Oscar Winners 2020

Yet another Oscar ceremony has come and gone. That means another year has passed where I have grown way too attached to a movie, only to see it lose Best Picture. It never fails! (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Jojo Rabbit, and 1917…you are my winners.) Only one movie can win the top prize and last night Parasite made history. It’s the first foreign film to take home Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The Korean drama also took home Best Director for Bong Joon-Ho, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature. You can read my review right here. It’s not my favorite of the Oscar nominees, and I fail to understand all of the hype surrounding the film.

In a shock to no one, Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Renee Zellweger (Judy), Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), and Laura Dern (Marriage Story) took home the top acting prizes of the night. The four have dominated every awards show this season without competition.
One surprising stat about the acting nominees is that last night marked Joaquin Phoenix, Laura Dern, and Brad Pitt’s first Oscar wins for acting. (Brad Pitt has won previously for producing) Considering how long the three have been in the business giving great performances, that’s just crazy to me.

Taika Waititi had one of the best wins of the night, taking home Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit. It was the film’s only award (it should’ve won more), but it’s an excellent award to win! Taika made history by being the first indigenous person to win an Oscar! As a big fan of his films, it was such an exciting moment to watch. I can’t wait to see what he does in the future.

Before we get to all of the official list of winners, I’d like to know your favorite bizarre moment of the show?
1) Eminem performing “Lose Yourself” on the Oscar stage for a movie that was released 18 years ago while Martin Scorsese watched in a daze
2) James Cordon and Rebel Wilson presenting in cat costumes
3) The musical opening
Please let me know in the comments! I’m going to go with 1, just because Martin Scorsese’s reaction made the whole performance worth it.

Here is the full list of winners from last night’s show:
Best Picture: Parasite
Best Director: Bong Joon-Ho, Parasite
Best Actor: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Best Actress: Renee Zellweger, Judy
Best Supporting Actor: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Best International Feature: Parasite
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 4
Best Documentary: American Factory
Best Cinematography: 1917
Best Original Screenplay: Parasite
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jojo Rabbit
Best Original Song: (I’m Gonna) Love Me Again from Rocketman
Best Original Score: Joker
Best Production Design: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Costume Design: Little Women
Best Hair and Makeup: Bombshell
Best Editing: Ford v Ferrari
Best Visual Effects: 1917
Best Sound Editing: Ford v Ferrari
Best Sound Mixing: 1917
Best Documentary Short: Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)
Best Animated Short: Hair Love
Best Live Action Short: The Neighbors’ Window

What did you think of the 2020 Oscars? Did your favorite movies and performances win?

Oscar Nominations 2020

The day is finally here! The Academy Award nominations have been announced. Did your favorite movies get nominated? Were they snubbed? What about the actors? It’s time to take a look at all of the nominees for the 2020 Oscars!

Best Picture 
1917 
Ford v Ferrari
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
The Irishman
Little Women
Marriage Story
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 
Parasite

My Thoughts: For once in my life, I’ve seen and reviewed every Best Picture nominee before the Oscars! You can click on each movie's name to read my review. Truthfully, I think this is the best that the lineup has been in years. I’d love to see a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood win, but would be happy with the majority of these nominees winning. I’m one of the 5 people in the world who doesn’t love Parasite. I appreciate it on a technical level, but don’t find it to be the incredible cinematic masterpiece that everyone hails it to be. I also think Joker could easily be replaced with something else. While it exists as a compelling character study, I don’t see it as Best Picture material. I think this is going to be a close 3-way race between Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Parasite, and 1917 for Best Picture.

Best Director 
Bong Joon Ho, Parasite
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman 
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood  
Sam Mendes, 1917 
Todd Phillips, Joker

Snubs: Hmmm it would be impressive if the Academy could find space to nominate one female director like Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), or Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers). I guess that would be too difficult though. Also, Noah Baumbach for Marriage story or Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit?! Is the Academy really saying Todd Phillips is better than them?

