Oscar winners 2019

So there you have it – there were arguably a few surprises among 2019’s Oscar winners, as well as there being history in the making with Black Panther’s Ruth Carter and Hannah Beachler becoming the first black winners in Best Costume Design and Best Production Design respectively.  It was also a fairly even spread of awards, with no single film cleaning up as Bohemian Rhapsody took the most awards (four, although three were in the “technical” categories, while Green Book took three of the “main” ten).  But I know the real question on everyone’s lips is – how many of my predictions did I get correct?!

When the smoke cleared, I got 6 out of 10 correct, which is certainly a drop from the 8 that I managed in the last couple of years…

Best picture winner – Green Book

My Prediction – Roma

I did say that it could easily go to Green Book or Bohemian Rhapsody, but I thought Roma had the momentum … but in the end, maybe a foreign language film (shown on Netflix) was a step too far for the Academy?

Best actress winner – Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

My Prediction – Glenn Close (The Wife)

Although Olivia Colman picked up the BAFTA and the Golden Globe, I thought Glenn Close’s home-field advantage (coupled with the controversy over the fact Olivia Colman’s role was really more of a supporting role than a lead), would give Glenn Close the edge at the Oscars – but I was wrong.  Still, Olivia Colman is a worthy winner, and certainly deserves the recognition … although Glenn Close now has seven nominations without a win!

Best actor winner – Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

My Prediction – Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)

Although I thought Christian Bale could stage an upset here, the clear frontrunner was Rami Malek, who took the award with what is generally accepted to be a great performance (whatever you think of the film as a whole).

Best supporting actress winner – Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

My Prediction – Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)

Although Rachel Weisz took the BAFTA on her home-field turf, Regina King was the firm favourite even though this was her first Oscar nomination.

Best supporting actor winner – Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

My Prediction – Mahershala Ali (Green Book)

This category was arguably this year’s clearest one, after Mahershala Ali seemed to take every Supporting Actor award in the run up to the Oscars.  In the end, he managed to win his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar in three years, which is an incredible result (and I’m personally very happy for him, given that he's someone who takes cult and sci-fi roles just as often as he takes “Oscar-bait" ones).

Best director winner – Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

My Prediction – Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

So in the end, Spike Lee didn’t get a “I can’t believe he doesn’t already have an Oscar” win in the Best Director category, which went to Alfonso Cuaron - giving him his second consecutive Best Director Oscar after winning for 2013’s Gravity.

Best adapted screenplay winner – BlacKkKlansman (Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee)

My Prediction – BlacKkKlansman (Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee)

Spike Lee did finally win an Oscar, however, even if it was for his writing rather than his direction.

Best original screenplay winner – Green Book (Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly)

My Prediction – The Favourite (Deborah Davis & Tony McNamara)

I did say that this could easily go to Green Book, but I thought The Favourite might take this if it took nothing else on the night.  But in the end, The Favourite took the Best Actress award, so perhaps I wasn’t too surprised that it didn’t also take Best Original Screenplay.

Best cinematography winner – Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)

My Prediction – Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)

I thought Alfonso Cuaron was the clear frontrunner, and impressively, this was his second personal win of the night.

Best costume design winner – Black Panther (Ruth E Carter)

My Prediction – The Favourite (Sandy Powell)

I cynically thought this would go to yet another period film (no offence), but I did say that Black Panther clearly deserved the Oscar – so I’m so glad that Ruth Carter’s amazing work got the recognition it deserved.

I’d also like to give a quick shout out to Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse for its well-deserved win for the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar (where it was head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the category).  It perhaps wasn’t a huge surprise that Shallow from A Star Is Born won Best Original Song, but I was very happy to see that Ludwig Goransson won Best Original Score for Black Panther (which I chose as my Best Film Score of 2018).  In the more technical award categories, I was glad that First Man picked up the Best Visual Effects Oscar for its reality-based VFX, but I thought it was robbed in the Best Sound Mixing category (where it lost out to Bohemian Rhapsody), as the sound mixing in First Man contributed hugely to the film’s visceral impact.