed back to allow more entries of films that are only released very recently. Besides that, all of the awards ceremonies have to be switched to virtual/online format with very little to no live audiences to prevent outbreak of the coronavirus.

The Golden Globes took place two weeks ago with ‘Nomadland’ winning best motion picture-drama and its director, Chloe Zhao winning best director. The late Chadwick Boseman, won best actor in motion picture-drama for his performance in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ while Andra Day surprisingly won best actress in motion picture-drama from her role in ‘The United States vs. Billie Holiday’ over the favourite, Carey Mulligan from ‘Promising Young Woman’. ‘Soul’ won best animated film and best score (very much deserved) while ‘Minari’ won best foreign language film.

The Critics Choice took place last weekend with very similar result except that Carey Mulligan do pull off the best actress win here. However, things got a bit shocking when the nomination list for the BAFTA is recently announced and she is not even nominated at all for best actress category. It’s going to be an interesting race for this category all the way to the Oscars. The other categories mostly appear consistent with the same set of winners. The SAG and BAFTA will take place on early next month and finally, the Oscars will happen on 26th April 2021.

‘Nomadland’ is dominating the season so far this year with some major wins already. It stars Frances McDormand as a woman who leaves home to travel around the American West. The film currently holds 94% score at both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. It made me wanted to try to watch it and see how good it is. And I just did. It’s an unappealing film for me. This isn’t just my type of film.

Critics praised it for being unassuming yet powerful but I find it being a bit too modest, quiet and boring. But I have to admit that the movie delivers strong character study and that Frances McDormand portrays it very well. Out of 10 points, I would have rated it 7.0 only. It is merely a depiction of a life of a woman down the road slightly elevated by solid acting, cinematography and direction. But its core story still remains dull to me.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Golden Globes 2020: ‘1917’ and ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ win big.

The first major televised Hollywood film awards ceremony of the year, the 77th Golden Globe Awards took place yesterday with Ricky Gervais hosting it again (it’s his fifth and final time). I watched some of his jokes at the ceremony today and I really think it should be his last time hosting (most of his jokes fall flat and not humorous) too. Someone please get Tina Fey and Amy Poehler back.

Here’s below the list of winners for all the film categories (I only pay attention to film categories and I don’t watch US television series):

Best Motion Picture — Drama

• 1917
• The Irishman
• Joker
• Marriage Story
• The Two Popes

Comment: So far I have only watched ‘Joker’. I would love to watch ‘1917’ especially after this win. A war film shown in one continuous shot…that is already brilliant. 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama

• Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
• Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
• Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
• Charlize Theron, Bombshell
• Renée Zellweger, Judy

Comment: Well deserved win for Renee Zellweger. She is fantastic in ‘Judy’. The captivating final scene of the movie helped a lot.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama

• Christian Bale, Ford v Ferrari
• Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
• Adam Driver, Marriage Story
• Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
• Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

Comment: Glad for Joaquin Phoenix. He is phenomenal in ‘Joker’. His laugh, gesture, posture, speech and expression in the movie are top notch acting.

Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

• Dolemite Is My Name
• Jojo Rabbit
• Knives Out
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Rocketman

Comment: I don’t enjoy ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’. I find it boring. Would prefer ‘Jojo Rabbit’, ‘Knives Out’ or even ‘Rocketman’ to win.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

• Ana de Armas, Knives Out
• Awkwafina, The Farewell
• Cate Blanchett, Where’d You Go, Bernadette
• Beanie Feldstein, Booksmart
• Emma Thompson, Late Night

Comment: Happy for Awkwafina. She is the first Asian actress to receive lead actress award at Golden Globes. History made! Luck is on her side too as this category is particularly weak this year.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

• Daniel Craig, Knives Out
• Roman Griffin Davis, Jojo Rabbit
• Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Taron Egerton, Rocketman
• Eddie Murphy, Dolemite Is My Name

Comment: Deserving win for Taron Egerton too although many would prefer Eddie Murphy or Leonardo DiCaprio to win. Taron Egerton portrayed Elton John quite convincingly to my surprise.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

• Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
• Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
• Al Pacino, The Irishman
• Joe Pesci, The Irishman
• Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Comment: Votes split between two actors in ‘The irishman’. ‘The Two Popes’ didn’t get enough publicity. Tom Hanks is solid as usual, but too usual. So, that’s it; Brad Pitt, you get your trophy. 

Best Original Score — Motion Picture

• Little Women – Alexandre Desplat
• Joker – Hildur Guðnadóttir
• Marriage Story – Randy Newman
• 1917 – Thomas Newman
• Motherless Brooklyn – Daniel Pemberton

Comment: Beautiful score in ‘Joker’ and I can’t compare too since I have not watch the other nominated films.

Best Director — Motion Picture

• Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
• Sam Mendes, 1917
• Todd Phillips, Joker
• Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
• Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Comment: Sam Mendes winning this is quite a surprise as there are at least two presumed frontrunners in this category; Bong Joon-ho and Martin Scorsese. Anyway, good for Sam Mendes. This raises his chance to win best director and best picture at the Oscars next month.

Best Original Song — Motion Picture

• “Beautiful Ghosts,” Cats – Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Taylor Swift
• “I’m Gonna Love Me Again,” Rocketman – Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
• “Into the Unknown,” Frozen II – Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez
• “Spirit,” The Lion King – Music and Lyrics by Timothy McKenzie, Ilya Salmanzadeh & Beyoncé
• “Stand Up,” Harriet – Music and Lyrics by Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo

Comment: In a moment I thought ‘Into The Unknown’ would win. I’m alright with a song from ‘Rocketman’ winning. Why is ‘Speechless’ from ‘Aladdin’ not even getting a nomination here?

