Submitted by the Williams Lake Flim Club
The Academy Awards are screening this Sunday, Feb 9. This year the Williams Lake Film Club is hosting a viewing party fundraiser, with profits going to the Salvation Army Food Bank. The viewing party will be in Mr. Mike’s party room, and tickets are $30, which are available at The Open Book. A ticket comes with a night of door prizes, some fun Oscar games, free appetizers and one free drink.
The Club is asking people to come dressed to impressed, with red carpet glamour (steakhouse casual style). With each ticket purchased, there is a ballot lists where guests choose who they think the winners will be. We are also going to be playing a fun round of Oscar bingo, to see what common moments and predictable award-show hijinks might occur. For those that are following along at home, the following is the Club’s Oscar predictions and picks in the big five categories.
Best Picture
Nominations: Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, Joker, Little Women, Marriage Story, 1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Parasite
Prediction: Parasite. The Best Picture race is considered to be very tight this year, because all films are beloved by critics and audiences, which makes seeing a clear winner difficult. However, the winner might be down to Parasite or 1917. With its recent SAG award, Parasite is rumoured to have shoot up in the category as the biggest challenge to Sam Mendes’ 1917, which won at the Golden Globes.
Best Director
Nominations: Martin Scorsese, The Irishman, Todd Phillips, Joker, Sam Mendes, 1917, Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Bong Joon Ho, Parasite
Prediction: Sam Mendes, 1917. The critics love 1917 and I think the Academy will want to give Mendes the award for Director and Best Picture to Parasite. This is just a hunch. It is sad that no female directors got nominated, especially since Greta Gerwig’s Little Women got the Best Picture nomination. Other female directed films that could been nominated include Mati Diop’s Atlantics (which won the Palme D’Or at Cannes for best film — it’s on Netflix, and I highly recommend) and Portrait of a Lady on Fire, directed by Céline Sciamma.
Best Actor
Nominations: Antonio Banderas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joaquin Phoenix, Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce
Prediction: Joaquin Phoenix. Phoenix’s work got a lot of critical praise when Joker came out, and the film did well at the box office. Phoenix has been nominated before, which shows that the Academy might want to bestow him an Oscar. A very possible upset is Banderas, whose role in Pain and Glory certainly made a big impact and won him the Best Actor award at Cannes. Banderas plays the lead role in movie, based loosely on Almadovar’s life, which is the type of film that the Oscars usually love. It’s a close race.
Best Actress
Nominations: Cynthia Erivo, Scarlett Johansson, Saoirse Ronan, Charlize Theron, Renee Zellweger
Prediction: Rene Zellweger. Zellweger’s role in Judy has been described as magical and transformative. Her acting elevated a lukewarm movie into something worth seeing because her performance is so good. Before this role, Zellweger was having trouble getting any acting roles because the industry ridiculed her about 10 years ago for her plastic surgery. Zellweger’s role in Judy is a triumphant return for her, proving that hard work pays off and taking her to her second Oscar win.
Best Supporting Actor:
Nominations: Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Brad Pitt
Prediction: Brad Pitt. Pitt has won for his role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at the Globes and the SAG. There is a very good chance that he will get his first Oscar in a category full of veteran heavyweights. Although I think Pacino should get it for his role in The Irishman, the real question is: will Pitt give a long, rambling speech full of uncomfortable jokes about his personal life, like he has all award season? Let’s see!
Best Supporting Actress:
Nominations: Kathy Bates, Laura Dern, Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, Margot Robbie
Prediction: Laura Dern. Dern is favoured to win this category, for her role as a divorce lawyer in Marriage Story. I’ll watch the win with sadness in my heart because Jennifer Lopez did not get her nomination (for her role in Huslters) and was robbed! Although it would have been unlikely that she would have won, she deserved a nomination. The other thing to watch for is if Pugh wins for her role as Amy in Little Women, which was masterfully played. Pugh has had a number of big films this year, and the Academy likes to award the Oscars to new, popular actresses, so there Pugh might take it.
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