2019 Oscar Nominations: Snubs and Surprises

Being a huge fan of Film, the day the Oscar Nominations are released is one of my favorite movie-related days of the year only behind the actual Oscars and whichever major Marvel movie is being released. I make an effort each year to see every movie nominated for Best Picture (except 'The Artist'. The Artist can kick rocks). This year I managed to take advantage of AMC Theaters "A-List" membership which allows me to see up to three movies a week for an incredibly low fee of $20 a month (sup AMC? You're welcome for the free ad. Please sponsor the blog), so I've been fortunate enough to see just about every major release this year. As always, the nominations bring some snubs and surprises that have the Twitter-verse big mad and big happy online. Usually, I'm pretty content with the Oscar lineup each year (Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay are the Big 5 I care most about). However, this year I got some problems (outside of my personal life). Though before we get into that, here are the 2019 Oscar Nominations: 

BEST PICTURE

"Black Panther"

"BlacKkKlansman"

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

"The Favourite"

"Green Book"

"Roma"

"A Star Is Born"

"Vice"

DIRECTOR

Spike Lee, "BlacKkKlansman"

Pawel Pawlikowski, "Cold War"

Yorgos Lanthimos, "The Favourite"

Alfonso Cuarón, "Roma"

Adam McKay, "Vice"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Yalitza Aparicio, "Roma"

Glenn Close, "The Wife"

Lady Gaga, "A Star Is Born"

Olivia Colman, "The Favourite"

Melissa McCarthy, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Christian Bale, "Vice"

Bradley Cooper, "A Star Is Born"

Willem Dafoe, "At Eternity's Gate"

Rami Malek, "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Viggo Mortensen, "Green Book"

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Amy Adams, "Vice"

Marina de Tavira, "Roma"

Regina King, "If Beale Street Could Talk"

Emma Stone, "The Favourite"

Rachel Weisz, "The Favourite"

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Mahershala Ali, "Green Book"

Adam Driver, "BlackKKlansman"

Sam Elliott, "A Star Is Born"

Richard E. Grant, "Can You Ever Forgive Me"

Sam Rockwell, "Vice"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

"Capernaum"

"Cold War"

"Never Look Away"

"Roma"

"Shoplifters"

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

"Black Sheep"

"End Game"

"Lifeboat"

"A Night at the Garden"

"Period. End of Sentence."

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

"Free Solo"

"Hale County This Morning, This Evening"

"Minding the Gap"

"Of Fathers and Sons"

"RBG"

ORIGINAL SONG

"All The Stars" - "Black Panther"

"I'll Fight" - "RBG"

"Shallow" - "A Star Is Born

"The Place Where Lost Things Go" - "Mary Poppins Returns"

"When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings" - "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

"Incredibles 2"

"Isle of Dogs"

"Mirai"

"Ralph Breaks the Internet"

"Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

"The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"

"BlacKkKlansman"

"Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

"If Beale Street Could Talk"

"A Star Is Born"

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

"First Reformed"

"Green Book"

"Roma"

"The Favourite"

"Vice"

  

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

Yalitza Aparicio, "Roma"

Glenn Close, "The Wife"

Lady Gaga, "A Star Is Born"

Olivia Colman, "The Favourite"

Melissa McCarthy, "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"

PRODUCTION DESIGN

"Black Panther"

"The Favourite"

"First Man"

"Mary Poppins Returns"

"Roma"

CINEMATOGRAPHY

"Cold War"

"The Favourite"

"Never Look Away"

"Roma"

"A Star Is Born"

COSTUME DESIGN

"The Ballad of Buster Scruggs"

"Black Panther"

"The Favourite"

"Mary Poppins Returns"

"Mary Queen of Scots"

SOUND EDITING

"A Quiet Place"

"Black Panther"

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

"First Man"

"Roma"

SOUND MIXING

"Black Panther"

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

"First Man"

"Roma"

"A Star Is Born"

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

"Animal Behaviour"

"Bao"

"Late Afternoon"

"One Small Step"

"Weekends"

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

"Detainment"

"Fauve"

"Marguerite"

"Mother"

"Skin"

ORIGINAL SCORE

"Black Panther"

"BlacKkKlansman"

"If Beale Street Could Talk"

"Isle of Dogs"

"Mary Poppins Returns"

VISUAL EFFECTS

"Avengers: Infinity War"

"Christopher Robin"

"First Man"

"Ready Player One"

"Solo: A Star Wars Story"

FILM EDITING

"BlacKkKlansman"

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

"Green Book"

"The Favourite"

"Vice"

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

"Border"

"Mary Queen of Scots"

"Vice"

Still here? Bless your heart. Now let's get into it.


