Who should win, who will win, and who was left out.
Here we are, folks — the Oscar race has begun. Now that the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences has released their picks for the 92nd Academy Awards, it’s time to look back at the 2020 Oscar nominations, celebrate their inclusions and (mostly) shake our fist at what they excluded.
Joker, Todd Phillips’ divisive retelling of the Batman villain’s origin story, scooped up 11 nominations, with Quentin Tarantino’s 8th film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Sam Mendes’ WWI long-shot epic 1917 and Martin Scorsese’s three-and-a-half-hour mafia drama The Irishman snagging ten apiece.
While some great films are being celebrated, still others are ignored, most notably from women and POC filmmakers: no women were nominated for best director, and there are zero people of color nominated for supporting acting categories. (The lead performer categories have just one: Cynthia Erivo for Best Actress.) But at least they got two people of color to read all the acting nominees who didn’t look like them?
Below you’ll find a full list of the categories, the nominees, and what we think of their choices. Plus, we’ll talk about who we think should be in the running instead.
Best Picture
Who should win: Parasite
Who will win: Joker
Who was left out: Overall, this is a decent pack of nominees (though we take great umbrage to Joker and Jojo‘s inclusion); we’d have loved some love for Portrait of a Lady on Fire (I know it wasn’t in competition, but let me dream), Ad Astra, Uncut Gems or Knives Out.
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Renée Zellweger, Judy
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Who should win: Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Who will win: Renée Zellweger, Judy
Who was left out: I know she’s nominated elsewhere, but I would’ve loved to have seen Florence Pugh here for Midsommar (hey, Scarlett gets to be here twice, why not her Black Widow co-star?). Also, justice for Lupita in Us and Awkwafina in The Farewell. Plus, Mary Kay Place will never get her due for the excellent, criminally underseen Diane, and that seems a real shame.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes
Who should win: Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Who will win: Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Who was left out: Leaving Adam Sandler out of the running for Uncut Gems or Eddie Murphy for Dolemite Is My Name feels like a slap in the face, and I’ve got a real soft spot for Brad Pitt in Ad Astra. Oh, and Bobby De Niro gets snubbed for The Irishman while his supporting players get nods? It is what it is, I guess.
Best Director
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Todd Phillips, Joker
Who should win: Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Who will win: Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Who was left out: Where are the women? Marielle Heller, Lorene Scafaria, Greta fucking Gerwig? That Twitter thread about how people don’t respect female directors as much as men because they’re not ‘showy’ enough may have been patronizing and a little sexist (not to mention wrong in the case of Little Women), but maybe they were onto something with Academy voters at least?
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Who should win: Hanks, Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Who will win: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Who was left out: Once again, a fairly white field for acting this year, which is a pervasive problem that still needs to be fixed. I’d have loved to have seen Wesley Snipes here for Dolemite Is My Name, or (more importantly) Jonathan Majors for his star-making turn in The Last Black Man in San Francisco.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Who should win: Florence Pugh, Little Women
Who will win: Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Who was left out: Lotta great folks, including Zhao Shuzhen for The Farewell, Merritt Wever in Marriage Story, Ana de Armas in Knives Out, fucking Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers. Anyone in the Parasite cast.
Best International Feature Film
South Korea, Parasite
Spain, Pain and Glory
France, Les Misérables
North Macedonia, Honeyland
Poland, Corpus Christi
Who should win: Parasite
Who will win: Parasite (as a consolation prize for not winning Best Picture)
Who was left out: Atlantics, And Then We Danced, Climax, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (though that’s France’s fault), An Elephant Sitting Still, Monos, the list goes on.
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Irishman, Steven Zaillian
Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi
Little Women, Greta Gerwig
The Two Popes, Anthony McCarten
Joker, Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
Who should win: Gerwig, Little Women
Who will win: Zaillian, Irishman
Who was left out: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood comes to mind here, for sure.
Best Original Screenplay
Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino
Parasite, Bong Joon-ho and Han Jin-won
Knives Out, Rian Johnson
1917, Sam Mendes and Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Who should win: Marriage Story
Who will win: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Who was left out: This one’s largely a solid batch of nominees, but we’re missing Us, The Farewell, Pain & Glory, The Lighthouse, and more.
Best Animated Feature
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
Who should win: Missing Link
Who will win: Toy Story 4
Who was left out: This one’s also largely unimpeachable, mostly because there just aren’t that many good animated films out there, and at least my precious Laika is in the running. What are you gonna do, nominate Frozen 2? Don’t make me laugh.
Best Documentary Feature
“The Edge of Democracy”
“Honeyland”
“For Sama”
“The Cave”
Who should win: For Sama
Who will win: The Edge of Democracy
Who was left out: I was rather sad to see Penny Lane’s brilliant Hail Satan? missing from this, not to mention Apollo 11. Plenty of great docs to choose from, but it was a good year for them.
