6 Actors Who Will Soon Hopefully Win Their First Oscar


Remember how, an hour ago, I listed 6 actresses who I hope will soon get the role for which they’ll win their first Oscar?

Well, now it’s time to look at 6 actors for whom I have the same hope.  Some of the actors listed below have been nominated in the past.  Some of them have not.  Some of them will probably win an Oscar at some point in their career.  And some of them, sadly, probably will not.

However, what all six of them have in common is that all six of them deserve at least one more opportunity to take home a gold statuette.

Ethan Hawke

I’m still stunned by the fact that Ethan Hawke wasn’t, at the very least, nominated for his performance in First Reformed.  It was certainly one of the best performance of the year and probably one of the best of his career.  Ethan Hawke has been nominated a total of four times (twice for supporting actor and twice for adapted screenplay) but has yet to win.  Hopefully, that will someday change for both him and his frequent director, Richard Linklater.

Jake Gyllenhaal

How the Hell was Jake Gyllenhaal not nominated for Nightcrawler?  Ever since Donnie Darko, Gyllenhaal has been one of the most enjoyably unpredictable actors around.  He’s even managed to become a star even though it’s obvious that the mainstream film industry has no idea what to do with his eccentric persona.  While Gyllenhaal can occasionally be miscast (as evidenced by films like Demolition and Love and Other Drugs), both Nightcrawler and Stronger showed just how special an actor Gyllenhaal can be.

Ryan Renolds

The next time you find yourself enjoying an R-rated comic book movie that features nudity, profanity, and grotesque ultra-violence, you better take a few minutes to thank Ryan Reynolds.  Reynolds will probably never win an Oscar for playing Deadpool but just imagine the acceptance speech he would give if he did.

Hugh Jackman

Amazingly, the multi-talented Hugh Jackman has only one nomination, for his performance in Les Miserables.  He probably deserved a nomination for his performance in Logan, though that film has the misfortune to be released before Black Panther legitimized the idea of a comic book film as a genuine Oscar contender.  Jackman seems like he’s destined to win an Oscar someday.  Hopefully, in the future, he’ll chose better films than The Front Runner.

Kyle Chandler

Despite appearing in several best picture nominees and giving an award-worthy performance in The Spectacular Now, Kyle Chandler has never received an Oscar nomination.  It’s hard not to feel that the right role is somewhere out there, waiting for him.  Someday, someone will write the perfect script about a small-town sheriff solving the biggest case of his career and the next thing you know, Kyle Chandler will be accepting his first Oscar.

Giovanni Lombardo Radice

Someday, someone is going to write a great role for the greatest living Italian horror actor, Giovanni Lombardo Radice.

6 Actresses Who Will Soon Hopefully Win Their First Oscar


As of right now, it seems like there’s a very good chance that Glenn Close will win the Academy Award for Best Actress tonight.  In a film career that started 19 years ago and which has seen Close nominated for seven Academy Awards, tonight would be her first win.

That’s the way it goes with the Oscars.  Some performers win an Oscar for their first film.  Some don’t win until they’ve got several decades of work behind them.  Others, sadly enough, go through their entire life getting nominated but never actually winning.  Some come out of nowhere, win an Oscar, and then promptly vanish.  Others, like Meryl Streep, are given nominations largely just for showing up.  One of the biggest Oscar traditions has been the beloved artist who, after years of distinguished work, finally picks up for her first award.

The cliché, of course, is that every performer just needs the right role.  So, with that in mind, here are 6 previously unrewarded actresses who I hope get the right role sometime in the near future:

Ashley Judd

Ashley Judd was one of the best actresses working the 90s and the early 21st Century but her career was deliberately sabotaged by a monster named Harvey Weinstein.  In Twin Peaks: The Return, Judd proved that she’s still more than capable of playing intriguing and unpredictable characters.  If anyone is both owed a great role and has repeatedly shown herself to have the talent to handle one, it’s Ashley Judd.

