Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards rolled out this AM, live streamed in addition to televised.
And “Black Panther” kept coming up, alphabetically the first film named in category after category –costumes, score, sound mixing, sound editing. Seven nominations, including best picture. As this blockbuster picked up any script, acting or directing nominations.
So “Best picture long shot,” we’ll say. For now.
Not that Spike Lee‘s “BlackKklansman” didn’t make some noise, with nominations for score and best supporting actor. “BlackKklansman” collected six nominations in all, quite the haul for Spike Lee’s “Comeback” picture.
Similarly, nominations for Amy Adams and Christian Bale editing and makeup and Sam Rockwell made “Vice” an Oscar nominations winner, alphabetically turning up at the end of lists of nominees time and again. “Vice” landed six nominations, including Best Picture and best director, Adam McKay.
“Roma,” a pre-announcement Oscar favorite, cleaned up with ten nominations.
Surprisingly, for a movie widely noted to lack standout performances, using non-actors in many roles, it nailed down Supporting Actress (Marina de Tavira) and Best Actress (Yalitza Aparacio) nominations.
That’s what being in an “Oscar favorite” will do for you.
Glenn Close is still the Best Actress favorite, but she’s competing with Melissa McCarthy (“Can You Ever Forgive Me”), “Star is Born” lead Lady Gaga, pre-Oscar “Favourite” Olivia Colman and Yalitza Aparacio from “Roma.”
“The Favourite” earned eight nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Olivia Colman), Best Director (Yorgos Lanthimos), Best Supporting Actress (Rachel Weisz AND Emma Stone, Oscar winners, will split the vote, there, giving the Oscar to somebody else — Regina King of “If Beale Street Could Talk,” probably. Again.).
“If Beale Street Could Talk” pulled in Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress nominations. No Best Picture nod for this one or “First Man.” Shame.
Those headline the “Oscar Snubs” — no love for “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” by the always problematic Best Documentary nominating committee, no nomination for screen legend Robert Redford for “The Old Man and the Gun,” no Bradley Cooper best director nomination, and so on.
“Green Book” has taken on the role of Oscar dark horse, “if not outright favorite or at least “safe choice,” thanks to Pre-Oscar wins with the Golden Globes and the Producers Guild and Critics Choice. A Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor (Mahershala Ali), Best Actor (Viggo Mortensen), Best Original Script nomination but again no BEST DIRECTOR for Peter Farrelly, so, a longer shot than it might have seemed last weekend.
Ah, but what about the MUSICALS most everybody saw?
“A Star is Born” earned eight Oscar nominations as well — Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor (Sam ELLIOTT), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Song but NOT a Best Director nomination. So it is set up to be a Big Oscar Night loser, based on that and the pre-Oscar losses.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” has a Best Picture nomination, and one for Rami Malek as Best Actor and for Best Editing.
“Mary Poppins Returns” picked up four nominations, including Best Song and Best Score.
Willem Dafoe pulled an upset nomination for best actor in the under-appreciated “At Eternity’s Gate,” Richard E. Grant lands a Best Supporting Actor nod for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” (no sure thing) and Spike Lee was nominated THREE times for director, co-scripting and co-producing Best Picture nominee “BlackKklansman.” “Vice” writer-director Adam McKay pulled the same hat trick.
Paul Schrader’s “comeback,” “First Reformed,” saw him pick up a screenplay (original) nomination, but nothing for Ethan Hawke’s stand-out work in the lead role.
If “Roma” doesn’t clean up Oscar night, there’s always a chance another Netflix film could perform. “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” got best adapted screenplay, best original song and best costume nominations.
Best Picture
“Black Panther”
“A Star Is Born”
“Roma”
“The Favourite”
“Vice”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Green Book”
“BlacKkKlansman”
Best Actress
Glenn Close, “The Wife”
Lady Gaga, “A Star Is Born”
Yalitza Aparicio, “Roma”
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
Melissa McCarthy, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Best Actor
Christian Bale, “Vice”
Bradley Cooper, “A Star Is Born”
Viggo Mortensen, “Green Book”
Willem Dafoe, “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, “Vice”
Marina de Tavira, “Roma”
Regina King, “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone, “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”
Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, “The Green Book”
Adam Driver, “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott, “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant, “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell, “Vice”
Best Director
Spike Lee, “BlacKkKlansman”
Pawel Pawlikowski, “Cold War”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Favourite”
Alfonso Cuarón, “Roma”
Adam McKay, “Vice”
Best Original Screenplay
“First Reformed”
“Green Book”
“Roma”
“The Favourite”
“Vice”
Best Animated Film
“Incredibles 2”
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
“Mirai”
“Ralph Breaks the Internet”
“Isle Of Dogs”
Best Cinematography
“Cold War”
“The Favourite”
“Never Look Away”
“Roma”
“A Star Is Born”
Best Visual Effects
“Avengers: Infinity War”
“Christopher Robin”
“First Man”
“Ready Player One”
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”
Best Foreign Language Film
“Capernaum”
“Cold War”
“Never Look Away”
“Roma”
“Shoplifters”
Best Documentary Feature
“Free Solo”
“Minding The Gap”
“Of Fathers and Sons”
“RBG”
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening”
Best Documentary Short Subject
“Black Sheep”
“End Game”
“Lifeboat”
“A Night at the Garden”
“Period. End of Sentence.”
