Month: February 2019

Oscars 2019 Predictions – Best Foreign Language Film, Best Animated Feature Film

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There are some real gems in two of this year’s lesser-known categories. Today we take  look at the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Animated Feature Film.

89th Annual Academy Awards - Backstage

Best Foreign Language Film

Will win: Roma
Should win: Roma
Also nominated: Capernaum, Cold War, Never Look Away, Shoplifters

There is no doubt whatsoever about Roma’s win in this category. Its dominance does perhaps do a slight injustice to the other nominees – with Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War in particular proving to be a beautifully shot gem of a film – but Alfonso Cuarón’s deeply personal, intimate tale of life in 1970s Mexico exists in a league of its own.

Roma

In no doubt: Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma is all but guaranteed to win Best Foreign Language Film.

Best Animated Feature Film

Will win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Should win: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Also nominated: Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mirai, Ralph Breaks the Internet.

The latest outing in the Spidey universe is a supremely confident, gorgeously animated feature that ranks among the best Spider-man films ever made. Fan service is blended with a genuinely intelligent plot that packs a real emotional punch. It’s a superb film in its own right, but the animation elevates it – quite literally – to a new dimension. A worthy runner-up would be Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, which thoughtfully explores themes very relevant to today’s world. Led by an all-star cast, it’s brought to life by some of the most visually interesting animation of recent years.

Into the Spider-Verse

When done well, animation can make good films great. With Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it makes a great film even greater.

Oscars 2019 Predictions – Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design

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In today’s Oscar prediction post, we take a look at two technical categories that have always been closely linked.

89th Annual Academy Awards - Backstage

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Will win: Vice
Should win: Vice
Also nominated: Border, Mary Queen of Scots

Christian Bale has undergone a lot of transformations over the years for the sake of his craft, but none are as impressive as his metamorphosis into the much maligned former-Vice President Dick Cheney in Adam McKay’s Vice. What Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia Dehaney have achieved here is truly remarkable. They have allowed Bale, Sam Rockwell (as President George W. Bush), Amy Adams (as Lynne Cheney), Steve Carell (as Donald Rumsfeld) et al. to utterly inhabit and become their characters in what is undoubtedly some of the best makeup and hairstyling work that has been seen in recent years.

Vice

Christian Bale undergoes a total transformation in Vice. Unrecognisable as himself, he is instantly recognisable as the menacing Dick Cheney.

Best Costume Design

Will win: The Favourite
Should win: The Favourite
Also nominated: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Black Panther, Mary Poppins Returns, Mary Queen of Scots

Sandy Powell is no stranger to the Academy Awards. She already has three to her name and has even been nominated twice in this category this year, which is great testament to her dominance in this field. However, that’s not to say she doesn’t face tough opposition; Ruth E. Carter’s costumes for Black Panther have become iconic since the film hit our screens, and there’s a powerful opulence about Alexandra Byrne’s work on Mary Queen of Scots. But there is no competing against the glorious, extravagant Sandy Powell creations that can be seen in The Favourite.

The Favourite

Sandy Powell’s work on The Favourite is hotly tipped to pick up an Academy Award later this month.

Oscars 2019 Predictions – Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing

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With the 91st Academy Awards now less than two weeks away, over the coming few days we will be taking a look at the films that have been nominated. The ceremony has already had its fair share of controversy and, for the first time in three decades, will be held without a host. However, the golden statuette has lost none of its prestige or reverence, and each category will be as hotly contested as ever.

89th Annual Academy Awards - Backstage

Best Sound Editing

Will win: A Quiet Place
Should win: A Quiet Place
Also nominated: Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, First Man, Roma

As its title suggests, in first-time director John Krasinski’s debut it is silence that takes centre stage. Of course, whenever stillness is given so strong a focus, greater emphasis is always placed on what little sound does feature. Had any element been not quite right, had any note been off, the film would simply not have worked. Though the sound work on First Man and Bohemian Rhapsody will also be in close contention here, they are not as intrinsic to their films as the sparse, minimalist sound of A Quiet Place and therefore don’t quite reach the same heights.

A Quiet Place

In a film predicated on silence, it is the rare moments of sound which take the limelight.

Best Sound Mixing

Will win: A Star is Born
Should win: A Star is Born
Also nominated: Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, First Man, Roma

There are numerous parallels that can be drawn between A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody. Perhaps the most obvious is that, in both, pivotal moments take place on the middle of a concert stage. Bohemian Rhapsody, quite understandably, allows Freddie Mercury’s vocals to soar above a roaring Wembley crowd in its final scenes, but what A Star is Born achieves is something far more difficult and new for cinema. When Lady Gaga blasts the bridge from Shallow, or when Bradley Cooper hits the searing opening guitar notes of Black Eyes, it is a completely immersive experience. Music performances on screen are not uncommon, but feeling that you are actually there in that moment is something few films have achieved before. Without detracting from the other nominees in the slightest (the sound editing in First Man is also worthy of note), there is only one rightful winner in this category.

A Star is Born (Sound) 2

The immersive sound editing of A Star is Born achieves something rarely seen (or heard) on screen before.