Jake’s Big Ass Oscar Rundown, Part 4: Sight & Sound
There’s often a mental segregation people have about categories in award shows. There are the artistically-minded categories: the writers who pull the story from the ethereal plain, the actors who interpret character, and auteurs who put it all together. Then there are the technical awards. I hate this distinction. So very much. I may not understand the nuances of Sound Mixing (more on that later) but just because people work on a computer to bring movies to life doesn’t make them any less artistic. All the categories in this chapter of the Big Ass Oscar Rundown™ contribute to the way a movie looks and sounds. Given that it’s an audio-visual medium, that’s pretty god damn important. Recently the Oscars flirted with the idea of shuffling the awards for Cinematography and Editing off to the commercial breaks. No less than Academy Award winner (and idol to Latinx weirdos like me) Guillermo del Toro pointed out that Cinematography and Editing are cinema itself. So, with that, let’s take a look down ballot for all those categories that the people in your office Oscar pool didn’t put enough thought into.
Um… with all that high-minded lecturing behind us, I do have an embarrassing confession. This is the only chapter of my 5-part series of Oscar prognostication wherein I have not seen all the nominees. Only missing five nominees in the whole damn Oscars is still decent (and probably a personal best for me) and, to be perfectly fair, one of them was BARELY available in the United States (and that’s where I am). But still, I’m sorry I have failed you. Films I have not seen will be marked with an asterisk. You may point at me and laugh when you see the popular wide-releases I somehow missed. And if you somehow saw Border, I salute your tenacity. Also, since there are ten categories in this go-round, my analysis will be a tad briefer than usual.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Łukasz Żal for Cold War
Robbie Ryan for The Favourite
Caleb Deschanel for Never Look Away
Alfonso Cuarón for Roma
Matthew Libatique for A Star Is Born
No disrespect to Emily and Zooey’s dad on the event of his sixth nomination, but I’m not sure how Never Look Away got in here. It’s a perfectly fine-looking film, but not quite in the same league as the other four. Anyway this is a race between the OTHER two foreign films as Cold War and Roma both have gorgeous black-and-white composition throughout, but the masterful camera movement edges Roma into the lead for me.
Jake’s Pick: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
BEST FILM EDITING
Barry Alexander Brown for BlackKklansman
John Ottman for Bohemian Rhapsody
Yorgos Mavropsaridis for The Favourite
Patrick J. Don Vito for Green Book
Hank Corwin for Vice
This is a category where I feel a bit in the dark as editing is a field that, when done well, is often designed to go unnoticed. In at least one scene of Bohemian Rhapsody, it is done quite poorly which is terribly noticeable. Vice employs clever asides and metaphors to varying effect throughout the film and, while I can certainly think of times where it didn’t work, I think the showiness will get Vice the gold.
Jake’s Pick: Hank Corwin, Vice
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Black Panther – Production Design: Hannah Beachler, Set Decoration: Jay Hart
The Favourite – Production Design: Fiona Crombie, Set Decoration: Alice Felton
*First Man – Production Design: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
*Mary Poppins Returns – Production Design: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
Roma – Production Design: Eugenio Caballero, Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez
Black Panther’s bold use of an afro-futuristic design aesthetic set it apart from other superhero movies and I think that boldness will be rewarded. Plus, I don’t think Black Panther will win Best Picture but I feel it will walk away with SOMETHING.
Jake’s Pick: Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart, Black Panther
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Mary Zophres for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Ruth E. Carter for Black Panther
Sandy Powell for The Favourite
*Sandy Powell for Mary Poppins Returns
*Alexandra Byrne for Mary, Queen of Scots
Firstly, kudos to Sandy Powell on the double nomination. However, if there is every a movie set in Elizabethan England it almost always wins. I have not seen Mary, Queen of Scots but I don’t think it’s going to buck this trend.
Jake’s Pick: Alexandra Byrne, Mary, Queen of Scots
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
*Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer for Border
*Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher, and Jessica Brooks for Mary, Queen of Scots
Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe, and Patricia Dehaney for Vice
I have only seen Vice of these three, but they turned Christian Bale into Dick Cheney. (Or Batman into the Penguin, heh.) The Oscars LOVE that shit.
Jake’s Pick: Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe, and Patricia Dehaney, Vice
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl, and Dan Sudick for Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones, and Chris Corbould for Christopher Robin
*Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J.D. Schwalm for First Man
Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler, and David Shirk for Ready Player One
Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan, and Dominic Tuohy for Solo: A Star Wars Story
Gravity and Interstellar have both won this award. Plus there is something to be said for visual effects in the service of historical realism, so I’m giving this to First Man.
Jake’s Pick: Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles, and J.D. Schwalm, First Man
BEST SOUND EDITING
Benjamim A. Burtt and Steve Boedekker for Black Panther
John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone for Bohemian Rhapsody
*Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan for First Man
*Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl for A Quiet Place
Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay for Roma
So I don’t know much about sound editing and I have not seen this movie but it has to be A Quiet Place, right? With the level of importance that sound plays in the story? How can it not be that? Right?
Jake’s Pick: Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl, A Quiet Place
BEST SOUND MIXING
Steve Boedekker, Brandon Proctor, and Peter J. Devlin for Black Panther
Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin, and John Casali for Bohemian Rhapsody
*Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee, and Mary H. Ellis for First Man
Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan, and José Antonio Garcia for Roma
Tom Ozanic, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder, and Steve A. Morrow for A Star Is Born
My very limited understanding of sound mixing is that it has to be with the volume of the different components of sounds (dialogue, effects, music) in relation to each other. So, with that in mind, I’m narrowing it down to the musicals: A Star Is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody. Given that it’s a movie which succeeds almost entirely on the strength of its soundtrack, I’m thinking Bohemian Rhapsody.
Jake’s Pick: Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin, and John Caseli, Bohemian Rhapsody
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Ludwig Göransson for Black Panther
Terrence Blanchard for BlackKklansman
Nicholas Britell for If Beale Street Could Talk
Alexandre Desplat for Isle of Dogs
*Marc Shaiman for Mary Poppins Returns
If Beale Street Could Talk was, in my opinion, the best film of the year (not a spoiler for the next article because it wasn’t nominated for Best Picture… grrrrrr…). The music was a large part of the emotion it gave, underlining the love, longing, and sorrow that permeated that beautiful film.
Jake’s Pick: Nicholas Britell, If Beale Street Could Talk
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“All the Stars” from Black Panther
“I’ll Fight” from RBG
*“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns
“Shallow” from A Star Is Born
“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
I’ve listened to “Shallow” maybe twice outside of the movie. I’ve listened to “All the Stars” hundreds of times in the past year. It is a song I prefer. But “All the Stars” is in the background of Black Panther (and again more prominently in the end credits). “Shallow” is at the most absorbing scene in A Star Is Born. It is in the scene that justifies makes A Star Is Born for the fourth damn time. Film songs can’t really be divorced from their context and even if “All the Stars” is more my jam, I can’t argue with the power of “Shallow.” It’s the safest bet of the night. Also, it’s consolation since Lady Gaga is probably not winning Best Actress.
Snubs: I know that Hearts Beat Loud is the type of small film doomed to be overlooked at awards season, but I’ll be damned if the title song “Hearts Beat Loud” isn’t my single favorite movie song this year.
Jake’s Pick: “Shallow” from A Star Is Born
Well… down to the wire now, huh? Just one more chapter of my saga. The Screenplay awards, Best Director and the big one: Best Picture. Stay tuned…