As we enter December, we’re officially in the heat of the Oscar season. Over the next few weeks, critics groups and industry insiders will make their voices heard. The National Board of Review will announce their Top 10 films of the year, as well as their Best Film of 2019. The winner of this group has gone on to pick up a Best Picture nomination for all but two years since 2000 (Quills and A Most Violent Year representing the two misses). The group has become the official start to the Oscar season, with dozens of groups announcing their rewards immediately after. With the start coming on Monday (don’t worry, we’ll post the results), let’s take a quick look at the state of the race today.
Despite the year feeling weak on the whole, a few standout films exist. Some career-best work from Bong Joon-ho, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarrantino, and Sam Mendes. Each puts an extremely unique touch on their film and doing so gives us an extremely deep field to choose from. Noah Baumbach, Taika Waititi, Todd Phillips and James Mangold are close to career-bests as well (depending on who you talk to). You can never count out Clint Eastwood. However, there are plenty of women directors with films contending for Oscar hype. Greta Gerwig, Lorene Scafaria, and Lulu Wang are all potential screenplay nominees. If there is enough support, director nominations could be on the table.
Let’s check out the Picture, Directors, and Screenplay races to see what awaits. We threw in Animated Feature for good measure.
Best Picture
Predicted Ten
1917 (Universal)
Ford V Ferrari (20th Century Fox)
The Irishman (Netflix)* PREDICTED WINNER
Jojo Rabbit (Fox Searchlight) — TIFF Audience Award
Joker (Warner Bros.) — Venice Golden Lion
Little Women (Sony Pictures)
Marriage Story (Netflix) — Robert Altman Award, Indie Spirit (Nomination), TIFF Runner-Up,
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Columbia/Sony Pictures)
Parasite (Neon) — Palme d’Or, TIFF 2nd Runner-Up
Richard Jewell (Warner Brothers)
Also in the Hunt
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Sony Pictures)
Bombshell (Lionsgate)
The Farewell (A24) — Indie Spirit (nomination)
Harriet (Focus Features)
A Hidden Life (Fox Searchlight)
Judy (Roadside Attractions)
Just Mercy (Warner Brothers)
Rocketman (Paramount)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Disney/LucasFilm)
Waves (A24)
Best Director
Predicted Five
Noah Baumbach — Marriage Story
Bong Joon-ho — Parasite
Sam Mendes — 1917
Martin Scorsese — The Irishman *PREDICTED WINNER
Quentin Tarantino — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Next Five
Clint Eastwood — Richard Jewell
Greta Gerwig — Little Women
Terrance Malik — A Hidden Life
James Mangold — Ford v Ferrari
Jay Roach — Bombshell
Best Animated Feature
The Predicted Five
Frozen II (Walt Disney Animation)
I Lost My Body (Netflix)
Missing Link (Laika)
Toy Story 4 (Pixar Animation)* PREDICTED WINNER
Weathering With You (GKIDS)
The Next Five
Abominable (Dreamworks Animation)
Klaus (Netflix)
Funan (GKIDS)
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (Dreamworks Animation)
Okko’s Inn (GKIDS)
Best Adapted Screenplay
Predicted Five
Greta Gerwig — Little Women
Anthony McCarten — The Two Popes
Lorene Scafaria — Hustlers
Taika Waititi — Jojo Rabbit* PREDICTED WINNER
Steve Zaillian — The Irishman
The Next Five
J. J. Abrams, Chris Terrio — Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
Destin Daniel Cretton, Andrew Lanham — Just Mercy
Julian Fellowes — Downton Abbey
Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster — A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
Todd Phillips & Scott Silver — Joker
Best Original Screenplay
Predicted Five
Noah Baumbach — Marriage Story (Gotham, Indie Spirit)*
Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin Wan — Parasite
Trey Edward Shults — Waves
Quentin Tarantino — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Lulu Wang — The Farewell
The Next Five
Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski — Dolemite is My Name
Pedro Almodóvar — Pain & Glory
Scott Z. Burns — The Report
Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth & Jason Keller — Ford v Ferrari
Rian Johnson — Knives Out
