Your Necessary 2020 Oscars Viewing Guide
In preparation for tonight's Oscars, we Couch film critics have provided a rundown of the major awards. Do not take this to mean we don't think highly of the nominees for the likes of Best Short Film and Best Sound Editing (#allcategoriesmatter), but rather that they will likely receive less attention, and also that we are-- or at least a few of us are (me) --considerably less informed about those nominees than we are for the following 8 categories. This Oscars has several slam dunk categories tonight, and as a result, all four of us are still fairly confident in these selections. The biggest toss-up of the night, though, very well could be the biggest one of all: Best Picture. Who knows who will take top honors? We'll find out shortly, at least!
As you can see, we will let you know who was snubbed, who really should win, who could play spoiler, and then all 4 of us will show you who will ultimately win no matter how we feel. Enjoy, and happy viewing tonight!
Best Animated Film
How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Hidden Link
Toy Story 4
Woodiwiss: I was behind on my animated films this year, but really thought I Lost My Body was one of the more original nominees in recent years. I have a hard time believing beats out both the Disney titan and the Golden Globe winner, however.
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, Little Women
Hildur Guðnadóttir, Joker
Randy Newman, Marriage Story
Thomas Newman, 1917
John Williams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Baas: An incredible year for scores (Uncut Gems, Midsommar, and Parasite are other snubs that come to mind) means plenty of deserving films that couldn’t even sniff a nomination. Joker had a solid, but not very memorable score. It is unfortunate that it will most likely win at the expense of John Williams or both Randy and Thomas Newman.
Sierra: In all honesty, I haven't revisited a single score all year.
Woodiwiss: All these scores were great for different reasons; they complemented their (wildly different) films perfectly. That said, Joker had the score that sounded unlike most any other movie score I'd heard before. Guðnadóttir will win, and should.
Best Original Song
"I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" by Randy Newman, Toy Story 4
"(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Rocketman
"I'm Standing With You" by Diane Warren, Breakthrough
"Into The Unknown" by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Frozen II
"Stand Up" by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Baas: This was not the strongest year for Oscar-nominated songs. With a weak field, it looks like Elton John will most likely pull off the win.
Sierra: Lmfaooooooooooooo they couldn’t even pick the best Frozen song!
Woodiwiss: In the last 3 years alone, we had Justin Timberlake, John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sufjan Stevens, Lady Gaga, and Kendrick Lamar. With all due respects to legends Elton John and Randy Newman, this field was pretty boring. That said, even with the Lopez's in contention, I'd be shocked if anything other than Elton John's entry from the biopic Rocketman wins. In conclusion, WHERE IS BEYONCE.
Best Supporting Actor
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins, Two Popes
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Baas: Brad Pitt seems to be a lock to win best supporting actor this year. With one of his best performances as stuntman Cliff Booth, Pitt deserves his first acting Oscar.
Sierra: In my opinion, this is a career best performance from Hanks. Meanwhile, Pesci and Al Pacino were basically one and the same. And between Majors, Noah Jupe (Honey Boy), Song Kang-Ho (Parasite), and Leonardo Sbaraglia (Pain and Glory), LET'S RE-DO THE WHOLE CATEGORY BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST STACKED SUPPORT ACTOR ROLES IN A LONG TIME.
Woodiwiss: I thought the first four nominees were great, but all did more or less what we've come to expect from their acting performances. I came into Once Upon A Time In Hollywood very skeptical that all of Brad Pitt's accolades were just the industry deciding it was time for him to win. But he is the real deal; he commands the screen so much more so than anyone else in that film that I almost feel like he should be in the Best Actor category.
Best Supporting Actress
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbot
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Baas: Just like Brad Pitt, Laura Dern will finally be recognized with an Oscar this year for her work in Marriage Story. There doesn’t seem to be much competition for her here.
Woodiwiss: It's ironic that Marriage Story was full of dynamo acting performances, and the only one likely to win the Oscar is the performance I was least impressed by. Laura Dern is very good, but isn't playing anyone she hasn't done before. I'd be thrilled for ScarJo to snag a surprise victory here for her delightful turn in Jojo Rabbit, but it really should go to young Florence Pugh, who played a major part in completely redeeming the character of Amy.
Best Director
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Sam Mendes, 1917
Todd Phillips, Joker
Martin Scorcese, The Irishman
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Baas: All signs point to Sam Mendes winning the Oscar for best directing. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of Bong Joon-ho who deserves a win for Parasite even more than Mendes does for 1917. 1917 is a fine film, but the expert craftsmanship of Parasite is one of the best directing jobs of the last few years.
Woodiwiss: The latter three in this category are pretty tired choices. It's not that those directors didn't do a great job, but it wasn't so good that it warranted shutting out more exciting candidates like Greta Gerwig, Taika Waititi, or Lulu Wang. Sam Mendes will win, and 1917 is definitely a remarkable feat. But we haven't seen anything like Parasite before, and every of Bong Joon-ho's touches on the film was inch-perfect.
Best Actor
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, Two Popes
Baas: Actors and the Academy love Joaquin Phoenix. His win on Sunday night will be as much about his performance as the Joker as it will be a legacy Oscar for a great career.
Woodiwiss: I love Joaquin Phoenix! I think he's the best actor of our generation, and it's laughable that he has never won an Oscar-- not even being nominated for, let alone not winning for Her in 2014 was, I think, still the worst snub in my lifetime. So it's to my own surprise that I will actually be cheering against him tonight. As much as he carried the movie, I don't actually think Joker was his best work at all, and Adam Driver gave such a brilliantly devastating performance in Marriage Story, and it would be nice to see the more subtle acting rewarded one of these days. (Also, shout out to Jonathan Pryce who was marvelous as Pope Francis.)
Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Renée Zellweger, Judy
Baas: From the beginning of awards season, Renée Zellweger has been the consensus choice for best actress. Much like Glen Close in 2018's The Wife, Zellweger delivers a solid performance in a barely-seen film. Unfortunately this year, there is much less of a chance of an upset like what we saw with Olivia Colman's win.
Woodiwiss: Renée Zellweger appears to be as much of a slam dunk as Phoenix, but possibly even more so, as she hasn't faced any awards circuit competition at all. I haven't seen Judy, so I can't personally testify to her greatness. Of the ones I've seen, I'd love for Johansson, equally devastating in Marriage Stroy, or Saoirse Ronan, perpetually criminally underrated, to pull the upset.
Best Picture
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite
Baas: 1917 is also on track to win best picture. Maybe this is the academy rewarding a film that “deserves to be seen on the big screen." But Parasite deserves to win this award. That said, it is surprising given the Academy’s love of movies about their industry (see: Argo, The Artist, a nomination for Hugo), that Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood didn’t get more traction, especially given their love for Tarantino as well.
Sierra: I actually think Last Black Man in San Francisco was my biggest snub too, but of the films that had a realistic shot at being nominated, I would have liked to see Knives Out.
Woodiwiss: It's been a truly terrific year in cinema; for reference, it's the first year in quite some time that I haven't disliked any one of the Best Picture nominees. Most were at least decent, and several were terrific. 1917 will win, and it is a tremendous movie and cinematic accomplishment. But we haven't ever seen a film like Parasite, which would be history-making as a first-ever foreign language Best Picture winner, and deservedly so. And, as you might have surmised from this article, few movies have felt as softly brilliant and impactful as Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story, which won't win, but oh, how I wish it could.