By Jason Pyles
*This column was originally printed in the February 2019 edition of The BP Times newspaper.
Feb. 24 is the 91st Academy Awards ceremony (aka “Oscar Sunday”), when the film industry awards its winners with the most prestigious honor in the business. Here’s a quick overview of the “Best Picture” nominees to help with your Oscar ballot.
A Star Is Born – Co-writer and director Bradley Cooper stars alongside Lady Gaga in a tale about a famous musician who falls in love with an unknown singer and helps to launch her career. Excellent performances. Stirring but melancholy.
BlacKkKlansman – A wild Spike Lee film that’s based on actual events, this Crime Comedy Biopic is about two police officers — one who’s African American and the other Jewish — as they somehow infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan! It stars John David Washington (Denzel’s son).
Black Panther – A Marvel comic book action flick and the first superhero movie ever nominated for Best Picture, “Black Panther” has additional historical significance due to its predominantly black cast and its earning power to become the highest grossing film of 2018 and the ninth highest-grossing film of all time. It stars Chadwick Boseman.
Bohemian Rhapsody – A film about the band, Queen, with particular focus on frontman Freddie Mercury (portrayed incredibly by Rami Malek, who will win Best Actor for this role, rightfully so.) The film culminates with an accurate reenactment of Queen’s performance at Live Aid.
Green Book – Pleasantly surprising and delightful, despite its predictability, “Green Book” is set in the 1960s and is a road-trip movie inspired by an unlikely, real-life friendship. Viggo Mortensen plays a bouncer who’s hired by piano virtuoso Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) to chauffeur and protect him as he tours the American South to play concerts.
Roma – Master filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón makes a personal, heartaching film about his own family, childhood and real-life nanny. “Roma” is beautifully shot, but just be aware it is subtitled, filmed in black and white, and very deliberately paced. Streaming on Netflix, “Roma” is co-produced by the U.S. and Mexico, so it’s also nominated for Best Foreign Film.
The Favourite – Odd but mostly entertaining, “The Favourite” is a period film set in 18th century England, when an unwell Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) is aided by the fierce Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), until a charming servant girl named Abigail (Emma Stone) threatens to usurp Sarah and become the queen’s new “favourite.”
Vice – Christian Bale delivers another body transformation to convincingly portray Vice President Dick Cheney. (Expect a win for this film for Makeup and Hairstyling.) “Vice” is a comedic biography which suggests that Dick Cheney was a nefarious puppet master who ran the George W. Bush administration.
My prediction: Of these nominees, “Roma” will win Best Picture, as it should.
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