February 24, 2019

Yup, we're closing out awards season with the Big Kahuna. It's time for the Academy Awards, or what is passing for Hollywood's big night. This Oscars night started with a controversy and just an endless series of really dumb decisions that guarantee this will be a strange and potentially real lame night.

First Kevin Hart decided to consciously uncouple from hosting duties. Then the Academy decided to not have any host at all.

Then they decided not to perform the nominated Best Songs. Then they decided they would have songs, but only some of them performed by the artists from the film. That's okay, Lin-Manuel Miranda, you've had plenty of time on stage. Let's let that up and comer Bette Midler sing the song instead.

Then they decided they'd save time by presenting some of the "boring" awards during the commercials, until they were blasted by those who understand that movies is more than the actors, so they put them back in.

In a year that we clamored for different voices, and women created some brilliant movies, the "Best Director" category has nothing but men. Of the 21 writers nominated for screenplay, only two are women. Roma is nominated in both the "Best Picture" and "Best Foreign Language" film, and got it's distribution mainly through Netflix streaming. Some of the best performances were entirely snubbed (Sorry, Toni Collette in Hereditary and Ethan Hawke in First Reformed, you were entirely robbed), while others are inscrutable ("The Place Where Lost Things Go" is not even the Best Song of the movie Mary Poppins Returns, much less of all the movies out this year).

If I sound a little bitter, it's because I saw this chart:

Laugh if you want, but representation matters. This is how we listen to women in microcosm. This is how we listen to minorities in microcosm. This is why the Academy has to do better than this.

Here's the list of nominees, if you want to play along.

BEST PICTURE

  • Black Panther
  • BlacKkKlansman
  • Bohemian Rhapsody
  • The Favourite
  • Green Book
  • Roma
  • A Star Is Born
  • Vice

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

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?

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

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

  • Amy Adams, Vice
  • Marina de Tavira, Roma
  • Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
  • Emma Stone, The Favourite
  • Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

  • Incredibles 2
  • Isle of Dogs
  • Mirai
  • Ralph Breaks The Internet
  • Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • Cold War
  • The Favourite
  • Never Look Away
  • Roma
  • A Star Is Born

COSTUME DESIGN

  • The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  • Black Panther
  • The Favourite
  • Mary Poppins Returns
  • Mary Queen of Scots

BEST DIRECTOR

  • Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
  • Paweł Pawlikowski, Cold War
  • Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
  • Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
  • Adam McKay, Vice

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

  • Free Solo
  • Hale County This Morning, This Evening
  • Minding the Gap
  • Of Fathers and Sons
  • RBG

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

  • Black Sheep
  • End Game
  • Lifeboat
  • A Night at The Garden
  • Period. End of Sentence.

FILM EDITING

  • BlacKkKlansman
  • Bohemian Rhapsody
  • The Favourite
  • Green Book
  • Vice

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM

  • Capernaum
  • Cold War
  • Never Looks Away
  • Roma
  • Shoplifters

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

  • Border
  • Mary Queen of Scots
  • Vice

ORIGINAL SCORE

  • Black Panther
  • BlacKkKlansman
  • If Beale Street Could Talk
  • Isle of Dogs
  • Mary Poppins Returns

ORIGINAL SONG

  • "All The Stars," Black Panther
  • "I'll Fight," RBG
  • "The Place Where Lost Things Go," Mary Poppins Returns
  • "Shallow," A Star Is Born
  • "When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings," The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs

PRODUCTION DESIGN

  • Black Panther
  • The Favourite
  • First Man
  • Mary Poppins Returns
  • Roma

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

  • Animal Behaviour
  • Bao
  • Late Afternoon
  • One Small Step
  • Weekends

LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM

  • Detainment
  • Fauve
  • Marguerite
  • Mother
  • Skin

SOUND EDITING

  • Black Panther
  • Bohemian Rhapsody
  • First Man
  • A Quiet Place
  • Roma

SOUND MIXING

  • Black Panther
  • Bohemian Rhapsody
  • First Man
  • Roma
  • A Star Is Born

VISUAL EFFECTS

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

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

  • The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs
  • BlacKkKlansman
  • Can You Ever Forgive Me?
  • If Beale Street Could Talk
  • A Star Is Born

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

  • The Favourite
  • First Reformed
  • Green Book
  • Roma
  • Vice

Streaming options available here.

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