2019 Academy Award WINNERS
Best Picture:
“Black Panther”
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“The Favourite”
*“Green Book”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”
“Vice”
*Well, I am supremely happy! I thought for sure that “Roma” would win. “Roma” is a superior film, in style, plus it has the political aspect to it that puts it ahead of the other films in this category. The reason, I think, it did not win, though, is because it is a very divisive film. You either love it or you hate it. I think there was enough of the academy that hated it to keep it from getting best picture. There is, what’s called, a preferential voting ballot used for best picture. It’s only used for best picture. How it works is every film nominated for best picture is ranked by each voting member. So I might rank “Roma” as #1 and “Green Book” as #2 whereas someone else might rank “Roma” as #7 but still put “Green Book” as #2. If you get enough people that vote that second way, it eliminates “Roma” from being named best picture, no matter how many high rankings it gets.
I, also, didn’t feel like “Roma”didn’t deserve to win was because it is not your “typical” film. What I mean by typical is that it isn’t a film that people had to go see in theaters. I mean it was in theaters, for a little bit, but the majority of people who saw it saw it on Netflix. Seeing films are typically an experience that includes theaters and people did not have that experience when seeing “Roma,” that is why I do not think it deserved to win. It sounds like I hated “Roma” because I am just bashing on it, but I didn’t. I liked it a lot, I just think it was too polarizing and isolating to be named best picture.
Lead Actor:
Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
*Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”
*Yeah Rami! Both Rami and Christian really deserved it, well, and Viggo, okay, everyone earned it! Rami, though, changed everything about himself in order to portray his character. His walk, the tone of his voice, his personality, everything. If you’ve seen interviews of him or seen his acceptance speeches at awards shows, you’ll understand, he is so different. Christian Bale is very different too, so he could’ve won, too, but Rami had the momentum from the other award shows and, I think, that is what helped win him this award.
Lead Actress:
Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
*Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
*I was ecstatic to see Olivia Coleman win this award! “The Favourite” has become one of my favorite, if not my favorite, movies of 2018. Glenn Close was slated to win this award. She had been nominated six, now seven, times and never won an academy award. A lot of people thought that she really deserved an academy award and had earned one for all her years of service to the film industry, so the award was going to go to her as somewhat of a pity award. I think that if Glenn Close was going to get an award for her work, she should have gotten a real lifetime achievement award from the Academy. I am not a fan of pity awards, especially when it comes to the Academy Awards, I think that awards should be given to people who did a bang up job in the field that the award is for. Olivia Coleman, to me, did the best job in the category and deserved that Oscar.
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”
*Mahershala Ali deserved to win, so I’m glad he did. There are arguments that he should have been nominated in the lead category because he was more of a lead character, to that I say, poppycock! He played a character that supported the lead character (Viggo Mortensen), therefore he was a supporting actor.
Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
*Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”
*I said that Regina King would win. Rachel Weisz should have won, but her and Emma Stone probably split the votes and Regina King was the next best performance so that’s probably the reason that she won.
Director:
Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
*Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
Adam McKay, “Vice”
* Alfonso Cuaron was the obvious winner here. “Roma” was an immaculately directed film. Really, it was just the best directed film out of the lot.
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
*I think I knew that this was going to win and I think the rest of the world knew that this was going to win. I have talked to many-a-person about this film and they all agree that it is incredible. Not one person has failed to love this film. I love it. Everybody else seems to love it. It has multiple awards to back it up. That must mean it is good and will live on.
Animated Short:
“Animal Behaviour,” Alison Snowden, David Fine
*“Bao,” Domee Shi
“Late Afternoon,” Louise Bagnall
“One Small Step,” Andrew Chesworth, Bobby Pontillas
“Weekends,” Trevor Jimenez
Adapted Screenplay:
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Joel Coen , Ethan Coen
*“BlacKkKlansman,” Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Barry Jenkins
“A Star Is Born,” Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters
*I was NOT surprised to see this win. This is probably the best s-t-o-r-y out of the lot. Plus, I am sure that they wanted Spike Lee to get on stage and, finally, accept an Oscar and since they weren’t going to give an Oscar to Glenn Close, I suppose they thought eh, we have to give one to Spike Lee. I am not saying that that is the whole reason why, because I think “BlacKkKlansman” deserved to win, but that might, might, play into it.
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
*Honestly, I thought “The Favourite” was going to win here, and I thought that it should have. The Favourite’s screenplay is not shrouded in controversy like Green Book’s is. I was under the impression that the academy was going to take that into account, however, I underestimated how much the academy would like “Green Book.” I truly, truly loved “Green Book,” though. So, I am pleased that it won over some things.
Cinematography:
“Cold War,” Lukasz Zal
“The Favourite,” Robbie Ryan
“Never Look Away,” Caleb Deschanel
*“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
“A Star Is Born,” Matthew Libatique
*Alfonso Cuaron. Did you really have any doubt in your mind that he would not win this?
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
*I really liked this film! I thought, for sure, that “RBG” would win, because people love her and she is all in people’s minds right now. With that being said, though, “Free Solo” was such a good film that got across heart, intensity, love, daredevilish-ness, friendship, and even more. That is all I, that is all anyone could ask of a documentary.
