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Writer's pictureFresh Take

Oscar Winners 2020 v Our Choices



It's that time of year again where the biggest ceremony in Hollywood will reward their talent from the last year. While there may have been many snubs this year, David and Craig give their predictions for who will win and who they want to win.



Antonio Banderas in PAIN AND GLORY

Leonardo DiCaprio in ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Adam Driver in MARRIAGE STORY

Joaquin Phoenix in JOKER- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- DID WIN

Jonathan Pryce in THE TWO POPES


  • Here Joaquin Phoenix as Joker is Dave and Craig's joint pick for the performance that will win and should win. An important and chilling performance that stays with you and be a great reward for Phoenix who has provided many great performances in the past.


Tom Hanks in A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD- WANT TO WIN

Anthony Hopkins in THE TWO POPES

Al Pacino in THE IRISHMAN

Joe Pesci in THE IRISHMAN

Brad Pitt in ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD- WILL WIN- DID WIN


  • Dave and Craig both loved and were captivated by Hanks' performance in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, so it would be a great way to reward a film that has been somewhat overlooked in the rest of the categories.


Cynthia Erivo in HARRIET

Scarlett Johansson in MARRIAGE STORY

Saoirse Ronan in LITTLE WOMEN- WANT TO WIN- David

Charlize Theron in BOMBSHELL- WANT TO WIN- Craig

Renée Zellweger in JUDY- WILL WIN- DID WIN


  • Both are agreed that Zellweger will win after her string of wins so far, but are split on who they want to win. Craig- "Theron for me does the best job of transforming into the character and takes a somewhat controversial woman and makes you sympathize with her." David- "there may not be many chances for Little Women tonight, so this would be a great chance for what I thought was the strongest part of the film, with this also being a follow up to a slew of great performances from Ronan the past few years".


Kathy Bates in RICHARD JEWELL

Laura Dern in MARRIAGE STORY- WILL WIN- DID WIN

Scarlett Johansson in JOJO RABBIT- WANT TO WIN

Florence Pugh in LITTLE WOMEN

Margot Robbie in BOMBSHELL


  • Craig and David are agreed that Dern does a great performance in Marriage Story and is the most in line for the academy to award her. But both believe Johansson's double nomination is worthy of recognition, as a momentous year for her, with this being her most impactful performance.


HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD

Dean DeBlois, Bradford Lewis and Bonnie Arnold

I LOST MY BODY

Jérémy Clapin and Marc du Pontavice

KLAUS

Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh and Marisa Román

MISSING LINK

Chris Butler, Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight- WANT TO WIN- Craig

TOY STORY 4

Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera- WILL WIN/WANT TO WIN- David- DID WIN


  • Craig believes Pixar has a long-running success with the academy with Toy Story 4 ticking a lot of the boxes they look for. David agrees but also wants it to win for its beautiful animation and great characters. Craig has opted for Missing Link, which still has a good chance, as its a great addition to Laika's catalog and would be a great reward for their hard work.


THE IRISHMAN

Rodrigo Prieto

JOKER

Lawrence Sher

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Jarin Blaschke

1917

Roger Deakins- WILL WIN/WANT TO WIN- DID WIN

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Robert Richardson


  • Both agree that 1917 does a spectacular job of giving the film a great look especially considering the limitations of the one-shot, which needs to be celebrated. As well as being another great return win for Roger Deakins.


THE IRISHMAN

Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson

JOJO RABBIT

Mayes C. Rubeo- WANT TO WIN

JOKER

Mark Bridges

LITTLE WOMEN

Jacqueline Durran- WILL WIN- DID WIN

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Arianne Phillips


  • Both agree the academy has a bad habit of awarding the period film, purely because it features beautiful period dresses. At this stage it has become a cliche, while JoJo Rabbit is anything but cliche, successfully showing off the fashionable look of a prosperous side of Germany during the war.


THE IRISHMAN

Martin Scorsese

JOKER

Todd Phillips

1917

Sam Mendes- WILL WIN

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Quentin Tarantino- WANT TO WIN

PARASITE

Bong Joon Ho- DID WIN


  • 1917 seems a likely favourite for may of the big awards, with the academy feeling Mendes would be instrumental for the one-shot. Craig and David agree, however, that a great category for Once Upon a Time to win would be in directing, as a celebration of such a famous director, with his style making the film work so much.


JOKER

Hildur Guðnadóttir- Will Win- DID WIN

LITTLE WOMEN

Alexandre Desplat

MARRIAGE STORY

Randy Newman

1917

Thomas Newman- WANT TO WIN- Craig

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

John Williams- WANT TO WIN- David


  • Both agree Joker's soundtrack had a big impact and had a lot of momentum in other ceremonies. David- "personally I wasn't a fan of many of the soundtracks here, so I'm going for the legacy of John Williams and Star Wars." Craig- "While it's not the strongest part of the movie the soundtrack compliments the awe-inspiring elements of the story and adds tension to the more mundane moments."


