Ricky predicts Oscars® winners for 2020
February 5, 2020
The 92nd Academy Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking, is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 9 in Hollywood. The annual ceremony is a festival of red-carpet fashion and live entertainment with performances by Oscar-winners Elton John, Randy Newman and others scheduled throughout the evening.
The nominees for Best Actress in a Lead Role include Cynthia Errivo in “Harriet,” Scarlett Johansson in “Marriage Story,” Saoirse Ronan in “Little Women,” Charlize Theron in “Bombshell, “ and Renée Zellweger in “Judy.”
I think Zellweger has this one in the bag because the Academy loves honoring actors from the past. Cate Blanchett won Best Supporting Actress for playing Katherine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator” in 2004. Zellweger will take home the Oscar on Sunday night.
Nominees for Best Actor in a Lead Role include Antonio Banderas in the fact-based, slice-of-life drama, “Pain and Glory,” Leonardo DiCaprio in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” Adam Driver in “Marriage Story,” Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker” and Jonathan Pryce in “The Two Popes.” Without question, I think Phoenix has this one in the win column again. For some unknown reason, the general public loves villains and anti-heroes. Consider Denzel Washington’s win for Antoine Fuqua’s “Training Day” (2004) as a point of reference.
As much as I enjoyed it, I don’t think John Williams will win for the latest “Star Wars” entry. I think Thomas Newman’s smooth soundtrack for “1917” will win in this category. Newman has been composing film scores for more than 20 years, including the score of 1994’s “The Shawshank Redemption,” one of my favorites from the era.
Best cinematography features the sparse landscape of “1917,” “Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood,” “Joker,” “The Lighthouse” and “The Irishman.”
I think “1917” will take the trophy here. Although the majority of the picture was shot on a confined set, the way in which director Sam Mendes directed the cameras created awesome results.
The candidates for Best Foreign Language Film include “Parasite” (South Korea), “Pain and Glory” (Spain), “Les Miserables” (France), “Those Who Remained” (Hungary) and “Atlantics” (Senegal). I think Bong Joon-Ho will win for “Parasite.”
Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”), Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”), Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”), Sam Mendes (“1917”) and Todd Phillips (“Joker”) are the contenders for the Achievement in Directing award. I think Sam Mendes will take home the trophy for the World War I drama, “1917.”
The Best Picture category includes nine titles with “Ford v Ferrari,” “The Irishman,” “Jojo Rabbit,” “Joker,” “Little Women,” “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” “Marriage Story,” “Parasite” and “1917” among the contenders. I think “1917” wins here, besides not having any standout leads. I hate to say it, but stranger things have happened.
