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ANNOUNCEMENT: 2019 Oscar Nominees – Surprises & Disappointments!

David J. Fowlie

oscars2019announcement

 

Yesterday morning while you were getting ready for work and/or school, or asleep (lucky), the Oscar nominees were finally announced. Yes, I said “finally”, because this is the time of the year where we’re pretty exhausted by the buzz of various year-end awards. Academy president John Bailey were joined by Tracee Ellis Ross (“blackish”) and Oscar nominee Kumail Nanjiani (“The Big Sick”) at 5:20 a.m. (Pacific) on stage of the Samuel Goldwyn Theater at the academy’s headquarters in Beverly Hills, California for the presentation that was streamed online and shown on select television stations. It’s a thankless job, since viewers are paying more attention to what’s being said instead of what’s being done, but that’s why they give funny people the gig.

One thing you can always expect once the Oscar nominations are announced are a flurry of online (the modern-day equivalent of the office cooler) reactions where everyone spouts what they perceive as surprises and snubs. It’s what happens and I’m no exception.

The surprises right out the gate were in the Best Director category where Polish filmmaker Pawel Pawlikowski was nominated for the period film,”Cold War”, a semi-biographical love story loosely based on his parents. It’s a film I’m liking more and more, which makes me happy considering his last film, “Ida” was my favorite film of 2014. That being said, it looks like he took the spot many thought Bradley Cooper was going to get for “A Star is Born” (maybe he’ll get consolation support from Ben Affleck), which is one reason why it’s a surprise, but bottom line: this is huge for Poland, especially with “Cold War” receiving nominations for Best Foreign Language Feature and Best Cinematography. Well deserved.

Another surprise in the Director category was veteran director Spike Lee getting nominated for “BlacKkKlansman” (which was nominated for Best Picture, along with four other nominations) mainly because I found it absolutely insane that he had never received a nomination for directing.

Wakanda Forever! Other firsts included “Black Panther” becoming the first superhero movie ever to receive a nomination for Best Picture. Other nominations were awarded for Disney/Marvel Studios blockbuster (seven in total, although director Ryan Coogler was left out), such as Original Score, Production Design, and Costume Design. Maybe it helped that there was a massive awards campaign and producer Kevin Feige mentioning the push for the movie back in March, and it looks like it worked. It’s just too bad Michael B. Jordan didn’t get a Best Supporting Actor for created the most fully-realized MCU villains.

“Roma” and “The Favourite” were the two films that picked up the most nominations (10 each), including Best Picture and Best Director for both. It’s not surprising to see “The Favourite” receive so much love for the acting performances, considering all three actresses are tremendous, but the standout of that film is the screenplay, which also received a nomination. It may have been somewhat surprising to see “Roma” receive nominations for Best Actress and Supporting Actress, only because Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira aren’t recognizable names. Who cares? Their performances certainly warrant the nominations. Maybe those spots could’ve gone to Emily Blunt for “A Quiet Place” (not “Mary Poppins Returns”) and Claire Foy for her fine work in “First Man”, respectively. Amy Adams could’ve easily been removed to make room for Foy, considering what Adams work in “Vice” didn’t stand out as much in that film as Foy does in “First Man”. Bottom Line: Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” receiving all these nominations is huge for Netflix and the first Best Picture nomination for the streaming giant (no coincidence that their monthly rates just went up).

 

 

“A Star is Born” and “Vice” both received 8 nominations, including Best Picture for both. “A Star is Born” I can get behind, but I’m a little baffled by the love for Adam McKay’s “Vice” and his Machiavellian subject. I thought it the comedy satire to be borderline cartoonish, a “preaching to the choir” movie, which couldn’t possible over any information that could win the unconverted. Sure, Bale’s performance is good, but that’s about it as far as the acting goes. I discuss “Vice” more over here, but the movie just feels like what the right is expecting from the left and that’s not a good thing. At one time, “A Star is Born” was receiving a whole lotta love, but lately, with “Vice”, “Green Book” and now “Bohemian” in the mix, Best Picture is anyone’s guess.

“Green Book” has generated buzz within the last couple months, as moviegoers positive word-of-mouth generates interest, despite mixed (at best) reactions from critics. Winning the recent PGA award (usually indicates a Best Picture Oscar winner or at least a frontrunner) certainly gives director Peter Farrelly’s “based on a true story” feel-good picture more momentum and now it received 5 nominations, including Best Picture.  The movie, which tackles racism in problematic ways, may have some controversy surrounding it, but it looks like that’s not going to slow it down.

Also receiving 5 nominations is the rock musical biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which has received runaway success, earning ground-breaking numbers, since opening last November. Audiences absolutely love this movie. Critics? Not so much. Those who appreciate a representation of actual chronological facts and events that pertain to Freddie Mercury? Not so much either. But, the Academy loves to jump on a bandwagon.

Many feel that the Fred Rogers documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” not receiving a nomination for Best Documentary is a major snub. Looking over the nominees, it looks like “Of Fathers and Sons” took the spot where Morgan Neville’s film could’ve landed.

It would’ve been nice to see Elsie Fisher from “Eighth Grade” or Thomasin McKensie from “Leave No Trace” get some recognition for their breakthrough performances, but then again I doubt Academy voters saw those films and maybe it confirms that a Best Breakthrough Performance is needed.  To be honest, I was also expected to at least see “Eighth Grade” director Bo Burnham receive a nomination for his excellent, spot-on screenplay. Speaking of original screenplay, it’s cool that director Paul Schrader was nominated for his “First Reformed” screenplay, but it’s kinda crazy not to see Ethan Hawke in the Best Actor category – bump Viggo and now we’re talkin’. And while we’re on the subject of acting, it is absolutely insane that Toni Collette didn’t score a nomination for her work in “Hereditary”. I may not be as nuts about the film as others, but there’s no denying she was amazing!

However they turn out, Oscar nominations will ALWAYS be met with excitement and an infuriating response. How about we all just calm down and rejoice knowing we’ll get to see Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga perform “Shallow” on stage during the telecast. Tired of that sound. Well, there’s always something to complain about.

The 91st Academy Awards will be telecast live on February 24, 2019 on ABC.

But wait, who’s hosting the Oscars? Who cares? Does it really matter. You should be watching for the presenters and speeches anyway.  Below are all of this year’s nom nom noms…

 

 

BEST PICTURE

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST ACTOR

BEST ACTRESS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

BEST SOUND EDITING

BEST SOUND MIXING

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

BEST EDITING

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

 

 

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