Best Actor 
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory 
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 

My Thoughts: This group of nominees are here so I can campaign exclusively for Adam Driver and Leonardo DiCaprio until Oscar night. They are the true and deserving winners. I hope they tie and get on stage to sing while accepting their awards since both of their characters had a musical number. Leo can sing Green Door while Adam sings Being Alive. The cold hard reality is that this scenario will never happen and Joaquin Phoenix is going to win this award and then thank the Academy for giving him plant based food.
Snubs: TARON EGERTON. He deserved this award after his incredibly performance in Rocketman. Is the Academy really trying to tell me that Rami Malek was more deserving of Best Actor after lip-synching through Bohemian Rhapsody? I cannot accept that.

Best Actress 
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Renèe Zellweger, Judy
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story

My Thoughts: This is Saoirse Ronan’s 4th Oscar nomination at age 25 (Atonement, Brooklyn, Lady Bird, Little Women) which is incredible. She can’t be stopped! This year also marks Scarlett Johansson’s first Oscar nomination ever. Pretty shocking but true. (She’s deservedly nominated twice this year). Both actresses will probably have to wait a little longer to win anything because Renee Zellweger is sweeping at every awards show for her portrayal of Judy Garland.
Snubs: It would’ve been nice to see Awkwafina get nominated for The Farewell. Especially after she just won the Golden Globe!

Best Supporting Actor 
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes 
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Joe Pesci, The Irishman 
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood 

My Thoughts: This is Brad Pitt’s award and that’s pretty much settled. It’s great to see Tom Hanks nominated for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood marking his first nomination in 20 years!!! (His last was for Cast Away) Whoever didn’t vote for him in Captain Phillips needs to rethink their life decisions because that was a Best Actor performance if I’ve ever seen one.

Best Supporting Actress 
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell 
Margot Robbie, Bombshell  
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit

Snubs: The lack of a Jennifer Lopez nomination is just pathetic. Lopez has received nominations everywhere throughout awards season so I truly don’t understand what happened here. Her role in Hustlers is 10 times more demanding than what Laura Dern (who will win the award) is doing in Marriage Story. This is coming from someone who loves Marriage Story!
Surprises: Obviously, Kathy Bates is a surprise. Truly did not see that one coming. I’m really happy to see Scarlett Johansson here. I didn’t think she would make it for Jojo Rabbit because most of the buzz is in the lead actress category, but her character ties that film together in such a pivotal way.

Best Original Screenplay 
1917, Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Knives Out, Rian Johnson
Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino
Parasite, Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won 

Best Adapted Screenplay 
The Irishman, Steve Zaillian
Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi
Joker, Todd Phillips and Scott Silver
Little Women, Greta Gerwig
The Two Popes, Anthony McCarten

Best Cinematography 
1917, Roger Deakins
The Irishman, Rodrigo Prieto
Joker, Lawrence Sher
The Lighthouse, Jarin Blaschke
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Robert Richardson

Best Documentary 
American Factory 
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland 

Best Foreign Language Film 
Corpus Cristi
Honeyland
Les Miserables
Pain and Glory 
Parasite

Best Costume Design 
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 

Snubs: Someone please explain how Joker is nominated in costume design but Rocketman and Downton Abbey aren’t anywhere to be found. Did the Academy watch those movies? How does that make any sense?

Best Film Editing
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman 
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Parasite 

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 
1917
Bombshell 
Joker
Judy 
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Best Production Design 
1917 
The Irishman 
Jojo Rabbit
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite 

Best Score 
1917 
Joker 
Little Women
Marriage Story 
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker 

Best Original Song
I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away from Toy Story 4, Randy Newman
I’m Gonna Love Me Again from Rocketman, Elton John and Bernie Taupin
I’m Standing with You from Breakthrough, Dianne Warren
Into the Unknown from Frozen II, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Stand Up from Harriet, Joshuah Campbell and Cynthia Erivo

Best Visual Effects 
1917
Avengers: Endgame 
The Irishman 
The Lion King 
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 

Best Sound Editing 
1917 
Ford v Ferrari 
Joker
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 

Best Sound Mixing 
1917 
Ad Astra
Ford v Ferrari 
Joker
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Animated Feature
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World 
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link 
Toy Story 4

Snubs: Where is Frozen 2? How is it not nominated for Best Animated Feature?! I thought it was way better than Toy Story 4!

