by Hope Madden and George Wolf, MaddWolf.com
It fills us with glee to look back on a year brimming with so many great movies. Original movies, even! Jojo Rabbit—that was unique. The Farewell, Marriage Story, Knives Out, The Lighthouse, Parasite, The Souvenir, Uncut Gems, Us, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Last Black Man in San Francisco—it’s a long list, and not all of the entries made it as far as an Oscar nomination (unfortunate!). But they did make for a fascinating year.
We have only a handful of complaints about this year’s batch of nominees, but we really want to point out how impressed we are with the animation nominees: two excellent blockbusters (Toy Story 4 and How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World) plus three outstanding and entirely underseen animated gems (Missing Link, I Lost My Body, Klaus). Whenever the Academy leads people to find great films they might have missed, they’re doing their job.
On the whole we expect the 2020 awards to be somewhat predictable. Luckily, on the whole, we also think the awards will go where they should.
Our picks for Oscar, 2020:
Best Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Although it would not break our hearts to see Scarlett Johansson win this one for her tender, lovely turn as mom to the cutest little Nazi ever…
Should Win: Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Will Win: Dern
SNUB
J Lo, Hustlers
Best Supporting Actor
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
Should Win: Joe Pesci, playing against type and delivering a quietly powerful turn that’s the heartbeat of Scorsese’s film.
Will Win: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood. Good news – another top-notch acceptance speech!
SNUB
Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse
Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renee Zellweger, Judy
Should Win: Renee Zellweger, Judy
Will Win: Zellweger
SNUB
Lupita Nyong’O Us She played two roles and was great in both…c’mon!
Best Actor
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes
Should Win: We would not weep to see Adam Driver take this one home, but he won’t and we’re not that upset because Joaquin Phoenix was astonishing.
Will Win: Joaquin Phoenix
SNUBS
Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems Robert DeNiro, The Irishman
Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Todd Phillips, Joker
Sam Mendes, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Bong Joon Ho, Parasite
Should Win: Bong Joon Ho makes a great case with his nearly perfect film.
Will Win: Sam Mendes, 1917
SNUB
Greta Gerwig, Little Women
Best Picture
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Parasite
Should: Parasite
Will: 1917
WRITING/ADAPTED
Steven Zaillian, The Irishman
Taika Waititi, Jojo Rabbit MIGHT
Todd Phillips, Joker
Greta Gerwig, Little Women SHOULD/WILL
Anthony McCarten, The Two Popes
WRITING/ORIGINAL
Rian Johnson, Knives Out
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Sam Mendes, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood
Bong Joon Ho, Parasite SHOULD/WILL
DOCUMENTARY
American Factory, Julia Riechert & Steve Bognar LOBO: WILL
The Cave, Feras Fayyad
Edge of Democracy, Petra Casta
For Sama, Waad al-Kateab
Honeyland, Ljubo Stevanov* SHOULD HOPE: WILL
SNUB (probably the most inexplicable snub this year)
Apollo 11
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Corpus Cristi (Poland)
Honeyland (North Macedonia)
Les Miserables (France)
Pain and Glory (Spain)
Parasite (South Korea) WILL/SHOULD
SNUB
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
ANIMATED
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4 WILL/SHOULD
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Irishman
Joker
Lighthouse SHOULD
Once Upon a Time….in Hollywood
1917 WILL
SCORE
Joker
Little Women
Marriage story
1917 WILL/SHOULD
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
ORIGINAL SONG
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” (Toy Story 4) — Randy Newman
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” (Rocketman) — Elton John & Bernie Taupin WILL/SHOULD
“I’m Standing With You” (Breakthrough) — Diane Warren
“Into the Unknown” (Frozen 2) — Robert Lopez & Kristen Anderson-Lopez
“Stand Up” (Harriet) — Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo
The 92 annual Academy Awards will be held this Sunday, February 9th, and aired live on ABC.