My Picks for the 92nd Academy Awards

Allow me to preface this by saying that in around 2015/16, I completed an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) into the voting process for the Oscars. Now I’m not saying I know everything, however the EPQ did get a C, so consider all these choices to be absolutely nailed on.

These picks will be mostly what I expect to win, based on the trends arising from the recent award shows, the antics that the Academy pull every year, and you’ll probably find some personal preference here and there because why not.

I’ll talk about some of my choices and less so for the categories I don’t really know a lot about because…well that’s why.

Writing (Original Screenplay): Parasite

THE WRITING CATEGORIES DESERVE MORE LOVE. The film started with the writers, they built the skeleton of the film, they birthed it, and you’re gonna play them off? Anyway I think this category will be between Bong Joon Ho & Han Jin Won (Parasite) and Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood). Tarantino has a screenplay that’s so unique, so wild, so vivid in its world-building, and so enriched with pop culture. The fact that it pays legacy to former rising star of Hollywood Sharon Tate could also play in its favour. However I believe that Parasite had simply the best screenplay. The most complete in that it touches in almost every genre and passes with flying colours, the most airtight in that there’s not a single throwaway line and the attention to detail in this film is ridiculous. Also an important film, which tackles the theme of class from so many angles. Parasite, honestly, I think is the closest I’ve ever seen to a perfect film.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Jojo Rabbit

Again, a strong, tight category. But let’s be honest, only one of these films features the line “Fuck off, Hitler” and I’m not sure what more needs to be said than that.

Visual Effects: 1917

I feel like this will go to either 1917 or Avengers: Endgame. I didn’t choose Endgame though because I remember the first appearance of Captain Marvel on screen and how the character was placed onto the background behind her and thinking “Wow that’s…that’s really not good.”

Sound Mixing: Ford v Ferrari

Sound Editing: Ford v Ferrari

I’ll be real with you, I’ve never learned the difference between sound editing and sound mixing, however it’s just my experience that they both usually go to the same film. I think this one essentially comes down to planes (1917) or cars (Ford v Ferrari).

Short Film (Live Action): Saria

Short Film (Animated): Sister

Production Design: 1917

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood built film sets of film sets, which included a whole artificial western village. Parasite built an upper class near-mansion, worthy of being accredited to the great architect Namgoong, as well as again a whole artificial street leading up to the main family’s semi-basement. I feel 1917 takes this however because they had to build some looooong war trenches and a semi-destroyed village among other locations, and build them all in close quarters with a clear route between each for the one-shot filming style.

Music (Original Song): “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” - Rocketman

Music (Original Score): Joker

As much as I love Randy Newman and would love him to win just so I can find out what he actually looks like.

Makeup and Hairstyling: Bombshell

Sorry 1917 but I did not see one glamorous hairstyle in that film. Plus it’s easier when every characters a male with short hair. Plus plus it’s easier considering I’m not sure how many soldiers on the front line in World War I would have been wearing make up.

International Feature Film: Parasite

I think this is the only category that’s a literal guarantee. There are five films here and Parasite is the only one also nominated for Best Picture. While I’m sure the others have merits and I really want to see Pain and Glory, I’m not sure there’s any logic in this win not going to Parasite.

Film Editing: Parasite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma1rD2OP85c

Documentary (Short Subject): Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If you’re a girl)

Documentary (Feature): American Factory

Barack Obama’s seal of approval is good enough for me.

Directing: Sam Mendes - 1917

The Critics Choice Awards gave this as a tie between 1917 and Parasite which I’m 100% here for, however after Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4, I don’t think America can handle another major double-crowning. I see Quentin Tarantino, Bong Joon Ho, and Sam Mendes all as worthy winners of this category, however I think the tide will swing towards 1917.

Costume Design: Little Women

Cinematography: Roger Deakins - 1917

It just has to be, right? Whether you find a whole film being recorded as one take to be gimmicky or not, the fact that they still managed to do it is absolutely incredible. But even with that, almost every individual frame in this film is beautiful.

Animated Feature Film: Klaus

This is a wide-open category that seems to have had a different winner each time up to now. Klaus, which won at the Baftas wasn’t even nominated at the Golden Globes so it’s a hard one to call. I have reservations about Toy Story 4 winning because, as good as it was in itself, I found it the weakest in the Toy Story franchise and I’m not sure it was a film that necessarily needed to be made, give how beautifully the franchise seemed to come to an end with Toy Story 3.

