Countdown to Oscar Night: Writing

Best Adapted Screenplay
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
The Two Popes

All nine best picture films this year also had their screenplays nominated. This is good news for someone like me who values the spoken word in film. I believe we are truly in a golden-age for screenwriting, and Greta Gerwig is emblematic of its arrival. The way she was able to take such a familiar story and make it spark with newness was a stroke of brilliance. It is a travesty that Ms. Gerwig didn't get a best director nomination, but I think the Academy will try to make up for it with a win here.

My Ballot
Little Women
Jojo Rabbit
The Two Popes
The Irishman
Joker

My Pick to Win
Little Women

Shamefully Snubbed
Shazam!

Best Original Screenplay
1917
Knives Out
Marriage Story
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

...and here we have the first of many categories where I will be rooting for Marriage Story (my favorite film of 2019) and will almost certainly be disappointed. Noah Baumbach's script is a revelation. Maybe my favorite script of the new millennium. Johansson and Driver deliver his words with such honesty that the film plays more like a stage production than a feature. I wouldn't put it completely out of the running, but I think it is behind both Tarantino and Parasite in likelihood of taking home the trophy. The other puzzling thing about this category is the inclusion of 1917. It certainly bodes well for Mendes' chances at the top prize, but his movie is not a script-driven feature. Uncut Gems or The Last Black Man in San Francisco would have been much more deserving of this slot.

My Ballot
Marriage Story
Knives Out
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite
1917

My Pick to Win
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Shamefully Snubbed
Uncut Gems

Countdown to Oscar Night: Shorts

The Oscars are early this year (February 9th)! So I better get started with the countdown. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, for the first time ever I have seen nearly all 15 short films nominated for Oscars this year. It looks like St. Loius Superman  is going to be nearly impossible to find, but I will certainly try. I will also provide links to the films that are easily available (some required a bit of digging). Here goes:

Best Live Action Short
Brotherhood
NEFTA Football Club
The Neighbors' Window
Saria
A Sister

Historically this is a category rife with depression and heartache. This year certainly isn't an exception. Story-lines range from religion tearing a family apart, kids with piles of cocaine, cancer, rape, abduction, mid-life depression, and teenage immolation. While powerful, these films certainly don't offer much of a pick-me-up so I don't recommend binging them like I did. I think Brotherhood will win because it is so undeniable beautiful, but for me none really came close to the power of Saria. It tells the true story of a group of young girls trying to escape from boarding school in Guatemala. Their tale is both triumphant and heartbreaking. Unfortunately it is the hardest of the films to find. I had a link but it is broken now.

My Ballot
Saria
The Neighbors' Window
A Sister
Brotherhood
NEFTA Football Club

My Pick to Win
Brotherhood

Best Documentary Short
In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You're a Girl) 
Life Overtakes Me (available on Netflix)
St. Louis Superman
Walk Run Cha-Cha

I was a little disappointed in these films. They cover interesting topics but are not exactly told in very interesting ways. The one exception to this is Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You're a Girl). The filmmaker takes a heartbreaking situation (being born female in Kabul) and frames it with a playful narrative (how to ride a skateboard). This makes the film accessible, but also allows the viewer a level of connectivity with the subjects that the other shorts lack.

My Ballot
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You're a Girl)
In the Absence
Life Overtakes Me
Walk Run Cha-Cha

My Pick to Win
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if You're a Girl)

Best Animated Short
Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Sister

This one is a two-short race between Pixar's adorable Kitbull and Sony's timely and uplifting Hair Love. The others are pretty but also weird and sometimes boring. I thought for sure Pixar would have the category sewed up when I saw Kitbull on Disney+, but then I saw the little youTube video that could. Hair Love is perfect. The filmmakers are even inviting kids who were suspended for their dreadlocks to the Oscars with them. This award is theirs.

My Ballot
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Dcera (Daughter)
Sister

My Pick to Win
Hair Love

My Oscar Ballot

Tomorrow is the day!!!  My Anatomy class will be watching along with me at 8:30am to see the nominations. I was planning to get a couple more movies in this weekend, but I ended up playing games with my family and friends instead. I'll get to them, but until then here are my personal nominations (note - I limited my picks this year to the Academy's shortlist where provided which is why I couldn't pick my favorite song of the year: "The Next Right Thing" from Frozen 2):

Best Picture: Marriage Story
Best Actor: Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Best Actress: Lupita Nyongo, Us
Best Supporting Actor: Jonathan Majors, The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Best Animated Feature: Frozen 2
Best Cinematography: 1917
Best Costume Design: Little Women
Best Director: Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
Best Documentary Feature: For Sama
Best Film Editing: Uncut Gems
Best Foreign Language Film: Parasite
Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Jojo Rabbit
Best Original Score: Us
Best Original Song: "Stand Up", Harriet
Best Production Design: Jojo Rabbit
Best Sound Editing: 1917
Best Sound Mixing: The Last Black Man in San Francisco
Best Visual Effects: 1917
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jojo Rabbit
Best Original Screenplay: Marriage Story
Best Animated Short: Hair Love