Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

Okay, it has been a bit of a slog but I have watched 15 films which pretty much encompasses the major films nominated in each category and below is the list of who I would like to see win in each category. It sounds cliché and you always hear the award winner say it in their acceptance speeches but I think there is a lot of talent in each category this year and there are some categories where I think there is more than one deserving winner.
I think the biggest travesty is that Endgame wasn't nominated for best picture because out of all the films I saw last year, which is a lot, Endgame was by far the best for so many reasons and likewise I think Robert Downey Jr should have been nominated for best actor.
I haven't put Parasite in as a joke for best picture, I am serious. If you get the chance to watch it you should. I was tempted to turn it off during the first 10 minutes because you get the feeling it is going to be a cheesy low budget weak story film but it gets going and is really good.
We all like to have a whinge every year that most of the films nominated are films we have never heard of and that more popular mainstream films should be nominated. I have commented in the past that one of the reasons why I like to watch each of the nominated films is that there are always a few surprises and you always get a couple films which are based on true stories or events. The standout for me this year, and it can be easily overlooked as it has only been nominated for one award, is Harriet. I went into without having watched a trailer or read a synopsis and knew nothing about it at all other than the actress in it is nominated for lead actress. I just put it on and watched it. It was a very moving story. Anyways, let me know what you think, especially if you would like to see another film win.

Best Picture: Parasite
Lead Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Lead Actress: Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”
Supporting Actor: Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
Supporting Actress: Margot Robbie, “Bombshell”
Director: Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
Animated Feature:“Toy Story 4,” Josh Cooley
Adapted Screenplay: “Little Women,” Greta Gerwig
Original Screenplay: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino
Cinematography: “1917,” Roger Deakins
Best International Film“Parasite,” Bong Joon Ho
Film Editing: “Ford v Ferrari,” Michael McCusker, Andrew Buckland
Sound Editing: “Star Wars: The Rise of SkyWalker,” Matthew Wood, David Acord
Sound Mixing: “Ford v Ferrari”
Production Design: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh
Original Score: “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” John Williams
Original Song: “Into the Unknown,” “Frozen 2”
Makeup and Hair: “Bombshell”
Costume Design: “Little Women,” Jacqueline Durran
Visual Effects: “Avengers Endgame”

I have a sneaky feeling that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will pick up best picture and Parasite will get best foreign language film.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

Maximus! I think this might be the first time we're in complete agreement on a film.

Parasite is excellent. I think it deserves Best Film at this Oscars and we only disagree in that even if it were nominated I still think Parasite is miles ahead of Endgame too. As you said the film really does become very good but we can't discuss it much because it's best watched without knowing anything about it.

I don't disagree with most of the other things you've listed there. Especially the Best Original and Adapted Screenplays (maybe Parasite for Best Original Screenplay).

Best Score would be Joker for me. Agree on Tom Hanks too.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

And this is the best example I could ever come up with and one which I'll use for the rest of my life for why somebody should win an acting award. Sometimes you get unknowns like the actress who is nominated for Harriet this year and sometimes you get well known actors like Meryl Streep who you expect to be good in anything they are in. Tom Hanks can fall into that train of thought and John Williams as well come to think of it and many people will be saying "well of course Tom Hanks will be nominated, he is Hollywood royalty". Just as I said above I knew nothing about Harriet, I had also never heard of Fred Rogers before I saw the trailer for A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood and was still none the wiser as to who he was. When the film had finished I thought "what a fantastic human being" and I was only able to form that opinion of Fred Rogers due to Tom Hanks' performance and portrayal of him. I really do hope he gets it because I can't think of anything more demanding in acting than not only portraying a real person, but somebody who is relatively recent in history and millions of people can judge you on.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

The thing I found interesting about that film is it is about Mr Rodgers and they got a big actor to play the character but he is actually playing a supporting role to another actor. It's such an interesting way to tell the story of the man, by having him act as support in another character's story.