"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" from TOY STORY 4

Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

"(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from ROCKETMAN

Music by Elton John

Lyric by Bernie Taupin- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- DID WIN

"I'm Standing With You" from BREAKTHROUGH

Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

"Into The Unknown" from FROZEN II

Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

"Stand Up" from HARRIET

Music and Lyric by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo


  • Both agree Elton John wrote a fun and great song that reflects the story of the film, while also giving Rocketman the chance to get an academy award after being left out of other categories.


FORD V FERRARI

Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and James Mangold, Producers

THE IRISHMAN

Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers

JOJO RABBIT

Carthew Neal, Taika Waititi and Chelsea Winstanley, Producers

JOKER

Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers

LITTLE WOMEN

Amy Pascal, Producer

MARRIAGE STORY

Noah Baumbach and David Heyman, Producers

1917

Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall- WILL WIN

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino, Producers

PARASITE

Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers- WANT TO WIN- DID WIN


  • Both agree that 1917 seems the most in line with what the academy likes to rewards especially considering the high praise to 1917 from actors, directors, and the industry. The single-shot effect along with it being World War One is the perfect combination for an Oscar. Though personally both David and Craig would want to see Parasite win. It's the most creative of all the nominees, with a fantastic cast, succeeding in all the categories listed in the ceremony. It would be a great win for foreign cinema, especially considering the accusations thrown at the ceremony in the last few years.


Those are our thoughts on the biggest categories of the night and what we would like to see. Here are our picks for smaller categories, along with our lucky dip for categories we have not much experience with.


THE IRISHMAN

Screenplay by Steven Zaillian

JOJO RABBIT

Screenplay by Taika Waititi- WILL WIN/ WANT WIN- DID WIN

JOKER

Written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver

LITTLE WOMEN

Written for the screen by Greta Gerwig

THE TWO POPES

Written by Anthony McCarten


KNIVES OUT

Written by Rian Johnson- WANT TO WIN- David

MARRIAGE STORY

Written by Noah Baumbach

1917

Written by Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Written by Quentin Tarantino- WILL WIN

PARASITE

Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won

Story by Bong Joon Ho- WANT TO WIN- CRAIG- DID WIN


THE IRISHMAN

Production Design: Bob Shaw

Set Decoration: Regina Graves

JOJO RABBIT

Production Design: Ra Vincent

Set Decoration: Nora Sopková- WANT TO WIN

1917

Production Design: Dennis Gassner

Set Decoration: Lee Sandales- WILL WIN

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Production Design: Barbara Ling

Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh- DID WIN

PARASITE

Production Design: Lee Ha Jun

Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo


AMERICAN FACTORY

Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- Craig- DID WIN

THE CAVE

Feras Fayyad, Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær

THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY

Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan

FOR SAMA

Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts

HONEYLAND

Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska and Atanas Georgiev- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- David


IN THE ABSENCE

Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam

LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL)

Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- DID WIN

LIFE OVERTAKES ME

John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson

ST. LOUIS SUPERMAN

Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan

WALK RUN CHA-CHA

Laura Nix and Colette Sandstedt


FORD V FERRARI

Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- DID WIN

THE IRISHMAN

Thelma Schoonmaker

JOJO RABBIT

Tom Eagles

JOKER

Jeff Groth

PARASITE

Yang Jinmo


CORPUS CHRISTI

Poland

Directed by Jan Komasa

HONEYLAND

North Macedonia

Directed by Ljubo Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska

LES MISÉRABLES

France

Directed by Ladj Ly

PAIN AND GLORY

Spain

Directed by Pedro Almodóvar

PARASITE

South Korea

Directed by Bong Joon Ho- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- DID WIN


DCERA (DAUGHTER)

Daria Kashcheeva

HAIR LOVE

Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- David- DID WIN

KITBULL

Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson

MEMORABLE

Bruno Collet and Jean-François Le Corre

SISTER

Siqi Song- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- Craig


BROTHERHOOD

Meryam Joobeur and Maria Gracia Turgeon- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- David

NEFTA FOOTBALL CLUB

Yves Piat and Damien Megherbi

THE NEIGHBORS’ WINDOW

Marshall Curry- DID WIN

SARIA

Bryan Buckley and Matt Lefebvre

A SISTER

Delphine Girard- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- Craig


FORD V FERRARI

Donald Sylvester- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- DID WIN

JOKER

Alan Robert Murray

1917

Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Wylie Stateman

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

Matthew Wood and David Acord


AD ASTRA

Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano

FORD V FERRARI

Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- Craig

JOKER

Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland

1917

Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- David- DID WIN

ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD

Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano


AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- David

WANT TO WIN- Craig

THE IRISHMAN

Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli

THE LION KING

Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman

1917

Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy- WILL WIN- Craig- DID WIN

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy


BOMBSHELL

Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker- WILL WIN/ WANT TO WIN- DID WIN

JOKER

Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou

JUDY

Jeremy Woodhead

MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL

Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White

1917

Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole

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