Jennifer Jason Leigh

It’s hard to believe that her nomination for The Hateful Eight was Jennifer Jason Leigh’s first.  While Leigh was undeniably good in the film, the nomination was also a recognition of the fact that, since the 1980s, Leigh’s been one of the best and bravest actresses around.  Hopefully, The Hateful Eight will not be her only nomination.

Saoirse Ronan

When is Saorise Ronan going to win an Oscar?  One gets the feeling that she came close with Lady Bird and Brooklyn but, both times, the Oscar went to another.  Ronan seems like one of those performers that’s destined to win sometime.

Zoe Kazan

Zoe Kazan has been Oscar-worthy in two films, Ruby Sparks and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.  One could also argue that she deserved some consideration for her performance in The Big Sick.  Based on the scripts for Ruby Sparks and Wildfire, Kazan could just easily win an Oscar for writing as for acting,

Scarlett Johansson

It still continues to amaze me that, with credits like Lost In Translation and Under the Skin on her resume, Scarlett Johansson has yet to even be nominated for an Academy Award.  As of late, Johansson has been best known for playing Natasha in a countless MCU films.  So, how about an award-worthy Black Widow stand-alone film?  Get to it, Marvel!

Carey Mulligan

Ever since I first saw An Education, Carey Mulligan’s been one of my favorite actresses.  Mulligan is such a good actress that I think there’s a tendency to take her for granted.  That she was nominated for neither Mudbound nor Shame is …. well, a shame.

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: The 4 best Best Picture Winners


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today is Oscar Sunday!  Tonight, a new film will join the exclusive list of the 90 previous best picture winners!

Sometimes, we spend so much time focusing on the winners that shouldn’t have won that we forget that some truly great films have managed to take the top prize.  So, with this edition of 4 Shots From 4 Films, I’m highlighting for the four best Best Picture winners!

4 Shots From 4 Films

All About Eve (1950, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

The Godfather Saga (1972 and 1974, dir by Francis Ford Coppola)

It Happened One Night (1934, dir by Frank Capra)

West Side Story (1961, dir by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins)

Lisa’s Final 2018 Oscar Predictions


Oscar and Audrey Hepburn

Since the Oscars will be handed out tomorrow, now is the time for me to post my final Oscar predictions of 2018.  As we all know, this has been a strange Oscar season.  For the first time in decades, the ceremony will have no host and I’m all about that.  (Seriously, the host is always the worst part.)

Since I have a feeling that 2019 is going to be a weird year in general, I’m going to guess that we’re going to have a few upsets tomorrow night.  For instance, I think BlackKklansman is going to shock everyone by winning best picture.  Why?  The multiple nominations for Vice would seem to indicate that the Academy is in a political mood.  However, Vice is a terrible film and the Academy has rightfully been criticized for nominating it.  However, BlackKklansman is just as political as Vice but it’s actually a decent film.  So, if your goal is to award a movie that criticizes the state of American politics, BlackKklansman is the one to go for.

Here are my final predictions:

Best Picture — BlackKklansman

Best Director — Alfonso Cuaron, Roma

Best Actor — Christian Bale, Vice

Best Actress — Glenn Close, The Wife

Best Supporting Actor — Mahershali Ali, Green Book

Best Supporting Actress — Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Original Screenplay — The Favourite

Best Adapted Screenplay — BlackKklansman

Best Animated Feature Film — Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Best Foreign Language Film — Roma

Best Documentary Feature — RBG

Best Documentary (Short Subject) — End Game

Best Live Action Short Film — Detainment

Best Animated Short Film — Animal Behavior

Best Original Score — Black Panther

Best Original Song — “Shallow” from A Star is Born

Best Sound Editing — Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Sound Mixing — Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Production Design — The Favourite

Best Cinematography — Roma

Best Makeup and Hairstyling — Vice

Best Costume Design — Black Panther

Best Editing — BlackKklansman

Best Visual Effects: Avengers: Infinity War

 

4 Shots From 4 Albert Finney Films: Saturday Night Sunday Morning, Scrooge, Miller’s Crossing, Skyfall


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Yesterday, we lost another great actor when Albert Finney passed away at the age of 82.