Actress in a Supporting Role: Laura Dern - Marriage Story

While no category is ever a guarantee, the acting categories seem locked in at this point. Laura Dern is sweeping supporting actress which I was somewhat puzzled by at first - it was good, but that good? However the more I think about, the more I realise that she nailed this performance, because I realise that when I merely think of the words “female divorce lawyer”, Laura Dern and her portrayal in this role are exactly what I imagine.

Scarlett Johansson joined a small list of actors nominated in both respective categories in the same year which is an incredible achievement in itself. I’m just not sure though that I would have nominated her for Jojo Rabbit only because the role itself just didn’t seem prominent enough. For the gif of her dancing into her seat before having a long guzzle of red wine, you’d say fair play, she earned that nomination, and I guess Edward Norton got a supporting actor nomination for about five minutes of screen time in the middle of Birdman. 

I think other performances worthy of a nomination would’ve been Thomasin McKenzie, also for Jojo Rabbit, Jennifer Lopez for Hustlers, or Park So-Dam for Parasite. I will say for the latter though that a part of me is somewhat glad that Parasite didn’t receive any acting nominations as I think it would be unfair to say that one actor outshone the rest. However, I think Parasite highlights the need for an ensemble acting category at the Oscars, something that the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Critics Choice Awards both featured. If you’re on the fence about this, just consider that despite iconic performance on top of iconic performance, Pulp Fiction and The Departed didn’t receive any awards for its acting, and Samuel L Jackson’s and Leonardo DiCaprio’s performances in Django Unchained received nowhere near adequate recognition.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Brad Pitt - Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood

Brad Pitt is brilliant in this role as…well…Brad Pitt. His characterisation is so good that it’s thrilling to follow Cliff Booth around as he completes even the most mundane tasks (Watching him attempt to fix Rick Dalton’s TV antenna? Maybe the most fun I had all decade). Cliff Booth is just impossible not to love (which is a weird feeling considering that one scene we see with his ex-wife), but the Brad Pitt charm is captivating, and Cliff never seems to break a sweat even when he’s fighting Bruce Lee, or fighting the Manson Murderers (that was a weird sentence to write).

I feel the nominees for this category are pretty solid, but other performances I would’ve considered would be Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit, Dean Charles-Chapman for 1917, or Kang Song-Ho for Parasite (See above).

Actress in a Leading Role: Renée Zellweger - Judy

Judy is a film I’m still yet to see however again, the acting categories are pretty much locked-in, and biopics usually have an advantage in the lead acting categories, as the whole point of the film is that we’re just watching them.

Again Scarlett Johansson’s performance is interesting - which isn’t to say she didn’t deserve this nomination, she absolutely did. In Marriage Story I really grew to dislike her character which would usually be a mark of a good performance, however in this instance it was more for the actions of her character that happen off screen.

Other nominees could’ve been Florence Pugh for Midsommar, Constance Wu for Hustlers, or maybe Lupita Nyong’o for Us (for her untethered performance though, not her tethered performance).

Actor in a Leading Role: Joaquin Phoenix - Joker

Locked in, and again, I think he has to win this. I was moved a lot by Adam Driver’s performance in Marriage Story and am excited by the continuing rise of his career, and Leonardo DiCaprio was his usual brilliant self in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, in terms of both his full range, as well as his chemistry with every other cast member. Even all this said, I don’t think either of these come close to what Joaquin Phoenix achieved in his performance, emotionally, physically, and in terms of portraying vivid character development.

I don’t know how I’d go about finding this out, but I wonder if The Joker would be the first ever character to win multiple Oscars for acting.

Was somewhat surprised that Robert De Niro wasn’t here for his leading role in a film as prominent as The Irishman. Thought George Mackay was also worthy for 1917 and would have also considered Taron Egerton for Rocketman. While we’re on the topic of Rocketman, it barely features on the nominations list at all. Which is strange when you consider how prominent Bohemian Rhapsody was last year. I preferred Bohemian Rhapsody but Rocketman wasn’t that much worse, was it?

Best Picture: Parasite

Firstly, this is a damn strong category. There are no films in this category that I didn’t like and all round, its a much stronger selection of films than this category has seen in recent years. 

The three strongest contenders in this category are in my opinion: 1917, Parasite, and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.

