2019 Year End Report: Personal Oscar Ballot

Had the Academy called me up and asked me to come up with the nominees for this year’s Oscars (and really, they should have), 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. The Irishman
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
3. Uncut Gems
4. Parasite
5. Midsommar
6. Us
7. Marriage Story
8. A Hidden Life
9. Under the Silver Lake
10. Sunset
    Notes: I won’t dwell on these since I already did. What I will say is that it is kind of thrilling to see a few old masters – who were masters before I was even born – still doing great work, combined with a few who came of age as I did as a moviegoer, with a lot of younger filmmakers. For all the hand wringing about the future of cinema – we sure do have some fine young filmmakers out there.
     
    Director

1. Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
2. Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
3. Josh & Ben Safdie, Uncut Gems
4. Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
5. Ari Aster, Midsommar
   Notes: Truly, a wonderful mix of old and new here – and right down the line of my best picture lineup, since I think they all showed such control over their films.

 

Best Actor

1. Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
2. Adam Driver, Marriage Story
3. Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
4. Robert DeNiro, The Irishman
5. Andrew Garfield, Under the Silver Lake
   Notes: The Safides certainly have something in their leading men – I wouldn’t have guesses two years ago that I’d place Robert Pattinson just above Daniel Day-Lewis, but I did, nor would I guess that I would have picked Adam Sandler, over Adam Driver – but here we are. And that last spot was a killer to decide – but I really do think Andrew Garfield didn’t get any respect this season, and deserved it.
    
   Best Actress

1. Lupita Nyong’o, Us
2. Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
3. Elisabeth Moss, Her Smell
4. Florence Pugh, Midsommar
5. Mary Kay Pace, Diane
   Notes: Lupita Nyong’o gave the kind of legendary genre performance that everyone remembers forever, but doesn’t get the respect it deserves – and you can say the same of Florence Pugh if you want. I was saddened that Elisabeth Moss and Mary Kay Pace didn’t get more play this Oscar season.
    
   Best Supporting Actor

1. Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
2. Joe Pesci, The Irishman
3. Kang Ho-Song, Parasite
4. Al Pacino, The Irishman
5. Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
   Notes: Honestly, this was the hardest choice of all – because I think that Pitt and Pesci delivered the two best performances of the year in any category – but one has to win, so here we are. And it really is time we recognize Kang Ho-Song as one of the greats.
    
   Best Supporting Actress

1. Margot Robbie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
2. Taylor Russell, Waves
3. Margaret Qualley, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
4. Julia Fox, Uncut Gems
5. Laura Dern, Marriage Story
   Notes: Clearly, I was off consensus this year – but I still think I’m right in this lineup, and everyone else is wrong. Russell, Qualley and Fox were all stunning – and no one recognized them.
    
   Best Original Screenplay

1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino
2. Parasite – Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin Won
3. Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach
4. Us – Jordan Peele
5. Midsommar – Ari Aster
   Notes: An insanely good category this year – any one of these would be deserving of the win – and there were many others that could have made my list as well
    
   Best Adapted Screenplay

1. The Irishman – Steven Zallian
2. Little Women – Greta Gerwig
3. An Elephant Sitting Still – Bo Hu
4. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster
5. Transit – Christian Petzold
   Notes: Not a strong lineup at all – despite all five being excellent work. The pickings were slim in this category this year though.
    
   Best Documentary

1.      American Factory

2.      Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese

3.      American Dharma

4.      One Child Nation

5.      Mike Wallace in Here

Notes: Am I still at a loss as to why American Dharma was so widely ignored by everyone – and why Mike Wallace is Here didn’t become more of a factor in this race. I’ll take them either over most of the competitors that I have seen.

 

Best Animated Film                                    

1. Toy Story 4
2. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
3. Ruben Brandt, Collector
4. I Lost My Body
5. Missing Link

Notes: If you’re a stickler – and say that Ruben Brandt, Collector was eligible last year even though I couldn’t see it until well into this year, then throw in Frozen II at the bottom. Still, as clichéd as it was, I think the top two were excellent ways to close out big, animated franchises.

 

Best International Film

1. Parasite – South Korea
2. Sunset – Hungary
3. An Elephant Sitting Still – China
4. Long Day’s Journey Into Night – China
5. Pain & Glory – Spain

Notes: So many good choices – I cannot believe Genesis and Monos aren’t here – but then again, when I see Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Pain & Glory could get bumped – which shows you how strong it really was.