Best Animated Short 
Dcera
Hair Love
Kitbull 
Memorable
Sister

Best Documentary Short
In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone 
Life Overtakes Me
St. Louis Superman 
Walk Run Cha-Cha

Best Live Action Short 
A Sister
Brotherhood 
Nefta Football Club
The Neighbors’ Window 
Saria

That does it for the full list of Oscar nominees! Congrats for making it through this full list. You deserve an Oscar for reading all of the nominees. If you want a tally of who leads the pack, Joker has the most nominations with 11 total, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 1917, and The Irishman follow closely behind with 10 nominations. What do you think will win Best Picture, Actor and Actress on Oscar night? The Oscars will air Sunday, February 9th on ABC. Get your ballots ready!

Oscar Winners and Highlights!

There was no host at Sunday night’s Academy Awards, but the show still went on as Green Book took home Best Picture. It was a bit of a surprise as Roma was widely predicted to win the award. Roma certainly didn’t go home empty handed though, walking away with Best Director, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Cinematography.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night was Olivia Colman’s win for Best Actress in The Favourite. This category was widely predicted to be a win for Glenn Close and her work in The Wife. It seems Colman’s work as Queen Anne was too strong to ignore. She was simply the favorite!
In a surprise to no one, Rami Malek won Best Actor for Bohemian Rhapsody. He’s been sweeping award season for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury and the Oscars were no exception. Bohemian Rhapsody took home 4 awards total including Best Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Film Editing.
Best Supporting Actor went to Mahershala Ali for Green Book. This is his second Oscar win in two years! (The first was for Moonlight) Rounding out the acting categories was the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress which went to Regina King for her work in If Beale Street Could Talk. 

The show was filled with musical moments throughout the night including performances by Queen, Jennifer Hudson, and Bette Midler. The highlight of the telecast was an impressive duet between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.

Let’s take a look at the full list of winner’s from last night’s show!  
Oscar Winners:
Best Picture-Green Book
Best Actor-Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Actress- Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Best Supporting Actor- Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Best Supporting Actress- Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Director- Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Best Cinematography-Roma
Best Original Song- Shallow, A Star is Born
Best Original Score- Black Panther
Best Original Screenplay- Green Book
Best Adapted Screenplay- BlackKklansman
Best Animated Feature-Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Best Documentary- Free Solo
Best Foreign Film- Roma
Best Costume Design- Black Panther
Best Production Design- Black Panther
Best Makeup and Hair- Vice
Best Visual Effects- First Man
Best Sound Editing- Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Sound Mixing- Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Film Editing- Bohemian Rhapsody
Best Documentary Short- Period. End of Sentence
Best Live Action Short- Skin
Best Animated Short- Bao

With that, awards season has come to a close. What do you think of the of the Oscar winners? Did any of your favorite films win?

Oscar Nominees Announced!

The day is finally here! The announcement we’ve all been waiting for… the Oscar nominees! What films made the cut for Best Picture? Who is in the Best Actor race? And what about Best Director? Were there any snubs? (Spoiler alert: there were some major ones!) Let’s take a look at the nominees to find out!

Best Picture
Black Panther
BlackKklansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
Vice
A Star is Born

Snubs: First Man, Eighth Grade
Surprises: This is essentially the same list of nominees that’s been circulating around every award show this season, so it’s not a shocking line up for Best Picture. The biggest surprise is that If Beale Street Could Talk didn’t make it on the list. I think this year is a bit more exciting than last year because of heavyweights like A Star is Born and The Favourite, but there are still some weak links weighing the category down.

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
Christian Bale, Vice
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate

Snubs: What does Ryan Gosling have to do? TELL ME WHAT THE FIRST MAN HAS TO DO? He walked on the moon. Was that not good enough? Were you not entertained, Academy? Other notable snubs include John David Washington for BlackKklansman and Ethan Hawke for First Reformed.
Surprises: Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate.