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture

• Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
• Annette Bening, The Report
• Laura Dern, Marriage Story
• Jennifer Lopez, Hustlers
• Margot Robbie, Bombshell

Comment: Happy for Laura Dern. She is a great actress who is underrated. Make the way for her to win the Oscars next month!

Best Motion Picture — Animated

• Frozen II
• How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
• The Lion King
• Missing Link
• Toy Story 4

Comment: Oh..wow! This is surprising! Before this announcement, I would have placed ‘Missing Link’ at 4th or 5th place. And now, it came out on top defeating heavy favourites like ‘Frozen 2’ and ‘Toy Story 4’. Maybe HFPA is really tired of sequels.

Best Screenplay — Motion Picture

• Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach
• Parasite – Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won
• The Two Popes – Anthony McCarten
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino
• The Irishman – Steven Zaillian

Comment: ‘Parasite’ should win this. What’s the love with ‘Hollywood’? I can’t understand.

Best Motion Picture — Foreign Language

• The Farewell
• Les Misérables
• Pain and Glory
• Parasite
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Comment: A 100% sure win for ‘Parasite’ here. Just a single win here for this film seems unjustified too. This film deserves more recognition and hope it did well in the Oscars next month.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

91st Oscars: ‘Green Book’ took Best Picture. Rami Malek is the best actor while Olivia Colman prevailed with best actress win over heavy favourite Glenn Close.

Finally, the Oscars is here. The 91st Academy Awards took place just a moment ago with some surprising wins. This year’s ceremony runs half hour longer than the anticipated 3-hours period. The ceremony also comes with no host. Here’s below is the full winners list along with my comments:

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

 

Opinion: I haven’t watch ‘Green Book’ (now I think I should). My first choice is ‘Roma’. I have a feeling many would be fine with ‘Roma’ winning since it is not as divisive as ‘Green Book’ (this film has some controversy). I’m surprised. I have to admit that ‘Roma’ is more of a technical masterpiece while the Academy just wanted to go away from that since they had done so last year (as many viewed ‘The Shape of Water’ more of a technical masterpiece too).

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

Opinion: Expected. It’s so nice to see Guillermo del Toro (last year winner) to present this to Alfonso Cuaron. Both are great friends and are from Mexico. Very well deserved win to Cuaron. It’s his second directing win! So many Mexicans rule in this category for the last couple of years.

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?”

Opinion: Oh my god! I was so shocked when I heard ‘Olivia Colman’. Poor Glenn…she is amazing in ‘The Wife’ and everyone thinks she is going to get it this time due to the huge overdue factor (me included). But she isn’t. That is shocking. I was really hoping she will win after 7 nominations. And yet, not again. She is a a wonderful actress and has been unfortunately overlooked by the Academy once again. Felt really bad for Glenn Close. Congratz, Olivia Colman; win in first nomination! I love her acceptance speech (she is a very likable and fun person). She is excellent in ‘The Favourite’ too but I still wanted Close to win her first Oscar in her long amazing career.

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

Opinion: Happy for Rami Malek. He is phenomenal in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Some people criticized that he just impersonates Freddie Mercury and lip-sync throughout the entire movie. To these people, have you watched the entire movie? His performance in it is much more than that and I’m glad that the Academy recognizes that.

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”

Opinion: Haven’t watch ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ but have heard a lot of good reviews particularly for Regina King’s performance in it. She is snubbed at the SAG and BAFTA surprisingly. I would have prefer Emma Stone from ‘The Favourite’ to win this one but I knew she won’t. The 5 ladies here are all very deserving.

Best 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”

Opinion: No. Although I knew Mahershala Ali is going to win as he sweeps all the major precursor awards, but I prefer Richard E. Grant. My judgement is a bit biased here as I have not watched ‘Green Book’. Ali has already won the same award just few years ago and I think it’s too quick for him to win another one.

Best 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)

Opinion: Haven’t watch ‘Blackkklansman’. My choice is ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’.

Best 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)

Opinion: Haven’t watch ‘Green Book’ and I would prefer ‘The Favourite’ to win this. Its script is brilliant. It just doesn’t feel right when ‘The Favourite’ is not winning anything at all.

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

Opinion: Expected. The camerawork and lighting in ‘Roma’ are brilliant. The black-and-white style further expresses the cinematography of the film.

Best 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)

Opinion: Good for ‘Black Panther’. The only fascinating thing from the film is its unique costumes.

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

Opinion: I predicted ‘Vice’ while ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is my second choice. I was wrong. I find that the editing in ‘Vice’ is much more obvious but Academy is very in love with the editing for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (mostly due to the amazing Live Aid scene).

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Border”
“Mary Queen of Scots”
“Vice”

Opinion: Expected. The same formula last year; do a huge transformation to a leading man in a movie (particularly turning one into a fat politician – Winston Churchill last year and Dick Cheney this year) and you got this.

Best Original Score
“Black Panther” (Ludwig Goransson)
“BlacKkKlansman” (Terence Blanchard)
“If Beale Street Could Talk” (Nicholas Britell)
“Isle of Dogs” (Alexandre Desplat)
“Mary Poppins Returns” (Marc Shaiman)

Opinion: ‘Black Panther’ has best score?! This is a joke. ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ or even ‘Isle of Dogs’ are much more worthy. I have a feeling that Academy wanted to give a lot of awards to ‘Black Panther’ just to show that they are very serious in celebrating diversity. This is not right. Quality should be the priority.

