92nd Academy Awards: A preview.

Awards season is coming thick and fast now. We have already had the Golden Globes; the BAFTAs have released frustrating nominations last week and today was the turn of the Oscars.
 
The Academy Awards famously deliver a mixed bag when it comes to nominations over the last decade (at least) and 2020 was, on the whole, an improvement to an extent.

Let’s get into it…

So, when we say improvement, we literally mean the films getting the nominations in the various categories are at least deserving; but there were so many overlooked – we’ll get to that.
 
Let’s start where the BAFTAs left off… 20 nominations across the acting categories delivered 20 nominations for white talent. For the Oscars, 19 were given to white talent. It is simply Cynthia Erivo for her movie Harriet getting the recognition. One of the biggest problems with this is two women of colour deserved a nomination at least. Honestly, literally deserved. J-Lo for Hustlers and Lupita Nyong’o for Us needed to be nominated!
 
There is no way Charlize Theron for Bombshell is better, plus, Scarlett Johansson received two nominations (Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit) – disappointing. Are the Academy really saying that ScarJo’s two performances were both better than both Lupita and J-Lo’s? Ridiculous.
 
In addition to this fiasco, in the directing category, there was a shut out for women again. Whilst the men in the list are brilliant, so is Greta Gerwig and Lulu Wang. It’s disappointing that diversity is lacking every single year. Furthermore, a few more snubs we feel aggrieved for are Uncut Gems (Best Picture, or literally anything), Adam Sandler, Taron Egerton, Apollo 11 and George MacKay.
 
On the flip side, Parasite and Joker getting so much love is amazing to see. Plus, Ad Astra picking up one nomination (deserved so much more) means we can now call it “Academy-Award nominated Ad Astra. It’s just overall frustrating, but we hope come February, the right winners pick up the statuettes on the night. We’re rooting for Parasite, Joker and 1917! Let us know what you think…

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

BEST DIRECTOR:
Martin Scorsese - The Irishman
Todd Phillips - Joker
Sam Mendes - 1917
Quentin Tarantino - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Bong Joon-ho - Parasite

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

​BEST ACTRESS:
Cynthia Erivo - Harriet
Scarlett Johansson - Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan - Little Women
Charlize Theron - Bombshell
Renée Zellweger - Judy

SUPPORTING ACTOR:
Tom Hanks - A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
Anthony Hopkins - The Two Popes
Al Pacino - The Irishman
Joe Pesci - The Irishman
Brad Pitt - Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Kathy Bates - Richard Jewell
Laura Dern - Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson - Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh - Little Women
Margot Robbie - Bombshell

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
The Irishman - Steven Zaillian
Jojo Rabbit - Taika Waititi
Joker - Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
Little Women - Greta Gerwig
The Two Popes - Anthony McCarten

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Knives Out - Rian Johnson
Marriage Story - Noah Baumbach
1917 - Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Quentin Tarantino
Parasite - Bong Joon-ho & Jin Won Han

ANIMATED FEATURE:
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4

CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The Irishman - Rodrigo Prieto
Joker - Lawrence Sher
The Lighthouse - Jarin Blaschke
1917 - Roger Deakins
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Robert Richardson

INTERNATIONAL FILM:
Corpus Christi (Poland)
Honeyland (North Macedonia)
Les Misérables (France)
Pain and Glory (Spain)
Parasite (South Korea)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:
American Factory
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland

DOCUMENTARY SHORT:
In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone
Life Overtakes Me
St. Louis Superman
Walk Run Cha-Cha

ANIMATED SHORT:
Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Sister

LIVE-ACTION SHORT:
Brotherhood
Nefta Football Club
The Neighbors' Window
Saria
A Sister

​VISUAL EFFECTS:
Avengers: Endgame
The Irishman
The Lion King
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

PRODUCTION DESIGN:
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

COSTUME DESIGN:
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

MAKE-UP & HAIR:
Bombshell
Joker
Judy
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917

FILM EDITING:
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Parasite

SOUND MIXING:
Ad Astra
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

SOUND EDITING:
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

ORIGINAL SCORE:
Joker - Hildur Guðnadóttir
Little Women - Alexandre Desplat
Marriage Story - Randy Newman
1917 - Thomas Newman
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - John Williams

ORIGINAL SONG:
"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" - Toy Story 4
"I'm Gonna Love Me Again" - Rocketman
"I'm Standing With You" - Breakthrough
"Into the Unknown" - Frozen 2
"Stand Up" – Harriet