Best Actress
Glenn Close, The Wife
Lady Gaga, A Star is Born
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Snubs: Natalie Portman, Vox Lux. Carey Mulligan, Wildlife. Charlize Theron, Tully.
Surprises: Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Best Supporting Actor
Adam Driver, BlackKklansman
Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Elliott, A Star is Born
Sam Rockwell, Vice

Snubs: Timothée Chalamet, Beautiful Boy. First, they snub the man. Then, they snub the boy! How in the world do you not nominate Timothée Chalamet in this category? What happens when you watch the diner scene in that movie and think “No, he doesn’t deserve a nomination.” His work in Beautiful Boy is astounding acting. To think the Academy doesn’t recognize that is just pathetic.
Surprises: Sam Rockwell, Vice

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams: Vice
Emma Stone: The Favourite
Marina de Tavira: Roma
Rachel Weisz: The Favourite
Regina King: If Beale Street Could Talk

Snubs: Claire Foy, First Man
Surprises: Marina de Tavira, Roma

Best Director
Adam McKay, Vice
Alfonso Cuaron, Roma
Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War
Spike Lee, BlackKklansman
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite

Snubs: A CINEMATIC CRIME HAS BEEN COMMITTED. Bradley Cooper isn’t nominated for Best Director for his directorial efforts in A Star is Born. Yet, Adam McKay is nominated for Vice. Someone tell me how that works. Adam McKay’s direction is the worst part of Vice. Bradley Cooper put his heart and soul into A Star is Born, but the Academy just doesn’t care. They said, go ahead and let chaos reign.
Surprises: Pawel Pawilkowski

Best Original Screenplay
The Favourite
First Reformed
Green Book
Roma
Vice

Snubs: Eighth Grade
Surprises: First Reformed

Best Adapted Screenplay
A Star is Born
BlackKklansman
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Cinematography
A Star is Born
Cold War
The Favourite
Never Look Away
Roma

Snubs: First Man, If Beale Street Could Talk, Wildlife
Surprises: Never Look Away

Best Documentary  
Free Solo
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG  

Snubs: Won’t You Be My Neighbor? How can the Academy so blatantly rip off this phenomenal documentary on Mr. Rodgers? Did they even watch it?
Surprises: Of Fathers and Sons

Best Documentary Short Subject
Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden
Period. End of Sentence

Best Live Action Short Film
Detainment
Fauve
Marguerite
Mother
Skin

Best Foreign Film
Capernaum
Cold War  
Never Look Away
Roma
Shoplifters

Best Animated Film
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs  
Mirai  
Ralph Breaks the Internet  
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse  

Best Animated Short Film
Animal Behavior
Bao
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends

Best Production Design
Black Panther
First Man
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma

Best Costume Design  
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots  

Best Makeup and Hair
Border
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice 

Best Visual Effects
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
First Man
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story

Best Film Editing 
BlackKklansman
Bohemian Rhapsody  
Green Book
The Favourite
Vice  

Best Sound Editing
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma

Best Sound Mixing
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
Roma
A Star is Born

Best Original Score 
BlackKklansman, Terrence Blanchard
Black Panther, Ludwig Goransson
If Beale Street Could Talk, Nicholas Britell
Isle of Dogs, Alexander Desplat
Mary Poppins Returns, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

Best Original Song  
All the Stars, Black Panther (written by Kendrick Lamar and SZA) 
I’ll Fight, RBG (written by Jennifer Hudson and Dianne Warren) 
The Place Where Lost Things Go, Mary Poppins Returns (written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman)
Shallow, A Star is Born (written by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt, and Benjamin Rice) 
When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (written by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch)

That concludes this year’s list of nominees.
In total, The Favourite and Roma lead with 10 nominations each. A Star is Born and Vice follow closely behind with 8 nominations. What do you think of this year’s nominees? Did your favorites get nominated or left in the cold? The Oscars air February 24th on ABC!