Bohemian Rhapsody

Right off the bat I'll address the elephant in the blog, Bohemian Rhapsody. Now nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and the (shocking) winner of Best Motion Picture - Drama at the Golden Globes, Bohemian Rhapsody (sitting at 62% on Rotten Tomatoes) is an objectively "bad" movie for most. Many of the reviewer gripes stem from the historical inaccuracies and pacing issues experienced throughout the film. For example, and this is one of my biggest issues with the film, Freddie is diagnosed with AIDS roughly 4-5 years before he was in real life all so the movie can make Queen's already epic performance at Live Aid that much more dramatic. Though I had a lot of fun watching Bohemian Rhapsody and I think the RT score is too low (I have it sitting at 76/100), I can name about 10 more movies that were much more deserving of a nomination here. I was SHOCKED that this beat out such movies as A Star is Born, Blackkklansman, and If  Beale Street Could Talk (we will return to this movie later) for Best Drama at the Globes. But then again, a win like that is why the Globes are known as the bootleg Oscars.  God help us all (and Twitter) if Bohemian Rhapsody shocks the world again. However, I thought Rami Malek, who also won Best Actor - Drama at the Golden Globes, was pretty damn good as Freddie. I had no problem with him winning at the Globes and I certainly don't have an issue with him being nominated here. He was the best part about BR for me and I'm really glad Malek is getting "big league" recognition for the great actor that he is (please see the TV show Mr. Robot which Malek won Outstanding Lead Actor for in 2016).

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's tackle some of the snubs this year.


SNUB #1 - Original Score - Justin Hurwitz (First Man)

Without a doubt, my biggest snub of the 2019 Oscars is Justin Hurwitz and his score of First Man. Though First Man, the movie in which many had as the movie to beat this year with Damien Chazelle (La La Land) directing and Ryan Gosling starring, was a relative disappointment (I enjoyed it more than most and gave it an 83/100), Hurwitz musical score of the film was the shining star. Coming off his win scoring La La Land, Hurwitz returned with an incredibly emotional and perfectly conducted score for First Man (see 'Crater' on the First Man album on Spotify, my personal favorite). One of the complaints against the First Man score is that it mirrors the La La Lands Score, to which I say open your ears and shut up.  Once he won Best Original Score at the Golden Globes I thought he was a favorite to win at the Oscars. Unfortunately, I was wrong. But then again, the Academy was wrong for not recognizing Hurwitz. I really look forward to his next project.


SNUB #2 - Best Actress in a Leading Role-  Elsie Fisher & Best Original Screenplay - Bo Burnham (Eighth Grade)

This is a two for one. If I wasn't so upset/shocked at Hurwitz not even being nominated, then the complete snub of Eighth Grade would without question be my #1. Elsie Fisher was phenomenal as the awkward 8th grader, Kayla. She brought a real-life aspect to the role that I really don't think was matched by any of the other Best Actress Nominees. I don't think she would have won but I certainly think she deserved to be nominated. Then there's Bo Burnham, who can make a real case that he was snubbed for BOTH Best Original Screenplay and Best Director. Making his Feature Film debut as writer and director, Burnham delivered and honest story of a modern-day 8th Grader in her final few weeks of Middle school. He made the audience feel just as awkward as the main character Kayla was feeling (see the Pool Party scenes). It was a funny, emotional, honest and most importantly well-done movie. I really look forward to seeing what both Burnham and Fisher have in store in the future.