It seems strangely appropriate that Finney’s final film was the James Bond extravaganza, Skyfall.  While Finney himself never played the world’s greatest secret agent, he was still definitely a part of the same British invasion that made 007 a worldwide phenomena.

Albert Finney got his start appearing on the British stage and it was the stage that remained his self-confessed first love.  He started his film career by playing angry young men in gritty films like The Entertainer and Saturday Night, Sunday Morning.  However,it was his starring role as a debauched 18th century adventurer in Tom Jones that made him a star.  (Before being cast as Tom Jones, Finney came close to securing the lead role in Lawrence of Arabia.  That role, of course, was played by another young British stage actor, Peter O’Toole.)

Because his focus was mostly on the stage, Finney did not appear in as many films as some of his contemporaries.  When Finney did appear in the movies, it was often as a character actor as opposed to a traditional leading man.  He played larger-than-life characters but he did so in such a way that, regardless of how flamboyant they may have been, they still felt real.  He could play Scrooge and Hercule Poirot just as easily as he could play Tom Jones or a small town lawyer in Erin Brockovich.  Even in his old age, Finney’s acting instincts remained strong.  Just watch him in Big Fish or Before The Devil Knows Your Dead.  Just watch him in Skyfall, giving off a gruff “Welcome to Scotland” after gunning down the assassins that have come for Bond and M.

So, in honor of Albert Finney, it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Albert Finney Films

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960,dir by Karel Reisz)

Scrooge (1970, dir by Ronald Neame)

Miller’s Crossing (1990, dir by the Coen Brothers)

Skyfall (2012, dir by Sam Mendes)

Albert Finney, RIP.

Lisa’s way, way, way, way, way too early Oscar predictions for January


Attempting, in January, to predict what will be nominated for an Oscar next year is a largely pointless exercise but it’s one that I do every year.  What can I say?  I like the Oscars.  I like rituals.  And I like making lists.

But seriously, don’t take these predictions too seriously.  For the most part, they’re based on wild guesses and familiar names.  For instance, The Irishman is listed because it’s a Scorsese film but that didn’t really help out Silence.  Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is listed because it’s a Tarantino film.  Tom Hanks is listed because …. well, he’s Tom Hanks.  Late Night and The Report are listed because of the excitement they generated at Sundance but Sundance hype doesn’t always last for a full 12 months.  I’d love to see Amy Adams finally win an Oscar for The Woman In The Window but, to be honest, I couldn’t visualize anyone other than Naomi Watts in the lead role when I read the novel.

At this time last year, no one had heard of Green Book.  Bohemian Rhapsody looked like it might just end up going straight to HBO.  No one suspected Black Panther would be the first comic book movie to be nominated for best picture.  Richard E. Grant was on no one’s radar and anyone who says they thought Roma and The Favourite would be the most nominated films of the year is a damn liar.  It’s too early to make any sort of real guess about what will be nominated next year.

However, it’s never too early to make some cray, wild guesses!

Here are my way, way, way, way, way too early Oscar predictions for January.  Some day, perhaps tomorrow, we’ll look back at these predictions and laugh.  And then I’ll cry because it’s never fun when people laugh at you….