Momentum seems to be with 1917 as the most common winner of this equivalent category in recent award shows and it’s easy to see why. It is a real story for a start and depicts important events which saved countless lives in World War I. It is arguably the technically strongest film in this category, in terms of the cinematography, visual effects, action sequences and lighting. However the thing is, technical categories exist for exactly these achievements, and I’m not sure that these combined help make 1917 the best film of the year. 1917 had a simple story which I appreciated and it was set up well, in the first minute we know the main characters and their goal. The problem is, from this point onwards, as tense as the journey is, the end point and fulfilment of the overall goal never truly seems in doubt. Despite the tension and emotion on display, 1917 doesn’t really stick with me long enough after each viewing for me to feel like it’s had an impact.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is an absurdly unique film and has also walked out as winners of categories equivalent to this one. When I first watched it though, to be completely honest, I was slightly underwhelmed. I felt like I had waited a long time for not a lot to happen. On my second viewing, I realised just how much I enjoyed the film as I was no longer sat there expecting Pulp Fiction style intertwining of stories or waiting for an inciting incident to kick it into gear and was instead able to enjoy each scene as it came. By the third viewing, I realised just how well-crafted the stories in this film actually are.

With the final act, Tarantino lifts the melancholy that lingers over every shot starring Sharon Tate due to the sense of impending tragedy, making for an optimistic ending and in Tarantino’s eyes, the revival of the golden age of cinema. Cliff Booth seems to enjoy himself for the entirety of this film and come the final confrontation, he puts himself on the line to protect Rick whom he has already dedicated so much of his life to and to whom he’s grateful for having been able to live the life that he has. Rick Dalton’s character comes full-circle, from the opening act and his despair at the apparent death of his career, to a revival thanks to a foray into European cinema (something he initially dreaded), to a rebirth for his career as he finally encounters Sharon Tate and, it is assumed, goes on to build a relationship with Roman Polanski (the director of Rosemary’s fucking Baby that’s who).

So I think Once Upon A Time could win, but what might be a hindrance will be a reliance on the bulk of Academy voters to afford it this same level of patience, but given the established nature of Tarantino’s name, you’d expect they might do exactly that. What will also play in its favour is the fact that it is depicting an industry that academy voters love to recognise (their own).

But I’ve gone for Parasite because, again, I think it’s the best film in this category. I also think it would make the powerful win, not just in that it would show an acceptance for films outside the Western-bubble, being the first foreign winner since The Artist, but also that it would be such a powerful moment for Parasite to win in a room full of the wealthiest 1% of Americans, effectively saying “you’re all parasites.”

Those however aren’t the reasons it should win. Parasite made it to the nominations list on merit and it has the quality to win this category on merit as well. It has exceptional pacing, a brilliantly crafted screenplay with not a single unnecessary scene or line of dialogue, top performances from all ten main cast members, cinematography that makes theoretically mundane shots look beautiful, efficient and seemingly invisible editing, and some remarkable set design - really, the mansion that the Parks live in feels like a character in itself, as well-established, vast, menacing, and full-of-secrets as Hotel what’s-it-called from The Shining.

Now’s sadly the part where I tell you that Parasite probably won’t win. I’ve followed the last six Oscar ceremonies and never once successfully called the winner of this category. I think the last time my favourite film in the category actually won the award would be 2006/2007 with The Departed/No Country For Old Men. Generally, I’ve gone for the wrong choice of two frontrunners (Spotlight/The Revenant, Moonlight/La La Land, Shape Of Water/Three Billboards). Last year was interesting though, with the category seeming much more wide open than usual. I went for BlacKkKlansman, but the only film that resembled a frontrunner would have been Roma. I don’t know anyone who predicted Green Book, as good as it is, to win. If I had to pick a film that I think might surprise us all in the same way and come out on top, that would be Marriage Story.

But anyway, those are my picks. All hail Parasite. I spent almost a full day writing this and had to convince myself to persist because yes, it’s just an awards show and at the end of the day doesn’t really mean a lot, but it’s also just some fun and, let’s be honest, they’re not disappearing any time soon. And not to be dramatic but if I get less than ten right I’m giving up on my dreams forever. To anyone reading this (come on, there must be someone) I’d love to hear your thoughts/alternative takes on anything written above and find out whether the contact feature on my website actually works.

Also if I’ve criticised something, it’s not because I’m saying I could do better. Don’t be that person on the internet.

Stay classy everyone,

Luke Frewin