Best 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 Willie Watson, Tim Blake Nelson

Opinion: Definitely ‘Shallow’. Very deserving as the song is simply amazing! The only win for ‘A Star Is Born’ which has been predicted to be a strong contender in the early award season but fails.

Best 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)

Opinion: Not hugely disappointed but would have prefer ‘The Favourite’ to take this. Looks like the love for ‘Black Panther’ is strong. There’s a lot of reliance on green screen for most setting in ‘Black Panther’ and less on practical set-up and that’s why I don’t really agree with it winning production design.

Best Sound Editing
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“A Quiet Place”
“Roma”

Opinion: ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is my third pick and it ends up prevailing even in this category. ‘A Quiet Place’ and ‘First Man’ have better sound editing in my opinion.

Best Sound Mixing
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”

Opinion: Expected. The sound mixing for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is amazing. Music-themed film usually win here. Sorry ‘A Star Is Born’. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has much more obvious sound work and in much larger quantity and volume.

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

Opinion: Wow. This is so surprising. Academy tends to favour low-key supporting visual effects (same like when ‘Ex Machina’ won some years ago). I disagree totally. ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ is robbed. The CGI on Thanos alone is enough to win. ‘First Man’ is like my 4th pick (at the bottom).

Best Foreign Language Film
“Capernaum” (Lebanon)
“Cold War” (Poland)
“Never Look Away” (Germany)
“Roma” (Mexico)
“Shoplifters” (Japan)

Opinion: Expected again. ‘Roma’ is even in best picture contention.

Best 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

Opinion: No competition. ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ is certainly at the top this year. ‘Incredibles 2’ is fun but ordinary. I have high expectation for ‘Isle of Dogs’ but it came out being fine although it has unique animation. ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ is here just to fill in the slot.

– No comments for the last 4 categories below as I’m not interested in them and have not watched any of them too.-

Best Animated Short
“Animal Behavior”
“Bao”
“Late Afternoon”
“One Small Step”
“Weekends”

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
“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
“Detainment,” Vincent Lambe
“Fauve,” Jeremy Comte
“Marguerite,” Marianne Farley
“Mother,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen
“Skin,” Guy Nattiv

I got 11 correct and 9 incorrect for my prediction (can check out my final prediction in my previous blog post). That is not good. I got almost half of my prediction wrong. The 91st Academy Awards gave us a lot of surprise in a year where a lot of races are wide open.

‘Green Book’ took the top honor (winning best picture), defeating ‘Roma’ which is thought to be the frontrunner (‘Roma’ has most nominations and has won quite a lot of major precursor prizes). ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has the most wins at the night with 4 (lead actor, film editing, sound mixing, sound editing). ‘Green Book’, ‘Black Panther’ and ‘Roma’ ties with 3 wins each. Each of the best picture nominees won at least an award this year which is quite rare.

So now, that’s the official end of the 2018 Hollywood film awards season.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

My final prediction for the 2019 Oscars.

The 91st Academy Awards is finally happening this weekend. All the 13 guilds have handed out their prizes and major precursor awards (Golden Globes, Critics Choice, SAG, BAFTA) have announced their winners in the past several weeks.

‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ topped at the guild wins with 4 but these wins are mostly at the lesser important technical categories. The movie also won best motion picture – drama at the Golden Globes. ‘Green Book’ won at the Producers Guild Awards (PGA) and also won best motion picture – musical or comedy at the Golden Globes. ‘Roma’ won at the Directors Guild Awards (DGA) and also won Best Picture at the Critics Choice and the BAFTA. ‘Black Panther’ won Best Cast in Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG). So which film is going to win best picture this Sunday at the Oscars? Predicting the winner this year is super challenging as there is no clear frontrunner even after all the precursors. Now, this is really an exciting year.

I have previously published the full nomination list for the 2019 Oscars some time ago with my prediction but that wasn’t quite updated. Here, I will publish it again with my latest and final prediction of who will win and who should win.

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

Should win: Roma

Will win: Roma

Opinion: In term of statistic, ‘Roma’ is at a very slight upper edge over the other nominees in terms of winning in the precursor awards. This movie is beautiful, intimate and is a technical masterpiece. Since preferential system is applied for this category, ‘Roma’ has the advantage for being a movie that is not divisive or heavily hated by anyone (unlike Bohemian Rhapsody, Black Panther, Vice and Green Book) and is expected to take up a lot of 1st, and also crucial 2nd and 3rd pick by the voters. Out of the 8 nominees, I enjoyed ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ the most because it is highly entertaining. But other than that, I don’t think that it is best picture material. ‘Roma’ has my pick. ‘The Favourite’ or ‘Blackkklansman’ may upset but I think their chances are quite far behind.

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

Should win: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Will win: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Opinion: There is no doubt that Alfonso Cuaron is getting his second directing Oscars. The dark horse here would be Spike Lee but I don’t think he has that momentum to take down Cuaron at this point since the latter has been sweeping all the precursor awards already.

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?”

Should win: Glenn Close (The Wife)

Will win: Glenn Close (The Wife)

Opinion: Only losing the best actress to Olivia Colman in the BAFTA (due to Colman being a British and has the home advantage), Glenn Close is certainly the frontrunner (she won at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice and SAG) and my pick to win the best actress. This would be her first ever win in her 7th nomination. That is crazy and unbelievable that such an amazing actress has never won an Oscar before. She is winning this not because of the overdue factor but because she delivered an excellent performance in ‘The Wife’. I have to admit that the overdue factor is also giving her an advantage over the other nominees. I will scream if she doesn’t get to go up on stage to take that Oscar this Sunday. Looking forward to a standing ovation for her. She is a phenomenal actress. This shall be her year!

