Oscar Predictions 2019: Early Critic Predictions in the 2020 Oscars Race

About five years ago, no film studio can’ even think about releasing a movie in the “dead” months of the year which are January, February, and the month of October. It just not the path they want to take. Common box office records dictated more popular releases over the summer and at Christmas to get the best chance to make money while using the aforementioned calendar openings as release dates for troubled films. Yet now recent box office hit such as Glass which was released in January, Black Panther and Deadpool both are released and become a major hit in the month of February, Venom, and Joker released in October have started to change that paradigm. Studios are frequently looking at the full size of the calendar year as an adequate opportunity to release a movie now.

The Oscars race has thus transformed into a year-round battle as the regular fall/winter awards race has grown. Best picture nominees such as Get Out released in February, Mad Max: Fury Road released in May and Dunkirk which was released in the month of July have premiered the eyes of studio execs to the full year-round potential of zeitgeist-capturing movies. We’re still good three months away from the 92nd Academy Awards, and already a bunch of front-runners has appeared for the 2020 Oscars. And we have a list of front-runners which are likely candidates for this year’s Oscars.

Major new movies by Oscar mainstays Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino front this race for now, but a South Korean critical acclaimed and a surprise TIFF People’s Choice winner Parasite add lots of excitement. Early Little Women results are strong, Clint Eastwood’s latest could be a late-breaker, and the work behind Sam Mendes’ 1917 could it the winner at the box office and at the Oscars — many fans and critics of the industry agree that Phoenix performance as the Joker was memorable and stands by a long shot as the favorite to win the Academy Award Best Actor with odds at -225 as per SportsBettingDime but in a period where voting ends in January, is its release date is too late?

Renée Zellweger is a certain candidate to get a nomination for her transformation in “Judy” and Adam Driver looks quite positive to be a nominee for his role in Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” The lead role for the best picture is films including “The Irishman,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Joker” and “Parasite.”

Jennifer Lopez has a very good chance to get her first nomination for her role in “Hustlers.” Margot Robbie could be J. Lo’s rival for the Oscar for her roles as the Aussie actor’s work in “Bombshell” and Blockbuster “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

But it’s only November and there is still some time left. A lot could happen in now and last Oscar voting in January. No one has seen Sam Mendes’ “1917” as of yet and I think it is going to be a blast and a major contender for the race, but time will tell, “Cats” is still not released yet. They could be real contenders, but for now, we have to wait.

 

Here is a list of nominations most critics agreed upon:

Best Picture

Leading the Charge:

• The Irishman
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Marriage Story
• Parasite
• The Two Popes
• The Farewell
• Jojo Rabbit
• Bombshell
• Joker

In the Hunt:

• A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
• Ford v Ferrari
• Just Mercy
• Rocketman
• Honey Boy
• Waves
• Pain and Glory

We have to wait and see: Little Women, Dark Waters, 1917, Richard Jewell and Cats

Best Director

Leading the Charge:

• Martin Scorsese (The Irishman)
• Bong Joon Ho (Parasite)
• Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story)
• Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
• Fernando Meirelles (The Two Popes)

In the Hunt:

• Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit)
• Greta Gerwig (Little Women)
• Todd Phillips (Joker)
• Lulu Wang (The Farewell)
• Alma Har’el (Honey Boy)
• Trey Edward Shults (Waves)
• James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari)
• Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood)
• Jay Roach (Bombshell)

Best Actor

Leading the Charge:

• Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)
• Adam Driver (Marriage Story)
• Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
• Robert De Niro (The Irishman)
• Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes)

In the Hunt:

• Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory)
• Taron Egerton (Rocketman)
• Eddie Murphy (Dolemite is My Name)
• Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems)
• Michael B. Jordan (Justy Mercy)
• Christian Bale (Ford v Ferrari)
• Matt Damon (Ford v Ferrari)
• Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse)

Best Actress

Leading the Charge:

• Renée Zellweger (Judy)
• Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story)
• Charlize Theron (Bombshell)
• Lupita Nyong’o (Us)
• Saoirse Ronan (Little Women)

In the Hunt:

• Awkwafina (The Farewell)
• Cynthia Erivo (Harriet)
• Florence Pugh (Midsommar)
• Alfre Woodard (Clemency)
• Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim)
• Felicity Jones (The Aeronauts)

Best Supporting Actor

Leading the Charge:

• Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
• Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood)
• Shia LaBeouf (Honey Boy)
• Jamie Foxx (Just Mercy)
• Al Pacino (The Irishman)

In the Hunt:

• Joe Pesci (The Irishman)
• Sterling K. Brown (Waves)
• Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Waves)
• John Lithgow (Bombshell)
• Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse)
• Alan Alda (Marriage Story)
• Timothée Chalamet (Little Women)
• Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes)

Best Supporting Actress

Leading the Charge:

• Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers)
• Laura Dern (Marriage Story)
• Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit)
• Margot Robbie (Bombshell)
• Florence Pugh (Little Women)

In the Hunt:

• Shuzhen Zhao (The Farewell)
• Annette Bening (The Report)
• Taylor Russell (Waves)
• Nicole Kidman (Bombshell)
• Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)