By Anna Husted EBS Film Critic
The 91st Academy Award nominations are finally out and there is no shortage of buzz around which films were surprise nominations, and which films have been snubbed.
The biggest surprises of the 2019 Oscars include Bradley Cooper not receiving a nomination for best director and how few nominations his “A Star is Born” received. However, in my opinion, the biggest snub was the feel-good historical documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” a film which landed at No. 15 in my top films of 2018.
Each year the Oscars add a few more independent films to their nominations, and this year is no different with Mexican-language film “Roma” tied for the most nominations at 10 with Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite,” a film that did not have a wide release.
What wasn’t planned for this year’s Academy Awards is not having a host. Kevin Hart was originally tapped to host the 91st Oscars but stepped down in December. The Academy has yet to replace him and last went without a host in 1989. A host-less Oscars is bound to be short on comedy and long on mistakes, but having multiple people introduce the films might also make for a shorter ceremony than the usual three-plus hours.
One final piece of Oscar information before getting on to my picks is the difference between sound editing and sound mixing. While watching the ceremony at various Oscars parties during the last 15 years someone inevitably asks what the difference is between sound mixing and sound editing. Sound editing is responsible for all the film’s sounds, from dialogue to sound effects. Then the sound mixer determines how an audience hears all these sounds in a film, such as when the score should be louder than the sound effects.
The following films are my Oscar picks in each category. To see a full list of nominated films, visit oscar.go.com/nominees.
Best Picture: “Roma”
Actor in a Leading Role: Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Actress in a Leading Role: Olivia Colman in “The Favourite”
Actor in a Supporting Role: Adam Driver in “Blackkklansman”
Actress in a Supporting Role: Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Animated Feature Film: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”
Cinematography: “Roma”
Costume Design: “Black Panther”
Directing: Alfonso Cuaron for “Roma”
Documentary Feature: “Free Solo”
Documentary Short: “End Game”
Film Editing: “Vice”
Foreign Language Film: “Roma”
Makeup: “Mary Queen of Scots”
Music Original Score: “Mary Poppins Returns”
Music Original Song: “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” in “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
Production Design: “Black Panther”
Sound Editing: “A Quiet Place”
Sound Mixing: “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Visual Effects: “Ready Player One”
Writing Adapted Screenplay: “Blackkklansman”
Writing Original Screenplay: “First Reformed”
Watch the Oscars live on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. on ABC. Catch it at Lone Peak Cinema for a chance to win at Oscar Bingo. Prizes include movie tickets, concessions, drinks and more!
Anna Husted has a master’s in film studies from New York University. In Big Sky she can be found up on the hill or at the movies at Lone Peak Cinema. When not gazing at the silver screen or watching her new favorite TV show, she’s skiing, fishing or roughhousing with her cat, Indiana Jones.