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

Should win: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Will win: Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Opinion: Rami Malek is the frontrunner after winning Golden Globes, BAFTA and SAG. He only lost the Critics Choice (to Christian Bale). Forget about Critics Choice. The critics have been seriously panning ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ but the film industry people have shown the opposite reaction to the movie instead (by giving it multiple major awards). I am with the industry people this time. The critics are wrong. Rami Malek didn’t just imitate Freddie Mercury but he brought the character to life with fantastic acting. His performance there is beyond imitation or lip-syncing. He made us believe that Freddie Mercury himself was in that movie.

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”

Should win: Emma Stone (The Favourite)

Will win: Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)

Opinion: Regina King may still win this but I think Rachel Weisz will prevail especially after her recent BAFTA win. It gave her a lot of momentum. Between her and Emma Stone (both from the same film;The Favourite), I would slightly prefer the latter more because her role is slightly more complex and her performance slightly more engaging. But I don’t think she can win as she has just won best actress not long ago. The other nominees can pull off upset here too as this race is wide open till now.

Best 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”

Should win: Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)

Will win: Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

Opinion: Mahershala Ali has been taking all the supporting actor prizes, making him the clear frontrunner in this category. He is certainly going to win (this will be his second supporting actor Oscar) but I would prefer Richard E. Grant to prevail. He is superb in ‘Can You Ever Forgive Me?’ alongside Mellisa McCarthy.

Best 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)

Should win: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Will win: Blackkklansman.

Opinion: Can You Ever Forgive Me? won at the Writers Guild Awards (WGA) and that’s my choice too. However, I think the Academy wouldn’t want ‘Blackkklansman’ to go home empty-handed since it is also a best picture nominee (Can You Ever Forgive Me? is not a best picture nominee).

Best 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)

Should win: The Favourite

Will win: The Favourite

Opinion: ‘The Favourite’ is the frontrunner here but ‘Green Book’ or even ‘Roma’ can pull off a surprise win here too. ‘The Favourite’ is a quirky, unconventional period film and its screenplay helps a lot for its success. If the love for ‘Roma’ is super strong, then it may also possible to take this one too.

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

Should win: Roma

Will win: Roma

Opinion: No debate. It’s going to be ‘Roma’. Another foreign film ‘Cold War’ is the dark horse here. English film has no chance for this category this year. Opps.

Best 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)

Should win: Black Panther

Will win: Black Panther

Opinion: This is going to be battle between ‘Black Panther’ and ‘The Favourite’. Academy will certainly find a way to reward ‘Black Panther’ which is the first superhero film nominated for best picture ever (but unlikely to win best picture) and this is the category for it (also possible on the ‘best production design’ category). I’m giving the edge for ‘Black Panther’ due to their creative and futuristic looking costumes and I’m bored of seeing period movies keep on winning this from their typical massive traditional dresses.

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

Should win: Vice

Will win: Vice

Opinion: It’s between ‘Vice’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. It’s too close to call but I’m picking ‘Vice’ in the end for its more obvious editing effort throughout the entire movie while ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ has splendid and spectacular editing only particularly at its end during the Live Aid segment.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Border”
“Mary Queen of Scots”
“Vice”

Should win: Vice

Will win: Vice

Opinion: Same scenario as ‘Darkest Hour’ last year. Huge makeup to turn an actor unrecognizable and particularly into a fat politician and you are winning this.

Best Original Score
“Black Panther” (Ludwig Goransson)
“BlacKkKlansman” (Terence Blanchard)
“If Beale Street Could Talk” (Nicholas Britell)
“Isle of Dogs” (Alexandre Desplat)
“Mary Poppins Returns” (Marc Shaiman)

Should win: Isle Of Dogs

Will win: If Beale Street Could Talk

Opinion: It is absurd that ‘First Man’ is not nominated here. I would have pick that to win here easily. This is the category where ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ has the higher chance of winning (besides than the very tight race in the supporting actress category).

Best 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 Willie Watson, Tim Blake Nelson

Should win: Shallow (A Star Is Born)

Will win: Shallow (A Star Is Born)

Opinion: 100% sure that Lady Gaga (and Bradley Cooper) will still have their moment on stage to receive an award (rather than just performing the song live during the ceremony). They won’t have chance to win for the acting categories. ‘Shallow’ is a beautiful and powerful song (I love this song too) and it will secure the only win for the overrated ‘A Star Is Born’.

Best 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)

Should win: The Favourite

Will win: The Favourite

Opinion: Similar to the ‘best costume design’ category, this is the battle between ‘Black Panther’ and ‘The Favourite’. The other nominees wouldn’t stand a chance at all. I’m fine with any of these two winning. If ‘The Favourite’ won here, I prefer ‘Black Panther’ to win for costume design. Hence, that’s my prediction right now.

Best Sound Editing
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“A Quiet Place”
“Roma”

Should win: A Quiet Place

Will win: A Quiet Place

Opinion: The only nomination for ‘A Quiet Place’ and I have a feeling that many voters will put a tick for it. The movie has great sound editing despite its content being mostly quiet due to its plot. Now, that is what makes the sound work from the movie so awesome and noticeable. ‘First Man’ or ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ may stun us with a win here too.

Best Sound Mixing
“Black Panther”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”

Should win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Will win: Bohemian Rhapsody

Opinion: All the way for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The sound mixing work in this movie is brilliant! Period.

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

Should win: Avengers: Infinity War

Will win: Avengers: Infinity War

Opinion: The visual effect on Thanos alone is enough for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ to win. I must say that I’m also impressed by the visual effects from ‘Ready Player One’. But hey, this mega blockbuster (Infinity War) has to be rewarded!