SNUB #3- Director - Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born) 

Cooper's directorial debut just happened to be my second favorite movie of the year (behind the masterpiece that is Infinity War). In what was likely the acting performance of his career (and he was nominated for Best Actor to confirm) in ASIB, Cooper somehow managed to outshine himself in the same movie with an incredible outing as director. The concert scenes are probably the best they've ever been in a film (though the aforementioned Bohemian Rhapsody that I shit all over had one of the best concert scenes ever with the Live Aid scene). Beyond the music, the film is just beautifully shot in a way meant to draw out as much emotion from the audience. A scene towards the end that involves an outside shot of a garage and a dog is incredibly powerful/emotional for the viewer as it blocks you from seeing exactly what is happening, while you know exactly what it must look like inside(if you've seen ASIB, you know which scene I'm talking about). You can very easily bump Adam McKay out and replace him with Bradley Cooper which is exactly what should have happened in the first place.

SNUB #4 -  Best Picture - If Beale Street Could Talk 

If Beale Street Could Talk is a victim of a really really good movie being knocked out in order for Bohemian Rhapsody to make the cut. Barry Jenkins' follow up to 2016's Moonlight is an incredibly well directed, well-acted film (Regina King, who received the nomination for Best Actress in a supporting role, was a revelation). IBSCT and Barry Jenkins deserved much more recognition and its a real shame they didn't receive it, but at least Barry has a shot at Best Adapted Screenplay.

SNUB #5- Actor in a Leading Role - John David Washington (Blackklansman)

This is a tough one. JDW was phenomenal as Ron Stallworth in Blackkklansman. He reminds me so much of his Dad (JDW is the son of Denzel Washington for anyone who didn't know that for the longest time like I did) and he is so damn good in this movie. Unfortunately, JDW fell short here because of the 5 nominee cap on the Best Actor/Actress Categories. You can argue that he should be in over any of the other nominees (Bale, Mortensen, Malek, Dafoe, Cooper) but really they were allso damn good in their roles. In the end, JDW was, unfortunately, the one that was the odd man out.

Big mad online has now calmed down a little bit. Now let's get into the pleasant surprises of this year's nominations:

SURPRISE #1 - Best Picture - Black Panther

The internet sure loved this one (yes, some sarcasm). Black Panther, which was my 5th favorite movie of the year (I have it at a 93/100), was both monumental for the Marvel franchise as well as the minority communities around the world. This should be a nomination that is rejoiced by all. We finally have a Comic Book Movie nominated for Best Picture. Though I have Infinity War and Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse ranked ahead of BP (IW at 98/100 and Spider-verse at 96/100), Black Panther was a near masterpiece. Coogler proved himself once again to be one of the best Directors in Hollywood. Michael B.Jordan delivered an "Oscar Caliber" performance (not snub worthy, but still incredible) and the rest of the cast (Boseman, Nyong'o, Gurira, Wright, Duke, Freeman to name a few) were lights out. I can't wait for Black Panther 2 and to see how Coogler tops this film.

SUPRISE #2 - Best Supporting Actor - Sam Elliot (A Star is Born) 

I was a little nervous when I saw that Mr. Elliot was not nominated at the Globes. Though he is INCREDIBLE in his few scenes as Jackson Maine's older brother/manager, Bobby, Elliot's character did suffer from a lack of screen time. But man oh man did Elliot make up for it. He is basically perfect with every word and breath he takes in the film's duration. The obvious scene for me that locks up the nod (and hopefully the win) for Sam Elliot is the heartbreaking scene that takes place in a truck between Bobby and his brother Jack (Bradley Cooper). That scene quite literally brought me to tears. I'm rooting for you, Sam.

SURPRISE #3 - Director - Spike Lee (Blackkklansman)

This is less surprising and more "pleasant". Spike Lee has never been nominated for The Oscars in the category of Best Achievement in Directing (though he should have been in 1990 for Do The Right Thing), so this is a big deal. Lee has for sure made some stinkers but, overall, I still feel he is one of the better directors in Hollywood. BlacKkKlansman, which I have at 90/100, is one of my favorite movies of the year and I think there's an outside chance it can pull off the win in the Best Picture category. I'm rooting for you too, Spike.

That's it. The blog is over. Make sure you check out the blog on February 22nd, the Friday before The Oscars, where I'll be doing a category by category rundown and also give my picks.

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