Best Picture

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Call of the Wild

The Irishman

Late Night

Little Women

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

The Report

Toy Story 4

Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

The Woman in the Window

Best Director

Nisha Ganatra for Late Night

Greta Gerwig for Little Women

Martin Scorsese for The Irishman

Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Joe Wright for The Woman In The Window

Best Actor

Robert De Niro in The Irishman

Leonardo DiCaprio in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Joaquin Phoenix in Joker

Brad Pitt in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Best Actress

Amy Adams in The Woman In The Window

Annette Bening in The Report

Cate Blanchett in Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

Saoirse Ronan in Little Women

Emma Thompson in Late Night

Best Supporting Actor

Harrison Ford in Call of the Wild

Damon Herriman in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Sir Ian McKellen in Cats

Al Pacino in The Irishman

Wyatt Russell in The Woman In The Window

Best Supporting Actress

Dame Judi Dench in Cats

Laura Dern in Little Women

Nicole Kidman in The Goldfinch

Anna Paquin in The Irishman

Margot Robbie in Once Upon A Time in Hollywood

4 Shots From 4 Films: Basquiat, Love is the Devil, Mr. Turner, At Eternity’s Gate


4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking.

Today is Inspire Your Heart With Art Day!

Listen, it’s a real holiday.  It’s listed on Checkiday and everything.  I don’t know who originally decided that January 31st would always be Inspire Your Heart With Art Day.  I don’t know how long the holiday has been celebrated.  But what does it matter, really?  Allowing art to inspire your emotions and strengthen your heart is something that deserves to be celebrated every day!

So, with that in mind, here are 4 Shots From 4 Films, that all have one thing in common.  They deal with artists!

4 Shots From 4 Films

Basquiat (1996, dir by Julian Schnabel)

Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998, dir by John Maybury)

Mr. Turner (2014, dir by Mike Leigh)

At Eternity’s Gate (2018, dir by Julian Schnabel)

Here are The Oscar Nominations!


Green Book and A Star is Born were considered to be front runners but, this morning, neither got a director nomination to go along with their picture nominations.  Black Panther made history by being the first comic book film to get a best picture nomination but it seems kind of insulting to nominate the film and then ignore its director, Ryan Coogler.

Vice and Roma both got more nominations than most people were expecting them to receive so, honestly, it seems like those two films are your new front runners.  Me, I’ll just hope for a Favourite upset.

Here’s are the nominations!

Performance by an actor in a leading role

  • Christian Bale in “Vice”
  • Bradley Cooper in “A Star Is Born”
  • Willem Dafoe in “At Eternity’s Gate”
  • Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody”
  • Viggo Mortensen in “Green Book”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

  • Mahershala Ali in “Green Book”
  • Adam Driver in “BlacKkKlansman”
  • Sam Elliott in “A Star Is Born”
  • Richard E. Grant in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
  • Sam Rockwell in “Vice”

Performance by an actress in a leading role

  • Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma”
  • Glenn Close in “The Wife”
  • Olivia Colman in “The Favourite”
  • Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born”
  • Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

  • Amy Adams in “Vice”
  • Marina de Tavira in “Roma”
  • Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk”
  • Emma Stone in “The Favourite”
  • Rachel Weisz in “The Favourite”

Best animated feature film of the year

  • “Incredibles 2” Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle
  • “Isle of Dogs” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
  • “Mirai” Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito
  • “Ralph Breaks the Internet” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Clark Spencer
  • “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Achievement in cinematography

  • “Cold War” Łukasz Żal
  • “The Favourite” Robbie Ryan
  • “Never Look Away” Caleb Deschanel
  • “Roma” Alfonso Cuarón
  • “A Star Is Born” Matthew Libatique

Achievement in costume design

  • “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Mary Zophres
  • “Black Panther” Ruth Carter
  • “The Favourite” Sandy Powell
  • “Mary Poppins Returns” Sandy Powell
  • “Mary Queen of Scots” Alexandra Byrne

Achievement in directing

  • “BlacKkKlansman” Spike Lee
  • “Cold War” Paweł Pawlikowski
  • “The Favourite” Yorgos Lanthimos
  • “Roma” Alfonso Cuarón
  • “Vice” Adam McKay