Best Documentary Short Subject:
“Black Sheep,” Ed Perkins
“End Game,” Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat,” Skye Fitzgerald
“A Night at the Garden,” Marshall Curry
*“Period. End of Sentence.,” Rayka Zehtabchi
Best Live Action Short Film:
“Detainment,” Vincent Lambe
“Fauve,” Jeremy Comte
“Marguerite,” Marianne Farley
“Mother,” Rodrigo Sorogoyen
*“Skin,” Guy Nattiv
Best Foreign Language Film:
“Capernaum” (Lebanon)
“Cold War” (Poland)
“Never Look Away” (Germany)
*“Roma” (Mexico)
“Shoplifters” (Japan)
*Again. “Roma.” Directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Could you ever really doubt it?
Film Editing:
“BlacKkKlansman,” Barry Alexander Brown
*“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Ottman
“Green Book,” Patrick J. Don Vito
“The Favourite,” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
“Vice,” Hank Corwin
*I feel like this award went to “Bohemian Rhapsody” because of the Live Aid scene at the end. I am not saying the rest of this film is poorly edited, but the end is so brilliantly edited and so close to the original Live Aid concert that it won the whole movie the award for that 20 minutes of film. I’m not trying to say something else should be in it’s spot, I’m just kind of surprised that such a short portion of a film won it an Academy Award.
Sound Editing:
“Black Panther,” Benjamin A. Burtt, Steve Boeddeker
*“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Warhurst
“First Man,” Ai-Ling Lee, Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“A Quiet Place,” Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl
“Roma,” Sergio Diaz, Skip Lievsay
*Quite Honestly, I don’t know a whole lot about the difference between the two sound categories. What I do know is that “Bohemian Rhapsody” won both of them. It had great sound. I absolutely loved the sound! Even though I never lived in the 1970’s, I felt like I was in a concert in the 70’s.
Sound Mixing:
“Black Panther”
*“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“First Man”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”
Production Design:
*“Black Panther,” Hannah Beachler
“First Man,” Nathan Crowley, Kathy Lucas
“The Favourite,” Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
“Mary Poppins Returns,” John Myhre, Gordon Sim
“Roma,” Eugenio Caballero, Bárbara Enrı́quez
*I was super, duper surprised by this win! To me, “First Man” and “The Favourite” had better production designs, to me. “Black Panther’s” production design was more flashy and maybe that’s why it won. Pretty much the opposite reason of a category and film I will talk about in a second.
Original Score:
“BlacKkKlansman,” Terence Blanchard
*“Black Panther,” Ludwig Goransson
“If Beale Street Could Talk,” Nicholas Britell
“Isle of Dogs,” Alexandre Desplat
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman
*Yet another win for “Black Panther” that came as a surprise. I was under the impression that “If Beale Street Could Talk” had this in the bag. The two things that come to my mind when I think of this film is the straight-shot of the girl looking up into the camera, the one from the trailer, and the score. It was so moving and memorable. I am baffled that it didn’t win. Maybe I’m not giving “Black Panther” enough credit, though. It did have a score that got people talking. I mean, how many people talk about the score when they leave a movie? Not many. They did with that movie, though. Now that I think about it, “Black Panther” had an incredible score and deserved it’s win.
Original Song:
“All The Stars” from “Black Panther” by Kendrick Lamar, SZA
“I’ll Fight” from “RBG” by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman
*“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch
*”Shallow” won. Did anyone really have any doubt that “Shallow” would not win?
Makeup and Hair:
“Border”
“Mary Queen of Scots”
*“Vice”
*I have the same view with this category as I do with best original song. Like, did anyone think that “Vice” would not win? I mean, just think of all the work that they had to on Christian Bale so that he would look like Dick Cheney. Sure, I have problems with the film, but there is no doubt in my mind that “Vice” should’ve won.
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
*Again, there was little doubt in my mind that “Black Panther” wouldn’t win. I wanted “The Favourite” to win because, ahh, I just love that film, but it didn’t. “Black Panther” did. And it earned it. “Black Panther” did such a good job at creating the world of Wakanda through it’s costumes that if it did not win an Oscar for costumes, it should have won some kind of recognition. I am kind of sad that Sandy Powell did not win. She was nominated twice. Once for “The Favourite” and the second time for “Mary Poppins Returns.” So, since there were two chances for her to win, it is sad that she didn’t. Saying that, I’m not sad that “Black Panther” won.
Visual Effects:
“Avengers: Infinity War”
“Christopher Robin”
*“First Man”
“Ready Player One”
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”
*This is the category I was talking about earlier, in production design. “Black Panther” won that for, in my opinion, having the most flashy production design, but in this category, “First Man” won, I think for having the most subtle visual effects. “Avengers: Infinity Wars” and “Ready Player One” had the most obvious and the most flashy visual effects, so by the same token as production design, either of those should have won. “First Man” was completely stunning, though. A lot of the scenery and rockets and such had to be created with effects in order for them to be seen by the audience.
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