As I do year to year, I track all the awards season nominees and events. Whether it’s the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Critic Circles, or the Oscars, you always end up routing for certain films. But simply it’s impossible to get exactly what you’d personally liked to see get recognised. As seen via the endless chatter on social media, we all have our own opinions. Whether it be liking or disliking films that others feel, perhaps their thoughts are completely against your inner instincts of how good a film is. Film is subjective and the notion of having an objective view on awards season is quite ludicrous. Even when predicting, you try take a broad stance on what may happen – but your own subjective influence will take over at least a little, perhaps subconsciously?
This I imagine (I’ve never experienced this) is the joy of being a member of a voting body, choosing your own personal ballot to try push certain films that are beloved by you forward. There is a weird sense of pride when talking about what you find remarkable and the best of the best, this is why I like to do these awards ballots and hopefully I can one day become a member of a critics group or voting body to have an impact? It sounds amazing. Below I have carefully picked what my awards ballot would be if I were to be voting for each and every category that came to mind… These are not safe picks in that I’m saying these will get picked at the Oscars, because quite frankly I believe a lot of these films I’ve noted will be overlooked.
It has been a great year in film, this list may update over the next week or two, as I see the last few films of 2019 (including: 1917, Richard Jewell and Bombshell). Here is my personal ballot for the 100+ films I saw in 2019.
Best Motion Picture
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
The Irishman (Martin Scorsese)
The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers)
Midsommar (Ari Aster)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma)
Marriage Story (Noah Baumbach)
Joker (Todd Phillips)
Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodóvar)
Sunset (László Nemes)
Little Women (Greta Gerwig)
WINNER – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
Bonus PICK: Ad Astra (James Gray)
Best Director
Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Martin Scorsese (The Irishman)
Robert Eggers (The Lighthouse)
S. Craig Zahler (Dragged Across Concrete)
Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
WINNER – Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Bonus PICK: Ari Aster (Midsommar)
Best Film Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Adam Driver (Marriage Story)
Robert De Niro (The Irishman)
Joaquin Phoenix (Joker)
Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse)
WINNER – Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Bonus PICK: Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory)
Best Film Actress
Noémie Merlant (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Renee Zelleweger (Judy)
Juli Jakab (Sunset)
Saoirse Ronan (Little Women)
Aisling Franciosi (The Nightingale)
WINNER – Noémie Merlant (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Bonus PICK: Scarlett Johannson (Marriage Story)
Best Supporting Actor
Al Pacino (The Irishman)
Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Joe Pesci (The Irishman)
Robert Pattinson (The Lighthouse)
Tommy Lee Jones (Ad Astra)
WINNER – Al Pacino (The Irishman)
Bonus PICK: Vince Vaughn (Dragged Across Concrete)
Best Supporting Actress
Margeret Qualley (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Margot Robbie (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Julia Butters (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Adèle Haenel (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
Luana Bajrami (Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
WINNER – Margot Robbie (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Bonus PICK: Emma Watson (Little Women)
Best Cast Ensemble
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The Irishman
Midsommar
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Little Women
WINNER – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Bonus PICK: Parasite
Best Original Screenplay
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Quentin Tarantino)
The Lighthouse (Max & Robert Eggers)
Midsommar (Ari Aster)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma)
Dragged Across Concrete (S. Craig Zahler)
WINNER – Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Bonus PICK: Parasite (Bong Joon-ho)
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Irishman (Steven Zaillian)
Joker (Todd Phillips and Scott Silver)
The Two Popes (Anthony McCarten)
Motherless Brooklyn (Edward Norton)
Little Women (Greta Gerwig)
WINNER – Steve Zaillian (The Irishman)
Best Cinematography
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Robert Richardson)
The Lighthouse (Jarin Blaschke)
Midsommar (Pawel Pogorzelski)
The Irishman (Rodrigo Prieto)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Claire Mathon)
WINNER (TIE) – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood & Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Bonus PICK: Pain and Glory (José Luis Alcaine)
Best Original Score
Midsommar (Bobby Krlic)
Ad Astra (Max Richter)
The Lighthouse (Mark Korven)
Joker (Hildur Guðnadóttir)
Motherless Brooklyn (Daniel Pemberton)
WINNER – Midsommar (Bobby Krlic)
Bonus PICK: Marriage Story (Randy Newman)
Best Costume Design
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Arianne Phillips)
Midsommar (Andrea Flesch)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Dorothée Guiraud)
The Lighthouse (Linda Muir)
The Irishman (Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson)
WINNER – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Arianne Phillips)
Bonus PICK: Pain and Glory (Paola Torres)
Best Production Design
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Barbara Ling)
Midsommar (Henrik Svensson)
The Lighthouse (Craig Lathrop)
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Thomas Grézaud)
Aladdin (Gemma Jackson)
WINNER – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Barbara Ling)
Bonus PICK: Pain and Glory (Antxón Gómez)
Best Film Editing
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Fred Raskin)
The Irishman (Thelma Schoonmaker)
Midsommar (Lucian Johnston)
The Lighthouse (Louise Ford)
Dragged Across Concrete (Greg D’Auria)
WINNER – The Lighthouse (Louise Ford)
Bonus PICK: Marriage Story (Jennifer Lame)
Best Sound Design
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Midsommar
The Lighthouse
Dragged Across Concrete
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
WINNER – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Original Song
Bonefire Song – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
A Whole New World – Aladdin
Lost in the Woods – Frozen II
The Next Right Thing – Frozen II
Some Things Never Change – Frozen II
WINNER – Speechless (Aladdin)
Best Song used in a Film
Son of a Lovin’ Man – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
That’s Life – Joker
In the Still of the Night – The Irishman
Out of Time – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Suddenly/Heaven Sent – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
WINNER – Son of a Lovin’ Man (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Best Visual Effects
Ad Astra
The Lighthouse
The Irishman
High Life
Brightburn
WINNER – Ad Astra
Best Animated Film
Frozen II
Toy Story 4
The Addams Family
The Lego Movie 2
WINNER – Frozen II
Best Foreign Film
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma)
Sunset (László Nemes)
Pain and Glory (Pedro Almodóvar)
Parasite (Bong Joon-ho)
Happy as Lazarro (Alice Rohrwacher)
WINNER – Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma)