Best documentary feature

  • “Free Solo” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill
  • “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim
  • “Minding the Gap” Bing Liu and Diane Quon
  • “Of Fathers and Sons” Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert
  • “RBG” Betsy West and Julie Cohen

Best documentary short subject

  • “Black Sheep” Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
  • “End Game” Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
  • “Lifeboat” Skye Fitzgerald and Bryn Mooser
  • “A Night at The Garden” Marshall Curry
  • “Period. End of Sentence.” Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton

Achievement in film editing

  • “BlacKkKlansman” Barry Alexander Brown
  • “Bohemian Rhapsody” John Ottman
  • “The Favourite” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
  • “Green Book” Patrick J. Don Vito
  • “Vice” Hank Corwin

Best foreign language film of the year

  • “Capernaum” Lebanon
  • “Cold War” Poland
  • “Never Look Away” Germany
  • “Roma” Mexico
  • “Shoplifters” Japan

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

  • “Border” Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer
  • “Mary Queen of Scots” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks
  • “Vice” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

  • “Black Panther” Ludwig Goransson
  • “BlacKkKlansman” Terence Blanchard
  • “If Beale Street Could Talk” Nicholas Britell
  • “Isle of Dogs” Alexandre Desplat
  • “Mary Poppins Returns” Marc Shaiman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

  • “All The Stars” from “Black Panther”
    Music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe
  • “I’ll Fight” from “RBG”
    Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
  • “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns”
    Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
  • “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born”
    Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt
  • “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
    Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Best motion picture of the year

  • “Black Panther” Kevin Feige, Producer
  • “BlacKkKlansman” Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, Producers
  • “Bohemian Rhapsody” Graham King, Producer
  • “The Favourite” Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos, Producers
  • “Green Book” Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, Producers
  • “Roma” Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón, Producers
  • “A Star Is Born” Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers
  • “Vice” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers

Achievement in production design

  • “Black Panther” Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart
  • “The Favourite” Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
  • “First Man” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
  • “Mary Poppins Returns” Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
  • “Roma” Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez

Best animated short film

  • “Animal Behaviour” Alison Snowden and David Fine
  • “Bao” Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb
  • “Late Afternoon” Louise Bagnall and Nuria González Blanco
  • “One Small Step” Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
  • “Weekends” Trevor Jimenez

Best live action short film

  • “Detainment” Vincent Lambe and Darren Mahon
  • “Fauve” Jeremy Comte and Maria Gracia Turgeon
  • “Marguerite” Marianne Farley and Marie-Hélène Panisset
  • “Mother” Rodrigo Sorogoyen and María del Puy Alvarado
  • “Skin” Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman

Achievement in sound editing

  • “Black Panther” Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker
  • “Bohemian Rhapsody” John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone
  • “First Man” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
  • “A Quiet Place” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
  • “Roma” Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay

Achievement in sound mixing

  • “Black Panther” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin
  • “Bohemian Rhapsody” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali
  • “First Man” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis
  • “Roma” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio García
  • “A Star Is Born” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow

Achievement in visual effects

  • “Avengers: Infinity War” Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick
  • “Christopher Robin” Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould
  • “First Man” Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm
  • “Ready Player One” Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk
  • “Solo: A Star Wars Story” Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy

Adapted screenplay

  • “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
  • “BlacKkKlansman” Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
  • “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
  • “If Beale Street Could Talk” Written for the screen by Barry Jenkins
  • “A Star Is Born” Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters

Original screenplay

  • “The Favourite” Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
  • “First Reformed” Written by Paul Schrader
  • “Green Book” Written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly
  • “Roma” Written by Alfonso Cuarón
  • “Vice” Written by Adam McKay

What If Lisa Picked The Oscar Nominees: 2018 Edition


With the Oscar nominations due to be announced tomorrow, now is the time that the Shattered Lens indulges in a little something called, “What if Lisa had all the power.” Listed below are my personal Oscar nominations. Please note that these are not the films that I necessarily think will be nominated. The fact of the matter is that the many of them will not. Instead, these are the films that would be nominated if I was solely responsible for deciding the nominees this year. Winners are starred and listed in bold.