Best Foreign Language Film
“Capernaum” (Lebanon)
“Cold War” (Poland)
“Never Look Away” (Germany)
“Roma” (Mexico)
“Shoplifters” (Japan)

Should win: Roma

Will win: Roma

Opinion: Definitely ‘Roma’. This film is even in contention at best picture category and is even projected to win there. So, it should take this one easily without any competition.

Best 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

Should win: Spider-Man: Into The Spider- Verse.

Will win: Spider-Man: Into The Spider- Verse.

Opinion: No competition. ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse’ is going to win due to its brilliant story and unique animation. The other nominees are pretty ordinary.

– No comments or predictions for the last 4 categories below as I’m not interested in them and have not watched any of them too.-

Best Animated Short
“Animal Behavior”
“Bao”
“Late Afternoon”
“One Small Step”
“Weekends”

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
“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
“Detainment,” Vincent Lambe
“Fauve,” Jeremy Comte
“Marguerite,” Marianne Farley
“Mother,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen
“Skin,” Guy Nattiv

So, it looks like each of the 8 best picture nominee is going to win at least one award. That is good. No one is going home empty handed. Everyone will be happy at the end of the ceremony (except for the non best picture contender which lost in the categories they are contending). ‘Roma’ is projected to be the biggest winner with 4 wins (picture, director, foreign language film and cinematography). ‘The Favourite’ is expected to win 3 awards (production design, original screenplay and supporting actress). ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is to win 2 (lead actor, sound mixing) and ‘Vice’ is predicted to do the same (makeup & hairstyling, film editing).

So now, I have made my final prediction for the 91st Academy Awards (2019 Oscars) in 20 out of the 24 categories. Let see how many out of 20 that I got it right. The awards ceremony is happening this Sunday, 24th February 2019 at 8pm (will be the next day morning at local time). I will be watching it live. This year’s competition is intense and many categories are still wide open. It makes the awards to be more exciting than previous years.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

After winning big in Golden Globes last weekend, Bohemian Rhapsody goes home empty handed in Critics Choice.

Here comes the second out of five major Hollywood film awards honouring the best of 2018 films; Critics Choice Awards 2019. After a shocking major win by Bohemian Rhapsody in Golden Globes in the last weekend, the film wins nothing in Critics Choice, cementing the fact that critics (Broadcast Film Critics Association, BFCA) really do not like the movie as much as Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

Here below is the full list of winners (only for film categories) for the 24th Critics Choice Awards along with my opinions:

BEST PICTURE

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

The Favourite

First Man

Green Book

If Beale Street Could Talk

Mary Poppins Returns

Roma (WINNER)

A Star Is Born

Vice

Opinion: Ahhaa…a foreign film wins the top honor and that is very unusual. It means that ‘Roma’ is really an excellent film and is now the strong frontrunner for the Academy Awards next month. Usually, whichever film wins Critics Choice for best picture will win the Oscars for the same. Seeing Bohemian Rhapsody not even nominated for the 10 slot here is a strong sign that the film isn’t appealing to critics. The critics are all wrong. On the other hand, ‘A Star Is Born’ is losing some strength. It will still pose a big risk to Roma for best picture win in the Oscar though.

 

BEST ACTRESS

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns

Glenn Close, The Wife (WINNER)

Toni Collette, Hereditary

Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born (WINNER)

Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Opinion: A tie, seriously?! Just ignore Lady Gaga and hand this to Glenn Close only. Now, it shows that Lady Gaga is still in position to grab the Oscars and it now makes the best actress race much more exciting with a three-way fight (Glenn Close, Lady Gaga and Olivia Colman). Lady Gaga is good in ‘A Star Is Born’ but isn’t impresssive enough for best actress honour. For me, she is just acting as her own self (a person who can sing as required for the film) with some added emotion in to make it work. It’s nothing difficult especially for her whom is a talented singer.

 

BEST ACTOR

Christian Bale, Vice (WINNER)

Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born

Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate

Ryan Gosling, First Man

Ethan Hawke, First Reformed

Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

Opinion: Rami Malek is robbed. Best actor should easily goes to Rami Malek for his marvelous performance as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. No one could top that. Christian Bale is just doing something so similar with Gary Oldman last year (portraying as a fat politician). The exact same formula and you get to win best actor again. The critics just love to see actors transformed literally with huge makeup and gave them best actor honour. Christian Bale is good in Vice but Rami Malek is a step ahead clearly. Now, it depends on SAG (Screen Actors Guild Awards) end of this month to determine who will be the frontrunner for the Oscars next month. It’s now between Christian Bale and Rami Malek. Others have all lost their momentum especially Bradley Cooper. He just seems doesn’t have luck for awards every year.

 

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle, First Man

Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma (WINNER)

Peter Farrelly, Green Book

Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite

Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman

Adam McKay, Vice

Opinion: This is a lock in. Alfonso Cuaron had been snatching all the precursor awards for best director for his work in Roma. He will went on to win Oscars, taking that award twice which is an impressive achievement.

 

#SEEHER AWARD

Claire Foy

Opinion: Don’t know what’s this about. It’s something about an award to honour woman in film industry.

 

BEST COMEDY

Crazy Rich Asians (WINNER)

Deadpool 2

The Death of Stalin

The Favourite

Game Night

Sorry to Bother You

Opinion: A good recognition for ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. I would have thought that ‘The Favourite’ would win this easily. Looks like ‘The Favourite’ isn’t getting a lot of love here surprisingly.

