2018 Year End Report: My Personsal Oscar Ballot

Had the Academy called me up and asked me to come up with the nominees for this year’s Oscars, this is what I would come up with. Each category is ranked, and I offer a couple of thoughts on each (probably more on everything that isn’t Picture or the Acting categories, since they each have really long posts about them).

 

Best Picture

1. First Reformed
2. Burning
3. BlacKkKlansman
4. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
5. You Were Never Really Here
6. If Beale Street Could Talk
7. Annihilation
8. Eighth Grade
9. Hereditary
10. Roma
    Notes: I really wish I found room on here for a true comedy – the funniest movies on the list are about the KKK and the horrors of puberty. But I do think this is an extremely strong list (stronger than what the Academy will come up with) – especially considering just how good number 10 is.
     
    Director

1. Paul Schrader, First Reformed
2. Lee Chang-dong, Burning
3. Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
4. Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
5. Joel & Ethan Coen, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Notes: This list is great for a few reasons – first, it would be the first Best Director nomination for Spike Lee (can you believe that!), the first nomination of any kind for Paul Schrader and would be a major boost to Lynne Ramsay, who deserves it. Alas, perhaps only Spike is actually getting into the lineup this year. Too bad.
    

Best Actor

1. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed
2. Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here
3. Ah-In Yoo, Burning
4. Ben Foster, Leave No Trace
5. Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
   Notes: Four veterans, each of whom have been giving very good to great performances for years, and one complete newcomer. While I didn’t think this category was as strong as best actress, that was in terms of depth, not how great these five performances are.
    
   Best Actress

1. Toni Collette, Hereditary
2. Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
3. Helena Howard, Madeline’s Madeline
4. Olivia Colman, The Favourite
5. Regina Hall, Support the Girls
   Notes: We are likely to see a very strong best actress lineup at the Oscars this year – and yet only one of these five is going to get a nomination, so that tells you just how deep this field was this year. And for two stunning newcomers to rank so high for me, means something.
    
   Best Supporting Actor

1. Steven Yeun, Burning
2. Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
3. Hugh Grant, Paddington 2
4. Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk
5. Tim Blake Nelson, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Notes: I spent much of this year thinking this wasn’t that strong of a category – but then ended up very disappointed by some of the omissions from the top five. I also like to think I didn’t fall for any category fraud with these five.
    
   Best Supporting Actress

1. Elizabeth Debicki, Widows
2. Jong-seo Jeon, Burning
3. Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
4. Emma Stone, The Favourite
5. Sakura Ando, Shoplifters
   Notes: I am mystified that people seem to be completely asleep on Elizabeth Debicki’s work in Widows – which was my runaway winner here, but they did. In terms of category fraud, I know a lot think Emma Stone should be in the lead category – but I think all three of the women are borderline Lead/Supporting, so what the hell, I went with the flow.
    
   Best Original Screenplay

1. First Reformed – Paul Schrader
2. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – Joel & Ethan Coen
3. The Favourite – Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara
4. Sorry to Bother You – Boots Riley
5. Eighth Grade – Bo Burnham
   Notes: I find it really odd that Paul Schrader has never even been nominated for a writing Oscar – so hopefully, he will this year, even if he won’t win it, like he should. The rest of the nominees shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise seeing my top 10 list – except maybe Sorry to Bother You, but that’s such a strange and truly original screenplay, it felt right to have it here.
    
   Best Adapted Screenplay

1. Burning – Lee Chang-dong & Jungmi Oh
2. If Beale Street Could Talk – Barry Jenkins
3. BlacKkKlansman – Spike Lee & Kevin Willmott & David Rabinowitz & Charlie Wachtel
4. Annihilation – Alex Garland
5. Widows – Steve McQueen & Gillian Flynn
   Notes: I think First Reformed is probably the best screenplay of the year – but the next three are all in this category, as talented writers too on strange source material, and turned it into masterpieces. None more so than Lee Chang-dong and Jungmi Oh, who took a short story by master Haruki Murakami, and transplanted it to Korean, than expanded it in interested ways, while still leaving the bones of what Murakami did intact. And then, what Jenkins did with Baldwin’s novel is a minor miracle. All of these screenplays are great thought – in what I would say is the better of the two categories.
    
   Best Documentary

1. Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
2. Shirkers
3. Three Identical Strangers
4. Free Solo
5. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?

Notes: I really hate that I missed so many acclaimed docs this year, because their distributer basically decided Canada wasn’t worthy of seeing films like Minding the Gap, Hale County This Morning, This Evening or Bisbee ’17. Oh well – of what I did see, this is a fine lineup.

 

Best Animated Film

1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2. Isle of Dogs
3. Incredibles 2
4. Teen Titans Go to the Movies
5. Ralph Breaks the Internet
   Notes: My biggest fear is that the animation branch is going to completely overlook Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Truly, these guys are more conservative than any other branch – and that includes the composers. If they screw this up, I’ll be very disappointed. Also, I wish I could see some of the smaller ones before the nominations – but, whatever.
    
   Best Foreign Language Film

1. Burning – South Korea
2. Roma - Mexico
3. Shoplifters - Japan
4. Zama - Argentina
5. Cold War – Poland
   Notes: A strong lineup of foreign auteurs made these five films, and as a nice surprise, their country of origins actually selected most of these as they actual nominee this year. Everything but Zama made the shortlist – so perhaps they’ll actually get this category right for a change.
    
