Academy Awards 2019

I agree that they are all co-lead really so the categories are a bit sneaky, which may end up going against Olivia sadly as although she gives by far the best performance, Gaga and Glenn are genuine true leads in their respective films.

I would probably disagree with choosing Emma over Rachel and would go the other way. Emma's character is the one that drives the film really and it's a really fabulous showy performance (in a good way) but I think Rachel gives the more subtle performance of the two. I do think that if there was ever an argument for a tie in a category though, it would be here. Both actresses match each other every step of the way.

I feel very strongly that Anne Hathaway's performance in Ocean's 8 should not be overlooked by the academy though I guess that's something of a serious minority viewpoint.

I would actually agree. I think it's head and shoulders her best performance to date but strangely for such an OTT comic performance it's also probably way too subtle for most Academy voters and isn't an obvious "Vote for me!" performance. The performance I can compare it to most is Joan Cusack in 'In and Out'. Now I know that she did get an Oscar nomination for that (and actually should have won for my money, it's a sensational performance) but that's very much the exception rather than the rule. I kind of think Anne's 'Anne Hathaway-ness' probably counts against her at the moment too, she's been the target of a shedload of vitriol over the past few years which I think has 'damaged' her a little. The 'Ocean's 8' performance is amazing though.

I think Emma and Rachel will end up cancelling each other out in the end so I think Amy Adams is the only one who could stop Regina King but I think King will win in the end. I think it will end up as Christian Bale, Glenn Close, Mahershala Ali and Regina King as the four winners.

I think the academy will either go for Colman or Close for best actress. It just depends whether they feel like doing a long-overdue career recognition award or a 'OMG, we've discovered this amazing new talent fully-formed, and she's so down-to-earth!!' award.

I wouldn't be surprised if the lure of the 'new' tempted them.

Replace Christian Bale with Rami Malek and that would be my "most likely" list, though far from certain. I can see how the role Bale plays might give him the edge. As much as I think Olivia Colman is the most deserving of the likely Best Actress nominees, I can't begrudge a Glenn Close win in whole career terms.

I'll be rather upset if Regina King doesn't win! Supporting Actor is a strange one as there isn't an awful lot of momentum surrounding any of them, and the Academy may swing against giving Mahershala Ali a second award in 3 years.

It's an interesting year in terms of uncertainty - I think the only certs at the minute are that Weisz and Stone will cancel each other out, and that Cooper and Gaga won't win in the acting categories as they will more likely win elsewhere.

I'm gutted for Timothée Chalamet though. Two Oscar nominations at the age of just 23 is incredible, but he already feels overdue and that's crazy.

Also, whatever happened Saoirse Ronan? I remember at the start of the year, alot of people were predicting her a nomination for Mart, Queen of Scots but she's really fallen through the cracks, she's not even on the radar anymore. Margot Robbie is getting more hype and award nominations than she is (which sidenote, I do think she is going to be the "other" slot at the Oscars just based on the attention she has had on other award ceremonies).

I think Rami is a lock. Not that it's necessarily the best performance of the year, but with biopics there's always a sense that the person you are portraying is also being awarded, and Freddie Mercury beats Dick Cheney hands-down in that respect.


(I swear the Academy voted for 'Stephen Hawking' rather than Eddie Redmayne, which is why within 6 months or so of him winning his performance was being called as 'technical', 'shallow' and 'overrated'.)

I think Rami should win. I've seen it twice now and I just think what he is doing in that film is amazing, if Bohemian wins anything, it'll be that. But I suspect Bohemian will get a fair few nominations too, such as Actor, Costume, Hair and Makeup. And I do think it'll make it into the Best Picture race too now.

Rami meet Sami. Sami meet Rami.

I was about to start a new thread for The Favourite as I couldn't find one dedicated to the film but it seems the chat on it has all migrated here. I wonder how (who?) they made the decision to put Olivia Colman in the leading category as of the three performances which do seem broadly equal in screen time, hers felt to me like the one that belonged most in supporting. If I recall I'm sure early talk was of placing her there. I don't think she's quite strong enough to walk away with the leading Oscar but I think she might well have won the supporting (I've not seen Regina King yet but Amy Adams in Vice is about as interesting as watching custard set and they seem to be the two main contenders). I certainly don't think she is a match for Glenn Close in The Wife. Did anyone else find some of the music in The Favourite intensely annoying? And what was with the occasional fish eye lens?

And just so I don't only mention The Favourite, I found Vice to be incredibly irritating and majorly over rated, Christian Bale disappears into his role but that's kind of par for the course for him. I did eventually start to fast forward bits of Vice mostly as I'm familiar with the back story and it wasn't adding anything new. It's actually put me off seeing the Hugh Jackman Front Runner movie as am familiar with that story too but that seems to vanishing pretty fast from cinemas anyway. That was seen as an Oscar contender in production I believe.

I enjoyed The Favourite very much, I think it helped having seen the RSC's Queen Anne last year which covered the same ground (& was better of course, being a play). Colman deserves all the awards, a performance of great depth and completely without vanity (cementing her status as the new Dame Judi). But I know several people who have hated the film and I can imagine a lot of people going who expect some sort of ditzy comedy!