(You’ll also note that I’ve added four categories, all of which I believe the Academy should adopt — Best Voice-Over Performance, Best Casting, Best Stunt Work, and Best Overall Use Of Music In A Film.)

(Click on the links to see my nominations for 2017201620152014201320122011, and 2010!)

Best Picture

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Blindspotting

*Eighth Grade

The Favourite

Leave No Trace

The Other Side of the Wind

Roma

A Simple Favor

Support the Girls

 

Best Director

*Bo Burnham for Eighth Grade

The Coen Brothers for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Alfonso Cuaron for Roma

Debra Granik for Leave No Trace

Yorgos Lanthimos for The Favourite

Orson Welles for The Other Side of the Wind

 

Best Actor

John Cho in Searching

Jason Clarke in Chappaquiddick

Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born

Daveed Diggs in Blindspotting

*Ethan Hawke in First Reformed

Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here

 

Best Actress

Yalitza Aparicio in Roma

Elsie Fisher in Eighth Grade

Lady Gaga in A Star is Born

*Regina Hall in Support the Girls

Anna Kendrick in A Simple Favor

Thomason McKenzie in Leave No Trace

 

Best Supporting Actor

Peter Bogdonavich in The Other Side of the Wind

*Ben Foster in Leave No Trace

Michael B. Jordan in Black Panther

Josh Hamilton in Eighth Grade

Tim Blake Nelson in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Michael Palin in The Death of Stalin

 

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place

*Olivia Colman in The Favourite

Zoe Kazan in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Blake Lively in A Simple Favor

Emma Stone in The Favourite

Rachel Weisz in The Favourite

 

Best Voice Over or Motion-Capture Performance

*Josh Brolin in Avengers: Infinity War

Jake Johnson in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Holly Hunter in The Incredibles 2

Shamiek Moore in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

John C. Reilly in Ralph Breaks The Internet

Ben Whishaw in Paddington 2

 

Best Original Screenplay

Blindspotting

The Death of Stalin

*Eighth Grade

The Favourite

Game Night

Support the Girls

 

Best Adapted Screenplay

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

If Beale Street Could Talk

Leave No Trace

*A Simple Favor

A Star is Born

 

Best Animated Feature

Early Man

Have A Nice Day

The Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Ralph Breaks the Internet

*Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

 

Best Documentary Feature

Avicii: True Stories

Recovery Boys

Shirkers

They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead

*Three Identical Strangers

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

 

Best Foreign Language Film

Battle

Gun City

Happy as Lazzaro

Have A Nice Day

The Most Assassinated Woman In The World

*Roma

 

Best Casting

Blindspotting

Eighth Grade

Mandy

Mid90s

Roma

*Support the Girls

 

Best Cinematography

Aquaman

Avengers: Infinity Wars

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

*Mandy

Roma

Best Costume Design

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

*Black Panther

The Favourite

Lizzie

Mary, Queen of Scots

A Simple Favor

 

Best Film Editing

Avengers: Infinity Wars

Eighth Grade

Mission Impossible: Fallout

*The Other Side of the Wind

Roma

Searching

Best Makeup and Hair Styling

*The Favourite

Lizzie

Mandy

Mary, Queen of Scots

A Simple Favor

Support the Girls

Best Original Score

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The Death of Stalin

If Beale Street Could Talk

*Mandy

The Other Side of the Wind

Best Original Song

*“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

“All the Stars” from Black Panther

“Limitless” from Second Act

“I’ll Never Love Again” from A Star is Born

“Is that Alright” from A Star is Born

“Shallow” from A Star is Born

 

Best Overall Use of Music

Bohemian Rhapsody

Eighth Grade

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

Mid90s

*A Star is Born

Three Identical Strangers

 

