The Favourite and Roma Garner Equal 10 Nominations Each – Great

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have revealed their nominations for the Oscars 2019, and not surprisingly, there were a few categories that I did not do well on, and some that I totally nailed. Still, the big story this morning is The Favourite with ten nominations, including Picture, Director, three acting bids, and Original Screenplay. Roma arguably overperformed, also with ten nominations, including Picture, Director, two acting races, and screenplay. It did miss out for Film Editing, which typically helps predict who wins Best Picture, but Birdman won four years ago without that nomination.

Otherwise at the Oscars, A Star is Born and Vice tied for third with eight nominations each. Vice definitely overperformed while Star is Born was a letdown, missing Director and Film Editing. Vice, in the meantime, grabbed a nod for Director Adam McKay, and it’s also up for three acting Races, Picture, Original Screenplay, and Editing. Black Panther wasn’t far behind with 7 nods, including Picture, but the rest of them were in the tech categories.

Here’s the full list for the 24 categories this morning:

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

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

Best 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

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

Best 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

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, Vice
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Emma Stome, The Favourite
Marina de Tavira, Roma
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

Best Original Screenplay
First Reformed
Green Book
Roma
The Favourite
Vice

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

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

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

Best Foreign Language Film
Capernaum
Cold War
Never Look Away
Roma
Shoplifters

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

Best Film Editing
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
Green Book
The Favourite
Vice

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

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

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Border
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice

Best Original Score
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns

Best Original Song
“All the Stars” from Black Panther
“I’ll Fight” from RBG
“The Place Where the Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns
“Shallow” from A Star is Born
“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for His Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

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

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

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

Best Animated Short
Animal Behaviour
Bao
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends

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

Best Live Action Short
Detainment
Fauve
Margurite
Mother
Skin

The big story this morning, as far as inclusions, is Roma. Making it into two of the acting races, one of whom hasn’t been nominated anywhere this year, is impressive, as is its inclusion in the sound categories. The only hiccup it had was Best Film Editing, but as pointed out, it can still win Best Picture without it.

The other big nominee this morning that I didn’t see coming is Netflix’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, which wowed with three nods in Adapted Screenplay, Original Song, and Costume Design. I felt the film’s presence has been lacking throughout the awards season, only picking up the occasional nod here and there, but it sure pulled through today.

Pawel Pawlikowski made it in for Best Director for Poland’s Cold War, and this marks the second time since the Academy’s expanded Best Picture field that a director is nominated without his film also landing a Best Picture nomination. The last time that happened was in 2014 with Foxcatcher.

Vice also overperformed this morning with its three acting bids, Adam McKay’s nod in Director, and the two tech categories: Makeup and Editing. Willem Dafoe came back into the Best Actor race, after failing to be nominated at the Screen Actors Guild, and his film, At Eternity’s Gate, did not qualify for BAFTA this year, so that also hurt him. Also for inclusion in the acting races, how about that Sam Elliott coming back after SAG and BAFTA snubs?

First Reformed also came back in the Original Screenplay category, and while it won at Critics Choice, Paul Schrader has been largely absent from the race this year. Documentary went with Hale County This Morning, This Evening, the Gotham winner, whom I did not have in my predictions. Also, Germany’s Never Look Away scored two nods this morning in Foreign Language and Cinematography.

Some other highlight inclusions are Green Book and BlacKkKlansman in the Editing category, Border in Makeup, BlacKkKlansman again in Original Score, and Christopher Robin in Visual Effects.

Now looking at the exclusions, I felt First Man would come back strong today, but my nine predicted nominees turned into four actual nominees, and it missed out for Picture, Supporting Actress for Claire Foy, Cinematography, and especially for Editing and Score, where arguably it was the frontrunner to win. A Star is Born also missed out on some key races this morning, namely Best Director for Bradley Cooper and Best Film Editing. Peter Farrelly also missed for Director for Green Book, and after the Producers Guild of America win for Green Book, I switched out McKay for Farrelly. That didn’t pan out for me.

In the acting races, it’s a shame to see Driver nominated when his co-star, John David Washington, did not get the nod for BlacKkKlansman. Also where is Timothee Chalamet for Beautiful Boy? His performance was one of the best this year. For the screenplay races, the big losers are Crazy Rich Asians, which was awarded a goose egg this morning, and Eighth Grade, the little indie movie that could this year, until it couldn’t this morning.

But the biggest snub this morning has to be in the Documentary Feature race, where the frontrunner, Won’t You be My Neighbor?, is missing. This is a big blow, especially since this was, critically speaking, one of the best films of the year, and also made a small fortune at the box office, and usually when we see this happen with docs like March of the Penguins and Amy, they are rewarded at the Oscars as well.

Some other shocking exclusions this morning include both Black Panther and If Beale Street Could Talk in the Cinematography category, Stan and Ollie in Makeup, Mission: Impossible – Fallout also earning nothing this morning, and Black Panther’s snub in the Visual Effects category, though it did miss at the VE Guild, so that one can be accounted for in that regard.

Overall, I did okay at predicting these awards, but as far as who will win, especially in the Picture category, well, it feels right now like it’s Roma’s to lose, but Vice, The Favourite, and Green Book will all be in the hunt.