 

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY

Christian Bale, Vice (WINNER)

Jason Bateman, Game Night

Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

John C. Reilly, Stan & Ollie

Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool 2

Lakeith Stanfield, Sorry to Bother You

Opinion: Christian Bale again. It reminds me of Michael Keaton winning both best actor awards in Critics Choice last time but ended up losing the Oscar to Eddie Redmayne. I hope the same case applies here (Rami Malek is my pick for the Oscar). It all comes to the SAG most likely to determine the eventual Oscar winner.

 

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns

Olivia Colman, The Favourite (WINNER)

Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade

Rachel McAdams, Game Night

Charlize Theron, Tully

Constance Wu, Crazy Rich Asians

Opinion: Yes, certainly! Olivia Colman is great in ‘The Favourite’. She still has the momentum to go for the Oscar glory (but now looks more likely that Glenn Close will prevail due to overdue factor for the Oscar).

 

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE

Black Panther

Crazy Rich Asians

The Favourite (WINNER)

Vice

Widows

Opinion: Agreed. The best thing from ‘The Favourite’ comes from the great chemistry and performances from all the three main female leads in the film; Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.

 

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE

Annihilation

Halloween

Hereditary

A Quiet Place (WINNER)

Suspiria

Opinion: Agreed on this too. ‘A Quiet Place’ is an impressive film and it ranks among my top 3 most favourite films last year.

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams, Vice

Claire Foy, First Man

Nicole Kidman, Boy Erased

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk (WINNER)

Emma Stone, The Favourite

Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

Opinion: Regina King won at the Golden Globe and now at Critics Choice. So is she an Oscar frontrunner? Not so fast. She had been snubbed surprisingly for even nomination at the SAG and BAFTA. It makes the supporting actress race intense this year. All the nominees in this category are incredible by the way.

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Mahershala Ali, Green Book (WINNER)

Timothée Chalamet, Beautiful Boy

Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther

Opinion: Ohh, looks like Mahershala Ali is on his way to his win his second supporting actor win at the Oscar so soon. Many would have thought that this would go to Richard E. Grant. Anyway, Grant still remains the darkhorse for the remaining awards.

 

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS

Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade (WINNER)

Thomasin McKenzie, Leave No Trace

Ed Oxenbould, Wildlife

Millicent Simmonds, A Quiet Place

Amandla Stenberg, The Hate U Give

Sunny Suljic, Mid90s

Opinion: Nothing to comment here as I didn’t watch ‘Eighth Grade’.

 

BEST SONG

All the Stars, Black Panther

Girl in the Movies, Dumplin’

I’ll Fight, RBG

The Place Where Lost Things Go, Mary Poppins Returns

Shallow, A Star Is Born (WINNER)

Trip a Little Light Fantastic, Mary Poppins Returns

Opinion: Very much expected. ‘Shallow’ is a powerful and a beautiful song and is going to sweep all ‘best original song’ awards. I personally like this song a lot too.

 

BEST ACTION MOVIE

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

Deadpool 2

Mission: Impossible — Fallout (WINNER)

Ready Player One

Widows

Opinion: I disagree to this choice. Fallout is good but it is just like a typical Mission Impossible movie with nothing exceptional. I would have prefer ‘Infinity War’ or even ‘Ready Player One’ to take this one.

 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

The Grinch

Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Mirai

Ralph Breaks the Internet

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (WINNER)

Opinion: Now, Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse is the clear frontrunner for the Oscar next month after winning also at the Golden Globe last week. Incredibles 2 has lost the momentum heavily.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Bo Burnham: Eighth Grade

Alfonso Cuarón: Roma

Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara: The Favourite

Adam McKay: Vice

Paul Schrader: First Reformed (WINNER)

Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie and Peter Farrelly: Green Book

Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and John Krasinski: A Quiet Place

Opinion: No comment as I didn’t watch ‘First Reformed’. This movie jumped out of nowhere and win this. Many didn’t expect ‘First Reformed’ to win anything. Now that is quite surprising.

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole: Black Panther

Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Barry Jenkins: If Beale Street Could Talk (WINNER)

Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper and Will Fetters: A Star Is Born

Josh Singer: First Man

Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee: BlacKkKlansman

Opinion: ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ gain back some momentum after its win here in adapted screenplay. Didn’t watch the movie.

 

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Alfonso Cuarón, Roma (WINNER)

James Laxton, If Beale Street Could Talk

Matthew Libatique, A Star Is Born

Rachel Morrison, Black Panther

Robbie Ryan, The Favourite

Linus Sandgren, First Man

Opinion: Didn’t watch Roma but I knew it is a black-and-white film. The film must be really good in capturing lighting even when the final product is just black and white without colours.

 

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart, Black Panther (WINNER)

Eugenio Caballero and Barbara Enriquez, Roma

Nelson Coates and Andrew Baseman, Crazy Rich Asians

Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton, The Favourite

Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas, First Man

John Myhre and Gordon Sim, Mary Poppins Returns

Opinion: Some love for Black Panther. I didn’t enjoy Black Panther like what most critics do but I do felt fine with the film winning best production design.

 

BEST EDITING

Jay Cassidy, A Star Is Born

Hank Corwin, Vice

Tom Cross, First Man (WINNER)

Alfonso Cuarón and Adam Gough, Roma

Yorgos Mavropsaridis, The Favourite

Joe Walker, Widows

Opinion: Good for ‘First Man’. Now, the movie gained back also some strength for contention of some technical awards in next month’s Academy Awards. This is one of them. ‘First Man’ does really have great editing.

