Here’s the full list of this year’s Academy Award nominees vying to take home those coveted Oscar statues on Sunday, February 9th, 2020.
Download my PDF ballot sheet here that can be completed digitally or printed and written on old school. Have a go at predicting the winners or challenge your friends and family to do the same. I’ve put my predictions beside the nominees below, my first choice, second chance winner, and where I’ve seen some of the films and have a personally preferred nominee I’ve marked that with a ‘P’.
BEST PICTURE
“Ford v Ferrari”
“The Irishman”
“Jojo Rabbit” – my review is coming soon.
“Joker”
“Little Women” – my review is coming soon.
“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
“Marriage Story” – my review is coming soon.
1. “Parasite” – I know, it’s a bold choice, but I just have a feeling it could win because of the preferential balloting system.
2. “1917”
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Kathy Bates, “Richard Jewell”
1. Laura Dern, “Marriage Story” – she stands out in a film that’s all about two key lead performances, this is an easy win.
2P. Scarlett Johansson, “Jojo Rabbit” – my review is coming soon.
Florence Pugh, “Little Women”
Margot Robbie, “Bombshell” – my review is coming soon.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” – my review is coming soon.
Anthony Hopkins, “The Two Popes”
Al Pacino, “The Irishman”
2. Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”
1. Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
1. South Korea, “Parasite”
2. Spain, “Pain and Glory” – It’s pointless picking a second choice, sorry Almodovar, but if Parasite didn’t exist this would win.
France, “Les Misérables”
North Macedonia, “Honeyland”
Poland, “Corpus Christi”
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
“In the Absence”
1. “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)”
“Life Overtakes Me”
2. “St. Louis Superman”
“Walk Run Cha-Cha”
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
1. “American Factory”
“The Edge of Democracy”
“Honeyland” – Interestingly also up for ‘Best International Feature’ but I’m not putting all weight behind it on that alone.
2. “For Sama”
“The Cave”
ORIGINAL SONG
“I’m Standing With You,” “Breakthrough”
“Into the Unknown,” “Frozen II”
2. “Stand Up,” “Harriet”
1. “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” “Rocketman” – his Oscar after-parties are legendary, the film won’t win anything else, this is almost a lock.
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” “Toy Story 4”
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
“I Lost My Body”
2. “Klaus”
“Missing Link”
1. “Toy Story 4”
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Irishman”
1. “Jojo Rabbit”
2. “Little Women”
“The Two Popes”
“Joker”
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Marriage Story”
2. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
1. “Parasite”
“Knives Out”
“1917”
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
2. Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
1. Joaquin Phoenix, “Joker”
Jonathan Pryce, “The Two Popes”
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
2. Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”
Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”
Saoirse Ronan, “Little Women”
1. Renée Zellweger, “Judy”
Charlize Theron, “Bombshell”
DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman”
Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
2. Bong Joon-ho, “Parasite”
1. Sam Mendes, “1917”
Todd Phillips, “Joker”
PRODUCTION DESIGN
1. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
“The Irishman”
“1917”
“Jojo Rabbit”
2. “Parasite”
CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. “1917” – it’s Roger Deakins, he’s broken his streak of losses, s another win seems likely.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
“The Irishman”
“Joker”
2. “The Lighthouse”
COSTUME DESIGN
“Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”
1. “Little Women”
“The Irishman”
2. “Jojo Rabbit”
“Joker”
SOUND EDITING
2. “1917”
1. “Ford v Ferrari”
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
“Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”
“Joker”
SOUND MIXING
2. “1917”
1. “Ford v Ferrari”
“Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”
“Ad Astra”
“Joker”
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“Dcera (Daughter)”
1. “Hair Love” – I just saw this beautiful film this morning and it made me cry into my coffee, available to watch on YouTube and well worth the six minutes.
2. “Kitbull”
“Memorable”
“Sister”
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
2. “Brotherhood”
“Nefta Football Club”
1. “The Neighbors’ Window”
“Saria”
“A Sister”
ORIGINAL SCORE
2. “1917,” Thomas Newman – I thought it was a bit too prominent at times but it helps it to stand out I suppose.
1. “Joker,” Hildur Guðnadóttir
“Little Women,” Alexandre Desplat
“Marriage Story,” Randy Newman
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” John Williams
VISUAL EFFECTS
1. “Avengers: Endgame”
“The Lion King”
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
“The Irishman”
2. “1917”
Read my thoughts on this category here
FILM EDITING
“The Irishman”
2. “Ford v Ferrari”
1. “Parasite”
“Joker”
“Jojo Rabbit”
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
1. “Bombshell” – for transforming Charlize Theron into Megyn Kelly alone should will win!
2. “Joker”
“Judy”
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
“1917“
The Lion King (2019) – Visually, it’s a really impressive film, yet somehow it’s staggeringly unimpressive in almost every other way. I don’t have a long-held love of the original from my childhood, I only saw it for the first (and second) time a couple of years ago, but I felt like this added almost nothing to the story and in some ways detracted from it. The photorealistic characters look amazing, they’re of the highest visual artistry but crucially they lack the personality afforded by the more anthropomorphised hand-drawn versions. The voice casting was generally excellent, but no amount of vocal charisma is enough to make this anywhere near as special as it needed to be a worthwhile reimagining of Disney’s most acclaimed animated classic. $1.6bn however means that Disney will continue making these, I just hope they work harder on adapting their classics in a way that actually adds something to each, not like this almost shot-for-shot remake.
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker – I have really enjoyed going to see the Disney-era films at the cinema but this was a messy beast of a film. It felt overstuffed, muddled, and like it pushed aside all recent development and much logic in a thankless attempt to tick certain boxes. A minor let down for me, but I’m not a huge fan of the franchise with high levels of investment and expectations. I think it may even get worse on repeat viewing, especially if seen straight after episodes 7 & 8 as part of a marathon. The characters developed in this phase of the franchise are badly let down and it’s a waste of potential that was abundantly clear when I saw ‘The Force Awakens’. Hopefully, now they’ll leave the Skywalker saga completely alone and ensure that any future films or series don’t try to ‘fix’ the problems as it’ll just make things worse.
Missing Link – Another example of beautiful filmmaking as is always the case from Laika, their animation always looks incredible, though I didn’t feel like the story or characters did very much to keep me completely interested. I liked the character of Susan and Zack Galifinakis voiced him brilliantly, especially as the film is more comedic than some of their others, though, beyond that, it’s not a tale that’s going to stick with me for very long. I have seen it twice on Netflix while very tired and kept dozing off, missing different bits both times, so I have seen it through but not in one perfect sitting, which may be more my fault than the film’s but still I feel like the adventurous aspects could be heightened a little more so it’s the exciting adventure it promises to be in the marketing.
I Lost My Body / J’ai perdu mon corps – This French animation is possibly the lowest-profile of this year’s Academy Award nominees available to stream on Netflix. A severed hand makes its way across the city to get back to its owner while recounting key events in his life from his youth and recent past. This premise sounds somewhat macabre but in practice the film makes great efforts to be heartfelt and charming, effectively counteracting the weirdness of the unusual first-hand perspective. Hand in hand with that is the visual style, really beautiful hand-drawn animation that I found particularly expressive and endearing. No explanation is given for the hand’s agency. It’s not enchanted or extra-terrestrial, not superhuman nor supernatural, it’s just happening and facilitating the beautiful storytelling. I watched it in the English dubbed version for ease, which featured such voices as Dev Patel and Alia Shawkat and it kept me completely invested and entertained throughout.