Best Production Design

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

The Commuter

*The Favourite

Mary, Queen of Scots

A Quiet Place

Best Sound Editing

Annihilation

*Avengers: Infinity War

Mission Impossible: Fallout

The Other Side of the Wind

Roma

12 Strong

Best Sound Mixing

Annihilation

Avengers: Infinity War

Mission Impossible: Fallout

The Other Side of the Wind

Roma

*A Star is Born

Best Stuntwork

Avengers: Infinity War

Beirut

Black Panther

*Mission Impossible: Fallout

12 Strong

Upgrade

Best Visual Effects

Annihilation

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Aquaman

*Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

First Man

Films Listed By Number of Nominations:

11 Nominations – Avengers: Infinity War

9 Nominations – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Favourite, Roma

8 Nominations – Eighth Grade, A Star is Born

7 Nominations – Black Panther, The Other Side of the Wind

6 Nominations – A Simple Favor

5 Nominations – Leave No Trace, Support the Girls

4 Nominations – Blindspotting, Mandy, Mission Impossible: Fallout

3 Nominations – Annihilation, The Death of Stalin, Mary Queen of Scots, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

2 Nominations – Aquaman, Have A Nice Day, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Incredibles 2, Lizzie, Mid90s, A Quiet Place, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Searching, Three Identical Strangers, 12 Strong

1 Nomination – Ant-Man and the Wasp, Avicii: True Stories, Battle, Beirut, Bohemian Rhapsody, Chappaquiddick, The Commuter, Early Man, First Man, First Reformed, Game Night, Gun City, Happy as Lazzaro, Isle of Dogs, Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again, The Most Assassinated Woman In The World, Paddington 2, Recovery Boys, Second Act, Shirkers, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, Upgrade, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, You Were Never Really Here

Films Listed By Number of Oscars Won:

3 Oscars – Eighth Grade, The Favourite

2 Oscars – Mandy, A Star is Born, Support the Girls

1 Oscar – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Black Panther, First Reformed, Leave No Trace, Mission Impossible: Fallout, The Other Side of the Wind, Roma, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Three Identical Strangers

As for the real nominations, they’ll be announced on Tuesday morning!

2018 in Review: Lisa’s Top 26 Films of 2018


And now, without further ado, I conclude my look back at 2018 with my 26 favorite films of the years.  Why 26?  Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers!

  1. Eighth Grade
  2. A Simple Favor
  3. Leave No Trace
  4. Support the Girls
  5. The Favourite
  6. Roma
  7. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  8. Blindspotting
  9. Avengers: Infinity War
  10. The Other Side of the Wind
  11. The Death of Stalin
  12. Mission Impossible: Fallout
  13. Mandy
  14. Searching
  15. A Star is Born
  16. Chappaquiddick
  17. A Quiet Place
  18. Black Panther
  19. Annihilation
  20. Paddington 2
  21. Game Night
  22. American Animals
  23. If Beale Street Could Talk
  24. Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
  25. Three Identical Strangers
  26. Mid90s

And there you have it.  Some of these films, I’ve reviewed here on the site.  Some of them — far too many of them — I have not.  My hope is that I’ll be able to fix that over the upcoming week.  But, whether I manage to write a 100 reviews or only three, I encourage everyone to see these 26 films, along with every other films that they can get their hands on.

2018 was an okay year for movies.  We had some really good ones.  We also had some really bad ones.  For the most part, though, this was pretty much of a middle-of-the-road year.  Personally, I can’t wait to see what 2019 has waiting for us!

Thank you everyone for reading.  And now, let’s great ready to make 2019 the best year since 2015!

Lisa Looks Back At 2018

  1. Ten Worst Films of 2018
  2. Best of Lifetime
  3. Best of Syfy
  4. 10 Favorite Novels
  5. 12 Favorite Non-Fiction Books
  6. 10 Favorite Songs
  7. 10 Good Things That I Saw On Television