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Alexandra Byrne, Mary Queen of Scots

Ruth Carter, Black Panther (WINNER)

Julian Day, Bohemian Rhapsody

Sandy Powell, The Favourite

Sandy Powell, Mary Poppins Returns

Opinion: Quite surprising for a superhero film to win best costume design. It means that the critics really love Black Panther a lot. I would have picked ‘The Favourite’ or even any other nominees in this list.

 

BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Mary Queen of Scots

Suspiria

Vice (WINNER)

Opinion: Expected. The body and face transformation for Christian Bale in Vice alone earns the film the trophy. Same as what ‘Darkest Hour’ had done last year to Gary Oldman face and body. Boring…

 

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther (WINNER)

First Man

Mary Poppins Returns

Mission: Impossible — Fallout

Ready Player One

Opinion: Black Panther again. Boring again…I personally think that this award should goes to either Infinity War or Ready Player One.

 

BEST SCORE

Kris Bowers, Green Book

Nicholas Britell, If Beale Street Could Talk

Alexandre Desplat, Isle of Dogs

Ludwig Göransson, Black Panther

Justin Hurwitz, First Man (WINNER)

Marc Shaiman, Mary Poppins Returns

Opinion: Yes. The score in ‘First Man’ is the most outstanding aspect of the movie. Period.

 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Burning

Capernaum

Cold War

Roma (WINNER)

Shoplifters

Opinion: Wow…Roma taking this as well as the best picture! Roma is the biggest winner. Looks like I have to check out the movie soon to see how great it is.

Right. That’s it for Critics Choice. The next major awards (the third one) will be the Screen Actors Guild Awards to be presented on 27th January 2019 (Sunday).

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

90th Academy Awards: ‘The Shape of Water’ wins best picture.

The 90th Academy Awards took place on March 4th, 2018 (Sunday) in Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles. Well, it’s Monday’s morning (the next day) for us in Asia to catch the ceremony live. I am very excited for this year’s result as I watched a lot of the nominated films this year including all the 9 films nominated for best picture. Well, for your information, the films nominated are the ones released last year (in 2017). Jimmy Kimmel hosted the ceremony for the second time consecutively and he did quite well. The best picture mix-up error made last year became the highlight of his talks this year besides than the currently viral issue of empowering the females in Hollywood.

Here below is the full result of the 90th Academy Awards along with the list of nominees and my opinions:

BEST PICTURE

Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
WINNER: The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Opinion: I’m so delighted that ‘The Shape of Water’ wins best picture for this year when the race is too close to call. This movie is certainly my best out of the 9 nominated films. It has a daring story, amazing performances by lead and supporting cast, beautiful score, mesmerizing production design, great cinematography, and fantastic direction. What more can you ask for? The movie excels in almost all categories and it is further proven by securing 13 nominations in the Academy Awards (the biggest ever this year) and winning 4 (also the biggest winner). I’m predicting earlier that ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ will win after its triumphant victory in Golden Globes, SAG and BAFTA although I don’t wish too because I didn’t enjoy the movie. I’m very happy for ‘The Shape of Water’ winning in the end to my excitement. It has now won the Golden Lion, Critics Choice, PGA, DGA and the Oscar.

LEAD ACTRESS

Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
WINNER: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Meryl Streep, The Post

Opinion: I’m okay with Frances McDormand winning (also very much expected) but I would prefer to give this win to someone else who has not win an Oscar before. Sally Hawkins is incredible in ‘The Shape of Water’ and it’s a pity that she lost here. Frances McDormand is amazing in ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ by the way. I like her more and more after seeing her going on the stage in the past two months receiving Best Actress trophies and giving speeches with style.

LEAD ACTOR

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
WINNER: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Opinion: Expected again. It is finally the year for Gary Oldman, a great actor to take home an Oscar. Although I do not enjoy his performance as Winston Churchill in ‘Darkest Hour’ (the movie is also boring to me), but I’m still fine with him winning just like how I was fine with Frances McDormand winning. It is more like a career award for him. Timothee Chalamet is actually the best among these 5 nominees in performance wise but he is too young and too early for an Oscar. I believe there is much more chance for him to get nominated and winning later in his future career (which is going to be bright).

DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Jordan Peele, Get Out
WINNER: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water

Opinion: Expected outcome too. I’m happy that Guillermo del Toro wins for his amazing directing in ‘The Shape of Water’. I think only his visionary mind would be able to accomplish such movie. Now all the Three Amigos (Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro G. Innaritu and Guillermo del Toro) from Mexico have won best director in the Oscars.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
WINNER: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Opinion: Also expected. Allison Janney gave a memorable performance as a fierce mother in ”I, Tonya’. Her character stood out more than the other strong contender, Laurie Metcalf who also portrayed a mother (in ‘Lady Bird’).

SUPPORTING ACTOR

Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
WINNER: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Opinion: Yes…expected too. Besides Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell steals the show in ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’. Now, Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Allison Janney and Sam Rockwell became the first group in history to have a clean sweep in all the five major televised awards show in the same year. All four of them won in Golden Globes, SAG, Critics Choice, BAFTA and the Oscars.

ORIGINAL SONG 

Mighty River, from Mudbound (Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson)
Mystery of Love, from Call Me By Your Name (Sufjan Stevens)
WINNER: Remember Me, from Coco (Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)
Stand Up for Something, from Marshall (Diane Warren and Lonnie R. Lynn)
This Is Me, from The Greatest Showman (Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)

Opinion: I’m fine with ‘Remember Me’ winning but I actually prefer ‘This Is Me’ to win instead for the more powerful and catchy the latter is. I somehow find that ‘Remember Me’ is moving but has too simple lyrics and is overused in the movie ‘Coco’.

