It's that time again, when Hollywood's best and brightest get dolled up and give each other presents for being awesome! So Mike Drinan (@mdrinan380) and I are back to offer our thoughts and predictions!
2018 was definitely a step down from 2017 for me. There were some excellent films but nowhere near the volume of '17 (Then again 2017 was one of the best years for film I can remember). I also spent a lot of the year playing catch-up and there are still a few important entries I have to see. But in terms of Best Pic nominees I'm in decent shape, having seen six of the eight.
What disturbs me about this year's awards is the obvious desperation for ratings, to the point that not only was the Academy considering adding a Best Popular Film category (Holy fucking Christ that's a terrible idea), but a couple of the Best Pic noms were questionable at best. I get that you need people to watch the show, but surely we don't have to cheapen the most important category with films that don't deserve to be there. More on that in a bit.
I also find the lack of a host very odd. Kevin Hart was of course tapped to host the show originally, and I think he'd have been highly entertaining in that role. But then it got out that, get this, standup comedian Kevin Hart once told some offensive jokes. ***GASP*** Look, Eddie Murphy was supposed to host several years ago and I guarantee whatever Hart said in his act was less offensive than some of Murphy's 1980s material. Standup comedy is kinda sorta supposed to be offensive at times, no? So rather than welcome further backlash, Hart stepped down as host and the Academy chose not to replace him at all. This'll be weird. Who's doing the introduction? This edition feels so chaotic.
Anyway, let's get to the categories.
Best Picture
Black Panther
BlacKKKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star is Born
Vice
Justin: I've seen all but two of these candidates (
Roma &
Green Book) and hope to catch them this weekend before the show.
Roma's on Netflix so that should be a no-brainer. My favorite of the six I have seen is
BlacKKKlansman, a riveting docudrama with subject matter that's as relevant today as it was in the 70s. I also loved
The Favourite and have begun delving into Yorgos Lanthimos's previous films (His movies have an offputting, Kubrick-esque quality that I admire greatly).
Vice and
A Star is Born are both top-notch candidates as well, with excellent performances.
Black Panther is an odd one for me; I liked this movie a lot and I'm certainly happy the Academy recognized a superhero film, particularly one with such cultural significance. But like
Mad Max Fury Road it seems out of place here. The one that really gets my goat though is
Bohemian Rhapsody, a sterile, trite, paint-by-numbers rock n' roll biopic that for me didn't even measure up to Oliver Stone's
The Doors. This nomination more than any other reeks of ratings desperation, and in including it the Academy seems to have mistaken a strong central performance for a great film. You can read my full review of
BR here, but in short, this movie has no business in this category. How did
If Beale Street Could Talk not get included instead, aside from "ratings, man?"
Anyway,
Roma's been the odds-on favorite to win this whole thing and it's probably the most unanimous pick for most critics, but I gotta think the studio heads are pissed that it's a Netflix film. Could that hurt its chances? I could see
Klansman getting it instead, since Spike Lee never wins anything. That's what I'm rooting for. But
Roma has gotten SO much praise it's hard to bet against it.
Prediction: Roma
Mike: This year, I slacked off on the movie front. I have only seen 2 of the nominated films,
Black Panther and
BlacKKKlansman. Both
Black Panther and
Bohemian Rhapsody seem odd choices for this category. It's definitely an effort to get ratings. It would've been nice if
If Beale Street Could Talk got one of those two spots. It was absolutely worth nomination, at least. I'm really interested to see
The Favourite since there seems to be a good mix of humor, drama and uncertainty to it. Yorgos is definitely an interesting director to keep an eye on. I'm also interested in seeing
A Star Is Born because it looks great, but I don't like that it got nominated in this category. It's the fourth remake of this film. WHY are we entertaining it as if it was some great original idea?
Anyways, I've heard great things about
Roma and it's won a slew of awards already and critics have been loving it, so I'm not sure if it being on Netflix hurts or not. I wouldn't completely mind if
BlacKKKlansman gets it but I don't see that happening. To me the upset would come from
Green Book.
Prediction: Roma