For us film people, this weekend sees the climax of the movie year, the rolling twelve months coming to a close as the Academy Awards are dished out in Hollywood. This has been quite the year with hundreds of quality movies showcased in cinemas up and down the land. In 2019, no less than 342 movies reportedly qualified for the top prize at this year’s Oscars but only nine made the final list of nominees. Here, we take a look at which of them stands the biggest chance of winning Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards this coming weekend.
First of all, let’s recap the nine in question. They are Todd Phillips’ stand-alone DC comic book movie, Joker, Sam Mendes’ ‘one-shot’ World War I film 1917, Greta Gerwig’s underappreciated retelling of Little Women, the true story of Ford V Ferarri from filmmaker James Mangold (known as Le Mans ’66 in some territories), Bong Joon-ho’s festival-applauded double BAFTA winner Parasite, Taika Waititi’s superb WWII comedy-drama Jojo Rabbit, the Netflix-released The Irishman and Marriage Story, and finally Quentin Tarantino’s love letter to Hollywood, Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood.
Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood
I’m not a betting man, but let’s first look at the odds one the hot fave to take away the top gong. There are a lot of sites offering the latest odds on the Best Picture winners, and we took a long hard look around the web including those listed on Canadacasino.ca. At the time of posting, the favourite for Best Picture is clearly 1917. This is probably due to its already-successful run at various awards ceremonies, including last weekend’s BAFTAs, where it ran off with no less than seven awards, including Best Film. It is more than odds-on favourite to swipe away the big prize – but let’s not call it just yet.
Trailing just behind is Parasite, the Cannes Palme ‘Or winner which is loved by pretty much every single critic all over the world, including myself. It would be a deserved winner and, while almost a cert to bag the Foreign Language Film gong, it has more than a good chance of scoring big in the top category too. As I said, critics love it.
Parasite
Let’s also not discount Joker. This one is a lot more polarising in the critics’ circles, but it is the film to have the most Oscar nominations – 11 in all. It also made a top of cash at the box-office which, while not impacting its chances here, means than a lot more people have seen it. It could surprise with a win. If it does, it will be the first comic-book movie to win the top film award.
Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is also applauded and its Tinseltown grounding may sit well with voters as it truly is a love letter to Hollywood and will strike a chord for a lot of the 8000 or so members who are eligible to vote.
Further down the list, at least in the odds are the remaining five films – in this order (at time of press): Jojo Rabbit, The Irishman, Marriage Story, Little Women, and then Ford V Ferarri. All of these are exceptional films, and any of them could surprise of the night.
Personally, if you were to ask me ‘who is going to win’, then I would have to say 1917. It has all of the elements of a Best Picture winner and it is a remarkable film both in its direction and staging. Its director, Sam Mendes, has won virtually every award this season so far, so it would only seem right that he walks away with the ultimate golden prize. Roger Deakins, the legendary cinematographer on the film, is also a potential show-in for his category.
Who would I like to win? Well, it has to be Parasite. It really is a masterpiece, and how good would it be to see a film not in the English language walk away with the Best Picture Oscar? The roof of the Dolby Theater would fly off.
This year’s Academy Awards will be given out on Sunday 9th February. Keep it THN for full coverage on the night.
