My Oscar Choices 2019

Oscar season is upon us once again and it’s time to enjoy the year’s best in films.  The following are my Oscar choices for the main categories, with my ranking for each and an explanation of my choices.

BEST PICTURE

Winner: Roma
Second Choice: The Favourite
Third Choice : Bohemian Rhapsody
Fourth Choice: Green Book
Fifth Choice: Vice
Sixth Choice: BlacKkKlansman
Seventh Choice: Black Panther
Eighth Choice: A Star is Born

Both Roma and The Favourite have ten nominations each, the most nominations for a film this year.  Roma is Alfonso Cuarón’s personal ode to his childhood in Mexico.  It is nominated as well in Best Foreign Language Film and winning both would be a first for the Academy.  The Favourite is a haunting dark comedy and is the most accessible of Yorgos Lanthimos works.  Bohemian Rhapsody is a box office behemoth with a solid performance from its lead Rami Malek.  Despite its controversies, Green Book is as powerful and affecting in its message as it is entertaining.  Vice is innovative and cleverly constructed with excellent lead performances.  The very searing BlacKkKlansman still contains the radical rage that Spike Lee has delivered in all his films.

BEST DIRECTOR

Winner : Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
Second Choice : Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Third Choice : Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
Fourth Choice : Pawel Pawlikowksi, Cold War
Fifth Choice : Adam McKay, Vice

All the directors in this category are the best for this year.  They all have a distinct vision, unique style, and their own personal agenda.  My choice to win is the legendary Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman as he gets his first ever Best Director nomination, and hopefully a win, after having produced and directed so many revolutionary classics.  If there ever was a tie, it would be with Alfonso Cuarón for his noir masterpiece Roma.  The other three directors, Pawlikowksi, Lanthimos, and McKay, are all just equally accomplished and their films this year are just as singularly powerful.

BEST ACTOR

Winner: Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody
Second Choice: Christian Bale, Vice
Third Choice: Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
Fourth Choice: Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
Fifth Choice: Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born

This is a very tight race between Rami Malek as singer Freddie Mercury and Christian Bale as politician Dick Cheney.  Both gave very good strong real performances.  Malek has an edge having won both Golden Globes and SAG while Bale only has the Golden Globes under his belt.  I am really torn between the two.  I even think both should win.  Put it this way, both of them gave better performances than last year’s Best Actor winner Gary Oldman.  Yet given the odds, I would choose Malek to win this one.  A noteworthy performance as well is Viggo Mortensen for his affable role as Frank Vallelonga in Green Book.

BEST ACTRESS

Winner : Glenn Close, The Wife
Second Choice : Olivia Coleman, The Favourite
Third Choice : Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Fourth Choice : Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
Fifth Choice : Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born

No one comes close to Glenn Close this year.  Her nuanced bravado multi-layered performance in The Wife is one to witness.  This is her seventh Oscar nomination without any previous wins so the momentum is high for her to get it this time around.  Having won the Golden Globes and SAG this year only seals her fate as the rightful winner.  Her nearest contenders are Olivia Colman for her funny yet intense Queen Anne in The Favourite and a very different Melissa McCarthy as a very affecting Lee Israel in Can You Ever Forgive Me? both giving very good mature performances.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Winner : Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Second Choice : Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Third Choice : Sam Rockwell, Vice
Fourth Choice : Sam Elliot, A Star Is Born
Fifth Choice : Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman

This one belongs to Mahershala Ali for his sensitive and piquant portrayal of Dr Don Shirley for Green Book.  Ali has already won the Golden Globes and SAG for this role.  Both Ali and Mortensen in Green Book have good subtle chemistry together but it is Ali’s powerhouse performance that elevates him from the other Oscar contenders.  My close second would be Richard E. Grant for his funny and unforgettable performance in Can You Ever Forgive Me? while my third choice would be Sam Rockwell as an understated George Bush in Vice.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Winner : Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Second Choice : Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
Third Choice : Amy Adams, Vice
Fourth Choice : Emma Stone, The Favourite
Fifth Choice : Marina De Tavira, Roma

This category is pretty much a free for all with Regina King of If Beale Street Could Talk as the leading contender having won the Golden Globes but unconventionally not even getting a nomination at SAG.  The SAG winner was Emily Blunt for A Quiet Place, and she has never ever been nominated for an Oscar at all.  My personal favourites are Rachel Weisz for The Favourite and Amy Adams for Vice.  Weisz already won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar before for The Constant Gardener while this is Adams sixth Oscar nomination and, if ever, her first win.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Winner : Free Solo
Second Choice : RBG
Third Choice : Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Fourth Choice : Of Fathers and Sons
Fifth Choice : Minding the Gap

These are all engaging and compelling documentaries, the cream of the crop and the best of this year.  The two leading contenders are RBG which is about the life of Ruth Bader-Ginsburg and Free Solo which is an acrophobic adventure of rope-free rock climbing.  Two socially relevant pieces Hale County This Morning, This Evening and Minding the Gap have already acquired documentary accolades.  Last but not the least is the gripping Of Fathers and Sons which is a disquieting exploration of a Jihadist family.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Winner : Roma
Second Choice : Cold War
Third Choice : Shoplifters
Fourth Choice : Capernaum
Fifth Choice : Never Look Away

My personal favourites here are Roma and Cold War with their respective directors also getting an Oscar nod.  Both films are black and white period pieces with a classic filmic style.  At Cannes, Shoplifters won the Palme D’Or while Capernaum won the Jury Prize.  Never Look Away was in the main competition at the Venice film festival.