ORIGINAL SCORE

Dunkirk, Hans Zimmer
Phantom Thread, Jonny Greenwood
WINNER: The Shape of Water, Alexandre Desplat
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, John Williams
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Carter Burwell

Opinion: Yup! A very deserving win. Alexandre Desplat’s score for ‘The Shape of Water’ is unique, magical and it suits the movie’s vision very well.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

WINNER: Blade Runner 2049, Roger A. Deakins
Darkest Hour, Bruno Delbonnel
Dunkirk, Hoyte van Hoytema
Mudbound, Rachel Morrison
The Shape of Water, Dan Lausten

Opinion: I didn’t watch ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and hence not much comment on this but I have heard a lot of good feedback to this movie especially on its visuals and cinematography (lighting design).

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Big Sick, Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani
WINNER: Get Out, Jordan Peele
Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh

Opinion: I’m happy that ‘Get Out’ is not going home empty handed with this win here. A very competitive category. This is a very close race between ‘Get Out’, ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’. A horror movie that is so intelligent and achieves a level higher than all the other films in this genre should be acknowledged and I’m glad that the Academy did.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

WINNER: Call Me By Your Name, James Ivory
The Disaster Artist, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
Logan, Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green
Molly’s Game, Aaron Sorkin
Mudbound, Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

Opinion: Competition is so much more less intense in adapted screenplay. ‘Call Me By Your Name’ is the clear favourite already because it is the only film which is also nominated for best picture. Enough said.

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

DeKalb Elementary
The Eleven O’Clock
My Nephew Emmett
WINNER: The Silent Child
Watu Wote: All of Us

Opinion: No comment. Didn’t watch any of these.

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

Edith+Eddie
WINNER: Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Heroin(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

WINNER: Dear Basketball
Garden Party
Lou
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

WINNER: A Fantastic Woman (Chile)
The Insult (Lebanon)
Loveless (Russia)
On Body and Soul (Hungary)
The Square (Sweden)

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE) 

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
Faces Places
WINNER: Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island

ANIMATED FEATURE

The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
WINNER: Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

Opinion: There is no competition this year for animated features. ‘Coco’ excels by a mile. It is a wonderful (both colourful and moving) animated movie and Pixar always do well here. Anyway, this movie reminds me a lot of 2014’s ‘The Book of Life’ (also an animated film…very similar theme and vibe).

FILM EDITING 

Baby Driver, Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos
WINNER: Dunkirk, Lee Smith
I, Tonya, Tatiana S. Riegel
The Shape of Water, Sidney Wolinsky
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Jon Gregory’

Opinion: I prefer ‘I, Tonya’ to win. I find that ‘I, Tonya’ has much more obvious masterful editing than the other nominees. The Academy seems to have deep fascination to war films and will keep choosing them to win in technical categories like this ‘film editing’ and both ‘sound mixing’ and ‘sound editing’.

VISUAL EFFECTS

WINNER: Blade Runner 2049
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War for the Planet of the Apes

Opinion: Bad outcome for ‘Planet of the Apes’ franchise. After three attempts, this franchise still couldn’t manage to win an Oscar for their brilliant visual effect (the apes really look very realistic). This final film of the series delivers the highest chance for it to win but lost to ‘Blade Runner 2049’ in the end for the more futuristic looking visuals in the latter.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
WINNER: The Shape of Water

Opinion: Another victory for ‘The Shape of Water’. Very well deserved. The sets in the movie are incredible and adds up a lot to let the audiences immerse into the story and the setting.

SOUND MIXING

Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
WINNER: Dunkirk
The Shape of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi

SOUND EDITING

Baby Driver, Julian Slater
Blade Runner 2049, Mark Mangini and Theo Green
WINNER: Dunkirk, Richard King and Alex Gibson
The Shape of Water, Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce

Opinion: I still couldn’t find the difference between ‘sound mixing’ and ‘sound editing’. Academy, just combine them into a single category. The winner and all the nominees in the two categories are the exact same. What’s the point?! ‘Dunkirk’ is exceptionally good in sound and is right to win these two although I find it overrated (I didn’t enjoy the movie).

COSTUME DESIGN

Beauty and the Beast, Jacqueline Durran
Darkest Hour, Jacqueline Durran
WINNER: Phantom Thread, Mark Bridges
The Shape of Water, Luis Sequeira
Victoria & Abdul, Consolata Boyle’

Opinion: The only win for ‘Phantom Thread’ as predicted. The movie about costumes is winning ‘Costume Design’. Well, what more can I say?

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

WINNER: Darkest Hour, Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick
Victoria & Abdul, Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard
Wonder, Arjen Tuiten

Opinion: A deserving win for ‘Darkest Hour’ for its amazing work on Gary Oldman in transforming him into Winston Churchill. The Academy should expand the nominees to 5 just like the other categories.

Well, the 90th Oscars has ended. The major awards season for 2017 Hollywood films is over too. ‘The Shape of Water’ becomes the biggest winner with 4 wins including the coveted ‘Best Picture’ title. ‘Dunkirk’ slightly over-performed with 3 wins while ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ slightly under-performed with only 2 wins. ‘Coco’, ‘Darkest Hour’ and ‘Blade Runner 2049’ each has 2 wins. ‘Call Me By Your Name’, ‘I, Tonya’, ‘Phantom Thread’ and ‘Get Out’ each has 1 win. ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘The Post’ are the two films nominated for best picture and not winning anything at all. I find that there is no clear favourite for this year’s Oscars and the awards are well distributed to a lot of movies. This year’s outcome is one of the most satisfying in my personal opinion as most of the results is much expected.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)