A lot of people wondered if movie awards like the Oscars deserve to be held this year because of the pandemic. Over time, it became clear most of the films would need to be sent to streaming services and even those that still had box office activity had to have it very limited and need to have a streaming life as well.
The Academy knew this and made a lot of rule adjustments to how a film is Oscar-eligible for 2020. Especially with release dates extended until February 28th of this year. They also changed the dates for awards such as nominations on March 15th and the Awards on April 25th. As they say in showbiz, the show must go on!
Even though I’ve only seen a few of the Best Picture favorites, all on Netflix, I still want to give a shot of predicting the nominees for the 2020 Academy Awards. However I won’t have any For Your Consideration (FYC) picks as I normally do. So here goes it:
BEST PICTURE
The Father
Judas And The Black Messiah
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
One Night In Miami
Promising Young Woman
Sound Of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Dark Horse 1: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
DH2: Da 5 Bloods
DH3: News Of The World
Of all my picks here, I’ve only seen Mank and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. I hope to see more in the future. As most of you know, it’s my annual goal to see all the nominees before Oscar night. However it won’t be easy to do. Few are in theatres and many are on different streaming services. Many are on Netflix, Nomadland is on Hulu, while films like Minari and Promising Young Woman are streamed through Youtube for as much as $20 a pop. How can I afford it all?
BEST DIRECTOR
LEE ISAAC CHUNG/Minari
EMERALD FENNELL/Promising Young Woman
DAVID FINCHER/Mank
AARON SORKIN/Trial Of The Chicago Seven
CHLOE ZHAO/Nomadland
DH1: SPIKE LEE/Da 5 Bloods
DH2: REGINA KING/One Night In Miami
I remember last year, there was a lot of social media anger over Greta Gerwig being snubbed in this category at the major movie awards, not just the Oscars. They highlighted how this category has so few nominees in its history. This year, there looks to be at least two female nominees, which would be an Oscars first if it happens. Regina King could make it a third!
BEST ACTOR
RIZ AHMED/Sound Of Metal
CHADWICK BOSEMAN/Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
ANTHONY HOPKINS/The Father
GARY OLDMAN/Mank
STEVEN YEUN/Minari
DH1: TAHAR RAHIM/The Mauritanian
DH2: SACHA BARON COHEN/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
BEST ACTRESS
VIOLA DAVIS/Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
ANDRA DAY/The United States vs. Billie Holiday
VANESSA KIRBY/Pieces Of A Woman
FRANCES McDORMAND/Nomadland
CAREY MULLIGAN/Promising Young Woman
DH1: SIDNEY FLANAGAN/Never Rarely Sometimes Always
DH2: ROSAMIND PIKE/I Care A Lot
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHADWICK BOSEMAN/Da 5 Bloods
SACHA BARON COHEN/Trial Of The Chicago Seven
DANIEL KALUUYA/Judas and the Black Messiah
LESLIE ODOM Jr./One Night In Miami
PAUL RACI/Sound Of Metal
DH1: JARED LETO/The Little Things
DH2: BILL MURRAY/On The Rocks
This year has some excitement as the late Chadwick Boseman could be the latest actor to score nominations in both lead and supporting categories. Scarlet Johannson did it last year.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
MARIA BALAKOVA/Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
OLIVIA COLMAN/The Father
JODIE FOSTER/The Mauritanian
AMANDA SEYFRIED/Mank
YUH-JUNG YOUN/Minari
DH1: GLENN CLOSE/Hilbilly Elegy
DH2: HELENA ZENGEL/News Of The World
Over at our site, there’s normally excitement when a child actor has a chance at a nomination. This year’s best hope is 12 year-old Helena Zengel. If she does, she’ll be the first since Quvenzhane Wallis.
