The Irishman. Image supplied by Netflix
So, the late 2019 festival season is upon us and it is the time of year when we start to see some of the contenders for the Best Picture Oscar. The Venice Film Festival is the unofficial kick-off for the late festivals of the year, closely followed by Toronto (TIFF) and usually, our first glimpse of films worthy enough to take the best film gongs at awards shows all over the world. In this article, we take a look at the main movies that have a shot at Oscar in 2020.
There are a few films that have caught our eye at the festivals so far, the first being an obvious one, The Hangover director Todd Phillips’ Joker movie with Joaquin Phoenix in the title role. The film took the prestigious Golden Lion award at Venice at the beginning of the month, the first comic-book themed movie to do so. The fact that it scored the gong – along with the frantic buzz at the festival and then at TIFF surely has the DC villain movie as one of the top pics for Oscar. Phoenix is an absolute cert for Best Actor too, surely.
High on our lists is also the wonderful A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood, a superb little movie starring Tom Hanks as American television personality Mister Rogers. While I think that the film has a shot at Oscar glory, I’d say it has more of a chance in the acting categories, almost certainly for Hanks in a supporting role, and particularly a break out Matthew Ryhs in the leading actor category.
Judy, a biographical film about the later life of Judy Garland is another potential, though again Renee Zellweger possibly stands a bigger chance at success in her acting role as the title character we could see it pop up in the top gong list too.
The big winner at TIFF this year was Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, a brilliant comedy-drama that had its world premiere in Toronto. The film took home the audience award, which is a big marker for Oscar and other award success and should secure at least a nomination if not more.
The Irishman remains as a favorite for Best Picture, ever since the release of its teaser in early 2019. The prospect of Scorcese again working with De Niro, Pacino, and Pesci will create that kind of buzz. It has yet to screen anywhere, though, as it doesn’t receive its world premiere until the end of the month at the New York Film Festival. At three-and-a-half hours long, it is surely going to be one of the longest movies of the year, but also one of the most accessible as it hits Netflix worldwide at the end of November.
Elsewhere, films with a shot at the top gong include: Parasite from Boon-jong Ho – the winner of the Palme d’Or at Canne in May, Knives Out, the murder-mystery from Rian Johnson, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, which has so far played at Venice, the Telluride Film Festival and Toronto, The Farewell, which is now playing in cinemas following huge success at Sundance at the start of the year, and also Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers, the Jennifer Lopez-starrer that is now playing, one to pick up huge buzz following a slot at Toronto before a release just days later.
There’s still a long way to go until the big award nominations. The Oscar nominations will be announced on 13th January before the big ceremony on 9th February.
