How This May Be The Best Award Season On Record — 2020 Oscar Predictions.
It’s just over 5 weeks until the 2020 Academy Awards, which can mean only one thing. It’s time to get your bets out on who will win big this February.
From your Martin Scorsese, to your Greta Gerwig, make no mistake that this year the award’s are as open as ever. There is no Lord of The Rings, Titanic or Slumdog Millionaire to come along and steal the show. This year, as many as thirteen films are favourite for Best Picture, yes thirteen! So here is why 2020 might just be the best year of the Oscars ever.
In the past decade we have had some superb films both rewarded and snubbed at the Academy Awards. Movies like Green Book, Argo…and let us not forget Moonlight, picked up the big award of the night, when they weren’t the original favourites. But when you have a year like 2019/2020, where it could be almost anyones, let us run you through some of the top picks for the big awards across the night and then you, can take your pick for who will be walking away with the golden man February 9th.
Best Actress
Essentially, this is Renee Zellweger’s to lose. But she won’t have it her own way with Cynthia Erivo (“Harriet”), Scarlett Johansson (“Marriage Story”), Lupita Nyong’o (“Us”) and Charlize Theron (“Bombshell”) all having been nominated at Golden Globes or other major award shows already.
Your money would be on Renee to take home the golden statue as her performance in Judy was one of the highlight’s of the year, in a rather average film. She also has a good record at the Academy Awards and Judy Garland is a Hollywood darling. Putting that together with the fact that the Academy love a good story of defying the odds, we think this will do very well.
Alongside her, Lupita’s performance in “Us” has been rumoured for the award. She is one of Hollywood’s top performers and the film is the highest grossing film in the U.S not made by Disney. She will be a tough one to beat. As will Scarlett Johansson, who is a favourite for the win in two films, “Marriage Story” and “Jojo Rabbit”, although it is her emotive train wreck in the former that was a career-high for Miss Johansson. Not since Lost in Translation have we seen this raw side of Scarlett, who was once a huge favourite with the Academy before the Marvel world took over. She is a dark horse and will be right up there come February.
Other outside bets for a nomination include Awkwafina (“The Farewell”), Saoirse Ronan (“Little Women”), Alfre Woodard (“Clemency”). I mean, when isn’t Saoirse nominated?
Best Actor
If you had asked me in October who would win Best Actor, it would have been the easiest choose for years. Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck in “Joker” gained both controversy and universal acclaim. Then, we were treated to a spread of incredible career defining performances from Antonio Banderas (“Pain & Glory”), Robert De Niro (“The Irishman”), Adam Driver (“Marriage Story”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), Christian Bale (“Ford v Ferrari”) and Jonathan Pryce (“The Two Popes”).
If this award went to who owned the year in terms of performances, you can’t look past Adam Driver, 2019 was his year. Not only did he deliver one of my favourite performances of the decade in “Marriage Story”, but he hugely excelled in “The Report” and then again in “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker”. His ability to show a range of emotion, action and portray dialogue on almost every level shows his true intent as one of Hollywood’s leading actors. He is a big favourite for “Marriage Story”.
Joaquin is a very unpopular choice but then again Heath Ledger won his Oscar for playing the ‘Crown Prince of Crime’ and Mr Phoenix is long over due an Oscar. In the past twenty years have you ever seen a man more dominant than Joaquin Phoenix? It will be tough to deny him again when it comes to the big night.
A lot of critics are leading towards to a scrap between Leo and De Niro with this award, both scoring high with their performances in late 2019. But for me, this award will a tough battle between the two beautiful men of Mr Driver and Mr Phoenix.
Other contenders are: (you really could nominate about twenty people this year) August Diehl (“A Hidden Life”), Taron Egerton (“Rocketman”), Eddie Murphy (“Dolemite Is My Name”), Robert Pattinson (“The Lighthouse”) and surprisingly Adam Sandler “Uncut Gems”.
Best Picture
For the biggest award in cinema, usually you get a good tip for the winner from looking across the current awards season discourse. As it stands, as of writing on January 3rd, “Parasite” is leading the sector with sixty-three wins against “Marriage Story” with fifty-one. Then you have a long list of others not far behind. Already showing you just how close the race is this year. The top contenders for the 2020 Best Picture are: “1917”, “The Farewell”, “Ford v Ferrari”, “The Irishman”, “Jojo Rabbit”, “Joker”, “Little Women”, “Marriage Story”, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “Parasite”.
Bong Joon Ho’s thriller comedy “Parasite” won the top award at Cannes last year and it will be a tough movie to beat. The tone and content on show has been put on many top films of the DECADE, let alone the year. But he will face hugely tough and diverse competition from across the circuit.
“Joker” won the Venice Golden Lion, “Jojo Rabbit” won the Audience Award at Toronto (something that last years winner “Green Book” accomplished). While “The Irishman” scored big at New York and “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” was a popular choice with critics across all of this years festivals.
It really is open and will be one of the closet Best Picture categories in years. Your money really would be on “Parasite” scooping a long overdue Asian winner of Best Picture finally. It’s a hugely original concept and one that stays with you long after the film finishes. But, with the Academy you never truly know. “Little Women’ ticks all of the boxes the Oscar votes have previously given recognition too and with a $1 billion dollars, top awards and universal controversy could “Joker” win big?
While the favourites are clear, some other outsides include “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”, “Bombshell”, “Pain & Glory”, “The Two Popes”, “Dark Waters”, “Knives Out”, “The Lighthouse”, “The Report” and “Rocketman”.
Some will be surprised to not see their favourite movie of 2019 among the discussion, but it truly has been a staggering year for film.
When it comes the other big winners on the night of glam and recognition, the Best Supporting Actor nod seems all but between Tom Hanks “A Beautiful Day In The Neighbour Hood” and Al Pacino/Jo Pesci “The Irishman”. If you could give an award to an ensemble, then the whole cast of the “The Irishman” would win Best Supporting hands down. Stephen Graham was scene stealing, Al Pacino was back at his best and let’s not forget about Harvey Keitel.
Best Supporting Actress again would seem a safe bet in Laura Dern’s hands for “Marriage Story”. The role was written with her in mind and she delivers strong for all the voters. But there has been a big buzz around Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers”, one of the biggest surprises of 2019 and it would be safe to say she will get a nod.
You wouldn’t be able to call the Best Director winner, essentially pick a director from this years Best Picture nomination and it might be them. Although, Martin Scorsese already has 8 nominations and 1 win, so you could imagine him to be a top contender with one of his greatest ever films. Let’s just hope they nominate someone other than white men this year!
Who will win big on 9th of February? You tell me.