The Show
The 92nd Academy Awards are right around the corner, with the show airing on February 9th. Once again, the show will go on without a host as it did last year for the first time since 1989. Personally, I find this to be an interesting choice as it does not really change the pacing with the number of presenters that are already there. Speaking of presenters, some of this year’s will include last year’s winners Mahershala Ali, Olivia Colman, Rami Malek and Regina King. Performances this year will come from legendary voices such as Elton John (Rocketman), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet), Idina Menzel (Frozen II), Chrissy Metz (Breakthrough) and Randy Newman (Toy Story 4). This year promises an interesting show that I am, as always, excited for.
The Red Carpet
The red carpet fashion is always an important part of the show, and with the Academy Awards occurring towards the end of awards season, guests normally dress to impress. Back in December, Variety released their red carpet fashion predictions including polka dot prints and colored sequins. Based on fashion from the recent awards shows including the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards, here are the trends I have noticed. First, the color of the year, according to Pantone, may be Classic Blue, but I am here to declare the color of the carpet is fuchsia. With style icon Timothée Chalamet rocking this color at the Paris Little Women premiere in Stella McCartney along with many other fuchsia moments this season, I would not be surprised to see more of this color in the future.
Jennifer Lopez attended the Golden Globes this year in custom Valentino that showcases several trends in one, including an abundance of fabric, bows and the colors gold and green. Anything gold, silver and shimmering has been seen across several red carpets with Saoirse Ronan in Celine and many others. Finally, I have seen some floral prints and embroidery (see Toni Collette at the Golden Globes) that are reminiscent of costumes from 2019 film, Midsommar. These trends could be seen in your future favorite red carpet looks this year!
The Awards
I will be covering the winners and highlights of this year’s Academy Awards as I did last year, showing all of the winners along with my predictions for each category. For now, here are some of my predictions and why I believe certain films will be awarded. As there is every year, there were several upsets with films and performances that were overlooked by the Academy.
Some of those upsets include: Lupita Nyong’o for Us, Jennifer Lopez for Hustlers, Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, Ari Aster’s Midsommar, Greta Gerwig’s direction of Little Women, Eddie Murphy for Dolemite Is My Name, Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the incredible performances in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite (Park So-dam and Kang-Ho Song), Alma Har’el’s Honey Boy, Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe’s performances in The Lighthouse, Josh and Benny Safdie’s Uncut Gems, Taron Egerton for Rocketman, Joe Talbot’s The Last Black Man in San Fransisco, Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart, Kelvin Harrison Jr. for Waves and Luce and many, many more. 2019 was a great year for film and these films/performances deserve praise and support!
The category for Best Actor comes down to Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), with Phoenix in the lead. Renée Zellweger’s performance in Judy has garnered several of the Best Actress awards this season, and it would not be surprising to see her receive this award. It is between Bong Joon-ho (Parasite) and Sam Mendes (1917) for Best Director and could signal the winner of Best Picture this year. I believe the Academy will award Greta Gerwig (Little Women) for Adapted Screenplay as an apology for not nominating her for Best Director (though she still is very deserving of the Adapted Screenplay award, just look at that script). Original Screenplay appears to be leaning towards Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, with Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite and Rian Johnson’s Knives Out as personal picks. Here is a full list of the nominees in each category.
The main question you are probably asking is: what film will win Best Picture? With The Irishman, Jojo Rabbit, 1917, Little Women, Joker, Marriage Story, Parasite, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and Ford v. Ferrari, this is a pretty impressive category of films. My personal choice would be either Parasite or Little Women, with Parasite having a high chance of winning. However, based upon other awards shows, it appears that 1917 has the best chance of winning in a historical sense. It received the Golden Globe for Best Picture and Best Director (Sam Mendes), along with three Critics’ Choice awards and, most notably, the Producer Guild’s award for Best Film. This is significant as the Producers Guild often awards the same Best Film as the Academy, with a few exceptions. Parasite and Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood are still strong contenders in this race.
Are you excited about this year’s Academy Awards? If so, stay tuned for my recap of all of the awards and highlights and watch the show on February 9th. In the meantime, go watch some of these amazing films!