   Best Cinematography

1. Roma – Alfonso Cuaron
2. If Beale Street Could Talk – James Laxton
3. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – Bruno Delbonell
4. You Were Never Really Here – Tom Townend
5. The Favourite – Robbie Ryan
   Notes: It’s rare that a director acts as his own cinematographer – and even more rare that when it happens, he should win an Oscar for it – but such is the greatness of Cuaron’s cinematography for his Roma. The rest of the nominees are no slouches either – with Laxton outdoing his great work on Moonlight, Delbonell doing great digital work for the Coens top among them. A strong category this year.
    

Editing

1. You Were Never Really Here – Joe Bini
2. The Other Side of the Wind – Bob Murawski & Orson Welles
3. BlacKkKlansman – Barry Alexander Brown
4. If Beale Street Could Talk – Joi McMillon & Nat Sanders
5. Mission Impossible – Fallout – Eddie Hamilton
   Notes: The editing work on You Were Never Really Here, really does the job of storytelling here – cutting the narrative to the bone, but still letting you know what’s there. Based on Welles notes, and some footage, the work on The Other Side of the Wind truly was really far ahead of its time. The work on Blackkklansman does a marvelous job – both of moving the story forward, and also cutting together the different types of action. Anyone could be said to be the editing job of the year, and I’d be okay with it.

 

Score

1. Mandy – Johan Johnasson
2. If Beale Street Could Talk – Nicholas Britell
3. Hereditary – Colin Stetson
4. You Were Never Really Here – Jonny Greenwood
5. BlacKkKlansman – Terence Blanchard

Notes: The best score of the year, but the late, great Johansson Johansson for Mandy isn’t eligible for the Oscars (something about its qualifying run) – and while that sucks, it’s the type of thing that is brilliant, but never gets nominated. Of the other four, Nicholas Britell’s work for If Beale Street Could Talk is instantly iconic, and I really hope Terence Blanchard finally breaks through with the Academy for Blackkklansman. Colin Stetson’s Hereditary score is the best horror score in years – and Jonny Greenwood continues to be one of the best in the game. This category is so strong; I couldn’t fit in the great score for Annihilation.

 

Song

1. A Star is Born – The Shallow
2. Hearts Beat Loud – Hearts Beat Loud
3. Black Panther – All the Stars
4. Sorry to Bother You - OYAHYTT
5. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs – When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings
   Notes: Even I am not immune – or stupid enough – to deny The Shallow as the year’s best song in a movie – it certainly is the best musical moment of the year as well. Another great musical moment though was when the father/daughter band sing Hearts Beat Loud in their movie – and I wish it had a shot here. It’s impossible for me to deny Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s All the Stars, or Boots Riley’s great song for Sorry to Bother You. Finally, every time I watch The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, I’m singing that song for days.
    

Production Design

1. Paddington 2
2. The Favourite
3. Suspiria
4. Black Panther
5. If Beale Street Could Talk

Notes: The opulence of the palace in The Favourite, vs. the strange storybook world of Paddington 2 was the choice I was really making, and at this moment, Paddington gets my vote. It won’t get nominated, but it really deserves to be.

 

Costume Design

1. If Beale Street Could Talk
2. The Favourite
3. Suspiria
4. Black Panther
5. Paddington 2
   Notes: No movie had better costumes this year than If Beale Street Could Talk – a movie in which you know almost everything you need to know about the characters from what they are wearing. The rest of the costumes listed here are almost as good – you have to love the stylish costumes of the women in The Favourite, vs. the goofiness of the men – which would also be a fine winner. The rest of the nominees here are excellent as well.

 

Make-Up & Hair Styling

1.       Suspiria

2.       Border

3.       Black Panther

Notes: In an era of CGI, Makeup gets less used than it probably should. But I think Suspiria had fascinating work throughout, and Border had very strange work. Black Panther had great work in a more traditional sense.

 

Sound Mixing

1. You Were Never Really Here
2. Roma
3. Madeline’s Madeline
4. Annihilation
5. Hereditary

Notes: This has become one of my favorite categories over the last few years – but I never seem to be on board with what they choose. The soundtrack work on You Were Never Really Here is truly stunning. I was as impressed with the sound of Roma as its cinematography. Madeline’s Madeline does so many interesting things here. And Annihilation and Hereditary are both great. They usually pick LOUD – but there’s so much good work going on.

 

Sound Editing

1. Annihilation
2. Mission Impossible – Fallout
3. First Man
4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
5. Suspiria
   Notes: They love action movies in this category – and for me, it’ true, they often have great work. But nothing had better, otherworldly sounds then Annihilation this year – so it will always have my vote here.
    
   Visual Effects

1. Annihilation
2. Paddington 2
3. First Man
4. Ready Player One
5. Black Panther
   Notes: I do not know now, nor will I ever, truly understand the Academy’s Visual effects branches – you love CGI soup over more specific, grounded visual effects. Which is why my two favorites of the year didn’t even get shortlisted by the visual effects branch. So be it – I’m right.