Original Song:
“All The Stars” from “Black Panther” by Kendrick Lamar, SZA
“I’ll Fight” from “RBG” by Diane Warren, Jennifer Hudson
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns” by Marc Shaiman, Scott Wittman
“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando, Andrew Wyatt and Benjamin Rice
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch
Makeup and Hair:
“Border”
“Mary Queen of Scots”
“Vice”
Costume Design:
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” Mary Zophres
“Black Panther,” Ruth E. Carter
“The Favourite,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Poppins Returns,” Sandy Powell
“Mary Queen of Scots,” Alexandra Byrne
Visual Effects:
“Avengers: Infinity War”
“Christopher Robin”
“First Man”
“Ready Player One”
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”
Movie Nation 
Reblogged this on Daphne Marie and commented:
I’m so excited for all the creatives of color on this list!
Saw you turned off the comments in your Dragonball review. Just wanted you to know that your condescending attitude to your viewers, especially to the people who comment on your review is disgusting. You can be a critic without being a jerk.
You know, death threats from arrested development trolls aren’t protected “free speech.” So yeah, I shut down comments when nobody has anything interesting or grammatical or reasoned in the way of argument to say. “Broly” is a classic example. I pity the fools who have burned too much of their lives immersing themselves in this swill, and give themselves hernias trying to justify the threads of “story” (snort) that one could not POSSIBLY know by judging one mere movie. And you and your snowflake TV anime fellow “enthusiasts” need to have your bubble popped, because within your world of message boards, conventions, etc., nobody bothers to tell you, “Didya notice this is actually crap? Inane narrative, insipid dialogue, wafer thin “characters” and choppy animation like something you’d see in mass production anime for TV of the 1970s?” Anime can be great art and the right medium for telling certain stories. But people outgrow bottom-drawer stuff like this every day, and even it you think condescension is no way to reach or rattle those who don’t, I know of no other way to treat the oddballs whose shriek “I hope you DIE” when you pan “Dragon Ball,” “My Little Pony,” most “Transformers,” a lot of Marvel/DC piffle and virtually every movie ever based on a video game. I’ll take “jerk” if you’ll own “My mommy never made me grow up, read a real book or develop the discernment to tell the difference between “Dunkirk” and “Dragon Ball,” Britney and Beethoven.
Do you think “Roma” should be considered a possible front-runner for best picture or best foreign language film? If folks haven’t seen it, do you think they should check it out? Also, were you at all surprised Natalie Portman didn’t receive a supporting actress nomination for “Vox Lux?”
I’m thinking Foreign Language is a lock, which is a pity because “Shoplifting” stuck with me, “Roma” not so much. But if they give it one why on Earth should they honor it with the other? Either “Shoplifting” gets the benefit of “We can’t vote for it twice,” or “Green Book” does. “Roma” I think is quite interesting, in a dragging along, washed-out and colorlessly acted sort of way. FAR from his best work, WAY overpraised.
So probably worth seeing on Netflix, but not in a movie theater? What about Natalie Portman?
Nobody was talking up Portman. It was a bait and switch billed movie. She was barely in it, and not enough to warrant a nomination. “Roma” is a small screen film, I think. But I’m somebody who has seen the Felini films he’s riffing on on a big screen (college cinema societies, NYC revival houses, etc.).So that’s a minority opinion.
So it would be a mild ‘yes’ then for home viewing?
I’m just following up. Thanks.
The reviews are pretty thorough and not subtle. Search box, right side bar.
” “The Least Favourite” was nothing but a lesbo love fest masqueraing as a period piece by a director who was probably born on the Island of Lesbos so he would have something to masturbate to! Why doesn’t he try making a film about the Syrian refugees who just happen to be quarantined on the Island of Lesbos instead??? Pretty photography, though. “Roming” was imitation Antonioni–no millenial is going to know about the slow pans, long-held shots, and shots of the back of actors’ heads, and no baby boomer is going to remember them!!! LOL The fact that Cuaron now lives in Roma, is no coincidence! “Bohemian Travesty” an extended music video about perv, buy a pedo, who was fired, but still retained screedn credit as per the WGA, even as KevSpace gets crucified and MORE accusations surface about pedo Singer. What promises to be a post 9/11 Strangelove, “Vice” soon nose-dives into the abyss of preaching to the choir. “Mary, Queen of Guts” is an ahistorical period piece used as an excuse to make present day political references. (“You do not betray your nature.”) Redgrave and Jackson in the original can mop the woMEN’s restroom with Robbie’s hair until it is bleach-white like Sioran’s skin!!! Rookie Rourke once bastardized a Shakespeare play using 7000 gallons of water!!! I’m sure the purists and the Sudanese people were pleased to hear THAT!!! Nuff said! Ethan Hawke snubbed and big congrats to Paul Schrader who should have been nominted forty years ago for “Taxi Driver.”