 

Best Cinematography

1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Robert Richardson
2. The Lighthouse – Jarin Blaschke
3. Long Day’s Journey Into Night – David Chizallet & Jingsong Dong & Hung-I Yao
4. The Irishman – Rodrigo Prieto
5. Uncut Gems – Darius Khondji

Notes: A lot to admire here – I liked how Richardson didn’t show off as much in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – but still made the most stunning visual film of the year. The Lighthouse plays into my black and white bias perfectly. For all the talk about Deakins achievement of faking one shot, how about some love for the cinematographers of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, which did an hour long shot, in 3-D, no cheating, and it was stunning. Prieto works wonders with Scorsese – giving the different periods their own look and feel and texture. And Uncut Gems is so propulsive, with Khondji’s camera going everywhere. And let’s not forget about Sunset or Midsommar or A Hidden Life or Waves or The Sourvenir or Parasite or 1917. etc. Just a great year.

 

Editing

1. Uncut Gems – Ronald Bronstein & Benny Safdie
2. The Irishman – Thelma Schoonmaker
3. Parasite – Jinmo Yang
4. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Fred Raskin
5. Us – Nicholas Monsour

Notes: In any other year, the legendary Schoonmaker would get my vote easily – but Uncut Gems really is a masterclass in editing. Parasite is so precisely cut that it earns comparisons to the best of Hitchcock. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the first film Raskin edited for Tarantino where I didn’t miss the great Sally Menke. And Us is horror editing at its finest – something that doesn’t get the attention it deserves in awards season.

 

Score

1.    Us – Michael Abels

2.    Uncut Gems – Daniel Lopatin

3.    Parasite - Jaeil Jing

4.    Midsommar – The Haxan Cloak

5.    Joker - Hildur Guðnadóttir

Notes: All five of these scores are brilliant – and really do help set the mood for the entire film. Us is the best of the year, but any of the next three could have easily been my choice. And the score was the best part of Joker – easily – it deserved a better movie.

 

Song

1. Frozen II – Into the Unknown
2. Always Be My Maybe – I Punched Keanu Reeves
3. Her Smell – Control
4. The Dead Don’t Die – The Dead Don’t Die
5. Parasite – A Glass of Soju

Notes: The tiniest of Mea Culpa’s on my end – since I left Frozen II thinking none of the songs measured up to the first film – and two months later, I’m still singing Into the Unknown (in part, because of my kids) – but it’s a great song. The most fun is I Pinched Keanu Reeves from the otherwise forgettable Netflix film. The best musical moment in Her Smell is actually Moss singing a cheesy 1980s ballad in a way that breaks your heart – but the original song is good too. The Dead Don’t Die song sets the mood for the whole film (it’s the theme song) – and the Parasite song is good fun – and a good way to round out a weak category.

 

Production Design

1.    Parasite

2.    Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

3.    The Lighthouse

4.    Little Women

5.    Sunset

Notes: The Production Design on Parasite is perfect – and absolutely integral to the entire movie – and clearly the job of the year. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood gets the period details just right – as does Little Women and Sunset. And The Lighthouse creates one of the most distinctive locations of the year.

 

Costume Design

1. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
2. Dolemite is My Name
3. Little Women
4. The Souvenir
5. Sunset

Notes: The costumes on Once Upon a Time in America really are perfect – and perfect for those characters. Dolemite is My Name is the flashiest – and the most fun – work this year. Little Women has a variety that really works. The Souvenir is period work, on a lower key scale, that is perfect. And Sunset gets in for the hats – such a huge part of that movie.

 

Make-Up & Hair Styling

1.    Bombshell

2.    Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

3.    Dolemite is My Name

4.    Joker

5.    Under the Silver Lake

Notes: The makeup to make famous people in Fox News people is really quite wonderful in Bombshell – yes, it’s showing off, but in a good way. The other four are perfect for their movies – even Under the Silver Lake, whose most obvious makeup job is obvious for a reason.

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Sound Mixing

1.    Uncut Gems

2.    Us

3.    The Lighthouse

4.    Parasite

5.    Midsommar

Notes: I know I’m supposed to love big, loud movies here – but I always like sound mixing that creates an atomspehre with their sound – the chaos of Uncut Gems, the sounds that drive the men crazy in The Lighthouse, and perfect horror movie soundscapes of the other three.

 

Sound Editing

1. The Lighthouse
2. Uncut Gems
3. The Irishman
4. Us
5. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Notes: Again, give me more complex sounds, than necessarily loud sounds here – and I’ll be happy.

 

Visual Effects

1. Alita Battle Angel
2. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
3. The Lion King
4. The Irishman
5. Avengers: Endgame

Notes: I wasn’t much of a fan of Alita Battle Angel – but you cannot fault the excellent effects work (the same is true for The Lion King – a film you couldn’t pay me to watch again). The Star Wars effects are typically great – and there sure were a lot of CGI in Avengers. The work on The Irishman may not have been seamless – but after a while, it feels like it is.