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
LEE ISAAC CHUNG/Minari
EMERALD FENNELL/Promising Young Woman
JACK FINCHER/Mank
ELIZA HITTMAN/Never Rarely Sometimes Always
AARON SORKIN/Trial Of The Chicago Seven
DH1: WILL BERSON and SHAKA KING/Judas and the Black Messiah
DH2: ABRAHAM and DARIUS MARDER/Sound Of Metal
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
PAUL GREENGRASS and LUKE DAVIES/News Of The World
CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON and FLORIAN ZELLER/The Father
KEMP POWERS/One Night In Miami
RUBEN SANTIAGO-HUDSON/Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
CHLOE ZHAO/Nomadland
DH1: RAMIN BAHRANI/White Tiger
DH2: JONATHAN RAYMOND and KELLY REICHARDT/First Cow
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Croods: A New Age
Onward
Over The Moon
Soul
Wolfwalkers
DH1: The Willoughbys
DH2: Farmageddon: A Shaun The Sheep Movie
Animated movies have to be one of the biggest reasons why the theatres should hope to reopen to full capacity once this pandemic ends.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
HOYTE VAN HOYTEMA/Tenet
ERIC MESSERSCHMIDT/Mank
PHEDON PAPAMICHAEL/Trial Of The Chicago Seven
JOSHUA JAMES RICHARDS/Nomadland
DARIUS WOLSKI/News Of The World
DH: NEWTON THOMAS SIGEL/Da 5 Bloods
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
ALEXANDRA BYRNE/Emma
BINA DAIGELER/Mulan
SUSAN HARMAN and DAVID WOLSKY/The Personal History of David Copperfield
ANN ROTH/Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
TRISH SUMMERVILLE/Mank
DH1: NANCY STEINER/Promising Young Woman
DH2: FRANCINE JAMISON-TANCHUK/One Night In Miami
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Dick Johnson Is Dead
My Octopus Teacher
Time
The Truffle Hunters
Welcome To Chechnya
DH1: The Painter And The Thief
DH2: Boys State
BEST FILM EDITING
ALAN BAUMGARTEN/Trial Of The Chicago Seven
KIRK BAXTER/Mank
YORGOS LAMPRINOS/The Father
FREDERIC THORAVAL/Promising Young Woman
CHLOE ZHAO/Nomadland
DH1: MIKKEL E. G. NIELSEN/Sound Of Metal
DH2: JENNIFER LAME/Tenet
Interesting how Chloe Zhao writes, directs, co-produces and edits. Talk about being in control!
BEST HAIR and MAKEUP
Birds of Prey – Harley Quinn
Emma
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
One Night In Miami
DH: Hillbilly Elegy
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Another Round (Denmark)
Dear Comrades (Russia)
La Llorona (Guatemala)
Quo Vadis Aida? (Bosnia-Hercegovina)
Two Of Us (France)
DH1: Collective (Romania)
DH2: Night Of The Kings (Ivory Coast)
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
TRENT REZNOR and ATTICUS ROSS/Soul
JON BATISTE, TRENT REZNOR and ATTICUS ROSS/Mank
ALEXANDRE DESPLAT/The Midnight Sky
EMILE MOSSERI/Minari
LUDWIG GORANSON/Tenet
DH: JAMES NEWTON HOWARD/News Of The World
If you were a teen in the 90’s, you’d remember a certain group called Nine Inch Nails. I’m sure today if you listened to the music, you would find it either ‘warped’ or ‘demonic!’ Isn’t it funny how Trent Reznor went from performing ‘demonic’ music to now composing scores?
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Fight For You” - Judas And The Black Messiah
“Io Se (Seen) – The Life Ahead
“Hear My Voice” – Trial Of The Chicago Seven
“Husavik” – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga
“Speak Now” – One Night In Miami
DH1: “Loyal Brave True” – Mulan
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Mank
Mulan
News Of The World
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Tenet
DH1: Emma
DH2: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
BEST SOUND
Greyhound
Mank
News Of The World
Soul
Sound Of Metal
DH1: Trial Of The Chicago Seven
DH2: Nomadland
Here's a bit of trivia. It was recently decided for this year to amalgamate the Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing categories into a single Oscar category of Best Sound! Should make for some interesting results.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Birds Of Prey – Harley Quinn
Mank
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
Tenet
DH1: Welcome To Chechnya
DH2: Soul
Actually it's the films with the big-time visual effects that most can't wait for the theatres to reopen at full-capacity! Visual effects are meant to be expeienced on the big screen instead of your computer screen, television or your smart phone. Even though this period of time is the COVID-versary, we shouldn't lose hope that the movie theatres will reopen big one day.
And there you have it! Those are my predictions for the 2020 Academy Awards. All to be decided on Monday morning. Then six weeks of streaming and hopefully a theatre-going or two!
And yet here you are on an entertainemt site, well Ia m also very critical of Hollywoods Iniquity so I should be quiet. well I love many mvoes but Holywood does have a seedy underside.
Darth Maul said:
All I can think of is the Public Enemy track---Burn Hollywood Burn.