The Irishman DIRECTOR Martin Scorsese
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
PRODUCERS Martin Scorsese Robert De Niro Jane Rosenthal Emma Tillinger Koskoff
In a category where at least four of the five
STUDIO Netflix
it here this time around. All were exceptional,
OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Director Best Supporting Actor Best Adapted Screenplay Best Cinematography Best Production Design Best Costume Design Best Film Editing Best Visual Effects
nominees are arguably leading roles, any room for true supporting actors went out the window this year. Also, the category contains three past Best Actor winners, but they’re slumming and all five have Oscars already, but look for the contender whose previous Oscar was for producing, not acting, to take the prize, as Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’s Brad Pitt A classic mob movie, spanning decades and ultimately serving as a coda to a criminal era gone by, director Martin Scorsese and star Robert De Niro’s dream project was rescued by Netflix, who put up a budget rumoured to be anywhere between $160 million and $200 million. The results of the three-and-a-half-hour epic are impressive indeed, although it may be hampered by the format. Informal conversations with some Oscar voters indicate they watched it on Netflix, or screeners, in bits and pieces rather than one sitting—which is what a great movie like this requires, if you ask me. That might affect its vote, already indicated by its lack of love at the Globes, Critics’ Choice, PGA, and SAG awards. With 10 nominations however, it is clear enough that the Academy found much to love.
has already done at the Globes, Critics’ Choice, and SAG Awards. Tom Hanks, Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins will all just have to give their lead actor Oscars an extra hug on the night, as will past supporting winner Joe Pesci, who came out of retirement to do The Irishman and has already retired again. THE WINNER: Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Jojo Rabbit DIRECTOR Taika Waititi PRODUCERS Carthew Neal Taika Waititi Chelsea Winstanley
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
STUDIO Fox Searchlight
the circuit when the envelope is opened, and
OSCAR NOMINATIONS Best Supporting Actress Best Adapted Screenplay Best Production Design Best Costume Design Best Film Editing
killer role of divorce lawyer Nora Fanshaw in
Like all the other acting categories this year, there has been one consistent name heard on that is hometown favorite Laura Dern for her Marriage Story. Oscar will be no different than the Globes, SAG or Critics’ Choice, and the other nominees will have to be content just This admittedly daring, offbeat, but human and touching movie from director Taika Waititi uses humor to portray the horror and idiocy of Nazi Germany in World War II. Focusing on a young boy who must navigate complicated feelings about fitting in as a Nazi kid and using an imaginary Adolf Hitler playmate to do so, the film drew some mixed reactions when it first opened. But it won the often Oscar-predictive People’s Choice prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it premiered, and that put it squarely in the race, where it has stayed since. This is a dark horse, since although Waititi received a DGA nomination, he did not get a corresponding Oscar nod in the directing category. That is the same situation another TIFF People’s Choice winner found itself in just last year, and we all know what happened to Green Book. With six nominations overall, don’t count this under-rabbit out.
having a nice night out. They include Kathy Bates for Richard Jewell, Florence Pugh for Little Women, Margot Robbie for Bombshell, and Scarlett Johansson for Jojo Rabbit. Johansson has a double nomination this year, in both lead and supporting—a rare feat—but alas, not one that will reap a statuette this time. THE WINNER: Laura Dern, Marriage Story
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