Best Documentary Short Subject
“In the Absence”
“Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)”
“Life Overtakes Me”
“St. Louis Superman”
“Walk Run Cha-Cha”
(We’re shamefully skipping predictions for the shorts, because we haven’t gotten to see them yet.)
Best Animated Short Film
“Dcera (Daughter)”
“Hair Love”
“Kitbull”
“Memorable”
“Sister”
(We’re shamefully skipping predictions for the shorts, because we haven’t gotten to see them yet. That said, Hair Love should win this one.)
Best Live-Action Short Film
“Brotherhood”
“Nefta Football Club”
“The Neighbors’ Window”
“Saria”
“A Sister”
(We’re shamefully skipping predictions for the shorts, because we haven’t gotten to see them yet.)
Best Film Editing
“The Irishman”
“Ford v Ferrari”
“Parasite”
“Joker”
“Jojo Rabbit”
Who should win: Parasite
Who will win: The Irishman
Who was left out: Plenty of films had killer editing this year — Apollo 11, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Marriage Story. It’s criminal that Little Women‘s bifurcated time structure isn’t getting celebrated, either.
Best Cinematography
“1917,” Roger Deakins
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Robert Richardson
“The Irishman,” Rodrigo Prieto
“Joker,” Lawrence Sher
“The Lighthouse,” Jarin Blaschke
Who should win: Deakins, 1917
Who will win: Deakins, 1917
Who was left out: Hustlers‘ cinematography was sorely underappreciated, as was Little Women‘s. The Last Black Man in San Francisco would have had a great shot here too, not to mention the simple, evocative power of Clemency‘s look.
Best Original Song
“I’m Standing With You,” from “Breakthrough”
“Into the Unknown,” from “Frozen II”
“Stand Up,” from “Harriet”
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” from “Rocketman”
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away,” from “Toy Story 4”
Who should win: “Into the Unknown”
Who will win: “Into the Unknown”
Who was left out: What’s “Glasgow (No Place Like Home)” from Wild Rose not doing here? That’s it, I quit.
Best Visual Effects
“Avengers: Endgame”
“The Lion King”
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
“The Irishman”
“1917”
Who should win: The Irishman
Who will win: Avengers: Endgame
Who was left out: Leaving Ad Astra and High Life out of this category feels criminal, as does the innovative effects work in Alita: Battle Angel and the intermittent Victorian splendor of The Aeronauts. But at least we didn’t get Cats?
Best Production Design
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
“The Irishman”
“1917”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Parasite”
Who should win: Parasite
Who will win: Jojo Rabbit
Who was left out: Ad Astra had a killer conception of a sad, industrialized space future, and we can’t forget the meticulous fashioning of Knives Out‘s central Massachusetts mansion.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
“Bombshell”
“Joker”
“Judy”
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
“1917”
Who should win: Judy
Who will win: Joker
Who was left out: What a weird, garbage category? I’d throw in Taron Egerton’s transformation into Elton John in Rocketman, or all the great little hair and makeup decisions that went into Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or Dolemite Is My Name.
Best Costume Design
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
“Little Women”
“The Irishman”
“Jojo Rabbit”
“Joker”
Who should win: Little Women
Who will win: Jojo Rabbit
Who was left out: 1917 had a great command of period-appropriate costuming, and I even appreciated a lot of the space-age costuming decisions made in Ad Astra and Rise of Skywalker. Or hell, what about all of the Hustlers‘ outfits?
Best Sound Mixing
“1917”
“Ford v Ferrari”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
“Ad Astra”
“Joker”
Who should win: Ad Astra
Who will win: Ford v. Ferrari
Who was left out: Parasite is being notably left out of these sound categories, and I’m watching you closely, Academy voters. But if my baby Ad Astra gets even one Oscar, I’ll be happy.
Best Sound Editing
“1917”
“Ford v Ferrari”
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
“Joker”
Who should win: Ford v Ferrari
Who will win: Ford v Ferrari
Who was left out: Once again, where’s Parasite?
Best Original Score
“1917,” Thomas Newman
“Joker,” Hildur Guðnadóttir
“Little Women,” Alexandre Desplat
“Marriage Story,” Randy Newman
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” John Williams
Who should win: Newman, 1917
Who will win: Guðnadóttir, Joker
Who was left out: Parasite and Ad Astra‘s scores were sorely underappreciated, as was Apollo 11‘s innovative use of era-specific synthesizers and Dolemite Is My Name‘s groovy ’70s backdrop. But sure, give it to Joker‘s droning violins, or Williams regurgitating old Star Wars cues for two and a half hours.
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