Tom Hanks is unlikely to win though. The same four actors have won each acting award so far: Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern. Remember that many of the voters are the same and those four won the SAG awards which are the ones voted for by fellow actors who make up there majority of the Oscar voters too.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

that's what I was talking about. I watched Judy before Harriet and up and till that point Renee Zellweger was the clear front runner for me. I love Laura Dern but ironically if she is going to win I don't think it should be for Marriage Story, it should be for Little Women. Joaquin Phoenix was good but when the presenters read out the nominations they say "and now for the Oscar for an 'outstanding' performance by an actor in a leading role" and I didn't think his performance was outstanding as he has played whacky characters before. It was very good but there are more deserving winners imho. Joker has received a lot of nominations and I don't think it should win any of them.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

Well I am well chuffed. As I have said already I thought there was more than one deserving winner in each category so I was pleased for Brad Pitt and Rene Zellweger etc. I got very mardy half way through when Endgame missed out on visual effects, they did everything that was in 1917 plus a million times more, I thought it was a joke. 1917 was nominated in too many categories and all the way along right up and till the very last moment everyone was saying Sam Mendes was going to get best director. They rightly won cinematography for the filming style and that should have been (and was) it. I am ecstatic that Parasite picked up best director and best picture. A lot of people (Paul) don't take an interest in the Oscars because a lot of the films nominated are arty farty films you haven't heard of and normally wouldn't watch. The reason why I loved Parasite so much is that it wasn't a made for Oscars film, it is a normal thrilling and entertaining film you would want to watch that just happens to be in a different language and that is why it stood out so much from the other nominated films. Kudos to those guys.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

Oscars get it right for once

Not so sure about Zellweger. I think that was what I call stunt acting, where the entire thing is contrived to be 'look at this, give me an Oscar'. Sort of like when you say there are 'made of Oscar films' I feel the same about some acting performances. It was basically an imitation, a SNL bit, and whilst it was very good it took place in an otherwise dull film. Lifeless.

Now compare that to Saoirse Ronan's performance in Little Women, or pretty much anything, where there is a believable character being brought to life.

But not a big objection.

You're right about 1917. I did love watching it but I don't think it would have aged well as a Best Picture winner. With the caveat that I still haven't seen The Irishman I think Parasite was by far the right choice and it's about time there was a foreign winner of Best Picture ending the remarkable run of English language films being the best each year in the entire world....

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

I wouldn't bother, I don't feel any better for having watched it other than the fact that I needed to for the Oscars. It is an interesting story but I kept hitting pause on the remote to see how far through the film I was and when it finished I couldn't help but think it should have been a 2 hour film and not 3:30. I think it was nominated for an editing Oscar which is quite hilarious.
Everybody moans about films that are 3 hours plus and I have always defended them. Off the top of my head I am thinking of LoTR, Meet Joe Black, Avatar, Dances With Wolves, 2012, Titanic and a couple more that aren't immediately coming to mind. The point is though that I love all of them, they are good stories and you want to watch them. You aren't going through it thinking "are we near the end yet" but you do with The Irishman.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...id-19-11991498

It looks like next year's Oscars is going to be postponed. It makes sense and gives the studios some breathing room to get back up and running. They can easily put it back till summer without impacting the 2022 ceremony. Most of the "awards films" and planned to be released just before the awards season starts for the nominations process so this will naturally happen this year as things get back up and running, albeit a bit late, and next year things can hopefully go back to normal for the end of year releases. As the majority of nominated films aren't blockbuster movies their post-production is less intensive so hopefully it won't be as hard and time consuming to get back on track.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

l cannot say l am surprised at that as it was pretty inevitable that it was going to be postponed.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

It is confirmed, it is being put back by 2 months and will now be the end of April next year.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...ption-12007552

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

It would have been interesting if they kept it at the original date to see what Oscar nominations would look like if the studios didn't get to do their normal 'Oscar season rollout' of their most promising films. They usually start that process now, Cannes would have happened for some more independent films to take their shot and the main season of film festivals would be starting. It's around now we'll know which films think they have a shot.

Those festivals might still not happen but they'll still have time do a limited rollout in the autumn before a general release in the winter. They've essentially just pushed everything back one quarter.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

Yup, and i think the improved weather will cheer everyone up and make for a more enjoyable red carpet ceremony

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

https://deadline.com/2020/09/academy...ty-1234573172/

Not sure how I feel about this atm. Are films going to be nominated because and win because they are fantastic films or because they have got a gay black actor in them. I am sure there are dedicated awards ceremonies for diversity and gender equality across various industries and the premiere awards ceremony which celebrates the very best of movie magic does not need to be converted into one. It risks diminishing to value of the Oscars and shifting it to another awards ceremony which will recognise the very best in quality and talent.

Re: Oscar 2020 Nominations
 

Ive never condidered the oscars to be representative of most people who actually watch films, otherwise the Marvel films would sweep the board every year, but now they have lost the plot completely.

Its clearly no longer about how good they think a film is, or how good someone is at their job, its all about are they Gay/Black/whatever. Racism, whateverism at its best.